According to National Education Association numbers, Florida’s average starting teacher salary of $49,435 ranks a respectable 19th in the nation. It’s as teaching careers progress that the picture changes. According to those same numbers, Florida’s overall average teacher salary of $56,643 ranks last among all 50 states. It’s in that climate – and amid data such as new Department of Commerce numbers that...

Parking lot drainage infrastructure isn’t anyone’s idea of a glamorous issue. But if you’ve ever walked from your parking spot to a building after a South Florida downpour and felt like you needed a snorkel and fins, you know why it matters. The Graham Companies has a number of improvements planned for Main Street. First, though, they’re tackling a problem many people have noticed: parking lots that don’t...

he 28th annual Miami Lakes United Methodist Church pumpkin patch is back. Enjoy this Miami Lakes tradition through October 31st to enjoy the fall season. General admission is $5 on Monday through Thursday, $7 on Friday through Sunday and $10 on Halloween, children 12 and under get free admission with a paying adult. “A free pass is available for guests who join us in October for a Sunday worship service at 10 a.m.,” a...

Oct. 14 Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce Luncheon. Join the Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce for its monthly luncheon, where Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava will speak. Miami Lakes Hotel on Main, 6842 Main St. Networking at 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch at noon. $45 for members, $55 for non-members. Register at miamilakeschamber.com. Oct. 16 Youth Open Hang. Kids between the ages of 5 and 12 are invited to this...

If you told somebody about even one or two aspects of Rosa Nell Hammer’s life, it would sound like something with potential to be a hit film or Netflix series. She was born on the Mississippi-Alabama border just after the end of World War 1. Her hometown was called Electric Mills, but the farmhouse she grew up in didn’t get electricity until she was in high school. During World War II, she joined other women of what would later...