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After Helene and Milton, an urgent need for legislative action on condos | Opinion
In the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton, Florida’s housing crisis has continued to intensify — and may have reached a boiling point. These devastating natural disasters are increasing property insurance costs and upkeep on older buildings. As our state grapples with a surge in property damage and a fragile condo market, both the immediate and long-term impacts of these storms underscore the need for decisive action.
Florida has long been a magnet for retirees and transplants seeking affordable living, particularly in condominium communities. Yet, in recent years, the landscape has shifted dramatically. The state’s older condo buildings, many constructed during Florida’s real estate booms decades ago, now face structural issues exacerbated by hurricanes and new safety regulations. This has placed an enormous financial burden on condo owners, many of whom are elderly and on fixed incomes, as they struggle to keep up with rising assessments and costly repairs.
CourtesyPeter S. Sachs is a founding partner of Sachs Sax Caplan P.L.In particular, the Surfside condo collapse in 2021 led to stricter inspection and safety standards for older buildings. These requirements, while necessary, have translated into steep assessments for repairs and current code compliance. In some cases, these costs have reached tens of thousands of dollars per unit, forcing many long-term residents to sell their homes or move. This is especially true in communities like Century Village, where older residents are being priced out of their homes due to new financial pressures.
The issue, however, extends beyond individual condo owners. The resale market for these older buildings has stalled, as potential buyers shy away from properties that could require extensive — and expensive — repairs. Instead, many buyers are opting for newer constructions to avoid future assessments, further diminishing demand for older units. This decline in the resale market means a flood of unsellable properties, creating an affordability crisis for long-standing communities.
The recent hurricanes have only heightened these existing problems. While many initial reports claimed that insurance premiums would not be impacted by the storms, history and common sense suggest otherwise. The billions of dollars in damages from Helene and Milton will undoubtedly lead to increased insurance costs, placing additional strain on condo owners already grappling with steep assessments and repair costs. As insurance companies absorb these losses, they are likely to pass the financial burden onto homeowners in the form of higher premiums.
Florida’s insurance landscape was already teetering on the brink before these hurricanes. With several major insurance companies leaving the state or declaring insolvency, homeowners have been forced to turn to last-resort policies that offer less coverage at higher rates. For condo associations, which are required by law to carry adequate property insurance based on the replacement cost of the property, these rising premiums paid by condo owners are unsustainable.
Coastal buildings are more vulnerable still. Particularly susceptible to storm damage, they are now viewed as financial liabilities. In many cases, the land these buildings sit on is worth more than the structures themselves, making them prime targets for developers who see an opportunity to buy out owners and replace aging condos with luxury high-rise developments. This trend is already underway in areas like Fort Lauderdale and Jupiter, where older, lower-density buildings are being demolished to make way for high-end developments that cater to wealthier buyers, effectively erasing affordable housing options for middle- and lower-income residents.
Florida’s housing crisis, exacerbated by the hurricanes, demands legislative intervention. As the state faces ongoing challenges from climate events, population growth and aging infrastructure, the need for comprehensive legislative action has never been more urgent. One potential solution is to hold a special legislative session to address these issues and create a task force focused on finding long-term solutions to Florida’s housing crisis. By passing targeted relief measures, Florida’s lawmakers can help protect vulnerable residents and ensure that the state remains a viable place to live for all income levels.
Without swift action, the combination of rising insurance costs, unsustainable assessments and the impact of hurricanes could lead to a mass exodus of residents and the continued erosion of affordable housing in the state.
Peter S. Sachs is a founding partner of Sachs Sax Caplan P.L. in Boca Raton. He is board certified in condominium and planned development law by the Florida Bar. Visit ssclawfirm.com.
ASK IRA: Is it already open season on Heat defenders?
Q: The Heat have too many guys you can hunt on defense. – Cody.
A: And the Pacers certainly were hunting on Sunday. With a day off before the rematch, it was clear that the Pacers were far more deliberate in hunting defensive matchups against Kevin Love and Duncan Robinson, particularly Pascal Siakam. And with the Heat also rotating through Tyler Herro, Nikola Jovic and Terry Rozier, there certainly are ample opportunities to hunt mismatches. Bam Adebayo and Haywood Highsmith can only help so much. And the zone can only help so much. Jimmy Butler will help when he returns. But the Heat nonetheless will continue to feature ample minus defenders.
Related ArticlesQ: So…this season is looking just like last season. Cool. – Steve.
A: Hard to deny at this point, with Jimmy Butler missing a third of the season to this point and the Heat again spending the start of the season chasing .500. It certainly would be within reason to say it’s still early, but we’ve also already seen this movie. So, no, not optimal. The reality is the Heat are not the only team struggling early. The reality 2.0 is that the Heat next play three of those teams, with games in order against the 76ers, Mavericks and Bucks.
Q: Ira, is the Eastern Conference not as deep as everyone thought at the start of the season? Who had the 76ers at 2-10 to start the season? – Stuart, Miami.
A: I wouldn’t read much of anything into the East standings at this stage, other than the dominance of the Cavaliers and Celtics. Injuries otherwise have left this all too muddled, from the Magic being without Paolo Banchero, the 76ers now without Tyrese Maxey and even the Heat now having played a third of their schedule without Jimmy Butler (but to their credit, the Cavs have been making it work in the injury absence of old friend Max Strus). There is still plenty of time for the 76ers and Bucks to become who we thought they were. The question is whether this is who the Heat are.
Chris Perkins: Dolphins’ 2024 offense has evolved, but it’s still not good enough
MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was jammin’ in the postgame locker room Sunday. He wore a big smile and danced a bit as “By Your Side” by Florida hip-hop artist Rod Wave was playing on his portable speaker.
He was happy. I liked seeing that.
Accordingly, I liked what I saw in the Dolphins’ locker room Sunday after their 34-19 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Players were happy but subdued.
And that’s pretty much the description of how I feel about the Dolphins offense the past few weeks.
I’m happy that the offense has scored 27, 27, 23 and 34 points in the four games since Tua has returned from his concussion.
The offense, which has been severely limited due to the two-high safety schemes defenses have used to shut down the big passing plays, has evolved from the one-dimensional big-play crew we’ve seen the past two years to a group that can utilize a ground game as well as a controlled passing game.
But I greatly doubt that this offense is good enough to defeat Green Bay, Houston or San Francisco — the three biggest opponents remaining.
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After all, this offense wasn’t good enough to beat Buffalo in either game this year.
Recall that last year the Dolphins were 1-6 against playoff teams and the offense averaged just 16 points per game.
Beyond that, the Dolphins’ run game that had compiled five consecutive 100-yard rushing efforts this season has nosedived with fullback Alec Ingold being sidelined with a calf injury. The Dolphins have rushed for 67 and 82 yards the past two games.
And wide receivers Tyreek Hill (seven receptions for 61 yards, one touchdown against the Raiders) and Jaylen Waddle (two receptions, 37 yards) have practically been non-factors all season.
Tight end Jonnu Smith (six receptions, 101 yards, two touchdowns) is the new star of the offense.
Even running back De’Von Achane (17 carries, 73 yards, one touchdown; four receptions, 32 yards), who has been highly effective, doesn’t seem as electric as he was last year.
This recent spate of 12- and 14-play touchdown drives shows a different side of this quick-strike, big-play offense that didn’t exist previously under coach Mike McDaniel.
That’s a good thing.
But I still don’t think it’s good enough.
I still need to see more.
Dolphins Deep Dive: Is Miami’s offense fixed? Perkins, Hyde break down win over Raiders | VIDEO
I need to see more big plays (I know Smith had the 57-yard touchdown and Achane had a 30-yard run and a 32-yard reception). I need to see cleaner execution (Tua again had a fumble). I need to see more consistency.
Just as last year, and two years ago, I don’t trust the Dolphins offense to win a game against a quality opponent, and I’m referring specifically to the Packers (Nov. 28 road game), Texans (Dec. 15 road game) and San Francisco (Dec. 22 home game).
Left tackle Terron Armstead tells me it doesn’t matter that the 2024 Dolphins offense isn’t as dangerous as the 2023 or 2022 offenses.
