THREAD: 2018 was a particularly newsworthy year in South Florida, and the Miami Herald was there for all of it. Here are some of the biggest stories and investigative series of the year #ReadLocal
In January, we revealed how Miami’s gold trade fuels gangs, guns and profits in Latin America in our #DirtyGold investigation hrld.us/dirtygold
On a quiet Thursday in February, the Miami Heat unexpectedly traded for Dwyane Wade, bringing the franchise’s biggest star back home following stints in Chicago and Cleveland hrld.us/2UTr0Tv
It was Valentine’s Day across America when a troubled young man named Nikolas Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland with an AR-15 rifle and killed 17 students and staff members hrld.us/2UTP7Bt
Only a month later, six people were killed when 950 tons of concrete from the unfinished FIU pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a busy street below hrld.us/2USj6tv
In April, Raúl Castro stepped down from Cuba’s presidency and Miguel Díaz-Canel was appointed the new president and the face of the island's future hrld.us/2UUYwbW
In the summer, we told the tale of what lies in a too-often forgotten place down a too-often forgotten street in a too-often forgotten neighborhood: The story of Miami's historic black cemeteries hrld.us/caretakers
One of Florida’s biggest environmental challenges in 2018 was the explosive spread of algae blooms in waterways, as well as the rise of red tide hrld.us/2L9DzVE
And in October, Hurricane Michael made landfall near Florida’s Panhandle, displacing tens of thousands of people and destroying entire neighborhoods hrld.us/2S62SLW
Later that month, more than a dozen pipe bombs were mailed to prominent critics of President Donald Trump. Cesar Sayoc, a South Florida man who lived in a white van papered with pro-Trump and right-wing stickers, was arrested hrld.us/2z232vc
Election season was memorable: Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum shocked rivals and won the Democratic nomination for governor hrld.us/2MyZiLc
But by November, an FBI investigation and a broken relationship tanked Andrew Gillum’s campaign, and GOP nominee Ron DeSantis eventually became governor-elect hrld.us/2zyfq6r
It wouldn’t be a Florida election without controversy, though. The state ordered its first manual recount ever, and legal fights continued for days after votes were cast hrld.us/2TlKsro
We also went to Puerto Rico one year after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. What we found: roofless homes, closed schools, an island left to fend for itself #ForgottenIsland hrld.us/forgottenisland
We traveled to Haiti to try to answer this question: Why are so many women in Haiti dying from cervical cancer? #CancerinHaiti hrld.us/cancerinhaiti
And our colleagues at @elnuevoherald explained why women fleeing Venezuela for a better life are turning up dead hrld.us/2UhwhnF
@elnuevoherald Our most read story of the year was our investigation on Jeffrey Epstein, and how a future Trump Cabinet member gave the serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime #PerversionofJustice hrld.us/perversionofju…
@elnuevoherald And finally, in December, we witnessed the craziest, nuttiest, most thrilling, unexpected finish in Miami Dolphins history hrld.us/2UT3Exo
@elnuevoherald If you appreciate this sort of in-depth local, national, international, sports and investigative coverage, please consider a digital subscription to the Miami Herald. Starting at 99 cents for the first month, it makes for a great gift this holiday season hrld.us/2UVMkrn
