1. LOCAL&STATE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014 | EDITOR: JAY DUCASSI jducassi@MiamiHerald.com | 305-376-3557
BH1*
3B CELLPHONE BAN FOR DRIVERS AT SCHOOL? 4B GOV. SCOTT PROPOSES $74.2 BILLION BUDGET
E
rnie Vasiliou was aghast
at the notion of someone
building a day care cen-
ter next to his property west of
Boynton Beach with all the at-
tendant ruckus that comes with
400 whooping kids.
He warned the Palm Beach
County Zoning Commission
that he wouldn’t stand for such
a commotion. According to the
Palm Beach Post, Vasiliou told
the commissioners, “If noise is
not a problem, then the noise I
create will not be a problem as
well.”
He referred to the sound of
gunfire.
“I plan on putting a shooting
range on my property,” Vasiliou
said at the Dec. 6 meeting. “As
longasitislegal,I’mgoingtodo
that. No joke.”
It’s legal. No joke.
If Vasiliou puts a shooting
range on the lot next to a day
care, there’s nothing much any
local government entity can do
about it. In 2011, the state Legis-
lature, in its capacity as the offi-
ciallapdogoftheNRA,passeda
preemption statute that prohib-
its a city or county from enact-
ing any gun ordinance that ex-
ceeds state law.
So much for local ordinances
outlawing guns in playgrounds
or parks or public buildings. Or
restricting shooting ranges.
Florida law specifies: “Except
as expressly provided by gener-
al law, the Legislature hereby
declares that it is occupying the
whole field of regulation of fire-
arms and ammunition use at
sport shooting and training
ranges.”
State laws are so permissive,
the Miami Herald’s Cammy
Clark reported this week, that
Monroe County authorities
can’t prohibit or even regulate a
makeshift gun range built last
month in a residential neigh-
borhood on Big Pine Key.
“Without any oversight, some-
body’s neighbor could set up a
gun range and invite his friends
over and have a good old time
shooting,” said Monroe County
Commissioner George
Neugent.
Clark reported that the Mon-
roe commissioners, at a special
meeting on Friday, will likely
vote to ask for a state attorney
general’s opinion on whether
the county has legal authority
to regulate shooting ranges in
residential areas. County Attor-
ney Bob Shillinger warned
them that it’s a futile request.
“Your hands are tied.”
Monroe County Commis-
sioner Heather Carruthers
called the gun range dilemma
“ridiculous and absurd.” She’s
right, but our state Legislature,
when it comes to guns, embrac-
es the ridiculous and absurd.
A city can prohibit a home-
owner from maintaining back-
yard chicken coops, but not a
firing range. In Miami Shores,
the city inspectors can cite
someone for planting a vegeta-
ble garden in their front yard,
but not for shooting out back.
Coral Gables can regulate the
color of exterior house paint.
Until a couple of years ago, the
city prohibited pickup trucks.
IN MY OPINION
Fred
Grimm
fgrimm@
MiamiHerald.com
Florida gun
rights laws
trump sanity
•TURN TO GRIMM, 2B
Lawyers for accused Facebook
killer Derek Medina want to know
whether hallucinogenic bath salts
played a part in the death of his
wife, and are pushing prosecutors
toturnoverkeyevidencethatthey
believe could link the synthetic
drug to Jennifer Alfonso’s death.
At a brief hearing Wednesday,
in which Medina appeared wear-
ing red prison garb and with his
ever-growingbeard,defenseattor-
ney Sam Zangeneh told Miami-
Dade County Circuit Court Judge
Yvonne Colodny that the defense
could not move forward with dis-
covery until prosecutors and po-
lice turn over the homicide report.
Attorney Rick Yabor said 10
white rectangular pills found in a
green garlic bottle on the lower
level of a cabinet in the couple’s
kitchen were analyzed by the de-
fense and were found to contain
Alpha-Pyrrolidinopentiophe-
none, also known as synthetic ec-
stasy, or bath salts.
Yaboralsoprovidedaphototak-
en from a video recorder in the
couple’s South Miami townhouse
that he says shows Alfonso open-
ing the cabinet several hours be-
fore the murder. Now the defense
isaskingthecourttoturnoverevi-
dence that may include body tis-
COURTS
A twist in Facebook killingI Attorneys for alleged
Facebook killer Derek
Medina want to know
whether their client’s wife
was on synthetic ecstasy
before she was shot.
