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Progress is picking up on a new mixed-use plaza coming to Delray Beach’s bustling Atlantic Avenue — but unlike traditional plazas, this one will be made up of shipping containers.

For more than three years, city officials have worked to bring the project that will be borne out of recycled storage to fruition. The outdoor venue could feature restaurants, shops, a park, a children’s play area, community garden, marketplace and a stage for musical events, all of which would cost at least about $6.7 million.

The plaza is set to rise at a currently vacant lot in the 800 block of West Atlantic Avenue, west of Swinton Avenue and just east of Interstate 95 along a strip of Atlantic Avenue dotted with barren fields.

In early October, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency issued a request for proposals from firms to design and build the project. The proposals are due by Dec. 11, after which the CRA will consider what’s been submitted and choose which one to go forward with.

The shipping container plaza “will create a visually unique environment, and it will be a cost-effective and sustainable option for development,” Delray Beach Vice-Mayor Juli Casale said.

Casale has been eager about the project since its initial inception more than three years ago. Because of possible contamination at the site, testing was needed to ensure its safety for constructing a project, which set the bidding process back a bit, she said.

The Delray Beach CRA stated in city documents that “the project is envisioned to create a vibrant commercial destination that will house a diverse range of businesses, including retail stores, restaurants, cafes, and service providers, with flexible open space to meet the preferences, demands, and needs of, most importantly, the adjacent local community and residents.”

CPZ ArchitectsDelray Beach City officials recently put out a bid seeking proposals to construct the shipping container plaza project coming to the West Atlantic Avenue corridor. Renderings depict a shipping container plaza concept and are not necessarily what the actual plaza will look like.

Other cities have already adopted this concept — the Tampa Bay area boasts a 94-shipping container plaza called Krate. This concept has also popped up in popular metropolitan areas such as Orlando, Wynwood and Las Vegas.

The idea for a shipping container plaza in Delray Beach was first publicly discussed by city officials in 2021, but the stretch of Atlantic Avenue between I-95 and Swinton that sits west of the much more lively and bustling eastern portion of Atlantic has long been eyed for revitalization.

A “West Atlantic Area Needs Assessment” was conducted in 2012, according to city documents, which identified goals for the area including: accommodating more space for local retailers, adding “activities and local enterprises” to “increase vibrancy and foot traffic,” connect pedestrians from the east to west corridors of Atlantic, promote small business development and “activate vacant areas through innovative approaches, specifically including the use of shipping containers.”

Other movement, though gradual, is happening in the West Atlantic Avenue corridor.

Construction is well underway for Sundy Village, a historic-focused mixed-use development at the corner of Atlantic and Swinton, and tenants — such as a wine bar and restaurant group — are beginning to trickle in.

Another project across the street from Sundy Village is City Center Delray, which will feature a three-story mixed-use building with retail and office space alongside a remodeled Doc’s All American restaurant.

Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun SentinelA vacant lot on Atlantic Avenue is shown in Delray Beach in 2021. Delray Beach is hoping to spark the western portion of Atlantic Avenue near I-95 by transforming the property into a shipping container park, which could include restaurants, a dog park and an entertainment venue.

“Atlantic Avenue has always been a hot spot with all the retailers and growth and restaurants,” said Jenny Schuemann, the vice president of leasing for Pebb Enterprises, which has handled several projects in Delray Beach. “As the housing communities fill in, as the residential fills in, everything out west kind of needs to build up, too. So I think anything that’s existing is kind of getting revamped and redeveloped, re-tenanted to accommodate the growth out there.”

“I see it as a very positive thing, taking some run-down, abandoned space and projects and making them nice again,” she said.

An aerial rendering illustrates the Delray Beach shipping container plaza project. (Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency)

Casale echoed Schuemann’s sentiment, saying that the development of the shipping container plaza is the beginning of what will become more growth in the west corridor.

“It’s a long time coming,” she said.

Drivers who pass a stopped school bus should soon expect to be caught and ticketed, under a new program the Broward School District is launching.

The School Board is expected to vote in January on a contracts that would install cameras on the exteriors of more than 1,000 school buses. The cameras would allow law enforcement to detect vehicles that pass a school bus while its stop arm is enabled. The stop arm is designed to enable children to safely enter and exit a school bus stopped on the road.

Once the program takes effect, $225 citations will be mailed to the owners of vehicles that illegally pass school buses. The cameras will capture license plate numbers and other details about the vehicles.

District administrators will recommend the School Board select BusPatrol, a Virginia-based company that is used by Miami-Dade and Hillsborough counties. The company, which beat five other companies in a competitive bidding process, will install the equipment and administer the operations of the program.

Steve Randazzo, chief growth officer for BusPatrol, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that most buses will have four cameras, a forward and backward facing lens on the left and right side of the bus. He said the company will front the costs of the equipment, allowing the district to pay the vendor after it starts receiving revenues from the citations. The exact payment arrangements are still being negotiated.

“The District believes [the cameras] will serve as an additional deterrent to dangerous driving near our school buses, thereby enhancing student safety,” district spokesman John Sullivan said. “As for the penalties collected, the revenue would be distributed among the various entities involved in addressing the infractions. The District plans to allocate its portion of the revenue towards initiatives that support and enhance school safety.”

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Although it’s long been illegal to pass a school bus with a stop arm out, the state Legislature made it easier to enforce in 2023 by passing a law that allows districts to install cameras and keep a portion of the revenues from tickets.

“It’s really hard to station hundreds of sheriff’s deputies, and local police officers behind school buses. They’re just too many of them,” Randazzo said. “So traditional enforcement has not been an effective deterrent.”

In Miami-Dade County, where the program started this school year, more than 11,500 drivers received citations in the first three weeks of school, which equals about $2.5 million, the Miami Herald reported.

Broward’s northern neighbor, Palm Beach County, has not initiated the program, officials said.

Advocates say there is a need for better enforcement of school bus violations. A recent survey from the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services estimated more than 43.5 million illegal school bus passes occurred during the 2022-23 school year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that from 2012 to 2021, 78 children aged 18 or younger were killed as pedestrians going to or from a school bus.

“In a world where so many more people are distracted and texting and driving and never before, we see many, many people violating this law,” Randazzo said.

The state does not allow districts or vendors to determine who has illegally passed a bus. Instead, the 2023 state law requires a school district to enter into an interlocal agreement with an outside law enforcement agency.

