Opinion: Janet Reno to be named for Alonzo Mourning or something like that

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Looks like former NBA star Janet Reno’s name will not grace a high school if the Miami-Dade School Board follows a committee recommendation in today’s vote.

Oh, wait. No. Alonzo Mourning was the former NBA star, and his name along with his wife, Tracy, will likely go on the school.

Janet Reno was Bill Clinton’s attorney general and the first and so far last woman to head the Justice Department.

The Miami school committee considered about a dozen proposed names, and it came down to Reno versus Mourning. Alonzo was a longtime player for the Miami Heat, which will not be holding a championship parade in downtown L.A. today.

The Mournings were active for many years in Miami schools. ‘When you look at what they’ve done together,’ said school board member Martin Karp, ‘it’s directly impacted children.’

Reno was a longtime area prosecutor and returned to live in the Miami suburb of Kendall after her government service and unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign for governor in 2002.

However, there was this scary incident in Miami nine years ago during the Clinton administration, when federal agents stormed a private Miami home to seize 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez, who’d escaped Cuba with his mother, who perished in the attempt. The youngster was returned to his father in Cuba.

And committee members apparently feared some kind of controversy should the local school be named for the attorney general who ordered all that.

-- Andrew Malcolm

No controversy over clicking here for Twitter alerts on each new Ticket item. Or follow us @latimestot

Top photo: Alonzo and Tracy Mourning. Credit: WireImage.

Lower photo: Janet Reno. Credit: Associated Press