Ocean Drive Hosts 18th Annual Veterans Parade This Morning

The marching bands are lining up along Fifth Street this morning for the annual Veterans Day procession down Ocean Drive. Expect breezy detours beachside, but otherwise smooth sailing across the causeways.

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The Lead

A high-stakes plan to transform the shuttered Miami Seaquarium hit an unexpected roadblock Tuesday when a county commission committee voted to defer a proposed 99-year lease. Developer David Martin and Terra Group have pitched an ambitious overhaul for the 38-acre Virginia Key waterfront: an 83,000-square-foot educational aquarium without captive marine mammals, research facilities partnered with the University of Miami, and a public baywalk, anchored by a 295-slip marina. But commissioners balked after receiving the dense 249-page agreement only the night before, while conservation groups voiced sharp concerns over manatee habitat protections in Biscayne Bay. The delay throws the project’s immediate timeline into question, as a federal bankruptcy court had imposed a strict year-end deadline to finalize the county lease. County administrators now face a choice between renegotiating terms before the full commission meets next week or asking the federal judge for more time.

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Local Pulse

• Sunset Place Barnes & Noble Closing in January Business South Miami's three-story bookstore welcomes shoppers through January 13 before demolition crews begin redeveloping the aging shopping mall.

• Brightline Connect Launches Aventura Shuttle Service Friday Transit Commuters can book shared rides connecting the Aventura station to Aventura Mall and Hard Rock Stadium starting this weekend.

• Baptist Health Closes South Beach Medical Center Health Patients must redirect to nearby urgent care clinics ahead of planned residential tower construction at the Alton Road site.

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Today's Outlook

• High 82°F · Low 72°F — Overcast
  • Cloud cover keeps the afternoon heat manageable, making it comfortable for outdoor walks.

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What's On Around Town

Today

• Coconut Grove Veterans Day Parade Armbrister Park (4000 Grand Ave), 10:00 AM · Free Neighborhood tradition celebrating local veterans with marching units and brass bands.

• Miami Beach Veterans Day Parade Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, 11:11 AM–1:00 PM · Free Community floats, military flyovers, and a wreath-laying ceremony in Lummus Park.

• Inaugural Salute to Veterans Giralda Plaza, Coral Gables, 1:00 PM · Free Live music, military tributes, and family activities on the pedestrian promenade.

• Doja Cat Kaseya Center (601 Biscayne Blvd), 7:30 PM · Paid High-energy arena pop hits and choreography on the downtown stage.

Tomorrow

• Miami Beach Polo World Cup Collins Park, Miami Beach, 11:00 AM · Free
• The Neighbourhood Kaseya Center (601 Biscayne Blvd), 7:00 PM · Paid
• Common with Nu Deco Ensemble Knight Concert Hall (1300 Biscayne Blvd), 8:00 PM · Paid

Friday

• E1 Miami GP Miami Seaplane Base (1000 MacArthur Cswy), 10:00 AM · Paid
• Luminosa Festival of Lights Jungle Island (1111 Parrot Jungle Trail), 5:30 PM · Paid
• Miami Heat vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Kaseya Center (601 Biscayne Blvd), 7:30 PM · Paid

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Spotlight & Story

• Miami Circle
  • In 1998, surveyor Ted Riggs inspected limestone exposed after Brickell apartment demolitions and mapped 24 distinct basins carved into a 38-foot ring. Radiocarbon dating confirmed the Tequesta site was two millennia old, complete with volcanic basalt axes imported from hundreds of miles away.

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Miami Daily Digest — compiled from local sources every morning. For breaking updates, follow your local newsrooms.

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