For 30 years, Gordon Spitler has been serving the Key Biscayne community. So saving two kayakers who ended up in the water off Hobie Island Beach Park was just a normal day’s work. Spitler received the agency's life-saving award for his “heroic actions” on Oct. 17, when the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office reported an emergency involving an overturned kayak. Key Biscayne received a call from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office to respond to two distressed swimmers whose kayak had overturned.

BRASILIA, Brazil — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday started his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt, to the surprise of many in the South American nation who doubted he would ever end up behind bars. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has overseen the case, ruled Bolsonaro will remain in custody after being preemptively arrested on Saturday.

The death of a Florida teenager on a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month has been ruled a homicide, the latest development in a case that has drawn international attention and sparked intense speculation on social media. Anna Kepner's cause of death was “mechanical asphyxia," according to a copy of her death certificate obtained by ABC News, which said the 18-year-old “was mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s)."

The Florida Press Club nominated the Key Biscayne Independent in four categories, including best independent website, community coverage, public safety reporting and environmental writing. “We’re here to provide strong and independent accountability journalism on the hyperlocal level,” said Editor-in-Chief Tony Winton. “We’re grateful to be honored by the judges, and thankful to our supporters for making community-powered journalism a reality.”

Another GOP contender has launched a bid to succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as Florida's next governor, teeing up a broader challenge to President Donald Trump 's chosen candidate to lead his adopted home state. James Fishback, a 30-year-old investor who lives in Florida's rural Panhandle region, formally announced his candidacy Monday, immediately taking shots at Republican Rep. Byron Donalds…

BELEM, Brazil — After two weeks of negotiations, this year's United Nations climate talks ended Saturday with a compromise that some criticized as weak and others called progress. The deal finalized at the COP30 conference pledges more money to help countries adapt to climate change, but lacks explicit plans to transition away from the fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas that heat the planet.

SAO PAULO — Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the preemptive arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday, with a judge claiming he was intent on escaping just days before he was set to begin his 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt. The 70-year-old politician was taken to the headquarters of the country's federal police in the capital, Brasilia, from his house arrest.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Millions of electricity customers in President Donald Trump's adopted home state of Florida will see their bills rise, after a regulatory board approved what environmental advocates say is one of the largest utility rate increases in the state's history. The price hike will affect an estimated 12 million Floridians — roughly half the state's population — at a time when voters are citing economic concerns as a top issue, and as Democrats and Republicans brace for a debate over affordability in the intensifying midterm battle to control Congress.

Gene Hogg grew up homeless for the first eight years of his life, as the family followed his alcoholic father from town to town as he got work as a painter. On Thursday, he was all about paying it forward. Hear nonprofit stories on the Anti-Social podcast:

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has further loosened tariffs on Brazil as part of his effort to lower consumer costs for Americans. The decision, released Thursday, affects coffee, fruit and beef, among other goods The White House said last week that Trump was rolling back some worldwide tariffs that were originally announced in April. However, Brazil said that didn't affect levies that Trump had enacted in July to punish the country for prosecuting his political ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Support local nonprofit journalism.

IN THIS SPECIAL edition of Anti-Social, live from the Give Miami Day Mission Control center, we interview two nonprofits that are using donor dollars for good. Maj. Gene Hogg of the Salvation Arm...

The Miami Dolphins are delusional. And that's by their own definition. They're entering their bye week at 4-7, five losses behind AFC East leader New England in the division race, 2 1/2 games behind Jacksonville for what would be the final wild-card spot in the conference, and as a 50-1 long shot just to make the playoffs, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

The Key Biscayne Village Council, without discussion, passed on Tuesday a resolution that expressed support for Manager Steve Williamson’s decision to revoke the media gag policy. The policy threatened to punish any government employee who spoke without permission to a news organization. But the council stopped short of a complete ban on a future media policy that could chill speech. …

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed a bill to compel the Justice Department to make public its case files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a potentially far-reaching development in a yearslong push by survivors of Epstein's abuse for a public reckoning. Both the House and Senate passed the bill this week with overwhelming margins after Trump reversed course on his monthslong opposition to the bill and indicated he would sign it.

The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious, The Associated Press has found. The predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. A network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took.

The Key Biscayne Council approved spending $950,000 to move forward with the innovative Shoreline Rickenbacker renovation design on Tuesday. Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado said she can deliver the project and was nonplussed when it came to skeptics – even if it be Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Appearing on the Anti-Social podcast last week, Levine Cava said the Shoreline is a hard sell considering the county’s budget challenges and Gov.

Miami-Dade County withdrew an eviction letter to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center late Tuesday, but the future role of the popular environmental center in Key Biscayne is still undecided. The August eviction letter, which was first reported by the Independent, was part of a plan by the Parks Department to generate revenue for a strapped County budget. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava apologized for the letter, and on Tuesday, it was rescinded, said Mark Diaz, the organization’s president.

What was Key Biscayne’s loss was Miami-Dade County’s gain -- at least in the view of a the Miami-Dade County Commission In a closely contested 7-5 vote, Key Biscayne’s State Representative, Vicki Lopez ,was appointed to fill the vacant District 5 county commission seat Tuesday. The slot was left open when Eileen Higgins resigned to run for City of Miami mayor.

That milk carton you just washed, the yogurt container you’re ready to toss, or the empty plastic water bottle. Do these items get trashed or recycled? Recyclepedia is a new virtual tool promising to help Miami-Dade County residents navigate differing recycling standards in all 34 municipalities. In the City of Miami, for example, clean milk cartons and water bottles go in recycling bins — yogurt containers don't.

Key Biscayne’s representative to the Florida House could be changing jobs very soon -- all depending on a Tuesday vote by the Miami-Dade County Commission. Commissioners will vote to either fill the spot directly -- or set a special election. The slot was left open when  Eileen Higgins resigned to run for Miami mayor.  It’s a topic of political intrigue. An appointed replacement would finish Higgins' term that ends in 2028, creating a powerful incumbent advantage if the County Commission goes that route, as it has in the past. 

From the left and the right, human rights in the western hemisphere are under threat today — so it's little surprise that a university in Miami, the nexus of the Americas, is hosting a week-long conference on the causes and solutions. On Sunday evening, the University of Miami School of Law convened its Human Rights in the Americas Symposium: An Examination of the Past, Present and Future.