Out on the Crawford ranch, the president morphs into Dirty George. He gets that swagger down, walking with his spurs about four feet apart. His arms he keeps bowed out like he might draw a pistol. He’s the cowboy-hatted Bush who appeals strongly to his rural white base. Sometimes he…
When Nicholas Hoffman worked for the City of Pompano Beach, his duties ranged from the menial to the monumental. He didn’t just clean the bathrooms; he made sure the water in them — and throughout the entire city — was safe to drink. Hoffman, a 24-year-old student with spiked black…
Thoroughbred racing is an old man’s game. The bettors who stand in the shade at the front of Gulfstream Park’s clubhouse or saunter through the paddock, looking for telltale signs in the horses that are being saddled for the next race, are mostly in their 60s and 70s. They’re in…
Rush-hour traffic is mounting around the Hollywood City Hall roundabout as Dennis Pellarin strolls from his office toward the west side of the traffic circle during a recent afternoon. He approaches the two-story building that squats beside City Hall, and he unlocks a door to a flight of stairs. Pellarin…
But not the Hollywood commission: In response to Chuck Strouse’s March 6 column, “Steal from the Kiddies, Spoil the Rich,” let me tell you about the beauty of Hollywood Central Elementary. Despite its size, HCE is a warm and loving neighborhood school. I firmly believe that the only way to…
The most noticeable thing about Francisco Ferreras is his chest. He is otherwise an imposing presence — tall, muscular arms, broad back, shaved head bronzed by the sun. But it is the chest that impresses. It is prodigiously expansive, but not in the way bodybuilders become musclebound with bulk. Ferreras’…
It’s the second round of an extreme fighting match in Atlantic City on Friday, and the crowd isn’t happy. Fighter Din Thomas, who trains in Fort Lauderdale, dominates the no-holds-barred bout with jabs and right hooks more akin to boxing. The quick punches keep opponent Matt “The Terror” Serra from…
Same day. Same greed. Same cockeyed judgment. The only difference between two votes cast Wednesday, February 26, was the victim: City of Hollywood commissioners screwed taxpayers, while the Broward County School Board shortchanged the city’s kids. In the afternoon, commissioners agreed to offer developer Steve Berman $3 million in incentives…
He gets no kick from the powerful: I thought Bob Norman’s February 27 article, “The Jackass Whimpers,” was complete, fair, and balanced. As for Amy Rose calling the “Jewish War Veterans” and “The Management Committee of the DEC” not “reputable” enough for the county commissioners to support, she has erred…
Back in January 2003, Jeb Bush dreamed of emptying out goverment buildings in Tallahassee. This commemorative scrapbook includes the greatest hits from the ensuing four-year parade of privatization. Bush calls for more faith, less government January 10, 2003 TALLAHASSEE — Standing on the steps of Florida’s old capitol, Jeb Bush…
Every kid should have an uncle like Kevin Markey. He’s a little low on the cool scale. With his wide Irish face, blue eyes shaded with Ray-Bans, and long-sleeve, striped, Oxford dress shirt tucked into fitted jeans, the 44-year-old real estate investor looks like a no-nonsense cop on his day…
Valerie Silidker, a 28-year-old student with black John Lennon sunglasses and blond Glenn Close hair, spent a recent Saturday bobbing between thick rows of traffic on Sunrise Boulevard, handing out antiwar fliers to drivers waiting for a green light. Most of them were happy to take one. Some weren’t. “Fuck…
Whoa-whoa-whoa, she’s a lady: Bob Norman, how honest and squeaky clean are you? Bet you got some things in your closet you do not want known. However, you did try to burn Miriam Oliphant (“Burn, Oliphant, Burn,” February 13). Wrong, Bobby — she is a lady — you appear to…
Kristy Murphy walked out onto the beach at Sebastian Inlet and surveyed the scene. A logo-enhanced (Billabong Girls, Roxy, Rip Curl, Surf Diva) army had set up camp. More than 100 female combatants swathed in wet suits, stocking caps, knit scarves, sweatshirts, sweaters, blankets, and heavy winter jackets huddled together…
One night ten years ago, Yelena Pawela was studying in her dorm room at Moscow’s Timiryazev Agricultural Academy when there was a knock at the door. Thinking it was a friend, Pawela opened the door to find five men dressed in heavy winter clothes, their hoods drawn around their faces…
Tim Smith is a short, compact man with a quick boyish smile and the watchful, hungry look of a salesman prowling the front of a car lot. On Election Day last week, he arrived at his neighborhood polling place, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, promptly at 8:30 in the…
An old opponent piles on: This is in response to Bob Norman’s February 13 article, “Burn, Oliphant, Burn.” There are some things in this article that I believe need to be straightened out. Everything done by Commissioner Lori Parrish, including the Swerdlow deal (which I am personally not happy about),…
A cold breeze rustles the thicket of cypress trees overhead as Octavio Ferro leans against a metal horse trailer, props his foot up behind him, and puts his hands into his pockets like a Ralph Lauren model. With carefully tousled blond hair, a chiseled chin, and clothes that make him…
It’s a blessing to live in a county where all elected officials but one are so good and wholesome. Great to breathe the same air as politicians who are as clean as Britney Spears’ teeth and who can root out evildoers in a way our great warrior president can only…
Of the hundreds of South Floridians who recently auditioned for CBS’ Survivor at Fort Lauderdale’s Swap Shop Circus, one seemed to set a standard for sheer audacity in her allotted two minutes. Wearing shorts and a tank top, the young woman removed a dead raw fish from a container and…
Remember, Miriam is downstairs: It isn’t just the Rev. Dozell Varner Jr. who feels that Broward Supervisor of Elections Miriam Oliphant has been targeted by those who are of questionable character or ethics (“Miriam for President,” Susan Eastman, February 6). It isn’t just a borderline economic issue in the minority…
Near the end of a barely paved road in Fort Pierce, at the end of an unpaved driveway, a country-style house described by its owner as “Smurf blue” rests on an overgrown lot. High crabgrass and weeds in the front yard have overtaken a wrought-iron furniture set with rust peeking…