“We’re not trying to be like a replica of anything previous,” he said. “We’re trying to establish this year’s identity. We’re looking to attack in different ways — run game, pass game, horizontally, vertically. We’re just trying to be a complete offense.”
I realize I’m going in direct contrast to Dolphins players and fans with my contention.
I asked running back Raheem Mostert if the Dolphins offense, which was No. 1 in the league last season and No. 6 in 2022, is back.
“It looks like it, yeah,” he said. “I mean, we did a hell of a job. We put some good points on the board. Yeah, it looks like we’re back in our groove.”
I’d be thrilled if the Dolphins offense was back to its previous McDaniel levels.
This 2024 offense is boring.
It’s fitting that former Dolphins coach Joe Philbin was on the opposing sideline Sunday. It looks as though the Dolphins are running his offense nowadays.
This Dolphins offense doesn’t have the big-play excitement of previous McDaniel offenses.
It’s not fun, it’s not exciting, and it’s not winning.
The Dolphins average a glitzy 28 points per game since Tua’s return, but they’re just 2-2 in those four games.
I don’t want to be “that guy,” the one who poo-poos the win over the Raiders.
So I won’t do that.
That victory, which everyone assumed would happen, just as everyone assumes the Dolphins will defeat New England next week, stands on its own merit.
When we look at the big picture, however, I think this offense will still struggle against quality opponents — I’m talking about Green Bay, Houston and San Francisco, in particular — because its top players don’t shine under the bright lights of the NFL’s biggest games.
Check the numbers. Tua. Tyreek. Waddle. Mostert.
None of them have big games in the biggest games.
That’ll have to change if this offense is going to thrive against Green Bay, Houston and San Francisco.
In the meantime, the Dolphins will use next week’s New England game to put the finishing touches on the things it needs to get accomplished offensively.
Will this offense ever get back to its dangerous, high-scoring ways of yesteryear? Will this offense be good enough to carry the Dolphins to wins in the biggest games on the schedule?
“We’re still working, man,” Waddle said. “We’re still working. We’ve got a long season ahead, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
Show Caption1 of 20ExpandWinderman’s view: And now down goes Jaquez in loss, another blow for Heat
Observations and other notes of interest from Sunday night’s 119-110 loss to the Indiana Pacers:
– When will the Heat be whole?
– Or, perhaps more to the point, will they be whole?
– On a night there was thought the Heat would be getting Jimmy Butler back, they instead lost Jaime Jaquez for the night — and possibly longer — in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle.
– That was with Butler already out for a third consecutive game with a sprained right ankle of his own.
– Butler is expected back Monday night against the visiting 76ers.
– Who already have had their share of injury issues this season.
– Which means little in the way of sympathy for the Heat.
– But from Kevin Love and Josh Richardson missing the start of the season.
– To Jaquez experiencing Montezuma’s revenge.
– To Butler’s ankle.
– And now Jaquez’s ankle … cohesion has been an abstract.
– As it was last season.
– With arguably less margin for error this time around.
– Butler back will assuredly help.
– But Jaquez as sixth man has been an essential element.
– So, again, we wait.
– As Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo continually deal with the heaviest lifting.
– With Butler (ankle) still out, the Heat opened for a fourth consecutive game with a lineup of Adebayo, Herro, Love, Haywood Highsmith and Terry Rozier.
– Jaquez and Nikola Jovic entered first off the Heat bench.
– Duncan Robinson and Richardson then followed together.
– And that was it for the primary rotation, at nine deep.
– No Kel’el Ware in the initial mix this time.
– And no Pelle Larsson.
– As Alec Burks remains out of the mix.
– Herro extended his streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 51, two games off the longest such streak of his career.
– Herro also now has converted multiple 3-pointers in every game this season.
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– Herro extended his streak of scoring in double figures to 42 dating to last season. His previous longest such streak had been 38 games in 2021-22.
– The game concluded the first of three times the Heat will play the same opponent in consecutive games this season, with the Heat having won Friday on the Pacers’ court.
– The other two instances will be split between one game on the road and one game at home (vs. Toronto on Nov. 29 and at Toronto on Dec. 1; and at Atlanta on Feb. 24 and vs. Atlanta on Feb. 26).
– Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said pregame he expected increased urgency from the Pacers after what transpired Friday.
– “It’s always tough to win two in a segment like this,” he said, “and that’s our challenge right now. And we’re looking forward to it. And it’ll be good, spirited competition. And we’re going to have to play well.”
– Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said the Friday game video was a tough watch. “It’s just worse watching it the second time,” he said of Saturday’s video session. “It was bad. Generally things that are bad look worse on film. It was like that.”
– In Friday’s game, Carlisle wound up pulling all five starters in the third period.
– “It’s embarrassing for everybody, not just the guys that are getting pulled,” he reflected on that moment. “It’s embarrassing for the coaching staff, the entire team. And, so, it’s not good, it’s not good. But it was something that had to be done.”
– Carlisle, who is president of the coaches’ association, offered effusive praise when asked pregame about Spoelstra.
– “When it’s all said and done, he’ll be one of the greatest coaches in the history of our game,” he said. “If he continues to do this –I know he signed the long contract – at his age he’s going to have many, many, many more years. And so he’ll be way up there in all-time wins. I certainly expect there’s a great chance he’ll win more championships and it appears likely that he’ll be the Olympic coach, or there’s certainly been talk about it; he was on the staff last year.”
– Carlisle added, “He’s had an amazing career, and, really, he’s just in the middle of it. His teams are always highly disciplined. They don’t beat themselves. They always play hard and they always play unselfishly. That’s one of the reasons they’ve been able to establish such consistency.”
Pacers even the score with 119-110 victory, scuttling Heat hopes of .500
INDIANAPOLIS — The Miami Heat weren’t looking for anything ostentatious Sunday, seeking nothing more than closing their six-game trip at .500 and evening their overall record at .500.
Ultimately, even that degree of modesty proved out of reach Sunday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, falling 119-110 to the Indiana Pacers in the teams’ rematch of the Heat’s Friday victory.
So a 2-4 trip and a 5-7 record a dozen games in, with a schedule that hardly eases, with the Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks up next.
Like those three opponents, the Heat continue to struggle to gain their footing through the season’s opening weeks, unable to sustain.
“We feel like we’re making some strides of figuring out what our identity is to win basketball games,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But it’s also OK to be disappointed with the end result of this road trip, what the record was on it. Both things can be true.”
With Jimmy Butler missing his fourth consecutive game with the ankle sprain sustained during the trip’s fourth stop, the Heat’s offense lacked efficiency and cohesion, again struggling on point-blank shots at the rim.
The Pacers close with a 62-28 advantage on points in the paint.
“They really set the tone with that type of aggressiveness,” Spoelstra said. “Those sometimes can be deflating plays if you miss layups and it ends up being a four or five-point swing.
“But those things happen. If you’re generating them, I’m good with it. But if we miss them, we can’t lag back and then it turns into an open shot going the other way.”
The Heat got 28 points from Tyler Herro, 24 from Bam Adebayo and 20 from Duncan Robinson, but it wasn’t enough on a night the Pacers got 34 from center Myles Turner.
“I think we’re still building our identity,” Herro said, “and we’ll be alright.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday night’s game:
1. Closing time: The Pacers led 28-20 after the first quarter, with the Heat then closing within 52-49 at halftime, after closing the second period with a 7-0 run.
From there, the Pacers utilized a 14-2 run early in the third period to move to a 16-point lead, before going into the fourth quarter up 85-75.
“They came out with a little bit more urgency than us,” Herro said, “and we talked about that before the game. We needed to come out with more urgency. The same energy and effort that we brought Friday night wasn’t going to be enough tonight, and we saw that pretty much throughout the whole game.”
With Herro converting a pair of 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter, the Heat moved within 89-85 early in the period and then tied it 97-97 with 5:15 to play on a Robinson 3-pointer.
From there, back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyrese Haliburton then put Indiana up 103-97.
“He has a knack for the timely play,” Spoelstra said of Haliburton’s consecutive threes. “But when you leave it to that, where everything has to go perfect down the stretch, that’s sometimes what you’re susceptible to.”
