The Miami Herald hosted an opportunity for students in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee program which yielded many winners honored at the 2014 Spelling Bee ceremonies. The Miami-Dade Spelling Bee Ceremony was held at Jungle Island on Wednesday, March 19. Local elementary school champions included Shaheer Kotwal from Hialeah Gardens Elementary School, Briana Cantero from Miami Lakes K-8...

  Whenever you have an emergency you know that if you call 9-1-1, help will be on the way. Most often, people just take the time to think the front-line responders, but they don’t realize all of the work it takes behind the scenes to get them there. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) dispatchers work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They are part psychologists, part support system and 100 percent unsung heroes. Every year those heroes...

  Navy Seaman recruit, Christopher R. Casanova, son of Jose F. and Lourdes Casanova of Hialeah, recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois. Casanova is a 2007 graduate of Barbara Goleman High School. During the eight-week program, Casanova completed a variety of training which included classroom study and practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, firefighting, water safety and...

  It is a violation of Miami-Dade County Ordinance Sec. 30-292, (1)(a)2 for a vehicle to stop or park on a sidewalk. The code reads, in part: “Except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic, or in compliance with law or the directions of a police officer or official traffic control device, no person shall: (a) Stop, stand, or park a vehicle: 1. On the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of...

  Seventy-one-year-old George Pringle still loves to play sports and he is not planning on slowing down anytime soon. He played football in Connecticut at a time when players wore leather helmets without a face mask. Pringle also was a star on the diamond, tennis and basketball courts, and was elected to the Miami-Dade Softball Hall of Fame. The sports made him famous and now he wants to make an unheralded sport widely known in South...