The Sun-Sentinel covered the hell out of the Wasserstrom verdict today, with a front-page piece by John Holland, a story about the jury’s decision by Ihosvani Rodriguez, and a perspective-inducing column by Michael Mayo. The Miami Herald? Well, I could spend a lot of time dissecting the horrendous coverage by…

Joel T. Lazarus is a powerful guy. He isn’t just a Broward Circuit judge; he’s also a jury. And on Monday, he single-handedly did more to damage anticorruption efforts in his county than just about any man ever has. Lazarus is the judge in the corruption trial against Keith Wasserstrom,…

When sentencing time comes for Keith Wasserstrom, Hollywood Mayor Mara Giulianti should be standing there beside him, awaiting her set of silver bracelets. Giulianti’s son, Stacey, was right beside Wasserstrom trying to profit on the sewage company — and under the law that’s just the same as if it was…

Sarah Prohaska of the Palm Beach Post writes about a crime that could add ammunition to both the anti-gun and anti-video game crowds. Before 16-year-old Jacob Brighton gunned down both of his parents in their Fort Pierce home, he spent part of the day playing True Crime New York City,…

Justice is served. What started as an investigative column in the New Times is now part of Broward County history: The jury found Keith Wasserstrom guilty on two counts of official misconduct, felonies punishable by up to five years in prison. I had predicted they would come back with not…

Well, the jury spent three hours (Sentinel reported 2.5 hours, Herald reported 3.5, and I wasn’t there, so I’m going down the middle) deliberating on the four official misconduct charges remaining against Keith Wasserstrom before taking a break until tomorrow morning. Boy, Judge Joel Lazarus must be smart. He made…

I’m hearing rumors from good sources that journalist Jim DeFede, the veteran Miami reporter who is no longer doing his radio show on WINZ, is headed to … WFTL-850, which is based in Broward County. The 50,000-watt signal stretches from Fort Pierce to Key West, so all you folks who…

Judge Joel Lazarus threw out Count 1 — the unlawful compensation felony charge, the meat of the case — against Keith Wasserstrom. In a directed verdict, he granted the defense’s motion to toss the charge because it was “circumstantial” and “speculative.” I asked the judge afterward if he knew about…

Marc Craig Epstein was all set for a great senior year Stoneman Douglas, with a brand new car, a beautiful girlfriend, and a crew of friends. He apparently spent a year off at boarding school getting his shit straight — but all it took was one mistake. These stories always…

Well, I caused a stir with my little D. James Kennedy satire. And, in the name of Jim Naugle, I want to apologize for it. I apologize because it was rushed and should have been much funnier. Overall, it’s a clunker composition-wise and I hope you’ll forgive me for that…

The Sentinel’s Mike Stocker wins Pulp Photo of the Week Award. The Miami Herald’s Todd Wright has proven himself a good reporter, but he got it dead wrong about the Keith Wasserstrom corruption trial in a big way this morning. On a day featuring two star witnesses in the trial…

According to sources close to the prince of darkness, the late Rev. D. James Kennedy, of Coral Ridge Power Hour fame, has been assigned a key position in hell. “He’s going to make a great addition and we’ve already made room for him,” one of Satan’s lieutenants reported to the…

The house, set back off a private country road in Davie and ensconced in old palms and high-reaching tropical vegetation, has a Sunset Boulevard feel to it. Its dual chimneys seem as if they come from another time and place. The water in the junior Olympic-sized swimming pool is stagnant…

Jim DeFede’s year-long stint as the morning guy with 940 WINZ is over, sources tell me. It’s not clear what happened, but his contract has expired, and rumors are aloft that he’s going to another station. I spoke with DeFede, but he wouldn’t talk about what may or may not…

John DeGroot has covered Ken Jenne as a reporter and worked under him as a trusted aide, until the PowerTrac debacle ripped them apart. Here is DeGroot’s take on King Ken’s fall and his similarities — and, more strikingly, differences — with another political giant in these parts, Bob Butterworth:…

After all the sturm and drang, it comes down to nickels and dimes. That’s what brought down Sheriff Ken Jenne, a pathetic attempt to obtain and hide twenty or thirty stinking thousand dollars and keep secret other cash and assets from the IRS. His moonlighting, which prompted the feds to…

Miami Herald wins the race to post it. Read it here. UPDATE: It’s on Sentinel site. Maybe I didn’t hit refresh — so not positive who really won that race. UPDATE: Okay, it’s final. Miami Herald was the first to get the Jenne story online. I’ve seen the timelines and…

We don’t know what happened when two men were killed by a Pembroke Pines police cruiser early Monday morning, but the PD was surely negligent in informing the family. The Sun-Sentinel’s Akilah Johnson and Brian Haas led with how the family was notified: Mary Cruz awoke Monday morning to police…

The Miami Herald’s Dan Christensen (with an assist from Amy Sherman) writes about another conflict of interest involving Stacy Ritter and her lobbyist-husband Russ Klenet, this one involving her vote on the notorious ES&S voting machine contract. It’s a solid story that has the goods, though it totally lacks context,…

In his column in Ocean Drive this month, Brett Sokol profiles developer David Edelstein, who was part of a group that in 2005 bought about 10 acres surrounding the Miami Herald for $190 million. It really does seem only a matter of time that the Herald relocates. Here’s a key…

This here is a most interesting story in the Broward Times by Elgin Jones about a a top South Florida building official with criminal past. And not just any crime — like violent shit involving bomb threats and hired muscle. That’s James E. Sennello, the chief building official for the…

After reading this about a fatal wrong-way collision on I-95 this morning, I was reminded of one of my son’s football coach’s instructions to the players: “If you’re going at somebody, don’t slow down, because he’ll run right through you. It’s like two cars in a head-on.” The words struck…