Rudolph “Rudy” Crew is a busy man these days. While doing the $325,000-a-year job of running Miami-Dade County Public Schools, he has been on tour promoting his new tome, Only Connect: The Way to Save Our Schools. Since its August 7 release, he has been interviewed on National Public Radio,…
Yo Quiero In! Filed under: Politics In his upstart race against two-term District 1 incumbent Angel Gonzalez, Mike Suarez is definitely the underdog. He’s got less money, fewer connections, and — judging from a stroll through the heart of Allapattah — a far smaller quantity of signage than his opponent…
January 2, 2003: Under a bright blue sky, John Timoney stood in front of city hall and formally accepted the job as Miami’s police chief. He was taking over a deeply troubled department — that very week, 11 officers would stand trial for fabricating evidence and planting guns. But the…
BBC news reports today that the two Cuban soldiers who attempted to hijack an airliner in May were sentenced by a military tribunal to life in prison. Sergeants Leandro Cerezo Sirut, 20, and Yoan Torres Martinez, 21, received life in jail in the attempted hijacking that left two people dead…
Did you know that today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day? Discuss. -Tamara Lush…
The American Civil Liberties Union hosted a heated debate last night at the Temple Israel of Greater Miami. The topic: the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment — in layman’s terms, a proposed amendment to Florida’s Constitution that would make gay marriage or civil unions illegal in Florida. Its proponents want to…
Though his views on gays feel stuck in the slurs of the early Nineties (See this July Riptide blog post), Miami Beach mayoral candidate Bill Smatt showed some out-of-the-box thinking with his pitch for improving Miami Beach. The 76-year-old, who sports long white hair and a beard a la Father…
Riptide recently came across this gem: a letter written by Fran Rollason, sent by her to various listservs and neighborhood businesses. Rollason is president of the MiMo Biscayne Association and the wife of longtime city bureaucrat and one-time District 2 contender Frank Rollason. We reprint it here. Rollason describes it…
It didn’t take long for University of Florida students to rally around their police-defying bro Andrew Meyer, the 21-year-old who was tasered by university cops because he refused to stop asking John Kerry questions during the senator’s appearance at the school on Monday. In this assortment of YouTube videos, these…
Busta Rhymes’ antics at the closing of B.E.D. last Monday, demanding complimentary cocktails, made noise for about a day, but other events from a weekend on Miami Beach have the Miami gossip queens motor-mouthin’ as always. Jennifer Nicole Lee From www.jennifernicolelee.com Friday night, admirers of Twinkie’s former No. 1 fan,…
Dude, pull those up In major cities nationwide, lawmakers are getting serious about crack. No, not the rocky cousin of cocaine. Butt crack. CNN is reporting that sagging pants are being outlawed in Atlanta, Trenton, and other cities where the powers that be are deciding that rear-end cleavage should only…
Asking for tap water can be touchy when eating at a restaurant that typically exceeds one’s budget. But the waiter at The Restaurant at The Setai on South Beach didn’t even toss us a haughty, “cheapskates” glance when a dining mate asked for “normal water” during our Miami Spice lunch…
C’mon Juice. You tried to hustle us with that book about if you did it. And now you’re being investigated for trying to steal from a casino. You’ve got a problem. You shouldn’t be living in Kendall. You should get yourself to a nunnery. And fast. Or maybe to a…
Uli Herzner, loving life on the set of Project Runway. Photo from www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway Life as a loser does go on. Runner-up of Project Runway Season 3, Uli Herzner dined at new SoBe hotspot, ISHQ on Ocean Drive Monday night. The German- American designer came clad in a low-key ensemble with…
Ultimately, Diane Lawrence, a 67-year-old Kendall grandmother, wants to go to jail. She plans to plant herself at the offices of Florida’s Democratic Reps. Kendrick Meek and Debbie Wasserman Schultz and demand their support in impeaching President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. But, for now, she’ll settle…
Don’t let it come to this, people Ever been told you have an uncanny knack for picking up trash? Now’s your chance to put your talents to good use and join the thousands of volunteers expected to gather at coastlines worldwide tomorrow in celebration of the 22nd Annual International Coastal…
Terence Pinder symbolizes all that is crooked and wrong in the city of Opa-locka. The Herald has done a great job of telling his story thus far: a slick, charismatic populist with an affinity for ladies, P.F Chang’s, and Baptist melodrama. He was arrested last November and charged with, among…
Today feels like the “Darkest Day,” the name Miami-Dade Police have coined for the day in early Seventies when a trio of auto-theft detectives were shot and killed. But, today, authorities are hunting for Shawn Sherwin LaBeet, the 25-year-old suspected of shooting four officers — killing one — in Cutler…
Hurricane season is in full swing, and although we’ve been spared so far, there is plenty of time left for a strike. Hurricanes are a part of life in South Florida, and part of hurricanes is the hurricane party. There is nothing like hunkering down in your favorite pub with…
Florida’s alligators are notorious for their predilection for human flesh, and even Miami’s golf courses have become fabled crime scenes. But in the small Central African nation of Burundi, one Crocodile by the name of Gustave, has been responsible for two hundred deaths alone. And in Burundi’s capital city, no…
Hats off, chef It was standing room only at Starbucks Hear Music Store on Lincoln Road yesterday. Must’ve been 70 or 80 people crowded in to see star chef Marcus Samuelsson and Starbucks’ master coffee blender Andrew Linnemann demonstrate the pleasurable pairing possibilities of coffee and comestibles. Samuelsson is the…
Tuesday night, the fledgling Green Mobility Network met for its second meeting ever at the Dice House in Kendall. The group was started over the summer by John Hopkins, a South Miami resident and bicycling advocate who writes the blog Spokes N’ Folks. About 20 people showed up for the…
