Email Author Francisco Alvarado

Awards

• 2011 - The Green Eyeshade Excellence in Journalism Awards/Atlanta SPJ, published July 8, 2010

  "Death Row"

• 2010 - Better Weekly Newspaper Awards/Florida Press Association, published September 3, 2009

  "On the Level"

• 2010 - Better Weekly Newspaper Awards/Florida Press Association, published October 15, 2009

  "Work It, Jerry!"

• 2010 - Better Weekly Newspaper Awards/Florida Press Association, published September 17, 2009

  "Baby Got Fatback!"

• 2010 - Sunshine State Awards/South Florida Society of Professional Journalists, published September 3, 2009

  "On the Level"

• 2009 - Education Reporting Awards/National Education Writers Association, published May 1, 2008

  "F-School Bomb"

• 2009 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published October 30, 2008

  "Voter Fraud Ahead"

• 2009 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published May 22, 2008

  "Burn, Baby, Burn"

• 2009 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published May 8, 2008

  "Killers in the Can"

• 2009 - The Green Eyeshade Excellence in Journalism Awards/Atlanta SPJ, published January 10, 2008

  "Wet Foot, Dusty Foot"

• 2009 - The Green Eyeshade Excellence in Journalism Awards/Atlanta SPJ, published October 23, 2008

  "Dead Weight"

• 2009 - The Green Eyeshade Excellence in Journalism Awards/Atlanta SPJ, published May 1, 2008

  "The F-School Bomb"

• 2009 - Better Weekly Newspaper Awards/Florida Press Association, published May 1, 2008

  "The F-School Bomb"

• 2009 - Sunshine State Awards/South Florida Society of Professional Journalists, published September 11, 2008

  "Missing Peace"

• 2009 - Sunshine State Awards/South Florida Society of Professional Journalists, published December 11, 2008

  "No Fear"

• 2008 - Better Weekly Newspaper Awards/Florida Press Association, published August 2, 2007

  "Bad Apple"

• 2006 - The Green Eyeshade Excellence in Journalism Awards/Atlanta SPJ, published January 27, 2005

  "Crack Kills"

More

2009 Stories by Francisco Alvarado

• Let me get this straight

  published Mar 24, 2009

  So at around the 7:04 p.m. mark of the Miami-Dade County Commission's nine-hour bull session to approve the Florida Miami Marlins' new stadium, Commissioner Sally Heyman posed a rather simple busines... More >>

• Say No to the Stadium

  published Mar 23, 2009

  Today the Miami-Dade County Commission will vote to build the Florida Marlins a new stadium. Or not. I hope they don't. This deal is such a stinker I don't know how Mayor Carlos Alvarez, the stadium'... More >>

• That's a Wrap

  published March 19, 2009

  Airplane fear can make a lot of money. Just ask the folks at Secure Wrap of Miami, who raked in $7 million for swathing suitcases in a... More >>

• Unequal Justice

  published March 19, 2009

  On the fifth floor of the Federal Detention Center in Miami, a short and stocky inmate stood sweeping the floor. Her name was Shonda... More >>

• Chuck Rules, Bill Bites

  published Mar 17, 2009

  Today Bill Cooke at Random Pixels took a shot at New Times and editorial jefe Chuck Strouse. He wrote: I used to love Miami New Times. When I lived in Coconut Grove I knew where the paper was deliver... More >>

• Organic hipness

  published Mar 15, 2009

  When Banana Republican is not out trolling the streets of Miami in search of corrupt politicians, inept bureaucrats, scoundrels, outlaws and other riff-raff that deserve exposing, I like to check out ... More >>

• Inspect no commissioners or the mayor

  published Mar 12, 2009

  This past March 4, the Miami-Dade County Inspector General's Office announced it had nailed a county vendor falsifying his insurance paperwork in order to get a county contract. Thanks to the inspect... More >>

• Welcome to the USSR

  published March 12, 2009

  In Biscayne Park, the village council enjoys taking steps to ensure the residents don't mess up their enclave's rustic appeal — even if... More >>

