When 62-year-old cancer survivor Jer Valentino set out to obtain his medical marijuana card, the Naples, Florida, resident had to wait two weeks before he could even see a doctor. Another three months and several hundred dollars later, he finally had the pot he needed to treat the…
The patchy morning clouds had just begun to dissipate when the Tri-Rail train pulled out of the Pompano Beach station, heading south through the fading twilight of dawn. Thick bushes, tall green grass, and squat tan buildings littered with colorful graffiti lined the tracks. The train thumped by, picking up…
Since its launch about a year and a half ago, the secret Facebook group Miami Beach Crime Prevention and Awareness has been lauded by city leaders for its efforts to fight crime. Despite a lean toward vigilantism and concerns from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, the group has been awarded…
Fans who weren’t paying attention this past week may be surprised to learn the Marlins mascot, Billy the Marlin, has a new look as well. And by “new look,” we mean “sleeping was fun while it lasted.”
It’s not clear whether former Vice President Joe Biden will run for president in 2020. But something else is apparent: He’s making money by keeping the public guessing. He pocketed a $150,000 speaking fee for a January trip to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, according to newly unearthed public records.
Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. In the 12 months since 17 kids and teachers were slaughtered, mass-shootings have obviously not stopped, and it is still remarkably easy to obtain a gun in Florida. Numerous news outlets — including the New York…
One of the nation’s landmark homeless-protection laws is now gone. Since May 2018, the City of Miami has been trying to invalidate a 1998 legal decision that prevented city cops from arresting homeless people for living their lives outside. The so-called Pottinger Agreement, named for homeless Miamian Michael Pottinger…
Business has been good for Cape-Canaveral based Comprehensive Health Services, a federal contractor that specializes in providing medical care and other support services to major government projects. The company, for example, currently holds a $180 million contract to run Miami-Dade’s Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children, the largest federal detention…
Dwyane Wade is openly telling the Miami Heat that come April — when he retires and hangs up his sneakers and Miami Heat jersey for the last time — he’ll be in the market to purchase a share of an NBA team. Wade is also letting the Heat know he’d …
More than 10,000 people of Haitian ancestry live in Miramar, a city with the fifth-highest Haitian population in Florida. Naturally, the local public schools have a large number of Haitian students — after the devastating 2010 earthquake on the island, Miramar High School took in 46 Haitian refugees, more than…
For years, Miami-Dade Police have had the technology to intercept cell phone communications in real time. Since 2003, the county has spent more than $526,000 on contracts with Pen-Link, a Nebraska-based surveillance technology company, to equip the the county police department with a telephone surveillance system. The latest contract with Pen-Link is set to…
It is a fact that Elliott Abrams, America’s special envoy to Venezuela, covered up at least one Latin American genocide. In the 1980s, Guatemalan Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt’s U.S.-backed forces slaughtered 1,771 indigenous Mayan people whom Montt’s forces fraudulently claimed were supporting “left-wing” guerrillas. According to two-time George Polk Award-winning reporter Allan Nairn…
When Miami city officials decided to tear out grass along Brickell Avenue and replace it with artificial turf last fall, residents were not pleased. A days-long protest ensued, complete with “Save me! I will die soon” signs on trees the protesters said would be smothered by the fake sod. Now,…
Like most Soundcloud rappers, up-and-coming Treasure Coast hip-hop artist YNW Melly has a bunch of face tattoos. Curiously, the 19-year-old Melly had an artist ink the word “Sakchaser” on his forehead, just above his left eye. The tattoo honored a fallen friend: A member of Melly’s rap crew, YNW Sakchaser,…
Each March, thousands of young, drunk tourists descend on Miami Beach, slip into their neon-colored swimwear, and transform into spring breakers. With fake IDs in their beach bags and the complete discography of Pitbull blasting from their portable speakers, this species can be observed guzzling beer from funnels and twerking on police vehicles before passing out face-down in the sand.
Former Miami Gardens Police Sgt. Javier Romaguera’s reputation is so tarnished the U.S Attorney’s Office refuses to prosecute his cases. But he says he’s just a Good Samaritan who’s been wronged. You might remember Romaguera. He was fired last fall and subsequently sued after a woman said he kidnapped…
Twenty-seven months have passed since Floridians overwhelmingly voted for the right to access medical marijuana. But you wouldn’t know it by the way the previous administration obstructed access, slowed implementation, and denied the will of the people. Nearly 200,000 patients in Florida have used this medicine for relief from terminal…
Last week, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried — the only Democrat elected statewide in the 2018 midterms — shook up her 4,000-employee agency by appointing Holly Bell the state’s first-ever cannabis director. While Fried campaigned on a promise to increase medical marijuana access, both she and the new…
Since 1983, there has nearly always been a definitive sports star in Miami. No argument. We all knew who it was. In a matter of weeks, however, that time will be ending. Miami will be without a true sports star. This has us asking ourselves…
There’s a growing movement in America to defund and/or abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE was created in 2003 — many progressives within the Democratic party are currently debating whether we should dissolve the deportation agency, shift some of its least-harmful responsibilities to other agencies, and pare back America’s…
More than a year ago, a group of City of Miami Fire-Rescue employees got canned after committing what looks, on paper at least, to have been a racist attack on a black firefighter. In November 2017, six firefighters were terminated after they allegedly took their black colleague’s family photographs, drew…
The Florida Democrats are constantly in a shambles — but they’re even more of a mess than usual lately. Left-leaning voices within the party are furious at leader Terrie Rizzo and second-in-command Juan Peñalosa since Republicans flattened the Dems in statewide races during the 2018 midterm elections. After the losses, critics noted that…
