Dolly Parton Had a Special Connection to South Florida
As the world continues to remember Dolly Parton following her death at 80, South Florida has its own memories of the country music legend.
Dolly’s connection to Miami goes back decades. She headlined multiple shows at the Miami-Dade County Fair during the 1970s and 1980s, back when you could apparently see Dolly Parton for five dollars.
Five. Dollars.
Her incredible career ultimately spanned six decades, producing countless hits while taking her from country music superstar to television and movie star, philanthropist and one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world.
South Florida got to be a small part of that incredible story.
A New Aquatic Center Opens With a Bigger Mission
Long overdue and didn’t quite make it in time for summer, but who cares? This is South Florida. We’re never on time, and it’s never not hot.
The new aquatic center at the YMCA by The Falls officially opened this weekend, and while there’s plenty of room for fun, there’s a much more important mission behind it: teaching kids how to swim and preventing drownings.
The project aligns with the Zero Drownings Miami-Dade initiative, which is working to make swimming lessons available to all children.
We’ve already seen multiple drowning tragedies in South Florida this year, and when it comes to kids, one is one too many.
Miss Virginia Arrived at Miss USA With Garbage Bags for a Powerful Reason
Contestants have been arriving in Miami ahead of Thursday’s Miss USA pageant with plenty of beautiful outfits and fancy luggage.
Then there’s Miss Virginia, Justus Kelly.
Kelly intentionally arrived with her belongings packed in garbage bags, but it wasn’t because the airline lost her luggage.
It was a statement.
Children in the foster care system are sometimes forced to move their belongings from home to home in trash bags. Kelly is using her Miss USA platform to raise awareness about the issue and advocate for foster children being given the dignity of having proper luggage when they’re relocated.
She’s now turning the attention surrounding her arrival into an opportunity to raise money for the cause.
That’s using the crown for something much bigger than a pageant.
Katey Sagal Celebrates 40 Years Sober
Katey Sagal just celebrated the big 4-0, and we’re not talking about a birthday.
The Married... with Children, 8 Simple Rules and Sons of Anarchy star is celebrating 40 years of continuous sobriety.
Sagal has been open about using substances and alcohol as a way of escaping some incredibly difficult experiences in her life, including losing her parents and dealing with serious health challenges.
Rather than dealing with everything she was going through, she said she tried to escape it.
Then, 40 years ago, she decided enough was enough.
Forty years later, that’s a milestone absolutely worth celebrating.
Your Keyboard Might Be a Bacteria Cafeteria
If you’re eating while typing on your laptop, microbiologists have some unfortunate news for us.
And by “us,” I mean me.
Food residue combined with saliva transferred from your fingers can apparently turn your keyboard into what researchers have described as a “bacteria cafeteria.”
Certain bacteria can survive on keyboard surfaces for days.
Before you throw your laptop into the ocean, the solution is pretty simple. Wash or sanitize your hands after eating and give your keyboard a regular wipe-down.
As someone who eats over a keyboard basically every day, I feel personally targeted by this research.
Welcome to Miami, Klay Thompson
This story isn’t about Klay Thompson being an All-Star with a championship pedigree.
It’s not about him agreeing to a buyout with the Dallas Mavericks and joining Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo with the Miami Heat.
It’s not even about him being one of the greatest three-point shooters in NBA history.
No.
This is about Klay Thompson arriving late to the formal press conference announcing his arrival in Miami and blaming it on South Florida traffic.
Klay.
My guy.
Welcome to Miami.
You’ve won championships. You’ve played in some of the biggest games in basketball. You’ve guarded some of the greatest players in NBA history.
None of that prepared you for I-95 at the wrong time.
Better start leaving 45 minutes earlier than Google Maps tells you.