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Join thousands of Miami-Dade residents this weekend to clean up our coasts

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Join thousands of Miami-Dade residents this weekend to clean up our coasts


NORTH BAY VILLAGE, Fla. – This Saturday, the spotlight will shine bright on shorelines, beaches and waterways all over the world as thousands of volunteers roll up their sleeves for International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Miami-Dade County boasts the third-largest of these global cleanup efforts, thanks to two South Florida residents who saw the problem and resolved to grow this important mission of protecting our most valuable resource.

Married power couple environmentalists Dave Doebler and Dara Schoenwald are the co-founders of the organization VolunteerCleanup.org, a website they both created to amplify neighborhood cleanups happing all over Miami-Dade after noticing the endless flow of litter polluting our bay.

“Every Sunday, I would just go paddling in Biscayne Bay, and I would just notice all this trash,” Doebler reflected.

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Added Schoenwald: “And I just see his kayak, and it is loaded down and strapped down with all kinds of plastic. And my first thought was, like, we either need to get him a bigger boat or a lot more help.”

That’s how Volunteer Cleanup was born. The website went live in 2014 and since then, South Florida has stepped up big time. From its inception, the heart of the mission has always been the restoration and protection of Biscayne Bay.

In fact, right before our interview, the Don’t Trash Our Treasure team found Doebler and Schoenwald diligently scooping up plastic bits from their North Bay Village backyard as a hungry manatee and her calf munched on some seagrass that had floated to the surface mixed in with those toxic ingredients.

“This is why we do this,” Doebler said as he fished out the litter. “We’ve got this glorious gem, and it’s on life support right now. It’s in really, really poor shape.”

Over the past 10 years, Doebler and Schoenwald have helped launch over 100 clean-up non-profits like Clean Miami Beach and Clean This Beach Up. Together, these 100 non-profits have recruited over 35,000 volunteers who collectively have picked up over 800,000 pounds of debris from South Florida neighborhoods and shorelines.

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“Since 2020, we’ve removed over 20 thousand pounds from (the MacArthur Causeway) alone,” said Clean This Beach Up Founder MJ Algarra.

Said Doebler: “We’ve got people who are leading one cleanup a month…we’ve got people who are leading a cleanup every single week. Some have started nonprofits because of it, but it all starts with attending their very first cleanup.”

Like the more than 70 clean-ups Doebler and Schoenwald have helped organize for this year’s International Coastal Cleanup Day. The worldwide effort was launched by the Ocean Conservancy back in 1986 to remove trash from our beaches and waterways.

It’s a mission that Doebler and Schoenwald have supersized locally since they took over coordination of the Miami-Dade ICC clean-ups in 2014.

“We’re just super proud of how it’s grown,” said Schoenwald. “You know, over the 10 years, from those 20 or so cleanups to a massive movement of 70 and all of the partners that we’ve been able to include. When they spend the time picking it up, something is going to shift that hopefully makes them make different decisions.”

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“It provides an eye-opening experience where people can see firsthand just how much trash is in here,” Doebler reflected.

Decisions we make as consumers, reducing or eliminating single-use plastics whenever we can, realizing that every choice we make leaves a footprint.

“Plastics you can see, and once you see it you can’t unsee it,” said Doebler. “Almost everybody will attend another cleanup…almost everybody will say that they will reduce single-use plastics.”

And you might be surprised just how good it makes you feel.

“People say that was a lot of fun, and that always surprises me that people enjoy the experience of picking up trash,” said Schoenwald. “But I think it gives people a good feeling that they’re learning something and that they’re participating actively in the betterment of our environment.”

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Since the first International Coastal Cleanup Day 38 years ago, more than 18 million volunteers have collected more than 380 million pounds of trash.

This year will be the largest ever in Miami-Dade County, with 70 clean-ups happening from Greynolds Park down to Homestead that can host up to 5,000 volunteers. If you’d like to be one of them, visit the Volunteer Cleanup website to sign up.

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



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Miami, FL

MLS: Messi double helps Inter Miami slay Rapids in front of huge crowd

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MLS: Messi double helps Inter Miami slay Rapids in front of huge crowd


Argentine forward’s brace included the match winner against Colorado Rapids in front of over 75,000 fans in Denver.

Lionel Messi scored a brace and ‌German Berterame headed another as Inter Miami earned a ⁠3-2 win over ⁠the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer (MLS) on Saturday in Denver.

Messi scored the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute. He started a run just inside midfield and went ⁠unchallenged until the box, where he blasted into the upper left corner for a 3-2 lead.

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Rafael Navarro and Darren Yapi each scored for Colorado (4-4-0, 12 points) in front of 75,824 at Empower Field, the second-largest crowd in MLS history.

