In the last week, his lawyers have met with Justice Department officials to argue against an indictment; Trump has issued social media posts in which he suggested he anticipated that he might be charged; and a former top aide appeared before a grand jury in Miami — an indication, legal experts said, that prosecutors had settled on Florida rather than Washington as an appropriate venue for charges.

In addition, several media reports Wednesday evening said prosecutors had recently issued the Trump legal team a target letter, which is often but not always a precursor to criminal charges. The Justice Department defines a target as someone whom prosecutors have substantial evidence linking to a crime.

“I think the signal is increasing that the charges against the former president will be in Florida,” said Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department prosecutor and a key lawyer on an earlier special counsel team that investigated ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

Lawyers for Trump did not return calls seeking comment. The Associated Press has not independently confirmed the existence of a target letter. A Trump spokesman would not confirm or deny receiving a letter and a Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.

Earlier in the day, Taylor Budowich, who had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency and now runs a pro-Trump super PAC, testified before the grand jury. He confirmed his appearance on Twitter, writing, “Today, in what can only be described as a bogus and deeply troubling effort to use the power of government to ‘get’ Trump, I fulfilled a legal obligation to testify in front of a federal grand jury and I answered every question honestly.”

A variety of witnesses, including lawyers for Trump, close aides to the former president and officials with the Trump Organization, have appeared over the past year before the grand jury in Washington as part of a Justice Department special counsel investigation into Trump over the retention of hundreds of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and potential obstruction of the government’s efforts to reclaim the records.

But the existence of a separate grand jury in Florida adds a wrinkle to an investigation that has been largely shrouded in mystery and has been thought to be in its end stages. It suggests that prosecutors may be moving toward bringing criminal charges in Florida, where the documents were taken after Trump left the White House and where multiple acts of alleged obstruction have occurred, instead of in Washington.

Though the bulk of the investigative work has been done in Washington, prosecutors could simply read key testimony to the Florida grand jury or have a summary witness summarize all the key evidence, Van Grack said.

Trump’s lawyers met at the Justice Department on Monday with officials including special counsel Jack Smith, part of an effort by the legal team to raise concerns about what they say is prosecutorial misconduct and to try to argue against a potential indictment. After that meeting, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform in capital letters: “How can DOJ possibly charge me, who did nothing wrong,” when no other presidents have been charged.

He also called into a radio show, where he confirmed the meeting with his lawyers and said: “Well, I can just say this: They did go in and they saw ’em and they said very unfair. No other president has ever been charged with anything like this.’”

On Wednesday, he issued a new social media post saying, “No one has told me I’m being indicted, and I shouldn’t be because I’ve done NOTHING wrong, but I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI.”

The investigation has focused not only on the possession of classified documents, including at the top-secret level, but also on the refusal of Trump to return the records when asked, and on possible obstruction.

The FBI last year issued a subpoena for classified records at the property, and after coming to suspect that Trump and his representatives had not returned all the documents, returned with a search warrant and recovered an additional 100 with classification markings.

Beyond the Mar-a-Lago investigation, another probe in Washington also conducted by Smith centers on efforts by Trump and his allies to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election.

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Hundreds of thousands of acres (hectares) of downed trees from the 2018 hurricane, along with low humidity and strong winds, have created “the perfect storm” for hazardous fire conditions in Bay County, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference in Panama City.

“This is not a surprise,” DeSantis said.

More than 200 firefighters and emergency workers from around the Panhandle worked overnight to strengthen containment lines and protect homes. As of Saturday morning, the 1,500-acre (607 hectares) Adkins Avenue Fire was 30% contained, according to the Florida Forest Service.

The agency has deployed more than a dozen tractor plow units as well as multiple helicopters, and burn bans were in effect in parts of the region, officials said in a news release.

At least 600 homes had been evacuated as of Saturday morning, but that figure was expected to grow as new neighborhoods were placed under evacuation orders throughout the day.

“This is a really significant, fast-moving fire,” DeSantis said.

