Spotlight 160-251128

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

  • Naomi Fisher’s Rootwork at The Kampong
  • Voices: Miami’s Bicycle Master Plan
  • Letter: A Backlash Against Runaway Growth
  • Where We’ll Be: A Weekly Guide 

Miami Artist Naomi Fisher brings botany to Art Basel with Rootwork, her solo show at The Kampong, David Fairchild’s former home on Biscayne Bay in the Grove.

By Liz Tracy


Long before she began showing her work in galleries, museums, and art fairs around the world, artist Naomi Fisher was a regular at The Kampong in Coconut Grove, the former home of the celebrated botanist and plant collector David Fairchild. 

Her father Jack Fisher was a botanist at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, so she often attended events with him or babysat the children of visiting scientists there.  


Miami once promised a safer, bike-friendly Grove. Seventeen years later, another master plan arrives — but will anything actually change this time?

By Hank Sanchez-Resnik


Is Miami ready to become a city where walking and bicycling — especially bicycling —are safe and convenient ways to move around?
 
We may get an answer to that question on Jan. 22, 2026. That’s when the Miami City Commission will consider a new Bicycle Master Plan. 

A massive draft of the plan (254 pages), the first since the city’s existing bicycle plan was adopted in 2009, came before the City Commission on Nov. 20, 2025. It was deferred to get more community input.


Readers React: “I was surprised and encouraged during last Thursday’s commission meeting when Miami District 5 Commissioner Christine King spoke out about the damage the Live Local Act will do to our neighborhoods.”


If you’re staying put in the Grove for the long Thanksgiving weekend, you’ve already outsmarted half the country. While everyone else is shuffling through security lines and pretending airport coffee is “fine,” the neighborhood is slipping effortlessly into a weekend that’s actually worth showing up for. Shop Small Saturday sets the tone, Sunday turns up the sparkle, and the Grove quietly proves — again — that sometimes the smartest travel plan is not traveling at all.

And then, just when you think the weekend has shown you all its tricks, the Grove tosses in a few more reasons to stay local. U-Miami’s photojournalism students are unveiling their Village Visionaries photo series — portraits of the Grovites whose character keeps this place interesting — a perfect reminder that the neighborhood’s magic comes from its people. Add in the gingerbread spectacle at the Ritz, the Golf Cart Holiday Parade, and the Christmas Tree Lighting, and suddenly the only thing you’ll be missing by staying home is airport turbulence.


Recent News

News, Village Life

After weathering a tough summer, the Grove restaurant scene is experiencing a refresh, with some casual options that are bringing new flavors to the mix. 

News, Village Life, Village People

Morrison, the front desk supervisor at Grove Towers on South Bayshore Drive, celebrated 35 years on the job this month, establishing a legacy nearly as iconic as the building itself.

News, Politics

The Miami City Commission advanced a proposal allowing developers to double density in exchange for climate funding, even as commissioners voiced mounting unease with the pace, scale, and consequences of…

Community Voices, News

The Miami City Commission voted in 2023 to require that public land lost to development be replaced. But one resident who championed the law says city records suggest commissioners were…

News, Village Life

After the Grove’s dinner crowds head home for bed, the neighborhood takes on its hidden persona. The streets come alive with college kids ready to drink off another week of…

News, Politics

The final two candidates competing to become Miami’s next mayor – Emilio Gonzalez and Eileen Higgins – are both running against the status quo, promising to reform a city government…

News, Politics

Mayoral candidates Emilio Gonzalez and Eileen Higgins answered questions last week at a political forum in Little Havana sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the ACLU of Florida….

News

Authorities say a concrete wall collapsed during a home renovation Monday morning, killing a construction worker just days before his 30th birthday.

News, Village Life

In a historic Coconut Grove cemetery where Bahamian settlers and community leaders rest beneath live oaks, a local researcher is piecing together the names — and stories — of those…

News, Politics

With no public notice, a last-minute “substitution ordinance” in 2023 allowed the City of Miami to sidestep requirements to acquire new land for parks when it turns its existing ones…

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor: I was surprised and encouraged during last Thursday’s commission meeting when Miami District 5 Commissioner Christine King spoke out about the damage the Live Local Act will…

News Briefs, Where we’ll be

If you’re staying put in the Grove for the long Thanksgiving weekend, you’ve already outsmarted half the country. While everyone else is shuffling through security lines and pretending airport coffee…

News Briefs, Where we’ll be

Before you head out into the holiday travel vortex, get a good book to bring with you at the Miami Book Fair Finale—a weekend packed with celebrity authors including our…

News Briefs, Where we’ll be

Head Above Water. From ship decks to drained pools, Miami’s arts scene is making a splash. Titanic: The Musical sails into Coral Gables, the Miami Symphony dives into the empty…

News Briefs

Two public forums are planned for Miami’s mayoral runoff between Commissioner Eileen Higgins and former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez. The first will take place Thursday, Nov. 13, at the Koubek…

News Briefs, Where we’ll be

The Grove has its dancing shoes on and its heart wide open this week — dancing, singing, reminiscing, and generally refusing to act its age. From the bold new moves…


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