Spotlight 141-250923

Good morning. What we’re covering in today’s Spotlight:

Looking Back (and forward) to The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Cost of Cops
Miami Mayor’s Horse Race

Coconut Grove and Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Rich Legacy of Wild Midnight Screenings

The wildly popular cult classic – a midnight mainstay in the 1970s and 80s at the independent and decidedly artsy Grove Cinema – will return next month for a handful of showings across Miami-Dade to celebrate the anniversary of its 1975 U.S premiere.

By Liz Tracy

Miranda Johnson, a photographer and Coconut Grove native, recalls fondly waiting with friends in line, in the late 1970s, for midnight screenings of “The Rocky Horror PictureShow” – the low budget, Frankenstein-spoof musical that enjoyed a 15-year run at the now-defunct Grove Cinema on Grand Avenue in Center Grove.

“There was no calling or texting anybody,” Johnson reminisces. “You knew if you wanted to see all of your friends, go to the theater at that time. It was like a little cult.”

With Crime Falling, City Poised to Add 300 Police Officers

Officials say the proposal – a roughly 20% increase in the Miami police force over current levels – will cost taxpayers $161 million over the next five years and about $40 million annually after that.

By Jenny Jacoby

The City of Miami is poised to approve the addition of 300 police officers to its existing force – a staffing increase of nearly 20 percent – costing Miami taxpayers more than $161 million in start-up costs and police salaries and benefits over the next five years.

The new officers would be phased in over five years, bringing the city’s total police ranks to about 1,700. When fully onboard, the new officers are expected to cost the city roughly $40 million per year in additional salaries, benefits and expenses.

And They’re Off: 13 Vie for Miami Mayor’s Seat

With Miami’s mayoral qualifying deadline now closed – in an election city officials hoped to postpone — a baker’s dozen of new names and old completes the field.

By David Villano

After months of uncertainty, Miami’s mayoral race is officially underway, with 13 candidates — five who filed just hours before Saturday’s qualifying deadline — now set to compete for the city’s top office.

The late entries included some of Miami’s most recognizable (and controversial) political figures: District 3 Commissioner Joe Carollo, former District 1 Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla, and former two-term Mayor Xavier Suárez, whose son, Francis Suárez, is the current mayor but is barred by term limits from seeking reelection.