Michael was the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and only the fourth on record, when it tore through Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base in October 2018. The hurricane was directly responsible for 16 deaths and about $25 billion in damage in the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It also left behind 2.8 million acres (about 1.1 million hectares) of shredded and uprooted trees in the Florida Panhandle, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried said at the news conference.

“Hurricane Michael left an additional threat to our communities — wildfires,” Fried said. “Wildfires are never easy to control. This added fuel and dense pockets of vegetation from Hurricane Michael will increase the intensity of wildfires.”

Officials with the Florida Forest Service said there was no timeline for when residents would be allowed to return to their homes. At the news conference, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis recommended that evacuated homeowners contact their insurance companies since it will speed up the claims process should their homes be damaged or destroyed.

“Have patience as we ask you to evacuate from your homes,” Patronis said.

Dry conditions in Florida have created elevated fire dangers, with 148 active wildfires burning across the state, including the 3,000–acre (1,214-hectare) Bertha Swamp Fire in neighboring Gulf County, according to the Florida Forest Service.

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Fire forces evacuation of 100s of homes in Florida Panhandle

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A crowd of more than 50 prayed Tuesday evening for the safe return of Miya Marcano, a Valencia College student who vanished Friday just before she was supposed to fly to Fort Lauderdale to visit her family, authorities said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that they’d found the body of Armando Caballero, a 27-year-old maintenance worker at the Arden Villas apartments where Marcano lived and worked. He had earlier been named a “person of interest” in the case. Sheriff John Mina described Caballero’s death as a suicide.

Family members have assisted law enforcement officers, searching through the woods near the apartment complex where Caballero was found and calling out her name as others knocked on doors and handed out flyers with her photo and information. The sheriff’s office says Marcano is Black, with green eyes and is 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall.

One of her uncles, Marc Marcano, told the Orlando Sentinel that he’s been searching for her since Friday, sleeping in vehicles with his family near her apartment complex. He asked those searching for his niece to look closely for any signs of her.

“Think about if you were kidnapped, what would you want to do?” he said. “If you’re handcuffed or tied to something in a room, you’re not going to be right next to the window, so you gotta listen for the faintest sounds. Say her name. Knock on the door and say her name.”

The sheriff said Monday that Caballero had expressed a romantic interest in Marcano but was “repeatedly rebuffed” by her. Mina also said that Caballero had inappropriately entered Marcano’s unit with a master key just minutes before she was last seen at the complex.

Marcano’s family found signs of a struggle and blood on Miya’s pillow when they entered the apartment, her aunt Semone Westmass told WPTV.

The sheriff said deputies had talked to Caballero Friday evening, but did not consider him a suspect or person of interest at that time. A warrant had been issued for Caballero’s arrest on a burglary charge before he was found dead on Monday, Mina said.

Arden Villa released a statement saying “all potential employees are vetted through a national background check services provider,” and no records of burglary or sexual assault were found involving Caballero. Rumors to the contrary appear to be based on online documents referencing someone else with the same name, the statement said.

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Search continues for missing college student in Florida

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In addition to damaging winds and heavy rains, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center warned of life-threatening storm surges, flooding and isolated tornadoes. A hurricane watch was issued for a long stretch of coastline, from Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay to the Steinhatchee River in Florida’s Big Bend area.

Bands of rain were expected to reach Surfside on Florida’s Atlantic coast, soaking the rubble of the Champlain Towers South, which collapsed June 24, killing at least 32 people. Search and rescue crews have worked through rain in search of more than 100 others listed as missing but must pause when lightning threatens, and a garage area in the pancaked debris already filled with water Monday, officials said.

Elsa’s maximum sustained winds stood at 60 mph (95 kph) early Tuesday. A slow strengthening is forecast through Tuesday night and Elsa could be near hurricane strength before it makes landfall in Florida. Its core was about 65 miles (105 kilometers) west-northwest of Key West, Florida, and 215 miles (345 kilometers) south of Tampa. It was continuing to move to the north-northwest at 10 mph (16 kph).

