Yo-Yo King and Commissioner Ken Russell Cleans Up Miami

When he ran for Miami City Commission last year, Ken Russell’s opponents mockingly called him the “Boy Wonder.” As a newcomer to politics, the 42-year-old was seen by critics as little more than a hipster activist with a penchant for Hacky Sack. “That nickname came about during the campaign I…

Miami Was Begging for Satire, and Justin Wales Delivered

Chances are, a Plantain article has probably come across your Facebook feed by now. The 6-month-old Miami satire website has gone viral by offering cutting takes on everything from local politics (“Summer Camp Run by Jeb Bush Sued After Leaving Child Behind”) to transit (“Miami-Dade to Create Freeway ‘Texting Lane’…

Michael Capponi Went From SoBe Party Promoter to Haiti’s Guardian Angel

The day after Hurricane Matthew hit western Haiti, the country’s main airport stopped accepting flights. But across the border, the storm hadn’t touched the Dominican Republic. So Michael Capponi, a Miami Beach nightclub promoter-turned-humanitarian, chartered a flight from South Florida to the DR and then hopped a small private plane…

Alejandro Gonzalez’s Liquid Nitrogen Brings Down the House

The business card lists his job title as “atmospheric manipulator.” That’s how Alejandro Gonzalez describes what he does as the owner and founder of Kryogenifex, which creates special effects using liquid nitrogen. Unless you’ve been to one of the many Miami-area clubs that cools partiers using puffy white clouds of…

FIU Students Plan a Trump Walkout Wednesday

Over the weekend, a Columbia University professor from Turkey, N. Turkuler Isiksel, shared his best advice for fighting Donald Trump if his administration turns toward autocracy. “Protest early and often,” wrote Isikel, who lived through the rise of the democratically elected strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Democrats Are Trying to Draft Medical Pot Architect John Morgan for Governor

The Florida Democratic Party hasn’t won a governor’s race in Florida since 1994 but in recent years has been totally unwilling to invent a new strategy to change that streak. For the past four elections, like clockwork, the party has nominated a milquetoast Tampa-area centrist. And for the past four cycles, they’ve all lost.

Five Miami Issues That Trump Definitely Won’t Fix

Miami often acts as a bellwether for the nation’s issues. After all, the Magic City is a majority-minority community with serious affordability, transportation, and climate problems. If Miami finds a way to beat those challenges, that’s a great sign for the rest of the country.

The Florida Democratic Party Is a Damn Disgrace

There are a hell of a lot of Democrats in Florida. In fact, more of them are registered here than Republicans. Obama won the state twice. And the blue party has demographics on its side thanks to a growing, left-leaning Hispanic population.

Five Reasons the Miami Dolphins Are Real Contenders

The Miami Dolphins are a .500 football team. Hi, haters! Since the funeral everyone held for the team following its 30-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans October 9, the Dolphins have won three straight, catapulting themselves to the top of the pack of teams hunting for that last AFC wildcard spot.

There’s Already an “Impeach Trump” March Planned in Miami Tomorrow

So much for that whole “Donald Trump deserves a shot” mentality Hillary Clinton was advocating yesterday. Thousands of Trump’s opponents — a multicolored coalition of civil-rights reformers, immigration activists, criminal-justice critics, LGBTQ allies, and others — have already taken to the streets around the nation to protest…

Miami Will Sink Farther Underwater in Trump’s America

Cable television failed the American public in many ways this election cycle. But perhaps its biggest failure was letting the candidates get through three debates without asking a single question about climate change. For South Floridians, neither candidate was forced to answer any substantive questions about how he or she would handle the…