Proving the adage about a good man, Ray Carbone couldn’t be kept down. His West Palm Beach music venue, Ray’s Downtown, inhabited the 500 block of Clematis for 12 years before giving up the ghost last August — a year and a half after New Times first reported the dire…
A criminal investigation into an alleged slots theft ring at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino has led to the ousting of several employees, including the pari-mutuel’s vice president of gaming, according to sources. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is looking into allegations that at least two lower-level employees were…
The Smothers Brothers used to do a funny routine about sibling rivalry. Who did their mother favor — Tommy or Dickie? “Mom always liked you best” was a familiar mantra of these sibling musician/comedians, who started out as a couple of college dudes in the 1960s and nowadays still do…
The Norman Invasion Here’s lookin’ at you, kid: The other Norman Invasion was in 1066, but this one is more fun, with boiling pulp dumped on the heads of scoundrels (“Animal Farm,” Bob Norman, November 8). Blog ’em, confound ’em, and send ’em back to hell or whatever planet they…
This Broward Health email was sent to all media contacts from the Pulp’s favorite tax-assisted public health system. They must really hate that old name (and all the baggage that goes along with it). But their attempt at rebranding has clearly gone amok. “Broward Health Coral Springs Medical Center”? I…
As I’ve said before, I don’t like Charlie Crist’s compact with the Seminoles. It gives an unfair advantage to the tribe, which has historically thumbed its nose at the state while making a fortune on a gambling monopoly. Giving the Seminoles sole control over the blackjack and baccarat market isn’t…
Justice served, cold and late. Below is the memo from Assistant State Attorney Maggie Gerson. She tells it like it is, creating an almost surreal effect. The insanity is that it had to be written in the U.S.A. My favorite line: “(T)he arrest may have been lawful had there been…
I lifted this mosaic of Iraq War casualties from JAABlog. Found it, compelling, disturbing, and fitting…
Let me begin this post with an apology to Earl Maucker. In the original version of the story on the Gulfstream Park criminal investigation, I wrote that the Sun-Sentinel’s executive editor instructed a reporter to contact the racino’s advertising director. It was actually Deputy Managing Editor Phil Ward. Not that…
Well, if you’re bored and want to see the Pulp make an ass out of himself in person, rather than here on this prime piece of Internet real estate, come out to the Miami Book Fair Sunday. I’ll be pimping my book, Florida Pulp Nonfiction, there (sales have been a…
Sometimes I should thank the Sun-Sentinel for being lame. After all, their very lameness occasionally helps me and other New Times writers break major stories. Like this one about a state investigation into an alleged slots theft ring — that might have risen all the way up to a gaming…
Whenever a deputy goes down, we wonder how it could have been prevented. We want to learn from it, so that it doesn’t happen again, so that the deputy’s death wasn’t in vain. In the case of Dep. Paul Rein, we can debate forever about whether, at 76, he was…
Thank You,Thank You, for the Draft We cannot win a single game. Not even one, we’re very lame. We cannot win one here nor there. We cannot win one ANYWHERE! Could you, would you On the road? Would you, could you If it snowed? We could not, would not, on…
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating an alleged slot-machine theft ring by employees at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino. This is the first potential scandal for the fledgling industry, which is both heavily regulated and heavily taxed by the state. And I’m the one bringing you the news…
Six days a week, the curse follows Rick Stembridge. On any one of those days, he’s liable to receive a nasty letter demanding payment or else. He may be compelled to appear at a hearing or sit for a deposition across a table from a snarling attorney. And one of…
Crash Test Mark and his three-Volkswagen entourage pull up at my apartment at 5:45 on a recent Sunday morning. The plan: to drive across the state with 70-something members of two car clubs, then chill at FixxFest, a yearly drag-racing competition in Bradenton. Although I had no idea what it…
It’s not easy being David Rhodes. He hears that people have called him “Public Enemy No. 1.” People hush up when he walks into work meetings. He’s a pariah in his own workplace. Rhodes is an auditor for the Broward County School Board. “They beat me up on a daily…
Bulletin! Bulletin! The end of the affair? John Darrell Boyd pleaded guilty to one count of organized fraud and two counts of Medicaid fraud on Thursday, November 1 (“Burned at Both Ends,” Deirdra Funcheon, November 1). He was adjudicated guilty and will be sentenced in January. He could face up…
The Palm Beach Post is heavily pimping its newest blog, Sonja Isger’s “The Morning Brew.” I noticed it this morning, thanks to a giant ad for it on the newspaper’s homepage. The blog’s logo is a Palm Beach Post newspaper and a cup of coffee. Oh yeah, morning brew. Get…
A few notes on the local blogosphere: — John DeGroot has begun his own blog that focuses on the public health system (if there is such a thing). It’s titled “Broward Health — Not” and can be seen here. The first indication that this could be a must-read for the…
Have any of you received this photo in you email, accompanied by a line about how Barack Hussein Obama (anytime they include the middle name, you know they’re going to play on xenophobic fears) refused to put his hand on his heart and recite the Pledge of Allegiance? I got…
Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour from huffpost on Vimeo. The video above gives you an idea of the kind of lunacy that’s coming to Miami. John Hagee and his “Christians United for Israel” tour will be here tomorrow night. Hagee and his followers are calling for…
