Miami, FL

Police: Miami ‘sweep’ in Overtown, Model City, Little Haiti reacts to ‘troubling increase’ in shootings

Published

9 months ago

July 18, 2025

Police: Miami ‘sweep’ in Overtown, Model City, Little Haiti reacts to ‘troubling increase’ in shootings

MIAMI — James Williams, Joaquim Smith, and Michael Rube Flurencio were at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center early Friday morning, records show.

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Corrections booked them on Thursday morning, and they faced charges in separate cases with the Miami Police Department, records show.

Their arrests on Wednesday were during a police “sweep” in the Overtown, Model City, and Little Haiti neighborhoods, according to Officer Michael Vega.

Operation Sweep Detectives arrested James Williams, right, Michael Rubel Florencio, center, and Joaquim Smith, on Wednesday in Miami. Corrections booked them on Thursday and they remained behind bars on Friday morning.

Miami detectives approached Williams, 33, and two other men after seeing them in a dark street on Wednesday night in the Overtown neighborhood.

Williams, a convicted felon, raised his arms, and when a detective asked if he was armed, he surrendered a stolen Glock 27, according to detectives.

The operation was in response to “a troubling increase” in shootings and homicides, according to Officer Michael Vega, who did not define the increase.

Smith, who was carrying a PSA Dagger pistol, was in a Mercedes-Benz with dark-tinted windows in Overtown, according to a detective’s report.

Smith, 27, of Miami Gardens, had marijuana in his pocket, and 35.4 grams stored in plastic baggies in the Mercedes-Benz, according to detectives.

Rubel Florencio was in another Mercedes-Benz with dark-tinted windows in Little Haiti with about 180 pills of Oxycodone, according to a police report.

Rubel Florencio, 28, of Hialeah, was “visibly nervous as his chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his hands were trembling,” according to a detective.

MPD Police officers arrested Dominick Martin, left, and Zakia Joseph, right, on Wednesday in Miami over pending warrants in unrelated cases.

Vega, a spokesman for the police department, listed the arrests of Zakia Joseph, 27, of Miramar, and Dominick Martin, 36, who is homeless, over pending warrants in unrelated cases as part of the operation.

According to Vega, the five arrests were part of the operation involving the department’s crime gun intelligence detail, the gang unit, and the FBI violent gang task force.

Williams faced charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, grand theft of a firearm, and carrying a concealed firearm.

Smith faced charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell while armed, possession of marijuana near a school, and openly carrying a weapon.

Rubel Florencio faced a charge of trafficking Oxycodone.

Detectives asked anyone with information about these or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 to remain anonymous.

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Miami, FL

No. 22 Kentucky Outlasts Miami University in Wild Affair

Published

13 hours ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

No. 22 Kentucky Outlasts Miami University in Wild Affair

Kentucky drew 11 walks, took seven hit by pitch and found a way to do just enough to outlast a Miami University team with a strong offense, registering a 14-11 victory in front of 3,733 fans enjoying the 80 degree weather at Kentucky Proud Park.

Kentucky now is 22-6 overall and 5-4 in the Southeastern Conference.

Four different players drove in multiple runs, five had multiple hits and five drew a hit by pitch as the No. 22 Wildcats figured out a way to claim their 22^nd victory of the season. The Cats erased deficits of 3-1 and 10-7 along the way with three more innings of at least three runs scored, including a six-run fourth inning.

Hudson Brown, Carson Hansen and Will Marcy each drove in three runs, Ethan Hindle reached base in five plate appearances without logging a single official at bat, Jayce Tharnish swiped his 19^th base and Luke Lawrence extended his reached base streak to 33 games.

On the flip side, the UK pitching staff did not have its best outing but Nile Adcock was sensational in pitching the final 2.2 innings. He escaped a bases loaded situation in the seventh inning but striking out a pair of hitters on six total pitches after entering the game and earned his second win.

