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This Week In South Florida: Billy Corben joins journalists to discuss Miami City Hall dysfunction

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This Week In South Florida: Billy Corben joins journalists to discuss Miami City Hall dysfunction


MIAMI – Anyone who thinks local government meetings are boring hasn’t been to one at City Hall in Miami. The latest spectacle of the dysfunction at a commission meeting was the ousting of Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez.

Commissioners Miguel Angel Gabela, Damian Pardo, Manolo Reyes, and Christine King voted to oust Méndez and placed her in an advisory role ending June 11.

“I was doing my job; that’s why you’re upset at me,” Méndez told Gabela during the meeting.

Gabela said he didn’t trust her. Commissioner Joe Carollo was the only dissenting vote. This had just followed Miami City Manager Art Noriega’s furniture scandal.

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Filmmaker Billy Corben met with local journalists to discuss the madness during This Week In South Florida’s Roundtable on Sunday. He compared the city government to a mafia, a dictatorship, and a third-world banana republic.

“It runs on fear and intimidation, and I would say extortion,” Corben said.

The Miami Herald’s Sarah Blaskey, an investigative reporter, and Joe Flechas, an associate editor, joined the conversation on TWISF with Joshua Ceballos, the local government accountability reporter for WLRN.

Blaskey described Méndez’s role as someone who has a hand in “a lot of pots” and went beyond her role as a city attorney to comment on a case that resulted in a $63.5 million legal judgment against Carollo.

“She has been sort of proactive in that case,” Blaskey said adding she had defended Carollo.

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Flechas said the attorney is tasked with interpreting the city’s code and charter. Instead, Méndez went on the record several times defending Carollo’s actions against the businessmen who won the judgment.

“She attacked these Little Havana businessmen and besmirched their reputations often as a means of justifying the taxpayers paying for the legal defense,” Flechas said referring to Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla.

Ceballos said Méndez was allegedly “the go-between” Carollo and Emilio Gonzalez, the former city manager. Corben said Méndez was tasked with spending taxpayers’ money to defend corruption, as Carrollo “weaponized” government.

“She has had a blank check to enable this corrupt behavior,” Corben said.

The furniture choices and the city’s legal costs were not the only scandals mentioned. Blaskey said Méndez’s husband had a company that flipped homes.

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“The allegation is that through her work at the city, she had information that helped, you know, guide her husband’s business towards homes that, you know, could be flipped for a profit,” Blaskey said. “Often these were homes through the guardianship program.”

Blaskey said the program’s homes mostly belong to the elderly and people with disabilities.

“There is a lawsuit that Victoria Méndez and her husband are facing right now about this house flipping business. There’s also a bar complaint into how she has engaged with that business as the city attorney,” Blaskey said.

Corben said the city attorney also failed to intervene on the redistricting maps that prompted a federal racial gerrymandering suit. U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore found the city unconstitutionally drew district lines.

“This perversion of the redistricting is far more corrupt than even the judge decided,” Corben said.

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Blaskey said that to notice the incumbent’s attempt to disqualify Gabela from running last November an observer has to “zoom in on this tiny, tiny little carveout around the part where” one home is.

There was speculation about the impact of the federal judge’s ruling, how this reflects on Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, and how it affects other local governments.

“I think whatever happens in the city of Miami government is something that will influence the way other government officials act in their governments as well,” Blaskey said. “And so I think, that’s how it becomes relevant to everyone else.”

Watch more on TWISF: Debra Hixon talks about Broward schools

Copyright 2024 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.

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Florida high school football team pulls off miraculous touchdown to help win state championship

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Florida high school football team pulls off miraculous touchdown to help win state championship


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A Florida high school state football championship finished with a phenomenal ending for one team and absolute heartbreak for the other on Saturday night.

Lake Mary High School was down six points with seven seconds left in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A title game against Vero Beach. Noah Grubbs dropped back to pass and rolled to his right. He gained momentum and fired the ball, which was tipped and caught short of the goal line.

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A Lake Mary quarterback looks to throw in the FHSAA Class 7A state championship, Dec. 13, 2025, at Pitbull Stadium in Miami. (Crystal Vander Weit/TCPALM/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

As Vero Beach defenders tried to keep receiver Barrett Schultz out of the end zone, Schultz’s teammate Tavarius Brundidge Jr. came around and took the ball out of Schultz’s hands. Brundidge ran the ball into the end zone to complete the wild and chaotic play.

The touchdown tied the game, and Lake Mary would kick the extra point to win, 28-27.

INDIANA’S FERNANDO MENDOZA WINS 2025 HEISMAN TROPHY

A Lake Mary player in the FHSAA Class 7A state championship, Dec. 13, 2025, makes a catch at Pitbull Stadium in Miami. (Crystal Vander Weit/TCPALM/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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“I was just hoping and praying like everyone else that he was going to come down with the football and Barrett did,” Lake Mary head coach Scott Perry said, via TC Palm. “… We were just going to keep fighting and fighting until the final whistle.”