The second of consecutive Herro 3-pointers got the Heat within 112-107 with 1:41 to play, only to see Haliburton counter with his fifth 3-pointer of the night, effectively ending it.
2. Solid again: Adebayo appears to have found his offensive footing after his uneven start to the season.
After scoring more than 20 points just once in the Heat’s first nine games, he ended the trip with 20 points against the Pistons, 30 against the Pacers on Friday night, and then Sunday’s performance.
Sunday also included a pair of 3-pointers for Adebayo, who entered 7 of 26 from beyond the arc.
“I want the wins,” Adebayo said. “Scoring is cool, but like I said, I’m a two-way player, supposed to affect the game on both sides. For me, it was good to see the basketball go in, but it don’t feel good when you lose.”
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3. Another one down: Already without Butler, the Heat lost Jaime Jaquez Jr. in the third period, when he headed to the locker room after misstepping on the foot of Pacers point guard T.J. McConnell and turning his right ankle.
That ended Jaquez’s night after 15:26 of action, closing with two points on 1-of-6 shooting, with four assists and three rebounds.
“That’s one of the craziest ones,” Spoelstra said. “He just happened to be backpedaling back and stepped on McConnell’s foot.”
Jaquez has been particularly important for the Heat when Butler has been off the court. He was in his fourth game back after missing three due to gastroenteritis.
“Definitely surprised,” Jaquez said of the injury. “I shot the shot, was ready to get back on defense, and then I took a little jump and backpedaled back and twisted my ankle. It didn’t feel great.”
X-rays came back negative.
“It’s one of those things, man, you just get unlucky sometimes,” the second-year forward said. “But I’ve been in this situation before. Sprains are nothing new to me. Hopefully rehab it and then get back as soon as possible.”
4. Rotation alteration: After five games of getting rotation minutes, particularly early in games, first-round pick Kel’el Ware was out of the Heat mix on Sunday night.
Instead, Nikola Jovic, again in a protective mask to protect the broken nose sustained Tuesday in Detroit, took most of the minutes in the power mix in the reserve rotation.
Ware had gone scoreless in his four minutes, all in the first half, in Friday night’s victory over the Pacers.
“Just a little bit more of they were playing smaller lineups,” Spoelstra said of Ware’s absence. “Niko had done some good things at the five. It’s not at all an indictment on him.”
5. Up next: The game opened the first of the Heat’s 15 back-to-back sets this season, with a Monday home game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat’s first game since Nov. 5 at Kaseya Center, where they stand 1-3 this season.
While the Heat had to travel back to on Sunday night, the 76ers have been in South Florida since Friday night’s 98-86 loss to the Orlando Magic, practicing Sunday at the Kaseya Center.
“They made the schedule,” Adebayo said of the rest disadvantage. “It’s our job to play. Can’t really talk about the schedule, where we’re going, what we’re doing. The next game is most important right now.”
The game will be the Heat’s first this season in their new Blood Red “Culture” uniforms, to be played on their City Edition court.
The 76ers are listing center Joel Embiid as questionable, due to illness. Philadelphia already is without guard Tyrese Maxey, due to a hamstring strain.
This is the teams’ first meeting since the 76ers defeated the Heat in the opening game of last season’s play-in round, the game Butler suffered the knee injury that had him out the balance of the postseason.
Dolphins win at home against Las Vegas Raiders 34 – 19 | PHOTOS
Miami Dolphins win at home against Las Vegas Raiders 34 - 19 on Sunday, November 17, 2024.
Dave Hyde: Dolphins take care of business — and now have to take advantage of their big advantage coming up
MIAMI GARDENS — Next.
That’s Sunday’s prime takeaway.
Next game, next Sunday, next tomato can on the schedule.
The Miami Dolphins (4-6) move on after beating their latest patsy on Sunday, the 2-8 Las Vegas Raiders, a team so lost they promoted former Dolphins coach Joe Philbin leading into this game.
Next chance, next moment, next scheduled breath of hope for this Dolphins season.
It’s the New England Patriots (3-8) coming Hard Rock Stadium next Sunday, a point veteran Calais Campbell already knew in the moments after the Dolphins’ 34-19 win over the Raiders.
“That one will be a big one,” he said. “A division team playing on the road that’s hungry.”
Bad but hungry. Marginally talented but hungry. It’s not the Dolphins fault this remains the road for much of the rest of their way. It’s only their fault if they don’t take advantage of it.
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“I don’t see our crew taking our foot off the gas,” coach Mike McDaniel said.
The best thing you can say for the Dolphins’ chances even after a Sunday where they hit thirtysomething for the first time, even after tight end Jonnu Smith had a career day, even after the defense did just enough to feel good for another week — the best thing to say about the Dolphins’ chances is the schedule opens a path for them.
“Like the Red Sea,” Smith said.
Smith actually was talking about the Raiders defense that opened up for him on Sunday’s key play in saying that. There was a reason for that: The Raiders were down their top three cornerbacks by that point and their leftovers mixed up the back-end communication.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa saw Smith in his own zip code and threw the only pass of his day that traveled over 20 yards in the air. Smith ran the rest of the 57-yard catch to seal the win late in the fourth quarter.
That’s often what good teams in the NFL do. It’s also how losing teams typically lose, a fact the Dolphins rode to this 4-6 record and figure to ride much of the rest of the way.
Think of it: Of the seven worst teams in the league, the Dolphins play six of them this season. And they play eight games against them. They have four of those remaining, too: The 3-8 Patriots, two games against the 3-8 New York Jets and the 2-8 Cleveland Browns.
Do the easy math. Winning those games gets them to eight wins. If nine wins gets them in, they’ll only need to beat one winning team all season to make the playoffs as of Sunday’s records: Green Bay (7-3), Houston (6-4, and plays Monday night) or San Francisco (5-5). All coming up.
Dolphins Deep Dive: Is Miami’s offense fixed? Perkins, Hyde break down win over Raiders | VIDEO
“We dug ourselves a hole,” Campbell said. “We still got a long way to go.”
The good news Sunday is the Dolphins again showed they can run efficiently sustained drives without breaking down. They had scoring drives of 14, 16, 14 and 10 plays. Gone are the crushing penalties. Gone are the costly turnovers (in part because Tua’s opening-drive fumble fell into friendly hands).
The mystery remains how they don’t hit big plays — Smith’s long touchdown not withstanding. The cart still is going before the horses of Tyreek Hill (seven catches, 61 yards) and Jaylen Waddle (two catches, 37 yards).
Still, De’Von Achane and Smith did enough, just as Tua did in helping this offense convert 10-of-14 third and fourth downs. But this was the 30th-ranked Raiders defense, just like it was quarterback Gardner Minshew on the other side.
Campbell has been around enough and won enough to know you don’t hand out medals for games like Sunday. You just take the win and move on.
“It doesn’t get to be rewarded until we get to where we want to go,” he said.
They want to go to the playoffs as the seventh seed, a position that once would have been considered the door prize of a lackluster season. Now it’s the goal shimmering on the mountain.
Denver currently holds the spot. It moved to 6-5 with a 38-6 win against Atlanta. Next comes Indianapolis, at 5-6, and Cincinnati, which played Sunday night.
“We dug ourselves a hole,” Campbell said.
Sunday continued the long climb out. If it happens. If they can ride this schedule and improved play to something consequential. Again, don’t blame them for opponents’ record. Blame them if they don’t take advantage of this schedule.
Next.
Show Caption1 of 20ExpandDolphins’ Jonnu Smith steps up in win over Raiders, can be vital piece for Miami down the stretch
MIAMI GARDENS — When the Miami Dolphins needed their biggest plays in Sunday’s 34-19 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, it wasn’t wide receivers Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle delivering them, but tight end Jonnu Smith.
Smith made the early fourth-down touchdown catch that ensured the Dolphins scored 7 points on their opening drive of 14 plays and 70 yards.
Then, when it looked like the Dolphins had to sustain another long drive to keep the ball away from the Raiders and protect a 5-point lead late, Smith instead got open deep for a 57-yard touchdown.
“The Red Seas parted,” Smith said.
And there was no looking back on his way to the end zone.
