Charles Blanchard likes to punch men in the face — and he gets paid for it.The Jacksonville native is a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter and is making his big debut Wednesday on Spike TV’s show Ultimate Fighter.There are some moves he wishes he could smack down on his opponent,…
“Civilians often confuse use of force with excessive use of force,” Commander David Robshaw told the Juice in an interview this week. “Lawful authority can be construed as excessive.” Robshaw thinks we’ve all been watching too many episodes of Law and Order. Public perception of police brutality is fueled by…
A few hours after a March 14 slaying at a Pompano Beach barbecue, cops caught Tony Petigny; but they didn’t have the evidence to charge him with murder. By the time that evidence turned up, Petigny had bonded out. This afternoon, Petigny finally turned himself in.The 28-year-old man from Deerfield…
A nonprofit organization in Deerfield Beach under investigation for mishandling tax dollars has failed to pay taxes on any of six properties for at least five years, according to records released to Juice this afternoon. The Westside Deerfield Businessmen Association stands to lose all six properties it owns on Southwest…
It’s Friday and I’m working on some more long-term stuff, so I’ll make this quick: Why don’t politicians in Broward County have any shame? I mean, in a lot of places when a judge gets caught not only partying with a prosecutor on a homicide case during the trial and then…
With their first debate coming up Sunday on Fox News, both Republican senatorial campaigns have released new and nasty videos about each other, as have interest groups with a horse in the race. Put on your poncho and get ready for some mud-slingin’! First, a superscary video about the dystopian…
Stephanie Brombacher, a Pembroke Pines native who starred at American Heritage High, threw a perfect game yesterday in the Florida Gators’ 10-0 victory over the University of South Florida. It was the first perfect game for a Gator pitcher in six years.Her achievement may seem a bit modest compared to…
Deerfield Beach Commissioner Sylvia Poitier told Juice Thursday that she received stipend payments from a charity that later became a recipient of tax dollars for the improvement of the city’s low-income housing. That same charity, the Westside Deerfield Businessmen Association, is currently a focus of a forensic investigation based on…
Your daily glance at what’s news in South Florida:More friction between Palm Beach County teachers and district Superintendent Art Johnson. The union is threatening a work slowdown, asking its members to work only the seven and a half hours called for in the contract rather than the extra unpaid hours…
If you went 26 mph over the limit through a school zone and a cop pulled you over, do you think you could talk your way out of it? Well, Mayor Lois Frankel can. Jose Lambiet of Page2Live is reporting that the mayor wasn’t ticketed for speeding — and that…
Alleged Sicilian mobster and Scott Rothstein target Roberto Settineri was arraigned in federal court this morning. The pleas was not guilty, of course. “We invoke discovery, demand a trial by jury — we’re ready,” his lawyer, Jeffrey Weiner, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Rosenbaum. A handcuffed Settineri was in his…
During their investigation of the murder of Melissa Britt Lewis in March 2008, Plantation police officers seized a day planner that Tony Villegas used as a makeshift diary in late 2007 and early 2008. At the time, Tony was separated from his wife, Debra Villegas, who was Lewis’ best friend…
Nearly every one of the 535 members of U.S. Congress got there through a grueling, humbling campaign, convincing one voter at a time to entrust him or her with the role of casting votes in the nation’s capital. But not George LeMieux. The only guy he had to convince was…
In an email to Juice, the Broward Sheriff’s Office has admitted committing an error in its report about a BSO school resource deputy’s response to the nearly fatal beating of Josie Lou Ratley last week at Deerfield Beach Middle School.In the hours after that attack, the sheriff reported that “there…
I want to go off script here for a second and rail about a small government move that has gotten my goat. It’s just a little Plantation thing, but it illustrates the central problem of government privatizing services it should be providing. Today’s Plantation Forum newspaper’s lead headline is “City outsources…
A glance at the headlines this Thursday morning:Federal prosecutors in the case against Fitzroy Salesman played a video during yesterday’s trial that showed the former Miramar commissioner accepting an envelope full of $1,000 cash, then pouring a beer and continuing his conversation with money managers seeking city business. Actually, they…
Freestyle Alligator Wrestling is now officially a professional competitive sport, thanks to the Seminole Tribe in Hollywood. The first officially sanctioned competition was staged recently, showcasing 12 competitors from around South Florida. To get the full story, as told by New Times reporter Gail Shepherd, click here…
While patrolling Miami Beach, Officer Manuel Chorens wouldn’t stand out. He has a round, fleshy face and an ample belly stretching the front of his blue uniform. His hair is streaked with white; his jet-black eyebrows are prominent over a flat nose. Maybe he has pulled you over. Maybe you…
When fallen Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein returned from Morocco last November after his Ponzi scheme blew up, he went straight into the womb of the federal government, where he immediately began working as an informant. Rothstein, who talked his way into a $1.2 billion bogus investment scheme, would now…
Scott Rothstein, wherever he is now, did a lot of damage to a lot of people in this town. I can’t help but believe that his toxic life may have contributed to the untimely death of a promising young woman. Timmerman with Gov. Crist in photo taken at Scott Rothstein’s home Julie…
