Spotlight 174-260116

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

  • St. Stephen’s Remembers Quarterback Fernando Mendoza
  • Miami’s Cash Cow: The Coconut Grove Waterfront
  • Where We’ll Be: A Guide for Watching Monday’s Big Game

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who will lead his team against the Miami Hurricanes on Monday in college football’s title game, developed his love of the sport while attending St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School in Coconut Grove.

By Jenny Jacoby


Monday night, 20 miles north of Coconut Grove, Indiana University and the University of Miami will stand head-to-head, IU chasing its first ever national football championship and The U looking for a major upset. 

At the helm of Indiana’s “bunch of misfits” will be quarterback Fernando Mendoza – the Heisman Trophy winner, anticipated No. 1 draft pick, and proud Miami local. 

Long before Mendoza suited up in his cream and crimson IU jersey, he was pulling on a red polo as a student at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School in Coconut Grove. The close-knit, private school of 320 students was where Mendoza got his start.
 
“I remember this blond little boy with a quick smile who always tried his very best to do the right thing,” his second-grade teacher Mary Jones says today.

Many of the staff at St. Stephen’s remember Mendoza, a 2015 graduate, the same way.


From marinas to nightlife hubs, Coconut Grove’s publicly owned waterfront has quietly become Miami’s most profitable cluster of private leases — generating millions of dollars a year for city coffers.

By David Villano & Jenny Jacoby


Prized for its million-dollar views, Coconut Grove’s waterfront isn’t just scenic — it’s an asset the City of Miami has turned into a steady, and very lucrative, source of cash.

While the City of Miami has issued dozens of private leases for publicly owned land, two of the three highest-grossing are both nestled along the Coconut Grove waterfront, together producing more than $5.3 million in the most recent fiscal year.

The figures come from a public records request filed by the Spotlight, which reviewed lease payments for city-owned properties across Miami.


Reader’s React: Spotlight readers pinpoint the source of local flooding problems and ponder why some streets are sidelined when it comes to traffic calming.


All of college football just showed up on the Grove’s doorstep, dragging a suitcase full of loyalties, grudges, and feelings that probably should’ve stayed in therapy. But before kickoff crowds and divided loyalties take over the weekend, the calendar might call an audible. Theater up close, music that bends genres, a countryside scavenger hunt, dogs in celebration, orchids, birds, chocolate, and a few quiet moments of reflection all compete for attention. The starting lineup rewards curiosity over planning and makes staying local feel like a series of good decisions.

Monday night will test old loyalties, new allegiances, sibling rivalries, high school pride — and the motives of at least one person carefully painting half their body orange and green and the other half crimson and cream. Whether the goal is noise, nuance, or neutral ground, the Spotlight has mapped the screens, the crowds, and the emotional fault lines so you can pick your seat wisely.


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