Dade County

MIAMI -- By the time foster children reach the safety of Joel Price's doorstep, they have endured just about every kind of horror that can haunt a child's sleep. Some have been beaten, others sexually assaulted. Some lost their parents to the stupor of crack addiction. Then there were those who were simply abandoned.So by the time Hurricane Andrew blew in through Mrs. Price's windows last month, the six teen-age girls living there weren't inclined to be intimidated -- even when plywood came down on their shoulders from the collapsing roof, leaving them huddled for hours beneath fallen debris in the rain and shrieking wind.

MIAMI -- In a few lucky corners of South Florida, air conditioners hummed alive and the lights flicked on again yesterday. But in most of the region, it was another day of tedium and anxiety for the millions still without electricity. Phones remained largely inoperable, and working gas stations were few. Around Miami-Dade County, there were seeds of optimism, as parts of neighborhoods from Coral Gables to Aventura regained electricity. But progress was slower in Broward County, where 97 percent of customers who lost power remained in the dark through yesterday afternoon.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Stunned victims of Hurricane Andrew yesterday began cleaning up the astonishing mess left by one of the most destructive storms in American history.The storm's death toll stood at 14 in south Florida alone, and its damage was estimated at up to $20 billion, almost three times as much as the loss from Hurricane Hugo in South Carolina in 1989.Yesterday brought some sense that authorities' control was returning as crews started removing trees from some roads, and police patrolled many places.

MIAMI - In the biggest city in the most-populous county in the state that will decide the nation's next president, the scene first played out by the Democratic-leaning counties to the north began yesterday morning: Methodical and well-watched ballot counting, followed by legions of Republicans crying foul. Miami-Dade County's Canvassing Board - two independents and a Democrat - started tallying stacks of the 10,000 white punch cards spit out as no-votes by the county's counting machines.

MIAMI -- Its budget is a disaster. Its bonds are rated junk. It's endured riots, middle-class flight, sensational crime waves and top-level political corruption -- all of which have dulled its fun-in-the-sun image.What's a city to do?Abolish itself, say the leaders of the Coalition for a New Miami.Sometime in the next few months -- the date hasn't been set -- Miami's voters will go to the polls and decide whether to dissolve their poor city's boundaries and throw themselves onto the mercy of surrounding Dade County, where the average household is richer and taxes are half as high.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- A man saying he had a bomb hijacked a school bus yesterday morning with 13 disabled children on board and led the police on a 25-mile, low-speed chase from suburban Dade County, through downtown Miami and finally to the front door of a famous Miami Beach restaurant, where officers shot and killed him.Except for one student who was slightly injured by glass shattered in the shooting, the children and adults on the bus were unharmed.The...

Forget paradise lost. Forget a city beset by drugs and violence. The headlines that used to give image-makers headaches can now proclaim Miami the newest Tinseltown.The ultimate proof?Madonna, the world's most material girl, just joined a growing galaxy of stars who have bought or are buying homes in greater Miami.Among them: pop singer Whitney Houston, Italian movie goddess Sophia Loren, rapper Vanilla Ice, Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias, Broadway impresario Harold Prince, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, designer Paloma Picasso, author Anne Rice and Bee Gees Robin, Maurice and Barry Gibb.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- About half of State Farm's hurricane-damaged policyholders are still waiting for a claims adjuster, five weeks after Hurricane Andrew raged across South Dade County.That, some furious policyholders say, is entirely unacceptable.That, says South Florida's biggest insurer, is the best it can do under such extraordinary conditions.Even state regulators are wondering whether State Farm can meet an Oct. 15 deadline for an adjuster to visit every customer who had filed claims by Sept.

MIAMI -- Defendant Donyell Desmore was a free man. For about 15 minutes.Desmore was given six months' probation after pleading no contest to battery Wednesday. He then walked out of the Metro Justice Building.On the courthouse steps, Desmore began harassing the woman he had just admitted attacking: Renee Robinson, his girlfriend. He lifted Robinson in his arms and dropped her on the sidewalk.Dade County Judge Scott Silverman, standing in a colleague's first-floor office, heard the commotion and saw the attack.

