Meeting Bryan Norcross

Coral Gables, Fla- On July 20, 2017  I attended a book signing event at Books and Books in Coral Gables for Bryan Norcorss's new book My Hurricane Andrew Story.  He talked about his career, his experience up to, during, and after 1992's Hurricane Andrew. His story is fascinating and even brought many audience members, who lived through the storm, to tears.   Many, listened to Bryan's words on the radio, the only means for news updates during those very intense hours of the storm. His unique voice brought comfort to so many considering the situation.  He ended up damaging his vocal cords from the endless hours of speaking from the studio.

In remembrance of the 25th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew,  Brian Norcross has collaborated with HistoryMiami on an exhibition featuring everything related to the hurricane.  This coming Thursday, August 24th, from 10am - 5pm, the museum will be offering free admission to everyone who lives in Miami-Dade County.  For more information call (305) 375-1492.

Pandora: The World of Avatar

   Courtesy Walt Disney World Resort

Lake Buena Vista, Fla.- Op-ed- A few days ago, I visited Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park to experience the new land Pandora: The World of Avatar, which opened this past Memorial Day weekend. Pandora is beautiful beyond words both during the day and at night.  Above is a photo courtesy of Walt Disney World Resort which shows The Valley of Mo'ara from one of the many pathways and bridges throughout this beautiful land. Everywhere you look you find the most exotic flora and fauna native to the planet of Pandora and hear the native animals in the distance.   As the sun sets, Pandora begins to illuminate with bioluminescent lights that make for amazing photographs. The photo I took below is what Pandora looks like at night. When the area lights up, the plants including The Valley of Mo'ara transform the land into something beyond words. Pandora is beautifully laid out, however, the pathways and bridges can be confusing especially at night.

                      Credit: Luis A. Mercado/@theviewpointlm  

Lt. Govenor Carlos Lopez-Cantera

Interviewed on June 21st, 2017

Coral Gables, Fla.- In a special interview with Florida's Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, he talks about his beginnings, his accomplishments and his current political position. 

      Before becoming the Lt. Governor, he graduated from the University of Miami in 1996. That same year he volunteered for the presidential campaign of Bob Dole. In 1997, he went on to work in Tallahassee for a Criminal Justice Senate Committee. In 2002, he decided to run for the Florida House of Representatives but was unsuccessful. With the lessons he learned in that race, in 2004, he decided to run for the House of Representatives again in a neighboring district. The Lt. Governor was elected to the 113th District of the Florida House of Representatives and successfully served there for 8 years.  While in office, he chaired the Committee on Business Regulation, chaired the Government Affairs Committee, was the Majority Whip for a cycle and was the Majority Leader of the State House for his last two years in office.  In 2012, he was then elected as Miami-Dade County's Property Appraiser. In 2014, Governor Rick Scott offered him the vacant position of Lieutenant Governor in  which he happily accepted. 

       As the current Lt. Governor, the accomplishment he is most proud of is his collaboration with the Governor in ensuring economic success in Florida.  The outcome has been the creation of  1.37 million jobs since the recession, cutting taxes multiple times and cutting regulations as well as reducing the unemployment rate to it's lowest point since 2007.  Also, Florida is the fastest growing economy over the national economy.  Florida's economy is leading all mega states, (mega states being the larger states with populations exceeding 10-15 million), except for North Dakota.  

      One of the most powerful lessons he's learned from his prior positions "is that government is not and should not be the answer to every problem that exists."  He believes that sometimes businesses, communities and local governments should work together to solve the problem and address the issue at hand.

     A special project that the Lt. Governor is currently working on  is in collaboration with a company called Enterprise Florida, an economic development organization for the State of Florida. He is currently working to convince a company in Florida to stay in Florida and a company outside of Florida to come to Florida.

    As Lt. Governor, he has most enjoyed the opportunity of seeing Florida first hand by visiting the different regions.  He is constantly traveling throughout Florida, fielding calls and making calls. He says that one of the unique aspects about Florida is that this state represents everything you can find in the United States. It has a very large agricultural community, which is almost a third of the states economy. Tourism brought 112 million visitors to Florida in 2016. Also, 250 languages are spoken in Florida.

   Lastly,  President Trump's recent visit to the Manuel Artime Theater in Little Havana on June 16, 2017 was also discussed. There the President formally announced the reversal of some of former President Barack Obama's policies towards Cuba. The Lt. Governor being the son and grandson of Cuban exiles, in his opinion, he is happy that the president decided to reverse the policies of the previous administration which were extremely one sided in the favor of the dictatorship on the island.