• George Burgess needs another vacay - a permanent one

  published Mar 10, 2009

  Okay I just finished reading the Miami Herald's latest report on the Florida Marlins stadium boondoggle and Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess needs to call it quits. Seriously. There comes a p... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Marlins Balk in Overtown

  published Mar 10, 2009

  Recently, I noted the Florida Marlins were in desperate need of a good closer to seal the deal in the team's decade long quest for a new ball park. Well, they have an opportunity to get themselves one... More >>

• North Bay Village = Quid Pro Quo

  published Mar 09, 2009

  ... More >>

• County Manager George Burgess Vacations Despite Fragile Deal

  published March 5, 2009

  With the $630 million Florida Marlins stadium deal teetering on collapse, one would think the agreement's chief architect would be around to... More >>

• Marlins Deal Kaputr

  published Feb 27, 2009

  The Florida Marlins are in desperate need of a great closer. Someone who can seal the deal with the Miami City Commission and the Miami-Dade County Commission over the team's sweetheart $630 million ... More >>

• Odebrecht Is Portuguese for "Big Money Donor"

  published Feb 20, 2009

  For the past two days, I've noted all the work Miami-Dade County awards Brazilian engineering and construction firm Odebrecht. Despite a history of completing jobs behind schedule and over budget, th... More >>

• Odebrecht Is Portuguese For "Behind Schedule"

  published Feb 18, 2009

  For more than 10 years, Brazilian-based construction firm Odebrecht has made tons of money from Miami-Dade County public works projects. If anything, the company is consistent...at completing jobs beh... More >>

• Scarface Comes Home

  published February 19, 2009

  Madonna mia! Mobster Al Capone, who died 62 years ago in his palace on Palm Island, has a gay grandson. So claims Chris Knight Capone,... More >>

• Odebrecht Is Portuguese for "Pay More"

  published Feb 17, 2009

  Imagine you hire a contractor to build your house. And that contractor goes over budget, continually misses deadlines, and then tries to charge you more for it. Logic dictates you wouldn't hire that c... More >>

• Bill Perry III at the Center of Questionable Deals

  published February 12, 2009

  William "Bill" Perry III is the consummate insider. Once head of the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority and a county mayoral candidate, he... More >>

• Radar Love on the Miami-Dade PD

  published February 12, 2009

  What if the guy investigating bad cops broke the rules? Miami-Dade Police Maj. Donald Rifkin recently lost his job overseeing internal... More >>

• Internal Affairs = Sexual Harrassment

  published Feb 06, 2009

  Donald Rifkin, a former Miami-Dade police major accused of trying to exchange sensitive information about internal affairs cases in exchange for sex from a female cop, is no longer investigating coun... More >>

• When Internal Affairs Gets Too Cozy

  published Feb 02, 2009

  The Florida Department of Law Enforcement recently ended an investigation into the onetime commander of the Miami-Dade Police Department's internal affairs unit, concluding Donald Rifkin was hoping t... More >>

• Airport Director Sets Record Straight

  published Jan 28, 2009

  Yesterday, I blogged about Secure Wrap of Miami's eight year lock on a Miami International Airport contract to wrap travelers' luggage in a cellophane-type material to deter theft of personal items. ... More >>

• South Dade Arts Center Behind Schedule

  published January 29, 2009

  Miami-Dade County just can't get it right. In 2006, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts opened more than two years behind... More >>

• Secure No Morer

  published Jan 27, 2009

  Turns out Miami International Airport bureaucrats aren't so lazy, just a bit slow at fostering competition. Earlier today, I wrote about the Miami-Dade Aviation Department's reluctance to competitive... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Secure Monopoly

  published Jan 27, 2009

  Owing to the laziness of Transportation Security Administration and Miami-Dade County Aviation Department bureacrats, a company with a lucrative venture at Miami International Airport won't be gettin... More >>