BY CHARLES RABIN
crabin@MiamiHerald.com
IN COURT: A bearded Derek Medina is shown with defense
attorney Rick Yabor during a status hearing Wednesday.
ALVARO MATA, DIARIO LAS AMERICAS/POOL PHOTO
•TURN TO HEARING, 2B
Democratic newcomer Charlie
Crist says he has no plans to de-
bate his leading rival, Nan Rich, in
a party primary as they both run
for governor.
“I’m not even thinking about
that right now, to be honest with
you,”CristtoldreportersTuesday
evening outside a Greenspoon
Marder law firm fundraiser in
Fort Lauderdale.
“I am focused on doing every-
thing I can to help the people of
Florida,” he said. “And this is not
really a race about candidates.
This is a race about the people of
our state.”
Reached by phone, Rich — a
longtime Democrat and former
party leader in the state Senate
from Weston — took issue with
Crist’s stance.
“I’m an issues person,” Rich
said. “I’m a policy person. “To me,
to have a dialogue and a debate
back-and-forth about the issues is
probably the most important
thing that you can do to educate
voters about where the candi-
dates stand.”
As a one-time Republican gov-
ernor who became an indepen-
dent in 2010, Crist switched his
party registration to Democrat af-
ter helping President Barack Oba-
ma win reelection in 2012.
CAMPAIGN 2014
CRIST RICH
Crist: No
plans to
debate
Rich
•TURN TO RIVALS, 2B
I Former Gov. Charlie Crist,
spending all of his time
fundraising, looks like he
might not debate his leading
Democratic rival in the race
to take on Gov. Rick Scott.
BY PATRICIA MAZZEI
AND AMY SHERMAN
pmazzei@MiamiHerald.com
AtMyrnaBetancourt’sCaféDu
Jour, chefs serve up the finest in-
ternational cuisine – from paella
to pesto pasta.
While they’re at it, they discov-
er a recipe for a new life.
Betancourt’s kitchen is in the
Chapman Partnership homeless
center in Homestead, and her
chefs are students ages 16-50, of-
ten disadvantaged, sometimes
homeless, and always seeking a
second chance.
And while the students proba-
bly already know it, their teacher
is the best in all of Miami-Dade
County.
OnWednesday,infrontofhun-
dreds of her peers, Betancourt, a
former Chicago social worker-
turned chef-turned teacher, won
the 2015 Francisco R. Walker Mia-
mi-Dade County Teacher of the
Year award.
Upon learning she had won,
the South Dade Educational Cen-
ter culinary arts teacher hugged
her principal, wiped away tears,
then delivered a message to the
crowd at the swanky Trump Na-
tional Doral Miami about adult
education.
“Career technical education
shouldnotbeperceivedastheug-
lyducklingoftheeducationalsys-
tem, or as a second best alterna-
tive to the academic, college-
bound path,” she said. “It makes
students realize that it’s never too
late to have an education and pur-
sue a dream. It gives them hope.”
Betancourt, 57, knows a little
about dreams, hope and second
chances. When she was 18 and
still living in Puerto Rico, her fa-
ther said she should follow in his
MIAMI-DADE
CONGRATULATIONS: Myrna Betancourt of South Dade Educational Center gets a hug after
winning the Francisco R. Walker Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year award.
CARL JUSTE/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
TEACHER OF YEAR HAS
RECIPE FOR SUCCESSI Myrna Betancourt’s
culinary classes for
struggling adult students
earned her the recognition
as Miami-Dade’s Teacher of
the Year.
BY DAVID SMILEY
dsmiley@MiamiHerald.com
•TURN TO TEACHER, 2B

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LOCAL & STATE
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FLA. LOTTERY
footsteps and go into teach-
ing, but she told him she
“wanted to help people in
need.” So she became a so-
cial worker and left for
Chicago.
For 22 years, including 14
with Big Brothers and Big
Sisters, she helped the
needy.