The forecast included the possibility of tornadoes across South Florida on Tuesday morning and across the upper peninsula later in the day.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded a state of emergency to cover a dozen counties where Elsa was expected to make a swift passage Wednesday, and President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state ahead of the storm.

Forecasters predicted Elsa would hit coastal Georgia and South Carolina after Florida. Georgia’s coast was under a tropical storm watch, as was much of the South Carolina coast. Forecasters said tornadoes could strike in the eastern Carolinas and Virginia as Elsa moves north.

The storm surge could reach 5 feet (1.5 meters) over normally dry land in the Tampa Bay area if Elsa passes at high tide, forecasters said. Commander Col. Ben Jonsson said only essential personnel were being allowed Tuesday morning on MacDill Air Force Base, which is located along the bay on the South Tampa peninsula.

Tampa International Airport planned to shut down Tuesday at 5 p.m.

At a Tuesday morning news briefing, DeSantis reminded residents not to focus on the Tropical Storm Elsa’s so-called “cone of concern” because the storm’s “impacts are expected well outside that area.”

“And if you look at how the storm is it’s incredibly lopsided to the east,” DeSantis said. “So most of the rainfall is going to be east of the center of the storm.”

Elsa’s westward shift spared the lower Florida Keys a direct hit, but the islands were still getting plenty of rain and wind Tuesday. Tropical storm warnings were posted for the Florida Keys from Craig Key westward to the Dry Tortugas and for the west coast of Florida from Flamingo northward to the Ochlockonee River.

Margarita Pedroza, who lives on a boat off Key West, told WPLG a stronger storm would have forced her ashore, but she was riding this one out. “Just batten down the hatches and get ready for it,” she told the television station.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s as strong as some of the other storms that have come around, so hopefully the winds won’t be as strong and maybe it’ll be some rain, but hopefully not too much rain,” she said.

Cuban officials evacuated 180,000 people against the possibility of heavy flooding from a storm that already battered several Caribbean islands, killing at least three people. But Elsa spent Sunday and much of Monday sweeping parallel to Cuba’s southern coast, sparing most of the island from significant effects.

It made landfall in Cuba near Cienega de Zapata, a natural park with few inhabitants, and crossed the island just east of Havana. Tuesday’s rainfall across parts of Cuba was expected to reach 10 inches (25 centimeters) with isolated maximums of 15 inches (38 centimeters), resulting in significant flash flooding and mudslides. But there were no early reports of serious damage on the island.

“The wind is blowing hard and there is a lot of rain. Some water is getting under the door of my house. In the yard the level is high, but it did not get into the house,” Lázaro Ramón Sosa, a craftsman and photographer who lives in the town of Cienega de Zapata, told The Associated Press by telephone.

Sosa said he saw some avocado trees fall nearby.

Tropical storm conditions were continuing over central and western Cuba on Tuesday morning, even as the storm reached Florida.

Elsa was the first hurricane of the Atlantic season until Saturday morning and caused widespread damage on several eastern Caribbean islands Friday. As a tropical storm, it resulted in the deaths of one person on St. Lucia and of a 15-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman in the Dominican Republic.

Elsa is the earliest fifth-named storm on record, said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami.

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Tropical Storm Elsa gaining strength, lashing Florida Keys

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The decision to demolish the Surfside building came after concerns mounted that the damaged structure was at risk of falling, endangering the crews below and preventing them from operating in some areas.

“Our top priority is that the building comes down as soon as possible, no matter what time that occurs and as safely as possible,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference Sunday. “Bringing down this building in a controlled manner is critical to expanding the scope of our search-and-rescue effort.”

Eighty percent of the drilling work was complete by Sunday morning, and the remaining structure could come down as soon as later that night, Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told relatives of those missing in the collapse.

That timeline — faster than initially expected, though still not certain — drew applause from families eager for the search to restart. No one has been rescued alive since the first hours after the June 24 collapse. 
 
The search at the Surfside building has been suspended since Saturday afternoon so workers could begin the drilling work. Jadallah said the suspension was necessary because the drilling could cause the structure to fail, but a family member could be heard calling that news “devastating.”

