Buju Banton Hires Chokwe Lumumba as New Attorney

Incarcerated reggae star Buju Banton has switched attorneys and hired Chokwe Lumumba to continue his fight against federal drug and gun charges. A Tampa jury found Buju guilty last year of two drug-related charges and a gun charge. The trial judge, however, tossed the gun charge and sentenced the musician to…

DEP’s Jeff Littlejohn Violating Federal Clean Water Act, Says PEER Complaint

Jeff Littlejohn, the No. 2 man at Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, is in violation of conflict-of-interest clauses contained within the federal Clean Water Act, according to a complaint filed with the Environmental Protection Agency.The complaint, submitted by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, is the latest in a string of…

Dolphin’s Owner Stephen Ross Donates $130K To Romney, RNC and Super Pacs

Go long, Mittens. Miami Dolphin’s owner Stephen Ross has thrown down $133,000 in donations to support the Romney campaign. A $100,000 of that has gone to the Restore Our Future super pac, while the remainder was divvied up among Romney, the Republican National Committee, the Republican National Congressional Committee, and the Free and Strong America…

Michelle Obama To Visit Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday

On Wednesday, First Lady Michelle Obama will visit Fort Lauderdale to rile up the masses and push the campaign’s newly minted “It Takes One” voter registration strategy. She’s slated to speak at the War Memorial Museum on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. It’s a free event, but you’ll need to get tickets from Organizing…

Buju Banton’s Attorney Asks Judge to Reconsider Denying New Trial

Updated at 3:10 p.m.: Judge James Moody has denied the request detailed below.Buju Banton’s legal team on Thursday filed a motion requesting that Judge James Moody reconsider his recent decision to deny the reggae star a new trial on a gun charge. It’s the latest development in a complicated tussle…

Urban Sprawl Kills Endangered Florida Panthers

Marc Criffield clutches a small receiver in his hand and peers through the window of a single-engine Cessna. Suddenly, the device lets out an electric chirp. A second later, another chirp, and then another. Criffield has pinpointed FP197, a burly 4-and-a-half-year-old panther in the prime of its life. But something…

Largest Burmese Python Found in Everglades Measures 17 Feet, Has 87 Eggs Inside

See also “Feds Likely to Face Face Legal Battle Over Burmese Python Ban” and “Are Burmese Pythons Slithering, Destructive Force?”The University of Florida announced a startling discovery Monday: A 17-foot-7-inch Burmese python had been pulled from the Everglades. The record-setting reptile weighed 165 pounds and was “about a foot wide.”Worst…

Florida Sponges Rebounding; What Killed Them Remains A Mystery

See also “Mystery-Sponge Killing Disease Now Seen From Palm Beach to Keys” and “Sponges in Palm Beach Hit By Disease”Earlier this year, a mystery ailment ravaged sponges off the coast of Florida, from the Keys up to Palm Beach. Scientists became alarmed as reports rolled in of massive barrel sponges…

Did You Know MIA Has a Quarantine Station?

Picture this: A flight with passengers from Uganda just touched down at Miami International Airport. As the visitors inch toward the terminal, one pauses in the aisle and wipes a speck of blood from his earlobe. Suddenly sweat runs down his cheeks; his eyes are inky red. He lets out…

Judge Denies Buju Banton’s Request for New Trial

Federal Judge James Moody on Tuesday denied Buju Banton’s request for a new trial. In his decision, the judge wrote that there is no need for a new trial in light of an Atlanta appeals court’s ruling that there was sufficient evidence to convict the reggae star on a gun…

DREAM Activists to Be Released From Broward Detention Center

Updated Sunday, August 5: The National Immigrant Youth Alliance announced that Viridiana Martinez, Marco Saavedra, Ally Ruiz, and Daniel Alvarado — all DREAM activists — were arrested on Sunday. Martinez and Saavedra had just been released on Friday. “ICE wasn’t taking us serious so we needed to show them that this community is no longer…

Colony Collapse Disorder: Can BeesFree Save the World’s Bees?

Back in 2006, researchers from the University of Florida described for the first time a cryptic phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, through which massive amounts of worker bees vanished.The problem has since been documented around the world. Everyone from esteemed entomologists to armchair scientists to crazy conspiracy theorists have…