Walter Swenson and Richard Courtney pore over a great many drivers licenses and ID cards during the evenings they crisscross the streets of central Broward County. Swenson, a Fort Lauderdale police officer, and Courtney, an employee of the Broward Coalition for the Homeless, routinely work together to help the down-and-out…
Sheriff Ed Bieluch is decked out in full regalia: green uniform topcoat, slacks adorned with an ankle-to-hip gold stripe, white gloves, and a neck scarf. His hat, broad-brimmed and straight, covers most of his short, white hair. Aviator sunglasses obscure his eyes. As he stands before a throng gathered June…
This is Nina Arias’s party, and she’ll cry if she wants to.The pixie-sized owner of LaLush Gallery is fluttering up and down a flight of stairs with a cordless telephone. She’s laughing into the receiver, the chiffon of her vintage, teal cocktail dress swinging to catch up. It’s hard to…
Congratulations are in order for Pompano Beach Mayor Bill Griffin, who recently landed a new job at a huge, Dallas-based firm called Turner Construction. You may not have heard about the new gig, since Griffin hasn’t talked about it publicly, but it’s a very big deal. Turner has offices in…
LaLush is just the latest modern art venue to end up in Broward County’s gallery graveyard. Two other places, Gallery Yes! in Wilton Manors and Skot Foreman Fine Art Ltd. on Dania Beach’s antique row, have been shuttered in the past three months. Like LaLush, both tried to bring nontraditional…
After a six-month investigation, Boca Raton police last week arrested matchmaker Helena Amram on charges of defrauding 54 clients who had paid as much as $50,000 to find the perfect mate. The cops seized Amram’s records this February and contacted some of the 650 or so people who had engaged…
McMansions be damned: After reading with interest Jeff Stratton’s recent article (“There’s Goes the Neighborhood,” June 13), I thought I would contact you. At present, I am a Victoria Park property owner who is disgusted by the recent developments in the neighborhood. I have long thought we should fight this…
It used to be only about the trees. Victoria Park values its green canopy, its rare South Florida shade above all else. Earlier this year, residents beat back Florida Power and Light’s designs on trimming or removing trees along the neighborhood’s grand 17th Avenue. During a recent monthly meeting of…
While all the media heat has lately been on the FBI and CIA, Osama bin Laden surely has another federal agency on his thank-you card list: the Federal Aviation Administration. To pull off the September 11 attacks, the terrorists needed an easy mark, and thanks to the FAA, they got…
The $10 million that Broward County and Hollywood politicians aim to spend in the area’s most visible park to create an arts extravaganza will be wasted. Tossed in the toilet. Spent and forgotten. Though many suggest it will reenergize the shuttered downtown, it won’t. First, let’s dispense with the blather…
You have nothing to lose but your wallets: Susan Eastman’s slant on her May 30 story, “Dr. Strange Train,” seems to be extremely conservative and “old fogey” (for lack of a better term), a position I rarely see in New Times. This story panders to the retiree population of Florida…
Joe Eggelletion is a man who likes his green. He likes it well-cut and smooth, all laid out crisp and unsoiled. And he knows it feels really good when you can walk around like it’s yours, like you own it. When the green is going Joe Eggelletion’s way, he sometimes…
Barbara Whiteman snagged an original Sara Lee doll about 15 years ago. Created by Belle Glade florist Sara Lee Creech and produced briefly from Christmas 1951 to 1953, the sweet-faced replica of an African-American baby was a find. It was prized among collectors because its history mirrors America’s entrenched and…
Editor’s note: This is the third and final installment of Pulp Nonfiction. Read the first and second installments online. Pulp Nonfiction isn’t your standard Hollywood fare. Sure, it’s loaded with violence and betrayal. And my film project’s “love your children” theme might sound studio-friendly. But here we’re dealing with two…
New Times is mighty proud to announce that columnist Bob Norman is the recipient of the 2001 Livingston Award for national reporting. The competition honors America’s best journalist under age 35. NBC anchor Tom Brokaw presented Norman with a certificate and a $10,000 check at a ceremony Monday, June 3,…
Caution, E-Yente ahead: In regard to Wyatt Olson’s May 23 cover story, “Mismatch,” thank you for a well-written and, in my opinion, balanced, sensitive, and fair article. His reporting coincides with my experience with Helena. I am, like a man mentioned in the article, someone who simply answered an ad…
From deep in the land of the hanging chad, where a tabloid empire made tabloid-like headlines when anthrax was discovered in its Boca Raton headquarters, where terrorist cells have standing orders for submarine sandwiches, a voice cries. Not in the wilderness exactly. It cries in Palm Beach County, on the…
At first glance, Czeslaw Bobryk’s central Palm Beach County apartment is an enigma. His sofa and easy chair face a squat television stand that is obviously designed to hold a jumbo set. But there’s no TV on it. To its right is a multishelf entertainment center. But precious little in…
Editor’s note: Last week, Bob Norman told the story of Tony Tarantino (the famous director’s father) and Tarantino’s movie project, called New Horizons. Trying to raise money, Tarantino met with members of a Broward County family called the Rubbos, whom he apparently didn’t know were under investigation for boiler-room scams…
Distinction, oh yeah: On behalf of ME Productions, I extend a heartfelt thanks to New Times for its selection of ME Productions as Best Party Mavens (Best of Broward-Palm Beach, May 16). It was truly a wonderful honor to be acknowledged with this title of distinction. We will proudly display…
How can I hope to make you understand Why I do what I do? — Fiddler on the Roof Sitting in the waiting room of Helena Amram’s plush Boca Raton suite, you can learn a great deal about the woman before she ever steps out of her office. The walls…
At 9 o’clock on the morning of May 8, 82-year-old George Wackenhut transferred ownership of the United States’ largest security conglomerate to Group 4 Falck of Denmark. The deal confirms Group 4’s Jorgen Philip-Sorensen as owner of the second-largest such outfit in the world. Indeed that entire business is now…
