South Florida Local News

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday appointed Orlando entrepreneur Craig Mateer to the district that oversees Disney World, filling a spot left open after Chairman Martin Garcia resigned earlier this month.

Mateer is the founder and CEO of CCM Capital Group, which provides hospitality, real estate and logistics services. He also founded the luggage handling business Bags Inc., which he sold for $275 million in 2018.

Mateer, a graduate of Florida State University, has been a generous donor to DeSantis’ campaigns for governor and president and to the Florida Republican Party. DeSantis previously named Mateer to the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority in March 2021 and to the Florida Board of Governors a year later.

The Disney district board is scheduled to meet Wednesday to consider hiring DeSantis adviser Stephanie Kopelousos as its new administrator, replacing Glen Gilzean, whom the governor appointed as interim Orange County elections supervisor on March 4.

The governor, who under state law appoints every member of the oversight board, has recommended that it put Kopelousos into the job, which paid Gilzean $400,000 a year.

DeSantis revealed Mateer’s appointment in a brief news release sent shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday.

 

To all of those “exploited” college athletes and to the many critics of the NCAA who are lauding the recent landmark decision by the Dartmouth basketball team to unionize so they can be considered employees of the university, just remember this:

Be careful what you wish for.

You may think you are fighting for the future of college athletes everywhere, but more likely you will end up costing countless athletes a chance at a brighter future.

For most big corporations, paying your employees a good salary with benefits is a noble idea, but it doesn’t really work in the current business structure of college athletics. If college athletes want to be treated like other employees in the real world then they are in for a rude awakening.

The Dartmouth basketball team, for instance, has had 24 straight losing seasons, finished last in the Ivy League again this year and is a consistent money-loser for the school’s athletic program. In the real world, do you know what happens to the employees in the branch of a company that continually loses money and underperforms? Those employees get laid off and are out of work.

Likewise, this is what might happen to many of the non-revenue Olympic sports at colleges throughout the United States. If there comes a day when college athletic programs are responsible for paying all of their student-athletes then you know what’s going to happen, right? Athletic directors will start cutting and slashing programs like tennis, track, swimming and golf in order make their budget.

Even if colleges end up having to pay only the athletes on their football and men’s basketball teams, which are the only sports on most campuses that turn a profit, even the largest athletic programs are going to have to drastically rework their budgets.

“That money [to pay players] is not currently available,” University of Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin says bluntly. “Something would have to give; whether it’s fewer people on staff, fewer services for our student-athletes or — what we don’t want to have happen but what some people envision — having fewer sports.”

Says UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir: “I’m very concerned about the collateral damage to the Olympic sports, if there’s a new revenue model in college athletics. I worry when we have to start making triage decisions on cost. I hope we can figure this out without eliminating sports and educational opportunities.”

Sadly, in today’s world, most of the discussion about college sports focuses on players jumping from school to school chasing NIL money while schools are jumping from conference to conference chasing TV money. Whatever happened to the true mission of college athletics — providing educational opportunities for kids who might not otherwise be able to afford it?

As Mohajir often points out, “Besides the G.I. Bill, there has never been a scholarship program to help the youth of America change their family’s circumstances more than intercollegiate athletics.”

Did you know that NCAA institutions provide nearly $4 billion in athletic scholarships annually to more than 180,000 student-athletes? Many of these athletes would not have the financial wherewithal or academic credentials to get into college without sports. And 99% of these athletes will not play professionally and therefore will go into the real-world job market after graduation.

“I know first hand the benefit of a college scholarship,” Mohajir says. “I wasn’t an elite athlete, but I was able to get a football scholarship to a smaller school [Arkansas State]. If not for that scholarship, I probably wouldn’t have gone to college. Do you know how many millions of kids through the years were able to change their circumstances in life because they were able to get a college scholarship through playing sports?”

If and when colleges start cutting sports just to pay for the football team, what happens to all of those Olympic sport athletes who suddenly don’t get a college scholarship? And what happens to the United States Olympic movement, which has vastly benefitted from a collegiate feeder system whereby Division I schools spend an estimated $5 billion annually on Olympic sports, according to Stricklin?

“We’re the only country in the world that combines higher education with athletics,” Stricklin says. “That’s why our Olympic program is the best in the world — because we have this unbelievable development system that no other country can pay for.”

The dilemma, of course, is that all of these Olympic sports and the entire athletic operation — the coaching staffs, the support staffs, the strength and conditioning departments, the orthopedic surgeons, the nutritionists, the tutors, the facilities, et al — are being paid for mainly from the revenue produced by the football team.

“It’s certainly not a business model you would design from scratch,” Stricklin says. “It doesn’t quite fit in the for-profit box and it doesn’t quite fit in the non-profit box. But as Winston Churchill once said about democracy: ‘It’s the worst form of government — except for all the others.’ College athletics is similar. It has a lot of issues, but it provides a lot of opportunities for a lot of student-athletes.”

College athletic leaders, state politicians and the federal government have to answer very big question in the very near future.

Do they really want to blow up the entire system to benefit powerhouse football programs while destroying the dreams of thousands of student-athletes across many different sports?

Be careful what you wish for.

Those unionized players on the Dartmouth basketball team may think they are fighting for the future of college sports, but, more likely, they are contributing to the demise of them.

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen

 

Fort Lauderdale and Miami are featured prominently in the newly released first trailer for “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” the upcoming movie starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

The trailer was released Tuesday, just a few weeks after camera crews closed roads and recorded scenes across South Florida, and drew the public’s attention.

Aerial shots of South Florida are on display, and various scenes feature a Porsche heading down State Road A1A along Fort Lauderdale beach, as well as stretches of Miami.

The movie, the fourth installment of the “Bad Boys” movie franchise, is scheduled to be released in theaters June 7.

