FYI Miami: May 24, 2018

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

CRIME REPORTS PLUNGE: Crimes are down markedly in Miami-Dade County for the first four months of the year, according to a report from the Miami-Dade Police Department. Overall, crimes were down in that period 11.47% from the same four months of 2017 in all areas of the county that county police deal with. The decrease was greatest among violent crimes, down 18.33% versus a drop of 10.23% in non-violent crimes in areas where the county has police jurisdiction – the report doesn’t cover areas that municipal police departments oversee. Homicides were down 10.23%, forcible sex offenses down 2.26%, robberies down 25.92%, aggravated assaults down 19.1%, burglaries down 18.85%, larcenies down 8.65% and motor vehicle theft down 12.1%, county police reported.

CLIMATE COMPACT PASSES: County commissioners unanimously moved to rejoin Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties in funding services related to the South Florida Regional Climate Change Compact. Each county will contribute $50,000 annually for three years to retain the Institute for Sustainable Communities, which will run workshops and meetings with compact stakeholders, prepare a four-county greenhouse gas emissions inventory and assessment, develop an online interactive platform, update the Regional Climate Action Plan and participate in the planning and execution of nine annual Regional Climate Leadership Summits. The new agreement renews the 2016 agreement among the four counties and includes further funding from the Kresge Foundation, a Michigan-based philanthropic organization committing $500,000 to the program over three years.

$5 MILLION PIZZA BOXES: Resident Michael Rosenberg presented a crucial issue to Miami-Dade commissioners last week: pizza boxes. More specifically, he asked the commission to better educate the public on what is and isn’t recyclable – pizza boxes being among the many products deceptively non-recyclable. “This is one example of what kills recycling,” he said, hoisting a “Hot, Fresh & Tasty” pizza box in the air. “There’s hundreds of items we’re putting in our recycling [that don’t belong there], and next year,” he said, pointing a finger at Esteban Bovo Jr., the commission chair. “You’re going to get the bill.” Mr. Rosenberg, an activist whose past efforts include establishing a PTA in an Overtown elementary school and shutting down a Northside drug den, gave the pizza box to the commission before parting from the lectern. “I’m leaving this $5 million box here as a reminder.”