The rain Sunday didn’t dampen the early voting crowd in Coral Gables as much as Ladra thought it would. There were almost as many voters as on Saturday, for a total of 1,554 ballots cast at the Coral Gables library.

Another 540 vote-by-mail or absentee ballots were stuffed into the drop box — 254 on Saturday and 286 on Sunday. That makes it a total of 2,094 votes just over the weekend.

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He made a mistake.

As many people (and voters) now know, Coral Gables Vice Mayor Vince Lago signed a letter from parents and alumni at the Carollton School of the Sacred Heart way back in September that opposed increased education about racism and black history in the wake of the George Floyd murder and ensuing protests for justice and police reform.

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Coral Gables voters will be able to cast early voting ballots this weekend for the first time in municipal elections. The election ends Tuesday. As of Friday, almost 4,800 have cast absentee or vote-by-mail ballots already.

Many people have asked Ladra to make recommendations in the commission races, even though we’re going to end up with runoffs in both contests. Everyone knows that Vice Mayor Vince Lago is the only real choice for the mayoral race, despite the one stupid letter he signed (more on that later). But the commission races are harder.

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He really should know better.

Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla had an attorney send an email to Ladra and several other journalists who reported on the illegal nightclub he was caught at in February, demanding a retraction and that we cease and desist with any follow-up coverage.

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Officer says he pushed her and caused a hip injury

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When a code enforcement inspector showed up at an illegal after hours club without a liquor license in Allapattah after midnight one recent Sunday, she didn’t expect to find a city commissioner there.

Let alone get into a physical altercation with him.

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