Miami-Dade schools contracted with the Miami-Dade Police Department, which is transitioning into a sheriff’s office. Broward hasn’t yet said which law enforcement agencies it will partner with. A spokesman for the Broward Sheriff’s Office said his agency isn’t currently involved.

Randazzo said sheriff’s offices typically take on the role of reviewing the footage.

“The Sheriff’s Office has the ability to write a traffic ticket on any road within the county,”  he said. “So the Sheriff is typically the ideal partner to go to so you’re just dealing with one law enforcement agency.”

The program is separate from another new initiative that allows law enforcement to install cameras to catch people speeding in school zones. Multiple cities in Broward are starting these programs. Under that program, the school district receives $12 from every $100 ticket issued.

Although school bus violation tickets would likely begin some time in 2025, the Broward School District hasn’t announced a launch date yet.

“The program requires there to be a massive public awareness campaign. So we do a warning program for 30 days,” Randazzo said. “Anyone who violates the law gets a warning ticket in the mail with no monetary penalty.”

The program also will include an appeal process for those who believe they were wrongly ticketed. The citations do not result in points against a license unless a driver fails to pay or appeal within 30 days, Randazzo said.

Randazzo’s company, BusPatrol, has faced some recent scrutiny due to political connections.

Less than three months after State Rep. Vicki Lopez of Miami co-sponsored a bill allowing cameras on school buses statewide, her son, Donny Wolfe III, became BusPatrol’s new vice president of government relations, reported The Tributary, a Florida nonprofit investigative newsroom.

BusPatrol also faces a federal class-action complaint in New York alleging it issued citations without evidence. A judge dismissed the lawsuit, concluding “the government, rather than BusPatrol, is actually prosecuting the violation.” The judge allowed the plaintiff to refile, and the case is still pending

News reports in Pittsburgh detailed complaints by people who allege they were wrongly cited. “We get roped in as a private company,” Randazzo told the Sun Sentinel. “We don’t issue the tickets in Pittsburgh or in New York, but we get named sometimes in these news reports and sometimes even in lawsuits because we’re the service provider.”

Kate Spree, a BusPatrol America spokesperson, said in a statement that a competitor provided the Tributary “misleading and inaccurate information.”

“BusPatrol’s record as the nation’s top school bus stop-arm camera provider is strong, and our utmost focus will always be to make the ride to and from school safer for every student,” she said. “As such, we follow all laws at the federal, state, and local level. We are tremendously proud that communities across Florida and nationwide are overwhelmingly entrusting BusPatrol as their safety partner because we provide the best service at the best overall value in the industry …”

Q: Ira, you always second guess the second guessing, so now we’re second guessing you. You said Kel’el Ware wasn’t ready for big NBA moments. Then what was Tuesday? – Adam.

A: And, will therefore give credit where credit is due. While his entrance into the game in the second half hardly was by design, with Bam Adebayo in foul trouble and Kevin Love sidelined by back spasms, Kel’el Ware provided a jolt during the Heat’s comeback from 22 down. In the end, he wound up with the second-best plus-minus on the roster, his +11 second only to Pelle Larsson’s +14. So, to Erik Spoelstra’s credit, it proved a successful move, rather than, say, settling for the known with Thomas Bryant. The next step is for Kel’el to be ready when opponents work through the shouting report on him, something the Bucks hardly had the opportunity to deal with as their 22-point lead was evaporating. But credit where credit is due, in this case to Kel’el.

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Q: This is a below-average team with below-average results. Heat media gonna have a long year defending this team. – R.C.

A: We actually were talking before Tuesday night’s game about whether the Heat have had a quality win. Ultimately, the discussion pointed to Sunday against Dallas, but that was with the Mavericks lacking Luka Doncic. The other thought was the victory in Minnesota, but the Timberwolves hardly are who we thought they are, now at 8-9. Arguably there has yet to be a game, over the entirety of a game, where you can say the Heat have established a foothold on the blueprint for this season.

Q: The Heat get on national TV and they can’t make a statement.  What other motivation do you need? – Stuart.

A: The motivation of having good-enough players.The Bucks had the best player on the court on Tuesday night, in Damian Lillard, and that proved to be enough. Rarely, if at all this season, have the Heat had the best player on the court, perhaps with the exception of Jimmy Butler’s two 30-point guards. And now it’s red-hot LaMelo Ball who is up next on Wednesday night in Charlotte.

Thanksgiving is a time to pause and reflect on the blessings that shape our lives.

More than a meal, the holiday brings us together and creates lasting memories. In the chaos of daily life, the day reminds us to focus on what truly matters: Our loved ones, our blessings and the simple joys that often go unnoticed.

In Islam, gratitude is not confined to a single day. It is deeply embedded in everyday life.

Through prayer, fasting, and giving alms, Muslims are reminded to recognize their blessings and give thanks to God. As the Holy Quran says, “Eat of the good things We have provided for you, and render thanks to Allah (God), if it is He Whom you worship” (2:173).

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us implement its values every day of the year.

Sophia Mahmood, Miami

Our worthwhile gifts

Every November, we express our gratitude for all we receive from our country’s shared benefits.

This is a time of family reunions, public gatherings with volunteer hosts or dining away from home. This year, we’ve gone through a contentious national election, public protests from a war in the Mideast and devastating hurricanes close to home.

Living here in the U.S., we share in the benefits of heroic first responders, sound public utilities, federal, state and local education programs, medical care, highways, sanitation, transportation, libraries and natural resources.

Make this time of year one of thanksgiving as we gather with family and friends. Try to instill in all the worthwhile gifts we have by living in this wonderful country.

Bob Sweeney, Warwick, R.I.

Such strange bedfellows

In 1899, Louis Dalrymple said, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” It’s still true.

I clearly remember Marco Rubio next to Donald Trump in a 2016 debate and declared Trump unfit to occupy the Oval Office. He unleashed a torrent of criticism of Trump’s misdeeds and character. He worked Trump into a red-faced lather, even describing his small hands.

Today, Rubio is a steadfast Trump loyalist. Trump has rewarded him with a nomination to be Secretary of State. Strange bedfellows indeed.

Melvin Gerald, Boca Raton

Morning Joe, Mika and Trump

“Morning Joe” Scarborough and his wife, Mika Brzezinski, met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago to restart a dialogue, even though they have been fierce critics of Trump and he has said terrible, untrue things about them. Their visit got lots of coverage, as many on social media felt betrayed and accused Joe and Mika of selling out.

