Miami, FL
Miami native 'Cuban Cowboy' Orlando Mendez returns home for Country Bay Musical Festival
MIAMI – Miami-native Orlando Mendez had been an aspiring actor when a pandemic shut down live entertainment in 2020. But the break gave Mendez a chance to embrace his love of county music and reinvent himself as the “Cuban Cowboy.”
After COVID-19 locked the world down, Mendez said he turned to YouTube and taught himself to play guitar. Once restrictions began to lift, the 28-year-old said he put a band together and started getting gigs in South Florida and other parts of the state.
“We brought country to a lot of bars that never had country before, a lot of these bars that are staples here in Miami but never really had a country act,” Mendez said. “We started playing country music, and I think it was just the right place, right time. Got a momentum and started building quickly.”
Mendez is returning to Miami this month to perform at the Country Bay Music Festival scheduled for Nov. 9-10 at the historic Miami Marine Stadium, just southeast of downtown on Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay.
“I grew up listening to country in Miami where the country scene wasn’t so prevalent, and just to see it grow in this city and in this market to the point where we can have a big-time country festival was really exciting for me,” Mendez said.
The headliners scheduled for the event are Zac Brown Band, Carrie Underwood, Dustin Lynch, Diplo presents Thomas Wesley, Chase Rice and Chris Janson. Other performers include Niko Moon, Gabby Barrett, Chayce Beckham, Parmalee, Chase Matthew, Redferrin, Owen Riegling, Willie Jones, RVSHVD and Dee Jay Silver.
After more than a year of playing shows around Florida, Mendez got his big break when he appeared on “The Voice” in 2022. He impressed judges with a cover of Luke Combs’ “Beer Never Broke My Heart” and joined a team led by pop singer Camila Cabello, a native Cuban who grew up in Miami. Mendez, a University of Florida theater school graduate, credits his acting background in developing his stage presence.
Mendez didn’t win, but the experience prompted him to make the move to Nashville. He released a single called “Motherland” earlier this year about his experiences as a Cuban American, and an EP with five songs dropped last month.
Mendez attended last year’s County Bay, and he’s looking forward to this year.
“It was an incredible festival with a lot of great sights and an incredible atmosphere, and this year, I’m expecting them to take a step up,” Mendez said.
Miami already is considered a hub for Latin, hip-hop and electronic music, but Country Bay organizer Nelson Albareda, the CEO of Loud and Live, said the success of last year’s event proves there’s a place for country and possibly even other genres. And a few more successful years might earn County Bay a permanent spot in Miami’s music scene alongside Rolling Loud and Ultra Music Festival.
“I think the city today is a global city,” Albareda said. “And we’ve had all this influx of people and culture, you can’t compare Miami on a global map to where it was at even five or 10 years ago.”
About half of last year’s crowd was people visiting from out of town, but the other half was from the Miami area, which is about 70% Hispanic. Albareda said more than a third of all country music fans in the U.S. identify as people of Latin descent.
“You could definitely see Miami representing at the festival,” Albareda said. “There were a lot of Hispanic faces.”
Country Bay is returning to the Miami Marine Stadium, taking advantage of the view across Biscayne Bay toward Miami’s skyline. The festival drew more than 20,000 people over two days last year, and Albareda said he’s expecting a similar crowd this year. And like last year, the festival also has been selling anchorage access passes enabling fans to attend the event by boat or yacht.
Albareda said the success of last year’s festival, with both artists and fans flooding social media with posts about the event, made it much easier to book performers this year.
“We were getting texts from agents while the festival was going on saying, ‘Hey, I don’t know what you guys did, but my artists are texting me, and everybody is loving the festival,’” Albareda said.
One of the new acts this year is central Florida native Chase Rice, who recently released two albums, “Go Down Singin’” and “Fireside Sessions.”
“I was born in Daytona Beach, so anything South Florida or anything Florida in general is a no-brainer for me,” Rice said. “And it’s late in the year, man. It’s cold up here. I’m ready to get down in the heat.”
Besides hosting musical acts on two stages, the Country Bay Music Festival will include a country-themed bar, food and carnival attractions.
“Line-dancing was such a hit that we’ve added a whole second stage with an entire area for line-dancing,” Albareda said.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Miami, FL
U.S. attorney in Miami targeting Cuban Communist leaders with new initiative, sources say
The top federal prosecutor in Miami is spearheading a new initiative targeting Cuban leaders for prosecution, sources familiar with the plan tell CBS News.
Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, is working with officials from federal and local law enforcement agencies and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, to establish a new Cuban prosecution working group, the sources said. OFAC is the office responsible for imposing sanctions.
The group plans to focus on prosecutions involving economic crimes, drugs, violent crimes and immigration-related violations, with a focus on targeting those in the Communist Party leadership, the sources added.
A Justice Department spokesperson told CBS News: “Federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office could not be immediately reached for comment. The plans for the new working group were reported earlier by the Washington Post.
President Trump has indicated he’s been eyeing Cuba’s leaders, after the U.S. ousted Venezuelan President Nicolàs Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug charges in January, and recently launched a joint war with Israel against Iran last week that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The president told CNN in an interview on Friday that Cuba’s communist government was likely to be toppled next.
“Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon,” Mr. Trump said, according to CNN.
Quiñones and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Yara Klukas are the same prosecutors who are separately leading an investigation into former Obama-era intelligence officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan, over an intelligence assessment that determined that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election to help benefit Mr. Trump.
