Five candidates have qualified to run in the April 9 special election to fill a seat on the Miami Lakes town council. Seat 6 became vacant when Vice Mayor Carlos Alvarez resigned in November, citing personal reasons. The candidates who completed their paperwork on Feb. 14 are: Hector Abad, a social worker in Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Esther Colon, a former manager of the town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea; former Vice Mayor Nelson...

      Bacon the Chihuahua is named for one of his favorite foods. The way he dived for a piece of pork that had fallen to the floor when he was a puppy inspired owner Chu Diaz to name him after the treat.       Bacon almost didn’t live 11 years. He was struck by a car when he was 4-years-old but survived.       “He was born again,” Diaz said of his pup. Diaz is a radio...

     Bob Graham Education Center’s Advanced Band participated in the Florida Bandmasters Association Solo and Ensemble Festival.        Seven students along with teacher Carlos Perez traveled to Coral Reef Senior High School in southwest Miami-Dade County on Feb. 2 to play with hundreds of middle and high school students from across the county.       All seven students...

      The quarter-mile walking trail along Northwest 170th Street is bordered by a canal on the south side and what has become an illegal parking lot on the swale on the north side.       A resident’s complaint to the SeeClickFix app prompted the town on Feb. 1 to post No Parking signs along the swale.            Miami-Dade Police officers warned drivers -- who have been...

     The Cuban American Bar Association installed Javier A. Ley-Soto of Miami Lakes as its president on Jan. 27.      He will lead the national service organization that also includes CABA Pro Bono Legal Services and the CABA Foundation.      Members the 50-year-old group are attorneys and law students with an interest in human and legal rights for Cubans and other minority communities,...