I am so not trying to make this a traffic blog but I guess I do spend a lot of time in local traffic.

Here is a photo of the inconsiderate female driver of a black Hummer who pulled in front of me near 81st street and northwest 6th avenue this morning. Had I been driving just a tad faster, that would have caused an accident for sure.

This is the best photo of the culprit's vehicle I could get while my vehicle was stopped.

I understand that many people may consider the ordeal of traffic very challenging. Miami has a reputation as the area with the worst drivers and some folks validate that opinionM I'd like to just get from point A to point B safely.

How was your drive to work today?


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Forgot to post this photo of Richard Simmons at Bayside Marketplace on Friday afternoon. I love watching him and being around his positive energy.

He looks fabulous! I must take his advice on exercise and proper nutrition. It's 2009; let's get healthy, people!

The City of Miami Gardens is definitely making a name for itself with its JAZZ IN THE GARDENS festival.

The artists have been awesome and here's a photo of the awesomely talented Ms. Erykah Badu with some of my friends: Chief Nathaniel Styles, his sister, Donna and Kamili.

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What's up with traffic this morning? Since this is a planning day for public school teachers, there are no kids in school and that 15 MPH speed limit through school zones is not in effect.

Two left lanes of southbound I-95 were closed so there was pandemonium until the 112 exit. Here's a photo at a stoplight in Miami Springs. The folks on I-95 are probably still stuck in traffic.

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Brazilian artist, Romero Britto, was arrested for drunk driving on Miami Beach. It's reported that his Bentley swerved as he was driving along Washington Avenue.

Britto seemed genuinely sorry when interviewed on television. We love his colorful pop art and wish him the best but the real lesson is don't drink and drive.

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Happy Friday, everyone! Are you ready for the weekend? I know am. Much of my posting to this blog will be via my trusted CrackBerry. There's just too much going on of which I'd like to partake this weekend. I'll post photos as much as possible but I'm still working on mastering that capability.

Anyhoo, with the Marlins Stadium off the front pages and headlines of local media, let's chill out at one of the most highly anticipated events --- Jazz in the Gardens on Saturday and Sunday at Dolphins Stadium in Miami Gardens. Some of my favorite artists are scheduled to perform but I'll deal with that in detail in another post.

A real world class event, the Sony-Ericcson tennis championships, is also in full swing (that was corny) on Key Biscayne. I'd love to see the Williams sisters and Fernando Nadal to name a few of the players.

Gotta go but I'll be back soon with another post. Peace and Blessings.

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By Harlan E. Woodard, RA

It's a given that most in this community want the Marlins to stay in Miami-Dade County. And most believe that the Marlins should have a dedicated, state of the art baseball stadium from which to operate. But more than the political jousting rooted in fiscal and even ethnic concerns getting most of our attention, the real concern that will have greater impact on our community at large is stadium location. To put it plainly, Miami-Dade should have its state of the art baseball stadium – just not at the Orange Bowl site.

This site is too isolated for the currently challenged popularity of baseball. And the high cost for needed infrastructure and even more ancillary development for success make this site even riskier and more suspect.

With substantial infrastructure already in place in downtown Miami, why are we not more vehemently attempting get a greater return on existing investments?

Watching this commission meeting, much like last week's city commission meeting is tantamount to watching a bad movie or perhaps being in the Twilight Zone.

The "passion," defensiveness and references to personal integrity do little to justify positions already taken. Since I know that folks read this blog and forward it own to the powers that be, let me bring a few things to light.

I saw a small portion of the public comment but there were a couple of comments made that are very interesting.

Mayor Alvarez mentioned marching orders given to County Manager Burgess when Alvarez was elected. One of the mayor's priorities was building a baseball stadium.

Burgess blew off the Miami Arena site as a possibility for the stadium but failed to give specifics regarding any previous study. He also made the comment that the area where the stadium is to be built is "tomorrow's downtown." That makes me very uncomfortable; I don't know about you.

I'll be back with more observations later.

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On Friday, 101 men and 46 women were returned to Cap Haitien, Haiti. The Coast Guard stopped the boat carrying the migrants near Turks & Caicos on Wednesday.

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