Miami-Dade County Commission

Miami-Dade Commission Gives Support to Dolphins' Stadium Upgrade Proposal in Non-Binding Vote

The Miami-Dade County Commission has now officially put its stamp of approval on the Miami Dolphin's plan to seek tax money to provide upgrades to the aging Sun Life Stadium. Only four of the thirteen commissioners voted against the measure.

Miami May Start Using Inmates For Cheap Labor

It's a common scene in prison movies set in the deep South: A line of inmates, chained together and decked out in bright orange jumpsuits, dutifully picking up trash or digging a ditch by the side of a dusty road as a shotgun-toting sheriff watches over them through tinted aviator sunglasses.The cha ... More >>

Poisoned: A New Times Investigation Into a Neighborhood's Toxic History and Cancer Scare

Last month, the Miami-Dade County Commission quietly passed a terrifying-sounding resolution, voting to ask health officials to travel to the small neighborhood of Broadmoor in Northwest Dade to investigate whether a recycling plant had caused a cancer cluster. Residents there made frighte ... More >>

Miami-Dade Could Create Online Directory of Dangerous Dogs

We can all agree that the internet never has enough pictures of dogs, so thankfully the Miami-Dade County Commission is looking to do something about that. No, they are not starting a cute dog blog. Instead they are considering implementing an online directory of dangerous dogs.

Shady Owners of a Hialeah Recycling Plant Made a Neighborhood Sick, Residents Say

Hialeah Residents Claim Local Recycling Plant Is Causing Increased Rates Of Cancer

Vanessa Shelton knew something was wrong in her neighborhood. All along NW 36th Avenue in Hialeah, people were getting sick. In the last year alone, eight people had died of cancer, and a ninth was expected to pass any day. Asthma had become a major problem. To Shelton and other residents, the most ... More >>

Jimmy Morales, Former County Commissioner, Considering Run For Governor Against Rick Scott

With Rick Scott's dismal approval ratings, Democrats from all corners of the state are salivating over the chance to take him on in 2014. Jimmy Morales, the former chairmen of the Miami-Dade County Commission and the man who lost the mayoral race to Carlos Alvarez in 2004, has announced he's mulling ... More >>

Miami-Dade Takes First Step Toward Banning Synthetic Marijuana

Well this couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Today, the Miami-Dade County Commission took the first step towards adopting a strict ban on synthetic marijuana products. It comes hot on the heels of news that a North Miami Beach man on some sort of synthetic drug tried to bite a police offic ... More >>

Miami-Dade Takes First Step Towards Banning Synthetic Marijuana

This couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Today, the Miami-Dade County Commission took the first step towards adopting a strict ban on synthetic marijuana products. It comes hot on the heels of news that a North Miami Beach man on synthetic pot tried to bite a police ... More >>

Miami-Dade Could Ban Flavored Tobacco Products like Grape Blunts

When it comes to the little vices, Miami-Dade is notoriously lax. Depending on where you are in the county, you can order a drink at a bar til 5 a.m. and smoke inside the whole night. You can also stop by a liquor store until 1 a.m. But the Miami-Dade County Commission is now considering an uncharac ... More >>

Five Cubans Ozzie Guillen Should Praise at His Press Conference Today

Poor Ozzie Guillen. Baseball season just got started and already the Miami Marlins skipper has inserted his foot in his mouth.The controversial Venezuelan born manager had the audacity to praise Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in an upcoming issue of Time magazine and all hell has broken loose in Miami' ... More >>

Commission Votes to Lift Ban on Incorporating New Cities

In an 11-0 vote, the Miami-Dade County Commission lifted a five-year-old moratorium on incorporating new cities. The ban will officially be lifted in ten days, unless Mayor Carlos Gimenez vetoes it. Gimenez did send a memo to the commission in which he seemed wary about the potential impact new inco ... More >>

Luis Garcia Pulls out of David Rivera Race, and Now Dems Have No Candidate

Rep. David Rivera is one of the most vulnerable Republican congressman in the entire country. He's under numerous criminal investigations, and his seat in District 25 is quickly seeing its Republican voter advantage fade. It could be a slam dunk for Democrats, assuming, of course, they had anyone to ... More >>

Miami Among America's "Most Overpriced Cities"

​In news that will shock no one who eats out on South Beach, parks in Brickell or tries to buy some influence with the Miami-Dade County Commission (those lobbying fees ain't cheap!), Miami has been honored this morning as one of the most overpriced towns in the nation.High unemployment, skyrocket ... More >>

Miami-Dade County Moves to Abolish Lost City of Islandia

via Wikicommons​There may not be an actual lost city of Atlantis, but there certainly is a lost (mostly underwater) city of Islandia.Incorporated as a city on a coral reef Island off the coast of southeast Miami-Dade in 1951, leaders hoped to one day turn the town into a resort destination, but no ... More >>

Miami-Dade County Commission Unanimously Asks Florida Legislature to Chill Out on Crazy Immigration Laws

​It's hard to get the Miami-Dade County Commission to agree on anything, but every single member voted today for a resolution that asks the state legislature to cool it on all those crazy conservative immigration bills they've been trying to pass. The Florida Legislature will, more than likely, to ... More >>

Marlins Get Last $42 Million From Miami-Dade County

Based on what happened at yesterday's Miami-Dade County Commission meeting, there is no way the taxpayers are getting their money back. Let's face it folks, the county is not going to sue or cut off the Marlins at this point, which is why county commissioners approved issuing $42 million in bonds to ... More >>