Vero Beach tried to run out the clock the best they could. The team decided to take a safety with 12 seconds left, and gave the ball back to Lake Mary.

A Vero Beach player is stunned after the FHSAA Class 7A state championship, Dec. 13, 2025, at Pitbull Stadium in Miami. (Crystal Vander Weit/TCPALM/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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It was the first state championship for Lake Mary in its history.

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Gisele Bündchen and Joaquim Valente enjoy Florida day date on jet skis

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Gisele Bündchen and Joaquim Valente enjoy Florida day date on jet skis


Gisele Bündchen and her boyfriend, Joaquim Valente, soaked up the sun during a jet skiing date in Florida.

The model and the MMA athlete appeared in good spirits while on the water near their home in Surfside on Saturday.

They both stayed close to each other and sported life vests.

Gisele Bündchen and her boyfriend, Joaquim Valente, were seen soaking up the sun on jet skis. BACKGRID
The couple enjoyed a date day in Surfside, Fla., on Saturday. BACKGRID

Bündchen, 35, appeared to be wearing a white one-piece bathing suit underneath her vest.

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She accessorized with sunglasses and styled her hair in a ponytail.

As for Valente, he sported black swim trunks.

At one point, the model was seen on the phone. BACKGRID
Bündchen sported a white swimsuit. BACKGRID

The couple, who have been romantically linked since 2023, enjoyed some quality time together after welcoming a son together in February.

While Bündchen and Valente have shied away from revealing too much about their infant, they recently took him out on a boat ride in September.

At the time, the former Victoria’s Secret model was seen cradling her son while her beau took the wheel.

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She also wore a life vest. BACKGRID
The health guru accessorized with sunglasses. BACKGRID

Valente then adorably held onto their 10-month-old, as Bündchen watched in awe.

The health guru also shared a rare glimpse of her son alongside her 16-year-old son, Benjamin, in October.

The teenager adorably held onto his little brother while playing the piano.

She also wore her hair up. BACKGRID
Bündchen was seen on her phone while at a standstill. BACKGRID

Bündchen shares Benjamin and her daughter Vivian, 13, with her ex-husband, Tom Brady.

The exes were wed from 2009 to 2022.

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The former NFL star also shares an 18-year-old son, Jack, with his ex Bridget Moynahan.



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Florida Class 4A state championship: How to watch American Heritage vs. Jones

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Florida Class 4A state championship: How to watch American Heritage vs. Jones


The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) football state championships continued last night down in Miami at Pitbull Stadium as the Raines Vikings upset the Northwestern Bulls for the the Class 3A state championship, provind the most exciting game of the week thus far. Another rematch from last year’s finals pits the American Heritage Patriots versus the Jones Tigers for the Class 4A state championship this afternoon. We preview the sixth of seven FHSAA state championship games as teams begin being crowned as champions of their classifications.

How to Watch American Heritage vs. Jones in Florida 4A state championship game

Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
Location: Pitbull Stadium in Miami, Fla.
TV Channel: NFHS Network

American Heritage Players to Watch

QB Leon Strawder: Strawder is making his second consecutive appearance in a state championship game, this time with a different team, however. The senior has thrown for 2,052 yards and 19 touchdowns.

WR Jamar Denson: Of the star-studded wide receiving corps for American Heritage, its Denson who has been Mr. Reliable thus far this season. Throughout the course of the season, Denson has hauled in 69 passes for 991 yards and 15 touchdowns.

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WR Jeffar Jean-Noel: The Georgia Tech commit has been the second option behind Denson on offense, with Jean-Noel catching 57 passes for 795 yards and six touchdowns.

LB Dylan Bennett: Anchoring the front seven of the Patriots’ defense is the senior linebacker, who currently leads the team with 61 total tackles, 17 them going for a loss and five sacks.

Jones Players to Watch

QB Dereon Coleman: The Miami signee is as calm as they come in the pocket as the senior quarterback has thrown for 2,749 yards, 28 touchdowns and only three picks this Florida high school football season.

WR Larry Miles: Coleman’s favorite target to throw to is the Nebraska signee as the senior looks to end his high school career with a state crown. Miles has caught 88 passes for 1,111 and 10 touchdowns.

OL Xavier Payne: The 6-foot-7, 275-pound Colorado offensive tackle signee will have the job of making sure Coleman stands upright throughout the afternoon against American Heritage’s pass rush.

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EDGE Frederick Ards: The 2027 four-star EDGE rusher for the Tigers has been superb, racking up 73 tackles, 13 for loss and 11 sacks.

Where to Watch the Florida Class 4A state championship on livestream:

You can watch the American Heritage Patriots take on the Jones Tigers starting at 12:30 p.m. ET on NFHS Network.

For Florida high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the Sunshine State, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the high school football excitement across the state of Florida.



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