Its reputation for parties, beaches, and condos was cemented by the eponymous Will Smith rap in 1997. Prior to that, it was best known as a haven for cocaine and pastel suit-wearing cops. But for the past ten years, Art Basel Miami has brought a cavalcade of new, fierce artistic talent — curators, critics, gallery owners, and creatives working in all types of media — to an international audience.

The nation's debt crisis has all eyes on the politicians on Capitol Hill. But we wanted to know how the debt crisis is playing out in different cities across the country — what local fears and concerns are, and what people have to say about what's happening in the District of Columbia. We headed to Denver, Colo., Detroit, Mich., and Miami, Fla. to hear what people have to say about the current debt crisis.

Monday afternoon, two Florida imams are scheduled to be arraigned in a federal court in Miami after being arrested for allegedly providing financial support for the Pakistani Taliban. Imam Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan runs the city's oldest mosque, the Flagler Mosque. He, in addition to his two sons, and three others in Pakistan, were indicted for supporting terrorist organizations in Pakistan. Jay Weaver, federal courts reporter for The Miami Herald, talks about the case and the role of the Khan family in Miami.

There is a growing sentiment in in Miami that black men are being targeted violently by local police officers. Seven African American male suspects have been fatally shot by Miami police in the past eight months. Adding to the tension, some think, is the fact all of the officers who pulled the trigger in those shootings were Hispanic. City Commissioner Richard Dunn has called for Police Chief Miguel Exposito to step down. The Takeaway talks to Chief Exposito about the community’s calls for new leadership. 

A community grows more and more restless everyday in Miami over the concern that black men may have recently become the target of violence by local police officers. Seven African American male suspects have been fatally shot by Miami police in the past eight months. Adding to the tension there, all of the officers who pulled the trigger in those shootings were Hispanic.

Six months after a massive earthquake shook Haiti, Haitians and Haitian-Americans are still coping with the fallout.

Today, the director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Alejandro Mayorkas will be in Miami to try and clear up some confusion over immigration status for Haitians. Days after the quake, the U.S. government gave Haitians living here what's called Temporary Protected Status, but that applied to Haitians who were living in the United States on or before January 12th — the day of the earthquake. T.P.S. was not given to Haitians who came to the United States after the earthquake.

We here at The Takeaway are always looking to connect with local communities. So this week we're hosting a summit with our friends at WLRN in Miami that's made possible by the Knight Foundation. We're experimenting to see how we can use text messaging as a tool for uncovering local issues that matter in Little Haiti, Miami. Can it help journalists and the communities they cover tell more compelling stories?

Simply walking around a neighborhood sounds like an easy thing to do. It's an invaluable tool for a journalist covering a local community. But it happens so rarely.

Jim here in Miami for a two-day summit we're holding on developing new sources through texting.

We've been excited about adding texting as one more way people can interact with us at the show. Now we're experimenting with ways to take that further and develop stories directly from a local community using mobile phones.

Our first stop this morning is Little Haiti, where we'll be speaking with community leaders —and anyone we stumble across — to look for stories that we can try out in the real world.

Stay tuned for updates and let us know your thoughts here!

On April 20th, 1980, Fidel Castro announced the port of Mariel opened to anyone wishing to leave Cuba. A massive exodus ensued in the following six months, with as many as 125,000 Cubans making the journey to Florida.

Thirty years later, we talk to participants about their memories, their first impressions of South Florida and how they changed the culture around Miami.

If you live in Miami, we're asking, How did the Mariel boatlift change your city? You can call us at 877-8-MY TAKE or leave a comment here.

This week, John Hockenberry is co-hosting from Miami from our friends at WLRN. All week, we're asking the question, What does Haiti need from the world right now? If you've been affected by the quake, and especially if you're Haitian, What are you NOT getting that you still need?

Read and listen to responses here.

In our regular series The Value, Takeaway correspondent Farai Chideya brings us the story of a woman in Miami who found the value of home in an unlikely place.

A photo-journalism and essay project by the Miami-based Iris Photo Collective portrays the complex connections between Haiti and her neighbor Cuba. We speak with Iris co-founders Carl Juste and Luis Rios talk about the photographs and essays, produced before the earthquake, and how their context has changed after the disaster.

Miami has been in the national news as the American staging ground for many of the relief efforts in Haiti. We talk to Miami's Mayor Tomas Regalado about his many Haitian constituents.

Haitian airlifts have resumed, but they're still flying almost exclusively to Florida – and to Miami's overburdened hospitals. According to Florida Governor Charlie Crist, the state has taken more than 500 injured evacuees from the Haiti earthquake since it struck three weeks ago. Doctors there says 150 of those have gone to two hospitals in Miami.

Today we welcome Miami listeners to The Takeaway this week at WLRN, Miami's public radio station. To kick off our first week of broadcasting there, we're asking Miami-based, Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry to welcome us.

More than two weeks after the earthquake struck in Haiti, destroying homes and tearing apart families, Haitians are scrambling to find new places to live. It is expected that many may seek refuge in Miami, a city which already has a large Haitian immigrant population.

News outlets in Miami are playing a special role in covering the Haiti earthquake, both in Haiti and in South Florida, where a large Haitian community resides.

The U.S. Labor Department will release current employment numbers later this morning.  Slate associate Editor Chris Wilson has put together an interactive map that shows the nation's transformation over the past two years, as big job gains turned into painful job losses.  We take a look at two intriguing areas of the country: the first is South Florida, where Ned Murray, associate director of the Florida International University Metropolitan Center, blames the housing bubble's burst, amongst other things, for the ballooning unemployment over the past two years there.  The other area we will focus on is Riley County, Kansas, where they've actually seen job gains, unlike most of the rest of the country. In January of 2007 they had seen 807 more jobs than the year before; and in October of 2009, they saw 10,927 jobs gained. Michael Kearns, Riley County commissioner, attributes the growth of Fort Riley as a key factor in Riley's success.

While The White House and Congress continue to hash out a plan to reform health care across the country, the people in Miami-Dade County are taking matters into their own hands. County officials and Blue Cross Blue Shield are teaming up to develop a plan for the uninsured. If it's successful, this public-private partnership could be a model for the nation. Joining The Takeaway to discuss this plan is Josh Johnson, reporter and anchor for WLRN, Miami Herald News, who attended the first day of health care sign-ups last night.