In this week’s Miami New Times, we profile 30 of the most interesting characters in town, with portraits of each from photographer Stian Roenning. See the entire Miami New Times People Issue here. In his native Basque Country, Iñaki Goikoetxea frequently gets stopped on the street by fans wanting to…
Last week Riptide reported on the new digital signs on Lincoln Road announcing that riding bicycles on the pedestrian mall is prohibited between 9 am and 2 am. But at that point, police weren’t actually issuing citations to offenders of the rule passed a few months ago. That changed yesterday,…
A week after Riptide reported that several South Beach dogs had suffered sudden, sometimes lethal seizures, the animal hospital that treated four victims has confirmed what many suspected: The dogs ingested poison. Lela Morales, a manager at Alton Road Animal Hospital, says the dogs almost certainly ate some kind of…
You can’t miss them. The new signs, on Lincoln Road at Meridian and Washington avenues, are massive, and their message is loud and unambiguous. “NO BICYCLES ON LINCOLN ROAD,” they flash in lighted block letters. “BICYCLES PROHIBITED 9 A.M. to 2 A.M.” The electronic signs went up a couple of…
The two middle-aged men were ambitious. They wanted to repair their sailboat and navigate across the ocean, from Colombia to Italy. All so they could smuggle two tons of cocaine. According to a federal arrest affidavit filed last week, keysnet.com reports, two South Florida men — Juan Soberon and Marin…
Last Sunday morning Les Lehotay, a Miami Beach hairdresser, had breakfast at Las Olas Cafe, at Sixth Street and Euclid Avenue, with his friend Lorenzo Ramos, a realtor, and Ramos’ dog Rocco, a healthy two and a half-year-old French bulldog. At one point Ramos took Rocco for a walk around…
If Bay Harbor Islands, the two-island, 5,000-person town on Biscayne Bay between North Miami and Bal Harbour, is known for anything, it’s MiMo architecture. But at a commission meeting earlier this week, the town moved closer to breaking away from the county’s historic building preservation rules, and some town residents…
Last November, Maryland resident Charles Atwell boarded Pride, a 1,000-foot, 12-deck Carnival cruise ship that sails from Baltimore and Tampa to the Caribbean and carries more than 2,000 passengers. The ship features a nightclub, piano bar, and water slide, and Atwell was also likely attracted by the great reputation of…
On October 20, blogger Al Crespo published a story lambasting SkyRise developer Jeff Berkowitz as “duplicitous” and a “hypocrite” for seeking public funds for the massive and controversial building project, which stalled in the county commission yesterday over a proposed $9 million subsidy. Now, Crespo says the developer is hitting…
Just after 8 p.m, the mood at the Ren a Venue, an event space in the Sunset Strip Plaza in Kendall hosting Carlos Curbelo’s election-night watch party, didn’t feel particularly celebratory. Fifty or so well-dressed supporters milled around, and “Sweet Home Alabama” blared over a loudspeaker, but the room was…
On a beautiful Tuesday evening in North Miami-Dade at the Ives Estates Tennis Center, just off Ives Dairy Road, four men bat a ball around a wire and glass box about the size of a large backyard swimming pool. Using 18-inch paddles that look from afar like mini-tennis rackets, they…
After weeks of wrangling, a park protest, and the recent involvement of an attorney, the infamous Merrie Christmas Park toxic soil pile is finally on its way out thanks to funding promised by an anonymous donor. “I’m pretty sure it’ll happen in the next day or two,” Commissioner Marc Sarnoff…
Miami Beach Commissioner Ed Tobin is nearly 53 years old. He’s been a city commissioner for seven years and a working lawyer for almost 30. But now Tobin wants to begin a new career — as a Miami Beach beat cop. “I figured I’m not getting any younger,” Tobin tells…
On a Wednesday evening in early October, Congressman Joe Garcia strides through the empty lobby of a Key Largo community center, his black dress shoes clacking against the marble floor. Garcia is both affable and imposing. He has a large body and a broad face, with small dark eyes set…
Frank Bocanegra, an attorney and former Miami-Dade Police officer, is running for county court judge on the November 4 ballot based largely on his three-decade career in law enforcement and his role as a former city manager of Miami Lakes. “I… truly believe that hard work and unrelenting professionalism are…
Everyone knows that adult fish can produce sounds, right? Well, maybe not, but trust us, they do. But earlier this month, a team from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School became the first ever — ever! — to document that fish larvae, also known as baby fish, can also make…
For Collon Brown, the revelation came in Toronto, when he was fiddling around with the large elastic bands that are used as truck tie-downs. Brown had already burned out of his career as a graphic designer and had lately become obsessed with yoga, meditation, and righting his body and mind…
After days of flyers, signatures, and rising passion among neighbors who want a massive pile of toxic soil removed from Merrie Christmas Park in Coconut Grove, city officials at a hearing last night argued in favor of a much cheaper plan to cover the toxic soil with two feet of…
Yesterday Eric Arem, a Hollywood resident, won a court ruling: His red light camera citation was thrown out. At issue was that Arem hadn’t actually received the ticket from the City of Hollywood. Instead, it was issued by a Tempe, Arizona-based company, American Traffic Solutions (ATS). ATS operates the majority…
Last September, county officials discovered that soil in Coconut Grove’s Merrie Christmas Park was holding toxic waste leftover from a long-gone incinerator, including harmful toxins such as arsenic, barium, cadmium, and lead. The contaminated section of the park was closed, but just a couple of weeks ago the city revealed…
For years , a Miami city agency has sought to secure $60 million for a massive project in chronically impoverished Overtown. But now that the project is finally close to breaking ground, a local activist is claiming the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) illegally failed to hire any…
Last month, when the City Council of Doral unanimously approved a plan to extend benefits to domestic partners of city employees — becoming the seventh Miami-Dade County to do so — the move was hailed by activists and city leaders. But the council’s decision has also sparked strong opposition. In…