U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost on Tuesday called for extending protected status for Haitians fleeing the violence in their country and slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis for suggesting he might call a special session to arrest and detain Haitian refugees who come to Florida.

“Imagine the Haitian people in our community waking up every morning to see the devastation in Haiti,” said Frost, D-Orlando, at a press conference at his Orlando office. “And [then they] turn on the TV and see their bigoted governor use his power not to console the people, not to tell them he’s going to do what he can to help the island and to help Haiti, but to demonize and dehumanize them. It’s disgusting.”

DeSantis has organized flights out of Haiti for Floridians and other Americans but also launched Operation Vigilant Sentry to prevent Haitians from landing boats on the state’s coast. He told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Sunday he could seek a special session to increase the state’s powers to detain Haitian migrants as a “disincentive” to keep them out of Florida.

Florida has not seen a major influx of Haitian refugees this year.

At a roundtable discussion beforehand, Haitian Americans from Central Florida told Frost of their concerns and worries about Haiti and what the U.S. government can do to help their families. They also stressed Haitian distrust of the United States because of centuries of exploitation and invasion.

“For me, Haiti is down the street,” said Isaie Marc, a member of the hospitalities union UNITE-HERE. “There are a lot of things that we can do to fix what’s going on in Haiti. [But] I’m trying to understand what the plan is right now.”

Nattacha Wyllie said she spoke with a friend on the phone the night before, well into the morning.

“They stay up just so they can secure their neighborhood from the gangs and from the people running, leaving their homes to come and sleep under tents or wherever they possibly can,” Wyllie said.

Marie Jose Francois, a Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention representative, speaks to the room during the roundtable to discuss the ongoing unrest in Haiti in Orlando, on March 26, 2024. The roundtable was organized by U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Marie Jose Francois said she has had an application for her brother to immigrate from Haiti since 2020.

“Please, if anybody can rescue my only brother for me,” she said. “… I don’t know what else I’m going to do.”

She added she was “not ashamed to say that I am a Haitian and proud to be a Haitian. … They are talking about how we are the poorest [country]. To me … it’s the richest country in the world because it’s my country.”

Others called for the appointment of a special envoy to Haiti, with one suggesting former President Barack Obama, and transferring the embassy to outside the gang-ravaged capital.

More than 500,000 Haitians lived in Florida in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s survey, making up nearly half of all Haitians in the U.S. That includes more than 40,000 Haitians living in the Orlando area.

“Any committee that’s going to be making those decisions [needs] to bring in voices from the diaspora,” said Kelly Clerveau of the immigration group IDiginity.

Frost said the U.S. “must use every tool at our disposal to help restore stability, ensure aid and protect innocent patients while centering the Haitian people.”

He said extending protections for Haitians in the U.S. was “a matter of life or death for thousands of Haitians who rely on this designation for protection and stability.”

“We believe that this country has a duty to help fight innocent migrants fleeing instability and violence,” Frost said. “But unfortunately, we have leaders like Gov. Ron DeSantis, who would rather use inhumane policies and rhetoric to treat those seeking refuge without the dignity and compassion that they deserve.”

Frost added that his office is planning a town hall in the coming weeks to connect Haitian Americans with important resources, stressing that the help will continue even when the crisis fades.

“Obviously, things have unraveled and it seems quickly to a lot of folks,” Frost said. “But for the people here, they’ve seen it unraveling for a long time. There [have] been mistakes made by Democrats and Republicans. So we’ve got to make sure that we don’t let our government forget about Haiti.”

Marc cited the economic importance of his community, saying most of the 19,000 workers in UNITE-HERE Local 737 were Haitian.

“Without our people, I’m talking about the Haitian people, there is no hospitality industry,” Marc said. “We run that. Without the Haitian sisters and brothers, we don’t have hotels, we don’t have restaurants. … It’s time for us to step up with the Haitian people, to give them the respect that they deserve.”

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. (AP Entertainment Writer)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyer said Tuesday that the searches of the rapper’s Los Angeles and Miami properties by federal authorities in a sex trafficking investigation were ”a gross use of military-level force” and that Combs is “innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name.

It’s the first public statement from the music mogul’s team since Monday’s raids of his homes by Homeland Security Investigations agents.

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” said the statement from attorney Aaron Dyer. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”

The searches were part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Combs was not detained and spoke to authorities, and neither he nor any family members were arrested, nor has their travel been restricted, according to Dyer’s statement.

Dyer said the “unprecedented ambush” has led to a “premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”

“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations,” Dyer said. “Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

Combs’ sons, Justin and Christian “King” Combs, were handcuffed during the raid at their father’s residence in Los Angeles. King, 25, is a music artist whose song “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” with Kodak Black topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022.

Law enforcement conducted the raid Monday at Combs’ multimillion-dollar mansion in the affluent Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles and his Miami waterfront home. Along with a heavy presence of officers, command trucks were parked outside both properties.

The criminal investigation is a major escalation in the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent months.

In a lawsuit Combs settled the day after it was filed in November, his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him alleging years of sexual abuse, including rape. The lawsuit said he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

Combs and his attorneys have denied all of the lawsuits’ allegations.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Cassie did.

It is not clear whether the search is related to any of the allegations raised in the lawsuits.

Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades. Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he built one of hip-hop’s biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his famous name. He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

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This story has been updated to correct that Christian “King” Combs’ song “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022, not last year.

To renovate or to demolish? That is the question City of Miami Beach commissioners are asking themselves when it comes to The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater, the beloved yet deteriorating performing arts venue.

