Top Of The Morning, April 19, 2014

MIAMI — It has been a month now since the Miami Heat headed unto the unknown after their humbling, season-ending 118-84 loss to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. In the moment, it was arguably the lowest of low points for the franchise since being swept out of the first round of the 2021 playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks. A week later, Pat Riley did not sugarcoat in his season-ending comments, the Heat president essentially challenging his leaders to show up for such moments of truth. In the immediate wake of both the loss in the Celtics’ building and amid Riley’s comments at the Heat’s arena, there was a sense of an impending organizational reset. Not tanking, mind you, because the Heat insist they do not tank, and because when two of your next four first-round picks are headed elsewhere, that door already has been slammed shut, anyway. But of a dramatic shift to the approach of these past five years. As in the Jimmy Butler years. In this ensuing month, Butler has been speculated from Philadelphia to Golden State, mostly because of an impending window for a contract extension that opens next month. As the playoff field thins, such is the way of conjecture, 28 teams no longer concerned about the immediacy of Xs and Os. In a way, perhaps it is better that Riley vented on May 6, that his words were allowed to resonate before the Heat necessarily had to or have to act. In some ways, it was as if Riley was issuing a challenge to Butler similar to the one he issued to LeBron James in June 2014, when the Heat had just failed against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals and James was about to enter his free-agency window. The difference is Riley’s comments that year came just a week before the draft, two weeks before free agency. So Shabazz Napier was added in the draft in a bid to appease LeBron, the UConn point guard who previously had been mentioned as James’ preferred choice at the position. A week later, the Heat reached free-agency agreements with Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger, in an attempt to show LeBron that the roster that had struggled against the Spurs could quickly be rebooted. It all was knee-jerk and counterproductive, with LeBron nonetheless leaving. In the current scenario with Butler, there has been time for both exhorting and exhaling. Since Riley’s comments, there has not been a Heat personnel move, even with the NBA reopening the trade window as soon as a team’s season is over. Yes, there has been plenty of presumption, publicly and otherwise, from all sides about what might happen next. Ultimately, though, this is not the LeBron James situation.

Amanda Hernández And Jennifer Shutt | Stateline.org (TNS) Groups that assist crime victims across the United States are bracing for significant financial pain after the amount available from a major federal victim services fund plunged $700 million this year. Congress recently lowered spending to $1.2 billion from the fund, which provides grants to nonprofit and local programs across the country. This latest round of cuts has sparked widespread concern among district attorney’s offices, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, child advocacy centers and law enforcement agencies that offer victim support services.

By Barbara Marquand | NerdWallet After starting a career in engineering in Boynton Beach, Florida, Moisey Abdurakhmanov was renting a home with friends when he decided he wanted his own place. “I realized I was basically paying somebody else’s mortgage every month,” he recalls. So when the lease was up, he moved back home with his parents, saved every dime he could and bought a house five months later in January 2021 — “easily one of the best decisions I’ve made.” Many millennials are taking a similar path to homeownership.

This is “Small Bites,” a South Florida Sun Sentinel feature with tiny tidbits on the food and beverage scene — because we know that sometimes you just don’t have room for a long article. You want a little news brief instead, an amuse bouche of information, if you will. Enjoy! WHAT: Caribbean cuisine will get a seaside showcase at the Second Annual Caribbean American Heritage Month Celebration on Fort Lauderdale beach. Staged at the Las Olas Oceanside Park (LOOP), the slate of events throughout the month of June will include A Taste of the Caribbean, with live cooking demonstrations and samplings every Saturday from 10:30 a.m.

In Fort Lauderdale, City Manager Greg Chavarria abruptly resigned before the Sun Sentinel reported that he was the target of an inspector general’s report that he violated the city charter by not living in the city as required. The case is likely headed to the Broward state attorney’s office. Chavarria should not be able to evade accountability by resigning and leaving town. In Pembroke Pines, Mayor Angelo Castillo ordered a police officer to remove Commissioner Jay Schwartz from a meeting because of his boorish and disruptive behavior, and City Attorney Sam Goren said the mayor had full authority to do so under the Pines charter. “You gonna toss me out?”  Schwartz taunted the mayor. In Delray Beach, Fire Chief Keith Tomey was fired for allowing on-duty firefighters to play a benefit softball game while collecting overtime, an arrogant thumb in the eye of city taxpayers. Strike three for the chief was too late in coming.

FORT LAUDERDALE — The famous black olive trees that line Las Olas look just fine to the untrained eye. But are they? The notion of doing away with the tree-lined median to make way for a multimillion-dollar makeover of the city’s most popular boulevard has sparked intense debate. The trees, planted more than five decades ago, should be left alone, traditionalists say.