In 2014, New Times writer Terrence McCoy found 15 Miami men who’d been accused of murder on the A&E TV show the First 48 — and later walked free because they’d been wrongfully accused. Taiwan Smart was one of those men: In 2009, Smart contacted the City of Miami Police Department to…
In both sad and entirely predictable news, immigration-asylum applications in Miami were denied at rates virtually unseen in two decades, according to data released today by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a group at Syracuse University. Immigration officials denied 86 percent of asylum applications…
Like all great conspiracy theorists, #QAnon believers hang on to their ideas whether or not there’s a shred of evidence. QAnon is the hilariously false theory that Donald Trump is secretly fighting a war within the government to arrest high-level Democratic pedophiles, and that a top Trump operative known as “Q”…
A whole host of civil-rights advocates believe that the private, for-profit prison industry should not exist. But former Florida State Senate President Joe Negron appears to, ahem, lean in the opposite direction: Politico Florida first reported yesterday that the outgoing Negron will take a cushy gig as…
Florida currently ranks 45th of the 50 states when it comes to the number of residents living without health insurance. It’s 48th in health performance Now the Trump administration yesterday agreed to cut Medicaid benefits. The weird rationale: to see if that “helps” people sign up for Medicaid. The logic is…
Peter Sean Brown was born in Philadelphia and is a U.S. citizen. But that fact apparently didn’t matter to Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay, whose deputies illegally held Brown in a jail overnight because they thought he should be deported to Jamaica, a country where he’s never lived…
This past Friday, Broward Sheriff’s Office SWAT member Matt Patten wore a QAnon conspiracy-theory patch while greeting Vice President Mike Pence at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Today Patten was reprimanded and demoted from the SWAT team and BSO’s Office of Homeland Security.
Little Havana is an amazing, interesting, beautiful place. Little Havana’s new flag, which debuted yesterday, is none of those things. The flag is hideous. It’s a flag that includes 22 other flags plus one rooster. If you’re staring at the monstrosity above and wondering, “Why does that look like a…
Vice President Mike Pence arrived at Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport just after noon on Friday. He was greeted by a Broward Sheriff’s Office SWAT team that included one cop in a #QAnon conspiracy-theory patch. #QAnon is, of course, the batshit-insane, 4Chan-based conspiracy theory that claims Donald Trump is secretly fighting a…
The United Nations recently told everyone on Earth to stop emitting carbon dioxide into the air by 2050. Despite this warning, Florida Power & Light (FPL), the largest energy company in the Sunshine State, is now all but definitely building a fracked-gas-burning power plant in Dania Beach. Today, Florida’s Siting Board, a panel consisting of Gov. Rick Scott and his cabinet, unanimously approved FPL’s $888 million plan.
Former president and repeatedly accused sex offender Bill Clinton is coming to Miami on Saturday, where he’ll help fundraise for incoming congresswoman and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, who has a bunch of debt leftover from her campaign, according to the Miami Herald. The news, however, is not…
DJ Khaled is many things to many people. Musician. Record producer. DJ. Social media maven. Fashion icon. Business mogul. And now he can add “alleged cryptocurrency fraudster” to his resumé. Today the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the Miami hip-hop star paid $152,725 in penalties and settlements after it…
How desperate are people for dental care in Miami-Dade County? Apparently so desperate that two locals were able to operate a dental clinic out of a bus and a white Toyota hatchback SUV in a parking lot a few feet from State Road 836. Miami-Dade County Police announced today they arrested 37-year-old Daniela Sulbaran Gonzalez and 44-year-old Victor Bernal for allegedly operating an unlicensed bus dentistry service.
It’s legal to walk up to the U.S. border and apply for asylum. But U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents decided to fire smoke grenades and tear-gas canisters at members of a migrant caravan at the Tijuana border over the weekend. Under international law, tear gas is a chemical weapon…
Miami’s Wynwood used to be a low-income neighborhood full of warehouses and fashion-supply companies. Then it morphed into a neighborhood full of art galleries. Now developers are pricing out cool places such as the Wynwood Yard. The one arthouse movie theater is on its way out while condo towers and a micro-city called the Americas-Asia Trade Center are on the way in.
Ron DeSantis’ run for the Florida governorship was based, at times, almost entirely on the issue of immigration. He wants Donald Trump to build a border wall. He threatened to crack down on local mayors who refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He repeatedly said on the campaign…
Local TV news still makes Miami out to be a screaming, bloody hellscape where strangers are mugged constantly and venturing outside one’s apartment is an act of certain suicide. A few local governments (i.e., Miami Beach) seem hellbent on convincing residents their towns are dangerous and need more cops, stricter laws, and all-seeing surveillance panopticons.
The City of Miami last week tentatively approved rules that would force real-estate developers in a sliver of downtown to carve out portions of any new buildings for affordable or workforce-specific apartments and condos. That’s a big deal. Housing-rights activists have been fighting for stricter affordable-housing laws in Miami for…
Most Americans (up North, at least) likely made it through high-school history class without their teacher flying a Confederate flag in the classroom. It’s perfectly easy to teach kids about the pro-slavery Confederacy without draping the Rebel banner across the room.
In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division whacked the City of Miami Police Department for disproportionately mistreating and using excessive force against black and brown residents. Six years later, DOJ is still monitoring city cops. But there are clearly still issues. Miami’s Civilian Investigative Panel, a group of…
Octavia Yearwood is beautiful. But in January 2018, while speaking at a fundraiser for a group that helps at-risk teen girls, c, she said she used to hate looking in the mirror. “I used to avoid taking photos with my friends, from junior high school all the way into my…
From a public-relations standpoint, 2018 was a rough year for the Miami Marlins. The team sold off or traded away many of its most famous and skilled players. The Fish then played to small crowds for much of the year. But hated team owner Jeffrey Loria has finally skipped town,…
