The slogan of the Miami Matadors, the new hockey team that will replace the Florida Panthers at Miami Arena this fall, is “Pro Pucks, Less Bucks!” This may not be the best place for the team to hang its helmet, promotion-wise. While the Matadors will charge less for tickets than…

It’s over for Miami High. The Florida High School Activities Association ruled Tuesday the Stingarees must forfeit every victory earned during 1997-98 in boys soccer, basketball, and baseball. In addition, the basketball team must surrender its state championship. The FHSAA investigation was prompted by a New Times cover story, (“Dream…

The story goes like this: Immediately after Xavier Suarez defeated Joe Carollo in the November 1997 Miami mayoral election, a long-time city worker named Caridad Rios was brought in to remove any evil spirits in the mayor’s Dinner Key office. Accounts vary. One person says she came at night, only…

When Kenny Merker leads a tour of historic homes in his Buena Vista neighborhood, the narration inevitably turns to violations of Miami’s zoning code. “This one has two illegal units,” he says, pointing to a weathered-looking bungalow carved from coral. “This one over here also has two illegal units.” A…

Miami Senior High principal Victor Lopez is game for a challenge. Last month state regulators reported that his school had violated recruiting rules, and they demanded a response. After conducting a two-week probe, Lopez penned a four-page, single-spaced declaration of innocence on June 24. “We have found no evidence of…

Soaring in a universe far removed from Miami is an elite constellation of media moguls. Ted Turner is a member. So are Michael Eisner, Rupert Murdoch, and a select few others. We all see their faces on the news, maybe catch a tuxedoed photo-shoot in Vanity Fair. Sometimes we skim…

The shot clock is about to expire on the Miami High boys’ basketball team. An official investigation has determined that boosters of the state championship squad improperly provided housing to star transfer students. The finding virtually guarantees that the school will have to forfeit its Class 6A crown as well…

Here I am, trying to be a good corporate citizen,” huffs Hara Frankel. “And I’m getting screwed!” Before her on a small square table is a clutter of angry letters, arrest reports, and employment applications. Behind the Plexiglas counter of the Subway sandwich shop she owns near Jackson Memorial Hospital,…

Drop a famous professional athlete in an inner city church and you can pretty much guarantee a buzz amongst the congregation. At the New Birth Baptist Church in North Miami, excited chatter begins the moment Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning — disqualified from today’s playoff game against the New York…

Don’t accuse the heralded boys’ basketball team at Miami High of cheating. At least not if you want to avoid the ire of school principal Victor Lopez. In a seven-page, single-spaced memorandum obtained by New Times, Lopez savages an investigation of his school’s athletic department by the Greater Miami Athletic…

Old news: Joe Carollo was reinstated as Miami’s mayor last month by a panel of judges at the Third District Court of Appeal. Old tradition: Any change in power in the mayor’s office causes companies with an interest in city contracts to scramble to hire lobbyists who have the new…

No property in South Florida attracts more dreamers than Watson Island. The 86-acre pile of gravel and weeds sits tantalizingly close to downtown Miami. Surrounded by the blue waters of Biscayne Bay and traversed every day by nearly 76,000 cars, Watson Island has long been a powerful magnet for people…

Cesar Odio’s 83-year-old mother is dying of cancer. Lawyers for the incarcerated former Miami city manager, arguing “humanitarian need,” say that he should be released from jail early in order to visit her. “The defendant’s mother, Sarah Odio … is currently suffering from a carcinoma (cancer) and has an invasive…

The people who oversee high school athletic competition in Dade County are investigating allegations of wrongdoing by the Miami High School basketball program. “We want [Miami High] to respond to a series of questions — to our administration and our school board as well as to interested parties in our…

Udonis Haslem made a name for himself in Jacksonville. In only two seasons the starting power forward for the Wolfson Wolfpack high school basketball team established himself as one of the best big men in the state, earning a spot on the Jacksonville All-Stars traveling squad. Teammates say Haslem’s sure…

Name: Udonis Haslem Grade: Senior Home School: Miramar High (Broward County) How Attend Miami High: Took Miami address at home of booster Sylbrin Robinson Senior Central Majority to Minority (M&M) transfer Name: Antonio Latimer Grade: Senior Home School: Miami High How Attend Miami High: A transfer from Puerto Rico, he…

On January 30 the Miami Fusion soccer team signed Peruvian forward Jerry “El Samurai” Tamashiro to a multiyear contract. Tamashiro becomes the second El Somebody to sign with the Fusion and at least the fifth El Whatever to appear recently in the news. How the El do you tell them…

A few years ago the people who care about the economic future of the area west of Brickell Avenue sat down to consider a catchy new name for their neighborhood of bistros, barber shops, and dry cleaners. Sitting around a conference table, they brainstormed possible new monikers: Brickell Commons. West…

Jose Garcia-Pedrosa wanted some reassurance. Before agreeing to become Miami’s new city manager last month, he took the unprecedented measure of visiting all five Miami city commissioners and asking each the same question: Will my job security be affected by the fate of Xavier Suarez? It’s a question much of…

Profoundly religious Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez intends to declare today, January 22, “Sanctity of Human Life Day” in the City of Miami. “It was 25 years ago that Roe v. Wade was passed,” explains Josue Morales, a minister at Little Havana’s House of Praise and the mayor’s liaison with the…

Probationary Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez loves to churn out initiatives. First came a five-point plan to clean up and beautify Miami. Then a proposal to light up Flagler Street. This week he is scheduled to debut his monthly “Faith in the City” prayer meetings. Leaders of several local churches have…

During the same November 19 press conference in which he introduced Alberto Ruder as his new city manager, Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez made another announcement — a warning, really: He was now grading Miami Herald articles for “mistakes and errata and corrections in their reporting.” The prospect of Suarez slowing…