WASHINGTON -- Troops and military supplies were ready to be airlifted to South Florida soon after Hurricane Andrew struck a deadly blow Monday, but it took state and federal officials three more days to assess the damage and ask for the Pentagon's help.The delay left tens of thousands of people hungry and homeless and angered local emergency workers, who were unable to restore services without outside help.An emotional -- and televised -- appeal for help Thursday morning by Kate Hale, director of emergency operations for Dade County, Fla., may have been a catalyst for the action that did finally occur.

MIAMI -- In a new setback for Homestead, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Andrew five years ago, the federal government has ordered the city to postpone building an airport on the site of an Air Force installation until an environmental study can determine whether the project would damage the Everglades and protected coastal areas.The study, which is expected to begin next month, will be conducted by the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration.The city's plan would use the existing Air Force runway and build a terminal, hangars, warehouses and cargo facilities.

MIAMI -- Its budget is a disaster. Its bonds are rated junk. It's endured riots, middle-class flight, sensational crime waves and top-level political corruption -- all of which have dulled its fun-in-the-sun image.What's a city to do?Abolish itself, say the leaders of the Coalition for a New Miami.Sometime in the next few months -- the date hasn't been set -- Miami's voters will go to the polls and decide whether to dissolve their poor city's boundaries and throw themselves onto the mercy of surrounding Dade County, where the average household is richer and taxes are half as high.

Erosion is not a new problem in Dade County, Fla. Beaches in Miami's metropolitan area were first declared in need of help in the 1950s, and beach replenishment projects are undertaken every five years in selected areas.Now, though, there is a shortage of sand. Sources in the ocean near the beach are almost depleted, partly because man-made inlets along the Eastern seaboard are blocking the natural flow of sand to the area. Going into deeper waters to dredge is more expensive.Visitors are not complaining yet; their objections still tend to focus on debris in the water and overall beach cleanliness.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- A man saying he had a bomb hijacked a school bus yesterday morning with 13 disabled children on board and led the police on a 25-mile, low-speed chase from suburban Dade County, through downtown Miami and finally to the front door of a famous Miami Beach restaurant, where officers shot and killed him.Except for one student who was slightly injured by glass shattered in the shooting, the children and adults on the bus were unharmed.The...

If there is one "boom industry" that Baltimore County does not want -- but, unavoidably, has -- it is the local social services caseload.The upturn in the number of cases reflects not only the harsh economy of the past few years but the subdivision's changing demographics as well. During the 1980s, nearly 38,000 county residents moved to other suburban and exurban jurisdictions, while 45,000 former residents of Baltimore City came to live in Baltimore County. Many of the ex-city dwellers had incomes well below the county average and thus were likely candidates for social service programs.

MIAMI -- John Macchi, a cross between George Patton and Miss Manners, is looming before an army of bellhops, maids and bartenders at the Sheraton Bal Harbour. He's barking orders as if World War III had just broken out."Smile, smile, SMILE TILL IT HURTS!" bellows the portly Mr. Macchi, dressed in an impeccable navy suit and red tie. "They're going to judge the way you look and the way you act. Always behave as if the president of the United States and the pope were staying in your hotel at the same time."

MIAMI -- A missing 94-year-old relative at a wrecked Homestead nursing home. A registered nurse seeking hospital information. Advice about hiring a contractor. Even traffic tips on the best way into South Dade County.These messages zipped in and out of Dade County yesterday, joining hundreds of others sent and received since Hurricane Andrew hit.Newspapers, television and radio report a big picture for the world to see, but for specific news of individual importance, lawyer Robyn Greene has become the eyes, ears and fingers via computer for a growing Dade County audience.

THE national news media have descended on Orlando, Fla., '' for the retrial of William Lozano -- just another cop accused of crossing the line to uphold the law.Will there be rioting by blacks?In Orlando? In Miami? Anywhere in America if this police officer goes free?Or what if Officer Lozano is found guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of two black men -- a shooting at a motorcycle that ignited Miami's last riots, in 1989?Will Hispanics riot in defense of the Colombian-born officer? In Orlando?

THE national news media have descended on Orlando, Fla., '' for the retrial of William Lozano -- just another cop accused of crossing the line to uphold the law.Will there be rioting by blacks?In Orlando? In Miami? Anywhere in America if this police officer goes free?Or what if Officer Lozano is found guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of two black men -- a shooting at a motorcycle that ignited Miami's last riots, in 1989?Will Hispanics riot in defense of the Colombian-born officer? In Orlando?

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton is pressing his search for a woman to become U.S. attorney general with at least two candidates coming here for interviews."