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After Complaints, Florida Democratic Party Will Hold Hearing on Wealthy Donor’s Election

By Jerry IannelliJanuary 4, 2017

When Stephen Bittel, a wealthy Democratic megadonor from Miami Beach, announced plans to run for the top job at the Florida Democratic Party, pushback was inevitable. Bittel, who made the majority of his fortune selling properties on Lincoln Road, is the public face of Florida Strong, an organization that donates Koch brothers-style “dark money” to Democratic candidates. Many progressive Florida Democrats disliked Bittel’s modus operandi.

Bill Would Allow “Hunting Teams” to Capture Tegus and Other Invasive Species

By Jessica LipscombJanuary 4, 2017

In February 2013, thousands of amateur Gladesmen and vitamin D-deprived reporters descended upon the Everglades for Florida’s very first Python Challenge. The goal of the contest, which came with a $1,500 grand prize, was to put a dent in the state’s increasingly frightening Burmese python problem. But when the four-week challenge came to an end, the contest’s participants had captured just 68 of the invasive pythons. The hunt was scrapped until 2016, when participants fared only slightly better.

Miami State Senator Wants to Cut Red-Light-Camera Fines to $50

By Jerry IannelliJanuary 4, 2017

South Florida is full of drivers who treat stop lights like vague suggestions. So the area is also full of red-light cameras, which ticket motorists who plow through intersections with reckless abandon. Those cameras can be annoying — who wants to dish out $150 every time they run a yellow? — but there’s some evidence to suggest they can cut down on deadly crashes.

Miami Republicans Supported Gutting House Ethics Office Before Changing Their Minds

By Jerry IannelliJanuary 3, 2017

Miami Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Carlos Curbelo love to position themselves among the most center-leaning GOP members in Congress. Ros-Lehtinen is passionately pro-LGBT rights. Curbelo ran for reelection as a hard #NeverTrump Republican. But both Miamians voted yesterday to all but eradicate the Office of Congressional Ethics, which was formed to police government corruption.

Ten Wounded in Miami Shootings Over Holiday Weekend

By Tim ElfrinkJanuary 3, 2017

Last week, everyone from city officials to Pitbull himself barraged Miamians with a simple plea: Try to celebrate the new year without firing your handguns like Yosemite Sam. It’s not clear how many people watched Pibtull’s “One Bullet Kills the Party” promo and decided not to fete the new year with live ammunition. But as 2017’s first workweek dawns in South Florida, this much is clear: Gun violence didn’t take a break for the holiday weekend.

South Florida Publications Combining

By Chuck StrouseDecember 30, 2016

Voice Media Group (VMG) announced today it has completed the combination of its South Florida publications, Miami New Times and New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Moving forward, the company’s award-winning editorial coverage and business operations will be handled through Miami New Times, a consolidation consistent with VMG’s nationwide emphasis on expanding…

New Times‘ Ten Most Popular Longreads of 2016

By Tim ElfrinkDecember 30, 2016

By most sane measurements, 2016 has been worse than a straight-to-Netflix movie starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. But for long-form journalism at New Times, it’s been a hell of a great 12 months. We’ve crunched the numbers, and these were our ten most popular longreads of the year.

GoPro Video Shows Why Biking in Miami Could Kill You

By Jerry IannelliDecember 30, 2016

Biking in any major city is dangerous. But biking in Miami every day can be straight-up suicidal. One study shows Miami is the fourth most dangerous city in America to commute on two wheels — behind Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando, three other Florida cities. Miami’s roads aren’t just crowded and poorly protected; they’re also full of drivers who seem to openly hate cyclists. In June, one bike commuter told New Times that an 81-year-old woman berated her after the elderly driver ran her over near the Miami-Dade/Broward County line.

More Than 20 Percent of Women in Miami Live Below the Poverty Line

By Tim ElfrinkDecember 29, 2016

On a surface level, Miami is a prosperous place — new condo towers are forever rising in Edgewater and South Beach, luxury cars are lined up at valet stations, and foreign cash seems drawn to South Florida development like an unscrupulous retiree to a Ponzi scheme. But beneath that sheen lies one of America’s least equal distributions of wealth. And that inequality includes a sizable and worrying gender gap, with more than one in every five women in Miami-Dade County living below the poverty line.

Six Legitimately Great Things That Happened in Miami in 2016

By Tim ElfrinkDecember 29, 2016

We all agree that 2016 was an epic dumpster fire of a year. To be honest, it was more like 12 months of increasingly large dumpsters filled with increasingly terrible-smelling refuse being lit into ever-bigger pyres of reeking, flaming garbage. No one disputes this. However, some truly great things also happened right here in Miami in the past year. Before sending 2016 out with the drunken binge it deserves, let’s recall some of that good stuff.

Trump’s Panthers-Owning Cabinet Pick Won’t Pay His Mascot, Lawsuit Says

By Jerry IannelliDecember 29, 2016

Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola could soon run an entire wing of the U.S. government. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Viola, a military veteran and low-profile New York billionaire, to serve as secretary of the Army. That job requires caring for the well-being of thousands of Americans who volunteer to do the hardest jobs, and serious empathy for those who develop mental illness in the service.

Here’s Video of a Bunch of Floridians Running Red Lights This Year

By Jerry IannelliDecember 28, 2016

Red-light camera operators are the tow-truck drivers and repossession kings of today’s drone-flying, surveillance-obsessed world. Camera companies place tiny, cheap lenses on traffic lights, wait for you to inch too far into an intersection, and cackle into the sky as they and the cities that hire them siphon a few hundred dollars from your wallet. The cameras themselves might not even be legal in Florida.

Dear Stoner: What’s in a Name When It Comes to Marijuana Strains?

By Herbert FuegoDecember 28, 2016

Dear Stoner: My favorite marijuana strain is Lamb’s Bread. Does that name mean anything, or is it just made up at a grower? Burt Smiley Dear Burt: Marijuana names definitely mean something, especially for the strain you mention. Lamb’s Bread is an iconic Jamaican sativa that Bob Marley reportedly liked to…

Twelve People Who Brought Deep Shame to Miami in 2016

By New Times staffDecember 28, 2016

When the clock strikes midnight December 31, kiss your loved ones, pound some champagne, and give 2016 a big, hearty middle finger on its way out the door. This year has seriously sucked. Prince and David Bowie died. Donald Trump won the presidency. Racist Twitter eggs will soon dictate our…

Study: Miami Is a Bleak, Heartless Wasteland Where No One Cares About You

By Tim ElfrinkDecember 27, 2016

Hey there, newcomer! ¡Bienvenido a Miami! Our beaches are a year-round paradise, and our water is tranquil. Ibiza trembles with envy at our clubs. Anthony Bourdain lies awake at night, tormented by the sheer power of our restaurant scene. Everyone is attractive as hell. Oh, and also literally no one here cares about anyone else. Probably should mention that part too!

Eight Moments That Shaped the Miami Dolphins’ Improbable Season

By Ryan YousefiDecember 27, 2016

The Miami Dolphins are an NFL playoff team. What is an NFL playoff team, you might ask? It’s a team that plays all 17 regular-season games and then plays an additional matchup in a single-elimination tournament that concludes with a game between the final two remaining teams, called the “Super Bowl.”