So far, rescuers have recovered the remains of 24 people, with 121 still missing. The Miami-Dade Police Department on Saturday night added Graciela Cattarossi, 48, and Gonzalo Torre, 81, to the list of those confirmed dead.

Once the structure is demolished, the remnants will be removed immediately with the intent of giving rescuers access for the first time to parts of the garage area that are a focus of interest, Jadallah has said. That could give a clearer picture of voids that may exist in the rubble and could possibly harbor survivors.

Officials began considering the demolition at Champlain Towers on Thursday when parts of the remaining building shifted, endangering rescuers and prompting a 15-hour suspension in their work.

Approaching Tropical Storm Elsa added urgency to those plans with forecasts suggesting strong winds could enter the area by Monday. The latest forecasts have moved the storm westward, mostly sparing South Florida, but National Hurricane Center meteorologist Robert Molleda said the area could still feel effects starting Monday.

“We’re expecting primarily tropical storm force gusts,” Molleda said, referring to gusts above 40 miles per hour (64 kph).

The detonation will aim to bring the remaining portion of the building straight down and toward the street side, away from the existing pile of debris, Jadallah said. Search-and-rescue efforts should resume between 15 and 60 minutes after the structure is brought down, he said.

The method of demolition is called “energetic felling,” which uses small detonation devices and relies on the force of gravity. Levine Cava said that brings the building down in place, containing the collapse to the immediate surroundings.

No one will be allowed in the buildings to the immediate north and south of the collapsed structure. Levine Cava advised other residents nearby to stay indoors during the demolition and close windows, doors and any other openings that could allow dust in.

Several officials acknowledged that the tragedy is continuing to unfold during the July 4th holiday.

“This is not an Independence Day like any we have ever experienced before,” said Levine Cava.

But she added: “Patriotism isn’t just about loyalty to country. It’s about loyalty to one another — to our communities, to those in need whose names or stories we may not know ever, but to whom we are connected by compassion and by resilience.”

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Drilling nearly done to demolish rest of collapsed condo

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The Biden administration said Friday it’s focused on getting the guidance right and accommodating emerging science, but the delays add to the uncertainty around bringing about an end to the pandemic as the nation’s virus fatigue grows.

“These are complex issues and the science is rapidly evolving,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday. “We are making sure and taking time to get this right and we will be releasing this guidance soon.”

Such guidance would address a flood of questions coming in from people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19: Do I still have to wear a mask? Can I go to a bar now? Can I finally see my grandchildren?

The need has slowly grown since January, when the first Americans began to complete the two-dose series of COVID-19 vaccines then available.

In Washington state, Raul Espinoza Gomez has 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren and an appointment Saturday for his second dose of coronavirus vaccine.

By Easter, the 77-year-old’s immune system will be ready to protect him from the virus. But how the family celebrates will depend on government advice, said Melissa Espinoza, 47, of Carnation, Washington, who plans to drive Gomez, her father-in-law, to get his second shot.

“We didn’t gather together as a big family at Christmas,” she said. “We go by what the state and federal guidelines recommend. We’ve had family members adversely affected by COVID. We know the risks are severe.”

Worried about persistently high caseloads and deaths, the Biden administration has condemned efforts to relax states’ virus restrictions and pleaded with the public for several months more patience.

The caution has drawn critics, who point to the administration’s own warnings that “fatigue is winning” as evidence that they need to be more optimistic about the path ahead to secure the cooperation of those who are yet to be vaccinated.

“I think it’s going to be overly proscriptive and conservative and that’s the wrong message,” former FDA Commissioner Stuart Gottlieb told CNBC Wednesday of the forthcoming CDC guidance. “If we continue to be very proscriptive and not give people a realistic vision for what a better future is going to look like, they’re going to start to ignore the public health guidance.”

Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the Division of Health Policy and Public Health, encouraged the CDC to be clearer about when and how it plans to produce guidelines for the vaccinated.

