Norman Braman

Norman Braman Won the Battle, but Stephen Ross Is Going to War

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke assesses Stephen Ross' next move. In the battle of Miami billionaires, Norman Braman beat Stephen Ross thanks to Florida House S ... More >>

Dolphins Stadium Upgrade Bill Passes First State Senate Committee Unanimously

The Miami Dolphins won their first legislative battle in a war to secure taxpayer money to cover half of the planned $400 million upgrades to Sun Life Stadium this morning as the bill passed its first Senate committee unanimously. 

Miami-Dade Election Results Liveblog: Pit Bulls, Primaries, and County Hall

Miami-Dade voters went to the polls today to vote on a long ballot filled with primary battles for both federal and state level legislative races, and the first (and in some cases, possibly final) rounds of the county mayor race, and several county commission seats. Longtime Miami-Dade State Attorne ... More >>

Miami Marlins and Dolphins Give Big to Political Action Committees

Elect Joe Martinez for Mayor and Keon Hardemon for Commission

Joe Martinez For Miami-Dade Mayor!

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke makes his picks for Miami-Dade mayor and the county's black county commission seats.With the August 14 primary election approachi ... More >>

Genting Executives Contribute To Incumbent County Commissioners

Read our previous coverage of Genting's political contributions.The Malaysian gambling conglomerate that wants to build a casino resort on the site of the Miami Herald headquarters believes in county commissioners Audrey Edmonson, Bruno Barreiro, Barbara Jordan and Dennis Moss, the quartet of incumb ... More >>

Miami Marlins, Miami Dolphins Give Big To Political Committees

Life on the field has not gone well for Miami's football and baseball franchises. The Marlins sucked ass during the first half of the season playing inside the team's sparkling new ball park, which was financed with half-a-billion dollars in taxpayer funds. Meanwhile, the Dolphins organization has b ... More >>

Marlins Tried to Stiff Tax Payers With an $11,000 Wine Bill

Miami-Dade County already coughed up $376 million to help build the new Marlins Park, but now the County government and Marlins brass are in a fight over about $1.7 million in non-construction costs related to the project. The Marlins actually tried to charge the county for a nearly $11,000 bill for ... 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 >>

Marlins Prez David Samson Calls Miamians Stupid, Says He Cares More About Money Than Fans

​In a smarmy speech before a group of Miami business leaders, Miami Marlins team president David Samson gloated about his success in wrangling taxpayer money in a sweetheart deal to build his team's new stadium. Then he turned around and called the very people who footed the bill, Miamians, stupid ... More >>

House of Horror is much like a nightclub, except for the guy with the chain saw

Indian Creek Village millionaires battle over their own crappy road

Police Union Prepares Lawsuit Over Recall After Overwhelming Vote to Oust Regalado

​The morning after the police union overwhelmingly voted to back a recall of Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, union lawyers are drafting a lawsuit to force the city to figure out how to make it happen. The problem, according to union chief Armando Aguilar, is that the city charter specifies officials ... More >>

Miami-Dade commissioners are rich!

Leonard Abess, Miami's Most Generous Banker, Named Chairman of University of Miami's Board of Trustees

​Remember Leonard Abess, the former banker who sold his company and gave $60 million to his own employees? Well, he's just been named the new chairman of the board of trustees at the University of Miami. 

Ron Book Never Saw a Conflict of Interest Waiver He Didn't Like UPDATED

Is Ron Book lobbying for your taxpayer interests? Probably not. ​Update: Ron Book tells Banana Republican that it was unfair to characterize his representation of municipal governments and private clients with competing interests as something bad. "I didn't do anything nefarious or unethical," he ... More >>

Carlos Alvarez "Would Consider" Running in Special Election to Win Back His Seat

Losing a recall might not be enough to keep Alvarez out of office.​Don't line up that tag-team wrestling job just yet for Carlos Alvarez -- even if voters recall the county's strong mayor today, Alvarez says he's seriously thinking about running in the special election. Alvarez tells a Wall Street ... More >>

State Legislators Want to Take Away Some of County Commissioners' Powers

​With an election set in a week to recall Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez and County Commissioner Natacha Seijas the air of reform is steadily streaming through County Hall, but two state lawmakers don't just want a change in leadership. They want to see the powers of Miami-Dade County Comm ... More >>

Letters from the issue of January 13, 2011

A look ahead: predicting 2011 headlines

Natacha Seijas Files Lawsuit to Block Recall Election

Commissioner Natacha Seijas ​Natacha Seijas, perhaps Miami-Dade's most infamous and reviled sitting commissioner, has filed a lawsuit in a desperate attempt to try and derail her recall election. Attorneys for Seijas claim they are challenging flaws in the signed petition sent to the Clerk of Cour ... More >>

