Key Biscayne Independent

A church-versus-church legal battle over a valuable property in downtown Miami is widening, with new court documents containing blistering allegations of fraud and conspiracy allegedly engineered by Crossbridge Church’s lead pastor, Rev. Carter Brown. The legal fight pits the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S., the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) against Crossbridge, a network of Miami churches that broke away from the Presbyterian Church in America a few years ago.

MIAMI — Amazon said Sunday that it has suspended its partnership with 21 Air after one of the cargo carrier’s planes loaded with Amazon packages careened off a Miami runway last week and killed five people. The Boeing 767 came in fast on Sept. 6 and then barreled roughly 1,300 feet (396 meters) past the end of the runway and smashed into a van carrying workers at a plane cleaning company. All five people who died were in the van. Five others were hurt.

At a Village Council meeting Thursday, residents challenged a redevelopment proposal in the Garden District, arguing it would circumvent existing zoning rules in Key Biscayne and change the character of the neighborhood. After listening to the developers and the public, the Council referred the matter to a committee. The existing property located at 303 Galen Drive is three stories with 51 residential units and approximately 46,209 square feet.

On an average day, a primary care pediatrician cycles through room after room treating anything from an allergic reaction, to a fever, to conducting a routine school physical. It’s a field that requires a dizzying amount of knowledge, spanning from newborns to 18-year-olds. And Miami pediatrician Dr. Leah Utset absolutely loves it. “There’s so much I love about medicine,” she said.

LAS MINAS, Cuba— Liexer De La Cruz took a deep breath as he entered a federal courtroom in Miami, where life as he knew it would end. It was Jan. 9, and he thought he was attending a routine immigration hearing — not deciding on the rest of his life in just seconds, having to choose between returning to Cuba or risking deportation at any moment. He didn’t have a chance to confer with his wife and sister who were waiting outside.

NEW YORK — Americans commemorated the 25th anniversary of 9/11 on Friday, remembering the shock, the dead and the sweeping consequences of the al-Qaida attacks on symbols of U.S. might and prosperity. The milestone anniversary brought memorial rituals — wreath-laying, flag-flying, moments of silence, vigils and readings of victims’ names — and volunteer projects in tribute to a day that about half of U.S. adults remember as the most historic event of their lifetime, according to a new poll.

For nearly two minutes, one of the pilots of the Amazon cargo plane that careened off a Miami runway and killed five people repeatedly warned his counterpart they were going too fast as they approached for landing and after touchdown, according to flight information released Wednesday. A summary of cockpit voice recordings compiled by the National Transportation Safety Board said the fellow pilot never gave “a consistent verbal response” to the warnings.

Five members of a crew killed when an Amazon cargo jet smashed into their van were wrapping up their eight-hour shift cleaning planes at the Miami airport when the crash happened, lawyers for one of the victims said on Wednesday. Two other workers in the van were in the hospital for days after their Econoline van was crushed by the speeding jet that investigators said appeared to be reconsidering a landing Sunday before running out of runway.

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate must remain in custody as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, a federal judge in Miami ruled Wednesday. U.S. Magistrate Lauren Louis denied a defense motion for release, meaning the Tates will remain jailed during what could be a monthslong extradition process.

Labor Day is arriving in Key Biscayne with deep disagreement between the Village and the union representing its police officers, with demands for improved pension contribution the main sticking point. “We are too far apart on the big ticket items,” said Andrew Axlerad, the chief negotiator for the South Florida Police Benevolent Association. At a meeting with the Village Wednesday, he said the union may declare impasse after the Village Council didn’t agree to pension and wage improvements.