I don’t see it that way. There’s nothing wrong with restarting a dialogue. Joe and Mika will continue to speak out and hold the Trump administration accountable. But meeting with Trump was probably pointless.

Joe and Mika said he was elected by a little more than half the country, or about 76 million people, and that we can’t ignore Trump voters. In fact, since Trump was elected in 2016, the media has done nothing but cover Trump voters and their wants, needs and grievances. So many books have been written about the anger in small-town America and why people went for Trump.

I’m not interested in who Trump voters are, because considering who Trump is and what he wants to do, there’s no good reason to have voted for this man a second time. They should never have voted for him. His Cabinet choices are already showing us why.

Kathleen Vullis, Margate

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Thanksgiving brings families together and gives us wonderful memories. Turkey is on the menu in most homes that celebrate the holiday, but the first Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag in 1621 likely had no turkey at all. And no mashed potatoes either. Duck, deer, seafood and cornmeal are believed to be the main dishes at that famous Thanksgiving debut in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

While today’s Thanksgiving is known for parades, football and shopping, the original intent was far different. President Abraham Lincoln believed Thanksgiving should be a day of praying for peace and caring for war victims.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.”

Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation of October 1863 during the Civil War sought to unite the country and build peace. The writer Sarah Josepha Hale had written Lincoln encouraging him to make Thanksgiving a regular national holiday. Hale’s letters made a difference.

“The observance having spread from state to state this year, for the first time, takes its place among the institutions of the nation,” stated an 1863 Thanksgiving editorial in the Hartford Courant. Thanksgiving was here to stay in America.

Turkey was part of the Thanksgiving in 1863. A Chicago Tribune article titled “The Soldiers Thanksgiving Dinner” told of the joy of those getting turkey and chicken at Camp Douglas, The United States General Hospital and the Marine Hospital.

Following Lincoln’s proclamation of caring for those wounded by war, the first national Thanksgiving holiday was a success. Since then, charity has become an important part of the Thanksgiving tradition.

Lincoln’s idea of Thanksgiving as a time for giving back to those in need is something we should always make a part of the holiday. Charity at home and overseas is America’s Thanksgiving story.

At Thanksgiving in 1947, about 10,000 orphans in Europe each got a big surprise: a food package from America. The New York Times reported about this Thanksgiving in Europe because of donations from Americans. This generosity was part of the “Silent Guest” plan, in which families donated at the holidays to send care packages to Europe. This was just two years after World War II, when Europe was reeling in hunger.

Imagine the joy for a thousand orphans at the Central Children’s Home in Vienna, Austria, who were among those who received the Thanksgiving food packages. More Thanksgiving packages were given to kids in Austria who had been stricken with polio. This generosity offered these kids a bit of hope when they had suffered so much. Food donations from America saved lives and built peace after the war.

Thanksgiving today offers us a chance to help those suffering during this holiday season. You can donate to foodbanks feeding hurricane victims in North Carolina, Florida and other areas. Overseas there are starving war victims in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Yemen and other nations that desperately need our help.

You can donate to charities like Save the Children, CARE, Mary’s Meals, Catholic Relief Services, Edesia, Mercy Corps and many others. UNICEF has an appeal to provide food to malnourished infants as supplies are running low.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) needs our support as it tries to feed millions of starving people in war-torn Gaza and Sudan. These two areas are near famine levels of hunger. The WFP also provides aid in lesser known conflict areas like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where over 23 million people face severe hunger. But the WFP needs more resources to feed all the war victims.

There are many nations that need Thanksgiving food and peace. We can do something great to help them by donating and making charity a part of our holiday.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.” His writings have been published by the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek and many other news outlets.

In less than a month, I turn 40. It is a huge milestone, but on Nov. 2, I had an even bigger milestone that I was scared to share with family and friends who live in Florida.

I successfully froze 17 eggs.

As I was recovering at home in California, I thought about my journey so far into motherhood. It consisted of testing my egg count, finding out I didn’t ovulate, crying to the song “Blackbird” because I didn’t ovulate, testing again a month later, celebrating because I ovulated, starting to work with my fertility doctor, having a cooler of meds delivered to my house, giving myself injection after injection after injection to find out my body was not progressing, once again getting angry and crying to the song “Blackbird,” then doing the whole entire process of giving myself shot after shot and then finally getting the procedure to have my egg frozen. This made me feel like a badass.

Saffiyah “Saffy” Johnson is the former chair of the Orange County Children’s Cabinet.

I imagined what it would be like to visit home, pregnant. What it would feel like for my belly to be so big that it hid my feet as they gently grazed the sand on the beach. Lovingly describing the sounds of the waves to my unborn child, eating fresh conch fritters from a local tiki bar, and hoping I have the same craving my mom had with me: lemon custard ice cream from Joy’s in White City. Most importantly, getting love, hugs and humor from my family and friends in Florida. Those dreams came to a sobering halt the night of Nov. 5, due to Amendment 4 not passing. I quickly realized that my life would potentially be in danger if I was pregnant in Florida.

I have worked in health care for over 10 years, including seven years in Florida. I know the health-care system well and some of the challenges in the state before the collapse of Roe v. Wade. In health care, when we are looking at the chance of a mother dying during pregnancy and childbirth within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, we express it by how many women have died per 100,000 live births. This is called the Maternal Death and Mortality rate. If we looked at the rate in Florida, it was 24.1 between the years of 2018-2022. This is a little higher than the U.S. average of 23.2 for the same period. For context, I live in California now, and the rate for the same period is 10.5. Other surrounding states to Florida such as Alabama and Georgia are 39 and 32.

When we look at the maternal mortality rate for a woman like me, a Black woman, the maternal mortality rate is far higher than any other racial or ethnic group since at least 2014. In 2019, the maternal mortality rate for Black mothers was 44 and in Florida during the same year, it was 47.8. At its highest, the rate was 69.9 in the U.S. and in Florida it was 95.6! Having a child may be the riskiest thing for me as a Black woman.

Having a high rate frightens me, but what frightens me more is the answer to the following question, “With the six-week ban in place, would doctors feel secure in performing life-saving treatments for me if I was pregnant and in distress?” and the answer is no. Part of this is simply hesitancy to provide care and follow the law. Doctors have their own stressors attempting to provide the right care in normal circumstances, let alone risking prison time.

So, when I think of a future pregnancy, I’ll beg my friends and family from Florida to visit me in the safety of California.

