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🌊An update on red tide
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🌊An update on red tide

Sun’s up on another great week.

A NEW AVENUE

Downtown Miami’s attracting plenty of new residents and developments, but it’s still not a destination on the level of South Beach or Wynwood. At night the streets are still mostly empty, and there’s not much of a neighborhood feel.

But a Downtown resident has an idea for livening up the area, and he’s getting a chance to try it out this weekend.

Earlier this year, Steve Dutton told us his hope of transforming a stretch of Northeast Third Avenue from a sleepy place with a few nice restaurants to a lively pedestrian-friendly area like Española Way on South Beach and Giralda Avenue in Coral Gables.

He’s calling it Avenue 3, and his plan is to create temporary dining areas along the street. He hopes they’ll eventually become permanent and be open to foot traffic only on nights and weekends.

He’s launching a pilot with a community dinner this Saturday. And read more about it here.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE JUNE: The City of Miami commission gave the all clear for building parklets and formalized regulations for building the tiny raised platforms. Steve plans to install them where there’s currently street parking. They’ll be installed in front of restaurants on the street to provide extra seating. The first parklet will be installed before the community dinner in front of the Freshealthy restaurant.

Steve received $25,000 in funding from the Downtown Development Authority that will help fund the construction of the first parklet and eventually two decorative sculptures of the number three, one for each end of the street.

THE INSPIRATION: For Steve, this project is about more than just creating a fun space for locals. He also hopes it will eventually address the challenge of homelessness in Downtown, an issue close to his heart, by providing more activity at night and bringing a new design to a stagnant area. Steve’s husband, Tom Lang, was killed a few years ago after he was attacked by a mentally-ill homeless man. Both of them previously worked with agencies combating homelessness.

THE EVENT: The night will be a tour through different restaurants with live music. More importantly, Steve says, it will be a chance for people to see what Avenue 3 could look like if it becomes permanent. The restaurants that won’t have parklets installed on Saturday will be painted instead.

Wanna get involved with the project? You can volunteer to help set up for the dinner event here. And if you can’t join this weekend but want to get involved, email Steve at [email protected].

BULLETIN BOARD

🤩 Want to prepare a sonnet-worthy O, Miami proposal? The organizers are hosting a meet and greet tomorrow night to answer your questions on submitting an idea for the April poetry festival. The submission deadline is Oct. 25.

🏳️‍🌈Care about making meaningful diversity and inclusion part of your daily practice? So does the Maven Leadership Collective. Join them on Oct. 19 for Maven Rising, a gathering of talented folks from all parts of the city who are serious about making that happen.

💰The young lawyers section of the Dade County Bar is awarding two $15,000 grants to local nonprofits: one for serving youth, and one for operational support. If you’re a Miami-Dade County nonprofit and this sounds like you, apply before Oct. 31.

👻The Dade County Bar is throwing a Halloween bash for Lotus House, a shelter for women and children, and they’re in need of costumes. If you have any new or gently used Halloween costumes you’re willing to donate, you can find the pickup and dropoff details here.

Got an opportunity, workshop, scholarship, grant, etc. you want other curious locals to know about? Hit us up at [email protected] (subject line: “Bulletin Board”) to have it listed here.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE 305

Not tough enough. After Hurricane Andrew decimated South Dade, South Florida beefed up its building codes big time, requiring that all new buildings be built to withstand winds of up to 175 mph. But the Panhandle’s requirements are much more relaxed, and that’s a big part of the reason why Hurricane Michael wiped out so many structures as it barreled through last week. If photos of the devastation have you aching to help, here’s a rundown of ways that you can. You can also donate to the Volunteer Florida Disaster Fund. (Miami Herald, NYT)

Some good news. Water quality test results show “negligible to no” presence of red tide in our local waters, signaling the possible end of our red tide crisis that began earlier this month. All beaches are open once again. (Miami Herald)

Booze news. Portland-based Craft Brew Alliance has purchased Wynwood Brewing, Miami’s first craft brewery. What that means: a lot more people are going to have access to its award-winning beer. It also means J. Wakefield is the only independently owned brewery left in Wynwood (Veza Sur is owned by Anheuser Busch and Concrete Beach is owned by Boston Beer Company). (Miami Herald)

Equal opportunity offender. A few weeks ago, Salt Bae – aka Nusret Gökçe – enraged Venezuelan exiles in Miami when he served Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at his restaurant in Turkey, the chef’s home country. Sen. Marco Rubio publicized the incident and reminded Miamians that Salt Bae had a restaurant in Brickell, spurring hundreds to turn out in protest. But when the infamous chef served Donald Trump, Jr., this week, Rubio and the protesters didn’t have much to say. (Miami Herald)

Look who’s back. Last year the state legislature passed a law requiring elected local and state officials to resign their seats if they run for national office. That prompted Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen-Gonzalez to resign so she could run for U.S. Congress (although she doesn’t technically step down until Jan. 3). But Rosen-Gonzalez lost the Democratic primary to Donna Shalala in August, leaving her future uncertain. Some of her former Miami Beach constituents have an idea: put her back in office. (Miami Herald)

YOUR ELECTION DOWNLOAD

We don’t usually do a ton of horse race political news. But the election coming up on Nov. 6 is kind of a big deal, so from now until then, we’re going to have a special election section in your daily newsletter. Wonk out, friends.

  • 10 legacies from Gov. Rick Scott’s two terms as governor as he runs for U.S. Senate (USA Today)
  • Donna Shalala is polling behind her Republican opponent, Maria Elvira Salazar, in the U.S. Congressional District 27 race, despite the fact that the district went hard for Hillary in 2016 (POLITICO)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY.

Let’s make it a great week.

– The New Tropic

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