Florida
When the word ‘big’ isn’t big enough: FLORIDA TODAY looks at NASA’s VAB and giant cruise ship
Take a look inside KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building
Florida Today reporter Brooke Edwards talks with KSC’s Elizabeth Kline about the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building’s past, present and future
Sometimes it’s fun to go big.
Sunday’s FLORIDA TODAY takes a deeper look at an iconic Space Coast building and a new boat docking at Port Canaveral — and in both cases, the word “big” isn’t even big enough to describe them.
Let’s start with the boat. Look for Business Editor Dave Berman’s detailed report on our Style cover of everything you need to know about Utopia of the Seas, the world’s second largest cruise ship, which started its twice-weekly sailings from Port Canaveral this weekend.
Dave’s story on this new Royal Caribbean ship covers everything from what to expect in the restaurants to the ship’s famous godmother. Here are some fun numbers from Dave’s story that really illustrate the size of this floating city: Utopia features 18 decks (including 16 passenger decks); 2,834 staterooms; a crew of 2,290; and is 1,188 feet long. It has 22 restaurants; 13 bars and lounges; five pools; eight hot tubs; two casinos with more than 370 slot machines and nearly 30 table games; two rock-climbing walls; and a mini-golf course.
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Next up in the go big category is NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building. Whenever I drive over the State Road 520 causeway, I’m always awed by the site of the VAB in the distance. Space Reporter Brooke Edwards decided to take a deeper look at its history and future timed around the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, which, of course, the VAB was constructed to support.
The VAB stands 525 feet, making it the equivalent to a 50-story structure. That’s taller than the Statue of Liberty and just under half the size of the Empire State Building. But what’s so remarkable about this building is that it’s all one giant single-story structure; it’s not subdivided like a typical skyscraper. And, of course, what’s even more remarkable is what it represents: our nation’s space ambitions, both those already achieved and those still being planned.
“You kind of think about it, the elevator cars themselves are original to the building, and you think about the past and think ‘all those people have stood where I’m standing right now’,” Elizabeth Kline, the element operations manager for the VAB, told Brooke.
I hope you not only spend time with our VAB story but also go to floridatoday.com to scroll through the accompanying photo galleries. Our photographers have captured stunning images of this historic building through the years.
Other stories I hope you don’t miss in Sunday’s FLORIDA TODAY:
- Our front page story on Brevard County’s budget proposal for next year. Dave Berman walks you through the priorities — and what this budget would mean for your taxes. It’s probably no surprise that roads and other transportation-related infrastructure from bridges to sidewalks are top priorities. And topping that to-do list is widening and improving Ellis Road.
- Education Reporter Finch Walker showcases some of Brevard’s talented youth who competed this month in the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics during the NAACP national convention in Las Vegas.
- Get some insight on investing from our financial planner columnist.
- For all those pickleball fans out there, Trending Reporter Michelle Spitzer tells you about an indoor pickleball facility coming to Brevard. Playing indoors might be particularly welcome to those of us who are extra vulnerable to insect bites. Michelle also gives us the scoop on mosquitoes and why they bite some people more than others.
- Finally, today is National Ice Cream Day. Read our story inside Sunday’s newspaper then get out there and enjoy a scoop (or two). What’s your favorite flavor? Mine is mocha chip.
Starting this week, we’ll be rolling out our local August primary election preview stories. We’ve got reporters working on many of the key races around Brevard County, so look for those stories at floridatoday.com and in your newspaper. Our goal is to make sure you have as much information as you need before casting your ballot.
Executive Editor Mara Bellaby can be reached at mbellaby@floridatoday.com. Thank you for subscribing and supporting local journalism.
Florida
Florida college Republicans group chat reveals racist texts: ‘Avoid the coloreds like the plague’
It only took three weeks for a group chat for conservative students at Florida International University (FIU) to become a place where participants eagerly used racist slurs, prompting widespread condemnation from community leaders.
Abel Alexander Carvajal, secretary of Miami-Dade county’s Republican party and a student at FIU’s College of Law, reportedly started the chat after the killing of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, in September 2025.
But on Wednesday, the Miami Herald published leaked WhatsApp conversations in which the college Republicans made racist, sexist, antisemitic and homophobic comments, including variations of the N-word used more than 400 times. Knowledge of the chat’s existence was revealed on the same day that Republican lawmakers in Florida pushed forward a bill to rename a one-mile stretch of road alongside FIU in honor of Kirk.
William Bejerano, who the Herald noted once tried to start an anti-abortion group at Miami Dade College, was the most prolific user of the N-word. Using the slur, Bejerano called for dozens of acts of extreme violence against Black people, including crucifying, beheading and dissecting.
