What We Mean When We Talk About The Digital Divide In Florida

Sammy Mack — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

It’s finals week at Park Vista Community High School and a small group of students buzzes over an assembly line of used Dell computers that lie cracked open with all their electronic guts exposed.

Audio Postcard: Magic Hour On South Beach

Sammy Mack — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Sunrise is a special time on South Beach, but on holiday weekends, it's a magic hour.

Right around dawn, there's a brief overlap as the night owls wind down and the early birds gear up for a new day.

"It's peaceful, it's quiet. All of the chaos kind of dies down," observed Malika Everette, who woke up early on Memorial Day to take photos of the sunrise over South Beach. Everette planned to post the landscapes to Instagram before heading back home to Atlanta.

The dawn hours are for locals, too.

What Florida Schools Can Learn From One Laptop Per Child

Sammy Mack — Mon, 27 May 2013 12:49:01 +0000

It’s family literacy night at Holmes Elementary School in Liberty City, and first grader Adam Redding is reading a poem about plants while he absentmindedly tips dirt out of a plastic cup and onto a laptop.

What Did You Learn In School This Year? Tell Us Your Story

Sammy Mack — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:18:05 +0000

It was a big year for education policy in Florida.

Teacher Resignation Letter Becomes A Rallying Cry For Critics Of Common Core

Sammy Mack — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:04:35 +0000

As the spring semester winds down around the country, one teacher, Gerald Conti, is not going quietly.

Conti is retiring from Westhill High School in Syracuse, NY at the end of this school year and his resignation letter has become a manifesto for critics of the Common Core.

In his letter — which he posted in full on Facebook — Conti laments that the push towards standardized testing and the

Don Bailey Strikes Iconic Pose Again

Sammy Mack — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:47:09 +0000

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.

What's Up With the Naked Carpet Guy?

Sammy Mack — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:38:59 +0000

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

The Morning After Hugo Chavez's Death: What Happens Next For Venezuela And Its Allies?

Sammy Mack — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is dead. Public reactions from South Florida's sizeable Venezuelan ex-pat community were jubilant on Tuesday night. In Venezuela, less so.

The big question this morning: what happens next for Venezuela and its allies?

Why Florida Lawmakers Are Now Considering Medicaid Expansion

Sammy Mack — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:00:00 +0000

When Florida sued to overturn the Affordable Care Act, lawmakers targeted a piece of the law that would have forced Florida to make Medicaid available to more than a million uninsured Floridians.

The U. S. Supreme Court upheld most of the act but it made Medicaid expansion optional.

Now some Florida lawmakers who originally opposed Medicaid expansion are seriously considering that option.

SLIDESHOW: Painter John Bailly Makes Images With Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco

Sammy Mack — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:00:00 +0000

When Richard Blanco read his inaugural poem, One Today, one of the friends cheering him from afar was South Florida painter John Bailly.

Bailly and Blanco met nearly 20 years ago and bonded over a shared interest in cultural identity. The conversations between friends led to Place of Mind, a collaboration of paintings and poems that has been on display in South Florida and is now on its way to New York.

Bailly spoke to WLRN about culture, identity and working with Blanco to create the collection of images.

AUDIO: Full Text Of Richard Blanco's Poem For The Inauguration

Sammy Mack — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:01:30 +0000

Richard Blanco's inaugural poem, One Today, may have addressed the whole nation, but the details were full of South Florida.

A father's hands callused by cutting sugar cane, a mother who taught Blanco to speak Spanish--these are some of the personal details that worked their way into the poem.

VIDEO: Richard Blanco, Inaugural Poet, Speaks To WLRN

Sammy Mack — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:34:56 +0000

When Richard Blanco takes the stage Monday at President Barack Obama's second inauguration, the poetry community of South Florida will be paying especially close attention.

Blanco was born to Cuban parents in Spain. The family immigrated to the United States and settled in Miami when Blanco was a toddler. He trained to be a civil engineer but a class at Florida International University later launched his poetry career.

Blanco's poetry is full of images from a childhood in South Florida and a Cuban-American household.

Key West Literary Seminar: Real Portraits, Invented Biographies

Sammy Mack — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:00:00 +0000

All this week, we're bringing you stories from the Key West Literary Seminar which runs through this weekend.

How You Can Write A Poem For A President

Sammy Mack — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Here at WLRN, we're big fans of interactive storytelling.

Tweet Us A Story: You Can Co-Author A Story With Geoff Dyer

Sammy Mack — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the Key West Literary Seminar edition of we asked you to help us tell a story—140 characters at a time—in honor of Miami Book Fair International.
We tweeted out the first line, given to us by Pulitzer-winning author Junot Díaz: “The dogs hadn’t barked all week.”

