Early voting started this week in Palm Beach, Broward, Monroe, and Miami-Dade counties. There have been an endless number of political ads on television and web streaming services, YouTube, as well as political flyers filling mailboxes across South Florida. David Smiley, political reporter for the Miami Herald joined Sundial to talk about this week’s major political stories and what advertising messages does to voters.
The city of Opa-Locka has long been criticized for lacking the necessary public infrastructure and political stability. Sarah Blaskey from the Miami Herald has recently been reporting on the city’s recent sewage system problems. Back in August, there was a massive sewage leak and for a while city officials denied that the sewage system was the root of the problem. Blaskey joined Sundial to talk about the major sewage crisis and what residents are doing in response.
The city of Fort Lauderdale was selected to received a grant from the Florida Humanities Council, a nonprofit organization based in the Tampa Bay area that provides opportunities for Floridians to learn about the history of the state. The grant is part of “Florida Stories,” an app that provides a historical walking tour for folks around the city. It will feature the unique blend of history in downtown Fort Lauderdale with renderings of historic buildings, audio descriptions and photos. The app has already been implemented in 17 Florida towns, including Islamorada, Key West, Virginia Key Beach and the one in Ft. Lauderdale launches on Tuesday. Patricia Zeiler is the executive director of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, which helped with the app’s development and she joins us to talk about the app and the launch party at the Ft. Lauderdale Historical Society starting 6 pm.
Just in time for Halloween, the Arscht Center is out with a unique take on the classic tale of Dracula. Playwright Michael McKeever gave the traditional story a feminist spin and made the character Van Helsing a female that illuminates Dracula’s predatory nature throughout the show. McKeever and Lindsey Corey, the lead actor playing Helsing, joined Sundial to talk about why the story is so important at this time in history. The show will be playing at the Arscht Center now until Oct. 28 and you can buy tickets here.