Community News | South Dade News Leader | Miami Dade County

Upon entering the Airie Nest Gallery in the Everglades National Park, one is greeted by strangely seductive, other-worldly looking objects. Custom built tables with leaves and flowers, topographical diagrams and a video of a sugar cane train all represent aspects of the Saw Palmetto, a plant which is one of the oldest living clonal species. This innovative collection of artworks are the result of sculptor Robert Chambers, who participated in the Artists in Residence in Everglades (AIRIE) program last year. Chambers, a Miami-based sculptor, is best known for his large-scale sculptures and installations, which bring together whimsy and humor with scientific, mechanical and industrial acumen. Focused on lands north of Lake Okeechobee in the headwaters of the Everglades, he created a new body of work combining elements such as biomimicry, 3D printing and principles of evolutionary biology to express the urgency of conserving the delicate relationships of natural phenomena and indigenous species that make up the Florida Everglades. Chambers’ work is inspired by the Serenoa repens, the tenacious plant commonly known as the saw palmetto, a symbol of the Everglades’ complex interplay of water flow, plant life, fire and weather.

The Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) piped ashore Master Chief Cryptologic Technician (Maintenance) (CTM) Neil Watson, a native of Homestead, as he retired from the Navy after 30 years of dedicated and honorable service during a ceremony onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida, April. 12.

National Park Week --- April 20 - 28.  Fee Free Day is Saturday, April 20. Park entrance is free for all visitors.       It’s National Park Week and as part of the celebration, we’re highlighting park programs that help us meet the park service mission of preserving the nation’s natural and cultural heritage.

Scientists with the University of Florida and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have found that Burmese pythons are occupying bird nesting areas in the Everglades, suggesting that pythons are attracted to wading birds where they breed.

Local couple help keep neighborhood kids active and safe with their organized activities available to all

For the first time ever, Homestead Center for the Arts (HCA) took to the stage last year to highlight four decades of promoting local arts and culture. Delighted attendees remarked, “I didn’t know we had all that in Homestead.”

April is Earth Month!

Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials aren’t aborting pursuit of the operational command of President Donald Trump’s Space Force, despite a report Florida isn’t on the U.S. Air Force’s short list of potential bases.