Under the Sun

Norberto Jimenez is a low-wage migrant worker who joined the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in their battle against Burger King and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.  We sent Ruth Morris into the tomato fields of South Florida to find out more.

For years, billiards aficionados made a kind of pilgrimage to a place called Star Cue. It was a tiny shop just off Fifth Street in South Beach—tucked behind Flower Bazaar, an upscale floral boutique. Holocaust survivor Abe Rich made some of the country’s most coveted pool cues. Tristram Korten stopped in and spoke with Rich shortly before he passed away.

“What’s Up with South Florida?” is our regular segment where we invite listeners to tell us what they find confusing or unusual about South Florida. We took a poll so you could decide what we should investigate. You flocked to the birds. So what’s up with all of those birds congregating at South Florida intersections each evening?  Carey McKearnan finds out.

Post and audio were updated yesterday.  Details at State Impact.

It’s been almost a month since self-appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin—an unarmed black teenager from Miami Gardens.

Martin’s death has inspired a national debate about race and justice.

If you’ve spent time at South Pointe Park in Miami Beach, you might have noticed the steady stream of cruise and cargo ships going in and out of Port Miami.  These hulking ships are one of the signature images of South Florida.

All of these ships are driven in and out of the port by a highly trained group of sea captains, also known as harbor pilots.   Harbor pilots know the waters around the port well–they have to be able to draw a map from memory as part of their qualifications.

It had been 38 years since Don Bailey posed for his popular carpet ad – a spoof of a famous Burt Reynolds picture. In March 2010, Under the Sun reporter Sammy Mack convinced Bailey to pose again, wearing exactly the same … smile.

Author and former Miami Herald columnist Ana Menendez, who has been living in Amsterdam, is returning to South Florida for the Miami Book Fair International, the eight-day literary party beginning Nov. 13. Ana has a new book titled Adios, Happy Homeland and will be speaking about it during The Writer’s Voice panel at the fair Sunday, Nov. 20.

This story is part of WLRN's new investigative blog, What's the Story? It originally ran as part of WLRN's Under the Sun What's Up With South Florida? series, in March of 2010.

Some time ago, journalist Nicholas Spangler wrote in The Miami Herald, “He calls to mind Michelangelo’s David, with a mission from a more swinging time.” He was referring to Don Bailey, the naked carpet guy you’ve noticed on the billboard driving down I-95.