In the ‘50s, when it was known as the Miami Beach Auditorium, it was home to TV’s “The Jackie Gleason Show.” After it was renovated and renamed in the mid-’70s, the venue hosted touring Broadway shows, Elvis Costello concerts, boxing matches and a Madonna residency. The Fillmore has survived demolition discussions in the past, and in 2022, after Miami Beach voters approved $159 million in bonds to invest in local cultural institutions, $29 million was allocated to renovate it.

Now, commissioners are weighing the pros and cons of using the $29 million to upgrade the existing building or start anew.

Go to Herald.com for the full report.

A teenager died Monday evening after a shooting in Pompano Beach that injured three others, officials said.

Broward Sheriff’s deputies found one minor boy who had been shot about 5 p.m. in the 1800 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, authorities said.

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue took the teen to Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach in critical condition, said Sandra King, a spokesperson for the fire department. The teen was pronounced dead at the hospital, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release shortly before 8:30 p.m.

Three others who were shot are hospitalized, the Sheriff’s Office said. The Sheriff’s Office did not release their ages or their genders.

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue did not take them to the hospitals. The Sheriff’s Office did not say Monday night if they arrived at the hospitals on their own.

Homicide detectives are investigating. The Sheriff’s Office did not release additional information.

Three people were injured in a shootout in December near Monday’s shooting, in the 1700 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Two men were arrested in January in connection with the shooting, and one of the alleged shooters is a member of the “1800 BLK Boyz,” which is a gang in the area, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Decades ago, police established a “special problems tactical unit” at an outreach center in an attempt to reduce the specific block’s crime-ridden notoriety.

Authorities ask anyone with information to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Open champion and third-seeded Coco Gauff is out of the Miami Open, beaten in three sets by No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 on Monday.

In the men’s draw, top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Gael Monfils.

Garcia defeated her second straight Grand Slam champion to reach Miami’s quarterfinals. She ousted four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka 7-6 (4), 7-5 on Sunday.

Garcia said it had been a while since she had a victory over a top-10 opponent like Gauff.

“You keep working and trying to stay positive about what’s coming, that it’s going to pay off,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s very hard. But I’m lucky enough to have very good people behind me to help me and stay positive when I’m struggling.”

“It means a lot to have this little reward and keep going in the tournament,” she said.

Also moving into the quarterfinals was No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina, who defeated 17th-seeded American Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5.

Rybakina will next face No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari, who advanced to her second Miami Open quarterfinal when Anna Kalinskaya, seeded 22nd, withdrew with a right thigh injury.

Victoria Azarenka, who’s won the Australian Open twice, made the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Katie Boulter.

Yulia Putintseva also advanced, defeating No. 27 seed Anhalina Kalinina straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula both play Monday night.

Alexander Zverev, the fourth seed, defeated Christopher Eubanks 7-6 (4), 6-3 to advance into the third round.

No. 9 seed Alex de Minaur beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (3), 6-4.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

By MIKE STOBBE and JONEL ALECCIA (Associated Press)

Milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu, U.S. officials said Monday.

Officials with the Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed the flu virus is the Type A H5N1 strain, known for decades to cause outbreaks in birds and to occasionally infect people. The virus is affecting older dairy cows in those states and in New Mexico, causing decreased lactation and low appetite.

It comes a week after officials in Minnesota announced that goats on a farm where there had been an outbreak of bird flu among poultry were diagnosed with the virus. It’s believed to be the first time bird flu — also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza — was found in U.S. livestock.

The commercial milk supply is safe and risk to people is low, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dairies are required to only allow milk from healthy animals to enter the food supply, and milk from the sick animals is being diverted or destroyed. Pasteurization also kills viruses and other bacteria, and the process is required for milk sold through interstate commerce, the agency said.

“At this stage, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health,” the USDA said in a statement.

The federal government said its tests in the cattle did not detect any changes to the virus that would make it spread more easily to people.

Dairy farmers in Texas first became concerned three weeks ago when cattle started falling ill with what officials called “mystery dairy cow disease,” Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said. Milk production fell sharply and the cows were lethargic and weren’t eating much.

“We hadn’t seen anything like it before,” he said. “It was kind of like they had a cold.”

The state’s animal health commission began an investigation that included tests for bird flu, spokeswoman Erin Robinson said. Based on findings from Texas, USDA officials think the cows got the virus from infected wild birds.

Experts say livestock appear to recover on their own within seven to 10 days. That’s different than bird flu outbreaks in poultry, which necessitate killing flocks to get rid of the virus. Since 2022, outbreaks in have led to the loss of about 80 million birds in U.S. commercial flocks.

So far, the virus appears to be infecting about 10% of lactating dairy cows in the affected herds, said Michael Payne, a food animal veterinarian and and biosecurity expert with the University of California-Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security.

“This doesn’t look anything like the high-path influenza in bird flocks,” he said.

Bird flu was detected in unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas. The virus was also found in a nose and throat swab from another dairy in Texas.

Officials called it a rapidly evolving situation. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are involved, along with officials in the three states. Another dairy-heavy state, Iowa, said it is monitoring the situation.

Dairy industry officials said that producers have started enhanced biosecurity efforts on U.S. farms, including limiting the amount of traffic into and out of properties and restricting visits to employees and essential personnel.

Bird flu previously has been reported in 48 different mammal species, Payne noted, adding: “It was probably only a matter of time before avian influenza made its way to ruminants.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Two properties belonging to music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were searched Monday by federal Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

It’s not clear whether Combs was the target of the investigation. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

In a statement, Homeland Security Investigations said it “executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment.

Messages to Combs’ lawyers and other representatives seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Federal agents raided the Star Island home of rap mogul Sean Combs, better known as Diddy, reports say. Diddy is shown in 2022. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

A police line was set up around the Los Angeles house in the wealthy Holmby Hills neighborhood near Beverly Hills. Helicopter video from KABC-TV showed a group of agents with vests that indicated they were from Homeland Security Investigations gathered in the home’s backyard near the pool. A command post was set up outside the house and agents were still entering and leaving hours after the search began.

