Over the past six months, state Rep. Erik Fresen has established himself as the go-to-politician for the gambling industry tycoons who want to bring gargantuan casino resorts to the Magic City. The lawmaker from Coral Gables is the mastermind behind one of two proposed bills that would allow Malaysian-based Genting…

You can say Max Rameau is a social activist trendsetter. Long before the Occupy Wall Street movement was even an idea, Rameau was leading the charge for the disenfranchised 99 percent with his Take Back The Land organization. Five years ago, Rameau came up with the brilliant idea of organizing…

‘Twas one Friday night in January last year when the owner of Miami’s longest-running holiday festival failed miserably in his attempt to mack on a woman at a limo company.Brian Shechtman, who along with his brother has operated Santa’s Enchanted Forest since 1984, had dialed Aventura Limousine to order a…

​A recent Miami-Dade ethics commission probe concluded three women residing at an assisted living facility in North Miami Beach were victims of absentee ballot voter fraud. The commission’s executive director, Joe Centorino, notified officials at the Park Plaza Retirement Residence that while the investigation did not turn up enough evidence…

​A few weeks ago, three days before the Miami city election, Marc Sarnoff got into a brief tussle with Reid Welch, a Coconut Grove resident who admits to huffing propane gas to get high and who was going around the neighborhood taking down the city commissioner’s campaign signs. Sarnoff cast…

​Miami Beach artist and City Hall gadfly David Bolger wants to make sure visitors attending Art Basel see it like an insider. So the 51-year-old former New Englander has illustrated a 21-page guide for Riptide to assist wannabe art snobs on how to distinguish a real urinal from one that…

​When it came to betting against the Seminole Tribe of Florida, prominent businessman Jason Starkman didn’t know when to walk away — yet so far he has still come out even. Last week, the Seminoles took the owner of Epicure Gourmet Market and Jerry’s Famous Deli to court yet again…

The North Bay Village mayor is throwing in the towel. Corina Esquijarosa resigned today, leaving office one year after winning a close election. Her decision comes on the heels of a successful petition drive to hold a recall election against her and a criminal probe into her falsely claiming a…

​Earlier this morning, Miami New Times editor Chuck Strouse penned a column bemoaning the epic fall of Joe Paterno, the iconic face of Penn State who has won more football games than any other college coach in the modern era. Last night, the school’s board of trustees canned Paterno before…

This week, Miami New Times published a guide to the eight of the worst public works projects in Miami-Dade, where bureaucrats and elected officials take pride in wasting millions in taxpayer dollars on crap residents have little-to-no use for. As we reveal each one of these boondoggles on Riptide, we’re…

This week, Miami New Times is publishing a guide to the eight of the worst public works projects in Miami-Dade, where bureaucrats and elected officials take pride in wasting millions in taxpayer dollars on crap residents have little-to-no use for. As we reveal each one of these boondoggles on Riptide,…