But she also loved cook-
ing. After more than two
decades in social work, Be-
tancourt went to school and
became a chef. She got her
first job as a chef instructor
for the Greater Chicago
Food Depository teaching
people on welfare. She par-
layed that work into teach-
ing the culinary arts in Chi-
cago public schools.
Eight years ago, she and
her husband, a professor at
Florida International Uni-
versity, moved to South
Florida. She initially worked
in the banquet department
of the Mandarin Oriental
hotel.
But Betancourt still want-
ed to help people, so she
found her way back into the
classroom at South Dade
Educational Center, where
she expanded the school’s
culinary arts program to
adult education.
Inherkitchen,Betancourt
invites hospitality em-
ployerstotasteherstudents’
cuisine. She holds
competitions.
Some have made it out as
chefs. Others have earned
scholarships to professional
culinary schools.
“We have people working
alloverMiami-Dadeingood
restaurants. People are go-
ingbacktoschool,toLeCor-
don Bleu.”
Betancourt has made a
huge impact beyond the
school, teaching the home-
less, special-needs students
and students from Homes-
tead Job Corps, said Rene
Mantilla, the school’s princi-
pal. This year, she is teach-
ing a homeless Iraq Naval
veteran to cook.
“Miami-Dade County
Public Schools is extremely
blessed to have Chef Betan-
court as a teacher,” he said.
Along with the honor of
being Miami-Dade’s top
teacher, Betancourt won a
Scion iQ and a cash award.
She was nominated along
with Jason Saunders of Wil-
liam Lehman Elementary,
Kristin Trompeter of Rock-
way Middle School, Racquel
GibsonofLakeStevensMid-
dle and Nichole Anne Dino
of Miami Carol City High.
The district also named
Angelica Fulchini of Freder-
ick Douglass Elementary
Miami-Dade’s Rookie
Teacher of the Year.
Superintendent Alberto
Carvalho told the nominees
and teachers in attendance
that what they do is “love in
action.”
“You are diplomats,” he
said. “You broker deal of
hope and opportunity every
single day for countless
young boys and girls across
our district.”
Betancourt said she’s re-
minded of that all the time
by her students.
“Not too long ago one of
mystudentswhowashome-
less told me, ‘Chef, thank
you. People don’t look down
on me anymore. When I
wear a chef’s jacket, they ac-
tually try to make eye con-
tact,’ she remembered.
“I realize I’m still a social
worker of a sort, helping
people rebuild their lives,
sharing my passion in culi-
nary arts, and following my
father’s advice.”
MIAMI-DADE
Love of food, students melds for successful teacher
•TEACHER, FROM 1B “Miami-Dade County Public Schools is ...
blessed to have Chef Betancourt. ...”
— Rene Mantilla
But Florida law preempts
even the Gables when it
comes to shooting ranges.
Local governments reg-
ulate tree houses, storage
sheds, the number of hou-
sehold pets, the size of
garage doors. Shooting
ranges lie beyond the pur-
view of a city or county
inspector.
The attendant hazards
transcend stray shots flying
around the neighborhood,
though that ought to be
enough. California is phas-
ing out the use of lead
hunting ammo because of
the toxic effect on wildlife.
Florida, however, has ex-
empted owners of firing
ranges from civil or legal
liabilities relating to the
environmental effects of
lead on wildlife or humans.
Florida law states, “Unnec-
essary litigation and unnec-
essary regulation by go-
vernmental agencies of
sport shooting and training
ranges impairs the ability
of residents of this state to
ensure safe handling of
firearms and to enjoy the
recreational opportunities
ranges provide.”
No worries, then, about
the lead slamming into
humans or mucking up the
environment. Shrug off that
report from the National
Academy of Sciences warn-
ing that “Repeated expo-
sure to the toxic metal
causes a raft of health prob-
lems including brain dam-
age, high blood pressure,
and anemia.” The academy,
of course, was concerned
about military gun ranges.
Not the shooting range
next door.
Surely, most Floridians
regard unregulated back-
yard shooting ranges as
insane. Just as most Flor-
idians would be appalled at
the notion of allowing
college kids to pack heat on
campus.
But on Tuesday, Broward
College became only the
latest Florida public college
or university forced —
under threat of lawsuit
from gun rights advocates
— to rescind its campus
firearms ban.
