Accused Tax Cheat Tees Off in Boca

Of all the golfers at this weekend’s Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Jim Thorpe is going to lug around the most baggage. The 60-year-old who won three PGA Tour tournaments and four since he’s joined the Champions Tour, for golfers over 50, was charged Wednesday with cheating on his taxes…

Seiler on Gretsas: “He’ll Be Given a Fair Shake”

From the start of the campaign for Fort Lauderdale mayor, Jack Seiler had a residency problem. He lived in Wilton Manors. But in the context of campaign obstacles, this was a fairly easy, if expensive, fix. He put his Wilton Manors home(s) up for sale, and rented a place in…

A Ponzi Scheme in Boca? Stanford Group Co. Won’t Talk

Speculation is rampant in the financial press that R. Allen Stanford — who Forbes magazine estimates to have a fortune of $2.2 billion, making him #205 on their list of wealthiest Americans — is the next Bernie Madoff. Forbes says Stanford Financial Group has $51 billion in assets under management. It just…

Koala Overdose

The Australian bush fires that started on Saturday have racked up a devastating death toll, with 181 confirmed dead and it could total over 200. How does the world comfort itself? By oohing and ahhing over a rescued koala bear. Get outta the way, you un-cuddly human survivor with unsightly…

Sun-Sentinel Gets Its Two Cents Worth

Beginning Monday, Sun-Sentinel and WSFL-TV employees will get a little payback for driving on company time.   The ever-observant and hyper-vigilant management team has noticed that gas prices have gone down recently. So they’re cutting the mileage rate from 42 to 40 cents.     Now that ought to help bring down…

Gay Group Forgives Fort Lauderdale

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association is glad for the bloodless coup (term limits) that brought about the end of the reign of Mayor Jim Naugle, a foe to the gays. Also, it must be glad for the election of former Wilton Manors mayor and friend to the gays,…

New Poll: Crist in Pole Position

A “double” what? Sorry, I don’t speak French. Just check out the Strategic Vision poll released yesterday on Florida’s 2010 U.S. Senate race. It attaches numbers to some obvious truths, such as Gov. Charlie Crist getting 54 percent of the votes against other prospective candidates in a Republican primary. The…

Heat-Bulls Tilt a Mere Undercard to Cheerleader Dance-Off

You don’t really have to beat the Chicago Bulls. Just let them stand at the perimeter and launch low-percentage shots or make impossible passes. If that doesn’t work, just wait. Eventually, their imbecile coach — named Vinny of the Black — will summon from the bench an Argentine madman named…

The Hoax on You

Here is a video of a UFO, courtesy Paul. Who knows whether Paul shot the original video — which would have required the purchase of a remote-controlled flying saucer, or at least some nifty special effects. Or whether he deserves credit for time-stamping it February 9, 2009, and indexing it…

Our Top Story Tonight: Fire Bad!

Granted, “stimulus packages” sound a lot more telegenic than they actually are. But one would think that a desperate, trillion-dollar attempt to save the American economy would be a sure thing for the top spot on TV newscast. And it might have been until fire struck in Plantation (pictured).Nobody was…

Busted! PBSO Arrests Happy Ending Suspect

There he is, folks, the guy that PBSO says forced a West Palm Beach masseuse to perform oral sex on him. His name is Gerald Hansen — spelled just like the surname of the host of the Dateline show To Catch a Predator. Coincidence? U.S. Marshals nabbed Gerald Hansen in Sarasota, where he was…

Best Of Readers’ Poll 2009: Best Marlins Player

No, the Marlins weren’t great in 2008. But they weren’t dreadful either. For most of the season, they were overshadowed by the surprising rise of the Rays across the state. Now you can give the the hometown team some love by writing in your vote for the team’s best player…

The Spoils of Ponzi

Want an 8,500 square foot home on the New River near Las Olas with eight bathrooms and a two-story pool house? Have $9 million? Buy Joel Steinger’s house! The owner of scandal-ridden Mutual Benefits Corp. has his house (pictured above) listed for sale. The link offers several photographs of the estate, including the beautiful pool and two-story guesthouse. Of course, I…

Day Laborers with Murky Immigration Status for Hire in Lake Worth

The Lake Worth Resource Center opened two months ago with the aim of securing employment for day laborers, many of whom probably don’t have work visas. Depending on your point of view, it arrives at either the best, or worst, of possible moments. The economy is in the crapper, putting seasoned carpenters,…

Meanwhile, in North Miami Beach…

OK, so that faith in mankind thing lasted almost an hour. Meet the Marc family of North Miami. Mom’s stepping out on Dad, but in what might be the most twisted way of atoning for sins in the history of extra-marital affairs, she allegedly lures her lover into a trap,…

For Those Who Need a Good Cry

Well, here’s a story that pretty much restores one’s faith in mankind. It’s the story of two cystic fibrosis patients at opposite sides of Florida trying to make a go at love — despite the fact they were each trying to break in a new set of lungs. Samantha Peterson…

Oyster Lovers, Unite

Nearly four inches long, the “Sand Dune” oyster from Prince Edward Island was so plump that it bulged out of its shell. “Like a large breast in a small brassiere,” Rodney Clark, owner of Rodney’s Oyster House in Toronto, put it. Intensely briny and wonderfully sweet, the big, fat, beige…

Letters From the Issue of February 12, 2009

Dropout, I’m Not I didn’t realize that transferring from one college to another would make me a “two-time college dropout” (“Armed Again,” Penn Bullock, February 5). I gave you an exclusive interview, made you money, and you repay me by tearing me down every chance you get. Classy. Do the editors…

Fool Me Thrice

A few hours before the corporate Christmas party in December 2005, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office came to collect Cliff Berry II. They hauled him off on six felony counts, including fraud, racketeering, and grand theft. Another blow to the Yuletide cheer: The company itself, Cliff Berry Inc., would also…