There is no more obvious symbol of the sugar industry’s stranglehold on Florida, or its waning grip on the state Legislature, than the story of the Everglades reservoir plan. The idea — to buy land south of Lake Okeechobee back from sugar growers in order to let water flow freely south to the Glades after close to a century of misdirection and mismanagement…
For now, the state’s headlong rush to allow more casinos in Miami-Dade looks to be dead in the water. But Miami Beach commissioners aren’t taking any chances when it comes to slot machines in SoBe. The commission voted this morning to push forward a zoning change that would ban all gambling establishments anywhere in the city.
Time to load up on cafecitos, Miami: Things are about to get superboring around here for sports fans. With the Dolphins draft in the rear-view mirror, the Heat and the Panthers missing the playoffs, and the Marlins, well, being the Marlins, there just isn’t much to speak of when it comes to South Florida sports right now.
For the past seven years, Florida Power & Light has battled environmentalists over its plans to build two new reactors and inject their radioactive waste 3,000 feet underground, just below the aquifers where South Florida gets its drinking water. Environmentalists have vigorously argued that science shows the dangerous waste could leech upward into Miami’s drinking water. And yesterday, those green activists finally earned a hearing before the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Florida’s House of Representatives proved today there is nothing its grubby little hands can’t screw up. After more than 72 percent of voters statewide voted to legalize medicinal marijuana for people with “debilitating diseases,” a term that includes cancer, AIDS, and Alzheimer’s, the Florida House today passed its own series of rules regulating the state’s new medical weed industry.
Bret Stephens, the New York Times’ newest opinion writer, clearly needs to get out and experience the world. In his previous gig at the Wall Street Journal, Stephens’ writing suggested he’s rarely, if ever, hung out with anyone who isn’t white, wealthy, or Christian. He has argued that the “Arab mind” is predisposed to anti-Semitism and that the “campus-rape epidemic” among collegiate women is a myth. Both of those opinions can be changed by simply hanging out with women and Arabic people.
Mention Bal Harbour to a random Miamian, and two things come to mind: an über-luxury shopping mall and one of the most notorious speed traps on A1A. Violent drug-related shootings would certainly not appear on that list.
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that federal officials won’t begin treating climate change like a real problem until a whole lot of people die or lose their homes. Donald Trump is trying to cripple the Environmental Protection Agency, and his latest budget asks Congress to strip funding from every single federal agency studying global warming.
Like the famed python that tried to eat an entire alligator, Miami is literally exploding with new residents. Census figures released in April show South Florida has grown by nearly half a million people since 2010. They’re drawn to the balmy weather, white-sand beaches, and, of course, Miami’s proximity to…
Not many politicians are willing to get on a stage with Scientology leader David Miscavige and heap praise upon his organization. After all, Miscavige is at the center of a firestorm of abuse allegations, and his church has been accused of widespread human rights violations.
If there’s one issue Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado has staked his career on, it’s unwavering opposition to the human rights abuses in communist Cuba. The same goes for former GOP Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart. So it’s more than a little jarring that both Regalado and Diaz-Balart spent Saturday enthusiastically opening a Miami megacenter for Scientology,
In December 2014, Danielle Venezia says, she was sitting in the passenger’s seat of a friend’s car on SW 63rd Court in South Miami when her fiancé walked up, ripped open the door, and yanked her out of the car. Venezia says he then began “shoving her around.”
In March 2015, Zachary Bailey, a state probation officer, was arrested after an anonymous Coral Springs woman accused him of rape.
Harry and Corine Bradley opened their namesake store in Overtown almost 50 years ago, selling groceries alongside Corine’s famous country fried chicken. For decades, Corine’s homemade meals drew customers from across the city and sold out each day.
Rapper Ja Rule promised concert-goers a uniquely luxurious experience at his new Fyre Festival. With tickets ranging from $1,200 to a super-VIP $250,000 package, music fans were promised “best in music, culture, art and food all while surrounded by one of the most beautiful and pristine settings in the world.”
It’s easy to forget when you’re sipping a $12 Miami Vice on a bargain-bin weekend cruise to the Bahamas, but cruising can be sketchy business.
In September 2015, the company that owns Miami’s Magic City Casino — West Flagler Associates — tried to apply for a license to open up a new poker room in downtown Miami, through an arcane licensing process involving “summer jai-alai” permits.
Two positions by Florida Power & Light don’t quite add up. First, the electric monopoly contends it’s leading the charge to invest in renewable energy in the Sunshine State.
When the Miami-Dade Police Department acquired two $50,000 drones back in 2009, it was big news. The agency was the first in the nation to get a permit from the FAA to fly the devices, which looked a lot like flying garbage cans.
Last fall, as Miami Beach Mayor Phil Levine decried Ocean Drive as a “disgusting, terrible place,” he tasked Commissioner Ricky Arriola with coming up with a plan to fix it. Among the recommendations were more police, fewer umbrellas, and a crackdown on open containers.
When Donald Trump signed his January executive order banning travel from seven majority-Muslim nations, Rafael A. Velasquez threw on a blazer, grabbed a megaphone, and stood in the rain outside Miami International Airport, screaming “Not my president!” and “Refugees are welcome here!” amid a tense standoff with airport security.
Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced last month that her office would not charge four prison guards responsible for the death of Darren Rainey, a black inmate with schizophrenia who was thrown inside a scalding-hot shower for close to two hours and died inside. The public was outraged:…
