We can probably all agree that pill mill doctors — physicians accused of acting like Pez dispensers for high-powered pain meds — should be legally accountable for their actions. But if a doctor’s patient ODs, should the doctor head to death row? This week, local prosecutors filed paperwork indicating they…
Look, it’s always funny to see some backwoods Florida legislator publicly torch his or her credibility with an off-handed, unscripted remark. But then there are comments that are just whack, James Tracy-ish bullsh*t. State Rep Neil Combee stepped up to the plate and delivered the latter on Twitter yesterday The…
Police in Fort Lauderdale responding to a domestic call at a South Federal Highway motel were handed a bonus prize this weekend: a small-scale meth lab. The cops were called to the Relax Inn yesterday, where apparently no measure of relaxation was going on (FALSE ADVERTISING?). A women and two…
A pack of angry gay strippers ain’t nothing to mess around with. That’s the takeaway from the story Miss Stonewall 2013 is telling right now. The woman handed top honors at this year’s Stonewall Summer Pride event in Wilton Manors says she was just trying to enjoy a night out…
When we were diving into the world of fortuneteller fraud for a feature story earlier this year, what hit us over the head as incredible was how often scammers would simply use the same schtick on the victims. Every scam had a similar textbook pattern, down to the types of…
A Palm Beach County family went public yesterday with ugly allegations of sexual abuse at West Palm Hospital. According to a lawsuit recently filed in circuit court, a troubled 9-year-old boy voluntarily submitted to the facility for psychological observation was abused by a hospital staffer known as “Mr. Dan.” If…
Up in West Palm Beach today, a rare legal case is about to unfold in US Federal court: a fortunetelling fraud trial. Rose Marks, the 62-year-old matriarch of a large local gypsy family, is accused to bilking around $25 million dollars over twenty years from a handful of clients. Although…
South Florida news junkies can rest easy: the Koch Brothers are not going to buy the Sun-Sentinel. After a handful of months stuffed with speculation, the hard-liners from the right wing have reportedly given up on the idea of purchasing the Tribune Co., citing concerns about whether the dead tree…
A fraternity at Florida International University has been booted from campus for some grade-A frat-tastic behavior. Via our sister paper Miami New Times, the school’s chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha has come under fire after the group’s private Facebook page went public. Posts showed members openly talking about dealing drugs…
On a blue, sun-soaked Saturday in December 2007, Valerie Parkhurst’s white Suburban took the asphalt at a purposeful creep past the blocks of modest ranch homes between Griffin Road and 595. The city of Davie was still blue-collar at the core, but the edges were going. Here, you’d see an…
In this week’s print edition of New Times, you’ll find a feature story on the warring opinions over Florida’s sex offender registry. It’s also not the only piece of journalism around town this week diving into the issue. Over the last three days the Sun-Sentinel has dropped a large-scale investigation…
“I really don’t feel like I live the life of a typical sex offender,” Damian Garcia said on a recent evening on the back patio of his house in Lake Worth. With his small frame crumbled in a deck chain, the 31-year-old hispanic guy puffs on an electronic cigarette while…
Let’s be honest: the political scene in this state is hurting. A real snoresville. Gone are the Tea Party glory days for 2010. Back then, any given morning might start with an outrageous comment or crime against human decency thanks to a Florida elected official. A lot of that stemmed…
Yesterday, one of the truly batshit crazy/sad stories of would-be domestic murder broke out in South Florida after police broadcast the arrest of Jason Simione. The 39-year-old Dania Beach man was taken into custody after allegedly trying to sic Salvadoran hit men on his own estranged wife and baby. Throw…
This month, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a hefty report on the worse governors in America. And yup, no news flash here, Rick Scott made the short list for the barrel’s bottom. CREW picked six governors as the worst of the worst, a distinction Scott…
This week, an attorney from the Broward Public Defender mailed a letter to the state alleging misconduct at a Pembroke Pines lockdown facility for mentally troubled girls. Among the allegations laid out were troubling practices of physical and chemical restraint, as well as an instance inside the facility when a…
It’s a big fat understatement to say it’s been a tough week for Dirty Blondes. Ever since video leaked of the Fort Lauderdale beach bar’s security delivering a vicious Rodney King-style slamming to patrons, the establishment has been fielding a lot of ill will. Nowhere is that more evident than…
The fierce arm-wrestling between Palm Beach County moneybags Paul D. Pope and his mother Lois looks like it’s cooled down — at least for the time being. Since March, mother and son have been squabbling over what’s left of the family fortune built off the proceeds of the National Enquirer,…
Scribbled into the DNA of every person born beneath the Mason-Dixon line is a simple credo: thou shall love Cracker Barrel. This creates a lot of regional confusion for those of us born in more civilized parts of the country (this writer included) because, really, cool rocking chairs aside, Cracker…
For the past year, a pastor at a Boca Raton church has been serving up the good word from the pulpit while higher-ups in the faith look into allegations that he was sexually involved with a teenager in the 1980s. Kirk A. McCormick has been a pastor for the past…
It’s hard to hang onto a reporter’s notebook when a pro dominatrix is smacking your ass. That’s the lesson Scary Mary Santa is literally hammering into a visitor touring her new Fort Lauderdale dungeon. She’s showing off her St. Andrew’s cross, a domination rack where willing slaves (and reluctant reporters)…
It’s hard to hang onto a reporter’s notebook when a pro dominatrix is smacking your ass. That’s the lesson Scary Mary Santa is literally hammering into a visitor touring her new Fort Lauderdale dungeon. She’s showing off her Saint Andrew’s Cross, a domination rack where willing slaves (and reluctant reporters)…
