CORRECTION:
A column that appeared, on the OpEd page Thursday, Feb. 18 mistakenlycontained a photograph of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates that gave the impression Gates was the column’s author. The column was written by Andres Oppenheimer.
Matheson Hammock West is a 109-acre regional park that, like all our public parks, is a rich natural asset that belongs to every one of the
2.8 million residents in Miami-Dade County.
It’s also one of the last remaining stands of Miami’s unique hardwood hammock – a vital piece of MiamiDade’s ecological heritage.
But the park has historically suffered from a lack of resources to manage and restore its unique ecology, and for many years it has been essentially unavailable to most people in the community as a mixed-use park.
With resources now secured, we are proud to be embarking on a landmark, $3.3 million project to restore the natural habitat adjacent to the pristine hardwood hammock while creating new areas for safe, inclusive public recreation.
Through this project we will restore and rebuild Matheson Hammock as a regional park to be enjoyed and experienced by many diverse park patrons — by protecting the pristine hardwood hammock, restoring native habitat, and supporting continued and controlled dog access and recreational
use by families and children, walkers, joggers, cyclists, picnickers, birders, nature aficionados and many others.
[The 70-acre open space was closed March 2020 due to the pandemic. When it reopened, nearby residents and park goers bickered over access.]
Settling the dispute is a restoration project that has six main elements:
Vehicle access improvement: Vehicular access is being improved along the primary public roadway—in this case, Old Cutler Road— consistent with the practices for all our large regional parks where vehicular access is provided through major roads, not small neighborhood roads. The residential streets of Banyan Drive and School House Road will continue to provide pedestrian and bicycle
access.
Parking lot: The existing parking lot on the Old Cutler Road entrance will be replaced with an eco-friendly pervious surface and filtration to contain the pollutants from cars. There will be an additional 110 spaces across the street with access via enhanced pedestrian walkway on Old Cutler Road
Boardwalk: The existing former utility road through the hardwood hammock will utilize an elevated environmentally friendly boardwalk to allow for public and ADA access and ensure unobstructed vegetation and natural water flow.
The elevated boardwalk is designed carefully so that the hardwood hammock is not impacted — a public access “best practice” used in environmentally sensitive lands to allow public recreation while protecting surrounding areas.
Limestone nursery: The original oolitic limestone plant nursery will be restored as part of the park’s original Botanical Garden vision, providing native plant material for the park and conservation education programs for children and adults.
Dog access: Dogs will continue to be allowed in the park on leashes, with a specific, fenced area being added for off-leash – the second-largest dedicated dog area in the Miami-Dade County Parks system.
Trails: The pristine hardwood hammock will remain untouched and the native habitat adjacent to it will be restored and provide trails for walking, jogging, birding, wildlife observation and more.
When the project is complete, Miami-Dade residents of all ages and abilities will be able to safely access this beautiful park for passive recreational use, learn about its important ecological heritage and engage in conservation and stewardship programs to ensure our community continues to value and protect Matheson Hammock for generations to come.
Project construction will begin in the Summer 2021 and finish by late fall 2021.
I encourage you to learn more about the project on the Miami-Dade County government website.
Jennifer Brady, who trained at the Evert academy in Boca Raton, will play in her first Grand Slam final against Naomi Osaka, who the American lost to in a memorable U.S. Open semifinal in September.
As Serena Williams walked off the court after her latest so-close-yet-sofar bid for a 24th Grand Slam title ended with a loss to Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open, the 39-year-old American paused and put her hand on her chest while thousands of spectators rose to applaud.
Was this, Williams was asked at a news conference after the 6-3, 6-4 semifinal defeat, her way of saying goodbye?
“If I ever say farewell,” she replied with a smile, “I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
When the next question returned the conversation to the subject of Williams’ many mistakes Thursday — twice as many unforced errors, 24, as winners, 12 — she shook her head, teared up, said, “I’m done,” and abruptly walked out of the session with reporters.
On Saturday, at 3:30 a.m., Osaka will meet first-time Grand Slam finalist Jennifer Brady of the United States for the championship. Brady prevailed in an epic, 18-point last game to edge No. 25 Karolina Muchova
6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the semifinals.
