PAGE 8 THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016

By: KELLY JOSEPHSENkjosephsen@islandernews.com

How do you feel about the issues?Send your Rant or Rave to editor@islandernews.com

or call the Rant and Rave Hotline at 305-361-3333, extension 24, and we will publish your comments

in an upcoming edition of The Islander News.

cont. from p.1WEBSITE

Election Day is right around the corner,and there are a few more days to vote earlyfor the August 30 primary.Early Voting is today and tomorrow from

11 a.m.-7 p.m. and Saturday and Sundayfrom 8 a.m.-4 p.m.The Early Voting locations closest to Key

Biscayne include Miami City Hall, 3500Pan American Drive in Coconut Grove; theCoral Gables Branch Library, 3443 SegoviaStreet; and the Stephen P. Clark Govern-ment Center, 111 Northwest 1st Street indowntown Miami. For a full list of loca-tions and more information, visit www.mi-amidade.gov/elections.On Election Day Tuesday, August 30

polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. AllKey Biscayne voters vote in the Key Bis-cayne Community Center.Races of local interest include:• Florida House of Representatives: The

Republican primary includes former KeyBiscayne Vice Mayor Mike Davey andRosa Palomino; the Democratic primary isbetween Nick Duran and Waldo Faura-Morales.• Florida Senate: Oscar Brayon is unop-

posed in the Democratic primary to repre-sent Key Biscayne’s district. There is nocandidate on the Republican side. • County Mayor: incumbent Carlos

Gimenez faces off against Miami-DadeSchool Board member Raquel Regalado,

Election Day is August 30; early voting still available

Frederick Bryant, B.J. Chizsar, Miguel Eiz-mendiz and Farid Khavari and Alfred San-tamaria. If one candidate over half the vote,they will be elected; if not, there will be arunoff in November. • Key Biscayne’s County Commissioner,

Xavier Suarez, is facing a primary chal-lenge from Michael Castro.• U.S. Senate: the Republican primary in-

cludes incumbent Marco Rubio, CarlosBeruff, Ernie Rivera, Dwight Mark An-thony Young and write-in Howard Knepper.On the Democratic side, U.S. Representa-tives Patrick Murphy and Alan Grayson arerunning, as are Pam Keith, Roque De LaFuente and Reginald Luster. Third party op-tions are Libertarians Augustus Sol Invictusand Paul Stanton; Independents TonyKhoury, Steven Machat, Basil Dalack andBruce Nathan; and Charles Frederick Tol-bert, Jon Friend, Robert Samuel Kaplan,Bradley Patrick and Angela Marie Walls-Windhauser.• U.S. House of Representatives: incum-

bent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is running for re-election on the Republican side, challengedby David Adams and Maria Peiro. Demo-cratic candidates are Frank Perez, ScottFuhrman and Adam Sackrin.There are no Key Biscayne races: Mayor

Mayra Pena Lindsay was the only candidateto qualify to run for Mayor, meaning no pri-mary; and Village Council members will beelected at-large on Election Day November8 – but there are a number of races of inter-est to local voters.

more timely updates of all the excitingthings that are happening on the island. Weare also looking forward to more interactionwith our neighbors. Our new website willmake it easier for you to share what’s goingon in Paradise.”Islander Editor Kelly Josephsen added

the new website will allow The Islander tonot only keep Key Biscayners even morewell-informed about their community, butwill enhance the newspaper’s ability to en-gage with the public.“We look forward to the chance to pro-

vide our readers with more regular, timelyupdates on everything that’s happening onthe Key, but this is also a great way for usto hear from you,” she said. “We hope ourreaders and advertisers will embrace thisnew more interactive website to communi-cate with us – to tell us how we’re doingand to share their stories.”Stay tuned for more information about

the new Islander News website. We’ll havemore details in these pages next week, andwe hope you’ll visit us online as well.

Novecento is celebrating the restaurantchain’s 25th anniversary Saturday at its KeyBiscayne location, and is also paying tributeto founder Hector Rolotti.

Novecento hosting 25th anniversary celebration at Key Biscayne restaurantRolotti opened the first Novecento in Au-

gust 1991 in Soho, New York. Since then thecompany has been growing in the UnitedStates, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina, andtoday there are 150 Novecentos with anotherset to open soon in Asuncion, Paraguay.Rolotti passed away in March 2014. The

celebration of his life and the restaurant hefounded will be Saturday, August 27 at 9p.m. at the local restaurant, located at 620Crandon Boulevard. It will feature live music by Pampa y La

Via, a group of musicians consisting of

Diego Lowenstein, vocals and guitar; Patri-cio Campiani, drums; Gustavo Zientek, bass;and Claudio Kaczka guitar and lead vocals.Pampa y la Via play famous songs from Ar-gentinian rock from the 1970s, ‘80s and‘90s, with great selections from Argentiniangroups including Soda Estero, Divididos,Virus, Gustavo Ceratti, Andres Calamaroand Fito Paez.Saturday’s event also features Novecento’s

famous DJ Jorge Bohtlingk as well as pro-moters from Argentinian beer Quilmes andRon Atlantico.

Get ready for yard signs, forums and KeyBiscayners standing in the Crandon Boule-vard median waving to passing traffic:today is the last day to qualify to run for aVillage Council seat and get in on the funof campaigning Island Paradise-style.Village Clerk Conchita Alvarez said so

far Violette De Ayala; Brett Moss, who ranfor Council in 2014; and Ignacio Segurolahave qualified to run for office.Several more residents have picked up

qualifying packets: Ricky Martinez, Alli-son McCormick and Katie Petros.Picking up a packet indicates an interest

in seeking office, although candidates muststill qualify with the Clerk’s office.Local voters will elect three Council

members on November 8. Council mem-bers are elected at large, meaning the topthree vote-getters receive four-year terms.The election could have a big impact on

the face of the board.Council member Michael Kelly has

served the maximum eight years and can-not seek reelection due to term limits. Theterms of Vice Mayor Ed London and Coun-cil member Theo Holloway expire thisyear. Holloway has said he will not seek re-election in 2016 and London is undecided.Council members Frank Caplan, Gary

Gross and Luis de la Cruz are servingterms that run until November 2018.Mayor Mayra Pena Lindsay will also serve

Council qualifying ends todayBy: KELLY JOSEPHSEN

kjosephsen@islandernews.comthrough November 2018 after she was theonly candidate to qualify for the office ear-lier this summer.Once the slate of candidates is set, the

campaign season will begin.Typically, Key Biscayne is dotted with

yard signs – reports of mischief involvingyard sign theft are not unheard of – andCouncil candidates also often honor thetradition of waving to their neighbors fromthe Crandon median during the morningand evening commutes.Former Vice Mayor Jim Taintor, who

passed away this January, was well-knownfor being the first and most loyal CrandonBoulevard median campaigner.As usual, The Islander News will also do

its part to educate the public on the candi-dates.

The Islander and Chamber of Commercewill hold the annual candidate’s forum inthe Village Council Chambers in October– time and date will be announced soon –and the newspaper will also publish candi-date biographies, answers to key questions,and “mini endorsements” in the Letters tothe Editor section.But for now, there are a few more hours

for residents to jump in the race:Any citizen who is a qualified elector

and a resident of the Village for at least oneyear preceding the date of filing may be acandidate for Council. Candidate packagesare available in the Village Clerk’s Office,88 West McIntyre Street, suite 220, from8:30 a.m.-noon and 1:30-4:30 p.m.