Local News

On this Tuesday, Jan. 28, episode of Sundial:

Outdated prison sentences in Florida 

An upcoming Florida State University study shows there are hundreds of Florida inmates currently serving outdated drug sentences that are no longer in state law. The study finds women (specifically Hispanic women) are being disproportionately impacted by these sentences. 

Early last year, Bulgarian officials discovered almost $70 million had been transferred from Venezuela to a bank in their capital, Sofia.

On this Monday, Jan. 27, episode of Sundial:

News Update

Miami police captain Javier Ortiz was recently suspended with pay after telling city commissioners that he was not Hispanic, but a black male. Ortiz has been accused of making racially insensitive remarks in the past. The Miami Herald’s Chuck Rabin has been following the story and joined Sundial for an update. 

Great Abaco Island remains beautiful but scarred. It is scarred from the seemingly endless hours of winds and water from Hurricane Dorian in September. Its economy is quiet — quieted by the worst storm spawned from warm Atlantic waters ever to hit the Bahamas. And its residents are few. Thousands forced off the island because they have no homes any longer. 

Healing from a hurricane, especially one as strong and devastating as Dorian, will be measured in years. 

For the last two decades, Florida has been a laboratory for school choice policies: alternatives to public education like privately-run charter schools and taxpayer-funded scholarships to private institutions.

Diane Ravitch argues that’s not something to celebrate or emulate.

Ravitch is a historian, advocate and former assistant education secretary under Republican President George H. W. Bush. She once believed charters, vouchers and standardized testing could improve public school education.

At the Turnberry Jewish Center in Aventura on Sunday, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched his “United for Mike” coalition to win over Jewish voters as he seeks the Democratic Party's nomination for president.

Bloomberg started off his speech expressing his support for Israel, but also his disgust with the politics surrounding US-Israel policy.

As part of Fort Lauderdale's Art and Design Week, the fourth annual Art Fair on The Water will ferrying art enthusiasts to curated exhibits in waterfront mansions through this weekend.

Of the three homes hosting exhibits along the boat tour through Art Fort Lauderdale, there's a partcular urgency to the art on display at 'Bahamas Haus.' It features artworks from the Bahamas and part of the proceeds from art sales will fund arts education and rebuilding an orphanage in Freeport, The Grand Bahama Children's Home. 

A Florida bill that would require teenagers under 18 years of age to get parental permission for an abortion passed its final Senate committee this week. The legislation requires parents of minor girls seeking an abortion to have a notarized consent form before a doctor can perform the procedure. Florida law currently requires parents to be notified.

A doctor who doesn’t get the parents okay could face prison time. Democrats argue that the bill is an attempt to erode abortion rights. Republicans disagree—arguing the legislation protects minors.