“Making the decision to go by the science is also making the decision that you’re going to have to make a decision, which is really difficult when the science isn’t settled,” he told the AP. “They’re drinking from a firehose of science, and sometimes, it gets messy.”

More than 54 million Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine, and slightly more than half — nearly 28 million — have gotten the recommended two doses. The single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot soon will add a couple of million more Americans with questions about what new freedoms they can safely enjoy.

“I do hope I get to see my great-grandchildren more,” said Rolando Solar, 92, who received his second dose in Miami Wednesday. “But I know things will not go back to normal and, for an old man like me, this is as good as it will be.”

Tami Katz-Freiman, 65, of Miami, got her second dose three weeks ago and plans to watch the Miami Film Festival virtually Sunday at the home of unvaccinated friends. All will wear masks.

“We didn’t have to discuss it with each other, because it’s very clear to me that when there is a doubt and you don’t have a CDC straightforward rule you better be on the safe side and take care of yourself,” Katz-Freiman said.

Three weeks ago, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people do not have to go into quarantine if they have contact with someone with a confirmed infection (for 90 days after the final shot). But the agency said nothing beyond that, noted Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University.

“That (quarantine guidance) seems to imply to me that your chance of contracting COVID-19 and being a carrier to others is pretty low,” said Wen, who previously ran Baltimore’s health department.

“(But) we need to focus on what is most relevant to people’s lives, and my patients are not coming in and asking me: ‘If I’m vaccinated, do I still need to quarantine if I’m exposed?’” she continued.

“I’d say the most common question I get is ‘Can I visit my grandchildren?’” Wen said.

Experts say it’s understandable that the CDC has been cautious when many scientific questions remain, including how long vaccine-induced immunity lasts, and whether vaccinated people are still able to transmit the virus to others. The answers are important when advising someone what kind of risk they face in different settings, and how much of a risk they are to others.

“The vaccines at their best, in the clinical trials, were 95% effective, I didn’t say 100%. And that’s why we have to keep wearing masks most of the time,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.

But CDC has needed to come out with something more for vaccinated people than sticking with the same old mask-wearing, social distancing guidance, he added.

“People are so eager to do something and they want to see some tangible benefit from the vaccines. Americans are impatient. They want to get on with it,” Schaffner said.

Indeed, “there is a real cost to putting off this guidance,” as people turn to their own doctors for advice, or just make their own assumptions and decisions, Wen said.

Waiting too long can diminish the agency’s relevance on this kind of matter, said Wen, who believes the CDC should have had some kind of guidance in place for vaccinated people back in January.

Clearly, vaccinated people should have been encouraged to go get cancer screenings, dental care, or other needed medical appointments. CDC officials also could have said that it’s OK for small groups of fully vaccinated people — maybe two or three couples, for example — to gather together for a dinner or other small gathering, she said.

Regarding small gatherings among people who have been fully vaccinated, “the relative risk is so low that you would not have to wear a mask, that you could have a good social gathering within the home,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious diseases doctor, during a recent White House briefing.

Some experts discussed the possibility that movie theaters or cruise ships or certain other businesses might open up to vaccinated people, and ask for proof of vaccination status. Israel’s government has begun issuing a “green pass” vaccination certificate to anyone who has received two doses of the COVID vaccine through an accredited vaccination service.

“I don’t know if in this country we would tolerate the federal government issue some kind of pass, the way they did in Israel,” Wen said. But businesses might want such passes and they would be an incentive that might help the overall rate of vaccination, Wen said.

The only incentive Espinoza’s family needed for vaccination was seeing her and her husband hospitalized with COVID-19 this winter. Still recovering, she uses oxygen at home.

Vaccination of the family elders means one step closer to returning to traditions they love Church on Palm Sunday and, a week later, an Easter egg hunt for the kids and a meal featuring slow-cooked barbacoa, a Mexican beef dish.

“I hope people will stay home and stay safe as much as possible until we can all get vaccinated and eradicate this disease,” Espinoza said.