There have been several sexual assault lawsuits filed against Combs in recent months.

In February a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them. Combs’ attorney Shawn Holley has said of those allegations that “we have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”

Combs’ former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him in November alleging years of sexual abuse, including rape. The lawsuit said he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them. The suit was settled the day after it was filed.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Cassie did.

A law enforcement agent carries a bag of evidence to a van as federal agents stand at the entrance to a property belonging to rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, Monday, March 25, 2024, on Star Island in Miami Beach, Fla. Two properties belonging to Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were searched Monday by federal Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Combs had said in a December statement, “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

Douglas Wigdor, an attorney who represents Cassie and another woman who sued Combs, said in a statement Monday, “Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.”

It is not clear whether the search is related to any of the allegations raised in the lawsuits.

Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades. Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he built one of hip-hop’s biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his famous name. He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

Combs created the fashion clothing line Sean John, launched the Revolt TV channel with a focus on music, and produced the reality show “Making the Band” for MTV.

His latest album, “The Love Album — Off the Grid,” was released last year days after Combs was honored at the MTV VMAs. It was nominated for best progressive R&B album at February’s Grammy Awards, which the rapper-mogul did not attend.

The entertainment industry has been beset with a steady stream of career-ending sexual misconduct allegations in the years since stories about movie mogul Harvey Weinstein spawned the #MeToo movement in 2017. Weinstein and “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson are each serving prison sentences after rape convictions. Dozens of civil lawsuits have been filed against prominent figures.

The music industry has not faced a reckoning to the same degree, but singer and producer R. Kelly is serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing young fans, seven women have sued hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons alleging he raped them and two women have sued Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler alleging sexual assault.

Weinstein, Masterson and Kelly are appealing their convictions, and Simmons has denied all of the allegations against him. One lawsuit against Tyler has been dismissed and he is contesting the other.

As gang violence continues in Haiti, Royal Caribbean has extended the suspension of its port calls to a private day resort it operates in the island nation’s northern tip.

Fourteen sailings that were scheduled to stop at Labadee will be rerouted through the end of April, the cruise line said Monday.

“The safety and security of our guests, crew, and communities we visit are our top priority,” Royal Caribbean said in a prepared statement. “Our Global Security and Intel Team is closely monitoring the evolving situation in Haiti, and in an abundance of caution, we are temporarily making adjustments to sailings visiting Labadee. We will continue to monitor and reassess calls as needed, and will communicate updates with guests directly.”

International news reports state that violence and killings continue in and around the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince. Flights into and out of the city’s airport remain suspended, and gangs have overrun the nation’s main port, hindering entry of food and medicine.

Related Articles

• Travel | Royal Caribbean shuts down trips to Haiti. Here’s where its cruise ships are going instead.
• Travel | DeSantis wants more power to arrest migrants in Florida amid Haiti crisis

Royal Caribbean has been leasing the 260-acre Labadee attraction, built on a peninsula accessible only to the cruise line’s guests and employees, since the 1980s. It is located 130 miles north of Port-au-Prince and has remained unscathed during other periods of unrest.

The suspension will affect itineraries of three ships: Oasis of the Seas and Independence of the Seas, traveling from Port Miami, and Symphony of the Seas, leaving from Port Everglades.

Alternative destinations that were not announced during the first week of reroutings in mid-March include George Town, Grand Cayman; Bimini, Bahamas; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

Labadee stops on some sailings will be replaced by an extra day at sea or a stop at one of Royal Caribbean’s other private resorts, Perfect Day at CocoCay.

Here are the affected sailing dates and alternative port calls:

Symphony of the Seas:

March 23 sailing — Replaced with Falmouth, Jamaica, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

March 31 sailing — Replaced with Perfect Day at CocoCay on Day 2 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Scheduled stop at Falmouth, Jamaica, will now be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

April 6 and April 20 sailings — Replaced with Falmouth, Jamaica, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

April 14 sailing — Replaced with Perfect Day at CocoCay on Day 5, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stop in Falmouth, Jamaica is now on Day 3.

April 28 sailing — Replaced with a day at sea. Stop in Falmouth, Jamaica will now be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Independence of the Seas:

April 4 and April 18 sailings — Replaced with stop at Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

April 8 sailing — Replaced with George Town, Grand Cayman, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. New call time for stop in Nassau, Bahamas, is 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

April 22 sailing — Replaced with Bimini, Bahamas, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nassau, Bahamas is now on Day 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Perfect Day at CocoCay has been added to the itinerary on Day 5, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Oasis of the Seas:

March 24 sailing — Replaced with Falmouth, Jamaica, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Perfect Day at CocoCay will now stop from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

March 31 sailing — Replaced with an extra day at Perfect Day at CocoCay on Day 4 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stop in Falmouth, Jamaica will now run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

April 7 sailing — Replaced with Philipsburg, St. Maarten on Day 4, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

April 14 sailing — Replaced with a day at sea. New call time in Perfect Day at CocoCay will be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Stop in Falmouth, Jamaica, will now be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.

A new case of measles has been confirmed in Florida, in an adult between the ages of 55 and 59 who had traveled outside the United States.

That brings the 2024 case count in the state up to 11, according to information posted on the Florida Department of Health reportable diseases searchable database.

The bulk of the cases — seven — were found at an elementary school in Broward County in February, and were the result of local transmission. Two additional cases were reported in Broward, and the other in Polk County in Central Florida, also in February. The newest case was reported in Martin County.