The state’s permissive
gun laws, no matter how
dangerous, preempt the
judgment of mayors and
county commissioners and
college administrators.
State law preempts your
judgement too, when a
wild-eyed, paranoid neigh-
bor jerry-rigs a backyard
gun range.
Better hope his aim is
better than the Florida
Legislature’s common
sense.
FRED GRIMM | IN MY OPINION
In Florida, the laws on gun rights trump sanity
•GRIMM, FROM 1B
sue, hair or any internal or-
gan that could show wheth-
er Alfonso ingested the sub-
stance.
“It’s so we can conduct
our own individual testing
on the remaining tissue,”
said Yabor. “We don’t know
what the significance of the
substance is. We need to do
due diligence.”
Medina, 31, is accused of
the shooting death of his
26-year-old wife in their
South Miami home last Au-
gust. The shooting wasn’t
unusual by South Florida
standards, but Medina’s ac-
tions following the killing
was: He announced the kill-
ing on his Facebook page,
then posted a picture of Al-
fonso’s twisted, bloodied
body lying on the kitchen
floor.
Medina’s trial is set for
March 17, but that date is ex-
pected to be pushed back.
The shooting made interna-
tional headlines.
“I’m going to prison or
death sentence for killing
my wife. Love you guys.
Miss you guys. Take care.
Facebook people you’ll see
me in the news,” Medina
posted.
Medina has pleaded not
guilty to the first-degree
murder charge, which could
carry a death sentence. He
told police at the time of the
murderthathiswifewashit-
tinghimandthatheshother
in self-defense.
His attorneys argue that
Medina was a battered
spouse defending himself
against a woman who
threatened to leave him,
then hit him repeatedly the
morning of the killing. Me-
dina told detectives that he
took a kitchen knife from his
wife and returned it to the
drawer before firing six to
eight bullets at her.
Medina’s attorneys filed a
nine-page amended motion
in court earlier this week
saying the county’s Medical
Examiner’s Office reached
conclusionswithoutprovid-
ingdocumentationoranaly-
sisthatcouldhelptheircase.
Themotiongoesontosay
that the medical examiner’s
report doesn’t say whether
Alfonso consumed illicit
drugs, which could be “crit-
ical evidence in support of
the defendant’s defense.”
Bath salts are a designer
drug that has gained popu-
larity in the past decade.
They come in several forms,
but generally contain syn-
thetic chemicals similar to
amphetamines. The chemi-
cals are said to induce agita-
tion, hallucinations, even
paranoia. They were out-
lawed in 2012 through the
Synthetic Drug Abuse Pre-
vention Act.
The motion filed this
week also states that a wit-
ness named Bruce Bates
gave sworn testimony in the
state’s investigation that Al-
fonso used synthetic ecstasy
and other “illicit drugs.”
Miami-Dade State Attor-
ney Spokesman Ed Griffith
would not say whether the
state had blood or hair sam-
ples from Alfonso.
“We don’t prosecute the
victim,” he said.
Medina was not drug test-
ed, Griffith said.
Former state prosecutor
AbeLaeser,aveteranofcap-
ital murder case trials, said
it’s easier for the defense to
infer certain situations if it
can prove the victim had
drugs in her system.
“Obviously, it’s easier to
say to the jury, ‘Crazy peo-
ple do crazy things when
they’re all loaded up,’” Laes-
er said. “Even if you don’t
really see she’s reaching for
a knife, it increases the pos-
sibility of making the argu-
ment to the jury. You only
need a single juror.”
The county’s Medical Ex-
aminer’s autopsy concludes
that Alfonso may have been
on her knees trying to shield
her face as she was shot re-
peatedly at point-blank
range. Several shots struck
her left forearm, an indica-
tion she may been trying to
protect herself from a volley
of bullets fired at a down-
ward angle.
South Miami, which does
not have a homicide unit,
turned the case over to Mia-
mi-Dade police. Homicide
investigations typically take
several months to finish.
Griffith said the homicide
report is “pending comple-
tion,” and should be done in
a few weeks.
COURTS
Facebook case: Was victim on bath salts?
•HEARING, FROM 1B ‘We don’t prosecute the victim.’
