Photographer Johanne Rahaman Documents Black Florida

Growing up in Trinidad, Johanne Rahaman didn’t realize she was poor. “It was idyllic,” she says. “I had all these friends whose homes I would just walk into. If we didn’t have food, I could go to my neighbor’s house, and their parents or grandparents would feed me.” As a…

Kids Drown in Cruise Ship Pools With No Lifeguards on Duty

Inside a small guest cabin on the Carnival Victory, 6-year-old Qwentyn Hunter and his 10-year-old brother, Jermaine, begged their parents to order peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from room service. It was the last day of the family’s four-day trip from Miami to Mexico in October 2013, and the ship…

Dear Stoner: What’s So Great About Smoking Weed? UPDATED

Dear Stoner: Why are all you potheads so gung-ho about the benefits of smoking weed? I smoke it from time to time, but I don’t tell my friends to light up a joint instead of visiting the doctor. It’s pot, not magic beans. Grinding Gary Dear Gary: Magic buds, maybe…

Man Says Pretrial Jail Guards Beat Him Until He Lost His Spleen

Two years ago, Miami-Dade County closed the ninth floor of its Pretrial Detention Center, which held mentally ill inmates awaiting trial in putrid, dangerous, and obscene conditions. For years, CBS4 had dubbed the ward the “Forgotten Floor,”and the U.S. Department of Justice called the conditions there unconstitutional. But although the county is…

What You Need to Know About Naled in Miami

In just over a month, naled has gone from a largely unknown pesticide to the most hotly debated issue in Miami’s fight against the Zika virus. The controversial organophosphate pesticide, which is banned in the European Union and could harm infants, has been the county’s main weapon against Zika virus-carrying…

Campaign-Finance Reform Kept From Ballot, Lobbyists Celebrate Online

Miami’s Third District Court of Appeal yesterday declined to put a citizen-backed campaign-finance reform bill up for a public vote this November, according to documents published by blogger Al Crespo. The decision likely ends a summer-long fight between a union-backed group pushing the county to get money out of politics,…

Dear Stoner: Why Does Smoking Weed Make You Hungry?

Dear Stoner: Why does smoking weed make you hungry? Like, does science know why? Stewie Dear Stewie: The munchies are real, man. Although no one could definitively point to a brain reaction and say “There it is” for a long time, by 2015 marijuana’s ability to increase appetite was already…

99 JAMZ Host Demoted After Reporting Sexual Harassment, Suit Says

Aprille Hinnant thought WEDR 99JAMZ radio host Maestro Powell was protecting her from the belly of the beast of the industry,” she says. He told her not to talk to anyone else at the station. Don;t mention the training, he said. As the program director and main personality of 99JAMZ’s Sunday morning…

World’s Largest Egos Will Jam Downtown Traffic Tonight

One of two things will happen in Downtown Miami tonight. One: Donald Trump, who is leading an impromptu, 6 p.m. rally at the James L. Knight Center, and Kanye West, who will host his first of two Saint Pablo Tour shows at the American Airlines Arena at 8 p.m., will…

Miami Named America’s Most Dangerous City for Women

When the Zika virus hit Miami Beach in August, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden speculated that pregnant women might want to avoid the entirety of Miami-Dade County for a few months. “If you’re concerned about Zika, you may consider postponing all non-essential travel to all…

Miami Beach’s Naled Debate Devolves Into Circus at City Hall

Just after 11 a.m. today, a former Columbia University professor, who now serves as dean of Florida International University’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, stood in front of a packed crowd at Miami Beach City Hall. Opening his speech, Dr. Thomas R. Guilarte thanked everyone in attendance…

Rich, White Men Dominate Miami Political Campaigns, Study Says

Miami is in the midst of the most spirited debate it’s had regarding campaign-finance reform in years. Barring the results of legal appeals and a counter-suit filed this week, a group of activists has forced Miami-Dade County to let its citizens vote on a measure that would cut political donations…