Saffiyah “Saffy” Johnson, a longtime Orlando resident and former chair of the Orange County Children’s Cabinet, lives in Roseville, Calif.

Rental home inspection program could be coming soon to Springfield  KY3

Rental home inspection program could be coming soon to Springfield  KY3

Rental home inspection program could be coming soon to Springfield  KY3

Rental home inspection program could be coming soon to Springfield  KY3

Rental home inspection program could be coming soon to Springfield  KY3

Rental home inspection program could be coming soon to Springfield  KY3

Rental home inspection program could be coming soon to Springfield  KY3

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 26, the 331st day of 2024. There are 35 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 26, 2008, teams of heavily armed militants from the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant and a crowded train station in Mumbai, India, leaving at least 175 people dead (including nine of the attackers) in a rampage spanning four days.

Also on this date:

In 1791, President George Washington held his first full cabinet meeting; in attendance were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.

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In 1864, English mathematician and writer Charles Dodgson presented a handwritten and illustrated manuscript, “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground,” to his 12-year-old friend Alice Pleasance Liddell; the book was later turned into “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” published under Dodgson’s pen name, Lewis Carroll.

In 1917, the National Hockey League was founded in Montreal, succeeding the National Hockey Association.

In 1941, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull delivered a note to Japan’s ambassador to the United States, Kichisaburo Nomura (kee-chee-sah-boor-oh noh-moo-rah), setting forth U.S. demands for “lasting and extensive peace throughout the Pacific area.” The same day, a Japanese naval task force consisting of six aircraft carriers left the Kuril Islands, headed toward Hawaii.

In 1942, the film ‘Casablanca,’ starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York City.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon’s personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she’d accidentally caused part of the 18-1/2-minute gap in a key Watergate tape.

In 2000, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified George W. Bush the winner over Al Gore in the state’s presidential balloting by a 537-vote margin.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Impressionist Rich Little is 86.
• Football Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud is 82.
• Author Marilynne Robinson is 81.
• Bass guitarist John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) is 79.
• Football Hall of Famer Art Shell is 78.
• Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is 71.
• Football Hall of Famer Harry Carson is 71.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett is 68.
• Country singer Linda Davis is 62.
• Actor-TV personality Garcelle Beauvais is 58.
• Actor Peter Facinelli is 51.
• DJ-music producer DJ Khaled (KAL’-ehd) is 49.
• Country musician Joe Nichols is 48.
• Pop singer Natasha Bedingfield is 43.
• Actor-singer-TV personality Rita Ora is 34.

The customers came from far and wide on a sunny November morning. They strolled past raw buffalo ice cream, raw chocolate milk and camel milk, grabbed raw cottage cheese, raw butter, raw lemon yogurt, all labeled “not for human consumption” or “for pet consumption only.” Some requested raw milk in their coffee orders at the truck next door.

They were gym rats, granola moms, young couples, Donald Trump supporters, single men trying to be healthier, and immigrants from countries where raw milk is a way of life, not a forbidden fruit. Some were trying raw dairy for their first time. Others came prepared, speeding out of the store with giant coolers so that the milk would not rapidly spoil when exposed to the warm South Florida air. One man wore a hat that said “in raw we trust.”

Tucked away in a far-west corner of Broward County, the Southwest Ranches farmer’s market has quickly become a hot spot for the state’s raw dairy consumers, even though Florida law forbids the sale of raw milk to humans. Customers come despite the legal barriers, risks of illness and warnings from public health officials not to consume unpasteurized milk. And they are not alone: Raw milk has surged in popularity across the state and the rest of the country over the last few years, a trend in part driven by online influencers within rightwing, anti-establishment circles of the web.

A way of life once relegated to certain segments of the population has permeated the federal government with the arrival of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a staunch supporter of the beverage who has claimed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has subjected it to “aggressive suppression.” Yet despite raw milk’s popularity in Florida and the state’s newfound reputation as a bastion of the right, it is one of the few in the country to completely prohibit the sale of raw dairy products for human consumption, allowing them to be sold only as pet food.

The result is a thriving market that sells people whatever they like as long as it’s packaged in a container that says “not for human consumption” or “for pet consumption only.”

Signs above the raw dairy products at Southwest Ranches Farmer’s Market state that raw dairy products are not for human consumption per Florida law. (Abigail Hasebroock / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Carolina Hernandez, 30, bought the Southwest Ranches market four years ago and has seen it grow from what she says was a failing business into a subject of social media acclaim that attracts influencers and customers from around the country.

“I feel like our country and our community, it’s hungry for this kind of food,” she said as she sat a picnic table outside of the market. Under the name of the market, her navy blue shirt read “God is Good.”

“They’re desperate to find real, natural food.”

The market used to only offer raw milk, but now, Hernandez said, it sells “the whole world of raw dairy heaven,” many of its products coming all the way from Amish country in Pennsylvania. Of course, Hernandez added, “It is a pet food item. So, I sell a lot of raw milk for pets, for cats and dogs.”

‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’

The resurgence of raw milk is not new. For a long time, proponents have battled with scientists and government officials over the restrictions placed on consumption in the U.S. Federal law prohibits the sale of raw milk across state lines, and the FDA warns it can pose a “serious health risk.”

But the rules surrounding the industry are largely left up to the states. And few states are as strict as Florida.

In the vast majority of states, raw milk sales to people are legal. Most states, including Texas, Georgia and New York, allow people to buy the milk as long as it is purchased directly from farms for consumption. Several other states, including California, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, allow raw milk sales in regular retail stores.

Florida is one of only a few states, including Louisiana, Maryland and Indiana, that forbid raw milk product sales except as pet food, according to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

But the law hasn’t stopped Florida’s raw milk industry, which has flourished in recent years.

Outside of Southwest Ranches Farmer’s Market, several other raw dairy operations dot the region, including Marando Farms in Davie. Others are not brick-and-mortar shops and act only as a pick-up place, such as Heritage Hen in Delray Beach, which sells raw milk, eggs and micro-greens, according to its website. Similar to Heritage Hen, Raw Milk Boca offers raw milk, kefir, yogurt, cream, butter, beef, eggs, sourdough bread, pizza dough and mushrooms. Local farmer’s markets also sell the product; at the Delray Beach Green Market, customers can buy raw dairy at a couple of stands.

As long as products are labeled as pet food, buyers can do as they like.

