George Nethercutt made history in 1994. A relatively unknown attorney from Spokane, Washington, he defeated a sitting Speaker of the House for his seat in Congress. Nethercutt’s victory over Democrat Tom Foley was stunning. The notion of an electorate choosing a political neophyte over the person second in line to…
By now everyone knows that Miami International Airport is a mess. Political cronies of Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas have plundered millions of dollars’ worth of contracts from the facility, while the public has been stuck with $8000 toilet seats and an airport so mismanaged it took more than a decade…
Poor Joe. Poor crazy, fucked-up, mentally unbalanced Joe. Why is the whole darn world against you? Why won’t people just leave you alone? Is it because your upper lip has begun doing this weird disappearing act whenever you launch into one of your tirades? Is it because your gait recently…
Standing in front of what once was Elian Gonzalez’s Little Havana home, Jan Weininger, whose father was killed during the Bay of Pigs invasion, railed against Attorney General Janet Reno’s decision to send in federal agents a few hours earlier. “I think every Cuban American or anybody who loves democracy…
Within segments of the Cuban-American community there is a belief that Elian Gonzalez is a messiah of sorts, protected by God and sent here to expedite the fall of Fidel Castro. Unfortunately I don’t see it that way. Elian’s greatest impact has always been centered on Miami, not Havana. Through…
The U.S. State Department routinely advises Americans living abroad to keep their passports handy. Given the events of last week, it won’t be long before the agency includes Miami-Dade County in that advisory. In fact I’ve begun grabbing my passport whenever I leave the house. It must be obvious to…
The ruling last week by U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore left little doubt that Elian Gonzalez will be returned to his father in Cuba, and that this saga is now entering its final phase. Attorneys for the child’s Miami relatives have filed their desperate, last-minute appeal, but they…
The decision last week by the nation’s largest gun manufacturer, Smith & Wesson, to produce safer, less child-friendly handguns came about because one mayor had the courage to step forward and challenge the gun industry. That man’s name is Marc Morial, the mayor of New Orleans. It was Morial who…
I should admit at the outset that I, like most estranged Catholics, have nun issues. Still visible on my knuckles, though only faintly, are the scars left by Sister Rene, who used to whack me with a wooden ruler whenever I acted up during my days at St. Patrick’s Elementary…
The list of people exploiting Elian Gonzalez for personal gain is both long and distinguished. We have presidential candidates pandering for votes, politicians climbing all over one another for quality face time on television, lawyers and publicists claiming to work pro bono on a case they know is garnering their…
A few years ago I wrote a series of articles titled “Micky Arison Is a Greedy Corporate Pig” that decried Arison’s efforts to force the county to build a new waterfront arena for his basketball team, the Miami Heat. The headline was a takeoff on the best-selling book by comedian…
The scene outside Elian Gonzalez’s Little Havana home was rather subdued this past Saturday afternoon. A few network news crews and photographers staked out the house from a neighbor’s yard, huddled around a television set atop a milk crate, watching the NFL playoff game between the Washington Redskins and the…
These are heady days for the Diaz de la Portilla clan. Renier, youngest of the three brothers, is on the verge of winning a seat in the Florida legislature, resurrecting a political career that only two years ago seemed all but dead after a brief but tumultuous stint on the…
Y2K DISASTER STRIKES MIAMI Thousands Feared Dead in Millennium Mishap By Thomas Mayrose Washington Post Staff Writer January 2, 2000 MIAMI — In the most tragic event of the new millennium, more than 2500 people were killed when an American Airlines jumbo jet crashed into a Miami concert arena during…
I could hear my voice rising, my tone turning more aggressive, even hostile. I was talking to one of the Miami attorneys for young Elian Gonzalez. She was asserting that no loving father would want his son to grow up in Cuba, and so the pleas from Elian’s father for…
For the past three weeks Armando Gutierrez has been a frenetic blur of activity. He carries not one but two cell phones, on which he often juggles multiple conversations, his head bobbing back and forth between portables like a metronome. One minute he’s asking a local lawyer to help him…
his week I wanted to praise the City of North Miami and its police department for firing Det. Fred St. Amand. Instead I find myself once again wondering if anyone in that city — the mayor, the city manager, the police chief, the city attorney — understands the difference between…
“Let me ask you something,” the man on the other end of the telephone line says. “Where are the commission-sponsored initiatives? Where are the ordinances and resolutions designed to make this a better place to live? There aren’t any anymore. They don’t have any. They’ve run out of ideas.” The…
Last week our intrepid mayor, Alex Penelas, flew off to Spain — at taxpayer expense, of course — for a bit of sightseeing and a chance to sample some fine Basque cuisine. The mayor, his wife, and their two children visited the scenic cities of Madrid, Alicante, and Santander during…
It’s time to announce the results of my “Nickname the Mayor” contest. As you’ll recall I thought Miami Mayor Crazy Joe Carollo needed a new handle following his efforts to prevent the band Los Van Van from playing in the city. Among some of the entries: Clueless Joe Carollo, Joe…
Ira Clark was hiding. Somewhere inside county hall, the president of the Public Health Trust had decided it was better to stay out of sight during the county commission’s annual budget hearing than to step forward and defend his agency’s spotty record for meeting the medical needs of Miami-Dade’s indigent…
Good morning. Miami Herald circulation department. How can I help you? Yes, I’d like to report a problem with my delivery boy. What’s wrong, sir? It seems the little bastard has shrunk my paper. Just because I forgot to tip him at Christmas doesn’t mean he has the right to…
