We can’t make The New Tropic without you. And we’re excited to do even more with you in 2019. But we need your help to make it happen. That’s why we’re launching an expanded membership program for our favorite newsletter subscribers. (Hey, that’s you!)

When you join The New Tropic as a member for $8 a month, you can deepen your connection to a community of thoughtful, active Miamians like you who make this place great. Plus, you’ll be investing in more people-powered local journalism to serve our city.

Your membership will help us create more projects like our voter guide, where we answered your questions about tricky ballot initiatives, more unique ways to explore our city like A Night Out in Historic Overtown, and more opportunities for us to dive in together on the issues, ideas, people and places that you want to dig into in Miami.

Ready to join us? Check out thenewtropic.com/join to get started and see our full list of membership benefits like:

🤓 Special bonus content just for members

🎟️ Free and discounted invites to cool events

🎉 A fun welcome kit, and more.

And, as always, we welcome your questions and suggestions on how we can serve you better. Just reply to this email and let us know what you think.

Thanks for your support. We love working to understand and appreciate this city with you.

– Natasha, Lance, Alexa and Alejandro, your New Tropic crew

JOIN HERE

Trying to save Miami Blue. Until a few decades ago, it wasn’t hard to spot Miami Blue butterflies fluttering around with their bright blue wings and gray undersides. But now, they’ve become one of the rarest insects in North America thanks to factors like climate change, pesticides, loss of habitat, and major storms. And after Hurricane Andrew hit Miami they were thought to be extinct. Fortunately, scientists found two colonies of them in remote islands of Key West and are conducting a rescue mission by monitoring them in the wild and breeding them in labs to prevent extinction. They may also be the only butterfly to have a beer named after them and a portion of the sales go to recovery efforts. (Miami Herald)

Some questionable choices. Ron DeSantis stirred up controversy for telling voters not to “monkey this up” by electing his opponent Andrew Gillum ahead of the gubernatorial election and now he is drawing criticism again for choosing two members of the Florida Citizens Alliance to sit on his education advisory commission. The Alliance is known for having an anti-gay, anti-Islam, anti-climate change and anti-civil rights stance. Some critics believe DeSantis should remove the two appointees.  (Miami New Times, Florida Phoenix)

A classic case of nepotism? When it comes to ethics, it’s often said that the appearance of impropriety is as bad as impropriety itself. And in this Miami Herald op-ed, columnist Fabiola Santiago argues that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez never got the memo. His two sons serve as lobbyists for entities looking to do business with the county, like the Inter Miami soccer stadium and related projects, a steel mill proposal in Homestead and a rehabilitation complex. Gimenez, who has recused himself from decision making on some of the projects, says it’s all legal. Though some are calling foul play. (Miami Herald)

More traffic, more problems. How do we solve traffic congestion while still protecting the environment? It’s a question that provoked a lot of debate at a public hearing on the proposed 14-mile extension of the Dolphin Expressway to South Miami-Dade. Some residents think the project needs to be built right away, while others raised concerns about the impact to the Everglades and water supplies and said it would only lead to more traffic and urban sprawl. Miami-Dade County commissioners approved the proposal in September but it still needs approval from federal, state and other local agencies–and is still facing strong opposition from Sen. Marco Rubio. (WLRN)

They got the right to vote… now what? The passage of Amendment 4 was a historic moment for enfranchisement in this country, restoring voting rights of more than one million felons in Florida. The amendment was passed by a supermajority of voters and should go into effect by January 8. But so far, no one seems to know how it’s going to be implemented which could lead to plenty of legal battles down the road. (WLRN)

ONE MORE THING

Don’t forget that we’re giving away a $750 gift card for you to grab some modern and contemporary furniture at BoConcept, just in time for your last-minute holiday shopping!

We’ll give them away to a reader who introduces at least one new subscriber to The New Tropic this week. 💪 How do you enter to win? Just share this, your unique link to our sign-up form, with your buddies and ask them to sign up: https://thenewtropic.com/invitation/*|UNIQID|*/?campaign=111556

We’ll pick the winner at random tomorrow at 6 p.m., and share who won in Thursday’s newsletter.

– The New Tropic