🏠 News From Your Neighborhood
Miami, FL
Summer initiative to help Miami Beach homeless, city to enforce laws against sleeping in public
MIAMI – Relief may be on the way for people in Miami Beach who are going through homelessness.
City leaders announced a summer initiative Monday that encourages people in the vulnerable population to accept services and shelter. However, critics say it comes with a harmful ultimatum: Accept help or face arrest.
The mayor, commissioners, police chief and leaders of Miami Beach homeless outreach said Operation Summer Relief will deliver an extra boost of resources offered, including access to shelters,
“I think it’s horrifying,” Kat Duesterhaus, an activist, said. “I was homeless at the age of 16 and if it weren’t for the kindness of someone putting me up in housing I could have been arrested here in Miami Beach.
“I’m not leaving,” Rodrick, a man who says he lives on the streets and in public places in Miami Beach, said.
The 54-year-old from Liberty City who walks with a limp said he is too disabled to work, cannot afford a mortgage or rent, feels at home in various places on the barrier island and has no plans to move to a shelter, even if forced.
“Ever hear Papa was a rolling stone?” he said laughing. “That was a joke. I have my spots that I like. I don’t like crowds. I’m basically always by myself.”
However, he knows the initiative brings change.
“Do not mistake our compassion for weakness,” Mayor Steven Meiner said. “There is a strong enforcement element.”
The plan is to “compassionately” encourage people experiencing homelessness to accept room at shelters, mental health care and support delivered by increasing numbers of outreach teams, non-profits, city staff and volunteers.
Those who refuse help face police armed with the authority to move people out of parks and off beaches and sidewalks.
“Public spaces are for the public, period,” Meiner said. “There should not be a person sleeping on public property.”
“We don’t focus on arrests like people are saying,” Chief Wayne Jones said as three protesters shouted at him during a press conference Monday. “(What) we focus on is connecting with people to approach it through a position of empathy.”
Larry Seward
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 12-year-old girl was shot in the arm after gunfire erupted in a northwest Miami-Dade neighborhood early Tuesday morning, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said they responded just before 1 a.m. to the area of Northwest 64th Street and Northwest 21st Avenue in the county’s Gladeview area, where they found three vehicles struck by gunfire, including a silver Hyundai.
“The car was parked outside of the residence. It was occupied by three juveniles, so it was the girl and her two siblings that were in the vehicle. The mom was outside of the vehicle at the time, so this could have been a very different outcome,” MDSO Detective Samantha Choon said.
Authorities said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medics transported the girl to a nearby hospital in stable condition.
A family member of the victim told Local 10’s Jackie Pascale that the girl is now home and doing OK.
They said neither her siblings nor their mother was injured in the shooting.
According to investigators, no arrests have been made, and detectives have not released any suspect information at this time.
Neighbor Marie Grimes said she was shaken after hearing multiple gunshots.
“I heard the booms — boom, boom, boom, boom — and I said, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’” she said. “Maybe five or six, ’cause look at that right there. I’m just glad the little girl is OK.”
Investigators asked neighbors to check their surveillance or Ring camera footage from around 1 a.m. and contact authorities with any information.
Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. Anonymous tips are accepted.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
Three people were hurt after a building caught fire on Lincoln Road on Sunday, according to authorities.
The Miami Beach Fire Department said it was working a fire near 230 Lincoln Road.
The flames had spread from a fire in a manhole that “ignited an FPL vault of an adjacent building,” officials said.
Three people were taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center with minor injuries.
The building was evacuated, and FPL has shut off power to the surrounding area, the fire department said.
Drivers were asked to avoid the area of Collins Avenue between 16th and 17th streets while crews worked the scene.
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