“I was told a long time ago, ‘Slow people look back.’ So when I caught it and I saw nobody in front of me, I wasn’t leaving without a tud (touchdown).”
With his career-high receiving mark of 101 yards Sunday, Smith became the first Dolphins tight end to go for 100 or more yards and two touchdowns since at least the AFL-NFL merger. It was his third two-touchdown game, after he did it twice for the Tennessee Titans in 2020.
Smith has become a critical part of the Dolphins offense after he had just 78 yards over the team’s first four games. His play can help keep defenses honest against Hill and Waddle, as the pair of wideouts try to get back to posting the statistical outputs they’re used to from 2022 and 2023.
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“I think the collective of his play and who he is has really added something very important to our offense,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said of Smith. “Ultimately, he’s making defenses pay for the over-attention that Tyreek and Waddle get, and that space that’s added … he’s making full use of those extra 3 yards and adding a real cool element to our offense that we needed every yard that he’s had for us this year. It was cool to see him make plays in opportune times today.”
Said quarterback Tua Tagovailoa: “We’ve had plans to implement him in the past within the offense. The defense doesn’t allow for him to get as many catches as we would like for him. But it’s been really cool to see his progression.”
Armstead plays; Ingold sitsThe Dolphins had left tackle Terron Armstead available and starting at his usual post for Sunday’s game against the Raiders after he entered questionable with a knee injury.
Armstead did not practice at all during a short turnaround from the Dolphins’ Monday night win across the country at the Los Angeles Rams.
But the five-time Pro Bowl left tackle was not among inactives announced 90 minutes before the kickoff.
The Dolphins, who ruled out cornerback Kendall Fuller (concussion) early in the practice week, were also without fullback Alec Ingold. He missed a second consecutive game with a calf injury.
Miami, however, had left guard Robert Jones active after he, like Armstead, also entered questionable with a knee injury.
With the left side of the line active between Armstead and Jones, the Dolphins were missing just one starter on the offensive line. Right tackle Austin Jackson is out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury. Monday at Los Angeles, veteran Kendall Lamm started for Jackson at the spot. He got the start again Sunday against Las Vegas.
Other Dolphins inactives were running back Jeff Wilson Jr., cornerback Ethan Bonner, outside linebacker Mohamed Kamara, offensive lineman Andrew Meyer and wide receiver and return specialist Dee Eskridge.
Dolphins Deep Dive: Is Miami’s offense fixed? Perkins, Hyde break down win over Raiders | VIDEO
In-game injuriesDolphins running back Raheem Mostert left the sideline momentarily to head into the locker room. He was announced as dealing with a hip injury but returned later in the first half.
While Mostert was out, Jaylen Wright was on for a kick return next to Malik Washington and took a pair of handoffs. Mostert was limited to three carries for minus-2 yards. Wright had five carries for 4 yards behind De’Von Achane’s team-leading 73 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Miami defensive tackle Calais Campbell had a shoulder checked out in the first quarter when he nearly had a punt block but was called for running into the kicker. He was back in defensively a few plays later.
Was replay used?There was an interesting play in the third quarter Sunday when the Dolphins were driving deep into Las Vegas territory and, what was originally only called a holding penalty against Miami to back the Dolphins up, later had a facemask penalty called on the Raiders to create offsetting infractions.
As replay of the evident facemask was shown on the Hard Rock Stadium jumbotrons and Dolphins fans reacted, officials dropped a flag on the field in order to update the initial announcement that only included the hold against Miami center Aaron Brewer.
A revised announcement included the infraction against Raiders linebacker Divine Deablo, putting into question whether replay was used by the officiating crew.
“No, we don’t officiate that way,” referee John Hussey said in a pool report.
“Two officials were talking to each other and they were piecing it together. I think they both had a feeling or a sense that there was something on the play. So, they came together and were talking and as I announced the holding penalty, they confirmed the fact that they had a facemask, threw the flag and brought that to my attention. I just took the next step and did another announcement to include the facemask and offset both penalties.”
Show Caption1 of 20ExpandToday in History: November 17, Arnold Schwarzenegger sworn in as California governor
Today is Sunday, Nov. 17, the 322nd day of 2024. There are 44 days left in the year.
Today in history:On Nov. 17, 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-born actor who had become one of America’s biggest movie stars of the 1980s and ’90s, was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.
Also on this date:In 1800, Congress held its first session in the partially completed U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
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In 1973, President Richard Nixon told a gathering of Associated Press managing editors at a televised news conference in Orlando, Florida: “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”
In 1968, the last minutes of a tense NFL matchup on NBC between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders were preempted by the children’s film “Heidi.” The network received thousands of calls from angry viewers and formally apologized.
In 1989, an estimated 10,000-15,000 Czechoslovakian students demonstrated in Prague against Communist rule; hundreds of thousands joined the protests in the following days. Dubbed the “Velvet Revolution” for its nonviolent nature, the protests led to the resignation of the Communist Party’s leadership on Nov. 28.
In 1997, 62 people, most of them foreign tourists, were killed when militants opened fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut (haht-shehp-SOOT’) in Luxor, Egypt; the attackers were killed by police.
In 2020, President Donald Trump fired the nation’s top election security official, Christopher Krebs, who had refuted Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud and vouched for the integrity of the vote.
Today’s Birthdays:- Film director Martin Scorsese (skor-SEH’-see) is 82.
- Actor-model Lauren Hutton is 81.
- Actor-director Danny DeVito is 80.
- Basketball Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim is 80.
- “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels is 80.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes is 79.
- Film director Roland Joffe is 79.
- Former House Speaker John Boehner (BAY’-nur) is 75.
- Actor Stephen Root is 73.
- TV host-entertainer RuPaul is 64.
- Actor Dylan Walsh is 61.
- TV host-model Daisy Fuentes is 58.
- R&B singer Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) is 57.
- Actor Rachel McAdams is 46.
Broward Schools remove church signs amid complaints from Satan-related group
Broward schools have been removing signs sponsored by local churches as a way to keep out a church promoting Satan.
The School Board plans to review possible changes to a policy on school banners that could ban the names of churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious groups from being displayed. A workshop is scheduled for Dec. 10.
The move comes as school-district decisions on banners have resulted in religious discrimination complaints from two vastly different groups: the Pentecostals of Cooper City, and the “Church of Satanology,” a satirical entity created by Deerfield Beach activist Chaz Stevens that recently filed a federal lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the Rev. Paul Volan, executive pastor of the Cooper City Pentecostal church, told the School Board during public comments that in February 2023, his church purchased a one-year sponsorship at Cooper City High through the district’s Partners in Education program, and part of that agreement included a banner on the school fence showing its support for the high school.
The church paid about $1,200 for that sponsorship, Volan told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
But Volan said the sign was removed without notice in December 2023. School officials told him district administrators instructed them to remove it due to a complaint, Volan said.
The Rev. Paul Volan of The Pentecostals of Cooper City speaks at a Broward School Board meeting Tuesday about the school district’s removal of a banner promoting his church at Cooper City High. (BECON / screen grab)A banner for the Cooper City Church of God, which allows Cooper City High to use its parking lot for overflow, also was removed, pastor Joseph D’Angelo told the Sun Sentinel. Banners for secular businesses stayed up.
Volan said his church got no response from district administration until July 2024, after a lawyer from the Orlando-based Liberty Counsel sent the district a letter voicing concern.
Superintendent Howard Hepburn requested the church give the district 90 days to update its policy on banners, but Volan told the board he had still not gotten any explanation from the district, Volan said.
“We are simply asking for equal treatment under the law and for churches not to be seen or treated as second-class citizens,” he told the board. “No one should be singled out and targeted because of religious beliefs.”
No one addressed his concerns at Tuesday’s meeting, and district spokesman John Sullivan declined to answer most questions from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, citing ongoing litigation.
The Pentecostals of Cooper City Church is seen Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)While Volan’s church hasn’t sued the district, the district was sued by the “The Rev. Dr. Timothy ‘Chaz’ Stevens” on behalf of his “Church of Satanology.”
Stevens has launched a number of efforts to challenge religious displays in government buildings in Florida and elsewhere.
