Sometimes, it does get tiring living in a subtropical paradise. Once the summer wall of humidity hits Miami in May, pretty much nobody enjoys being outdoors here. Breathing starts to feel like gasping for air through a wet washcloth. Thankfully, Miamians will be able to get far out of town for…
More than 127,000 people signed petitions demanding that Miami-Dade reform its campaign finance laws to keep big money out of local politics. So why did the commission vote 9-4 last night to effectively kill the measure? Mostly because the group that collected the petitions, Accountable Miami-Dade, used its own big…
A rowdy crowd gathered today in Miami Beach to discuss the Zika epidemic and whether the city should spray controversial pesticides from planes to fight it. But there was an odd undercurrent to that talk: Many in the crowd insisted that the whole Zika phenomenon is overblown and that the…
When the Zika virus hit Miami Beach last month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it wasn’t even possible to spray pesticides over Miami Beach, since the buildings were too tall. But — at Gov. Rick Scott’s request — the county has changed course. Planes will start spraying…
Let’s be honest: Miami is a place people visit in order to have sex. Our citizens remain locked in a constant fight to expose as much skin as possible without getting arrested. All types of lifestyles canoodle in public here without reproach, young tourists wantonly stare each other down along…
Last month, an environmental supervisor at Palm Beach County mosquito control told New Times that Miami-Dade County’s 5 a.m. spraying missions for Zika mosquitoes were simply “psychological,” wouldn’t actually kill Aedes aegypti bugs, and may have just been for show. And when the Zika virus hit Miami Beach, the U.S. Centers for Disease…
The City of Miami Police Athletic League runs a youth football camp to help teach Miami kids the values of working hard, competing fairly, and treating people with respect. But two men claim Miami cop Stanley Jean-Poix took some time out of football practice to demonstrate a different lesson in…
Beer theft is a pretty great racket. You steal beer and then you drink it. It’s simple, it works, and even if you go to jail, your fellow inmates will probably treat you like a hero. Miami’s most feared cerveza crook saw his reign of terror end today, though. Because…
A couple after the Miami Heat won its second-straight NBA championship title in 2013, Francois Alexandre was partying in the streets alongside hundreds of other blissed out fans. Late into the night, as the crowd thinned to about 20 people, Alexandre says a group of City of Miami bicycle cops…
A lot of weird stuff happens in Florida. That, of course, is because people move here to live like free spirits — be those people tend to be teens who like to run around in dinosaur costumes holding guns, men who dance in g-string bikinis in public, or people who…
Facebook friend requests from strangers almost always turn out to be bad news. In the best-case scenario, some weird guy from Turkmenistan insults your sister’s prom photos. In the worst-case: Someone creates a fake account, discovers hidden info about your past, and then threatens to release that information or kill you…
In Miami, journalist Lindsey Snell spent years working documentary projects like Billy Corben’s Square Grouper. The University of Florida graduate made a name for herself telling the impossible-to-invent narrative of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church’s huge marijuana-importing business. Now, Snell is living her own tale of international intrigue. In July, Snell…
Why is it so hard for liberal candidates to get elected in South Florida? Tim Canova’s loss to Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District primary last night is a good place to start answering that question. Going into yesterday’s primary, Canova had quite literally everything going for him…
In Miami-Dade County, cities can’t spend money on public transportation, affordable housing, or sea-level rise preparedness without local residents stomping their feet and flooding city commission meetings to protest. But ask for six figures worth of controversial, military-grade police equipment, and South Florida cities will pretty much just hand you a…
Primary polls opened across Florida today, but voter turnout was not expected to be high, and the races pretty much seem decided already. The highest-profile incumbents running — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz — are likely to score decisive victories. Still, the…
Today marks the statewide election primary, which means a slew of high-profile federal and local races across South Florida end today. Thankfully, by around 10 p.m. tonight, South Florida will likely be done hearing about Alan Grayson’s cowboy boots (and domestic violence accusations), Andrew Korge’s attempted non-bribery of his opponent, and accusations that Debbie…
Ayinde Crespo says that in 2012, he had a hell of a time convincing anyone that a Miami cop named Marcel Jackson had attacked him outside a strip club. The way Crespo tells it, Jackson tackled him from behind, slammed his face into the ground, and beat him. Even after…
Almost the minute the Zika virus hit Wynwood at the end of July, Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control scrambled low-flying planes into the sky. Trails of pesticides — one of them highly controversial and possibly harmful to humans — billowed from their wings on early weekday mornings, under the assumption that…
Obviously, fewer people are going to want to live in Miami once this whole place floods under an onslaught of sea level rise, but most assume that’s going to happen decades from now. But a new study suggests that fears of Miami Beach turning into a modern Venice are already hurting…
It’s the last Friday of August, which means everyone’s either out of town on vacation or about to ride in this month’s Critical Mass bicycle meetup. Last month, the ride plowed right through Miami’s active Zika transmission zone in Wynwood — tonight, the ride zips through the somewhat-safer roads of…
Miami Beach’s crackdown on AirBnB and other short-term renters has been swift and brutal. In March, the city changed its rules to levy $20,000 fines on anyone who rents out a space for less than six months, and since then has handed out $1.6 million in fines. But was that…
A lot of weird stuff happens in Florida. Most of those things tend to involve meth, alcohol, or combinations thereof. Every Friday, we bring you the three weirdest stories of the week. This week: A dark reminder that hard drugs and scotch will get you nowhere in life, save the…