Broward County Public Schools notified parents of the first confirmed case of the highly contagious infection on Feb. 16, a third-grader at Manatee Bay Elementary in Weston who had no history of travel. Superintendent Peter Licata told reporters on Feb. 27 that the number of confirmed cases at the school had reached seven but that the person had not been on campus since Feb. 15. On March 8, after the end of the infectious period, the Department of Health confirmed that the outbreak was over.

A total of 64 measles cases have been reported in the United States as of March 21, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the 17 states reporting the cases are Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. In 2023, a total of 58 measles cases were reported in 20 states, CDC records show.

International travel is a typical way for unvaccinated people in the United States to get the disease; most Americans are protected against measles through vaccination, and the disease was considered eradicated from the country in 2000, according to the CDC.

The disease is highly infectious: Nine out of 10 unvaccinated people will catch it if exposed. It can be prevented through vaccination; according to the CDC, two doses of the measles vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles if one is exposed to the virus. One dose is about 93% effective.

Don Lindich | Tribune News Service (TNS)

Vimifuso charger proves its worth: I recommended the Vimifuso 140W USB charger as a gift idea last year. I’ve had a chance to use mine for several months now and have been so pleased I feel I did not do it justice before, so I am correcting that now.

So many devices we depend on every day need USB charging, including headphones, Bluetooth speakers, computers, household gadgets of all types and, of course, tablets and phones. The six-port Vimifuso makes charging them so very easy, all from a single device, and it offers other benefits I did not fully appreciate until I had more experience with it. It also checks all the quality and safety boxes with FCC, UL and CE certification, which makes recommending it even easier.

Vimifuso USB Charger. (Don Lindich/TNS)

I love that it uses an AC cord to connect to the wall, and is not a heavy, bulky device with retractable prongs that is prone to fall off the wall socket. Plug the cord into the wall, connect the charger and you are ready to go. I travel quite a bit and this has proven especially handy in hotel rooms. I have enough cord to put the charger on the nightstand or on the bed with me, and then my USB charging cables extend the reach so I can keep my devices close at hand. There is also no worry about yanking the charger off the wall when picking up the phone or tablet. It is a sinking feeling when you are at a trade show and wake up to a phone at 10% rather than 100% because charging stopped. That never happens with the Vimifuso.

There are four USB-C ports and two standard USB-A ports, so it is unlikely you will ever experience a situation the Vimifuso cannot handle. This versatility has paid off in ways I did not expect. I was with a friend who was using his MacBook to catch up on emails as I charged my iPad and he said, “Darn, I am about to run out of power and I forgot my cord.” Looking at the MacBook and seeing the USB-C power port, I said, “I’ve got you covered” and connected the Vimifuso’s 65-watt USB-C port to his MacBook with a USB-C cable. My friend looked at the charger and said, “What is that thing? Something tells me I have to get one.” He travels even more than me, and he has one now too.

The Vimifuso charger sells on Amazon, and when I decided to revisit it I was expecting to recommend it at the $45 price. When I checked Amazon it was 30% off with a checkbox coupon, which I hope holds for a while for the sake of anyone who wants one. For about $30 you will be a very happy camper, especially if you travel, charge lots of devices or have multiple family members charge their phones from a single outlet or charger.

Q. We disconnected from cable TV and installed an antenna. The TV is fine, but there is no way to access a guide to see what programs are broadcast, or what channel or times. We would also like the ability to record. Can you recommend something to remedy our problem?

—R.G., Sheboygan, Wisconsin

A. There are multiple HDTV tuners available that will record on a USB flash or hard drive. I have used the Mediasonic HomeWorx models successfully for years, and they feature an on-screen program guide. The free phone and tablet app TV Listings Plus is phenomenal and I highly recommend it to TV fans. Learn more about TV Listings Plus at guidepluslabs.com.

(Contact Don Lindich at www.soundadvicenews.com and use the “submit question” link on that site.)

©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

One of the best aspects of photographing Aretha Franklin — as Matthew Jordan Smith did frequently between 2005 and 2014 — was that she sang during their sessions.

“I had a playlist of my favorite Aretha Franklin songs, and she’d often start singing along — the only artist I’ve ever worked with who did that,” says Smith, 60, who’s just published “Aretha Cool: The Intimate Portraits,” a collection of his Franklin photos named after that playlist.

Photographer Matthew Jordan Smith recently published “Aretha Cool: The Intimate Portraits,” a photo book drawn from his many sessions with Aretha Franklin. (Photo courtesy of Matthew Jordan Smith)

“I remember the first time I used (the playlist), the one song comes on and she starts humming along to it, then she starts singing to the song — ‘You’re All I Need to Get By,’ one of my all-time favorite ones. I’m 4, 5 feet in front of her and I kinda forgot where I was and I started singing along with her.

“She stops me — ‘Jordan, baby, don’t sing.’ She said it firmly, actually, but the whole room burst out laughing. Then she starts laughing and the whole time I’m shooting everything. I love the pictures of her laughing that day, full-on, the whole room letting loose. Every time I hear that song, I think of that day.”

Those photos are among the dozens of images, and memories, that populate “Aretha Cool.” It’s a book Smith — who previously published “Sepia Dreams: A Celebration of Black Achievement Through Words and Images” — says he felt a call to create, the impetus coming from the death of Franklin’s longtime companion, Willie Wilkerson, from COVID-19 in April 2020.

“He’s the first person I know who passed from COVID, and I started thinking about how much things had changed, people we lost and the importance of legacy,” explains Smith, who remained close with Franklin until her death in 2018. “I thought: ‘OK. This book must be done. People have got to know about this side of her, from a photographer’s point of view and how it was for me working with her …’ cause there was nobody like her, and nobody’s really talked about or covered this last stage of her life.”

