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In the next few months, Florida International University researchers will be doing their part to prevent the kind of high-tech cyberattacks that could cripple financial institutions, disable major infrastructure or threaten national security.

  The Department of Defense plans to provide seed funding of $150,000 to FIU’s Applied Research Center (ARC) to launch a cybersecurity test technology program. The project’s goal is to develop new technology to help thwart cyberattacks and cyberterrorism.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the 2013-14 state budget into law today.

He also sent a letter to Secretary of State Ken Detzner explaining his decision to veto a tuition hike. “We are also holding the line on tuition by vetoing the Legislature’s recommended 3 percent tuition increase on our college and university students,” the governor wrote.

We’ve asked a few of the authors of standout poems for our That’s So Miami project to explain the inspiration behind their work. Find the winners of our contest and more entries here.

Black and white

Chinese and Cuban

Who would’ve thought

My bestfriend would be Russian?

That’s so Miami.

REAL ESTATE

From world famous beaches to international trade flows, South Florida has become one of the world's most vibrant and diverse economies.

Through a series of one-hour radio programs, special correspondent Tom Hudson hosts a weekly radio show on Mondays in May and June exploring The Sunshine Economy, a fresh take on the key industries driving growth across South Florida.

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed a $74.1 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 and vetoed $368 million in projects.

Scott vetoed 3 percent tuition increases for universities and state colleges and also rejected numerous spending proposals, including $14 million sought by Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, for a project at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City.

In a budget message, Scott touted that the spending plan includes $480 million to raise teacher pay.

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts has become an important part of South Florida's cultural landscape.  Here's some memories from two people who have long  histories with this organization.

Back in the late 1990‘s at the original NORMAN’S restaurant in Coral Gables we had a young man who became our Lunch Chef named Eliecer Garcia. Like many young chefs he was very interested in cuisines from all over and when we talked about what to put on our lunch menu his ideas ranged from France to Hong Kong. I loved that but sometimes I’d say, “Eliecer. I want you to show me flavors your Cuban Grandmother would make and then we can twist them a little. Okay? Why don’t you show me how she would cook with … oh… boniato for instance? And then we’ll go from there.” 

What's in a name change? Plenty, when the new moniker also signals an "emotional change," as is the case with the soon-to-be-unveiled South Florida Science Center and Aquarium. The entity is a rebranding of the popular South Florida Science Museum. The longtime Palm Beach County institution hasn't received a makeover since its completion in 1969 (which represents an eternity in a region that is eager to "spruce up appearances" on the regular.) 

Did you know that if you dig deep enough into the property records of any piece of real estate in the state of Florida you will find that all the land originally belonged to the Spanish Crown?

But ever since the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1821, land ownership has been like a hot potato, changing hands incessantly.  Indeed, taking a deep look into any one piece of property (likely where you live, included) will reveal a surreal story for the ages.

Earlier this spring, a typical school day turned into something a lot more memorable for one student at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School near Aventura.

It’s April. Natalie Hoberman was sitting in her advanced placement government class.

“It was one of my hardest classes," she said.

On The Florida Roundup, we take a special look at the economy.  

Employment, tourism and real estate numbers suggest a recovery. We’ll examine whether Gov. Rick Scott’s “it’s working” motto is actually working -- for him.

Meanwhile, the legislative session is over but many bills are still under review by the governor. The biggest: Florida's $74.5 billion budget.

And locally, could South Florida lose both the Super Bowl and the International Swimming Hall of Fame to California?

Our family came from Havana, a beautiful city that some have called a tropical paradise.

My brothers and I came to Miami on a Pan American flight and were taken to a campground that the Pedro Pan organizers had set up in Kendall, near where Town & Country Mall now stands. We were there for about two weeks before being sent to Albuquerque, N.M., where we were taken in by the family of Dr. Eugene Purtell.
 

The All Florida Juried Competition and Exhibition opening reception recently at the Boca Museum of Art drew in a packed, frenzied crowd to its 62nd-annual showcase featuring 149 multimedia works. But it was the overheard exclamations of “That’s disgusting!” and “I can’t even watch this!” that stood out during the evening’s discourse.

Miami artist Orestes De La Paz has an unusual piece of performance art on display at the Frost Art Museum on the campus of Florida International University.

