At the end of the line of the Florida East Coast railroad is the Hialeah rail station yard, where a thousand cars a day sluice in and out, past scrubby grass and piles of old railroad ties piled like hurricane debris. On one lonely stretch of track sits a handful…
The Black Journalism Institute. Has a nice ring to it (better than, say, the Yellow Journalism Institute, anyway). A place for disadvantaged African-American youth to learn some of the finer points of the newspaper game. They’re planning to build one on Sistrunk Boulevard. Fort Lauderdale commissioners voted unanimously last week…
At least 200 spectators gathered before a Florida Panthers game recently to witness a hot-dog-eating contest outside the BankAtlantic Center. Along the way, they got to see the gruesome underbelly of a sport that seems to be nothing but gruesome underbelly. The favorite at this match, as he is in…
It was a full, swollen moon on the Friday night of Fetish Factory’s traveling monthly party, Alter Ego. And that was before the spanking, whipping, and flogging even began. I prepared myself for Club Boca’s freaky fete in goth-anime style with plenty of black eyeliner, two pert little pigtails, and…
Honest Steve Norman has a way with the truth: Finally! An article that exposes the citizens of Deerfield Beach to the truth (“A Long Political Squabble Over a Short Pier,” Bob Norman, April 20). At last, a factual account of the people and events that have polarized this city and…
So you’ve probably seen the tempest in a teapot with Tom Fiedler. If not, read the comments in the post below. I’m going to do a little bit more reporting on this, but until then, let’s move on to … The DBR Beating a Subpoena Broward Circuit Judge Marc Gold…
Tom Fiedler The admission is buried deep inside a long Miami Herald business column: The newspaper hired a “public relations executive” to handle “media strategy” for the newspaper after it fired columnist Jim DeFede. Herald writer Douglas Hanks III drops the little bombshell as an aside in his Business Monday…
Photo Illustration Congratulations to Jennifer Babson for taking your run-of-the-mill “fishermen find severed human head” story and turning into a minor masterpiece. I know, I know, people find human heads in South Florida all the time — bobbing in canals, washing up on the beach, jamming up their garbage disposals…
Airstrike Victim On the front page of today’s Sun-Sentinel, Robert Nolin writes of the “treat” we’ll get during the Air & Sea Show this year when we say goodbye to the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. The ol’ Top Gun chestnut is being retired for the F-18 Hornet. Makes the heart…
There’s been a lot of controversy lately regarding the New Times’ takeover of the Village Voice and the resulting carnage at the legendary weekly in New York. Blood has been spilled, great reporters have left or been fired, a lot of people are concerned. I don’t pretend to understand what’s…
So I was interviewing Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle last night about a story and he starts going off about the media, specifically about the Sun-Sentinel. Here’s a synopsis of what was said: Naugle: It’s a national crisis. People have really lost faith in the media and the new media…
The Palm Beach Post’s bloated blogosphere has apparently had a bit of a shake-up. Cops reporter Andrew Marra is no longer writing crime (he’s gone to GA) and taking over his crime blog, Behind The Yellow Tape, is reporter Stephanie Slater. Her debut is fairly promising. There’s a post featuring…
Not A Breast Examiner The Herald’s Jennifer Lebovich scores again this morning with an incredible story about a seemingly kindly 76-year-old man who went door-to-door offering free breast exams to women. But Philip Winikoff wasn’t a doctor — he was just a dirty old man with a black medical bag…
Seven years ago, Louis James Vestal and Robert Lineberry interrupted their friend Bryan Loudermilk performing one of the most extraordinary sex acts to occur on Florida soil. Lineberry, a drifter, had been living in a metal shed on Loudermilk’s property in the town of Okeechobee. Loudermilk, his wife, and three…
There have been lots of stories in the newspapers about the political feud in Deerfield Beach, so you probably know the basics. City Commissioner Steve Gonot wants to get rid of City Manager Larry Deetjen. Deetjen’s forces are trying to kick Gonot out of office. Armed guards have been hired…
You get used to fakery in South Florida — the inflated boobs, the pie-in-the-sky sales pitch. But when the flimflammery comes from reporters, Tailpipe draws the line. Bogus “news” is creeping into local broadcasts via video news releases (VNR), which are filmed segments produced by public relations companies and sent…
LOL for Music Fans Zwickel was in the moment: Great article on Humbert (“Song of South Florida,” Jonathan Zwickel, April 13). Thanks for being there, writing about it, and reminding me of some really funny moments that made me laugh out loud while reading it. Franco Parente Miami Those empanadas…
In March 2005, the developers of the Waves Las Olas condominium project sent out a letter to the dozens of buyers who’d already collectively plunked down $3 million in deposits for units in the yet-to-be-built tower. “If you’ve driven by The Waves property recently, you probably noticed steel rebars in…
At left is Satterlee A reader has correctly answered the burning question: Who is the third wheel in that weird Alan Koslow/Mara Giulianti photograph? The answer: Joy Satterlee, director of the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood. The winner: Asa Boynton, the famed Hairy Fairy and neighborhood crime fighter. He…
The Sun-Sentinel reported this morning that the Fort Lauderdale City Commission awarded a sweet little land deal on Sistrunk Boulevard to the Westside Gazette. You may not know about the Westside Gazette. Few do. It’s a tiny black newspaper that has demonstrably lied about its circulation figures to pump up…
Photo Illustration The Miami Herald has taken budget-cutting to a new extreme. Management has eliminated the receptionist position at its much balleyhooed Pembroke Pines bureau, virtually locking out the public. There’s plenty wrong with a newspaper closing its doors to readers, but I don’t think I can improve on what…
What Does This Man Have Against The Sentinel? For the first time since last year, the Sun-Sentinel was kept from the Pulitzer Prize winners’ circle. It had to be a tough pill to swallow, since the newspaper had three finalists (a strong showing any way you look at it). I…
