The decade-old marketing slogan Shop Local has taken on a new urgency for businesses as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into a seventh month.The American Express Shop Local campaign is usually promoted during the weeks before Thanksgiving to kick off Black Friday and the holiday shopping season.But town businesses say they are relying on residents to support their shops and restaurants now, and year ‘round, during these...

Elevate Church has grown during its half century from 20 members to 700 and is building a new worship center which is scheduled to be finished in early 2021.     The church, in Miami Lakes since 1967 and known as Miami Lakes Baptist Church until 2014, broke ground in August 2019 on the new sanctuary at 6250 Miami Lakes Drive.    “Our goal is for Christ to be elevated in our community long after we are gone,” said Senior Pastor Louis...

      License Plate Recognition Cameras are recording in the Royal Oaks community in Miami Lakes.   Since 2018, police have used four of the devices in town to track suspects, and Royal Oaks residents hope the cameras will aid police investigations in their neighborhood.     Royal Oaks has 666 homes and is between Northwest 170th Street and Northwest 162nd Street, on either side of Northwest 82nd Avenue.      Police said from January through...

Electric violinist Frank Lima performed in Picnic Park West in Miami Lakes during a Sept. 11 tribute to the events of that day that happened 19 years ago.     Members of the town’s Veterans Committee; American Legion Post 144, Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts planted 2,977 flags in the lawn in memory of each person who died after hijacked planes crashed in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.     Lima, of Kendall, who is shown in the photo...

Dottie Wix, chair of the Miami Lakes Elderly Affairs Committee, oversees distribution of 100 free lunches to senior residents.El Novillo Restaurant at 15450 New Barn Rd. was the ninth dining spot to provide meals for the project that continues until the end of September and the fiscal year. On Sept. 2nd, Freebee delivered most of the lunches. About a dozen volunteers and committee members also pitched in. “This helps the elders and the...