“It’s like a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ state,” said Jojo Milano, the owner of Delilah’s Dairy, a goat milk dairy farm.

Many in the community treat the law with a sort of “wink wink” attitude. That includes Edward Yauner, who was at the Southwest Ranches Farmer’s Market on a recent Saturday picking up raw milk and eggs. He had switched to the milk and other unprocessed foods in an effort to lose weight, and he hopes the Trump administration’s reinstatement will make raw milk and other “banned” foods easier to get.

“This food is for my pet,” Yauner said, using air quotes, then added, “My pet has been doing very, very well.”

Edward Yauner, 27, at the Southwest Ranches Community Farmers Market. He says he has switched to raw milk and other unprocessed foods in an effort to lose weight (Scott Luxor/Contributor)

Still, many sellers fear losing their license or getting into trouble with the state for selling the milk too openly to people. Some declined to speak to the South Florida Sun Sentinel on the record about their businesses out of fear of punishment; others were careful in what they would say.

The Delilah’s Dairy website writes in its FAQ section, “Raw milk is for animal food consumption only. Do not tell me you are buying it for yourself to drink.”

When someone would call Milano asking for raw milk for their baby, she told the Sun Sentinel in 2011 that she would say no. “I don’t know if it’s a ruse,” she explained. “If you don’t follow my rules, no, I’m not selling you milk.”

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Hernandez says that she can’t suggest the milk is for humans, but consumption of it is a personal decision.

“As a business owner, I cannot say that it is for human consumption, right?” she said. “I cannot refer the dairy for any human, right? And it is more of a personal decision, more of a personal research, whoever wants to consume raw dairy … Unfortunately, because of the law, we are not able to recommend anything. But, like I said, it’s a movement, right?”

The state’s strict laws are also at odds with the reality in many countries outside of the U.S. Many South Florida raw milk consumers have roots in Latin American countries like Colombia and Cuba where unpasteurized dairy is readily accessible.

Hernandez emigrated to the U.S. from Colombia when she was 12 and sees the market as a connection to her childhood.

“The change in food is 100% different,” she said. “I feel like we are very familiar with this type of food in my country.”

A growing obsession

On an idyllic farm in the middle of Utah, Hannah Neeleman films herself harvesting raw milk from the family cow, Tulip. She wears a cozy flannel as she pours the milk into glass jars. Later, she’ll use the raw milk — sometimes from a sheep instead of a cow — as she prepares recipes like whipped cream, banana pudding, and mozzarella cheese, to an audience of over 10 million followers.

Elsewhere on the web, doctor influencers Paul Saladino and Eric Berg have shared videos to their millions of followers analyzing the health benefits of the milk and denouncing the stigma and legal barriers. Saladino was once a major proponent of the carnivore diet, a trend that often coincides with raw milk consumption and involves consuming mainly animal products like eggs and steak and little in the way of fruits, vegetables or grains. Later, Saladino quit the carnivore diet and began eating more fruit.

People like Neeleman, Saladino and Berg have all helped usher new demographics into the raw milk renaissance. Their videos found a convert in Jensen Dowdle, a 25-year-old man living in Polk County who says his raw milk habits began as a sort of fusion of the “two different worlds” of influencers, as well as his upbringing.

“I grew up with a hate of the government,” he explained. “Just an intense distrust that was kind of nurtured from the very start.”

After his first child, Dowdle gained 30 to 40 pounds. He began watching Saladino and Burg for diet tips and found them not only promoting raw milk but other practices like intermittent fasting and reducing carbs. Then his wife introduced him to Ballerina Farm, who helped “romanticize country living.”

“You see that, you go, ‘OK, she’s drinking it and her kids are, and you see, online, people like RFK and all these people who go a little more into the science of it and push against what health agencies are saying,” he explained. “So it kind of got me a little curious myself.”

The craze has made its way to many similar consumers across Florida. Data indicates an increasing number of people are opting for raw milk in recent years, while influencers like Saladino have even visited the Southwest Ranches Farmer’s Market, according to Hernandez.

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“We definitely do know that there is a growing number of people that are seeking this out as a commodity,” said Benjamin Anderson, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Global Health at the University of Florida. He and other researchers have found a “rising trend in both the demand and the supply of raw milk” across the state over the past couple of years.

The growing popularity of raw milk is due, in part, to the “politicization of public health,” Anderson said, which ties into other choices such as vaccine hesitancy. Raw milk influencers also have gained a substantial following among those on the right like Dowdle, a shift that coincides with increasingly anti-establishment sentiments surrounding health.

Neeleman and her family are Mormon, and though they are not outspokenly conservative, they promote more conservative living and gender roles along the lines of other popular internet trends like the “trad wife,” an aesthetic based around women whose primary identity is being a homemaker.

Dowdle voted for Trump and considers himself “very conservative,” though he added that he is not a “cult follower” of Trump.

“There’s things about the MAGA agenda I really love and it makes me very proud of my country,” he explained.

As a conservative raw milk drinker, Dowdle questions why the Florida government, despite its embrace of the anti-establishment right wing, is so late to the trend. Most recently, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo put out guidance against fluoridation of the water supply. Throughout the pandemic, Ladapo has repeatedly recommended against the COVID vaccine.

“If we are coding raw milk for the GOP, like what is holding back the holy state of Florida from getting this done?” Dowdle asked.

Anderson believes most of Florida’s raw milk sellers are homesteaders, many of them born out of the COVID-19 pandemic when people were stuck at home and began turning to new practices such as baking homemade sourdough bread, growing fresh vegetables in a backyard garden, and even farming. He and other researchers identified more than 115 producers of raw milk in the state, but only 30% of those had registered for a permit that allows the sale of pet food.

“I do see a rise in the number of sources of raw milk that are really the small homesteading operations,” Anderson said. “Individuals that are setting up because they have a perspective on farming as a part of their life and how that fits into society. And so there’s some social ideology here that’s playing a role and that is, I think, driving some of the increases in more raw milk production.”

Meg Connolly is another recent raw milk convert. The digital marketing consultant and real estate broker who lives in Miami first gave it a try in 2022 after hearing about it in a California coffee shop.

At the time, Connolly said she was severely lactose intolerant and chugged oat milk every day. Her husband had to start buying it in bulk. Even her phone reflected her obsession with an oat milk-themed case.

“I was insane over the oat milk,” she said.