Last year, as Florida school districts dealt with efforts by conservatives to ban books from school libraries, he filed an unsuccessful challenge in Broward schools to get the Bible removed.
The suit was filed in Broward Circuit Court on Sept. 17 and moved to federal court Oct. 31.
In the complaint, Stevens said he saw a sign last year hanging at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland advertising Calvary Chapel Parkland, a regional campus of a Fort Lauderdale megachurch.
He asked the school in September 2023 if he could purchase his own banner with the message, “Satan Loves the First Amendment.”
The school turned down the request, which Stevens alleged is “viewpoint discrimination.”
After the Parkland Talk website asked the district Dec. 4 last year why Calvary Chapel’s banner was allowed but Stevens’ wasn’t, district spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion responded, “Based on the district’s advertising policy, the banner has been removed.”
However, Stevens said he also saw a Calvary banner at Westglades Middle in Parkland was still hanging.
He said he made a similar request in October 2023 to put a banner up at that school.
He said the school ignored his request and finally rejected his request in September 2024.
The school took down the banner.
First Amendment activist Chaz Stevens talks to reporters while standing next to his Festivus pole in the rotunda of the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee on Dec. 11, 2013. He recently filed a lawsuit against the Broward School Board over a “Church of Satanology” banner. (Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)But Stevens said he later drove by Coral Springs High and saw a church advertising there, prompting him to file his lawsuit.
“It’s like whack-a-mole,” Stevens told the Sun Sentinel. “They don’t seem to have a one-size-fits-all policy. It’s like I have to journey around the school district to figure out who has a sign. It’s quite ridiculous.”
On Sept. 17, the same day Stevens filed his suit, district principals received a memo saying all banners must comply with district policy.
“If you receive a request for a banner or signage with religious or political content, please submit it to Mr. John Sullivan, Chief, Communications and Legislative Officer for approval before proceeding,” said the memo, written by Sullivan.
Broward’s current policy doesn’t specifically ban religious organizations from displaying signs, but it says the signs must be “designed in such a way as to represent and be consistent with the philosophy of the Board and the standards of the community, and must be non-political or sectarian in nature.”
The Palm Beach County School District has a policy that more explicitly prohibits religious organizations from hanging banners. Stevens was the catalyst for that policy in 2017 after he tried to purchase a Satan-related banner at Boca Raton High.
“Examples of inappropriate business partner fence screen recognitions include, but are not limited to: churches; organizations which as its primary function furthers, promotes or seeks to establish a religious tenet or position about religion or spirituality, including agnosticism, atheism, or satanism,” the Palm Beach County policy reads.
Sullivan told the Sun Sentinel he expects Broward’s revised policy to be similar to the one in Palm Beach County.
Courts have generally prohibited public schools and other government agencies from excluding religious organizations from forums that would be otherwise open to the public, said lawyer Daniel Schmid, associate vice president for legal affairs for the Liberty Counsel, which is representing the Cooper City church.
He said a school is not required to allow outside messages on school fences.
But if it creates an “open forum” where non-religious community groups can advertise or share messages, religious organizations shouldn’t be excluded, Schmid said.
Whether a government agency can accept advertising from a traditional church but turn down an organization promoting Satan is a question that hasn’t been resolved in the courts, Schmid said.
“There is some question among First Amendment scholars as to whether that applies in the context of those whose avowed purpose is to openly mock religion,” he said. “This is a relatively new phenomenon.”
A similar issue came up in Florida last spring when the state passed a law allowing school districts to create programs where religious chaplains could mentor students in public schools. Members of a group called the Satanic Temple said they would volunteer, which Gov. Ron DeSantis rejected.
“Some have said that if you do a school chaplain program, that somehow you’re going to have Satanists running around in all our schools,” he said. “We’re not playing those games in Florida. That is not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this. So we’re going to be using common sense when it comes to this.”
Stevens told the Sun Sentinel he’s been an ordained minister for more than a decade and believes his group is as legitimate as any other place of worship.
“I don’t have a church per se, but I have a flock of individuals who certainly agree with what I say,” he said. “My Bible is the Constitution, and we believe in public expression and freedom of speech. It’s very simple to me. The law is on my side’s view.”
Bahia Mar developers say new project will turn Fort Lauderdale property into a mini-Monaco
FORT LAUDERDALE — Five-star luxury is coming to Bahia Mar.
The marina as we know it will be transformed into a Monaco-inspired yachter’s paradise and destination by 2029, say the developers behind an ambitious $2 billion makeover of the pricey taxpayer-owned peninsula.
Here’s what’s coming: A 197-key luxury lifestyle resort under the St. Regis brand; four condo towers with 350 units; a beach club; yachting center; upscale restaurants; high-end shops; a public park and 25-foot-wide promenade encircling the entire 39-acre site.
Jimmy Tate, the developer with a 100-year lease on Bahia Mar, peered out over the sprawling property from atop the existing hotel that will eventually be torn down.
“We brought St. Regis up here,” he said with the confidence of a visionary used to getting his way. “Game over. That was it. The mini-Monaco aspect of it is the yachts. We didn’t have to explain the lifestyle. They got it.”
The new hotel will have 23 stories but stand 300 feet high, Tate said as he peered up into the sky. The condo towers will be 270 feet high.
Tate, co-founder of Tate Capital, said the existing 16-story DoubleTree hotel will likely be demolished in April 2026.
Construction on the first phase of the project will begin that summer. The first phase, which includes the 23-story hotel and the first two condo towers, will likely open in 2029, Tate said. The next two condo towers would come later, based on market demands.
Tate, who is teaming up on the project with powerhouse developers Related Group and Rok Acquisitions, faced fierce opposition from critics who called the deal a land giveaway and objected to the building of private condos on public land worth at least $256 million.
Those critics have since gone quiet, Tate said.
“I think the headwinds that we faced are now behind us,” Tate told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I believe all those headwinds are now tailwinds. We never let go of the dream or the vision, despite all the spears coming at us from every direction. We know it will be good for Fort Lauderdale. It will be a legacy project. Transformational.”
Rendering of the reimagined Bahia Mar, where a team of three powerhouse developers plans to build a 197-key hotel and four condo towers with a total of 350 units. (ArX Creative/Courtesy) Pricing begins at $4.8 millionFort Lauderdale commissioners approved the deal last year, saying it was far better than a 12-building rental project approved seven years ago that saved little room for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, exiling it to a parking garage.
To live at the new Bahia Mar, you will need millions.
Pricing begins at $4.8 million for the condominium units and $2.6 million for the resort residences, the Related Group said. Douglas Elliman will be marketing the residences.
The condos will include three- and four-bedroom options ranging from 2,600 to 3,550 square feet, in addition to penthouse residences. The Residences within the hotel will offer one to three bedrooms, in addition to penthouse options.
Amenities in each building will include a luxurious spa with steam rooms, saunas, hot and cold plunges, treatment rooms and a wellness terrace; a salon offering beauty services; an indoor-outdoor fitness center; a children’s entertainment room; a library/media room; a private dining room and a billiards room.
Owners also will have access to the resort amenities, including two resort-style swimming pools, a fitness center, an upscale spa with outdoor amenities, and a signature restaurant with dramatic water views.
The 250-slip marina will be able to accommodate megayachts up to 350 feet.
So far, sales are going great, Tate said.
“I sold seven or eight units myself,” Tate said. “I was talking to a guy in Palm Beach and he wants to buy two units. One person I was with in Fisher Island wants to buy a unit. I think they feel that energy and that excitement and they want to be a part of it. I think what’s going to be developed here is going to be something special.”
The new Bahia Mar will attract the uber wealthy but still remain a destination for everyone, said Nicholas Perez, president of the condominium division for the Related Group.
“We’re targeting a wealthy segment of the market, but people will still be able to come and enjoy Bahia Mar as a destination,” Perez said. “The site always had amazing potential. And now we have the ability and the privilege to create something unique that hasn’t really been done before in South Florida. It’s a transformational project that will make a lasting impact in a city that was waiting for it.”
Rendering of The St. Regis Resort and Residences, Bahia Mar Fort Lauderdale. (ArX Creative/Courtesy) ‘This is his baby’Mayor Dean Trantalis was one of the “no” votes on Bahia Mar until he cast a “yes” vote last year.