Dariel Gonzalez, then the College Republicans’ recruitment chair, who has recently applied to become a GOP committee member, responded to the calls for violence by saying: “How edgy.” He repeatedly used “colored” to describe Black people, including writing: “Ew you had colored professors?!” and “Avoid the coloreds like the plague,” according to the Herald.
Carvajal, who was appointed to a two-year role on the city of Hialeah’s planning and zoning board earlier this year, confirmed to the paper that the group chat was his doing, but he denied knowledge of the problematic comments until the publication contacted him about its logs last week.
“It’s been five months since this was sent and this is the first time I’ve seen this message,” Carvajal told the Herald.
“I guess to an extent, I bear some responsibility, cause I created a chat. But if I had seen this at the moment, I would have removed [Bejerano] from the chat. I probably would have even blocked his number.”
The Herald found that Carvajal had deleted 14 messages sent by other participants in the chat and 42 of his own messages before the publication obtained the chat’s logs.
He also participated in some of the racist discussions. While referring to a Black student who allegedly left FIU’s College Republicans after a member of the group “called her a [N-word]”, the Floridian reported that Carvajal wrote: “Why didn’t miggress leave?” Elsewhere in the chat, the publication reported that Carvajal used “Miggress”, “Migglet” and “Migger” to refer to Black women, Black children and Black people, in general.
At one point, Gonzalez wrote: “You can fuck all the [K-word, a slur for Jewish people] you want. Just don’t marry them and procreate.”
Ian Valdes, the Turning Point USA FIU chapter president, responded, “I would def not marry a Jew,” before changing the group chat’s name from “Uber [R-word slur for disabled people] Yapping” to “Gooning in Agartha”. “Gooning” is a gen-Z slang term for male masturbation, while “Agartha” is a mythical white civilization promoted by Heinrich Himmler, one of the most powerful leaders in Nazi Germany next to Hitler.
Gonzalez reportedly described Agartha to the group chat as “Nazi heaven sort of”.
Kevin Cooper, the first Jewish chair of the Miami Dade Republican party, condemned the group chat in a statement published to X and called for Carvajal’s resignation.
“The majority of our board voted to request Carvajal’s resignation. We have commenced removal proceedings and look forward to resolution from the Republican Party of Florida,” he wrote.
That call was echoed by Juan Porras, a Republican state representative and Miami-Dade GOP state committee member, who said in a statement: “Leadership carries responsibility. When someone in a leadership role engages in this kind of behavior, it damages the trust placed in our party by voters across Florida. For that reason, I am asking the Miami Dade Republican party secretary to step down from this position.”
In a joint statement, Florida Republican state senators Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia and Ana Maria Rodriguez denounced the chats and called for the expulsion from party leadership of its participants.
“The individuals in the group chat have exposed how profoundly misaligned their beliefs are to the views of the Republican party of Florida,” their statement said. “We call for the immediate expulsion of the individuals disseminating from any level of leadership of the Miami-Dade Republican Party … We will not tolerate bigotry or discrimination.”
Multiple leaked group chats from young Republicans have created controversy in recent years.
Last year, Politico published messages from a group chat of more than 100 conservatives across the country in which users also made racist and antisemitic comments. In 2022, a Young Republican group chat from North Dakota was revealed as a cesspool of homophobic and antisemitic rhetoric.
Florida
Federal judge blocks DeSantis executive order declaring CAIR a 'terrorist organization'
Florida
Gas prices rise in South Florida amid U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, as the stock market also reports a dip
Four days into the Iranian conflict, gas prices are rising at many stations in South Florida.
“I’ve traveled all over the United States,” says Stacey Williams. CBS Miami spoke to him as he was gassing up on the turnpike. He paid $66 for 20 gallons of diesel to fill his pickup truck. Williams has noted the fluctuations in fuel as he drives to locations for his work on turbines. He just spent three weeks at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant south of Miami.
“The salary we get paid per hour does not add up to what we pay for gas, housing, and food,” he says.
Mitchell Gershon is also dealing with the higher gas prices. He has to fill three vehicles constantly for his business—Thrifty Gypsy, a pop-up store at musical venues. He’s back and forth from Orlando to Miami and says fuel is costing him 20% more. When asked how he handles these fluctuations, he said, “Have a little backup cash so you are ready for it.”
The rise in oil prices contributed to a drop in the stock market on Tuesday, which means some retirement accounts dipped, too. CBS Miami talked to Chad NeSmith, director of investments at Tobias Financial Advisors in Plantation, for perspective on the drop.
“We are seeing most of the pullback today. Yesterday was a shock,” he says. He’s not expecting runaway oil prices but says investors should stay in the loop: “Pay attention to your portfolio. Stick to your goals. Have a plan because these things are completely unpredictable.”
That unpredictability has Williams adjusting his budget. “You just cut back, cut corners, all you can do,” he says.
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