Connolly was dealing with a host of female health complications at the time — endometriosis, menstruation problems, fertility issues and polycystic ovarian syndrome — and those issues, coupled with her desire to ditch the sugar and seed oil content found in most popular oat milk products, led her to raw milk.

“I tried it, and I was like this actually tastes amazing. And what really shocked me was I didn’t have a reaction at all,” she said. “My dairy intolerance prior to this was so severe that if sour cream touched the same guacamole spoon, I was down for the count for 24 hours, keeled over in pain.”

“The fact that I had zero reaction to it was what made me go really deep down the rabbit hole and quit oat milk entirely and find a way to get raw dairy in the state of Florida,” she said.

Connolly turned to the Southwest Ranches Farmer’s Market to get her fix, and she said she’s seen popularity  grow for the market’s raw dairy products, with crowds increasing in size.

“I would really like and hope to see legalization where we can actually just go and get it at the store,” she said.

Many other raw milk consumers once preferred vegan products, then decided that the health benefits of raw dairy surpassed them. They cite positive changes such as better skin, a lack of allergic reaction, and increased energy as a result of consuming raw dairy products. Most say they drink it raw specifically because they believe pasteurization removes nutrients and flavor.

Colette Schnabel used to be a hardcore vegan. Now the Fort Lauderdale resident has gone largely carnivore, part of a broader approach to health that she shares on Instagram to 20,000 followers.

“I wasn’t thriving,” Schnabel said when thinking back to her vegan lifestyle. “I didn’t look well; my eyes were kind of sunken in. When I eat carnivore and I stick to raw dairies, I have an abundance of energy. My skin is so plump, I’m glowing.”

Online, she refers to herself as a “biohacking mama” and works for a media organization called “Biohack Yourself,” which filmed a documentary featuring RFK two years ago that is set to release in December; she’s stood by him ever since.

Schnabel also gives the raw milk to her children, as do many consumers. She used to have them drink vegan milks — anything from pistachio to coconut — but “saw a huge difference” when she switched over. Suddenly, her daughter’s belly was no longer bloated.

Dowdle, meanwhile, suffered from allergies.

“My whole life, I’ve always had my nose plugged,” he said. “Since I started drinking three months ago, I can breathe through both my nostrils.”

At the Southwest Ranches Farmer’s Market, Eddith Grau carried a basket with raw milk and quail eggs inside. She started taking trips there to pick up raw milk to address health issues her children experience: Her son has eczema and her daughter has a milk protein allergy. The quail eggs are for her mother who is undergoing chemotherapy.

“We started with the raw milk to try something different,” she said.

Eddith Grau shops at the Southwest Ranches Community Farmers Market. (Scott Luxor/Contributor) Is raw milk healthy?

While some studies show benefits to raw or farm milk consumption, scientists argue that the benefits do not outweigh the risks and that some of the benefits cited by users may have to do with other aspects of the milk rather than the lack of pasteurization.

A study published in Nutrition Today found that the loss of nutrients from pasteurization is not significant, but did find “very minor” losses of vitamin C, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and thiamine. The authors noted  that pasture-grazed cows likely have more nutritious milk, and sometimes proponents of raw milk “confuse feed-related changes in milk composition with those caused directly by pasteurization.”

Other studies have found that childhood consumption of raw milk helps prevent allergies and asthma and could contain probiotics.

But raw milk is also more likely to carry disease-causing bacteria and viruses, scientists say, and it can spoil easily if not stored properly, introducing even greater health risks.

Anderson said he and other researchers are concerned about the impact of the new trend on public health. A substantial amount of current and historical epidemiological data shows drinking completely unadulterated, straight-from-the-cow milk carries “a great risk for food-safety pathogens,” he said.

This year alone, raw milk has caused multiple outbreaks, health officials say. At least 165 people were sickened from a Salmonella outbreak linked to raw milk from a farm in California. An E. coli outbreak linked to raw milk in Washington sickened three people.

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“There’s a much greater chance that you’re going to expose yourself to something and be infected,” Anderson said. And it’s not just bacteria, he added, “now we also have these concerns around viral exposures.”

For example, outbreaks of bird flu in poultry and dairy cows have been occurring in more than a dozen states in recent months, which Anderson said means the “virus is starting to change and starting to spill over or transmit between species more readily than in the past.”

The bird flu virus, known as H5N1, “replicates in pretty high concentrations on raw milk,” Anderson said. Some farm workers have already contracted bird flu, and the concern is that people who drink raw milk are at a higher risk of contracting it too.

“If that virus has the potential to transmit from human to human, that’s when we have a pandemic potential,” he said, adding: “The more people who are exposed to the virus, the more probability we’re introducing there to this potential change happening. And then if it does happen, then yes, it becomes a public health issue, and everybody is impacted because that virus can now impact anybody.”

Experts maintain that the benefits simply do not outweigh the risks.

According to the Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center at North Carolina State University: “There are no science-based, data-supported reasons that raw milk is healthier than pasteurized milk and certainly no reasons that would outweigh the risks associated with consuming raw milk.”

Because cow’s milk naturally contains protein, fat, sugar, vitamins and minerals, the center called it “nearly perfect food,” but also contended that because of milk’s makeup, it provides nutrition for bacteria.

“While dairy farmers work really hard to keep the cow and their environment clean and pathogen free, bacteria are everywhere. Most are not harmful, but if milk were to become contaminated after it leaves the cow and not subjected to pasteurization, it increases the risk of causing illness in people,” according to the center’s emailed statement. “That is a concern, particularly for vulnerable people like young kids, elderly, or anyone with a compromised immune system, but really for all humans. It is not worth the risk.”

Drinking raw milk was likened to choosing not to wear a seatbelt when in the car: “It’s a law; we know that it can save your life in an accident, but some people still don’t do it.”

The Southwest Ranches Community Farmers Market offers raw milk and other products. Raw milk products must packaged in a container that says “not for human consumption” or “for pet consumption only,” since Florida is one of only a few states that forbid raw milk product sales except as pet food, according to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.  (Scott Luxor/Contributor)

Within Florida’s raw milk circles, sicknesses have popped up. A recent post from a mother in a raw milk Facebook group warned about one of the state’s dairies, saying that her daughter had gotten sick twice after drinking the milk and was hospitalized the first time for three days.

The comments section was flooded with supporters who shared similar experiences and critics who defended the dairy and raw milk in general.

“You have no evidence and yet are brutal in casting blame,” one person wrote.

