Miami Herald

Blue Collar, the beloved comfort-food destination in Miami’s MiMo neighborhood, is just about ready to make its big move — and its sleek new look is light years from the original’s simple design. The restaurant, which opened in 2012 at 6730 Biscayne Blvd., has moved into the former space of Balan’s across the street and is on track to open later this month. The original restaurant will close shortly before the new one opens. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ejZSbifW

Florida’s coastal counties spend millions trucking in sand to preserve the eroding beachfront. But what if a cheaper possible solution could be found in the garbage and recycling bins of Miami bars or even in that six-pack of Miller Lite you brought home the other night? Glass is made from sand so what about doing the reverse? Paola Barranco thinks such a new source of soft, precious stuff could be an attractive, environmentally friendly option in a state with a shortage of quality beach sand. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eAkJKcBJ

Dan Finora, 90, credits his time in the military for giving him the discipline to wake up every morning at 5:30 am for the past sixty-five years to get ready for work at Coral Gables High School. After a decades-long career, Finora, beloved school counselor and former business manager of Coral Gables High School will pack up his well-loved office. Finora has counseled students behind the red door of his office for years – providing them with resources, encouragement, and more often than not, tough love. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eqHWZt6V

A high-powered investment group with its eye on redeveloping the expansive Miami Marine Stadium property on Virginia Key has been quietly meeting with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and other city officials to float an unsolicited proposal for a water-oriented sports and amusement park on the site. News of the previously undisclosed proposal has filtered out as the city administration gets set to seek a potential operator later this year for the marine stadium, which has been closed since 1992, amid growing political support for a long-delayed plan for the 1963 historic landmark’s renovation. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eqsVJd92

A real estate developer wants to build a condo development and a free park on the site of Miami’s Jungle island, changing course from a plan that would add a hotel and attractions to the theme park. Jungle Island, whose roots go back to 1936, could remain with a smaller footprint. The theme park moved to Miami’s Watson Island in 2003 from its original Pinecrest location. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eXfkHT9z

The United Way Miami announced a partnership with Barrington Irving Technical Training School at the Opa-locka Executive Airport. The career training program offers 12- to 16-week courses and targets people of color, female heads of household, veterans, youth ages 18 to 24, and teens aging out of foster care. United Way CEO Symeria Hudson believes the partnership will help participants access one of the 275,000 aviation jobs in Miami. Qualified applicants must either earn less than $35,000 or be unemployed. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ehQZdP5k

Publix Super Markets is continuing to expand, opening 13 new supermarkets March to May this year. And more are coming. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eHTQg-NJ

Is The Falls looking a bit livelier these days? It’s not your imagination. The ongoing “refresh,” as area director Jose Llorca calls it, nears completion in July with new lighting, handrails and other cosmetic tweaks to make the lush 44-year-old South Miami-Dade open-air mall feel younger. The facelift comes in time to welcome nine new retailers. Read more about what's coming to The Falls: https://lnkd.in/e_k9_3ND

Pilar Guzmán had $46 in the bank and her business was on the verge of bankruptcy 16 years ago. Today Half Moon Empanadas, which opened in 2008 in Miami, has 22 stores throughout the country, 11 of them in airports. “Last year we sold about 3 million empanadas, half in Miami and the other in the rest of the country,” says Guzmán, CEO of Half Moon Empanadas, which is among Inc.’s 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S. The Mexican businesswoman was included on April 9 among the most prominent business women in the United States. The Female Founders 250 list, compiled annually by Inc. magazine, “honors 250 women whose ideas and innovations in different industries contribute to making the world a better place.” In addition to her company’s success, and the Argentine-style empanadas made from scratch in Miami, Guzmán is proud of the team she has created and the opportunities for growth she gives employees. “If you can get a person to believe in themselves, you can change their life,” says Guzmán, Her company, which has 120 employees – 95% are Latino and 75% women – is an “empowerment machine,” she says. Read more about this growing business: https://lnkd.in/g6YQ8Zdm

One of the serene pleasures of Wendy Gordon’s daily routine was sitting on her Grove Isle balcony and watching the sun rise over Biscayne Bay, framed by Key Biscayne and the downtown skyline. No more. The sun is blotted out by a new 91-foot tall, stadium-like condominium that curves around the north end of the island and shrouds Gordon’s Building 3 in shadow part of the day. Nor can she step foot on her balcony, unless she clutches the railing. The crescent shape of the new condo tower and its jarring proximity, combined with the formerly soothing prevailing breeze, creates a wind tunnel that rakes across the north side of Building 3 and the driveway entrance, knocking down patio furniture, annihilating hairdos and slamming car doors. Gordon’s view, and that of her neighbors, was once unobstructed, but the other day, when she got out of the shower and wandered toward her living room, she realized the construction workers at the new building could see her through her sliding glass doors. “Thank God I was wearing a towel,” she said. “When residents move in over there, they’ll be close enough to see what I’m watching on TV. Or what I’m reading. I’ll be able to see into their bathrooms. “We bought a peaceful island lifestyle. It was heaven. It’s gone.” Read more the full story here: https://lnkd.in/gCAH89Ft