Tagged: Miami

Tres Whitlock is stuck in a public school where he feels ignored. He wants out.

The 17-year-old would-be video game designer researched his options online and found his perfect match – Pivot Charter School.

“It’s computer-based and I think I will do better,” he says.

But when Whitlock tried to enroll in the school he found a series of barriers in his way.

On September 11, 2001, Tanya Villanueva Tepper’s fiancé, Sergio Villanueva, was one of the 343 New York City firefighters who didn’t make it out of the World Trade Center. Tanya is featured in the new documentary,Rebirth, which follows five people affected by those attacks, over the course of the last decade. The film airs Sunday on Showtime on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Tanya now lives in Miami, where she has found solace and a new life. She spoke with Under the Sun co-host Alicia Zuckerman.

If you ever find yourself charged with a crime, a bail bondsman can be your best friend. When a judge sets bail and the defendant doesn’t have the money to pay, the bondsman posts the money in exchange for an upfront fee – usually 10 percent of the bond amount – and property as collateral. All the defendant has to do is show up to court.
 

Bullying is not a new phenomenon. It has been around for decades, but schools across South Florida are reporting that the frequency and severity of the incidents are getting worse. In the past year alone, a West Palm Beach student was attacked in math class and a Deerfield Beach middle school student slipped into a comma after being kicked in the head.

Fifty years ago, North Miami Senior High School students lived in neighborhoods where most kept their doors unlocked at night. They say they felt safe riding their bicycles throughout town – some streets weren’t even paved. Today, many students at the school say they don’t feel safe in their school or their neighborhoods.

North Miami Senior High’s demographics have also changed. In 1960, the segregated school was all white. Today, most students are of Haitian descent. According to the school, 31 out of 2,700 students are white.

Author Diana Abu-Jaber, who teaches at Portland State University, splits her time between Portland and Miami. In her ode to Miami, she compares the city to a disheveled party girl – beautiful but not the kind you settle down with. Before she came to Miami, people warned her that the city was a vacation destination, not a place to call home. Sure, everyone sees the superficial, but few see the heart and mind beneath the flash. For this Arab-American girl who couldn’t sit still in one place, the city understood her. Those who don’t quite fit in anywhere else, somehow do in Miami.

Getting a jury summons in the mail is not cause to rejoice for most people. It means missing a day or more of work and sitting for long periods of time waiting for your name to be called while watching bad movies in a large, cold room. If you do get chosen for a jury panel, however, you get to see the legal system in process.