“Eat Well, Play Hard!” Children’s Physical fitness
In celebration of National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, on May 16, more than two hundred school-aged children will participate in the fourth annual “Eat Well, Play Hard!” Physical Fitness Day from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Roby George Park in Homestead.
Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and today, nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese. The numbers are even higher in African American and Hispanic communities, where nearly 40% of the children are overweight or obese. One-third of all children and two-thirds of all adults are overweight or obese. Unfortunately, the numbers in Homestead/Florida City mirror these national statistics.
The South Dade Out-of-School Collaborative has taken an active stance to reduce these staggering statistics for children and youth in Deep South Miami-Dade by incorporating at least 30-minutes of daily physical fitness into the curriculum of its five out-of-school sites. The “Eat Well, Play Hard!” Physical Fitness Day is a culmination of a year-long effort to improve participants’ flexibility, endurance and eating habits. Program participants will compete, by age group, in fitness challenges to measure their endurance and flexibility.
Laurel Wilt Disease in Avocado Production Area of Miami-Dade County
Disease Threatens Health of Avocado Trees, a $13 Million Industry in South Florida Redbay ambrosia beetles (Xyleborus glabratus): a) comparison of beetle to a penny; b) top view and c) side view of a single adult.
Tallahassee, FL – The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences (UF/IFAS) have confirmed the presence of laurel wilt on an avocado tree in a commercial block in the northern tier of the Miami-Dade County avocado production area. Laurel wilt is a destructive disease transmitted by the redbay ambrosia beetle into trees in the laurel family (Lauraceae) including redbay, swamp bay and the economically important avocado.
“The find of laurel wilt in a commercial avocado grove is a major concern,” said Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. “Unaddressed, the disease can spread quickly, threatening the health of South Florida’s commercial avocado industry. We’re working with our partners and the industry to diagnose other trees in proximity to the finding and mitigate the spread of the disease.”
Laurel wilt can spread to other trees in the surrounding area by its vector, the redbay ambrosia beetle. While this pest/disease complex threatens the health of avocado trees, it does not affect the quality or wholesomeness of avocado fruit, which remains an excellent Fresh from Florida product.
The department is working closely with federal agriculture officials, UF/IFAS and the industry to determine best management practices to mitigate the impact of the redbay ambrosia beetle/laurel wilt complex.
Chamber Director Finlan Bids Farewell
By Nimmond Lockhart/SDM 
There are occasions when the company job follows you home. For some, it involves multi-tasking with high levels of stress combined with a tremendous amount of responsibilities regarding their personal lives. For others, it’s ideal, quiet, stress free moments while burning the midnight oil. Working on the computer with “man’s best friend” sleeping at your feet and indulging in a bowl of ice cream to satisfy the taste buds is how Mary Finlan, Director of the Florida City/Homestead Chamber of Commerce, indulges herself while working during the wee hours of the morning for the organization she holds so dear to her heart. And to her credit, she will have even more hours to engage in such bliss when her work is channeled to herself. Mary Finlan is retiring.
Common Sense
Management Consulting
By Jerome Williams-SDM Contributing Writer
No matter how great their product and services are, many businesses incorporate market research into their operating plan. Here are three cost effective ways for you to conduct your own market research.
1. Conduct your own traffic pedestrian and vehicular traffic counts in the neighborhood where you have your business or intend to have it. Also contact your local, county or state departments of transportation. Some of them have online data that you can use for free. The Florida State Department of Transportation maintains an accessible online database of North, South, East and Westbound vehicular traffic counts for state roads, including intersections.
From The Ghettos to the Death Camps
Remembering the Holocaust close up and personal
By Nimmond Lockhart
The 19th of April is recognized as Holocaust Remembrance Day. The recent pilgrimage of over 800 South Florida Jews heading to Israel comes just after the day that commemorates this horrific event. World War II hero, Dr. Leon Bass, shares a vivid account of the horrors he witnessed.
Life in the ghettos was almost unbearable. Overcrowding was common. One apartment might have several families living in it. Plumbing broke down and human waste was thrown in the streets along with the garbage. Contagious diseases spread rapidly in this cramped, unsanitary housing. People were always hungry. The Germans deliberately tried to starve these ghetto residents by allowing them to purchase only a small amount of bread, potatoes, and fat. Some residents had money or valuables they could trade for food smuggled into the ghettos; others were forced to beg or steal to survive.
During the long winters, heating fuel was scarce, and many people lacked adequate clothing. People weakened by hunger and exposure to the cold became easy victims of disease; tens of thousands died in the ghettos from illness, starvation, or cold. Some individuals killed themselves to escape their hopeless lives.
My Other Half
By Nimmond Lockhart/SDM
In January of 2011, more than four in ten American adults have at least one step relative in their family – either a stepparent, a step or half sibling or a stepchild. When Oprah Winfrey discovered she had a half sibling, she said it shocked her to the core.
Curiosity burns inside of everyone, but as a child coping with the unknown can be an enormous challenge. Imagine the shock of finding out that you have a half sibling somewhere else in the world, or that one of the parents, (maybe both) that you live with are not blood related to you. However, the biggest challenge a half sibling or a stepchild will have to face will be that need to find self…the identity that makes us who we are. The search can be very difficult and the possibility of finding self may carry on into your adult years, or maybe after you finally come face to face with your other half.