NEWSCAST: Surprise Box Of Uncounted Ballots Discovered In Broward

Sammy Mack — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:05:24 +0000

Broward County is still tallying up votes in two recounts from last week’s election.
In Dania Beach's close commission race, Chickie Brandimartie leads Mac McElyea by just 16 votes out of more than 4,000. In Hallandale Beach, it's even closer with Anthony Sanders leading Michele Lazarow by just 6 votes out of more than 7,000.

NEWSCAST: What Happens Next With The Affordable Care Act In Florida

Sammy Mack — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:34:43 +0000

Florida is considering its options while refusing to implement the Affordable Care Act.
Governor Rick Scott has been a harsh critic of the health care reform law. Under Scott’s administration, Florida lead the Supreme Court case against it.
But the Supreme Court upheld most of the Affordable Care Act and last week, Florida voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have banned the individual mandate. That leaves Scott in a tough spot for someone who would rather not implement the law.

Tweet Us A Story: You Can Co-Author A Story With Junot Díaz

Daniel Rivero and Sammy Mack — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:50:42 +0000

Here at WLRN, we get excited about book fairs the way some people get excited about Fourth of July parades or Christmas pageants.
So this week, as the Miami Book Fair International descends upon our region and makes South Florida the center of the literary universe, we’re doing something special. We want you to help us tweet a story.

Election Day: A Day Of Firsts In South Florida

Sammy Mack — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:30:08 +0000

Tuesday may have been the second time Barack Obama won a presidential race, but Election Day was a day of many firsts here in South Florida.
We spoke to several first-time voters who were at the polls Tuesday. Some of the first-timers were young adults, finally old enough to vote in their first presidential election. Other voters were new American citizens.
Check out this slide show of first-time voter stories.

From South Florida's Polls To The Election Results: Get The Latest Here

Sammy Mack, Trina Sargalski and Ashley Lopez — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:12:00 +0000

8:27 Ballot Measure and Big Races
Here are some things that happened at the top and bottom of the ballot last night.
First, 8 of the 11 ballot measures failed this year.
Only three of these ballot measures passed:

A 2016 Miami Super Bowl May Depend On A $225M Facelift For Sun Life Stadium

Sammy Mack — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 11:52:59 +0000

Miami is a finalist for Super Bowls in 2016 an 2017. Only problem: There are other finalists - San Francisco and Houston - and each has a younger, better-looking and better-equipped stadium. The possibility of hosting the big game, the Miami Herald reports today, may put some steam behind a drive for taxpayer-funded renovations to Sun Life Stadium.

The Consul

Sammy Mack — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:34:32 +0000

How Telemedicine Works At Home

Sammy Mack — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:31:28 +0000

http://vimeo.com/37384040

Every morning at 10:00 a.m., congestive heart failure patient Marilyn Yeats of Naples conducts her own health checkup with the help of a computer.

One Tough Little Girl

Sammy Mack and Luc Cohen — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:47:31 +0000

For Susan Holtzman, the really terrifying parts of Hurricane Andrew didn’t begin until the day after the storm. Susan was nine months pregnant at Baptist Hospital in Kendall. It was the day before she was due to give birth.

Funds Slashed For People With Disabilities

Sammy Mack — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:37:29 +0000

http://vimeo.com/41945480
A network of Florida facilities that supports people with disabilities will lose nearly $1.6 million this year – just as the social services provided by the network are needed most.

Escaping Florida's Medicaid Experiment

Sammy Mack — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:32:49 +0000

http://vimeo.com/39349695
Last year, Florida legislators passed a bill privatizing the state’s Medicaid program, moving recipients into managed care plans – a model patterned on a pilot program that’s been running in five counties since 2006.

Islandia: South Florida’s Own Little Atlantis

Sammy Mack — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Fifty years ago, developers dreamed of turning a collection of isolated islands in the middle of Biscayne Bay into a resort destination. This year, the dream of Islandia quietly died. The Miami-Dade County Commission stripped Islandia’s status as a city. In essence, they voted Islandia out of existence.
The city of Islandia is on Elliot Key. It was never populated by more than a hundred people. Now the only people who live in Islandia are park rangers.

Green Flashes, Rainbows And Other Atmospheric Mirages

Sammy Mack — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:46:39 +0000

Have you ever seen a green flash? It is said to happen as the sun dips below the horizon, creating an elusive green light that appears in the sky for a fleeting moment and then disappears. Many people believe the green flash is a myth, repeated for the benefit of tourists. Others swear by its existence. So is it real?