Kurt Klaus Jr. had good reason to get the hell out of West Palm Beach. On a blazing hot Tuesday, he tucked a modest stack of papers and folders under his left arm and bolted for his Toyota Tundra, which was parked under a tree across from the federal courthouse…
I reached Pompano Beach Mayor Bill Griffin on his Turner Construction Co.-issued cellular phone last week. “Hello,” the mayor answered. “Bill?” I queried. “Yes,” he obliged. “Hi, this is Bob Norman of the New Times calling to bother you again.” “Good,” he said with a note of… was it defiance?…
Only if you’re a professional: Reading Ashley Fantz’s July 25 article, “Caged Swelter,” I confirmed once again why the public has such a misconception of “dancers.” I belong to one of the top ten dance companies in the United States, New Century Dance Company, which is here in Miami; we…
There are two dollar bills tucked into Pamela Canellas’s cleavage. A flurry of boa feathers sprouting from the base of her ponytail and floating down half the length of her five-foot, three-inch body, Canellas is working her French manicure into the sides of her red-sequined Charo getup. Here, in the…
“Donate Your Wheels for Meals” read a recent advertisement wedged into the “Autos Wanted” section of the Sun-Sentinel’s classified ads. “Don’t let your neighbor go hungry.” As anyone who has watched an old car deteriorate into a pile of rust in the driveway knows, the idea of unloading that burden…
For a guy who claims that Saudi Arabia’s royal family has a contract on his life, Palm Beach Gardens resident Tim Hunter is remarkably calm. A heavyset, politically conservative baby boomer, he doesn’t look or sound nuts. In fact, with his round, steel-rimmed glasses and his face like a big…
This sparrow is the key to everything! In regard to Mike Clary’s July 11 feature story, “For the Birds,” the Cape Sable seaside sparrow in the Everglades is like a canary in a coal mine; if we lose the sparrow, Everglades restoration is sure to fail. The sparrow is the…
If only the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow were a panda. Or had big mournful eyes, like Bambi. Or could project just a little more personality. “It’s not like they’re gorgeous,” field biologist Julie Lockwood concedes. “And they are not easy to see anyway, since they hardly come [up] above…
A young man in a Speedo slices through crystal-blue waters, a pyramid of bubbles escaping from his nose and trailing half the length of his toned, swimmer’s physique. Above his head, a prism of block printed letters reads “Rainbow Guide.” Issued in June, this is the first travel brochure distributed…
Luis Castillo is all alone again. Almost two weeks after his impressive run of registering at least one hit in 35 consecutive games came to an end and less than a week before his first All-Star Game appearance, he sits quietly in front of his locker at Pro Player Stadium…
Think his teacher noticed? In reference to Bob Norman’s July 11 column, “First Pledge”: Bravo! Amen! Congratulations on a gutsy, well-written piece. Finally, someone recognizes the rabid knee-jerking this country has been going through for what it is! Am I the only one who left out the “under God” part…
Erin Brown grew up in an Irish cop family. One brother, a sister, and three cousins all work for the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Her father, Don O’Brien, retired from BSO in 1995. And a career in law enforcement was all that the freckled redhead wanted for herself. Two years out…
About 11 a.m. this past Saturday, just as Serena Williams was burying Venus at Wimbledon, another little sister faced a dire situation in a world championship in Fort Lauderdale. Tied at three games with a far more experienced player and down by three points in the rubber match, 13-year-old Ai…
When the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Michael Newdow’s lawsuit to strike “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance on June 26, I just thought, “The crazy bastard pulled it off.” I had almost forgotten about Newdow, whose name I first ran across at the federal…
Blowing the whistle on the DMV: After reading Chuck Strouse’s June 27 column, “Security Collars,” I want to offer encouragement on reporting a story that too many people are ignoring. Yes, it is a scary time for national security, and yes, we do have to live with inconveniences at the…
For 32 years, Luise Buettner marked the beginning of the tourist season with the arrival of the Joessmans, the Uoesers, Inga Koetz, and Karl Heinz. The Nuremberg-born motel owner catered to vacationers from her homeland. Herzlich Willkommen, read a sign in the office window of the Noble Motel Apartments, 3110…
A long, laborious rumble of afternoon thunder is dampened under the massive tree’s imposing branches and aerial roots. A wood-slat fence literally disappears into the rope-like maze that is the main trunk. Towering 60 feet high, it can be seen for blocks, its canopy extending for at least 200 feet…
Bill Griffin’s new job has prompted a handful of activist groups to demand he relinquish his old one — as mayor of Pompano Beach. More than 100 protesters met last Tuesday to demand Griffin’s resignation after learning in this space that the mayor had landed a job with a construction…
Insecurity is complex… if you’re Cuban: I recently read and enjoyed Chuck Strouse’s June 27 article, “Security Collars,” and need to add a situation that my wife and I encountered this past weekend at McCarron International Airport in Las Vegas. On our return flight through Dallas to Fort Lauderdale, a…
On dry and dreary Dixie Highway, just north of downtown West Palm Beach–near Cheerful Street and Beautiful Avenue, not far from where Contentment Avenue once ran–Everee Jimerson Clarke sits in a blue, bunker-like concrete building, guarding a storehouse of memory. A broad and handsome woman of 75 years — graceful…
Swedish businessman Peter Tsounis deals in yachts for a living. He wears expensive suits, flies first class, and carries hundreds of dollars in cash as well as 20 credit cards. So he was surprised March 16 when a cop slapped handcuffs on him and six more lawmen surrounded him as…
Mayor Griffin, repent!… Or quit already: I enjoyed Bob Norman’s article on Pompano Beach Mayor Bill Griffin (“Swimming in Trouble,” June 20) and the mayor’s new employment with Turner Construction, a company that is interested in building the Swimming Hall of Fame. Swerdlow will probably choose Turner as the hall’s…