Everyone Running for Miami-Dade Mayor

​Candidates running for Miami-Dade Mayor in the special May 24th election to replace recalled Carlos Alvarez had to register by 5:00 pm today. There's very few surprises in the list of candidates (read: no last-minute Alex Penelas filing), but here's a look at who you'll get to chose in a coup ... More >>

Special Election for Mayor Officially Set for May 24

​Clear your calendar on May 24 because we're holding an election! The Miami-Dade County Commission meet this morning and, as expected, officially set the day for the election to replace recalled Carlos Alvarez on that Tuesday. Though, the mayoral race won't be the only thing on the ballot. Voters ... More >>

WrestleMania Coming to Sun Life Stadium in 2012

​Lets get ready to rumble! No seriously, we need to get ready to rumble. It's just been announced that Miami is playing host to professional wrestling's biggest event WrestleMania in 2012. It's not quite another Super Bowl, but hosting the event means an economic boon for the city as well as playi ... More >>

Commissioner Sally Heyman is always absent

Commissioner Carlos Gimenez Purposely Delayed Recall Meeting

Carlos Gimenez​Today the Miami-Dade County Commission was supposed to meet to set a date for the election to recall Mayor Carlos Alvarez. Problem was only six commissioners showed up, because Commissioners apparently find it OK to act like school skipping children. Which means the commission fell ... More >>

Sally Heyman Had Miami-Dade Commission's Worst Attendance Record in 2010

At least she showed up for picture day.​If the Miami-Dade County Commission was a third grade classroom -- and in terms of maturity it often resembles one -- Dennis Moss would get a gold star sticker on his sweater. Sally Heyman would flunk. This year, Heyman, who oversees the sprawling northeast ... More >>

Jeffrey Loria: Dirty Dozen 2010

​Each year, New Times puts together a list of the sketchiest politicians and unholiest celebrities and weirdest human beings to call the Magic City home. So who made the filthy cut this year? We're releasing the names one by one ahead of next week's issue, which comes with a full-page illustra ... More >>

Florida Primary Election Results Live Blog

​Today Florida went to the polls for the 2010 primary election. While tonight's big theme involved controversial, self-funded billionaire outsiders taking on establishment career politicians in both the Republican primary for Governor and Democratic primary for Senate, there's still lots of ballot ... More >>

Riptide Presents the All-Asshole Major League Baseball Team

Historically speaking, he's still in the Asshole Minor Leagues.​So Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez has apologized-- after much coercion--for not running after a kicked ball and then lashing out at his teammates and manager Fredi Gonzalez. He's been reinstated into his God-given spot in the ... More >>

County Commissioners Admit 'Errors' in Carlos Bertonatti Case; Bikers Protest

Bart Sherwood passes the grisly photos around the Miami-Dade County Commission chambers.Photo by Tim ElfrinkLycra pants mingled with business suits at the county commission chambers last night.​In the first image, his face is scraped and swollen, his arms are wrapped in plaster, and IVs run into h ... More >>

FPL Gets An Obama Stroke Job As Company Sets Out to Destroy National Park

Alex Izaguirre​Could there have been a more ruthless, diabolical, state utility monopolizer to receive $200 million in federal stimulus money than Florida Power & Light? I'm not the only one questioning the federal government's decision either.President Barack Obama announced FPL's stimulus bo ... More >>

Time: Miami-Dade County Commission is "a Feckless, Corruption-Tainted Body"

via MiamiDade.gov​The sun still shines. The beaches are still some of the best in the world. The weather, unfortunate for this time of year, is still the same as it ever was. All of those stereotypical things that draw people to call Florida home have gone more or less unchanged, so what's to blam ... More >>

Hey George! Who's On First?

Alex Izaguirre In case you missed it, during the early hours of July 1, the Miami-Dade County Commission approved a revision to the financing plan for the Marlins baseball stadium that is going to end up costing us $2.4 billion - a number that somehow eluded the intellectual prowess of financial gur ... More >>

Long, Hard, and Full of Seamen

Let me get this straight

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 business question. She asked what would happen to the ballpark's projected $1.9 billion cost if the municip ... More >>

Say No to the Stadium

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's chief cheerleader, doesn't walk around wearing a gas mask every time he is out promoting it. So he ... More >>

County Manager George Burgess Vacations Despite Fragile Deal

Marlins Deal Kaput?

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 stadium deal. Right now the Marlins dreams of a new domed home on the former Orange Bowl site appear ... More >>

Dennis the Moderate

Come January, expect to see a new dynamic take shape on the Miami-Dade County Commission when Dennis Moss becomes chairman. For one, Natacha Seijas will no longer have influence over the selection of committee chairs and assignments. Each of the last three commission chairs, from Barbara Carey-Shul ... More >>

Fat City

The county may ban trans fats. Nobody, including cooks, knows what the heck they are.

Letters from the Issue of January 25, 2007

"Leaders don’t make excuses for problems. They solve them."

Douglas Road Goes Off the (Metro) Rails

This is not the first time Raul Masvidal has tried to snooker the county into a bad deal

Vote for Barns

A plan to acquire public rural land gets plowed

BEST POLITICAL COUP

Carlos Alvarez

In His Own Words

The Bitch

Blind Item

BEST BUILDING LOBBY

Stephen P. Clark Government Center

Personal Best

Mario Artecona

Ramp Rats' Revenge

Checking luggage? Think long and hard before answering yes to that question at MIA

Multiple District Disorder

Divide North Miami and you also divide a burgeoning Haitian-American voting bloc. Was that the plan?

By the Hour

It was easy for the county to pass a law requiring workers to earn a living wage. It wasn't so easy making it stick.

Best New Law

Best Whiners

Miami-Dade County Commission