Village of Pinecrest Councilmember Anna Hochkammer

Pinecrest, FL- From PTA to the Pinecrest Council Chamber. Anna Hochkammer has worked her way up to become a well-known name within the Village Of Pinecrest.

Born and raised in Michigan and attended Northwestern University. Upon graduating, Hochkammer moved to Ecuador and met her husband there. She has lived in Ecuador for 15 years to connect with the culture of the country while raising her three daughters there. In 2009, Hochkammer’s husband decided to move his headquarters to Miami. When it came to deciding where to live, Hochkammer and her family based their criteria on the following: living forty-five minutes from the airport, a nice backyard and having her children attend public school. These requirements led to one result: Pinecrest.

When she first came to Pinecrest, she didn’t know anyone. Later on, she would become PTSA President for Miami Palmetto Senior High School. Within her time as PTSA President, she pushed for working to connect with legislators and even attended many council meetings. Bob Ross term ended his District 1 seat resulting in Hockammer in running for that seat. From them on, she knocked on hundreds of doors and worked many hours to end up winning the election for her seat.

One of Hochkammer’s biggest things she advocates for is Equal pay. Hochkammer says that since the law was passed in the 1970s, very little effort has been made to make it a reality. Hockammer says that she has talked to many people who work in various departments in the village to understand the significant issue of gender gap pay and equal pay. Once elected, she worked with the village to create a workplace environment to shrink the gender pay gap. As soon as her resolution was passed, other municipalities such as Palmetto Bay started to follow along and later the village started to push for the county to make equal pay countywide.

What many people don’t know about Hockammer is that she is a terrible liar, played sousaphone, a king of tuba, in a marching band, enjoys traveling a lot to places like Madagascar, Egypt, most of Asia and Africa and beyond.

All and all, Hockammer says that as an individual Council member, she must connect with the people and those who disagree with her and be able to help out. For the entire village, there has been a push for the infrastructure to be upgraded since its major issue in the village as well as 800 homes under well wall that haven’t connected with city water. Before this interview, the village opened a newly renovated Coral Pine Park and recently invested to renovate the town center. Many of the projects such as schools and roads that Hockammer and her council pay come from bonds. This, all with her life, and her impact on the council has shaped to change the dynamic of Pinecrest.

WSVN 7 News Craig Stevens

     At the newsdesk with Craig Stevens and Co-Anchor Belkesy Nerey

North Bay Village, Fla.-From the wicked cold beaches of Cape Cod to the tall palm trees of Miami, Craig Stevens, an anchor with more than 25 years of experience in the industry, has climbed his way up the journalism ladder to become lead anchor at WSVN 7 News in North Bay Village, Florida. He currently anchors with Belkeys Nerey and they have become the longest standing anchor duo in South Florida history.

Stevens became interested as a teenager in journalism when he began watching and reading current events and visiting news stations. Years later, he would end up working at the NBC News mailroom in New York City. He soon was transferred to work for the NBC affiliate in Fort Myers as a reporter. From there, he went to Miami in 1992, then to WHDH, WSVN’s sister station in Boston and then back to Miami at WSVN. 

All the years of anchoring and reporting many stories have impacted him. One was back in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida. He was jaw dropped by the damage done by the hurricane’s destruction. Not only did Hurricane Andrew impact him but also 9/11 had an impact on him because not only because of the scale of it all but because he had just started as an anchor at WSVN that same year. 

By working at WSVN for more than a decade, Stevens says his station is very successful due to its large audience share along with many faces who have worked there for a long period of time and the mission it follows has not changed. Part of what makes WSVN unique is that it’s not a corporate-owned station, in fact, it’s a station owned and run by Real Estate Mogul Ed Ansin.

He balances a high demand job, even while working as a professor at the University of Miami School of Communications. As a professor, he is always very organized and project driven. As a journalist though, his job has resulted in him missing major events in his life.

What many don’t know about Craig Stevens is that he is a huge country music fan, learns guitar lessons by watching videos on YouTube but ironically can’t read music.

Some advice Stevens would give to future journalists would be to always be prepared to be the best on TV, have a strong determination, accept everything and never say no to an opportunity even if it comes with sacrifice.

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Delray Beach, Florida- A few days ago, I went to the Wakodatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach and encountered some wild birds, an alligator, iguanas, squirrels, Mash Rabbits a Basilisk aka the Jesus Christ Lizard and more.  Here are some photos of my adventure:

Wood Storks

Great White Egret

Tri-Color Heron

Basilisk

A Wood Stork trying to keep cool on a hot and humid day

Alligator

White Wood Stork and Black Anhinga

Little Blue Heron with chicks 

Great White Egret chicks 

Iguana 

Brightline has arrived to Miami!

Brightline train at the West Palm Beach Brightline Station

West Palm Beach, Florida -  On May 19th, Brightline began operations at the new transportation complex MiamiCentral Station servicing routes between Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and soon to be Orlando, Florida. On May 22nd, I had the chance to ride Brightline during its opening week. Here are some photos from my experience at the MiamiCentral station and the train:

#305 sign at the entrance of the MiamiCentral transportation complex.

View from the waiting room before boarding the Brightline train

Brightline ticket and safety guidebook. 

Inside one of the coaches of a Brightline train