The 22nd-seeded Brady, who is from Pennsylvania, moved to South Florida and began training at Chris Evert’s Boca Raton tennis academy when she was 10 after her father got a job there.
When she secured a place in her
first Grand Slam final, Brady dropped to her back at the baseline after saving a trio of break points, then converting her fifth match point when Muchova sent a forehand long.
“My legs are shaking,” Brady said. “My heart is racing.”
She showed elite ability when she lost to Osaka in a three-set thriller in the U.S. Open semifinals last September.
“Everyone’s just really excited whenever they play their first final,” Osaka noted about what awaits Brady, “but they’re also really nervous.”
Williams was hoping to get to her 34th Grand Slam final but, once again, couldn’t quite get the job done in order to add one more Grand Slam trophy to her collection of 23 and equal Margaret Court for the most in tennis history.
Osaka, who also beat Williams in the chaotic 2018 U.S. Open final that concluded with the crowd booing and both women in tears, reached her fourth major title match and stretched her winning streak to 20 matches by claiming the last eight points.
“I don’t know if there’s any little kids out here today, but I was a little kid watching her play,” Osaka, 23, said about Williams, “and just to be on the court playing against her, for me, is a dream.”
The No. 3-seeded Osaka’s Grand Slam collection also includes last year’s U.S. Open and the 2019 Australian Open and she is, without a doubt, the most dangerous hard-court player in the women’s game at the moment.
That used to be Williams, of course. But she was off-target too much in this contest.
“I could have won. I could have been up 5Love,” said Williams, who instead took a 2-0 lead at the outset before dropping the next five games. “I just made so many errors.”
Her forehand, in particular, went awry, with no fewer than 10 unforced errors off that side in the first set alone.
“Too many mistakes there,” she said. “Easy mistakes.”
Williams’ frustration was made plain early in the second set, when she leaned over and screamed, “Make a shot! Make a shot!”
After collecting her professional era-record 23rd Slam singles trophy at Melbourne Park while pregnant in 2017, Williams has reached four major finals and lost them all.
She’s also now lost in the semifinals twice in the past three majors.
That stage hasn’t been a problem for top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who has won 14 of his last semifinals at Grand Slam events. His record is perfect in semifinals at Melbourne Park, improving to 9-0 with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win late Thursday over Aslan Karatsev, a Russian qualifier who was ranked No. 114 and making his debut in a major.
Djokovic is seeking a ninth Australian Open title and 18th Grand Slam trophy overall. Karatsev was playing in his first Grand Slam tournament.
Rafael Nadal — who lost in the quarterfinals to Stefanos Tsitsipas after blowing a two-set lead — and Roger Federer are tied for the men’s record of 20.
Spectators were back in the stands Thursday after they were barred from attending the tournament for five days during a local COVID-19 lockdown. About 7,000 people were allowed into the stadium for Williams-Osaka, roughly half of capacity.
Ushers walked through the aisles at changeovers to remind fans they needed to wear a mask over their nose and mouth.
On the hottest day of the hard-court tournament so far — the temperature topped 85 degrees — Osaka got out to a shaky start, perhaps prodded into pressing in her opening service game by a booming cross-court backhand return winner from Williams on the match’s second point.
That was followed by a double-fault, a wild forehand and, eventually, a netted backhand that handed over a break. Quickly, Williams went up 2-0, then held another break point with a chance to lead 3-0 after another double-fault by Osaka.
“I was just really, like, nervous and scared, I think, at the beginning,” said Osaka, who was born in Japan and moved to the U.S. when she was 3. “And then I sort of eased my way into it.”
Didn’t take long to right herself.
Suddenly, it was Osaka powering in aces, putting groundstrokes right where she wanted, covering the court so well. Williams’ movement has been terrific in Melbourne, but she was flat-footed this time.
Osaka never has tried to hide how much she admires Williams and models her game after the American’s.
Both are predicated on the same basic elements of big serves and quick-strike forehands, and not only did Osaka do both better on this day, she even sounded just like her idol, screaming “Come on!” after several key shots.
There was one last test for Osaka. A trio of doublefaults in one game — she wound up with eight for the match — allowed Williams to break for 4-all.
But Williams would not win another point.
Osaka regained her composure immediately, breaking back at love with the help of a pair of backhand winners and a double-fault from Williams, then holding at love to end it.