Email Author Rebecca Wakefield

2004 Stories by Rebecca Wakefield

• Galvanizing City Hall

  published December 23, 2004

  Miami Mayor Manny Diaz is considering the idea of changing the city charter to a strong-mayor form of government, which would essentially combine... More >>

• A Small Office, Still Elusive

  published December 23, 2004

  "Dear executive committee members, I stand before you now not as a fellow elected member, but as a daughter. I ask you to help me save my father,... More >>

• Hot for Teachers

  published December 9, 2004

  Miami-Dade public school teachers have been contemplating who should lead their union, the United Teachers of Dade. The choice came down to former... More >>

• Commissioner Who?

  published November 4, 2004

  Jeffery Allen, the City of Miami's newest commissioner, has only been in office since October 1, when he was appointed to the seat by three of his... More >>

• Rage Against the Machines

  published September 23, 2004

  Lida Rodriguez-Taseff was trying to grab a quick lunch on September 11, 2002, when Keith Hartley cornered her in the Pollo Tropical downtown. He... More >>

• The Kids Aren't All Right

  published September 16, 2004

  You think you know all about the local education system -- the politics, the money crunch, the learning gaps. But schools are not mere hatcheries... More >>

• The Teele Conspiracy

  published September 2, 2004

  The arrest last week of Miami Commissioner Art Teele on assault charges following a wild car chase brought to a climactic close one more scene in... More >>

• The Unbelievable Truth

  published July 8, 2004

  One day, Martin showed up at Carlos's house with a yellow suitcase. "Need you to take this for me for a couple of days," Martin told the West... More >>

• Lost & Found & Hope & Greed

  published July 8, 2004

  "Only dreamers pay $150 to $200 for nylon expandable luggage, plus ten percent fees and taxes, hoping that they're going to find any treasures."... More >>

• The Unwanted Test

  published June 24, 2004

  A tenth-grader at G. Holmes Braddock High School has been keeping a secret from her fellow students: She is HIV-positive. It is her private... More >>

• Crew's Control

  published May 20, 2004

  So we got Rudy Crew. The new superintendent of the Miami-Dade school system is a savvy man. Masterfully coquettish in handling many suitors from... More >>

• Vodou, For Real

  published April 29, 2004

  A drama unspools every day in Carol de Lynch's back yard. This time a black rooster stalks a tiny kitten, recently kidnapped from the Little River... More >>

• Welcome to Fabulous Tallahassee

  published April 22, 2004

  A giddy chaos swirls through downtown Tallahassee as the legislative session approaches its midpoint, April Fool's Day. Gusts of energy and... More >>

• Meet Mr. Arza

  published March 25, 2004

  If you don't live in a West Miami-Dade community like Miami Lakes, Hialeah, or Doral, and if you don't stalk the political hunting grounds of... More >>

• Cavity Depravity

  published March 11, 2004

  Dr. Luisa Utset-Ward is used to making people scream. As a dentist who specializes in serving children on Medicaid, she regularly pulls rotten... More >>

• Rope Tricks

  published February 26, 2004

  Going out on South Beach can be intimidating for the average citizen whose wealth, beauty, or hipness quotients aren't quite... More >>

• Sustained Objections

  published February 19, 2004

  Several attorneys working for the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office have filed formal complaints alleging their supervisors pressured them to... More >>

• An Army of One

  published February 12, 2004

  She doesn't look like a Spanish knight beset by noble delusions, yet ever since Rosa Kasse decided to go jousting with political giants, even her... More >>

• Crime and Argument

  published January 15, 2004

  For several months last year Reynaldo Rapalo was a faceless immigrant with a Central American accent who allegedly stalked and raped women,... More >>

• The Sociology of Suds

  published January 8, 2004

  Mornings at B & B's Laundromat in Overtown are dominated by the old women, afternoons by younger women, children, and the occasional stray male.... More >>