News & Notes
January 2020
Story of the Month: The Coral Gables story which captured the most national attention this past month was, unfortunately, the attempted armed robbery of Regent Jewelers on Miracle Mile. The attempted robbery ended in Broward, after the robbers hijacked a UPS truck; the final shootout resulted in the death of both robbers, the UPS driver and a bystander. Coral Gables City Clerk Billy Urquia also narrowly avoided injury when a bullet slammed through his window in City Hall during the initial gun battle at Regent, hitting a wall a few feet from where he sat. The windowpane with the bullet hole was removed the next morning, in time for the city’s annual tree lighting ceremony, which took place adjacent to City Hall the following evening without incident.
Package Patrol: Kudos to the Coral Gables PD for their holiday campaign to reduce the number of so-called Porch Pirates who steal packages left on doorsteps. The police made use of neighborhood safety aides to patrol the streets and move exposed packages out of sight – after knocking to see if anyone was home. Police Chief Ed Hudak said that literally thousands of packages were moved to more secure places during the holiday season. For those packages that do get nipped, the police are relying on doorbell cameras and the city’s SaferWatch app to nab them afterwards.
Shear Fun: Among the lesser known contests recently held in the City Beautiful was the Stylists Talent Competition, a kind of makeup-off at the Open Stage Club by the Shear Fun organization. The audience, mostly colleagues in the South Florida beauty industry, voted as winner Sheila Breit of Emiliano Briet’s uber hip salon on Ponce de Leon. A native of Barcelona, Breit moved to our area 10 years ago. Her winning entry at the pre-holidays event was based on the Spanish movie “Fausto’s Laberynth” – though she says she learned to style as a child with her Barbie dolls.
Tis the Season – For Celebrity Mansion Buys: Are we becoming the next Beverly Hills as new celebs join Elle Macpherson, J-Lo and A Rod in the City Beautiful? The lastest buy is by four-time Grammy Award winning producer Timbaland, who purchased a $7.95 million, 8,600-square foot mansion (shown above), near Matheson Hammock Park in December. Timbaland has been a songwriter and producer for Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and Missy Elliott. Earlier in the month, Miami Heat point guard Justise Winslow purchased a $3.3 million home at 506 Sunset Drive. Winslow is one of the Heat’s hottest players, with a $39 million three-year contract.