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People vaccinated against COVID-19 still wait for advice

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Sounds like just another day in Miami Beach, but come November the 7 Deadly Sins: Temptations in the Magic City – according to Christianity – will be a live site-specific, socially distanced theatrical event presented in seven vacant storefronts along Miami Beach’s historic Lincoln Road.​

Taking advantage of the closing of large theaters and the empty storefronts, unfortunately, cropping up along Lincoln Road, the Miami New Drama will present short plays by award-winning playwrights Hilary Bettis, Nilo Cruz, Moisés Kaufman, Rogelio Martinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Carmen Pelaez, and Aurin Squire, each of whom will take on a sin.

Theater has had to adapt, with some companies going digital, using outdoor spaces, drive-in productions, or filming the productions for television.

​Miami New Drama with Michel Hausmann, Artistic Director, and Nicholas Richberg, Managing announced the productions will be presented from November through December. They have tapped a diverse group of nationally recognized, award-winning playwrights who will premiere seven newly commissioned short plays, each focused on one deadly sin. The shows will happen in rotation over 90 minutes, as groups of ten theatergoers at a time will sit in spaced out rows, maintain social distance, listening through headphones while actors perform the short plays all safely behind the windows of the vacant Lincoln Road storefronts.

Kind of like window shopping but with theater.

The ongoing pandemic has hit Miami hard as tourism is the main source of income in businesses there. It forced a spike in business closures on Lincoln Road, with 66 of the 200 storefronts now vacant along one of the most expensive retail streets in the nation. The once lively street is usually packed this time of year as temps cool down in the north and the art fairs, usually slated for December, have now all been canceled.

The Lincoln Road Business Improvement District (LRBID) and Mayor of Miami Beach Dan Gelber, collaborated with the Miami New Drama and worked on additional restaurant and retail partnerships to bring commerce, culture, and commercial activity back the road.

“This pandemic has shown in stark light the fragility of our world,” says Artistic Director Hausmann. “But theatre has survived for thousands of years and through many world catastrophes. We must find new ways to present live theatre until we can gather indoors again, and 7 Deadly Sins is a safe, socially responsible way forward. We are also thrilled to work with these seven superb playwrights and to bring much-needed life back to Miami Beach’s great Lincoln Road.”

“Miami New Drama is one of our street’s most vibrant arts organizations, so we are excited that they are bringing this visionary production to Lincoln Road, the civic and cultural hub of Miami Beach,” said Steve Gombinski, President of the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District.

“Lincoln Road is a world-famous landmark of Miami Beach,” says Mayor Gelber. “Miami New Drama continues to raise the bar, and a return to live performance in such an innovative way not only benefits the street’s cultural life. It bolsters the crucial economic recovery of our city after months of devastation and loss. Never have the Seven Deadly Sins been more welcome.”

Founded by Michel Hausmann and Moises Kaufman, Miami New Drama is a non- profit professional theater company that presents new work that is unique to the diverse city of Miami. Miami New Drama is the resident company of the historic Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road, Miami Beach.

Among the playwrights is Hilary Bettis (Envy). She is the writer of the Emmy Award-winning series “The Americans (FX)” and the Miami New Drama world premiere Queen of Basel, which has been produced around the country.

​Nilo Cruz (Lust) won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play, “Anna in the Tropics,” The PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award winner. His plays include “The Color of Desire,” “Hurricane,” and more.

​Moisés Kaufman (Greed) is a 2016 National Medal of the Arts recipient under former President Barack Obama. A Broadway director and playwright, he has earned multiple Tony and Emmy Award nominations. His writing credits include “The Laramie Project,” “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde,” and “33 Variations.”

​Rogelio Martinez (Gluttony) is a two-time Edgerton Foundation New Play Award winner, a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, and a New Dramatist Alumnus. His plays include his Cold War trilogy: “Ping Pong,” “Born in East Berlin,” and “Blind Date;” and his Cuba trilogy: “Illuminating Veronica,” “Arrivals and Departures,” and “All Eyes and Ears.”