“Maybe you should check vaccine ingredients and not blame the raw milk,” another said. The woman replied that her daughter had never been vaccinated.

Many raw milk proponents argue that the spreading of pathogens can be completely eliminated so long as the milk is acquired and processed correctly. Mark McAfee, who founded the Raw Milk Institute in California in 2011, said he believes drinking raw milk is completely safe, so long as a stringent three-step process is followed in acquiring it: high standards, food safety programs for farmers, and testing to ensure those standards are being met.

“Those are the three things that need to happen if we’re going to have raw milk really emerge,” he said.

Cows need to be healthy and fed well, for example, McAfee said. And equipment used in milking the cows always must be clean to avoid contamination of any kind, along with chilling the milk almost immediately after it’s taken from the cow.

The lack of a framework for raw milk production is what leads to issues, not the raw milk itself, McAfee said.

“There are no standards nationally or internationally,” he said. “So yes, there’s lots of problems, tons of problems, because there’s no consensus.”

McAfee said he “stands with (Kennedy) 100%” on the idea to curb the current regulation on raw milk.

In August, Kennedy’s former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, posted a video of her visit to the Raw Milk Institute where McAfee explained the organization’s process in acquiring raw milk.

“The only way America will ever be better and happier and healthier is to have our gut microbiomes intact because we’re consuming whole food nutrition, and maybe big industrial complexes can change,” he said. “America is stuck on the sick paradigm, and RFK is talking about a health paradigm, and that is a transition that’s really key.”

To legalize or not to legalize?

Not all fans of raw milk want to see it fully legalized. They say it could present more obstacles, expenses and liability issues for the sellers. Some who consume the milk say they prefer to buy it directly from a farm.

Grau fears that if raw milk lined the dairy aisle at Publix, its value would become diminished, similar to the way “organic” has lost its meaning. Still, she is hopeful that the reinstatement of the Trump administration will loosen some of the current restrictions.

“That is my hope with RFK Jr.,” she said.

The Southwest Ranches Community Farmers Market offers raw milk and other products. In Florida, raw milk products must be sold with labels that say “not for human consumption” or “for pet consumption only.”   (Scott Luxor/Contributor)

Other new-to-raw-milk Floridians, like Dowdle, think its legal status in Florida is a relic of the past.

Recently, Dowdle reached out to his local representative, Republican Josie Tomkow, and got in touch with her legal aide to talk about raw milk.

“She just hits me back with ‘Oh, this is a federal issue,’” he recalled. “‘Go talk to your federal representative.’ But part of me was thinking, okay, but it’s legal in all these states.”

Next, Dowdle reached out to State Sen. Colleen Burton, R-Winter Haven, but didn’t get a response. He plans to keep trying. He pointed to other states, like California, which he referred to as a liberal “hellscape” but where the milk is legal and farmers must meet certain safety criteria.

“Why doesn’t the ‘free state of Florida’ have these kinds of regulations so we can drink this raw milk?” he asked. “Why are we drinking pet food out here?”

Here are the top stories for Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. Get the weather forecast for today here.

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After decades in downtown Fort Lauderdale, the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office no longer has a presence there. It’s now located in the suburbs.

The bulk of the agency’s operations moved into a new headquarters in northwest Fort Lauderdale, just south of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, over the summer. Almost everything that used to take place at a secondary location at the Lauderhill Mall also relocated.

Both locations permanently closed after the Nov. 5 presidential election.

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The downtown Fort Lauderdale office, on the ground floor of the county Governmental Center, was a key spot for candidates and their consultants for many years — the place they’d go to file their paperwork establishing campaign committees and where they’d submit paperwork to get on the ballot.

Now the door is locked and the window is covered. The 8,873 square feet at the Governmental Center is being “repurposed by the county,” elections office spokeswoman Lisa Arneaud said via email.

The lease on the 79,780 square feet of converted retail space once used by a Kmart at the Lauderhill Mall expired after the election.

Miriam Oliphant, left, returns to the Supervisor of Elections Office in downtown Fort Lauderdale on July 26, 2004, with a new qualifying check to run for office after the first one bounced. Mary Cooney, then-candidate qualifying officer at the Supervisor of Elections Office, checks over paperwork. The downtown office, where legions of candidates filed paperwork, closed after the 2024 elections. (South Florida Sun Sentinel file photo)

The new 155,000-square-foot main office, at 4650 NW 21st Ave. in Fort Lauderdale, was finished in July and most employees and equipment moved that month.

The new facility cost $103 million for land, design and construction.

The new location was designed to increase transparency and security, both for elections workers and the ballots.

The design allows political activists, lawyers, elected officials, journalists and everyday citizens to watch almost everything that happens in the voting process — including routine administrative tasks that years ago rarely attracted much interest or attention.

The Supervisor of Elections Office has branch locations in libraries and other community buildings in Coral Springs, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Pompano Beach and Tamarac.

Arneaud said Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott is “actively looking into opening a few more branch offices placed strategically throughout the county.”

All the offices are open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.

Mitch Ceasar, former chair of the Broward Democratic Party, files paperwork at the Broward Supervisor of Elections main office on June 5, 2019, to become a candidate for circuit court clerk. Legions of candidates filed their paperwork at the elections office in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It closed after the 2024 election. (Anthony Man/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Rent increases are forcing many Florida seniors to move, and they’re among the hardest hit in the country, a new survey suggests.

The new survey from Retirement Living, an Oklahoma-based retirement planning company, used U.S. Census data to show more than 35% of seniors age 65 and older in Florida reported “feeling pressured” to move in the past six months due to rent increases. That’s nearly three times the national rate of 12.3%, it said.

The median rent in Florida is $1,719, well above the national median of $1,406, according to the report.

When seniors move out of their home, it’s in search of someplace less costly, said Jailyn Montero, the Retirement Living spokeswoman. “With inflation, with rising rent, having to pay more than what you expected to is very stressful,” she said.

Broward County has long talked about the lack of affordable housing, where there is an estimated shortage of nearly 73,000 affordable houses in Broward, and another 74,000-unit gap of affordable rental apartments.

Broward officials also say there has been a 70.5% rent increase since 2016. Rents rose by almost 39% between 2021 and 2022 alone, with the average rent being $2,693 last year, up from a monthly rent of $1,942, according to county records.

Retirement Living’s research also shows 12.1% of Florida seniors are living below the poverty line, and rising rents are putting many older adults at risk of being displaced.