NOTES

Kentucky is 22-6 on the season, 5-4 in SEC play.
- UK is 140-68 since the beginning of 2023.
UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his 10th season at the helm and now owns a 315-198 career record.
- Mingione is the second-winningest coach in school history.
- Mingione is 186-54 in non-conference games.
  - He is 165-25 vs. non-Power Four opponents.
- UK is 126-49 in the month of March under Coach Mingione.
- Mingione now is 8-0 vs. Miami.
- Mingione is 21-5 vs. teams from the state of Ohio.
The Cats drew 10+ walks for the third time in the past five games.
UK was hit by seven pitches.
The Cats scored three runs or more three times.
- They now have scored at least three runs in an inning 32 times this season.
IF Luke Lawrence has reached safely in 33 consecutive games.
OF Jayce Tharnish went 2-for-4 with 3 R, RBI, BB, HBP, SB.
- Tharnish now is 19-of-20 on the season in stolen bases.
  - That ties for the 6^th most in the Mingione Era in a season.
- IF Ethan Hindle had five plate appearances without an official at bat.
  - Hindle went 0-for-0 with three walks, two HBP, three runs, an RBI and a steal.
- IF Hudson Brown went 2-for-3 with a run, 3 RBI, 2B, HBP, BB, SF.
  - He has 12 multi-hit games this season.
- OF Will Marcy went 1-for-4 with 3 RBI, 2B and BB.
  - It was his second extra base hit in two injury-riddled years with the Cats.
  - It’s a career high in RBI.
- OF Carson Hansen had a two-run HR and RBI single.
- RHP Nile Adcock got the win.
  - He allowed one run in 2.2 innings.
  - He entered in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and struck out two batters on six pitches to end the threat.

ON DECK

UK hosts Missouri this weekend beginning Friday night at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game is on SECN+ and the contest can be heard on UK Sports Network.

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Miami, FL

Trump shares renderings of his presidential library — a massive skyscraper in Miami

Published

2 days ago

March 31, 2026

Press Room

Trump shares renderings of his presidential library — a massive skyscraper in Miami

President Donald Trump on Monday teased the plans for his presidential library in Miami.

Trump posted a video on Truth Social that shows a tall, glass building with a large needle on top. The building has his last name in gold lettering across its facade, an American flag hanging down the middle and a presidential plane displayed on the first floor. (A Boeing 747 given to Trump by the Qatari government is set to be displayed in his presidential library once he leaves office.)

The size of the proposed building dwarfs the nearby Freedom Tower, a downtown Miami landmark that carries special significance to Cuban immigrants in Florida — a key demographic that helped Trump win historically blue Miami-Dade County in 2024.

The video also shows replicas from Trump’s time in the White House, including the Oval Office, the West Colonnade featuring his so-called presidential walk of fame and his anticipated ballroom.

The presidential library will be designed by the Miami-based architecture and engineering firm Bermello Ajamil.

The site of the library — a prime piece of Miami real estate that borders the city’s waterfront — is a nearly 3-acre property valued at more than $67 million. The parcel became the source of a legal battle last fall after a federal judge paused the transfer of the land from a local college to the state. The judge ultimately threw out the case in December and allowed the transfer to continue.

The proposed site is not far from Trump National Doral, a resort owned by Trump’s family business.

In his Truth Social post sharing the video, Trump also included a link where people can donate to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation Inc.

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Miami, FL

Could Miami Dolphins trade up in first round of 2026 NFL Draft?

Published

2 days ago

March 30, 2026

Press Room

Could Miami Dolphins trade up in first round of 2026 NFL Draft?

Jon-Eric Sullivan — new Miami Dolphins general manager — has been busy acquiring a war chest of draft picks for the 2026 NFL Draft. The team currently has 11 picks in April’s selection process — including two first rounders and four third round picks.

While the team has plenty of holes in their roster that desperately need to be filled, could Sullivan’s stockpiling of picks have been conducted with the idea that the Dolphins want to move up in the first round of the draft in order to land an elite prospect?

Yesterday, Washington Commanders beat writer, Josh Taylor, dropped an interesting social media post where he said that he’s heard from two separate sources that the Dolphins and Commanders are in talks about a trade that would see Washington trade back from pick #7 in the first round in order for Miami to move up from pick #11.

Again, with Miami needing to upgrade at so many positions, it’s hard to guess which player the team might be targeting, but safety Caleb Downs, offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa, linebacker Sonny Styles, defensive linemen Rueben Bain and David Bailey are just some of the names that the Dolphins could be interested in.

Of course, as Taylor states, these whispers could remain just that — whispers.

With the Dolphins in full-on rebuilding mode, the team needs to bring in as many young, talented players as possible. Trading away draft picks instead of adding more would not help them to accomplish that goal. However, with the 2026 NFL Draft kicking off in less than a month, we won’t have to wait long to discover what Sullivan’s ultimate plan for his first draft as Dolphins general manager ultimately ends up being.

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