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PEDRO PORTAL pportal@miamiherald.com

Angel Torres, 8, has outgrown his wheelchair and needs a new one.He lives with his mother, Brenda López, in western Puerto Rico in anarea that was hard hit by Hurricane Maria.

Brenda López is determinedto see her 8-year-old son Angelwalk and she hasn’t let anything— not even Hurricane Maria —stand in the way.When the Category 4 hurri-

cane struck Puerto Rico lastyear, López and her three chil-dren took shelter in her father’shome in a rural area near theisland’s west coast.The family huddled together

in one room on the first floor.

They could hear windows ex-ploding upstairs and walls crash-ing down. When the stormpassed, the roof was gone. Pow-er lines and tree branches lit-tered the highway, cutting thefamily off from the nearby townof Añasco. For weeks, unable toreturn to home, López slept on arecliner under the stars withAngel on her lap.

WISH BOOK

This family survived hurricane in Puerto Rico;now, little Angel needs medical equipmentAngel Torres, who is 8, has

cerebral palsy and cannot walkon his own or talk. He needs anew wheelchair and othermedical equipment and hisfamily needs help buying planetickets to move to Florida.

BY KYRA GURNEYkgurney@miamiherald.com

SEE ANGEL, 5A

JAGUARS 17, DOLPHINS 7

Fans react as the Dolphins trail in the fourth-quarter Sunday as the Miami Dolphins hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars atHard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. The team’s unraveling was complete when Ryan Tannehill threw a 33-yard pick-sixto Telvin Smith Sr. early in the final quarter. Miami’s loss in the last home game of the season eliminates them fromplayoff contention — and other repercussions are expected as well. Stories, 15A

NO HOLIDAY CHEER FOR DOLPHIN FANSAL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com

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BUSINESS MONDAYAn Amazon-reseller army is amultimillion-dollare-juggernaut, 1G

SPORTSMiami Heat beatsOrlando Magicfor its fifth victoryin a row, 22A

Business Monday 1GClassified 15-20GComics 26A

Deaths 10ALottery 8ALocal news 3A

People 25APuzzles 27ATelevision 25A

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President Donald Trump, whoaides said has been seethingabout news coverage of DefenseSecretary Jim Mattis’s pointedresignation letter, abruptlyannounced Sunday that he wasremoving Mattis two monthsbefore his planned departure andinstalling Patrick Shanahan asacting defense secretary.The move brings fresh in-

DEFENSE SECRETARYJIM MATTIS

TrumpforcesMattisout twomonthsearlyIrritated with the criticism and

fallout from Defense SecretaryJim Mattis’ resignation,President Donald Trump pushedthe Pentagon chief out the dooras of Jan. 1 — an acrimoniousend to a tense relationship thathad been eroding in recentmonths.

BY PHILIP RUCKER, DAN LAMOTHEAND JOSHY DAWSEYWashington Post

MORE INSIDE

Budget director says shutdown could lastinto 2019, 6A

SEE TRUMP, 7A

Ten months after the Parklandschool shooting — and doggedby criticism of deputies whofailed to immediately enter the

building where a gunman killed17 people — the Broward Sher-iff’s Office plans to change theinstructions it gives to deputiesresponding to an active shooting,according to an internal memoobtained by the Miami Herald.The biggest change under the

new policy: Deputies are nowtold they “shall” — rather than“may” — attempt to enter thescene of the shooting in order tostop the killer and save lives. Thelanguage of the previous policywas criticized by a state public

safety commission, which in-cluded parents of students slainin Florida’s worst school shoot-ing.In a draft report of its conclu-

sions released earlier this month,the commission wrote: “The useof the word ‘may’ in the BSOpolicy is ambiguous and does notunequivocally convey the expec-tation that deputies are expectedto immediately enter an activeassailant scene where gunfire isactive and neutralize the threat.”BSO’s public information

office did not immediately re-spond to a message Sunday.Neither did Broward SheriffScott Israel.In November, Israel told the

commission he personally in-serted the word “may” into theold policy to prevent deputiesfrom entering situations thatwould result in their certaindeath.On Feb. 14, Nikolas Cruz

strode into the freshman build-

AFTER PARKLAND SHOOTING

BSO plans to change instructions it gives todeputies who respond to an active shootingAfter its response to the

massacre at Marjory StonemanDouglas High was sharplycriticized, the Broward Sheriff’sOffice has drawn up a newactive-shooter policy.

BY NICHOLAS NEHAMASnnehamas@miamiherald.com

SEE POLICY, 7A

TALLAHASSEEWhen Nikki Fried was elected

commissioner of agriculture,proponents of marijuana cheeredbecause she was their advocate.But what does her newly electedoffice mean for the future of thecannabis industry in Florida?The agriculture commissioner

historically doesn’t really havemuch influence. The responsib-ilities of the commissioner,Fried, and those who work in thedepartment include the reg-ulation of pesticides, edible med-ical marijuana and, more nota-bly, hemp production.The Department of Agriculture

regulates pesticide use for grow-ers. The Department of Health,

TALLAHASSEE

Here’s whatmarijuana’sfuture inFlorida maylook likeWhat does Nikki Fried’s newly

elected role as agriculturecommissioner mean for thefuture of the cannabis industryin Florida?

