Before Miami Beach was the city of Miami Beach, pioneer John S. Collins planted a row of Australian pine trees along the barrier island to shield his avocado and mango groves from the wind. More than 100 years later, those pines are still standing — a remarkable feat, considering the average lifespan is 40 to 50 years.
On December 14, Sofia Mauri and her husband let their dog out into the fenced backyard of their Coconut Grove home. By the time they realized a side gate had accidentally been left open, Milo was gone.
To walk along Ocean Drive is to be transported into an alternate reality. There are street brawls, $80 margarita “specials,” and some of the most beautiful art deco buildings in Florida. If you are lucky, you will see pet monkeys wearing jean shorts, shots served for breakfast, and bikini-clad women twerking atop Lamborghinis.
Despite his laundry list of complaints and lawsuits from civilians, City of Miami Police union vice president Javier Ortiz received a big promotion at the department in October, getting a bump from lieutenant to captain.
Julie Sheppard says she was driving her 10-year-old stepson home from school in Coconut Grove last week when she heard someone slap the back of her car. In her rear-view mirror, she saw a Miami Police officer, so she pulled over and rolled down her window. The first thing he said shocked her.
In the dystopian world also known as “2017,” there are a lot of things to be afraid of. Election meddling. Peter Thiel. Toilet iguanas. But among the scariest developments is the steady technological improvement of hidden spy cameras.
Pizza Hut brands itself as a family-friendly chain with speedy delivery and more than 16,000 locations worldwide. But if you’re ordering dinner, whether your local store will deliver can depend upon where your family lives. In minority neighborhoods, Pizza Hut has a history of refusing delivery.
Next time you see a cruise ship at PortMiami, consider this: Because of a loophole in the U.S. tax code, the companies that rake in billions of dollars each year selling cruises to Kid Rock fans and spring breakers pay no corporate income tax.
On Velocity’s South Beach Classics, reality TV star Ted Vernon was known for his short temper and sharp tongue. But behind the scenes, employees and relatives of the Miami-based classic car dealer say he was actually straight-up abusive. In March, a Broward County judge issued a permanent restraining order to keep Vernon away from his estranged wife, who says he routinely beat her.
In December 2012, a Massage Envy employee touched a Coral Springs woman’s vagina while she was getting a routine massage, she says. But when she filed a lawsuit in 2013, the company’s lawyers blamed her for the sexual assault, insisting it was she who behaved negligently.
In the 1980s, cocaine was ubiquitous in Miami. Hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of yeyo was regularly seized from the airport, while the local drug trade generated $12 billion annually. The morgue became so jam-packed that the coroner’s office had to rent a refrigerated truck from Burger King to fit all the bodies.
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, power outages shut down almost 70 percent of traffic lights in Miami-Dade County. The result proved what most of us already instinctively knew: Literally no one in South Florida knows how to use a four-way stop.
When a tipster told Miami Waterkeeper that a leaky sewage pipe was spewing human waste right into Biscayne Bay, the environmental organization wasted no time sending a diver to investigate. Sure enough, they discovered the pipe was blasting the bay with thousands of gallons of harmful waste. But the worst…
Police blocked off the streets and locked the doors to Miami-Dade County Hall as a group of infuriated protesters gathered outside. It was January 27, the day after Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced he would cooperate with Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, and emotions were running high. The idea that residents…
A few months ago, a Coral Gables homeowner made national headlines when he put his $6.4 million mansion on the market and said he’d accept payment in Bitcoin. So when a seller approached luxury real-estate agent Eric Fernandez with a similar proposition, he was ready for the challenge.
On September 2, 1963, 18-year-old Stephen Hertz made a decision that changed his life forever when he signed as a third baseman with the Houston Colt 45s (now the World Series-winning Houston Astros). Fresh out of school at Miami Senior High, Hertz couldn’t help but feel starry-eyed as he walked onto the field for Opening Day against the Cincinnati Reds in the spring of ’64.
Three weeks ago, a man and his wife were sitting on the beach when a kitesurfer thumped into the back of their chairs. By all accounts, the incident was minor — no one was seriously injured, and Miami Beach Police left the scene without even bothering to take a full report.
For years, the Miami Beach Community Church on Lincoln Road has been known for its homeless outreach. Four mornings a week, homeless residents would line up outside and wait to be seated in two shifts for breakfast. But in recent weeks, the church has halted the morning tradition, citing security issues and a decrease in the local homeless population.
On the heels of a high-profile shooting of an unarmed black therapist last summer, the North Miami Police Department has been dogged by allegations of racial bias and police misconduct. In the aftermath, the city fired police chief Gary Eugene and appointed assistant chief Larry Juriga to stand in as his interim replacement.
As doctors made a final attempt to suction the fluid from his brother’s failing heart, Jesús Jave-Castillo stood feet away but saw nothing. A set of sliding hospital curtains obscured Jenry’s unconscious body, but Jesús could tell the prognosis wasn’t good. At 2:30 p.m. March 18, 2017, a hospital staffer…
As sea levels continue to rise, Florida has taken a licking for its bad habit of climate-ignorant development. But despite warnings from the state’s most brilliant and respected scientists, Gov. Rick Scott has more or less disregarded the issue, infamously banning the Department of Environmental Protection from using the term “climate change” in 2015. And though national publications such as Scientific American have taken developers to task for their reluctance to stop building along the coast, state law does little to discourage the practice.
Point Blank Enterprises, a Pompano Beach body armor manufacturer that makes bulletproof vests and body cameras, faces a class-action lawsuit from police unions in Florida and Ohio. The case, filed last week in federal court, claims officers across the nation are being sent out on patrol in faulty bulletproof vests that cost $700 a pop.
