As Kelly Kooken stood in a 90-minute line at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando in March, her son Vincent was remaining calm.      “He’s doing really well right now,” Kooken, of Weston, said by phone.       Vincent is a junior at Cypress Bay High School where he attends a B.R.I.D.G.E.S. class for students who are on the autism spectrum.      ...

    John Rogger recently took on a new role in town as the chair of the Miami Lakes Special Needs Advisory Board.       It’s the first time Rogger, 35, has served on one of the town’s dozen volunteer committees.  But it’s something that is close to his heart -- he said both of his sons have autism.       Rogger and his family have lived in South Florida...

     Take a walk along tree-lined Main Street and you’ll hear the lively clang of silverware on china plates coming from restaurant patios as buzzsaws scream and hammers pound away inside several storefronts.       The one-mile byway in the heart of Miami Lakes is undergoing a whirlwind of change.       Four new restaurants with fresh concepts have welcomed diners within the...

      There are about a dozen cow statues around town which are a public art project that is a tribute to Miami Lakes’ beginnings as the Graham dairy farm.       The statues attract tourists and families who often take photographs with them.             Companies have sponsored the statues and decorated them in logos or colors to represent their firms.    ...

     The Breanna Vergara Foundation, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, the Town of Miami Lakes and the Optimist Club will offer free youth EKG screenings on Saturday, April 2 at the Optimist Park Clubhouse.       The foundation -- which encourages parents to get echocardiograms for their children in an effort to prevent sudden cardiac arrest -- was begun following the death of Breanna Vergara at age 11...