“Rising rent and inflation impacts all of us, but it’s especially burdensome to seniors living on those fixed incomes,” Montero said.

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In another study, data shows that seniors aged 65 and older are the fastest-growing demographic facing homelessness, she said, attributing a 2023 report by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, and “the need to relocate for affordable housing can push many to the brink of desperation.”

In Broward, outgoing Mayor Nan Rich, in her annual “State of the County” address for 2024, said $3 million was recently awarded to a developer to help build a 92-unit senior housing project that will be called Boulevard Gardens, located in unincorporated Broward, near Fort Lauderdale.

Ralph Stone, Broward County’s director of the Housing Finance Division, said Boulevard Gardens is one of 13 projects for seniors since 2018 that added more than 1,500 units to the inventory.

“We are one of the least affordable metro areas in the nation as reflected by home prices and high rent rates and that’s what’s driving seniors to leave,” he said. “Seniors who haven’t saved are living off Social Security and suddenly are stuck with very high housing costs.

“Seniors are not retiring with enough of a nest egg to afford to live in Broward County unless they are living in a home that’s paid off.”

Cities also have gotten involved in the efforts. The city of Miramar offered up a $656,000 loan to help build Pinnacle at La Cabaña, a five-story, 110-unit affordable housing development for seniors, that is being constructed in Miramar.

Timothy Wheat, a partner at Pinnacle, said recently that La Cabana is just more than half completed and will open in the second quarter of 2025. His firm is also developing 100 units of affordable senior housing in Fort Lauderdale in a project called Pinnacle at Cypress. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2025.

The data for the Retirement Living report comes from the Household Pulse Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey consisted of a 20-minute online questionnaire that logged how emerging social and economic issues affect households across the country, according to Retirement Living.

Nationally, 7,998,154 older Americans (age 65 and above) participated in the survey. In Florida, 535,726 older Americans took part, of which 188,042 reported that a rent increase forced them to relocate.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash

Wilton Manors will now be able to grow by up to 750 new homes in future redevelopment projects.

Broward County is expected to sign off on the city’s request to prepare for new growth. It’s part of accommodating well-planned development, said Mayor Scott Newton.

“We have to grow,” but “we have to grow smartly,” Newton said. “This provides we have the units to give to developments that want to come in that the residents and the community wants.”

Newton said he doesn’t expect the 750 new homes to be in one lump project. Rather, “it will be many projects within that area, not just a block or two, it’s many blocks.”

Already, the city is on the cusp of major change to its downtown.

Wilton Manors has already approved plans for a boutique hotel near the landmark Five Points intersection, which is considered a symbolic crossing in Wilton Manors. Although there is a motel in the city, this would be the first hotel — and one of the tallest buildings in Wilton Manors, with seven stories rising to 90 feet, the maximum height for the neighborhood.

The 123-room Wilton Hotel & Pool Club could start construction late next year or early 2026, said developer Mark Ellert. “There’s still a lot of design work to do,” he said.

He called the prospect of more development in the area “very beneficial” because “the more locals to support the hotel the better.

“We think Wilton Manors is a very unique special little community and certainly seems to have the capacity to absorb 750 residents.”

This most recent land use plan, in the downtown, calls for the allocation of 750 residential units, including at least 10% of them (75 units) restricted to affordable housing for 30 years.

Experts said there are “huge, huge gaps” between incomes and the cost to buy a home in Broward, and many more affordable units are needed throughout the county.

Newton said his vision is to accommodate “teachers and people that work in the restaurant business. They can’t afford to be here and that’s unfair to all of us. Happy employees are ones that don’t have to drive 20 miles.”

The units for the potential new growth would be available to developers for projects “that may come in the future,” said Wilton Manors City Manager Leigh Ann Henderson.

Henderson said the city recently updated its land use and zoning regulations to promote mixed-use redevelopment along our commercial corridors. “However, the city’s pool of available redevelopment units was running low, currently there are 135 unallocated redevelopment units,” she said.

This new infusion of units, which gives the city permission to build, allows “Wilton Manors the ability to review and approve future projects.”

According to city documents, the 750 redevelopment units will encourage the development of affordable units within the City’s Urban Center Mixed Use Zoning Districts and Highland Estates.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash

Q: Jimmy Butler won’t ever have more value than he does right now. If they lose him for nothing in the offseason it is going to be a major setback for the organization. And they have limited draft assets going forward. I don’t think this team can beat the current version of the Celtics four games, so they aren’t really playing for a title. I think they need to move Jimmy for a quality young point guard and some draft capital ASAP. And if they don’t have a starting caliber center on the team they need to also find someone to fill that role and Bam Adebayo has to move to forward. – Ron, Columbus, Ohio.

A: Actually, Jimmy Butler has had more value before, which is why the Heat signed him away from the 76ers and then re-signed him. But I get your point regarding this season and these recent performances. And, to be honest, there just might have to be a moment when the Heat ask themselves whether they can contend with the elite in the East. That makes not only Tuesday night against the Bucks intriguing, but also next Monday in Boston. At some point – even though it is very un-Heat-like – you do have to take a long view, as well, especially when two of your next four first-round picks are committed elsewhere. At the moment, Jimmy is giving the Heat exactly what they want – options.

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Q: I am afraid that Tyler Herro is reverting to the norm with his shooting percentage. And Bam Adebayo simply isn’t big enough to be an effective center in a league that is swinging back to larger centers. They appear to have some good rotation quality young players but no star quality young players.  – Ron, Columbus, Ohio.

A: It’s kind of interesting how recent games by Tyler Herro have come to be viewed. As he has tapered off to very good instead of otherworldly, it’s almost as if the totality of what has been shown to this point is being written off. Yes, he struggled on his 3-pointers on Sunday against the Mavericks. But he still found a way to contribute. The same thing with Bam Adebayo, even as he missed a series of close-range shots.

Q: With Kel’el Ware not in the rotation and with three other centers on the roster, why hasn’t he been sent to the G League to play and further his development?- Joel.

A: Because one thing the G League has lacked for years has been quality play at center. So you wind up sending down big men to work against power forwards, hardly able to hone the type of skills that you better can hone in practice against the likes of Bam Adebayo, or even Kevin Love or Thomas Bryant. The G League has ample developmental benefits. Honing skills of a developing center is not one of them. As Keshad Johnson pointed out of his time in the G League, he actually had been playing some center there. The G League is a quality proving ground for wings. For big men? Not so much.