​Dael Orlandersmith (Wrath) is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama for her play, Yel- lowman, an Obie Award winner for Beauty’s Daughter, and a PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award winner.

​Carmen Pelaez (Pride) is the winner of the 2012 HBO New York International Latino Film Festival Short Film Competition. A contributor for NBC Latino and an advisor on Netflix’s “One Day at a Time,” her credits include the Miami New Drama World Premiere, “Fake.”

​Aurin Squire (Sloth) grew up in Opa Locka and is a writer for the award-winning hit NBC series, “This Is Us.” He has been a producer and writer on the hit shows “The Good Fight,” and “Evil” (CBS). He is the writer of Miami New Drama’s world premiere productions, “A Wonderful World and Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy” which chronicled the men and women who ran the largest cocaine cartels into Miami.

Tickets can be purchased at Colony Theater Box Office—(305) 674-1040—or at Ticketmundo Customer Service: (800) 211-1414.

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The “7 Deadly Sins” coming to Lincoln Road

The post The “7 Deadly Sins” are coming to Lincoln Road appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

She needed both of these points to reverse a deficit that reached the scale of a set and a break after 45 minutes of her quarterfinal against Tsvetana Pironkova on a cloudy Wednesday in empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Williams needed both of these points during a five-game, match-altering run — along with her 20 aces — to end up on the right side of a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 score after more than two hours to get to the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for an 11th consecutive appearance.

“I never give up,” Williams said. “I’ve just got to keep going.”

Two more victories would allow her to claim a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title.

But she’ll want to avoid another slow start.

“In the beginning, I was a little fatigued, for whatever reason,” Williams said. “Obviously I can’t do that if I want to keep winning, so I need to figure that out.”

How big an upset would this have been if Pironkova had held on? Not only is she not seeded at Flushing Meadows, but she also doesn’t even appear in the WTA rankings at all — this was her first tournament of any sort in more than three years because she left the tour to become a mother.

“It’s unbelievable,” Williams said about Pironkova’s impressive return to competition. “Wow. I couldn’t even do that.”

When the players stepped out onto the court, the stadium announcer — announcing for whom, exactly, was something of a mystery — referred to Pironkova, a 32-year-old from Bulgaria, as “Alexander’s mom” and then to Williams as “Olympia’s mom” during the pre-match introductions.

“It just shows me how tough moms are. Whenever you can birth a baby, honestly, you can do anything,” Williams said afterward.

“You play a match and you go home and you’re still changing diapers,” said Williams, whose daughter turned 3 on Sept. 1 and is a little older than Pironkova’s son. “It’s like a double life. It’s really surreal.”

Serena, closer to 24th Slam, who turns 39 in less than three weeks, has won a total of six championships at the U.S. Open and was the runner-up four times, including in 2018 and 2019.

Williams last lost before the semifinals in New York all the way back in 2007, when Justine Henin eliminated her in the quarterfinals.

On Thursday, Williams will face No. 16 Elise Mertens or unseeded Victoria Azarenka. Their quarterfinal was scheduled for Wednesday night.

This week, in the fourth round, Williams also needed a comeback and the maximum number of sets to get through before defeating 15th-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.

In Wednesday’s turnaround, the first key moment involved 24 strokes, the next-to-last a running cross-court forehand by Williams from wide of the doubles alley, and the last an on-the-run squash forehand by Pironkova that landed in the net. That gave Williams a break and a 5-3 edge in the second set.

Williams raised her left fist as her husband yelled from his front-row corner seat; Pironkova put a hand on her knee, smiled ruefully, and squatted behind the baseline.

The other came in a four-deuce opening game of the final set and began with the right-handed Williams taking a page out of old friend Maria Sharapova’s playbook by hitting a left-handed return of serve. Another 15 strokes followed, with Williams smacking a forehand passing shot that Pironkova volleyed into the net tape.

Pironkova dropped onto her back, chest heaving; she left so much sweat on the court that a ball person was beckoned to wipe it away with a towel. That afforded Williams a third breakpoint, which was converted for a 1-0 lead when Pironkova sent a forehand long.