— Miami-Dade State Attorney Spokesman Ed Griffith
Most polls indicate Crist
would soundly defeat Rich
in the Aug. 26 Democratic
primary. Polls also show
Crist edging Gov. Rick Scott
by a few percentage points
in a general-election match-
up. Those surveys also indi-
cate Scott would beat Rich.
Most polls do not include
Libertarian candidate
Adrian Wyllie.
As a former governor
who had a centrist govern-
ing record, Crist has sky-
high name recognition and
an apparent store of some
residual goodwill with vot-
ers — especially when com-
pared to Scott, who has
struggled with relatively
low approval ratings since
almostassoonashetookof-
fice in 2011.
But Scott has been fever-
ishly raising money, a must
to pay for expensive TV
commercials in a state with
10 media markets.
Scott has about $24.6 mil-
lion in his political commit-
tee’s bank and has a goal of
spending as much as $100
million on the campaign
through his gubernatorial
campaign,hispoliticalcom-
mittee and the Republican
Party of Florida. Indepen-
dently wealthy, Scott spent
$75.1 million of his own
money to get elected in
2010.
Crist has almost $4 mil-
lioninthebanksofhispolit-
ical committee and cam-
paign account. Crist, who’s
spending nearly all of his
time fundraising, hopes to
spend half as much as Scott
by campaign’s end.
That means Crist and the
state Democratic Party,
which has a fraction of the
fundraising prowess as the
state GOP, would have to
raise about $46 million
through the Nov. 4 Election
Day, which means he needs
to pull in an average of
$165,000aday,includingho-
lidays and weekends.
Rich had only about
$75,000 cash on hand in her
campaign account as of the
last reporting period that
ended Dec. 31.
An announced candidate
since early 2012, Rich has
struggled to catch fire. She’s
little-known, doesn’t have a
large staff and doesn’t al-
ways communicate cam-
paign events or press state-
ments with the news media.
Broward College and
Broward Days, a legislative
advocacy group, had
reached out to Rich and
Crist to invite them to de-
bate in the state’s bluest
county. Rich told organiz-
ers she’d be open to it;
Crist’s camp wouldn’t com-
mit to anything.
Asked whether he had
plans to accept the Broward
debateinvitation,Cristsaid,
“I don’t.”
When told that Broward
has a large Democratic vot-
ing base, Crist’s answer was
even shorter when it came
to the idea of debating Rich
in the county: “No.”
Miami Herald reporter
Marc Caputo contributed to
this report.
CAMPAIGN 2014
Crist ‘not even thinking’ about debate with Rich
•RIVALS, FROM 1B
SANFORD — Frustrated
by George Zimmerman’s
failure to respond to her di-
vorce petition, Shellie Zim-
merman is now asking a
judge to stop the delays and
simply grant her a divorce.
Shellie Zimmerman, 26,
filed for a divorce Sept. 5.
Her estranged husband
has yet to file any sort of
response.
He is the former Neigh-
borhood Watch volunteer
acquitted last year of mur-
dering Trayvon Martin, an
unarmed black 17-year-old,
in Sanford on Feb. 26, 2012.
Under Florida law, some-
one sued for divorce is re-
quired to respond within 20
days, once he’s formally
been serviced notice of the
suit.
George Zimmerman
dodged process servers for
months but was finally
served on Dec. 18 while he
was locked in the Seminole
County jail on a domestic
violence charge.
His 20 days ran out ear-
lier this month. On Jan. 13,
Shellie Zimmerman’s attor-
ney, Kelly Sims, filed a mo-
tion for a default, and a dep-
uty clerk of courts entered a
finding of default the same
day.
That means the judge
may now treat the state-
ments in his wife’s plead-
ings as truthful, and the
case may now move for-
ward, with or without his
participation.
The couple separated in
August.
They have no children
and own no real estate.
Shellie Zimmerman is
asking for custody of their
two dogs, Oso and Leroy.
She listed $13,000 in as-
sets and nearly $104,000 in
debts.
SANFORD
Zimmerman’s wife weary of delays
BY RENE STUTZMAN
Orlando Sentinel
ON HOLD: Shellie Zimmerman has been seeking a
divorce from George Zimmerman since Sept. 5.
JOE BURBANK/AP