Douglas Road Goes Off the (Metro) Rails Filed under: Scanner In 2003 the Miami-Dade County Commission selected Miami banker and real estate developer Raul Masvidal to build on county-owned property near the Douglas Road Metrorail station. Masvidal and his partners, Pinnacle Housing and Royal Group Investments, promised a parking garage,…

The sun shone bright and hot just before noon on a perfect July 4 when 35-year-old Samuel Sax took off from Tamiami Airport in his 1946 Globe Swift. There wasn’t a dreary storm cloud in the sky. He made his way north in the nimble single-engine two-seater, cruising over Key…

Mining the Store Filed under: Flotsam Every once in a while, Riptide hears about an average blue-collar Miami-Dade citizen engaging in some inexplicably absurd, devious behavior. One example is the criminal case against Franklin Knowles and Larry Martinez, two gents who earn their keep by stopping shoplifters and identity thieves…

The Price of Victory Filed under: Scanner Let’s get this straight: Miami law firm Lydecker, Lee, Behar, Berga & De Zayas, where Mayor Manny Diaz moonlights as a freelance attorney, is not representing City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones pro bono. And there are no billing rate discounts for city commissioners, either…

Waterfront Access Is for Commies Filed under: Scanner When the Miami City Commission met this past week to discuss waterfront zoning, the exchanges went from surly to surreal. Fortunately Riptide was there to chronicle the, er, “conversation.” Pedro Martin’s lawyers and supporters came calling first, asking for a zoning change…

The fate of Miami’s brain center is on the line. At a special meeting September 7, city commissioners will decide whether to transform Miami Herald headquarters and surrounding property into three huge condos and a shopping mall. Along with the midtown Miami juggernaut, it’s perhaps the most extravagant development scheme…

As midnight approached this past Monday, Radio Mambí host Ninoska Pérez Castellón cautioned against speculation of Fidel Castro’s death. But on Calle Ocho, no one seemed to be listening. Block after block teemed with revelers waving Cuban flags, leaning on car horns, dancing on SUV roofs. From the sidewalks, onlookers…

If you are a black female officer on the Miami police force, standing by your man can get you fired. Take Ofcr. April Hardemon. The 42-year-old has known Gregory Barnes since the two were teenagers attending Miami Northwestern Senior High. They became reacquainted in October 2003 after running into each…

This past January 26, inside the Miami-Dade County Commission chamber in downtown Miami, Dorrin Rolle played MC for an early-morning ceremony honoring several government employees celebrating 30 years or more of county service. As usual, the “Ghetto Governor” — as the county commissioner is affectionately known by his family, friends,…

Not long after noon on June 11 at the Playwright Irish Pub in South Beach, the predominantly pro-American crowd was silent. It had nothing to root for in this opening round of World Cup action. A flat-footed Team USA was unraveling against the Czech Republic, down two-zip entering the second…

So Israel is killing civilians — by mistake, of course. Palestinians are feuding among themselves on the West Bank. And Hamas has called an end to a long-held truce with the Jewish state. Call it a meltdown in the Middle East. But shortly before tip-off of Game 1 of the…

On a recent spring evening, after a day of knocking on doors, Ben Stevens and Clinton Dowse settle in for a Haitian dinner at the North Miami Beach apartment of 49-year-old Flora Rulles. The two young, fresh-faced Anglos, at first glance, seem to share few traits with their host. Yet…

Former U.S. Congresswoman Carrie Meek, the first African American from Florida elected to Congress since Reconstruction, retired from political office four years ago, saying she no longer had the physical stamina to keep up with the doings on Capitol Hill. Last year she jokingly told reporters she was enjoying her…

Iván Dominguez was bound to offend el exilio when he pitched his tent at the foot the Monument of Martyrs at SW Eighth Street and Thirteenth Avenue. In Cuban Miami, the area around the obelisk is hallowed ground. The six-sided marble edifice, topped with a lit torch, is a memorial…

One day this past October, filmmaker Aaron Salgado found inspiration while shacking up in a motel room on SW Eighth Street. “I was hosting a female friend,” the 24-year-old son of Peruvian parents recollects, “when the seed was planted: Do a movie about the motels on Calle Ocho.” Within a…

Things couldn’t get worse for the Coconut Grove Playhouse. Instead of celebrating 50 years staging plays, the historic theater is on the verge of shuttering for good. Two weeks ago, the board of directors had to suspend performances after discovering the debt had reached four million dollars. Employees complained about…

Daniel Fernandez and Joe Losada would normally show up at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on NW Twelfth Street to testify against the criminals they routinely put behind bars. But on the morning of February 14, the Miami-Dade County Police detectives found themselves on the flipside of criminal court…

In Hialeah it may now be a crime to publicly oppose Natacha Seijas. For the past six weeks, paid canvassers for the Committee to Recall Miami-Dade Commissioners have been collecting signatures from Hialeah’s registered voters to recall Seijas, whose district includes the county’s second-largest municipality. Apparently this does not sit…

On a recent Sunday morning, the two rebels positioned themselves outside the entrance of the Publix on Miami Lakes Drive. There was Patricia Wade, the Redland Community Council’s spunky chairwoman, dressed in a linen jumpsuit and floral print sun visor. Next to her was Kendall Community Councilwoman Millie Herrera, sporting…

Fresh from a four-day weekend trip to Paris celebrating his 38th wedding anniversary, a jovial Joe Arriola assures his department directors his job is not in jeopardy. “I’m going to be here for a long time,” Miami’s embattled city manager promises his senior staff during a January 31 meeting at…

Melissa Thomas and Renee O’Brien are twentysomething professionals, just the kind of people Miami developers and city leaders hope to attract to the scads of new high-rise condos downtown. So on the evening of February 7, the pair was invited to a soiree hosted by the developer of One Brickell…

Miami Police can’t get enough of you. Really. In January, the Magic City’s PD had to extend the deadline for accepting applications because not enough men and women had registered to join the 1024-member force. Every year the city holds three 30-day sign-up periods, each drawing about 500 would-be cops…