Late last year, Quiñones’ office sent subpoenas to former government officials requesting a broad swath of records, including paper or digital documents, text messages and emails associated with the preparation of the intelligence community’s January 2017 assessment.
In recent weeks, updated subpoenas that expanded the date range for the documents were issued in the matter.
Miami, FL
Firefight at NW Miami-Dade warehouse enters 2nd day: ‘It burned it all up’
Video shows bright orange flames still burning at a warehouse in Northwest Miami-Dade on Friday, almost 24 hours after crews first responded.
The flames broke out before 11 a.m. Thursday, sending towers of thick black smoke into the sky, and crews have been attempting to put the fire out since.
Officials said the structure located just east of Red Road and south of Florida’s Turnpike Extension is more than twice the size of a Costco warehouse and contains hazardous materials inside.
More than 200 firefighters from both Broward and Miami-Dade counties have been fighting the blaze, which officials say could burn for days.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Lives spared, livelihoods lost
Miami-Dade Deputy Fire Chief Danny Cardeso said no injuries were reported.
The driver of an 18-wheeler told NBC6 he was at the warehouse, which stores inventory for shipments, when the fire alarm went off.
He said everyone immediately evacuated, no one was hurt, and everyone inside was accounted for. Still, some workers and business owners fear they lost their livelihoods.
Benny Monción, who owns DBenny Sazón, one of the food trucks parked at the facility, was in tears when she spoke to NBC6 at the scene.
She said a friend of hers who also owns a food truck called to tell her how he fared.
“He called me just now, we were watching the news, and my truck was still intact, but his, the fire got it,” she said, her voice breaking as she put her head in her hand. “It burned it all up.”
She said she wasn’t sure what had happened to her truck, which normally operates on 50 North University Drive in Pembroke Pines, as the fire raged.
“I ask God that mine at least can be OK, but I feel so bad [that his didn’t make it], because these are hardworking people, looking to earn their daily living that in this country is too hard,” Monción said. “It’s so many things.”
Air quality concerns
A public safety alert was issued at one point Thursday due to the heavy smoke. The alert recommended those with respiratory problems and medical conditions to shelter in place if possible.
Dr. Donny Perez, a medical director at Memorial Regional Hospital South, said fires like this can send fine particles into the air that can irritate the lungs and cause coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness, sore throat, chest pain and palpitations.
“Even their eyes can get irritated, the sore throat. So the best thing is to stay indoors with the windows closed, avoid outdoor exercise. Wear an N-95 mask if you must go outside. Use your rescue inhalers as prescribed if you do have lung disease,” he said.
Resident Gloria Downey said the smoke was concerning, especially with the uncertainty about what materials could be burning.
“I mean I don’t know what’s in that building, but I have lived here since before that building was built off and on, and God knows what’s in there,” she said. “We have the house completely sealed. We have air filters running in both rooms. The air condition is off. It’s a little hot in Miami, but we’ll be all right.”
Drought and wind may hinder firefight
Winds on Friday are blowing consistently at 10-20 mph toward the northwest, pushing the smoke over a nearby landfill and out over the Everglades.
“Just a couple of spotty little showers here, not enough to really help with the fire,” NBC6’s meteorologist Adam Berg said. “But the winds certainly don’t help.”
Traffic impacts
Officials asked people to avoid the area while they worked to put out the fire. Northwest 47th Avenue is closed between Honey Hill Drive (Northwest 199th Street) to Northwest 207th Drive.
Take Northwest 57th Avenue as an alternate route.
Miami, FL
Miami Gardens mother gets probation after her 2-year-old shot himself
A mother in Miami Gardens has been sentenced to five years of probation after her 2-year-old son accidentally shot himself with a gun he found in her purse.
According to police, the incident happened last summer at an apartment complex in Miami Gardens. Authorities say the toddler grabbed his mother’s firearm from her purse and accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting himself in the leg.
Video captured at the scene showed the child being rushed to the hospital on a stretcher. The boy survived and has since fully recovered.
The child’s mother, 35-year-old Christina Monique Doyle, was arrested and charged with child neglect and culpable negligence for allowing easy access to the weapon. Prosecutors said those charges carried a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
During a court hearing, the presiding judge, Alberto Milian, emphasized the responsibility that comes with gun ownership.
“I am a very pro-gun person, but along with the right and the privilege of having a gun comes responsibilities,” Milian said.
Doyle ultimately accepted a plea deal where she pleaded no contest, allowing her to avoid jail time. Instead, she was sentenced to five years of probation.
Her attorney, Dustin Tischler, said Doyle has no prior criminal record and described the incident as a mistake.
“She’s 35 years old, never been in trouble whatsoever in her life,” Tischler said. “She’s a very good mother, a very caring mother to several children. This has been a nightmare, and she’s happy to get it behind her.”
Tischler also said the case should serve as a warning to gun owners about keeping firearms secure around children.
“Even though she had it in her purse and thought it was secure, the child was able to get to it when she was distracted,” he said. “If you have a firearm, it’s important to keep it locked away.”
Tischler said Doyle has completed a parenting program through the Florida Department of Children and Families and how she is allowed to have contact with her children, including her son who is now doing well after recovering from the injury.
NBC6 reached out to DCF about the case but we haven’t heard back yet.
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