The best part of last night’s game wasn’t that LeBron James dropped 31 points, or that the Heat crushed Kobe’s Lakers without Dwyane Wade. Honestly, the best part wasn’t even when LeBron James absolutely pancaked Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria on the sideline while chasing a loose ball (although every…
Next time someone tells you, “Eh, this recession hasn’t sucked that much in Miami,” whip out this interactive economic graphic report that the Brookings Institute just published. The think tank’s conclusions are stunning: Of 200 global cities they analyzed, Miami’s economy was harder hit by the recession than all but…
Medical marijuana’s unlikely Florida hero is 64-year-old Larcenia Bullard
Starting this past April, Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators began looking into a half dozen allegations lodged against Doral Police Chief Ricardo Gomez, from charges of bid fixing to shady hires to illegally spending city cash on a lavish swearing-in ceremony. By this fall, the FDLE was sure enough…
Pity the University of Miami freshman who picked this morning to crap out a research paper, and the Miami Herald journalist trying to write about whichever moderately famous person dies today. Wikipedia has gone dark! The site is protesting the SOPA legislation that most sane people realize would shackle the…
Scratch another notch onto the Fontainebleau, the high-rollin’ hotel where Gloria James (allegedly) slapped a valet and where Lil Wayne lost his 305 cred by partying with the Dallas Mavericks after they topped the Heat in the NBA Finals last year. The latest celebrity athlete embroiled in headlines tied to…
Hopefully Carnival CEO and Miami Heat owner Micky Arison has some of his billions stashed away in some nice, safe mutual funds. Arison already lost $1.3 billion last year to shrinking stocks and after this weekend’s epic disaster by a Carnival-owned ship off Italy — which left 6 dead, 29…
If you’d told Larcenia Bullard 35-years ago – back when she was teaching school kids for a living — that she’d one day use her lofty platform as a Florida state Senator to advocate for marijuana reform, she would have banished you to the principal’s office. “I would not have…
German car giant Mercedes-Benz and its comically mustachioed CEO Dieter Zetsche are getting railroaded on the Interwebs today after advertising a new car sharing program under Che Guevara’s face and the slogan: Viva la revolucion!Nein! Cuban activists including Felix Rodriguez — one of the guys who helped hunt Che down…
All the racial tension simmering beneath North Miami’s political surface — where the Haitian-born mayor has faced corruption probes and blamed the accusations in part on white enmity — came to a head on Tuesday night in the city council. Mayor Andre Pierre exploded at Commissioner Michael Blynn, calling Blynn’s…
The Occupy movement made its debut at last night’s opening of the legislative season in Tallahassee with a move carefully calibrated to resonate with ordinary Floridians — they yelled some stuff at widely loathed Gov. Rick Scott.As Scott made his way into the House, protesters lined the hallway yelled “We…
Miami New Times writer fights for freedom of the press
Liberty Square Christmas Eve murder
What in hell is going on in Gainesville? In the past week, two different elderly residents have been tied up and beaten by brazen robbers — the latest in a spree of such crimes dating to last summer.Today 78-year-old disabled retiree Paul Quant is recovering after being stabbed and brutally…
Using a highly scientific formula that considers factors including WNBA teams, nude yoga sessions, and local Mr. Leather semifinalists (uh, no, really), the Advocate magazine has crunched out its annual list of the “Gayest Cities in America.” The Sunshine State was well represented — by Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.Miami’s gay…
On Christmas Eve in Liberty Square, Dorian Hinkson stabbed his neighbor to death in front of his wife and kids — a tragic crime that kneecapped Miami’s oldest housing project, highlighting not only cops’ inability to stem the violence but also an expensive and elaborate camera surveillance system’s failure to…
Miami-area State Sen. Larcenia Bullard has fired up a big ol’ blunt of legislative reform this morning, as her proposal to give Florida voters a chance to legalize medical marijuana was introduced in the Senate. Bullard’s bill joins a similar proposal by Lake Worth Rep. Jeff Clemens in the House…
Theo Karantsalis, a soft-spoken librarian who teaches research classes at Miami Dade College between freelancing for Miami New Times and the Miami Herald, has become an unlikely central character in a hotly contested federal case that has free-speech advocates ready to clash with top D.C. officials. In a case that…
The Miami Marlins inked a deal last night for once-explosive, possibly still insane Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano. With Ozzie Guillen already signed on to manage the club, the two most unhinged personalities in baseball will call Little Havana home next season.Scientists contacted by Riptide are still unsure what might result…
After a thorough beatdown in the Iowa caucuses last night, Newt Gingrich turned this morning to Miami, announcing a new gala fundraiser at the Biltmore that he hopes will re-energize his presidential campaign. Too bad Newt can’t ring up legendary Miami arms merchant Sarkis Soghanalian, who died in October.Turns out Gingrich and…
Living in Miami actually makes it much easier to quickly judge whether reports of Fidel Castro’s demise are true. Just open your window: Are horns honking? Are fireworks exploding? Is anyone running down your street yelling El hijo de puta está muerto?!If not, then Fidel is probably not dead. Such…
As always, we’ll start Riptide’s annual tradition of counting down our list of the year’s worst cops with a caveat: being a cop in the 305 is one of the toughest law enforcement gigs in the country and despite the weekly headlines here, most Dade cops do good work. As…