Smith — born in Brooklyn and raised in South Carolina, where his father exposed him to photography — was already a well-established high-end fashion and celebrity shooter when he met Franklin, whose work had appeared in international magazines and advertisements. When the Queen of Soul was looking for a new photographer in 2005, her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn, recommended Smith, who had just published “Sepia Dreams.”

“I did my research,” he notes, and upon discovering that Franklin favored yellow roses, he sent her some with a note: “Looking forward to a great shoot. Looking forward to meeting you.”

“Then, before I got out there — we were shooting in Detroit — she called me on her phone, from her private number,” Smith recalls. “I’m like, ‘Who is this calling me,’ and then, ‘Oh, snap, it’s Aretha calling me!’ We talked about life, food. She said, ‘No photographer ever sent me yellow roses before.’

“Then we met and had a great shoot in Detroit, and we just kept going from there.”

Smith did make one minor faux pas during that first session, however. “The playlist — this was before I made the Aretha playlist — had Mariah Carey on it, and it looked like (Franklin) wasn’t into it,” Smith remembers. “I asked her who her favorite new artist was, and she said, ‘Me!’ And then I asked her again — new artist — and she said, ‘Me!’ Then it hit me. … Put some of her music on! Of course!”

This is one of Matthew Jordan Smith’s early portraits of Aretha Franklin. It’s included in his new book “Aretha Cool: The Intimate Portraits.” (Photo courtesy of Matthew Jordan Smith)

He went on to photograph Franklin on several occasions, in Detroit and New York — including a hat-oriented shoot following her performance of “My Country Tis of Thee” at Barack Obama’s first inauguration in January 2009. The images over the years were used for promotional and personal use and in a variety of publications and media outlets. They spoke on the phone frequently as well — even after Smith moved to Japan, where his wife is from, eight years ago, which initially made Franklin mad until he promised her “it’s only a flight.”

“A lot of stars are not comfortable being in the camera,” says Smith, who last photographed Franklin in 2014, though subsequent sessions were scheduled but canceled due to her deteriorating health. “There’s a facade that comes up. That’s normal, but she was not that way. She was very real from the jump and you could feel that, and you don’t get that every day with a lot of people, especially in Hollywood.

“She just had this very real feeling about her from the first moment I met her — no pretension, nothing, and I loved that. That made me feel more comfortable and made me feel like being myself. I think that’s what made us get along so well.”

Smith still has the iPod with the Aretha Cool playlist and has posted it on Spotify. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about Franklin, he says, and he’s hoping the book gives readers some sense of how special he found her to be.

“I want people to see the other side, the real side of her that I fell in love with,” Smith explains. “She was like an aunt that everybody knows. Everybody has an Aretha in their family. In Black America, we all have an Aretha in our family. I’ve shot so many people, but never felt the connection like I had with her. I’ll always miss her.”

By FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans threatened to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress if he did not turn over unredacted materials related to the special counsel probe into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.

In a letter Monday — obtained by The Associated Press — Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan demanded that Garland comply with the subpoena the two Republican chairmen sent last month as part of their emerging investigation into Special Counsel Robert Hur’s decision not to charge the president.

Comer, chair of the Oversight Committee, and Jordan, chair of the Judiciary Committee, ordered the Justice Department to turn over the unredacted audio and transcripts of Hur’s hourslong interviews with Biden and his ghostwriter by April 8.

“If you fail to do so, the Committees will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings,” the two lawmakers wrote.

The Justice Department reacted to the letter late Monday, saying the department “has been extraordinarily transparent with Congress” throughout the process.

“The Attorney General released Mr. Hur’s report to Congress and made no redactions or changes, the Department provided documents to Congress including a copy of the President’s interview transcript, and Mr. Hur testified before Congress for more than five hours about his investigation,” Emma Dulaney, a department spokesperson, said in a statement to AP. “Given the Department’s ongoing and extensive cooperation, we hope they will reconsider this unnecessary escalation.”

The threat is just the latest tension point between Republicans and the GOP-appointed federal prosecutor who appeared before lawmakers two weeks ago for a more than four-hour interrogation surrounding his 345-page report that questioned Biden’s age and mental competence but ultimately recommended no criminal charges for the 81-year-old president. Hur said that he found insufficient evidence to make a case that would stand up in court.

“What I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe,” Hur said. “I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the president unfairly.”

Despite his defense, Hur faced an onslaught of criticism from both sides of the aisle for the commentary in his report and the decision to withhold pressing charges against Biden.

Hours before his testimony, the Justice Department released a redacted transcript that provided a more nuanced picture of the roughly yearlong investigation, filling in some of the gaps left by Hur’s and Biden’s accounting of the exchanges.

Republicans, including Comer and Jordan, have insisted for the past year that unlike Biden, former President Donald Trump has been treated unfairly in his own Justice Department case for mishandling classified documents. During the hearing, GOP members reiterated that while Biden was let off the hook, Trump has been singled out and vilified, questioning if the facts of the two cases were all that different.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., called it a “glaring double standard.”

“Donald Trump’s being prosecuted for exactly the same act that you documented Joe Biden committed,” he told Hur.

However, there are major differences between the two probes. Biden’s team returned the documents after they were discovered, and the president cooperated with the investigation by voluntarily sitting for an interview and consenting to searches of his homes. Trump, by contrast, is accused of enlisting the help of aides and lawyers to conceal the documents from the government and seeking to have potentially incriminating evidence destroyed.

___

Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this report.

Caroline Garcia defeated Naomi Osaka 7-6 (4), 7-5 on Sunday in a third-round Miami Open match in which the pair combined for 28 aces.

Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and one-time South Floridian, came up short despite playing some of her best tennis of the season in Miami. She beat 17th-ranked Elina Svitolina 6-2, 7-6 (5) on Saturday, which was her second win over a top-20 opponent in her previous four matches.

