Miami, FL
Free swim lessons for children offered in Miami-Dade area
MIAMI – We are about a month away from the first official day of summer and the heat is already on.
So many of us will spend our time in the pool or at the beach. According to the American Red Cross drowning is still the leading cause of death for children one to four years old, besides birth defects, but swim lessons can be expensive. So we went to find out where to learn how to swim for free!
“I love to get in the water,” said seven-year-old Kaliyah Readon, who plans to spend her summer doing tricks in the pool. “I love to swim because every time I get in the pool I do front flips.”
Kaliyah’s comfort around the water is all thanks to Dr. Bridget McKinney, the principal at Miami Carol City Senior High School and the founder of P-SWAP in Opa-locka.
“We teach kids to learn to swim to prevent unintentional injuries or death,” Dr. McKinney said.
Dr. McKinney teaches about 400 children how to swim each summer, at no charge, all with the help of the American Red Cross and The Children’s Trust.
“This gives me a platform to continue these efforts. Not just teach them to swim but to train them to be safe around bodies of water,” says Dr. McKinney.
For the last ten years, she has volunteered her time to make sure children in her community know what to do in a water emergency and the parents are grateful.
“Our Black and brown children have the highest death rates when it comes to drowning. As a parent knowing that my baby can swim and he will forever be able to take that skill,” said Opa-locka Commissioner Veronica Williams, whose son took the lessons.
The children really are learning the importance of these lessons.
“If I don’t know how to swim I could drown but if I do know how to swim I will not drown,” said Veronica’s son, Jaylen.
Kayliah agrees.
“I have a teacher so I don’t drown,” she said.
In Miami Gardens, swim lessons are also free for all residents starting at just six months old.
“The earlier you can get them involved in it, teach them how not to fear water but how to respect water I think it will carry them for a long time in their lives,” said Miami Gardens Mayor Rodney Harris.
The mayor says offering life-saving skills for free is important in his community and all over South Florida.
“We’re giving opportunities to our residents and our younger residents to be in a position to save their lives or somebody else’s lives,” said the mayor.
With water surrounding us, knowing what to do and how to do it can save lives.
“We have pools. People have pools in their backyards, we have canals that surround us so it’s important that we teach our kids how to swim,” said Harris.
“Our swim lessons are free. Completely free. So there is no excuse,” said Karla Smith, the Aquatic Facilities manager for Miami Gardens.
Miami Gardens residents can find more information about the program here.
Miami, FL
Miami-Dade deputies detain elderly father who they say shot and killed his son after a domestic dispute
A 75-year-old man has been detained after Miami-Dade deputies say he shot and killed his son after a domestic dispute in Palmetto Bay.
This happened, according to investigators, at approximately 4:49 p.m. in the area of SW 168th Street and 92nd Avenue.
When deputies arrived, they found the elderly man, who had not yet been identified, and immediately detained him for questioning.
Afterwards, they conducted a security sweep and found an adult male, 47, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.
Deputies say this isn’t the first time they have responded to the home.
“We have responded to this particular residence in the past due to mental health-type incidents,” MDSO PIO Detective Argemis “AC” Colome said.
Deputies say the dispatcher heard a dispute happening over the phone during the 911 call, but it’s unclear what led to the shooting and who was having the mental health crisis.
“The individual who shot was the father, and the male deceased on the scene was the son,” Colome said.
Neighbors reacted to this family tragedy with shock.
“So sad, a little bit concerned cause maybe you’re, you know, you’re staying somewhere, and you don’t know what’s actually happening at the other houses,” Giorgos Kollilekas, who lives in the area, said.
Colome said that there is no danger to the community as this was the result of a domestic dispute.
“There’s always help, please, there’s a lot of hotlines, there’s a lot of numbers. You can call us. At the end of the day, getting help early can mitigate situations like this,” Colome said.
No other information has been released, including the identities of those involved or what caused the dispute.
The investigation is ongoing.
Miami, FL
Cain, Kushner launch South Florida JV with plans for Edgewater rental tower
Cain and Kushner are launching a South Florida real estate joint venture, planning a luxury apartment tower in Edgewater for their first project, The Real Deal has learned.
London-based Cain, led by Jonathan Goldstein, and New York-based Kushner, led by Laurent Morali and Nicole Kushner Meyer, plan a 40-story, 364-unit project on Cain’s 1.5-acre site at 614 and 720 Northeast 27th Street in Miami, according to a news release. The property is near the Missoni Baia condo tower that Cain co-developed with Vlad Doronin’s OKO Group.
BDT & MSD Partners provided a $42 million loan for the project, which is in the pre-development phase. Construction is expected to start late next year, the release says.
The Cain-Kushner JV is targeting residential and mixed-use investments and developments in the tri-county region.
“We are looking at all opportunities that we think are sensible,” Goldstein said.
Their South Florida JV comes as the region is experiencing another influx of out-of-staters after the pandemic-era boom, only this time the in-migration is primarily of wealthy individuals and their companies amid the blue-to-red-state migration.
Yet, Cain and Kushner’s plans for Edgewater apartments come as the multifamily market has softened due to hefty deliveries in recent years. A record 18,600 units were completed in 2024, outpacing leasing that year by about 20 percent, CoStar Group data shows. Although construction starts have slowed, last year’s 12,718 unit completions still surpassed total leasing for the year by about 1,000 apartments.
It has led to slower lease-ups, more concessions and a drop in the average asking rents across South Florida.
Developers starting projects now have said demand will catch up by the time they finish their buildings, with many adding that South Florida remains a strong apartment market. Many are betting on luxury rentals, which CoStar’s data showed made up the bulk of leasing in recent years.
“We are big believers in South Florida and big believers in Miami,” Goldstein said.
Cain, backed by Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, has been investing in South Florida for nearly a decade, with the JV in some ways marking its second chapter in the region.
Cain’s most recent project is the Delano Miami Beach renovation. The hotel, which closed in 2020, is expected to reopen in time for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix early next month.
Aside from the Missoni Baia condo tower, Cain also partnered with OKO on the Una Residences condo tower in Brickell and the 57-story 830 Brickell office tower. The office building was completed in 2024 fully pre-leased, catching a demand surge during the pandemic-era in-migration of out-of-state companies to Miami. Cain also is an investor in Doronin’s hospitality firm Aman Group.
Kushner has a presence in Miami’s Edgewater, completing the 37-story, 420-unit apartment tower at 2000 Biscayne Boulevard in 2024, with plans for more residential development next-door at 1900 Biscayne Boulevard. It also purchased the 276-unit Hamilton apartment building at 555 Northeast 34th Street from Aimco.
Elsewhere, Kushner plans a 932-unit multifamily development at 300 West Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. It borrowed a $115 million construction loan last year for a luxury 68-unit apartment project in Surfside. And it scored approval in October for a 470-unit rental building and synagogue development near Hollywood’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
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Miami, FL
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