Miami (4-1-3, 15 points) took a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute after Colorado goalkeeper Zack Steffen’s pass was intercepted by Yannick Bright. Josh Atencio offered a hard challenge ‌and was shown a yellow card after video review.

Messi took the resulting penalty and rolled his shot straight down the middle as Miami took a 1-0 lead.

Colorado had a solid look at the goal when midfielder Wayne Frederick attempted a one-touch lob. Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was out of position and well beyond the penalty arc after heading away a loose ball, but Frederick’s attempt sailed ⁠over the open net.

In the fifth minute of first-half stoppage ⁠time, Miami extended their lead to 2-0, connecting on a series of passes deep in their attacking third. Messi got the run of play started with a tight touch pass to Rodrigo De ⁠Paul.

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De Paul sent Mateo Silvetti on a run to the boundary line. His inward-spinning cross floated to the front of ⁠goal, where Berterame rose above the Colorado defence and ⁠tucked a header under the bar.

Navarro’s goal cut Miami’s lead to 2-1. He started a run in midfield and used a step-over move to get an open shot a few steps into the ‌box that tucked inside the left post past a diving St. Clair in the 58th minute.

In the 62nd minute, second-half substitute Yapi settled on a direct pass from Lucas ‌Herrington ‌and sizzled a shot past St. Clair for the equaliser.

Miami closed the win playing a man down as Yannick Bright was sent off with a red card in the 87th minute.

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi scores his 13th-minute penalty against the Colorado Rapids [Geneva Heffernan/AP]



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Former Titans GM mock Miami right tackle to the Cleveland Browns at 6

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Former Titans GM mock Miami right tackle to the Cleveland Browns at 6


The Cleveland Browns traded for an extended right tackle, former Houston Texan Tytus Howard, at the start of free agency as they began their rebuild of the offensive line that was awful in 2025. But Howard has played every position on the offensive line except for center, so if it’s all about getting your best five on the field, which it should be, there’s a chance Howard doesn’t play at right tackle in 2026.

While doing a mock draft on Peter Schrager’s podcast, former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon had the Browns drafting Miami (FL) right tackle sixth overall. He talked about the issue with Howard, but said Mauigoa could either take over the tackle spot or be a really good guard.

Carthon said he knows that Mauigoa would be one of their best five, whether it is at guard or tackle. Some will say that a guy who may be best at guard isn’t worth the sixth overall pick, and I have to disagree. You should draft the best football players, and Francis Mauigoa is my highest-rated offensive lineman and seventh overall. It might be at guard, but I have a good feeling that Mauigoa will find a home in the NFL as a high-quality offensive lineman.



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Inventory drops for first time since 2023 as sales rebound across coastal Miami, beaches

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Inventory drops for first time since 2023 as sales rebound across coastal Miami, beaches


Inventory of homes and condos across the coastal Miami mainland and Miami Beach and the barrier island markets fell in the first quarter, marking the first big inventory drops since 2023.  

The Corcoran Group’s first quarter reports don’t cover all of Miami-Dade County, but they offer insight into how the coastal markets, which have a higher share of luxury properties, are performing.

In Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Miami Beach, Fisher Island and Key Biscayne, single-family home inventory dropped 15 percent annually to 398 listings, and condo inventory was down 13 percent to 3,919 listings. 

On Miami’s coastal mainland markets, which include Aventura, Miami Shores, Upper East Side, Edgewater, downtown Miami, Brickell, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, inventory slipped 4 percent to 4,584 condo listings and 555 single-family listings, down 6 percent year-over-year. 

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Here’s a closer look at the market: 

Miami Beach and the barrier islands

Single-family sales rose 13 percent year-over-year to 85 closings, the first time they have increased since the second quarter of 2024. Condo closings rose 15 percent to 693 closings, the first increase since the last quarter of 2024. 

Pricing dropped, with the median price of single-family homes down 4 percent to $3.5 million and the median condo price down 9 percent to $640,000. The average price per square foot was nearly flat at $1,119. 

Still, buyers set records with their purchases. Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg paid $170 million for the waterfront mansion at 7 Indian Creek Island Road, and Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz paid $44 million, or $7,949 per square foot, for a penthouse at the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club. 

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Coastal mainland 

Sales of single-family homes on the coastal mainland rose 16 percent to 220 closings. While markets like Coral Gables experienced declines in condo and single-family home sales, Coconut Grove home sales surged — up over 100 percent for single-family homes to 47 closings and up 55 percent to 87 condo closings. Condo sales rose 13 percent to 759 closings. 

The median price of single-family homes across the coastal mainland rose 11 percent to just over $2 million. The median price of condos increased slightly, up 1 percent, to $602,000. 

The priciest deals in the first quarter were the $32 million trade of 12 Tahiti Beach Island Road in Coral Gables, and the $19.8 million sale of a penthouse at Vita at Grove Isle. 





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