A
    Amanda McCorquodale

    Amanda McCorquodale

    Contributor

  • This Map Redraws America, Cuts Off South Florida

    Here's yet more proof that living in South Florida is a truly unique experience. "American Nations," journalist Colin Woodard's book that redraws the United States into regions based on approaches to violence, carefully carves out 11 distinct areas such as Yankeedom (states like Massachusetts that reject capital punishment and embrace gun control) and Greater Appalachia (states like Kentucky and Arkansas that support gun rights).

  • Cops: Man Murders Seniors After Offering To Paint Their Condo For Free

    A one-time family member of a South Florida elderly couple offered to paint their condo for free, then returned days later to bind them with painter's tape and brutally stab them to death, according to a recently released arrest report obtained by Local 10. The bodies of Barbara Russo, 78, and her husband, Phillip Russo, 88, were found Monday night by their daughter. During dinner, they reportedly told her their former nephew-in-law, Rosario Melici, 60, of Lake Worth, stopped by to offer to paint their Deerfield Beach condo for free.

  • The One Quality You Must Instill In Your Child

    Teachers and parents: What if we told you you were only 10 minutes away from having studious, focused, well-adjusted, compassionate, and happy children? Enter Mindful Kids Miami, a non-profit working to introduce mindfulness into Miami-Dade public schools, oncology wards, and centers that serve abused children and their families. Valerie York-Zimmerman, who has studied with Buddhist monk and author Thich Nhat Hanh as well as Jon Kabat-Zinn, director of University of Massachusetts's Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness, founded the pilot program in 2011.

  • Good News For Same-Sex Military Couples In Florida!

    There was one step forward for LGBT rights in Florida this week: The state's National Guard announced that same-sex married partners will be granted full benefits even though the Florida constitution doesn't recognize gay marriage. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June on the Defense of Marriage Act, the Pentagon updated its benefits policy to include same-sex husbands and wives.

  • Another State Species In Trouble

    The Florida panther, our official state animal and according to the Florida Fish And Wildlife Commission, "one of the most endangered animals on Earth," is getting wiped out by cars in record-breaking numbers. "There's always been concern from some of us when the time change happens because it gets earlier and tends to coincide more with when people are coming and going to work," Nancy Payton with the Florida Wildlife Federation, told News-Press. Floridapanthers.net estimates that there are currently between 100 and 160 panthers living in the state.

  • Missing School Nurse Decapitated

    Hours before police could arrest a South Florida doctor for the brutal murder and mutilation of his ex-wife, detectives witnessed his family carry his lifeless body out of a Miami home after an apparent drug overdose. The headless body of Kimberly Lindsey, 49, a school nurse, was found in a sugarcane field in Clewiston, Fla. on Friday after she was reported missing five days earlier, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by The Palm Beach Post. "This is one of the more heinous crimes I've seen in a while," Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a press conference, adding that Lindsey's head and fingertips have not yet been found.

  • GAME DAY!!

    More than once, Miami has derailed Florida State's national championship hopes. During their storied rivalry, the Hurricanes have caused the Seminoles so much heartbreak that legendary former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden quipped that one day, his tombstone would reference the fact he'd had to play Miami. While their annual rivalry game has lost some of its national luster in recent years, it's right back in the spotlight Saturday night as Miami travels to Florida State and the two meet in as top-10 teams for the first time since 2004.

  • City Votes To Expand Saggy Pants Ban To Ladies

    OPA-LOCKA, Fl -- A controversial 2007 city ordinance that drew praise from conservative host Dr. Laura Schlessinger and criticism from the ACLU may now be expanded to women. Opa-Locka banned saggy pants and exposed underwear in city buildings six years ago and in 2010, expanded the ban to include any public place. Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

  • Dire News For Our Manatees

    A record number of manatees have died in Florida in 2013 and the body count continues to climb with two more months left in the year. The death toll reached a staggering 769 just a few days from November, Florida's Manatee Awareness Month -- that's an average of two manatee deaths per day over the last ten months. What's worse, 126 of those were calves, reports Save The Manatee Club, an organization cofounded by Jimmy Buffet that works to protect the endangered species.

  • Here's Your Chance To Save Miami From Zombies

    Here's your real chance to defend Dade. In two weeks, a sleeper terrorist cell will activate a bio-threat on our sunny shores causing a full-on zombie attack by the undead. For about $160 a mission, Miamians will have the chance to train with former US Army Rangers, Special Forces, Marine Special Operations Command, Navy SEALs, and Delta Force soldiers before getting armed with air pellet guns and sent to take out zombies and terrorists.

