In the vast majority of controversial shootings by police, the victims have not lived to tell their side of the story. Thankfully, Charles Kinsey survived after getting shot by North Miami SWAT Officer Jonathan Aledda in July. Now, he’s going to tell his side of the story in court. Yesterday, Kinsey…
By any measure, South Florida’s zika outbreak is far from under control. At least 15 people have now been locally infected in Miami, with the latest reported case transmitted outside the hot zone of Wynwood. Serious questions are being asked about lacking state and local funding for mosquito control. And…
The sports scene in South Florida is in flux. With the departure of Dwyane Wade from the Miami Heat, sports fans are facing an identity crisis. When a person in Omaha, Nebraska thinks Miami sports, who do they think of now? Since 1984 the answer to that question has been pretty…
When the Miami Herald asked State Rep. Daphne Campbell in 2012 about $145,000 in tax liens the Internal Revenue Service had placed against her, Campbell denied that the liens even existed. “I don’t have no tax liens,” she told the paper, despite the fact that the Herald had obtained federal documents that said…
After a stream of controversial police killings, most large forces have adopted body cameras to help monitor their own cops. But in the scramble, critics say many have also started using the equipment without enacting the rules to properly use them. When Miami Police started testing body-cameras in 2014, the…
On a stage in Staten Island almost 30 years ago, a host grabbed the mike and announced the next performer, a Haitian classical guitarist. “One of the world’s finest guitarists, Daniel Coulanges,” he said. “Please welcome Mr. Coulanges.” Wearing a charcoal-gray suit and a black bow tie, Coulanges took a…
Wynwood’s transformation from scrappy artist haven to full-on tourist attraction has been swift. And one of the surest signs of the switch came when the big, open-air tour buses began stopping outside Wynwood Walls, disgorging hordes of camera-toting visitors to wander the murals. Zika, though, is threatening to bring that…
Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Control experts are struggling to contain the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which brought the Zika virus to Wynwood this week. Workers are frantically treating open water in the area, and planes will soon drop aerial spray on the neighborhood. Despite all that, a 15th locally transmitted case of…
One afternoon in August 2012, Kathryn Thomas was surprised to see cars from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office and Animal Control outside her yellow ranch house in Loxahatchee. They were parked near a wall of palm trees and a metal gate with a “Beware of Dog” sign. The petite 52-year-old,…
On Sunday, the Florida Medical Association voted to oppose Amendment 2, Florida’s latest effort to legalize medical marijuana. The FMA, which represents more than 20,000 physicians in the state, also opposed a similar effort two years ago. So why is the doctor’s group hell-bent against a treatment option that has…
Miami is to new reality shows what Rio is to shoddy Olympic construction projects, so you’re forgiven if you missed the news yesterday that E! is debuting the 305-set show WAGS Miami. The series will be about the “wives and girlfriends of sports stars” (hence “WAGS”). In the new show’s cast, E!…
Even by Donald Trump’s standards, his war of words with Khizr and Ghazala Khan — the Muslim parents whose son died fighting for the U.S. in Iraq — has been a truly ugly piece of political theater. Trump’s unabashed attacks on the Khans left top Republicans scrambling this weekend, with…
Pot is everywhere in Miami. Its scent wafts from bus stops, floats from open windows, and cascades out from under lifeguard stands on the beach at night. Spend more than a week here and you will, at least once, wonder if the server bringing you overpriced cocktails is stoned out…
Chris Conner and Mark Barton jump onto mud-specked mountain bikes and pedal down a dirt road so overgrown with weeds it seems forgotten by man. “Get ready,” says Barton, a lanky, six-foot-four 63-year-old who moves as if he were in his 30s. “Last time we did this, I ran right…
This morning, a man riding through a fairly empty area of Homestead pulled his horse to a screeching halt. He called Laurie Waggoner, director of branch operations for the South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, also known as the SPCA, and said he had found something…
According to Gov. Rick Scott, 10 more people have caught Zika from Florida mosquitoes. This brings the total caught in Florida so far to 14, and brings something of a panic to the streets of Miami. According to a statement from Scott’s office, the Centers for Disease Control is now…
Jacob Alkov chained his Schwinn to a loading zone sign at Lincoln Road and Pennsylvania Avenue several weeks ago. It was a Sunday and, he says, all the racks in the area were already loaded with bicycles. When he returned, a sticker was affixed to his ride. “Park your bicycle…
On February 27, 2014, Miami-Dade County cops paid a visit to 37-year-old Maykel Antonio Barrera’s Miami home. They knocked on the door, but Barrera, high on cocaine and PCP at the time, tried to slam the door and run out the back of the house. Before he could escape, the…
June marks the official beginning of hurricane season, but most Miamians know August can be prime time for destructive action. Given the fact that we’ve gone a historically long time without a major storm, though, it’s safe to assume most locals aren’t worried about hurricanes this year. However, it appears…
Four days after moving to Florida, I got in my first-ever car accident. In response, my coworkers simply shrugged. One of them grabbed my shoulder in solidarity. “Welcome to Miami,” he said, and then tottered off cackling. A study released yesterday has confirmed what anyone who’s driven along I-95; plowed…
The Florida Department of Health announced today that a grand total of two people in Miami-Dade County and two people in Broward County have contracted Zika virus from native, Florida mosquitoes. This is cause for alarm and for caution, but not, as many folks on the internet are saying, to…
It’s the last Friday of the month, which means traffic across town will come to a screeching halt as hundreds of cyclists commandeer the streets tonight. It’s Critical Mass, the one night every month when Miamians who hate cyclists are forced to shut up and deal with bikers for once…
