WHAT IS IT? A general understanding that events, meetings, workshops, party guest arrivals and just about any gathering of people in the greater Miami area will not be timely.

BUT WHY? It’s hard to say when and why everyone came to accept this and why people don’t judge late guests or get worked up about delayed starts to meetings, but there’s one obvious culprit: traffic. Whether it’s morning or afternoon rush hour; construction; chickens, roosters, or peacocks crossing an intersection; or an accident, our car-dependent city always has traffic. A commute from the western suburbs to downtown, or a drive from Little Haiti to Coconut Grove, could either be very quick or literally take two hours.

We’re not advocating that you show up late to everything (part of understanding Miami Time is knowing to give yourself extra commuting time) but know that you probably won’t be alone.

USAGE: “What time were we supposed to start?” “I think like 30 minutes ago, but it’s cool. We’ll tell them we’re running on Miami time.”

We’ll be rolling out more entries in the Miamipedia in the coming months but we know there’s stuff we haven’t thought about. Hit reply and let us know or hit us up at [email protected] to tell us any other suuuper Miami terms, phrases and people we should include. Until then, peep the first installment: “What high school did you go to?”

The OG princess, Snow White, knows a thing or two about poison, but do you? The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science’s new exhibition, The Power of Poison, explores poison in science, culture, folklore, and history.  

We’re partnering with Frost Science to bring you stories about the power of poison. Throughout the summer we will feature what to look out for in our own backyard.

But first, check out our sneak peek of their exhibit, which is only here through the summer. Beat the heat and learn a thing or two while you’re at it.  

PRODUCED BY THE NEW TROPIC CREATIVE STUDIO WITH FROST SCIENCE

Straight up Jumanji in here. South Florida’s invasive iguana population is multiplying faster than wildlife control companies can handle. The prehistoric reptiles are damaging power, internet, and phone lines, popping out of people’s toilets (yes, really), and burrowing under sea walls, compromising their integrity. Also, they’re leaving poop everywhere. No one knows how many there are, but experts say that no number would surprise them. (Sun-Sentinel)

Bougie. Thanks to a wave of international investors willing to pay top prices – and foreign tourists willing to drop big bucks – Lincoln Road has a new level of international fame. It also has the property prices to back it up. Retail leases go for $300 per square foot nowadays, making it the fifth most expensive shopping street in the U.S. That’s good for the city of Miami Beach, but bad for local small businesses, who are struggling to afford the rent. Even stalwarts like Books & Books, which gets a lot of credit for helping to drive the street’s revival in the 1990s, may not be able to stick around. (Miami Herald)

Checking in. The WNYC show The Aftereffect is taking a deep dive into the life of autistic Miamian Arnaldo Rios Soto. Maybe his name doesn’t ring a bell, but we bet the name of his caretaker will: Charles Kinsey. In 2016, Kinsey, an unarmed black man, was shot in North Miami by a police officer while taking care of Soto. Aftereffect follows what happened to Soto after the shooting, which made national headlines amid a broader conversation on police brutality against black men. (WNYC)

The crowdfunding whisperers. Local startup LIV Swiss Watches kills it at the crowdfunding game every time. Their latest Kickstarter effort reached their goal of $30,000 in just 10 minutes, and with three days to go, they had raised more than $750,000. A mere 35 percent of Kickstarter campaigns actually meet their goals, and only 2 percent of them top $1 million. LIV is on track to raise $4.5 million. (SFBJ)

#LaGringa. Newly elected County Commissioner Eileen Higgins is that rare Miamian who doesn’t have to take the bus, but does anyways, because she actually likes it. She joins the commission at a time when Miami-Dade is trying to make some big decisions about public transit. Having a legit transit user on the commission could change the convo, but TBD if her bus positivism will be enough to overcome other commissioners’ criticism – a lot of them are pretty down on buses as part of our transit system. (Miami Herald)

That’s not how this works. Miami-Dade cops violated a whole bunch of laws when they stopped Ephraim Casado in 2017 for throwing a bottle from his car, “repeatedly punching him in the face, grinding his body into the asphalt, and painfully hoisting him into the air by his arms.” Then they arrested him for resisting an officer with violence, criminal mischief, and pot possession. Prosecutors said those charges were all a lie after they got a look at the body camera footage, but somehow none of the officers have been charged by State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. (Miami New Times)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY.

We’ll catch you mañana.

– The New Tropic