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Eyes On The Miami Sea-Level Rise Committee; Miami Street Artist Atomik & FL Supreme Court Goes Live

@Atomiko, Atomik's official Instagram page.
A piece by Miami street artist Atomik, featuring his signature orange character.

Guests for Sundial Tuesday, April 3, 2018:

The city of Miami established the Sea-Level Rise Committee in 2015 to study the effects of sea-level rise on the city and recommend policy changes to help combat rising sea levels.

In 2017, taxpayers agreed to a $400 million bond for resilience projects, $192 million of which is to be spent on efforts to help curb the effects of rising seas.

The committee meets monthly to discuss how to help Miami officials create plans that inclusively and equitably prepare for sea-level rise.

At last week’s meeting, one of its members created controversy when he berated an activist who asked the committee to consider recommending the city track the financial cost of climate change.

The activist, Maggie Fernandez of the Miami Climate Alliance, also said she’s concerned about a lack of diversity on the committee: Eight of its nine members are men, and its lone female member is also its only black member.

WLRN environment reporter Kate Stein joined the program to talk about the incident and give us the latest on the Sea-Level Rise Committee meetings.

Miami Street Artist Atomik

Adam ‘Atomik’ is a Miami native who has been drawing and painting for more than 20 years. He attended Palmetto Bay’s Southwood Middle School art magnet program after his parents encouraged him to apply. He has a degree in graphic design, but has said that his street style of drawing is self-taught. 

In 2008, he started drawing his signature orange character, which he created in response to the demolition of the Miami Orange Bowl stadium in order to build Marlins Park.  

The orange is his take on Obie, the Orange Bowl mascot. Atomik said the character has evolved over the years. At first he would paint replicas of the original mascot, but a cease-and-desist notice from the Orange Bowl Committee prompted him to paint the orange in its current graffiti style. 

Atomik has traveled to Chile, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Australia, Korea and Thailand. Each country he travels to he makes sure to leave street art behind. 

Beyond walls, billboards and freight cars, Atomik also paints on canvas and paper. He has a gallery in Miami, where he shows his work by appointment only. 

He told us to be on the lookout as he is experimenting with a new form of art.

"I want to take my character and make it 3D. Sculpture is next on my agenda."

The Florida Supreme Court Goes Live ... Facebook Live

Florida was the first state to allow television broadcasts in the courtroom in 1975. More than 40 years later, it will be among the first few that use social media for official live video

The state's justices pushed for the implementation of using FaceBook Live two years ago while searching for a way to increase the public's awareness of court proceedings.  

In a previously recorded conversation with Chief Justice Jorge Labarga, he explained the reasoning behind the court's decision to live stream on Facebook and how the court plans to continue to use technology to promote transparency in the courtroom.