Garcia advances to play No. 3 Coco Gauff, the 20-year-old who grew up in Delray Beach, in the fourth round.

In other women’s matches, fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula defeated No. 35 Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Round of 16 for the third straight year; and No. 24 Sorana Cîrstea beat 11th-ranked Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 7-6.

In men’s play, last year’s Miami Open runner-up and third-ranked Jannik Sinner rallied after dropping the first set to outlast No. 26 Tallon Griekspoor 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 and advance to the fourth round. A light rain shower briefly stopped match play with Griekspoor leading 7-5, 3-3, but Sinner took control of the match after the delay.

By AARON BRACY (Associated Press)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sam Reinhart scored two goals to reach 50 on the season, Brandon Montour added three assists and the Florida Panthers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night.

“Very cool,” Reinhart said. “It’s obviously a number I never really thought about.”

Vladimir Tarasenko and Carter Verhaeghe also scored for the Panthers, who tied Boston with 97 points atop the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division. Florida will host the Bruins on Tuesday night.

Bobby Brink scored for the Flyers.

“I thought we played really well,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “We can build off the whole game.”

Both teams were playing the second games of a back-to-back and used their backup goalies. Philadelphia defeated Boston 3-2 on Saturday while the Panthers lost 4-3 in a shootout at the Rangers. Anthony Stolarz made 32 saves for the Panthers while Philadelphia’s Felix Sandstrom allowed three goals on 14 shots.

“(Stolarz) was outstanding,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

The Flyers are playing without starting goalie Carter Hart, who took a leave of absence from the team in January.

Court documents show that Hart is one of five players from Canada’s 2018 world junior team who has been charged with sexual assault in connection to an incident alleged to have happened on June 19, 2018, in London, Ontario. Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames and former NHL player Alex Formenton also are facing charges.

Asked about Sandstrom’s performance, Tortorella threw his hands up, stared down the questioner and then abruptly departed the postgame podium without saying a word.

The Panthers, who entered leading the East and third in the NHL with a plus-55 goal differential, scored the lone goals in the first and second periods to take a 2-0 lead into the third.

Reinhart put Florida on the board with his first of the day 10:34 into the first, breaking free in the slot and shooting a wrister off Sandstrom and into the net. He reached his milestone tally with 1:12 remaining into an empty net. Reinhart entered third in the NHL in goals, trailing Toronto’s Auston Matthews by 10. He also had an assist.

“Such a rare thing in a player’s career,” Maurice said of Reinhart’s milestone. “That puts you in elite class. There are very few people’s names who score 50 that you don’t know. They’re superstars. We’re just so fortunate to have him.”

The Panthers went in front 2-0 just 55 seconds into the second with a power-play tally when Tarasenko beat Sandstrom from the circle.

“I need to be able to step up to keep us in it,” Sandstrom said. “I’m not too happy about today. It was one of those days of why and how did that happen. I just got to be more detailed and make sure I probably track them better.”

Stolarz stood tall in the second when Philadelphia made a strong push to get on the board. The Panthers goalie also got some good fortune, as Philadelphia center Sean Couturier beat him with a backhander that went off the crossbar.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Host Bruins on Tuesday night.

Flyers: At Rangers on Tuesday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

MIAMI – Observations and other notes of interest from Sunday night’s 121-84 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers:

– This is how the Heat can be both inspiring and infuriating at the same time.

– Inspiring because of the bounceback after Friday night’s no-show against the Pelicans.

– Infuriating because of losses like that game against New Orleans, when it seemed as if they simply could not be bothered.

– A little more of what the Heat offered Sunday, and a little less of what was on display on Friday night, and there wouldn’t be this desperate scramble in the play-in bracket.

– No excuses this time for injuries.

– Simply effort.

– Because sometimes it can be that simple.

– Such as Sunday’s first half.

– When the defense was stifling and Bam Adebayo was everywhere.

– That’s how you win when missing the scoring of Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr.

– And when missing the shooting of Duncan Robinson and Kevin Love.

– For the most important games, each of those will be needed.

– For games like this, effort (and a few timely 3-pointers) can go a long way.

– Next the ante will be upped, with the Warriors visiting Tuesday in the third-game of this four-game homestand.

– Asked pregame about his frustration level with the injuries, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra turned the question around.

– “I’m not even thinking about frustration,” he said. “I’m just thinking about, ‘What do we need to do to prepare, put ourselves in a position to win?’ You have to attack whatever your reality is and not overwhelm yourself with things you can’t control.”

– He added, “We’ve proven that when we get consistent to our identity, it doesn’t matter in the short term who is available and who’s not. And we’re wrapping our minds around to get the job done by any means necessary.”

– The Heat again opened with a lineup of Adebayo, Nikola Jovic, Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Patty Mills.

– It was the first time Adebayo was available in the teams’ four matchups this season.

– The Cavaliers also were shorthanded, without Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus, among others.

– Spoelstra said that did not necessarily alleviate any concerns.

– “They have a very good defense,” he said. “You have to be very intentional and do things with pace and motor.”

– Of the game possibly being a playoff preview, Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, “There are mind games, and obviously part of the league is when teams feel like they can dominate.”

– He also downplayed the Heat’s absences.

– “They compete at a level every single night that you’re forced to respect,” Bickerstaff said.

–  Caleb Martin and Delon Wright entered as the Heat’s first reserves.

– Haywood Highsmith followed.

–  Martin and Highsmith each converted their first 3-point shot on a night the Heat needed to find shooting.

– Thomas Bryant made it nine deep for the Heat.

– Adebayo entered having converted a 3-pointer in a career high five consecutive appearances.

– He was off on a first-period attempt, his lone attempt of the game.

