Miami Beach FL - June 6, 2009 --- Friday’s severe storms wrought havoc in Miami Beach. With an abundance of ferocious lightening, high winds, and torrential rainfall- with a little bit of GOLF BALL sized hail thrown in the mix (very rare to see) - the roads leading into South Beach were nearly a parking lot.

At around 2:30pm Friday severe storms formed from North Miami Beach to Coral Gables. The storms moved south and the worst parked itself on top of South Beach dropping an estimated 8-12” of rain in about three and a half hours. Streets in Miami Beach quickly became impassible with flood waters rising over the hoods of cars. With cars stalling in the high waters, motorist took to their feet for an escape leaving their vehicles to fend for themselves. It looked as though South Beach had sunk because nearly everywhere you looked it was under water.  Parking lots, stores, and homes were flooded unlike many had ever seen in the past. more

Miami Beach FL - June 12, 2009 ---The City of Miami Commissioners today followed Miami Beach, North Miami and Miami-Dade County in adopting a domestic partner ordinance. In a 5 to 0 vote, the city of Miami became the third municipality in Miami-Dade to grant benefits such as health and insurance to domestic partners of city employees.

The new ordinance will also allow the City of Miami to offer health benefits to the children of domestic partners in the same manner as the city offers such benefits to spouses and children of heterosexual employees.

To celebrate the passage of the ordinance, SAVE Dade held an event at the Clevelander South Beach and also celebrated national victories in equal rights for the GLBT community.“SAVE Dade: Ride The Wave of Pride” had special guest, Khloe Kardashian on hand with a Khloe Kardashian Drag Queen Look-a-Like contest while filming the final episode of her new reality series “Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami”. more

Crate and Barrel, a home-store where customers can buy affordable, modern house wares and furniture will open at the intersection of Lincoln and Jefferson. Crate and Barrel will be a great addition to Miami Beach as one of only a few affordable places to shop for house wares, with another being Pottery Barn. Founded in the 1960’s, Crate and Barrel provides European designs of home products ranging from kitchenware, bed and bath, to furniture. more

Miami Beach FL - May 30, 2009 --- In our effort to help prepare residents and visitors for hurricane season 2009, we asked CBS4 Chief Meteorologist David Bernard a few questions about hurricanes. David is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and retains the American Meteorological Society’s AMS Seal of Approval. He also has the professional broadcasting certification from the National Weather Association.

You’re no stranger to hurricanes. Prior to working in Miami, you worked in New Orleans and arrived in Miami only six weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit South Florida and devastated your former home in Louisiana. What differences have you found between New Orleans and Miami with weather forecasts? more

Miami Beach FL - March 12, 2009 --- Michael Gongora announced his candidacy for election to the Miami Beach Commission Group 2. Commission Group 2 will become vacant due to Commissioner Saul Gross’ departure due to term limits. The election takes place November 3, 2009.

Gongora stated in his press release that he is “confident the voters will choose [his] experience and qualifications because it allows [him] to serve them with effectiveness and integrity”.   more

So on our trip to Paris, we decided to do something a bit different. We decided to tour Paris by way of its most revered chocolate shops. Paris has some quite famous chocolatiers and our goal was to try to visit as many as we could as we roamed the city of love. more