Specifically, Sen. Bill Nelson, Charlie Crist, Kendrick Meek and Republican fundraiser-slash-rodeo enthusiast Ron Bergeron. They were joined by a national political dignitary, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. They all hopped on airboats — Bergeron drove one of them, man’s man that he is — and went traipsing around the Great Swamp…
Massive layoffs and cutbacks are one thing, but you really know the newspaper depression is serious when the troubles get between journalists and their award ceremonies. Last night, the directors of the Society of Professional Journalists’ southern regional Green Eyeshade Awards canceled the banquet for economic reasons. Here’s a press release issued last night: LITTLE ROCK –…
I’m in line at Gamestop the other day, breaking down and finally buying the much-hated NCAA Football ’09, when I hear the clerk ask the guy in front of me for his fingerprints. He’s returning a game, and the clerk breaks out some kind of form. He swipes his thumb…
The political point was a bit convoluted, as we discussed yesterday, but this afternoon PETA hotties made good on their promise to take a shower on West Clematis. The animal rights group has used this stunt in a whole bunch of cities as a way to call attention…Oh, hell with…
It’s no fun to write a letter alleging corruption and send it to the Florida Ethics Commission or the Broward State Attorney. No, if you really want to make a splash, announce the allegations during the public comment period for an unrelated ethics case. Especially one that’s attended by a…
For 15 years, Leslie Stanford from Columbus, Ohio, had been working. She owed that employment, in part, to a diploma she earned at a correspondence school in Coral Springs. She had paid the so-called Clarmont School $200 admission, performed whatever assignments it sent in return, and in exchange the Clarmont…
Flickr.com Don’t call it “interior design” until you see the paperwork. Do you know what it takes to become an “interior designer” in this state? Being able to match a bedspread and drapes should do it, right? Wrong. “Decorators” may be able to walk off the street and charge you…
Brian Holmes, a 24-year-old from Delray Beach, is accused of sucker-punching a clerk at an Upper Darby, Pa., gas station and then taking $100 out of her cash register. It seems to have been a crime of opportunity for a guy who had a cocaine and Oxycontin habit and who…
By the conclusion of yesterday’s long, rancor-filled meeting of the North Broward Hospital District’s Board of Commissioners, it seemed as though everybody just wanted to move on.Did Commissioner Joseph Cobo commit ethics violations? Well, gee, the district’s own investigator Martin Goldberg says — if I can paraphrase his 43-page report…
This is video of Glen Johnson after losing by decision to Chad Dawson last April. Note the cheers from the crowd as Johnson begins to speak. It’s hard to find anyone who watched the fight and thinks Dawson deserved to win. New Times profiled South Florida-based Johnson in a cover story…
Deon Thomas is a Chicago hoops legend. In college, he was one of the University of Illinois’ all-time basketball greats. For the past decade-plus, he’s been a globe-trotting, championship-winning professional basketball star. Now, he’s a J.V. coach in the Broward ‘burbs. Specifically, Thomas tutors freshmen and sophomores who play for…
Sheila Alu sometimes feels like a marked woman. The Sunrise commissioner has been called a “rat” on blogs and newspaper websites, has been shunned at her day job as prosecutor in the State Attorney’s Office, has lost friendships, and was personally attacked in a recent deposition. Her sin: coming forward…
Michael Rosen remembers standing in the elevator when he was just 3 or 4 years old. He was with his mother in their condo building, and several adults beamed at him, talking about how cute he was. He looked up and told them, “Go fuck yourself.” Rosen winces at the…
How corrupt is Palm Beach County government? A grand jury report released today counts the ways. From overpriced land deals to shady bond underwriting practices, to slush funds that allow public officials to spend millions on their pet projects, it paints a picture of government that would make Rod Blagojevich…
At only 21 years old, Hillary Dobbs of Palm Beach (and Sussex, N.J. — among other homes) is now a veteran of the same horse-jumping world where two years ago she was a prodigy. This week the daughter of the grumpy CNN financial anchor goes up against an 18-year-old who’s…
Consider this a prequel to this morning’s post about the Boca business dealings of Howard Needle. That post begged the question: Where did Needle get the original electronic cigarette that proved such a valuable tool for luring an investor like Richard Gladstone? It’s a story that Ron MacDonald can tell…
Hot chicks. Nude. Showering. In public. The prospect is so dazzling…well… it’s damned hard to focus on the political point. But if you can pry yourself away from that photo, we’ll give it a try.Before we get to that, it behooves me to mention the time and place. This PETA…
During a lengthy meeting this morning that saw roughly 40 speakers testify in favor of embattled Broward Health Commissioner Joseph Cobo, his fellow commissioners voted unanimously to send the investigative report alleging potential ethics violations to Gov. Charlie Crist. The Florida governor appoints commissioners to preside over the North Broward…
[jump] Tom Selleck joked about it in Mr. Baseball, as a washed-up American ball player in Japan (easily 1992’s funniest fish-out-of-water baseball movie starring a mustache). And in that movie, Selleck bowling over his Japanese counterparts represented the aggressive, disrespectful, violent way American’s play their own game. Yesterday Mike Berardino reported…
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Gov. George W. Bush vowed that if elected, he would nominate a Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. It certainly didn’t hurt his popularity in Florida’s Latin American community, and that was a race close enough where little things made a world of difference. Of course, he…
Being a Cleveland sports fan requires a lifetime commitment to Prozac. The underdog city’s teams have a habit of fostering great hopes before losing in some spectacular, nail-biting way. It’s a bruising, emotional roller coaster that would make Rihanna and Chris Brown wince. Yet we keep coming back for more.Now…
Lawyer and activist Brenda Chalifour says she isn’t going to rest until Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter is behind bars. To further that aim, Chalifour has filed a complaint with the Florida Elections Commission claiming Ritter has violated campaign law. Among her findings is that Ritter accepted more than the campaign minimum…