“It’s going to be a significant complement to Fort Lauderdale beach and certainly a welcome addition to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show,” Trantalis said.
Trantalis was not surprised to hear that Tate, gung-ho about the project, was helping sell some of the units at the boat show.
“This is his baby,” Trantalis said. “This is his baby now. He put a lot of effort in this to be able to secure the brand and transition from a rental community to a condo community. There was a lot of redesign. The financing had to be completely renegotiated. He put a lot of effort into this. We’re hoping it’s going to be one of the jewels of Fort Lauderdale beach.”
Bill Brown, president of the Central Beach Alliance neighborhood association, says many residents are looking forward to seeing Bahia Mar transformed.
“We know we’re going to have to wait four or five years before it’s done,” Brown said. “Not everyone is 100% happy. You’re always going to have naysayers who don’t like it. They want it the way it was 50 years ago. But change and progress is part of life in a growing metropolitan community.”
Bahia Mar on Fort Lauderdale’s barrier island, shown Wednesday from the roof of the existing 16-story hotel currently onsite. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel) ‘I didn’t give up’Kenny Tate, brother to Jimmy and vice president at Tate Capital, has already reserved one of the condo units.
“My wife told me we’re moving,” Kenny Tate told the Sun Sentinel. “We live in Fort Lauderdale right now. We love our condo but it doesn’t offer any extensive amenities. She wants access to a fitness center and spa and restaurants and an area to walk around safely. It’s probably another four years before we move in.”
So far, the buyers are locals, he said.
“They are people who are unhappy where they currently live and want to be part of a community that has full live play,” Kenny Tate said. “A lot of them are yacht owners. And being able to park your yacht at your backdoor is a big selling point. Having a 250-slip marina at your backdoor. It’s just very unique.”
Now that the project is on the way, Jimmy Tate says he looks back on his rough-and-tumble journey with a sense of pride.
“The life lessons that came out of it were very important to me, because I know my kids watched me,” he said. “And they saw how I was getting beat up in the press and beat up by these people. But they saw the perseverance. I didn’t give up. I told my wife, ‘The best part, our kids got to see me fight for something I believe in.’ And I meant it.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan
Costly mistakes Floridians should avoid during open enrollment
Open enrollment season is an important time of the year for your money and health.
Making mistakes can lead to skipping doctor appointments or losing out on tax-free savings.
In Florida, the enrollment window for the Affordable Care Marketplace plans runs from Nov. 1, 2024, through Jan. 15, 2025. Dec. 15 is the deadline to start coverage on Jan. 1, and Jan. 15 is the deadline to start Feb. 1. Most employer-sponsored insurance plans typically start their enrollment period in the fall and end it a few weeks later.
Unlike car or home insurance, once you sign up for a health plan, you must live with your choice for the following year. Experts say people often regret their choices months later and wish they had better scrutinized their options.
“Health insurance is expensive, and the payroll deductions that employees pay towards health insurance can add up to a lot of money,” said Arthur Novoseletsky, a senior benefits consultant with Brown & Brown in Fort Lauderdale. “It’s important to understand the package offered and make the wisest decision possible.”
Here are seven common mistakes to avoid during this open-enrollment period.
Don’t think the most-expensive option is the best.“Often people pick the most expensive type of plan because they think that that’s the best plan, but because they don’t necessarily understand the benefits, that’s not really the plan that’s the most suitable for them,” says insurance consultant Novoseletsky.
Rather than defaulting to a higher-priced PPO plan, Novoseletsky advises doing the calculations and considering your specific health needs as well as those of anyone else on your plan. You will want to look at your previous health costs and those anticipated health expenses in the year ahead.
For people who generally are healthy, Novoseletsky says a better option often is a high-deductible health plan, which come with a lower monthly premium and is paired with a Health Savings Account.
“You are able to reap the tax savings by putting money into an HSA account to help pay for qualified medical expenses and, if you’re healthy and you don’t use it, that money rolls over from year to year,” he says.
Arthur Novoseletsky is a senior benefits consultant with Brown & Brown in Fort Lauderdale. (Brown & Brown/Courtesy) Don’t think the least-expensive plan is the cheapest.David Wagner, South Florida market president of Florida Blue, says a plan that will deter you or your family member from seeing a doctor when needed may not be the right one.
Some plans may seem less expensive because of lower monthly premiums, but they cost more over a year.
“Look carefully at the copayments and deductibles,” Wagner says. “Sometimes a plan seems inexpensive, but it has high copayments and deductibles.”
Spend the time upfront to see the full scope of what the plan offers or lacks, Wagner says. And he suggests researching: Are routine visits covered? Can you see a doctor remotely? Are your providers on the list? If a doctor is on the list, is the office taking new patients?
“It’s a mistake not to do your homework,” Wagner says. “Read the fine print and understand what you are truly buying.”
Don’t allow automatic plan renewal to make your choice for you.Automatic renewal may make your life easy, but it might not be the best way to make your health plan decisions. This is especially true if your health care needs have changed in the last year, if you are taking more medications, if you want more benefits such as dental or hearing, or if your finances have changed.
For Floridians insured through federal marketplace plans, if you don’t take any action by Dec. 15, in most cases, the marketplace will automatically renew your coverage for the coming year starting on Jan. 1.
“Plans change and circumstances change,” says Xonjenese Jacobs, director of Florida Covering Kids & Families, a nonprofit based at the University of South Florida College of Public Health that coordinates enrollment across the state through its Covering Florida Navigator Program. “A change in income or household size impacts your eligibility and cost.”
By updating the information each year, Jacobs says, enrollees can get the most accurate picture of the financial help they qualify for and the coverage.
Don’t put money in a Flexible Spending Account and forget about it.A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) lets you set aside pre-tax money to pay for certain out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Experts say people often set up an FSA and then don’t realize the many ways they can use the money, or learn how to submit claims. They lose hundreds of dollars in the account at the end of the year.
“The FSA is such a great option,” Novoseletsky says. “There are all kinds of things you can purchase to use those funds.”
Sometimes, he says, people change jobs or get distracted near year’s end. “It just becomes out of sight, out of mind, and people don’t think about it, and I don’t think employers do the best job of reminding the employees of the money still in their FSA accounts,” he says.
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Novoseletsky says it’s important to update beneficiaries and their contact information annually — but many people fail to do so.
He has seen people forget to add a current spouse or leave a former spouse as a beneficiary on life insurance. He has also seen people fail to designate any beneficiary or continue to include someone who has passed away.
“You do need a contingent beneficiary as well,” Novoseletsky says.
Don’t go without disability insurance.Long-term disability insurance can help replace a large portion of your income if you have an accident and become disabled. The money can be used to pay for expenses like a mortgage, children’s college education, or other financial needs.
“Long-term disability insurance is very important for everyone,” Novoseletsky says. “It is a way to protect your paycheck.”
Although many people have some savings, if someone were to get into an accident and could no longer work, long-term disability would provide income through age 65.
For women in their childbearing years, short-term disability is one of the most important insurances, Novoseletsky says. This type of insurance allows new mothers to have up to 60% of their income for up to six weeks for a routine delivery and eight weeks for a cesarean section.
Employers are legally mandated to provide a woman with family and medical leave after giving birth. While the law protects someone’s job for up to 12 weeks, it does not require employers to give paid time off.
Don’t forget to finish open enrollment or ask for help if needed.Benefits experts say they often see people who think they’ve finished enrolling but fail to complete the process. They recommend double-checking before the deadline.
Another mistake, Jacobs says, is to become overwhelmed by choices and resist asking for help. Whether enrolling in a company-sponsored health plan or the federal marketplace, benefits departments or navigators can help you compare plans and analyze choices.
“Every plan is not created equal, and by that I mean not all Florida Blue plans or UnitedHealthcare plans are the same,” Jacobs says. “A navigator can help you understand what kind of plan you are picking and help you forecast your health needs for the next year so you can explore the options to get the best coverage.”
Florida Covering Kids & Families is providing navigators in all 67 Florida counties during the 2025 Affordable Care Act Enrollment, with services offered in more than 100 languages, Jacobs says.
