Email Author Michael E. Miller

2011 Stories by Michael E. Miller

• Mercy Hospital Eliminating Meds-for-the-Poor Program on March 15 Due to HCA Deal

  published Feb 11, 2011

  Rick Scott may have moved on, but his ol' employer is the same as ever.Barely a week after Scott's former company -- the for-profit hospital giant HCA -- signed an agreement to buy Mercy Hospital, the... More >>

• SEC Accuses Miami 'Penny-Stock' Promoters of Fraud

  published Feb 10, 2011

  Beware of what you see here in the Magic City: very little is real. The boobsr Nope. Those lipsr Collagen-enhanced. Even that sweet Lamborghini is just a rental. We all know you ended up with the Dats... More >>

• Starlite Hotel Finally Pays Employees Following Riptide Article

  published Feb 09, 2011

  Three months ago Riptide reported that the Starlite Hotel on Ocean Drive was under investigation for bilking its employees. Now ex-Starlite employees say the hotel has finally coughed up the cash."We ... More >>

• Whistleblower sues insurance company for shady practices

  published February 10, 2011

  Anyone who has ever insured anything — a car, a house, or, if you're JLo, a sumptuously rotund rump — knows that insurance... More >>

• Susan Varela Sues Argus Fire & Casualty Insurance, Claims Company Canned Her for Blowing Whistle on Shady Operations

  published Feb 07, 2011

  Anyone who has ever insured anything -- a car, a house, or, if you're J.Lo, a sumptuously rotund rump -- knows that insurance companies are about as trustworthy as automobile salesmen: You had better ... More >>

• Local Haitian Community Riled By Deportations: 13 from Miami Deported, 1 Dead

  published Feb 04, 2011

  They are all but nameless, at least for now. Of the 27 Haitians deported to Port-au-Prince late last month by the Obama administration, only one's name has been publicly released -- and that was becau... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Updated: Confusion Over Haitian Deportations After Victim's Fiance Blames US Gov For Death

  published Feb 03, 2011

  Between sobs, Haitian-American Claudine Magloire accused the U.S. government of responsibility in the death of her late fiance, Wildrick Guerrier.Guerrier was deported to Haiti on January 20 despite c... More >>

• Florida Avoids HIV Medication Crisis: Welvista Agrees to Provide Free Drugs Until April 1

  published Feb 02, 2011

  Roughly a week before Florida was set to exhaust all funding for its life-saving AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), non-profit pharmacy Welvista has agreed to help the cash-strapped state by providi... More >>

• Kids starve themselves for salvation at Trinity Church

  published February 3, 2011

  Trinity Church smells like a high school locker room: all sweat and perfume. It's Tuesday night and at least 1,000 young Miamians —... More >>

• Jaime Bayly is dying

  published February 3, 2011

  Jaime Bayly's Mega TV studio is a sparse, alien world. A pair of solitary white chairs sits on a slightly elevated stage. Two freshly poured... More >>

• Jaime Bayly May Have Left His Cocaine Days Behind, But He's Still Addicted to Chaos

  published Feb 01, 2011

  Every time Peruvian talk show host Jaime Bayly's life starts to settle down, things go haywire.When he made it big in Peru, Alberto Fujimori staged an autogolpe. As soon as he moved to Colombia, secre... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Trinity Church Members Nearing End of 40-Day Fast for Jesus

  published Jan 31, 2011

  So you go to church every Christmas and Easter, do your Or perhaps you dress up in your Sunday best and tag along with grandma once a month. Maybe you even go every week, although the fact that you're... More >>

• AIDS Funding for Poor Floridians Set to Run-Out in Two Weeks

  published Jan 28, 2011

  Florida's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) runs out in two weeks. The problem is, new funding doesn't kick-in until April. That shortfall has left legislators and activists scrambling to secure ext... More >>

• Yasiel Balaguer, 18-Year-Old Cuban Baseball Defector, Trying Out for Seattle Mariners

  published Jan 26, 2011

  According to his agents, 18-year-old Cuban baseball prodigy Yasiel Balaguer will have his second tryout with a Major League Team this week when scouts for the Seattle Mariners watch the right-handed p... More >>

• New World Center is Kick-Ass Architecture, But Performance Hall Comes Across as Tacky

  published Jan 26, 2011

  By now, it's well established that the New World Center is a pretty kick-ass piece of architecture. Frank Gehry's latest work has enchanted critics the world over with its restrained exterior and biza... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Futuristic New World Symphony Hall Opens, But Frank Gehry Still Pissed About "Politics" Behind It

  published Jan 25, 2011

  After several years of construction and more than a few public spats over the project, the New World Center is now officially open for business in Miami Beach. The futuristic building will house the N... More >>

• Casablanca Hotel's kitty killings

  published January 27, 2011

  The scene behind Casablanca Hotel on Collins Avenue at 63rd Street seems normal enough at first. South American tourists meander from the patio... More >>

• Casablanca Hotel Caught Trapping Miami Beach Cats, At Least Eight Euthanized

  published Jan 24, 2011

  Since when did Miami become the Guantanamo Bay Prison of the animal kingdomr First there were puppy mills in Liberty City, then outrage over questionable conditions at Miami-Dade Animal Services. Now ... More >>

• Rick Scott Ends Twitter Town Hall As Soon As He's Called a "Jackass"

  published Jan 21, 2011

  Yesterday, Rick Scott fired up the ol' Interwebs and announced his first inaugural "Twitter Town Hall." Surprise, surprise! He's just as evasive 140 characters at a time as he is in real time.Even sti... More >>

• George N. Gibson is Bringing Gay-Friendly, Old Timey Pentecostalism to Miami

  published Jan 19, 2011

  George N. Gibson has a dream. That one day all Miamians -- gay and straight, HIV-positive and -negative, black and white -- will attend church together in old timey clothes, speak directly to the Lord... More >>

• Jack B. Thompson, Disbarred Porn & Video Game Opponent, Now Enrolled in Virtual Seminary

  published Jan 18, 2011

  John "Jack" B. Thompson, the Coral Gables attorney disbarred in 2008 for -- among other things -- sending swastikas, gay porn, and pictures of gavel-wielding kangaroos to the state supreme court, is n... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  New York Times Makes it Official: Miami is Once Again Bat-Sh*t Crazy

  published Jan 14, 2011

  Sometimes Riptide feels as if it's talking to itself. Like Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys, we yell at people about all the crazy crap going on around us but to little avail.So imagine our surprise when we fl... More >>

• Archbishop Wenski to Deliver Mass Tonight to Commemorate One Year Anniversary of Deadly Haiti Earthquake

  published Jan 12, 2011

  At 4:53 p.m. this afternoon, the church bells of St. Mary's Cathedral will ring out over Little Haiti and the rest of Miami. Sadly, the occasion won't be a wedding but the remembrance of the deadly 7.... More >>

• Audio: Jack Horkheimer Admits to Taping Phone Calls, Offers to 'Help' Alleged Sexual Abuse Victim 'Out of His Trouble'

  published Jan 11, 2011

  For 44 years, Jack Horkheimer was the face of the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium. With his quirky five-minute Star Gazer spots on WPBT2, he was also an avuncular TV host beloved by children a... More >>

• Jack Horkeimer, besieged by sex complaint, dies

  published January 13, 2011

  On a sweltering June afternoon, the sun beats down on a dingy faux-Frank Lloyd Wright house in upscale Pinecrest. A jungle of untrimmed trees... More >>