A Look Ahead: Riptide Predicts 2011's Biggest Stories

​Any two-bit news rag can tell you what happened yesterday. But it takes a truly great publication -- one advertising Asian table massages in its back pages -- to predict the future. We donned our swami's cap and stared long and hard at our 2011 calendar until we started hallucinating. This is wh ... More >>

Miami's dirty dozen of 2010

Buju Banton: 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 illustr ... More >>

Wyclef Jean: 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 >>

Carlos Bertonatti: 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 illustr ... More >>

The Jersey Shore Idiots: 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 illustr ... More >>

Capri Anderson: Dirty Dozen 2010

​Each year, New Times puts together a list of the sketchiest politicians, 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 illustration o ... More >>

Kat Stacks: Dirty Dozen 2010

​Each year, New Times puts together a list of the sketchiest politicians, 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 illustration ... More >>

George Alan Rekers: 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 >>

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 >>

Bill Parcells: 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 >>

Carlos Alvarez and Norman Braman: 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 illustration ... More >>

Natacha Seijas Recall Signatures Likely Headed To Clerk of Courts This Week (Update: They're In!)

The signatures are in for a Natacha Seijas recall.​Update: About an hour ago, Vanessa Brito -- the force behind Miami Voice, the group pushing to recall five county commissioners -- delivered 4,704 signatures supporting a ballot measure to recall Natacha Seijas.County Clerk Harvey Ruvin accepted t ... More >>

Here's A List of All 3,301 Miami-Dade Employees Who Make Six Figures

​At last glance, more than one in ten Miamians are unemployed and a solid chunk of the rest are proud pledging members of Broke Phi Broke. That's why County Mayor Carlos Alvarez is in serious danger of getting recalled -- and the rest of the County Commission shouldn't be feeling too comfortable e ... More >>

Barf: Nick Saban Statue to be Erected

via RammaJammaYellaHamma/Wiki Commons by CC2.0​Is that all Nick Saban wanted? A statue? Because, the former Dolphins coach is actually going to get one in Alabama after leading the Crimson Tide to a BCS Championship. We could have erected a statue of you Saban! You didn't have to sneak out of town ... More >>

Don’t Sit in the Balcony

News Roundup

Stocks soared yesterday (over 10,000!), but not for Miami Herald owner McClatchy. Revenue is down 23 percent from a year ago. [Bloomberg]Jaclyn Torrealba's mom pleas with youngsters to listen to their parents. [Crimesider]You know what just sounds so appetizing right now? A gator burger. Thankfully, ... More >>

Bold Names Line Up Behind Rubio, a.k.a. "The GOP's Barack Obama"

Warning to anyone who wants to believe MSNBC reporter Carlos Watson's recent profile of Marco Rubio, in which the former House Speaker is praised as the "GOP's Barack Obama": It's a trap!  Watson, a Miami native, proclaims, "He's young. He's attractive. He easily c ... More >>

Gay Rights Leader Announced as Chair of McCollum Finance Committee; also includes Huizenga, Braman and Fanjul

The Buzz has the full list of members on the Bill McCollum for governor finance committee. It is a massive thing full of the state's top Republican business men, lawyers, lobbyists and other assorted movers and shakers. Then again, what do you expect on a finance committee? Though, you might no ... More >>

The Big Donors in Miami Mayor's Race

Illustration by Alex Izaguirre In this week's print edition of Riptide, I wrote that none of the candidates in the Miami mayoral race will crack the $1 million benchmarks set by Manny Diaz in 2001 and 2005. Nevertheless, City Commissioners Tomas Regalado and Joe Sanchez are shoring up support with s ... More >>

Shear Happiness

It's spring, and that means the Marlins are back.

Who Hates the Marlins Stadium Deal? Not Just Norman Braman

Michael Burnstine may be comically underfunded and critically late to the game, but he's not lacking in passion. He hates the $515 million Marlins Stadium deal. And he's not alone."It's horrendous. It's one of the worst deals I've seen in my life," Burnstine tells Riptide. The insurance salesman and ... More >>

Val Screen Vies for Commissioner Audrey Edmonson's Seat

Weekly News Roundup - Craig Robbins Jump Starts New Art Program

Letters from the Issue of November 15, 2007

"He taught me things that some of these robot teachers would never dare"

Submarine Politics

Alex Penelas learned his lesson in 1999; this year's transit-tax campaign is all below the surface

You Are Cordially Invited

So you weren't among those lucky few who dined with the king and queen? Consider it a compliment.

Frank Talk About Free Speech

Attorney Victor Diaz chats up the ACLU's Howard Simon