FYI Miami: August 3, 2023

Bellow are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

SEE HOW THEY RUN: Miami-Dade’s Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust, which oversees the tax funds that are being used to help build the six-corridor Smart Plan to add rapid transit to much of the county, is aiming to broaden its focus to look at how the rapid transit in those six sectors of the county will actually work. Executive Director Javier Betancourt told the trust last week that one of the new strategic objectives that members had added this year is operational. “We’re finally at a point where, as these corridors become developed, we also need to start thinking about operating plans and becoming more involved in that process,” he noted, “so we added that.”

PRIMARY DATE SET: Florida has scheduled a qualifying period on Aug. 9 and Aug. 10 for candidates in the special election for the House seat vacated by former Rep. Juan Alfonso Fernandez-Barquin of Miami-Dade County. The qualifying period will start at 8 a.m. Aug. 9 and end at noon Aug. 10. As of last week, the special primary is scheduled Oct. 3, with a general election Dec. 5. Republicans Christian Chavez and Michael Redondo were listed on the state website as having campaign accounts open to run in November 2024 in District 118. The seat opened when Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Mr. Fernandez-Barquin to be Miami-Dade County clerk of court and comptroller.

NEW TECH AT NICKLAUS: Nicklaus Children’s Hospital has unveiled a new high-density electroencephalogram (HD EEG) system and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) machine, becoming one of the first in the nation to offer this equipment for the care of pediatric patients. The HD EEG supports precise and accurate localization of seizure activity in a child’s brain, while the TMS is a noninvasive technological breakthrough that involves applying short magnetic pulses to stimulate nerve cells in areas of brain to treat an array of neurological disorders, including anxiety and depression.

SEEKING JUDGESHIP: Florida Rep. Christopher Benjamin of Miami Gardens plans to run for a judgeship in 2024, opening up a Miami-Dade County seat in the House. Rep. Benjamin, who was first elected to the House in 2020, filed paperwork this month to run for county judge, according to the Miami-Dade County elections website. Two Democrats, Wancito Fracius and Christine Sanon-Jules Olivo, have opened campaign accounts in recent days to run for the House District 107 seat, according to the state Division of Elections website. Republican DeMarco Byrdsong has long had an open account for the seat.