We here at New Times love Pastor Vincent Spann, drill sergeant of a Liberty City recovering-addict boot camp and subject of our January feature story “Holy Hustler.” For all of his shortcomings — most notably an allergic distaste for paying his bills — he seems to be a true savior…
Say what you will about Rev. Gaston E. Smith, the Liberty City pastor who faces felony theft charges and is the subject of this week’s New Times feature, “In the Name of the King”. One thing is indisputable: The man can preach. We’ve received a couple of emails looking for videos of…
On Tuesday, pretty much every local outlet — including this one — reported that code-violatin’ gangsta poultry Mr. Clucky was fleeing the state in order to avoid a $50-a-day fine. But yesterday afternoon, the rooster’s owner, Mark Buckley, phoned Riptide to let us know that, in fact, he and his rooster (and…
Save Jaws: Miami Beach shark-bite survivor Michael Beach to lobby for the Shark Conservation Act of 2009
Liberty City’s Rev. Gaston Smith Accused of Stealing from a Community Fund Named for Martin Luther King Jr.
Yeah, this movie probably didn’t help humans feel sympathy for sharks.Miami Beach dive-boat captain Michael Beach has always admired sharks as a primordial link to a lost age. “They’re so primitive, so unevolved, and so unchanged,” he explains. “When you see one in the wild, you realize you’re seeing something…
Miami FC, the local minor-league soccer team that plays at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, makes no secret of being starved for attention. Since 2006, the squad’s front-office denizens have labored like mad scientists to get butts in the bleachers. In its first season, Miami FC signed aging Brazilian demigod…
This is just freakin’ awesome. James and Karla Murray, the photographers behind Miami Graffiti, the book showcasing our finest street artists, have inspired a nostalgic acid trip of an art installation featuring local graff legend Crome. For an exhibition still in the works called “MOM & POPism,” artist Billi Kid…
South Florida’s Store Clerks Dole out Vigilante Justice
Mr. Clucky and Other Animals in the News
Last month, we published “Dwyane’s Disaster,” an exposé of Dwyane Wade’s business partner Baron Richard von Houtman, who’s now embroiled in lawsuits with the Heat superstar. We’ve since received a few letters from readers claiming to have had dealings with the baron. None of them have been particularly nice.The most…
If you’ve turned on the TV news or glanced at the front page of the Miami Herald in the past week, you’re familiar with the plight of South Beach’s most famous cock. Newsrooms across South Florida have been stricken with Mr. Clucky fever. Its dominant symptom: the uncontrollable urge to publicize…
Last night at 4 AM, a man named Paul Magnum and his wife Laura were driving near Northeast 111th Street and 14th Avenue when he was pulled over by a Dodge Charger flashing a blue-and-red siren. A speaker attached to the Charger ordered Paul to step out of the car…
Most baseball fans are familiar with Satchel Paige, the absolutely dominant Negro Leagues pitcher who played pro baseball for 40 years. In 1948, Bill Veeck, the legendary owner of the Cleveland Indians, finally gave the 41-year-old Paige a chance to pitch in the Major Leagues. It was a year after Jackie…
Earlier this month, New Times published “Dwyane’s Disaster,” a feature about the catastrophic business relationship Heat superstar Dwyane Wade formed with Baron Richard von Houtman — an accused wife-beater with druglord ties. In case you were wondering what the baron thought about our story, he called us up a few…
You’re forgiven if you didn’t catch the news that Marlins utility man Alfredo Amezaga will miss the rest of the baseball season to undergo knee surgery. Amezaga is scrappy and versatile, the type of player that can be the glue that holds a team together through the grind of 162 games. But…
View Larger Map Riptide is a nonviolent blog, but we’re all for self-preservation. And there really is no activity more South Floridian than pulling a gun and blasting on the schlub who just pulled a gun on you. So this evening, we propose a toast to the yet unnamed clerk at La…
No Good Deed Goes Unlicensed: Dog rescuer gets fined in Southwest Miami-Dade
The Miami Police officer who killed a stabbing suspect in Overtown last night is Eric Guzman, the 27-year-old son of Maj. Armando Guzman. The five-year veteran made headlines last year when he shot himself in the foot. The photo on the right is from an inter-departmental newsletter congratulating him: In…
We sometimes poke fun at our colleagues at the Miami Herald for coming across as a bit stodgy and tight-assed. But we love it when their muzzles come off. Herald reviewer Glenn Garvin was saddled with the task of sitting through and writing about an episode of the new soul-sucking,…
Robbie Coy, founder of Homestead’s Sabbath Memorial Dog Rescue operation, includes in his adoption contracts a clause stating that the new owners cannot leave the animals leashed outside. So inn November, 2007, when Coy was driving by an adopter’s home amd saw a former rescue dog tethered in the yard,…
When it comes to teens killed by guns in Miami, veteran Carol City Senior High social studies teacher Paul Moore has become something like the city’s tragic bard. As featured in “The Curse,” a New Times cover story published in February, he’s seen five students murdered from just one class. He’s written and spoken eloquently…