– “I love that about Bam, that he just continues to work that improvement,” Spoelstra said. “And that’s also a talent in this league, to have a work ethic and a commitment to constantly grow. He’s been able to add things that have been necessary, particularly against the better defenses.”

– Spoelstra added, “Will he be a volume 3-point shooter at this time? That’s not necessarily what we’re looking for. But that’s a good look for him, especially when teams just totally sag off.”

– Rozier, a native of the Cleveland area, entered in his 25 career games having scored at least 20 against the Cavaliers, with two 30-point games and a 42-point game.

– And that was in addition to his theatrics with his winning shots Wednesday in Cleveland.

– The Cavaliers’ Garden entered tied with Grayson Allen and Klay Thompson for the NBA’s most 3-pointers since the All-Star break, with 60.

– Meanwhile, down on the farm, guard Alondes Williams, on a Heat two-way contract, scored 45 points Sunday in the G League.

MIAMI – The body doubles arrived as needed Sunday night, in a much needed 121-84 Miami Heat victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Kaseya Center.

No Tyler Herro? Patty Mills instead stepping into shots with confidence.

No Duncan Robinson? Haywood Highsmith making all four of his three 3-pointers.

No. Kevin Love? Nikola Jovic essentially putting the game away with a scoring binge at the start of a blowout second half.

No, Jaime Jaquez Jr.? Caleb Martin again bringing the energy with tangible results.

Need further perspective? The Heat played Pepas, their victory anthem, with 6:42 to play, their lead cresting at 45.

“We were just having fun out there,” Haywood understated.

Granted, the Cavaliers were without Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus, but after being humiliated Friday night by the New Orleans Pelicans, the Heat were beyond much in the way of empathy.

So after scoring all of 88 points against the Pelicans, the Heat this time reached that total before the end of Sunday’s third period.

And, yes, that was a 40-point lead in the third quarter, even with Herro out with his foot ailment, Robinson with a sore back, Love with a heel issue and Jaquez a late scratch with knee and ankle soreness.

For the Heat, it was the right opponent at the right time. Prior to Sunday, the Heat’s largest lead this season had been 33 in their Nov. 22 victory over . . . the Cavaliers.

And, no, coach Erik Spoelstra did not have an explanation of such a dramatic turnaround two days later.

“I don’t know, and if anybody had an answer for that, I could do a lot of things,” he said. “That’s what makes this league humbling. We were on the other end of it the other night.”

With the Heat up 33 at the end of the third quarter, it was a boxscore that did not necessarily show the dominance of individuals, with Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler given the final period off.

Adebayo closed with 15 points and 16 rebounds in 28 minutes. Butler added 15 points in his 24 minutes. The Heat also got 18 points from Haywood Highsmith, 14 from Terry Rozier, 14 from Thomas Bryant and 11 from Martin.

“There were a bunch of inspiring plays,” Spoelstra said.

The Heat’s four-game homestand continues Tuesday night with the lone visit of the season by the Golden State Warriors.

Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Heat led 32-22 at the end of the first period and 60-39 at halftime, with Rozier beating the buzzer for baskets to end each of the first two periods,

“The starters did a great job of setting the tone,” Highsmith said.

Then, after pushing the lead to 40 in the third, the Heat went into the fourth up 90-57.

At that stage, the lone Heat starter still in the game was point guard Patty Mills.

“You can definitely tell it was a different sense of urgency during the game,” Adebayo said.

Eventually,Spoelstra began to empty his bench, with Jamal Cain entering with 9:20 to play and the Heat up 38 and then Cole Swider entering with 7:25 left and the Heat up 35.

“More than anything about the score, it’s to see a collective response,” Spoelstra said.

2. Highsmith heights: Highsmith entered in Spoelstra’s initial substitutions and immediately provided a spark, converting his first five attempts from the field, including three 3-pointers.

That had him as the game’s leading scorer in the middle of the second period, with 13 points in his first eight minutes..

Highsmith entered having scored three or fewer points in 10 of his previous 11 appearances, scoring in double figures prior to Sunday only once since Feb. 26.

Highsmith’s first miss was an open dunk attempt in the second period.

“It was a great bounce-back win that we needed,” Highsmith said.

And a rare quality home win.

“I think our fans really deserved this,” he said.

3. Martin contributes: Having shot a combined 1 of 15 in his previous two games, including 0 for 8 in Friday night’s loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, Martin converted his first two shots, a pair of three pointers, tossing up his arms in celebration after each conversion.

Martin had been listed as questionable until an hour prior to tipoff, due to knee and ankle soreness.

Martin had converted multiple 3-pointers only once in his previous six games.

“You see the ball go in, in an easy fashion, that can change things,” Spoelstra said. “I like the energy. I like the enthusiasm.”

4. Moving up: Adebayo was up to 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals at the intermission.

The double-double was the 186th of Adebayo’s career, pushing him past Hassan Whiteside for third on the franchise all-time list, now only behind the 221 of Rony Seikaly and the 205 of Alonzo Mourning.

“He’s going to keep on passing all these franchise records,” Spoelstra said.

Adebayo also closed with five steals and four assists.

“A massive collective defensive effort,” Spoelstra said of the overall performance that included the Heat forcing 17 turnovers that led to 35 Heat points.

5. Attack mode: Butler already was up to 4 of 5 from the line before the end of the first period, the first player to reach double figures, doing it on a free throw 1:58 into the second quarter.

Eight of Butler’s 13 first-half points came from the line.

He closed 3 of 6 from the field and 8 of 9 from the line, with six assists and three rebounds.

Fourth Annual Spring Fling EGGstravaganza at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Sunday, March 24, 2024. The event included egg hunts, a craft corner, live music, contests, games, and photos with the Easter Bunny.