BY SAMANTHA J. GROSSsgross@miamiherald.comHerald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

SEE MARIJUANA, 2A

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MONDAY DECEMBER 24 2018 BUSINESS MONDAY 9GReal EstateMIAMIHERALD.COM

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Once all eligible nominees’ wishes have been fulfilled, Herald Charities Inc. may use funds for other charitable purposes.

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neediest individuals and families, as nominated by their social services case workers –

children, the elderly, the hungry and the ailing. Please help grant a wish today.

To donate online, visit miamiherald.com/wishbookFor more information, please call 305-376-2906

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with the registration requirements of Chapter 496, Florida Statutes, the Solicitations of Contributions Act. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED

FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1-800-435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.

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A recent report by theNational Association ofRealtors confirmed some-thing I have always sus-pected, but could not verifywith data: the belief thatreal estate people areamong society’s mostgenerous and philanthrop-ic. This month’s Communi-ty Aid and Real Estate(C.A.R.E.) Report outlinedthe monetary and volun-teer contributions thatgeneral NAR membersat-large, broker-owners,and association executivesgive to society, and thenumbers are striking.According to this re-

search, Realtors are morelikely to give money tocharitable causes (82 per-cent) than the averageAmerican (56.6 percent);NAR members give at least$1,000 annually, and66 percent of membersat-large said they volunteeran average of eight hours amonth. (By comparison,just 6.1 percent of Amer-icans volunteer on a reg-ular basis, according toBureau of Labor statistics.)Furthermore, 81 percent ofbroker-owners donatemoney on an annual basis,while 90 percent of associ-ation staff members donateeach year.“Realtors across the

country not only work tohelp people achieve theAmerican dream, but theyalso work hard to make a

difference in our communi-ties and make them betterplaces to live,” said NARPresident John Smaby.

THE WORK BEGINSAT HOMEWhile no formal research

exists to authenticate theequally overwhelminggenerosity of Miami andSouth Florida real estateprofessionals, anecdotalevidence clearly demon-strates this conclusion. As apracticing residential realestate agent, a heavilyengaged volunteer with theMiami Association of Real-tors, and a member ofnumerous organizations, Iam delighted by the sys-tematic kindness and spiritof giving that is inherent inour industry.Observe the large-scale

philanthropic efforts of ourarea’s richest, largest, andmost powerful real estateoffices, the “small” contri-butions of time, money,and expertise by individu-als, and everywhere inbetween, and you will finda real estate communitythat is serious about im-proving the lives of neigh-bors and neighborhoods.While charitable efforts

are generally more pro-nounced during the holidayseason, throughout theyear you will find the “big-name” brokerages leadingyearlong efforts to combathomelessness throughclothing drives, dinners,and large-scale homebuilds. Other offices de-duct money from eachagent’s commission tosupport local hospitals, andmany collect new andunused toys that go direct-ly to disadvantaged localchildren.Further inspiring is the

big-heartedness of myindividual colleagues, toonumerous to mention byname, who contribute toagencies, nonprofits, orhouses of worship throughtheir own personal volun-teering and/or the gene-rosity of their family foun-dations.

OUT OF MANY, ONEI would be remiss if I did

not mention the extraor-dinary generosity of theMiami Association of Real-tors, which puts the fullweight of the nation’s larg-est local real estate associ-ation behind its many com-munity efforts. The depth

and breadth of the associ-ation’s charitable endeav-ors is dizzying, with arange of programs to sup-port our community’shomeless, underfed, fosterchildren and seniors. Theassociation also managesnumerous efforts to helpbeautify, revitalize, andimprove South Florida’ssmaller and developingneighborhoods throughcleanups, “pop-up mar-kets,” mural paintings, and

more.I am proud to also men-

tion that the Master Bro-kers Forum, a small butpowerful collective of theregion’s top real estateproducers (and the organi-zation behind these month-ly columns) has contrib-uted significantly towardlocal college scholarships.

HOMES ARE WHERETHE HEART ISGenerosity is not a con-

test, and South Florida isvery fortunate to have thecollective munificence ofmany industries, includingmanufacturing, tourism,retail, financial services,and the legal profession.But when homes are thevery heart of your business,the entire body works to-gether to keep it healthyand strong.Master Broker Christoph-

er Zoller is an agent withEWM Realty International,305-329-7779, zoller.c@ewm.com. He was the 2017chairman of the board forthe 49,000 member MIAMIAssociation for Realtors.

MASTER BROKERS FORUM

Miami real estate is driven by generosity

BY CHRISTOPHER ZOLLERSpecial to the Miami Herald

MANGOSTOCK Getty Images/iStockphoto