Last month, the Florida Legislature passed a landmark plan to privatize nearly all of the prisons in the southern part of the state, including those in Broward and Palm Beach counties. The bill was a thinly veiled stimulus package for the private prison industry, which last year gave nearly $1…
Beware, collegiate science nerds: Just when you thought it was safe to spend the summer watching “Project Runway” and exploring the effects of medical marijuana, a new threat has emerged. Activists with the radical animal rights group Negotiation is Over are launching a new campaign to target budding doctors and…
Monthly Statement* $21.95 — Xfinity TV$54.95 — Xfinity Performance Plus Internet $6.12 — Digital starter (We have no idea what this does.) $1.74 — State communications tax $17.98 — Broward County corruption tax$64.23 — Tax for electing Rick Scott$11.13– FPL rate hike$39.84 — Subsidy for first season of “Outsourced”$79.81 –…
For women who want their junk to look like Barbie’s, the world of plastic surgery offers a plethora of options.Any intimate part can be enlarged, removed, enhanced, or reduced. According to an article in this month’s Atlantic magazine, cosmetic vaginal surgery is a growing trend, increasingly offered by gynecologists looking…
Some lucky bidder paid $200 for 14 pairs of Bernie Madoff’s boxers at a government auction this weekend at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The undies were confiscated from the Ponzi schemer’s Palm Beach mansion and sold by the U.S. Marshals Service, along with his prescription eyeglasses, antique golf clubs,…
This week’s New Times cover story is an in-depth look at Strax Rejuvenation and Aesthetics Institute, a popular plastic surgery center in Lauderhill where four patients have died after operations in the past three years.Strax officials say their mortality rate is in line with the national average, since their board-certified doctors…
News at Florida’s juvenile detention centers has not been good lately. At some state-run facilities, teenagers are allegedly being doped up on anti-psychotic drugs to control their behavior. At Thompson Academy, a privately run lockup in Pembroke Pines, the owners have settled a federal lawsuit alleging that a teenaged boy…
UPDATE: Strax Rejuvenation responded after publication of this story, insisting that discount prices do not translate to a lower standard of care. In March 2012 a 50-year-old grandmother named Idell Frazer became the fifth Strax patient to die in eight years. Her doctor was John Nees, whose medical license had…
Let’s get one thing clear: I’m still angry with LeBron James. I think he’s arrogant, immature, and full of an inflated sense of importance that was, ironically, fed by years of hero worship in his hometown of Cleveland. His decision to use a nationally televised ESPN special to snub that…
Maybe Esther Scott was tickled by New Times’ Mother’s Day letter. Maybe she caught a glimpse of her son’s dismal approval rating. Or maybe some GOP head honcho cried so hard that she took pity. For whatever reason, Rick Scott’s mom is once again campaigning for her son, the Lex…
Ending a seven-month legal battle that raised questions about living conditions at private juvenile prisons, the teenagers who alleged they were physically and sexually abused at the Thompson Academy in Pembroke Pines have reached a settlement with the owners of the for-profit lockup.A federal class-action lawsuit, filed last October by…
Yesterday, Democrat Kathy Hochul won a closely watched special congressional election in a heavily Republican district in western New York. Why should Sunshine State voters care? Democrats are spinning Hochul’s upset victory as evidence that voters — even those in traditionally GOP areas — don’t like the Republican plan to…
Read part one and part two of our Allen West interview. New Times: You’ve shown a strong interest in Israel and Israeli politics. My understanding is that you do not favor the two-state solution. Allen West: You mean creation of a Palestinian state? When has there ever been a Palestinian…
Click here to read the first installment of Broward-Palm Beach New Times’ interview with Congressman Allen West. Click here to read the second installment of Allen West, Uncut. Click here to read the final installment of Allen West, Uncut. The light is dim and smoky inside the Veterans of Foreign…
Read the full Allen West interview here.New Times: Let’s talk about the Ryan budget [introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin)], which you supported in the House. [This proposal was passed by the House and at presstime was awaiting a vote in the Senate, although House leaders were already backpedaling their…
The light is dim and smoky inside the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8182 in Pompano Beach. Red, white, and blue slogans brighten the low walls and ceilings, urging patrons to “Thank a Vet” and to remember “Freedom Is Not Free.” At the far end of the small, bunker-sized room,…
Our friends in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and California are now benefiting from the questionable fiscal decisions of Florida’s Tea Party governor. They’re receiving a large portion of the $2.4 billion in federal funds for a high-speed train that would have connected Tampa and Orlando. Rick Scott rejected the money…
Dear Esther Scott,Last year, when your son was running for governor, your lovely, white-haired mug appeared on television screens frequently in Florida. You told your fellow citizens how you raised little Rick in public housing, and he grew up, bought a doughnut shop, and “gave his mom a job.” “He’s…
The 14-year-old boy who filed a lawsuit alleging he was twice sexually assaulted by a counselor at the Thompson Academy juvenile detention center last year was a willing participant in the encounters, lawyers for the Pembroke Pines center allege.In court documents, the defendants say that the boy, identified only as…
Osama Bin Laden has been dead for less than 48 hours, and already the victory has gone to U.S. Rep. Allen West’s head. As a retired Army lieutenant colonel who built much of his hard-right political career on his military record, he made a very odd, liberal-sounding suggestion in this…
The new Publix opened today in downtown Lake Worth, and I could not wait to check it out. Finally, instead of driving west of I-95 for a decent loaf of bread, I could walk to a place in the neighborhood, like they do in real cities! I ambled over to…
Boynton Beach’s most shameless newlyweds are in court this week, as Dalia Dippolito goes to trial for allegedly plotting to have her husband, Michael, killed. (Read New Times’ cover story on the case for all the juicy details.)Yesterday, Dalia’s attorney presented a strange opening argument, saying that the murder-for-hire plot…
