As Austin Harrouff stabilizes in a Palm Beach County hospital, the public may soon get answers as to why the 19-year-old allegedly murdered two strangers, stabbed another, and proceeded to eat the dead man’s face as police repeatedly Tasered him. Behind all the bizarre headlines around the case, though, are two…
Time to play a guessing game: How much would it cost Miami-Dade County officials to search for a week’s worth of emails from commissioners, and then to print those messages out and hand them to someone? Would $21,600 sound reasonable? In what might be the most expensive printing operation ever…
For seven years, John Timoney redefined policing in Miami. As chief of the Miami Police Department, his innovative approaches to police shootings and patrolling mass protests drew both international praise and condemnation, making him one of the most visible cops in the world during his heyday. Timoney died last night…
Earlier this month, ESPN released its 2016 NFL QB Tier Rankings, the sports network’s third-annual rankings of quarterbacks based on ratings compiled from 42 league insiders. Ryan Tannehill did not fare well. Of the 33 quarterbacks on the list, Tannehill placed 24th, firmly in the third tier, making him a “legit starter who…
In 2011, 38-year-old Cristina Siekavizza disappeared in Guatemala City. A frenzied manhunt ensued. Cops canvassed town after town. Guatemalan national magazine Contrapoder wrote an entire feature on her death, and the case sparked a national debate about domestic violence after her family organized marches throughout the nation’s capital. Eventually, police pointed their fingers…
In two weeks, the University of Miami Hurricanes will kick off a new season inside a newly renovated stadium, which just underwent a $500 million facelift. Now that home field, most recently known by as New Miami Stadium but still called Dolphins Stadium by most, has a new name: Hard…
When the U.S. Marshals issued an arrest warrant for Anibal Mustelier back in 1995, Mustelier had a thick head of bushy brown hair sprouting atop his head. His face was unblemished, and light stubble gave his face a youthful glow. After Mustelier, 66, was arrested on Sunday, his latest mugshot…
In 2013, Austin Harrouf was starring as a defensive tackle at Suncoast Community High School — a Palm Beach County school ranked among Newsweek’s 10 best schools in America at least eight different times in the last decade. He’d also been taking advanced-placement classes in the schools’ International Baccalaureate program. Why or…
Hop off your starfish-shaped bicycle from Burning Man and take a break from your home-schooling classes: Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is coming to Miami tomorrow! Before this year, Johnson had mostly been famous for vetoing hundreds of bills as governor of New Mexico, smoking weed at a regular clip…
In South Florida, there’s a long and bizarre history of politicians as would-be crime fighters. In the mid-1970s, Miami politico J. L. Plummer was called “Commissioner Kojak” after installing a police radio in his Cadillac and showing up at crime scenes. In 1979, Miami Beach Mayor Alex Daoud “actively participated in the…
It’s not just about Hillary and Dim Donald. Florida’s August 30 primary is just around the corner. Though most local media attention has been focused on the race for Miami-Dade County mayor between incumbent Carlos Gimenez and School Board member Raquel Regalado, there are other local races significant to the…
When an activist group called Accountable Miami-Dade sent the county 127,000 petitions, each demanding the government reform its campaign-finance laws to help stop public corruption, the county — by law — had 30 days to start counting up the signatures. But so far, neither the commission nor the mayor will…
Last month, Florida’s Environmental Regulation Commission took the alarming step of changing state rules to allow more cancer-causing chemicals in Florida’s water. That change is currently on hold thanks to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which sued the state over the change — and they’re far from alone at being alarmed at…
Back in 1993, a 17-year-old Alex Rodriguez hit .505 as a senior at Westminster High — the last time he played for a team in his hometown. A record signing bonus from the Seattle Mariners ensured that he never got an at-bat with the University of Miami, where he’d committed…
The numbers are starting to look as obvious as a Donald Trump spray tan: To have any realistic shot at the White House, the GOP nominee absolutely has to win Florida in November. But that possibility is looking more and more like a long shot. A new poll out this morning has…
As a kid, Valencia Gunder was terrified of the pool. But one day when she was around seven years old, an uncle who was a lifeguard threw her right in. He told her not to be afraid, that everything would be fine if she could swim. And that’s how she…
On August 2, a group called Accountable Miami-Dade sent the county two U-Haul trucks packed full of signed petitions demanding a public vote on new campaign finance laws that would make it harder for wealthy contractors and lobbyists to donate wads of money to politicians. Two weeks later, those 127,000 petitions…
In Miami’s tourism-centered economy, any crisis that might lead to visitors intentionally avoiding the metro area could quickly snowball into a full-scale economic catastrophe. Thankfully — so far at least — the zika virus outbreak doesn’t seem to be having that effect. A study released yesterday by the University of Florida…
Liana Lozada has been using Uber since it debuted in Miami in 2014, but it was only recently that she took note of a problem with the service. Whenever she got into a car with non-Spanish speaking friends, she was usually the only one who could communicate with the driver…
Contrary to the crotchety reporters who say millennials are immature slouches who hate responsibility, plenty of youngsters want to own homes — they simply can’t afford them. Especially in Miami. Case in point: A study released yesterday by the housing-research website Zumper found that 93 percent of Miamians say they’d…
A few years back, in preparation for retirement, Illinois OB-GYN Jean Alexandre began looking for an investment property in Florida he could rent out to supplement his monthly income. In October of 2013 he sealed the deal, wiring $68,000 and writing a check for an additional $2,000 to North Miami…
A lot of weird stuff happens in Florida. It’s a state where, apparently, you can’t work as a pizza delivery driver, bank teller, or politician without getting accosted by total creeps and weirdos at any hour of the day. So, every Friday, we’re here to remind you that Florida will…