Williams then only added to the lead, her strokes finding targets better the longer the match went on. Her serve was especially good, as it usually is.

In contrast, Pironkova began to have more trouble on the longer points that she dominated early; she won the first half-dozen that lasted 10 strokes or more before Williams found more success.

And after compiling only five unforced errors in the first set, Pironkova had 21 over the last two. Williams, in contrast, made 11 in the first set, just 13 the rest of the way.

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Serena Williams into US Open semifinals, closer to 24th Slam

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The new tropical storm was centered about 210 miles (335 kilometers) east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands Friday morning, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). It was heading west at 18 mph (30 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The forecast track shows the storm likely to skirt or hit Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba en route to a Wednesday collision with the U.S. Gulf Coast as a hurricane, though both the force and track were still uncertain.

It was expected to dump heavy rains along the way, causing threats of flooding.

Meanwhile, Tropical Depression 14 was veering to the northwest after nearing the Honduran coast and forecasters said they expected it to gain force before hitting the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Saturday night, possibly at or near hurricane force. A hurricane watch was in effect for the strip of coast containing Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and Cancun, as well as Cozumel island.

From there, the long-term forecast track would carry it to the U.S. Gulf Coast, perhaps Texas or Louisiana, by Tuesday or Wednesday. Forecasters said it was likely to reach hurricane force over the Gulf of Mexico but slip back to tropical storm force before reaching the U.S., though the outlook was uncertain.

En route, it’s likely to soak flood-prone eastern Honduras, the Cayman Islands, and parts of the Yucatan.

On Friday morning, it was centered about 165 miles (270 kilometers) east of the Honduran resort island of Roatan, with 35 mph (55 kph) winds. It was headed northwest at 14mph (22 kph).

In the Pacific, former Category 4 Hurricane Genevieve was weakening and heading further out to sea after a glancing blow to the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, where it caused at least two deaths and knocked out power to a large part of the Los Cabos area.

The Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Genevieve had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was centered about 155 miles (255 kilometers) west of Cabo San Lazaro, Mexico.

It was heading west-northwest at 10 mph (17 kph).

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New Tropical storm poses potential hurricane threat to Florida

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It started on Earth Day (April 22) in New Zealand at 9 am NZT, including a selection of artists such as WRDSMTH (U.S.), Yulier(Cuba), and Shamisa Hassani(Afganistan).

These urban artists range from established to emerging—graffiti writers, street artists, and muralists of all generations coming together around climate change, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and other environmental issues.

The art and location of each piece can be seen in an interactive map on www.earthday.org. The project was led and curated by Meg Zany.

Watch artists create their work for this day:

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LA-based street artist MegZany specializes in stencil art and representing the struggles women face on the daily like the gender wage gap, fight for equal rights and reproductive choice. Her philanthropic causes including supporting LA’s PS Arts and the Downtown Women’s Center on SkidRow. She’s also the official Art Curator of LA’s Fame Yard and the Arsenic Gallery.

Fifty years ago, millions of protesters hit the streets to take a stand with a common goal: to protect the Earth in what was the start of the modern environmental movement. For five decades, each year on April 22 people spent this quasi-holiday to raise awareness about environmental issues.

Crisis like the coronavirus pandemic shows how important earth and the consequences when leaders ignore hard science and delayed critical actions.

Every year on April 22, people collect garbage, plant trees, clean up coral reefs, show movies, sign petitions, and plan for a better future for our planet. This year, as we face an unprecedented pandemic, art has the power to reach people personally, establishing a deeper understanding and emotional connection with what is happening to our planet.

Earth Day Network, the largest stealth global art activation in the world with more than 500 artists in 100 countries, is the stage for artists in all formats, ages, and backgrounds to have their work exhibited for the Earth.

As climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable, Earth Day should be far more than a day. Learn how to get involved at earthday.org

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#EarthDay2020Halt: 500 street artists execute a worldwide protest

The post #EarthDay2020Halt: 500 street artists execute a worldwide protest appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.