  • How One Woman Left Her Job, Swept Aside Her Guilt, And Started Doing What She Really Loved

    Five years ago Catalina Lemaitre was a project manager for the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C. Then the recurrent migraines began, and Lemaitre says she was forced to examine her life in which she felt like a battery that had lost its ability to recharge. Lemaitre, 33, now runs and designs Calamarie out of Miami, with frequent trips to Colombia to expand her jewelry line. HuffPost Miami spoke with the young social entrepreneur about finding fulfillment outside the typical measures of success.

  • PHOTOS: The Hands-Down Best Halloween Party In Florida

    "Despite the widely held perception about Fantasy Fest, public nudity is prohibited," warned an advisory on Keysnet. Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This year the theme was "Super Heroes, Villains… & Beyond" with Diana Nyad, who recently swam from Cuba to Key West, as Grand Marshall.

  • Complaints Roll In Over Florida's New Glitchy Unemployment Site

    Florida Gov. Rick Scott's reelection campaign theme may be "It's Working," but the state's expensive new unemployment claims web site is definitely not. Since it went live October 15, the new site Connect has been unable to recognize some claimants' personal information, according to complaints lodged on the state's Department of Economic Opportunity Facebook page. There is no official count of how many of Florida's nearly 240,000 unemployment recipients may have been affected by Connect's glitches.

  • 'We Better Learn How To Eat Them, Before They Eat Us'

    After trying desperately to eliminate the lionfish, a venomous predator that ravages local reefs and devours other sea creatures, experts think they have a solution: Serve the darn thing for dinner with some lemon and tartar sauce. "It's deadly, but it's one of most delicious fish you'll ever eat," said David Link, manager of the Food Shack in Jupiter, one of nine Florida restaurants already serving lionfish, most on a limited basis. Many restaurants would like to make lionfish a regular menu item but have been able to find a steady supply.

  • 'Sure It's Funny Because It Didn't Happen To You'

    DANIA BEACH Wanda McGowan has been the target of some good-natured ribbing from friends since being rescued from an upright railroad drawbridge in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, her son says, but on Monday he said she's not that comfortable with all the attention. Employees at Flossie's Bar and Grill, on Ravenswood Road near McGowan's Dania Beach home, said she stopped in Sunday and was talking with the regulars there. Wearing their bras on the outside of their pink T-shirts to raise breast cancer awareness, McGowan, 55, was part of a group participating in Saturday morning's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K Walk that began at Huizenga Plaza, just north of the New River, her son said.

  • Report: Man Dies After Jumping Off Train For Phone

    A Miami man who jumped from a moving commuter train last week to retrieve his forgotten cellphone has died. Hospital staff told The Palm Beach Post that Eddie Diaz, 26, was taken off life support Friday after sustaining critical injuries on October 6. Diaz had just boarded a Tri-Rail train at a West Palm Beach station when he realized he left his phone on a bench, police report.

  • Florida Rep. Makes Shocking Comments About Lesbian Moms

    Tuesday a Florida republican equated lesbian mothers and drug abusers, labeling both "dysfunctional" and "atypical" households that get in the way of a child's education. ... I mean I sat an hour and a half with a teacher telling me: 'This child has got serial men coming through the house, this one has two mommies, this one has abusive father whose home, this has alcoholism, this one has drug abuse.' It was a casualty warfare event to hear -- just her classroom -- how many dysfunctional, atypical -- to me -- structures are in the way of a kid having a chance to learn. Watch the video excerpt above or video of Baxley's full comments here (beginning at minute 2:24).

  • Is This A Great White Shark Off Miami Beach?

    For the second time in under six months, a fisherman has claimed to have hooked a great white shark off South Florida's coast. Brit Paul Raines was celebrating his 50th birthday in Miami Beach by shark fishing with his wife when he caught something big, reports Local 10. Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

  • Florida (Finally) Takes Steps To Revise 'Stand Your Ground'

    If you hear the pitter patter of tiny feet, it's Florida finally taking baby steps to amend its controversial 'Stand Your Ground' law. Tuesday a Senate panel voted 7 to 2 approving revisions to the state's self-defense law, which removed the duty to retreat from the "Castle Doctrine," granting residents the right to use deadly force in their home. It also further clarifies existing language in 'Stand Your Ground' that individuals acting as aggressors are barred from using the law as a defense, and removes language so that any bystanders injured by 'Stand Your Ground' fire can pursue civil action.

  • These Floridians Are Feeling The Shutdown The Worst

    Florida's seniors, students and homebuyers are at significant risk of being hurt by a prolonged partial shutdown of the federal government, according to an analysis released Tuesday. --Florida is second only to Hawaii in the role real estate plays in its economy. The two states "stand to suffer the most" because Federal Housing Administration staffing furloughs could lead to a delay in home loans.