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MARCH 3 - 9, 2009
Barnes Park prepares for ‘Native Plant Day’ Former Marine, 40, “N back in uniform, joins Army M
BY RICHARD YAGER
County begins move to use biodiesel in fleet operation
ative Plant Day 2009,” MiamiDade’s most comprehensive landscaping and plant-growing program for green thumb residents, comes to A.D. Barnes Park, 3401 SW 72 Ave., on Saturday, Mar. 14, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The daylong free program annually attracts hundreds of visitors to a major Miami-Dade park to hear talks by botanists, park plant specialists, professionals in tropical foliage and horticulturists emphasizing environmental guidelines. The Nature Center nestles in an 8.5acre pine rock land preserve within the 40-acre Barnes Park, named for the pioneering head of the Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Department. Barnes Park also is home to one critically endangered plant species and is the northernmost tract of pine rock land left in Miami-Dade
BY SEAN MCCRACKINE
Matthew Muela, 18, (left) approves decision of his father, Jorge, to join the U.S. Army at age 40.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– BY RICHARD YAGER
I Robert Carmona, A.D. Barnes Park’s Nature Center naturalist.
––––––––––– See
PLANT DAY, page 4
n a down economy, veterans over age 40 are returning to service, some to make ends
meet. At last count, four discharged South Florida servicemen 40 or older reenlisted in January and in 2008, 22 opted for active duty instead of civilian life, several for economic reasons, according to the U.S. Army Kendall
Recruiting Battalion. For ex-Marine Corporal Jorge Gil Muela, it may mean keeping his home. His most recent position with a national company “didn’t cut it during this housing economy and we need to keep up our mortgage to retain our house on SW 154th Avenue,” said the former real estate –––––––––––––––––––––
See
ARMY, page 4
iami-Dade county manager George Burgess recently announced that the county would begin integrating 5 percent biodiesel into the fuel mix for county fleet operations beginning in April. “This is a significant step forward,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson, who has been advocating the use of renewable fuels in the county fleet since 2001. “I’m glad that the manager has determined that the time is right to move our operations to clean, renewable energy.” Commissioner Sorenson — recently named chair of the Budget, Planning and Sustainability Committee — sponsored a resolution in 2001 that directed the county to research the use of alternative fuels. That was followed by a resolution in 2007 that called for the development of a five-year strategy for integrating biofuels into the county fleet. “Miami-Dade County uses about 17 million gallons of diesel fuel a year to run all of the heavy equipment — everything from transit buses to garbage trucks — so our demand for biofuel can prime the market for everyone else to have access to renewable fuel blends,” Commissioner Sorenson explained. “The manager’s goal of moving Miami-Dade to 20 percent
–––––––––––– See
BIODIESEL, page 4