Martha Jane Cannon Toms was an elegant and proper Southern lady who was not above cooking a hairy feral hog that her son Tommy Toms once brought home after a hunting trip.      Called Mango because she was so sweet, Toms was 96 when she died from natural causes on Sept. 2 at the Southwest Ranches home of her daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth and Bill Brinegar.      Ernest Graham,...

     Monsignor Edward Pace High School Class of 2014 alumnus Nicholas Fernández is pursuing a degree at Yale Law School this fall, the high school said.      Fernandez, formerly of Miami Lakes, was a National Merit Scholar, Student Government Executive Board president and editor-in-chief of the “Torch” yearbook while at Pace. He has returned to campus to teach world history.    ...

     A new school year calls for a new home. The Bob Graham Education Center and Bob Graham  Primary Learning Center, both in Miami Lakes, welcomed a new assistant principal to the Primary Learning Center’s staff.  Jenel Romero, formerly a magnet teacher for a decade at Miami Lakes Middle School, is the new assistant principal at the Bob Graham Primary Learning Center, at 8875 NW 143rd St.     The...

   Laura Wyllie Ratliff, commercial portfolio manager of The Graham Companies, is continuing her family’s legacy of developing and strengthening the business community in Miami Lakes.      Ratliff, 35, grew up in town and is a member of what’s known around the company as “the G4,” the fourth generation of family cousins who are young leaders in the firm.      Her life and...

      Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Doral, spoke at the Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce luncheon held Sept. 8 at Shula’s Hotel and Golf Club in Miami Lakes.       The U.S. Representative for District 25 is serving his 10th term.        Diaz-Balart, 59, said he is not giving up on getting a unique Zip Code for the Town of Miami Lakes.        He also...