There’s a fierce battle being waged in Florida over access to one of our state’s greatest resources: the sun. With the effects of climate change ever more obvious, solar is a scorching hot policy topic, and we’re seeing a lot of activity around two competing solar ballot initiatives in Florida…
Eugene Ramirez is a star graduate of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, the elite Miami high school that claims Fidel Castro among its alumni. Ramirez is also openly gay. That fact apparently didn’t bother the school when it asked Ramirez — a TV journalist who moved to Tampa earlier this year…
The future of David Beckham’s Major League Soccer team in Miami has been stuck on one question since it was announced in February 2014: Where are they going to play. While the most likely scenario at the moment seems to be a new stadium new Marlins Park, that question remain…
The Florida Gators turnaround from last year’s mediocrity to this year’s unbeaten streak of six games seemed almost too good to be true …and it might actually have been. Yesterday the school announced that its star freshman quarterback Will Grier had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and could face…
Miami will be threatened by rising sea levels over the next few centuries. On that there’s pretty much scientific consensus. The only question is exactly how much. Well, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America predicts that our…
For four years, ever since New Times first reported that corporate behemoth Walmart planned to build a store in Miami’s burgeoning Midtown district, residents and protesters have vehemently opposed the big box store. Since then the retailer has all but assured a legal victory, but concerned citizens haven’t given up. The…
On a mild evening in early August, John Pate and Sally Elizabeth Evans’ Volkswagen Passat climbs the hills outside the lush Valle Arriba golf club in Caracas. The 70-year-old Pate, a tall, fair-skinned lawyer with red hair, glasses, and a soft face, had just finished his usual Sunday dinner at…
Guns rights groups in Florida are desperately trying to give students the right to have a gun on the state’s college campuses despite polling indicate that just about everyone else thinks thats just a horrible idea. One strange example of why that might not be such a hot idea played…
Ask a random person to name a few things they identify Florida and you’ll probably get answers like beaches, old people and orange juice. Orange juice is after all our official state beverage and oranges decorate our default license plates, but it turns out that the state’s OJ industry is…
A red BWM convertible with the top down rolled alongside a yellow taxi cab on Pine Tree Drive early this morning, past the million-dollar Miami Beach mansions and the gnarled old trees that give the road its name. Suddenly, gunfire raked the side of the taxi as the convertible squealed…
Embattled CareerSource South Florida executive director Rick Beasley, already likely to face criticism week over alleged workplace bullying, has a new problem. Three current and former employees accuse him of religious discrimination. CareerSource, the largest operation of its type in Florida, uses $70 million in state and federal funds to connect local…
Florida was probably the most useless state to the Confederacy. Our population was small, our land was hard to secure, and the biggest thing we really contributed to that controversial cause was salt. For a lot of reasons, its not exactly the most controversial thing in Florida to try and…
House Republicans are in an absolute mess at the moment as they struggle to figure out who will emerge as their new Speaker of the house, but the temporary brouhaha may lead to Rep. Dan Webster’s — and Florida’s — gain. The conservative from Central Florida has emerged as a…
Yes, there is already Facebook,Twitter Instagram, and Tumblr. But two local recent college grads have brought another social network into the world: SLFY, a free app that’s restricted to university students and meant to facilitate interaction across the quad, not across the world. “Basically it creates a private social network…
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, so we asked the group, which is led by legendary executive director Howard Simon, to name its top 12 cases. Here are the results. 12. Free Speech on Gun Safety for DoctorsThe Florida Legislature enacted the…
A lot of weird things happen in Florida every week. On Fridays, we’re here to bring you the weirdest. This week: a woman who literally stole her sweetie’s sweet tooth, a car thief who apparently wanted to speed up the judicial process, and a woman afraid of Arabic numbers. Florida…
Perhaps the calls for the sacking of defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle were slightly louder than those for the job of head coach Joe Philbin. So when the Fins announced earlier this week that Philbin was shown the bin with now word on Coyle’s continued employment, some were left scratching their…
Gentrification is an incredibly complicated social phenomenon. At its worse it means the local culture and identity created by lower class folks (in Miami, often immigrants) is replaced by what seems almost like focus group-tested trendiness and all sorts of bougie nonsense. At its best it means maybe an underutilized…
People, and, well, occasionally animals come to America from all over the world in search of a better life. Yet, for all the success stories of people who manage to grab a piece of the American dream, there’s an occasional tragedy. Such is the sad case of Chiquitica, the Cuban…
Since he entered office in January, Florida Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo has made headlines for his progressive stance on environmental issues. Representing Florida’s 26th Congressional District, which stretches from Miami to Key West, he touts clean energy, and has split from much of his party in advocating for steps to…
A narrow majority of Floridians now say they’re open to totally legalizing recreational marijuana in the state, but the vast majority of them say they wouldn’t use it. According to Quinnipiac, 51 percent say they’re open to adults legally possessing small amount of marijuana, while 45 percent say they oppose…
In August, the White House announced its second-ever Astronomy Night, where astronomers, engineers, and other leaders in science and space will talk to students and teachers about their experiences. Then, they’ll stargaze on the White House lawn. It’s slated for October 19 and it’s all part of the Obama Administration’s…