Marketplace enrollees also may get guidance from Healthcare.gov assisters. Employees can often call the insurer directly for help with employer-sponsored insurance.
“I can’t tell you how often people buy plans and do not realize what they bought and what coverage their plan lacks until they need it,” says Wagner, of Florida Blue. “Of course, then it’s too late.”
South Florida Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.
ASK IRA: Could Terry Rozier to the second unit benefit both Rozier and the Heat?
Q: I found it was no coincidence that in the Pacers game, when Terry Rozier started taking bad shots, they went on a run. When Terry was benched, we stabilized, because it wasn’t just one person looking for their shot. For the role we need, his mentality isn’t fully to facilitate. I loved Dion Waiters, but we all knew he was a ball dominant. Same with Terry. – Bubba, Philadelphia.
A: Reflecting back to the January trade with the Hornets for Terry Rozier, it came at a point when Tyler Herro hardly was the current picture of efficiency. The Heat desperately needed scoring. While they still need scoring, they have moved to an offensive approach that does not necessarily play to Terry’s strengths. Considering Erik Spoelstra already has begun tinkering with his lineup, it could make sense to move Terry to the second unit, where he would have greater offensive freedom without stepping on toes. Spoelstra has a way of making such moves come off as something other than a demotion. Such an approach also could get additional spacing in the first unit, to further help space the floor.
Related ArticlesQ: If this is the Tyler we get to see more of this season, then Andy Elisburg and Pat are again roster geniuses, especially given Tyler’s more cap-friendly contract. – Phillip, San Francisco.
A: Which is why, if Tyler Herro does, indeed, sustain, it is so silly to evaluate a long-term contract in the short-term moment. The same arguably could be said about Duncan Robinson’s contract, which also has come around to have a value element. In the NBA, the dollars are all relative. Duncan has played relatively well since signing his current deal. Tyler has played relatively exceptional this season. Patience is hard in sports, but also is necessary.
Q: Ira, how can the Heat get up for Sunday’s rematch against the Pacers since it’s not an NBA Cup game? – Eric.
A: I get the sarcasm. And for all the promotion by coaches (who seemingly have been told by higher authorities that they have to drink the Kool-Aid), I doubt there was any more tangible emotion by the Heat on Friday in Indiana than there will be on Sunday against the Pacers or Monday against the 76ers. Based on the way the Heat started this season, they will need to bring their best for a while to get back to more solid footing – fancy courts or not.
Trump’s revenge tour begins, and it’s scary | Letters to the editor
Drunk with power, MAGA Republicans are salivating over the prospect of Donald Trump exacting revenge on his political enemies.
Decent public servants such as the prosecutors Jack Smith and Leticia James, not to mention many TV pundits who have been critical of Trump for his crude behavior and criminal activities, may now face unwarranted prosecution.
Richard Nixon and Watergate will look like a choir boy at a Sunday school picnic compared to the cruelty and corruption coming our way after Jan. 20.
Fasten your seat belts and prepare for the wildest, meanest ride of the 21st Century. To all those who claim their lives will be better under Trump, this is worth recalling: Be careful of what you wish for.
Linda Ribner, Lauderhill
Historical perspectiveOn Tuesday, Nov. 12, I read the “Today in History” column in the Sun Sentinel, as I do every day.
For those who still can’t grasp why Trump won, check this out.
That day in 1954, Ellis Island closed its doors as an immigration and detention station. From 1892 to 1954, the item said, roughly 12 million people entered our country there legally, over a 62-year period.
The Biden-Harris administration reported encounters with 10.5 million immigrants in less than 4 years (as reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection).
If you still don’t get it, imagine: The Harris campaign blew threw almost $1 billion and wound up $20 million in the red. And that’s who you thought was going to fix our economy? Enough said.
Neal Bluestein, Boca Raton
Trump, our saviorOn Veterans Day, we rightfully honored the men and women who risk their lives to serve our country.
I want to thank them all for their sacrifices, and I include Donald Trump among them. He has put his life on the line for our country by actually taking a bullet for us, and has been attacked financially and had his home raided. If Trump doesn’t fit the definition of veteran, I don’t know who does.
God bless him for caring enough about us to sacrifice everything to bring our country back from the financial and moral cliff that the Democrats wanted to drive us over.
Nancy Heise, Parkland
On electing a presidentThis year, we had a presidential candidate who won both the Electoral College and the popular vote.
That assures a supportive nation — at least at the beginning of the administration. However, a candidate can win the Electoral College and the presidency with as little as 21.8% of the vote in the most extreme case.
Does democracy work when a leader is supported by such a significantly small minority? We need to really consider modifying our presidential voting system. If not a pure popular vote, then we should consider proportional allocation of electoral votes by states or by congressional districts. It’s time.
Richard Schwartz, Hollywood
A matter of perspectiveI had to smile after I read the Sun Sentinel article about the deadlocked Broward County Commission over spending $14 million on homeless shelters. The next article I read was about Boca Raton’s new $16 million pickleball complex.
I also volunteer for the American Red Cross, so I know a little bit about the problem of homelessness.
It’s not about the money, it’s that no one gives a damn.
Robert Collier, Fort Lauderdale
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[contact-form]Democrats lost youth support this election. As with older voters, it’s the economy | Opinion
Despite spending years pushing social justice movements, the Democratic Party should’ve focused on addressing inflation.
Even before she was the presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared at Florida International University in October 2023, slamming efforts to promote merit and scholarship on campus over so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Pedro Boccalato Rodriguez Aparicio is a fourth-year student at Florida State University. (courtesy, Pedro Boccalato Rodriguez Aparicio)In 2024, the Florida Democratic Party spent the electoral cycle pushing for abortion, marijuana, progressive politics and Harris’ administration.
Compared to previous elections, young voters rejected Democrats’ message. CNN exit polling shows 60% of 18-29-year-olds in Florida went for Biden in 2020, but just 53% opted for Harris in 2024.
The Democrats’ social engineering simply wasn’t their priority. The economy was.
The College Fix noted that almost half of young voters named “the economy” a “top priority.”
Polling results from the James Madison Institute (JMI) revealed that 48% of likely voters in Florida perceive inflation as a “very serious” issue.
In its 2016 Blueprint Florida policy paper, JMI mentioned that the American dream is “on trial every day,” and that “Florida’s ceaseless pushback against Leftism results in economic prosperity and growth unlike anything ever seen.”
November 2024 proved them right, and the signs have been there on campuses across Florida if anyone took the time to notice.
At the University of Florida, Campus Reform reported that the Change Party, the student government party most aligned to old DEI principles, has repeatedly lost its grip on the school’s student government over the years.
At Florida Gulf Coast University, diversity of thought has been promoted continuously since the state cracked down on DEI in 2023.
The same thing happened at the University of South Florida, where multiple pro-Palestine students were arrested and even deported for breaking the law.
Students at Ave Maria University pushed back against the abortion initiative that was on November’s ballot.
Similarly, the University of Miami launched a program to promote civic discourse and prevent a political divide on campus.
When it came to the economy, Harris vowed to change nothing from Biden’s economic policies, and Florida’s young voters clearly remembered that at the ballot box. Early voting statistics from FSU’s Student Union in 2024 reported that Democrats only held a lead of 17 points, compared to their 30-point lead in 2020.
Across the country, Gen Z voters’ support of Trump and the GOP jumped from 36% to 42%, which contributed significantly to Trump’s victory. And they weren’t wrong.
It’s no secret that young voters tend to skew Democratic compared to older ones. But this November, young Floridians showed the Democratic Party that they will not settle for a disastrous economy and far-left social movements.
Pedro Boccalato Rodriguez Aparicio is a fourth-year student at Florida State University on a pre-law track. After moving from Puerto Rico at 16, he decided to pursue a career in American journalism, politics and law upon graduation.
There’s little to stop Trump’s vow of retribution against political enemies | Opinion
During his ultimately victorious campaign for the presidency, Donald Trump made no bones about his intention to use the legal levers of government to go after his perceived enemies. When he takes office in January, we should therefore expect him to launch a reign of terror against dozens of people he sees as having crossed him. And his vengeance will be enabled by the Supreme Court opinion granting presidents broad immunity from prosecution.
