Updated below with comments from the investigator, Al Smith, who says “I think I’m being kicked out [of the union] because of my involvement in these cases.”Last week, we posted about public defenders and a circuit court judge complaining that Fort Lauderdale Police officers showed a disturbing habit of not…
I’ve watched only an episode-and-a-half of The Voice, NBC’s new prime-time singing competition, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full episode of America’s Next Semi-Talented Matinee Idol or whatever it’s called. Still, I’m writing this because NBCUniversal paid me I’ve been forced to sheepishly admit that The Voice…
A maddening story in the New York Times this morning about the House transportation bill has a Chicago placeline, but the real story is here in Florida. Specifically the seventh congressional district, which elected John Mica to Congress. This guy is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and…
We dropped by a fundraiser for Al Lamberti at Athena by the Sea, a Greek Restaurant at Commercial Boulevard and A1A that’s stuck in the same charming but bygone era as the rest of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. We wanted to personally ask for the same face-to-face interview we’ve gotten with the two…
A Riviera Beach woman is suing the city in federal court for an incident in December 2009 when she claims Riviera Beach Police officers grabbed her, accused her of being a mental patient, kicked down the door, unlawfully entered her home without a warrant, ripped off her pajama top, caused…
Hey, remember that ICE detention facility that prison contractor CCA is trying to build in a remote exclave of Southwest Ranches? Opponents of the project are still raising hell.For months, the people organizing the protests against the facility have been met with a rebuttal from town officials that it’s already…
We’re not sure what’s going on in Ireland these days, but it must be pretty boring, because the country’s largest bookmaker has drawn up extensive odds on who will be Rihanna’s next boyfriend.Paddy Power plc sent us a cheerful press release this morning with the title, “HE RI RI LIKES…
Riviera Beach activist Fane Lozman has been in a long legal battle with the city after Riviera Beach officials got the feds to seize and tow away the houseboat floating home* where he lived in a local marina.The towing, nearly three years ago, followed a previous trial in which a…
It’s not every day that policy experts and international financiers share a stage with a Florida pastor who has no qualms about saying homosexuality “makes God want to vomit.” But that was all part of the program on Saturday morning at the Rev. O’Neal Dozier’s Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano…
I don’t remember where I had my first Chipotle burrito, and that’s the point. I was too busy eating it. I do remember the careful ritual: peeling off rounds of foil, a quick visual examination followed by a dash of Tabasco. The first expectant bite, then another, then another. Setting…
Last week, Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein sent a letter (thanks, JAABlog) to Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler condemning “offensive, oppressive and highly questionable police tactics in predominately black neighborhoods within your city.”That includes arrests for what Finkelstein calls “walking while black” and hassling kids while “ladies of the night”…
Last year, Palm Beach County school district police sent rookie officers into schools to pose as students, eventually busting 30 kids, mostly for selling small amounts of drugs. The kids faced expulsion, and most were over 18 and would be charged as adults. There go the hopes and dreams. Thanks,…
As cities across the country face growing water shortages with the innovative idea of treating wastewater, then sending it back to the tap, probably the biggest hurdle is public perception. Media outlets certainly don’t help, exploiting the “toilet-to-tap” trope to raise the so-called “yuck factor” of this relatively desperate measure.Well,…
Along with agitated residents and the entire city government of Pembroke Pines, here’s another addition to the list of opponents to the planned immigration detention facility in Southwest Ranches: the local branch of the Sierra Club.The group released a formal resolution today opposing the construction of the roughly 1,500-bed facility…
We’re interviewing candidates in the race for Broward County Sheriff. So far, that means Scott Israel, this guy, and incumbent Sheriff Al Lamberti (who has not accepted an interview request)…
Most (male) Mitt Romney supporters have probably stumbled across an ad for AdultFriendFinder.com (NSFW) at one point or another, though they might not admit it. But now there’s another connection, between Friend Finder Networks and the likely Republican contender.Chairman of the Board Daniel Staton has reportedly donated $2,500 to Romney’s…
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO) is one of the largest sheriff’s departments in the country. It provides law enforcement, firefighting, and emergency medical services to areas across the county as well as other services like corrections and parole supervision. Sheriff Al Lamberti is facing two declared contenders in the…
This year’s legislative session has issued its first blow to Florida gambling, roundly rejecting the proposed “destination casinos” like the one Malaysian company Genting wanted to build on Biscayne Bay.So we’re left with the current situation: Indian casinos like the Seminole Hard Rock, and the pari-mutuels: strange old bastions of…
The Pembroke Pines City Commission may have spent years quietly voting in support of the development of CCA’s proposed immigration detention facility in Southwest Ranches (read our feature here), but now the commission is going full steam ahead with vocally opposing its construction.This is largely in response to public sentiment…
We told you last week that Broward County has broken ground on a $791 million runway expansion at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International that will send planes up a six-story ramp over Federal Highway and the FEC tracks.In tandem with that project, Terminal 4 (home to Spirit Airlines, as well as flights…
If Uncle Earl has been coming around and causing trouble recently, it might be because he was kicked out of the casino for card counting, stealing, or other stupid behavior. Wouldn’t it be great to see a list of everyone who was excluded from the state’s casinos in recent years?Florida’s…
Welcome back to “Holy Crap, That’s Big,” our blog series in which we look at humongous things going up in South Florida and the people behind them. Let this blog post serve as official notice that we are going to spend a lot of time puzzling over this huge pile…
