Some came dressed in barely-there dresses, armed with look-at-me attitude. Some came in hip-hop gear designed to demonstrate street cred. Everyone came with their business face on. Russell Simmons was about to be in the house, and the vibe at Books & Books was electric. At 7:00 p.m., Simmons was…
A populist in Miami? Sure enough, as I was waiting for a vodka tonic at the crowded cash bar, John Edwards somehow materialized and took the stage to cheering. He had blown into town for, among other things, a fundraiser at the Rusty Pelican, with its wide-open views of the…
Pesky buggers You want breast cancer? A lowered sperm count? How about Parkinson’s Disease? John Cunningham is on a one-man crusade to wake up Miamians to what he claims are the profound dangers of anti-mosquito spraying. On the website he runs out of his Kendall home, the 65-year-old former college…
From yesterday’s Herald, page 15A (capitalization ours): “Albania is a spiderweb of organized crime and corruption – some estimates place the ‘gray economy’ at 50 PER CENT of the official economy, meaning a FULL THIRD of the economy is off the books.” –Lee Klein…
These letters rolled into our Letters to the Editor Section last week. Watch the writer tacke a swing — and the commissioner duck: From reader Ernie Sandoval to Miami Commisisoner Marc Sarnoff: “Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, whose district includes Jade and who campaigned to limit high-rise condo development to…
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) in Tallahasee has doubled the fine for any proven offense of food misrepresention in dining establishments (from $250 to $500, which still doesn’t seem like much punishment for deceiving the public — and increasing profits considerably while doing so). “Floridians ought to…
For the second time this year the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Spike TV are broadcasting Fight Night Live from the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. And Tuesday’s fight card is littered with local talent. American Top Team – one of the nation’s largest and most revered mixed martial…
On May 7, I posted a blog entitled Ask the Food Critic, in which readers were encouraged to forward questions to me concerning the local food and dining scene. Sample queries were offered, such as: Is it true that Daniel Boulud will be opening a namesake establishment in downtown Miami?…
Hey kids, guess whose working the four a.m. slot on BET –right here from a secret studio in Miami? You thought he was dead but he’s rich and very much alive! No, it’s not Flava Flav. It’s your old preacher pal, Bobby Tiltonhttp://www.trinityfi.org/press/tilton3.html. That’s right, after losing it all in…
Investigative television reporter Mike Kirsch wants Miami-Dade Police Director Bobby Parker’s head on a stick. The former CBS 4 investigative reporter sent the attached letter to Miami New Times alleging Parker made a false statement to Miami-Dade County commissioners on March 15 of last year. Kirsch sent the correspondence the…
A month or two ago, the Bike Blog mentioned that the time of the World Naked Bike Ride – a worldwide event in which cyclists take to the streets in the buff — was neigh. After endorsing it wholeheartedly, we promptly forgot all about it and therefore didn’t have to…
I was to meet Marco Pierre White poolside at The Raleigh Hotel at ten in the morning. Figured a cup of coffee, quick chat for a short blog, thank you very much. He had arrived in town the previous evening for a speaking gig with Gael Greene at Books &…
A recent United Nations report says that Miami is the city with the largest foreign-born population in the world. Fifty-nine percent of the people here were born outside of the U.S. – Tamara Lush…
A new documentary, “Posada Carriles: Terrorism Made in USA,” recounts the exploits of Miami’s most infamous elderly militant Cuban exile, who as recently as 2000 was caught trying to kill Fidel Castro in Panama. The Committee to Free the Cuban Five has organized showings of the film, though as of…
In 1651 a tubby little Englishman named Thomas Hobbes rocked the thinking world with his book Leviathan. Hobbes put forward the idea that man’s life was “nasty, brutish, and short.” The only reason primitive dudes finally traded in their beatin’ sticks for butterfly ballots, Hobbes guessed, was fear of a…
Back in April 2003, Miami-Dade County Commissioner José “Pepe” Diaz attended an anti-cancer charity shoot at the Trail Glades Gun Range. It was a balmy, sunny day just east of the Miccosukee casino on the Tamiami Trail, and several dozen recreational shooters hurried through 200 target competitions. Most were members…
T. Willard Fair is both provocative and irresistibly charming. The 68-year-old’s handsome, fresh features might be those of a man 20 years younger. He dresses exquisitely; today he’s wearing a fine black-and-white silk shirt, white pants, and matching black-and-white loafers, which — even at the end of the day, as…
The Changing Tide Ruano Roulette Last week yet another study confirmed that a refugee’s fate in immigration court is determined far more by the political orientation of the presiding judge than the merits of the case. Titled “Refugee Roulette,” the study analyzed 140,000 decisions made by 225 immigration judges from…
Several New Times employees opened their email this morning and saw the accompanying ghastly picture that detailed the plight of an Indian widow whose son, Ramesh, has leukemia. The author, who calls herself Nadeem Mohammed, claims to have no money and begs for donatons to help cure her ailing son…
The Florida Elections Commission socked Kentward Forbes with $13,100 in fines for breaking state law governing political campaigns. The ruling was released this past June 1. Forbes did not attend the FEC’s meeting this past May 16 to defend himself. He declined comment. Last year, the Redland community activist had…
This past weekend I got invited to a barbecue with a little twist: It wasn’t chicken wings we were roasting on the coals — it was our own precious tootsies. It’s called firewalking, explained my landlord, who hosted the event on his lawn. “Anybody can do it.” The practice of…
It’s obvious, upon first entering the Mark K. Wheeler gallery at the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, that the artists behind these works must be young. Not because their work is amateur, it is anything but. The art that is on display as part of the 33rd Annual Student Art…