A recent National Public Radio analysis determined that Trump has threatened more than 100 federal investigations or prosecutions to settle scores. They run the gamut from President Joe Biden and his family, whom the president-elect has promised to pay back on Day 1 of his tenure by appointing a special prosecutor to investigate unspecified crimes; to former Rep. Liz Cheney, whom he recently suggested should face something like a firing squad; to judges involved in his prosecutions; and journalists who refuse to give up their sources.
Harry Litman is the host of the “Talking Feds” podcast. (courtesy, “Talking Feds”)Granted, Trump frequently gives the impression that he has little understanding of or even interest in many of the policies he pressed on the campaign trail. But retribution against his enemies is clearly something that gets him up in the morning. From well before his entry into politics, Trump has been single-minded in intimidating and exacting retribution against his opponents.
A passage from one of his tacky books that was read into evidence at his New York criminal trial declares, “My motto is: Always get even. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades.”
Trump is in this respect not unique in the annals of the American presidency. The desire to “screw” one’s enemies, a hallmark of the insecure leader, is the impulse that brought down Richard Nixon. Watergate originally sprang from Nixon’s vendetta against Daniel Ellsberg, whom he was determined to embarrass for exposing the Pentagon Papers.
In the wake of Nixon’s abuses, the country put in place a series of laws, regulations and norms designed to prevent government by vengeance. These included a prohibition on White House meddling in Justice Department prosecutions that took on canonical status.
I was a Justice official at the beginning of what became the Whitewater scandal, and it would have been unthinkable at the time for a White House official to try to direct the department to investigate a political enemy. No administration would have dared, and no department official would have acquiesced.
Since Watergate, the only administration that failed to fully respect that principle was Trump’s. His political appointees repeatedly pushed the department to at least provide information about continuing prosecutions. In those difficult years, the department sometimes resisted but sometimes relented. Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, made it a priority to rebuild the wall between the White House and the Justice Department.
Trump has made it clear that he intends to raze that wall in his first days in office. Working off the blueprint of Project 2025, Trump has announced that he plans to hollow out the department’s career staff and replace them with political appointees who will serve at his pleasure and be loyal to him, not the Constitution.
Moreover, Trump has said he will rely on the Supreme Court’s immunity opinion to provide full cover against any legal resistance. When asked recently how he would handle special counsel Jack Smith, who led his two federal prosecutions, Trump replied, “It’s so easy — I would fire him within two seconds,” adding that he would enjoy “immunity at the Supreme Court.”
The irony and tragedy of Trump’s invocation of the opinion is that the court declared it was ruling not for Trump but “for the ages.” But it is indeed Trump whose unscrupulous ambition it has served. And while the court reasoned that immunity is needed to safeguard aggressive, nimble and presumably lawful presidential action, Trump takes the lesson that he can violate the Constitution with impunity.
The corrupt use of prosecutorial power can amount to a crime. For starters, the federal code criminalizes conspiring to injure any person because of their exercise of constitutional rights or their race. But the Supreme Court has ensured that Trump could carry out unlawful prosecutions: He can commit crimes but can’t be made to answer for them.
Trump’s retribution agenda may encounter other roadblocks. Grand juries may not go along with prosecutions that reek of vengeance, and trial juries and judges are more likely to resist.
As a practical matter, by far the most important protections against vengeful prosecutions are career federal prosecutors’ nonpartisan professionalism and the norms forbidding the White House from telling them whom to prosecute. Trump is plainly fixing to lay waste to those safeguards. That alone would constitute a giant step away from the rule of law and toward autocracy.
Harry Litman is the host of the “Talking Feds” podcast and the “Talking San Diego” speaker series. Follow him on X @harrylitman.
Bobrovsky gets shutout, Panthers roll past NHL-leading Jets 5-0 to snap 2-game slide
SUNRISE — Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots for his 45th career shutout, Aleksander Barkov had a short-handed goal and two assists, and the Florida Panthers beat the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets 5-0 on Saturday night.
Sam Reinhart had three assists for Florida, which snapped a two-game slide and became the first team to take a five-goal lead on the Jets this season. Mackie Samoskevich, Evan Rodrigues, Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Kulikov also scored for the Atlantic Division leaders.
Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck came into the night with an NHL-best 1.92 goals-against average. It rose to 2.15 after the Panthers beat him five times on 31 shots, and he took the loss for just the second time in 14 games this season.
Reinhart now has points in 10 straight games, had his fourth three-point game of the season and his first three-assist game in the regular season since he had four against Columbus on Dec. 10, 2023.
TakeawaysJets: Despite going 0-2-0 in Florida — Winnipeg lost in Tampa Bay on Thursday — a 15-3-0 record is, by far, the best start in team history. Since hockey returned to Winnipeg in 2011, no Jets team ever had more than 11 wins through a season’s first 18 games.
Panthers: Samoskevich was back in the lineup after not playing Thursday in a loss to New Jersey and made immediate impact with the game’s opening goal — his third in his last seven games.
Key momentBobrovsky made a big stop on a backhander by Mark Scheifele midway through the second period to keep Florida up 2-0. Rodrigues and Barkov added goals not long afterward to blow the game open for Florida.
Key statThe Panthers already have five short-handed goals this season (in 18 games). They had eight in the 2023-24 regular season (in 82 games).
Up nextThe teams play again Tuesday in Winnipeg.
FAU falls to host Temple in overtime to remain winless in AAC
PHILADELPHIA — Maddux Trujillo made four field goals, including a walk-off 39-yarder in overtime to give Temple an 18-15 victory over Florida Atlantic on Saturday.
Tyquan King had back-to-back sacks to help stall FAU’s first possession of overtime.
Trujillo also converted on field goals from 54, 50 and 47 yards.
CJ Campbell’s 1-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left in regulation pulled the Owls within 15-13. On the ensuing two-point attempt, Campbell pitched the ball to Omari Hayes off a reverse, who then tossed it to quarterback Tyriq Starks in the end zone that tied it 15-all.
Terrez Worthy’s 1-yard touchdown run capped a 15-play, 87-yard drive that put the Owls up 12-7 with 7:15 to play. Evan Simon completed 24 of 41 passes for 218 yards for Temple (3-7, 2-4 American).
Campbell had 70 yards rushing on 20 carries and also scored on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter. Kasen Weisman and Starks combined for 19-of-36 passing for 194 yards for Florida Atlantic (2-8, 0-6 American).
Today in History: November 16, Nixon authorizes Alaska pipeline
Today is Saturday, Nov. 16, the 321st day of 2024. There are 45 days left in the year.
Today in history:On Nov. 16, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of an 800-mile (1,290-kilometer) oil pipeline from the Alaska North Slope to the port city of Valdez.
Also on this date:In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union.
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In 1982, an agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players.
In 1988, Benazir Bhutto was voted prime minister of Pakistan, the first woman to be elected to lead a Muslim-majority country.
In 1989, six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter were slain by army troops at the University of Central America José Simeón Cañas in El Salvador.
In 2001, investigators found a letter addressed to Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont containing anthrax; it was the second letter bearing the deadly germ known to have been sent to Capitol Hill.
In 2001, the first film in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (U.S. title: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”) debuted in theaters around the world.
In 2006, after midterm elections that saw Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi was nominated by the Democratic caucus to become speaker of the House. (Pelosi would officially become speaker by House vote the following January, becoming the first woman to serve in the role.)
In 2018, a U.S. official said intelligence officials had concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (jah-MAHL’ khahr-SHOHK’-jee).
Today’s Birthdays:
- Actor Miguel Sandoval is 73.
- Video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto is 72.
- NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte is 68.
- Actor Marg Helgenberger is 66.
- Former MLB All-Star pitcher Dwight Gooden is 60.
- Jazz singer Diana Krall is 60.
- Actor Lisa Bonet is 57.
- Actor Martha Plimpton is 54.
- Olympic figure skating gold medalist Oksana Baiul (ahk-SAH’-nah by-OOL’) is 47.
- Actor Maggie Gyllenhaal (JIHL’-ehn-hahl) is 47.
- Actor-comedian Pete Davidson is 31.
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