Black Archives, bureau open visitor center at Lyric Theater

MIAMI — The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Multicultural Tourism Team (GMCVB) and the Black Archives & Research Foundation of South Florida held a ribbon-cutting on Monday morning for the new Historic Overtown Visitor Center located inside The Historic Lyric Theater.

The new visitor center will provide visitors and residents with a resource for information on the attractions and happenings in historic Overtown as well as other heritage and multicultural neighborhoods throughout greater Miami.  Additionally, the center will offer a wide variety of brochures on attractions and points of interest, maps, calendars of events, tours and special offerings throughout the year.  The Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Uptown loop tour will stop at the the new center, which will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

 

Sean Pittman elected to post

with Orange Bowl Committee

MIAMI LAKES — Corporate attorney and governmental consultant Sean Pittman was recently elected as second vice chair of the Orange Bowl Committee at the organization’s annual election.

Pittman has been a member of the Orange Bowl Committee since 2005 and has served on a number of subcommittees including football host, marketing, governmental relations and team outings. Most recently, he served as the chair for the organization’s Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee, charged with examining the future of the Orange Bowl Committee within the new College Football Playoff structure and providing recommendations to the OBC for one of South Florida’s oldest and most anticipated annual events, the Capital One Orange Bowl.

 

BCPS teachers awarded

FPL grants for energy projects

BROWARD COUNTY — Six Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) educators were awarded grants from Florida Power & Light‘s  Teacher Grant Program. The awards fund classroom energy and engineering projects such as solar-powered ovens, water-powered cars and wind generators, as part of a focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The grants range from $500 to $1,000 per project.

The recipients are Racquel Herring, Deerfield Park Elementary;  Elyse Friedman Brunt, Floranada Elementary;  Sheri Dominguez, Palmview Elementary; Nicole Williams Roulhac, Panther Run Elementary; Barbara J. Rapoza, New River Middle; and Magda Murphy Bozkurt, Western High.

 

Hit-run car accidents

on the rise in Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Florida law enforcement officials say hit and run crashes are increasing at an alarming rate. That’s why they’re launching a new campaign to let drivers know that leaving the scene of an accident can result in tougher penalties.

Florida had more than 80,000 hit and run crashes last year. Fatal hit and run crashes increased by 23 percent in Florida between 2013 and 2014 and nearly half of those victims were pedestrians, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The agency hosted press conferences around the state last week to educate drivers on the consequences of leaving a crash.

Gov. Rick Scott signed a law last year that enhances the penalties for leaving the scene of a crash, making it a second-degree felony and requiring a mandatory minimum four-year sentence for a driver convicted of leaving the scene of a fatal crash. Drivers who leave an accident could also have their license revoked for three years under the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act.

If the driver was under the influence during a fatal crash, the law increases the mandatory minimum sentence from two to four years in prison.

Compiled from staff, wire reports