Last December, FIU grad De La Paz had liposuction surgery. His plastic surgeon removed about three liters of fat from his body.

The clock is ticking for the highly-endangered Florida grasshopper sparrow, but a new project recently green-lit by a federal agency may offer some hope for avoiding extinction. Scientists believe there are roughly 200 of the tiny birds remaining in the wild. Two years ago, scientists found the lowest count of the birds in history: last year's numbers dipped even lower. 

Even before last year's coastal calamity caused by superstorm Sandy, Broward County Mayor Kristin Jacobs was trying to get everyone's attention about sea-level rise and it's impact on South Florida.

In their first fully fleshed-out presentations on Tuesday, the developers competing to redevelop the Miami Beach Convention Center area described a vibrant new urban district of interconnected green spaces and cultural opportunities anchored by cutting-edge designs — even as they crossed swords over which plan would yield more benefits to the city at a better cost.

In a wide-ranging interview back in February, Florida Power & Light President Eric Silagy addressed a number of issues facing the state's largest utility.

The responses prompted a slew of feedback on topics ranging from storm preparedness and climate change to renewable energy sources.

Nuclear Power

Mary Jane Saunders has quit.

The president of Florida Atlantic University says bad publicity splashed across national headlines was too much.

Next month would have been Saunders’ three-year anniversary as president.

While the university is showcasing her string of accomplishments, there was no way to get around a spate of missteps in recent months.

Many have taken the recent closing of Barnes and Noble in Aventura and the general dearth of bookstores in Miami as an omen, a portentous sign that the city is somehow culturally headed in the wrong direction.

And the easy takedown of South Florida, both nationally and from locals, is that a lack of bookstores is representative of a stupid populace, or an uncultured mass mostly focused on booze and partying.

But bemoaning the death of the bookstore is missing the point. It’s happening everywhere. And it’s not just a South Florida issue.

In 1887 Marcus Weinkle’s loving parents buried him alive. That act likely saved the 13-year-old’s life and certainly set in motion an odyssey that took him from his native Russia to, eventually, Central Florida.

  His story – and that of countless other Jewish immigrants with a Florida connection – comes alive in the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU on Miami Beach.

If the city of Santa Clara has its way, the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale may move to California.

That's right, Santa Clara, the city that just built a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers and is neck-n-neck with South Florida in a bid for Super Bowl L.

Santa Clara says it plans to raise $2 million for an endowment to support the swimming hall as well as $10 million to move it to the West Coast.

The hall has also received inquiries from England and China.

Humans aren't the only species facing an uncertain future in South Florida should current sea level rise predictions prove accurate. Migratory and resident shore birds also would feel the pinch of encroaching salt water, beach erosion, and shore line and habitat loss. 

When examining current land modeling and other scientific data, in addition to physical evidence, "It becomes clear what a substantial threat sea level rise will be," said Julie Wraithmell, director of Wildlife Conservation, Florida, for the National Audubon Society. 

The roseate spoonbill -- often mistaken by confused tourists for the non-native flamingo -- is one of Florida's great iconic species. Dubbed "one of the most breathtaking of the world's weirdest birds" by naturalist Roger Tory Peterson, the gangly creatures are an increasingly rare sight in South Florida. 

According to a feature in the May-June issue of Audubon Magazine, spoonbills have been vacating South Florida in droves, heading north to more hospitable (read: often less developed) lands.

The Miami Dolphins and their owner, Stephen Ross, spent a staggering $10 million over the past six weeks on a special election that never happened.

As one of the key players behind the up-and-coming Boynton Beach Art District (BBAD), artist and gallery owner Rolando Chang Barrero is getting no down time during South Florida's "off season." Barrero is among the region's year-round residents who stick it out during the slow, sultry months to ensure his pet projects make it through to grow another season.

The last time I spoke with former Guatemalan strongman Efraín Ríos Montt, in 2003, he was running (unsuccessfully, thank God) for President—and he was delusional as ever.

Every bit as unhinged from reality as he’d been two decades before, during the darkest days of Guatemala’s 36-year-long civil war, when as military dictator from 1982-83, he led a “scorched earth” campaign that killed thousands of mostly indigenous Maya peasants.