On a day when voters are going to the polls to show their power, a Broward County Circuit judge has decided to take it away from them. Broward Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips has struck down term limits for Broward County commissioners as unconstitutional after voters went to the polls in overwhelming…
Let’s start this thing off with a couple of blog votes. On Amendments 5 and 6, it’s pretty easy: If you like gerrymandering, vote against them. As for me, it’s a yes vote on these two. On the judicial race between John Fry and John Howes for County Court Judge…
Former Tamarac Commissioner Marc Sultanof will turn himself in to the Broward County Jail tomorrow on state corruption charges regarding his involvement with dirty developers Bruce and Shawn Chait and possibly other matters, two informed and reliable sources tell me. Sultanof is one of five Tamarac commissioners who voted in favor of the Chaits’…
The recent ridiculous “Convicted Criminal” mailers targeting Broward County Commission candidate Chip LaMarca is indeed tied directly to Broward Mayor Ken Keechl’s campaign. Turns out that the address of the “Broward Good Government Committee” is the same one used by Keechl campaign consultant Eric Johnson. A former chief of staff to ex-Congressman Robert Wexler,…
Broward Mayor Ken Keechl appears to be getting desperate. He’s certainly getting dirty. But Keechl can’t run away from responsibility for it. Called the Broward Good Government Committee, the 527 sent out mailers across Keechl’s district on this final weekend portraying his opponent, Lighthouse Point Commissioner Chip LaMarca, as a prison inmate with the words, “LAMARCA:…
I guess it was only a matter of time before “Michael the Black Man” made his mark on this election season. On page 9B of the Sun-Sentinel is a one-sixth-page advertisement headed: “GOOD BLACK PEOPLE SUPPORT GOOD CANDIDATES LIKE: Allen West …” The ad — which has no disclaimer — also includes…
Let’s get the weekend started right with a little political parody from Reason Magazine. But first, the Miami Herald rather hilariously linked the porn (NSFW) site for Capri Anderson, who was Charlie Sheen’s escort for his latest drunken coke-fueled fiasco. (NSFW=Not Safe For Work). To rehash: Sheen, the highest paid man on TV ($1.25 million…
— Remember those shady attack ads aimed at Florida Attorney General candidate Dan Gelber accusing him of being “toxic to Jewish education”? Initially, it didn’t appear that Gelber’s opponent, Pam Bondi, was involved in the smear. Her campaign denied she had any knowledge of the attack ads, and they were funded through a 527 committee…
Kendrick Meek has called a news conference for 9:30 p.m. — i.e., right now — to address the report that Bill Clinton advised him to drop out of the race in a bid to put Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio in a bid to keep the Senate Democrats in power. It just goes to…
As media attention continues into the infamous handshake, attacks on School Board candidate Jaemi Levine are intensifying. It’s no secret where they’re coming from. “Ivory Johnson” may be dead, but dirty anonymous attacks are alive and well in this race between Levine and Dave Thomas. They’re personal, they’re not true, and they are aimed…
I’ll be writing more about the infamous crusher handshake later, but a few people have asked me who I’m voting for (or would vote for if in a certain district). I got it a lot in the primary too. So I thought I’d go ahead and spit it out. Don’t call these endorsements. I would…
In one of the more bizarre twists we’ve seen to an already wild election season, a School Board candidate says she was injured in a post-debate handshake that bruised her hand and ultimately led to a hospital visit. School Board candidate Jaemi Levine said that after last night’s debate at the All County…
There are more shots on the Broward Cleansweep blog, including a couple that show Kraft chatting with candidate Thomas and his wife at the debate, which was held at the All County Music store in Tamarac. Kraft doesn’t appear to be letting those pesky felony corruption charges slow her down…
Former Kim Rothstein bodyguard Joe Alu can be a very slippery guy. He called me today because he didn’t like the mention of the steroids investigation in the previous post, but when I asked about his former employer, he went all “60 Minutes lawyer” on me. A snippet of our…
People are trying to make a big deal that Alex Sink’s campaign relayed a forbidden message to her with a cell phone during the CNN debate. But people seem to be missing the really scary part: Rick Scott thought the message was sent via an “iPod.” A campaign aide named Brian May sneaked a message…
A well-known figure in the Scott Rothstein saga has applied for a job with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Considering Rothstein’s former sway with the FLPD, do you think he has a shot? Inside we’ll answer that question. …
Sometimes, negative campaigning lives up to its bad name. The weekend attack on Florida Attorney General candidate Dan Gelber is a perfect example of the kind of sleazy negative campaigning that should make your skin crawl. In the ads sent out this weekend to heavily Jewish neighborhoods, Gelber was called “Toxic to Jewish Education” in red Halloween font. Why? Because…
I love it when people say the comments on this blog are even better than the posts. That’s what this thing is all about — it’s a new way to do journalism, with direct interaction from readers at lightning speed. And it can be awesome or ugly or cringe-inducing — just…
Broward County School Board records show that on October 10, 2008, then-School Board Member Stephanie Kraft and lobbytist Neil Sterling exchanged four phone calls in the afternoon. On that same day it was announced that the insurance committee on which Kraft was sitting had chosen Vista Healthplan, one of Sterling’s clients,…
Nothing ripe on the reporting end and nothing big breaking at the moment so I thought I’d cull together some interesting stories from other places. — We finally get a little Scott Rothstein action in the political season with Kelly Skidmore’s “Angel of Death” ad on Ellyn Bogdanoff. Click to…
FEMA conducted an audit of Broward School Board spending of federal funds after hurricanes Katrina and Wilma and found the school board may have squandered millions of dollars, according to a report issued by the Department of Homeland Security this week.. “The School Board did not account for FEMA funds…
John Fry is facing John Howes in a runoff for a Broward County Judge right now, but ten years ago, that must have seemed like an impossibility. He had lost his job as a Margate cop and was facing criminal charges for, as the Miami Herald put it at the time, participating in…
