Opinion & Commentary

Anthony Rodriguez was a mama’s boy. Known as SonicC, the up-and-coming local DJ was a music prodigy. Only 22 years old, he had already had his tracks featured in Grand Theft Auto and on popular TV programs. But his mother, Rita, had always kept him grounded. So when SonicC’s curfew…

Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to that…

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner recently issued a landmark ruling: Israel “Reefa” Hernandez, who was shot with a Miami Beach Police Taser last August, died of heart failure because of an “electric device discharge.” It was the first time in Florida that a medical examiner had made such a finding, and…

Hanging by a Thread Not a shaman: There are many things I’d like to clear up about your story on the suspension scene (“Suspended Reality,” Allie Conti, March 13). First and foremost, I am not a “shaman” as you describe me, nor do I claim to be one. I studied…

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke calls for an investigation into police taser use. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner recently issued a landmark ruling: Israel…

The first thing you experience when entering Semilla Eatery & Bar is the sweet aroma emanating from a wall of potted herbs. They’re a welcome respite from the construction craziness on Alton Road. You’ll also be relieved to hear “Wrecking Ball” sung by someone other than Miley Cyrus and see…

There’s an old High Times video of legendary pot grower Jorge Cervantes that opens with “the Ganja Guy” behind the wheel of an old rusty tractor. Cervantes — wearing his iconic disguise of black sunglasses and black dreadlocks — tells viewers he’s taking them on a tour of marijuana gardens…

Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to that…

A group of parents and alumni representing predominantly African-American inner-city public schools recently accused Miami-Dade schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho of being a “slick operator.” In a six-page manifesto, they alleged Carvalho has turned his back on black schools and broken promises made to the African-American community. They are wrong. Carvalho…

Super Struggles The super’s the problem: Alberto Carvalho is a special case (“Carvalho Criticized,” Chuck Strouse, March 6). He sits imperially impervious, camouflaged in a fancy suit, with neatly groomed hair, articulate, paranoid, well-scripted, self-absorbed, intelligent, cunning, calculated, and always looking ahead. He is the ultimate political illusionist with a…

Think packaged food prep, and you’ll likely envision a sterile assembly line manned by dead-eyed factory workers. Or not manned at all. Such is the general reality of our tech-heavy, mass-produced food system. But Eat4Life, a Miami-based company and creator of the Superfood bar, is just the opposite. Even with…

Everyone has their special place. Mine includes champagne, imported cheese, caviar, and foie gras. Marky’s Gourmet has it all and so much more. For more than 30 years, Marky’s has provided Miami with top-of-the-line caviar, truffles, and other gourmet items, including lobes of foie gras. For someone who comes from…

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke gives Miami-Dade’s top educator a passing grade. A group of parents and alumni representing predominantly African-American inner-city public…

Outfitted in black suits without ties, Fabrizio Carro and Cristiano Vezzoli dart from table to table to inquire about their patrons’ meals and to extol the virtues of various regional Italian dishes. As they maneuver between the restaurant’s interior and the terrace, their tousled black curls and matching facial scruff…

Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to that…

Few things are more enjoyable than eating a whole fish. Cooked on the bone, its flesh stays flavorful and succulent — a far cry from most dry, overcooked fillets. All a whole fish needs is a bit of lemon. All you need alongside it is a cold beer. Sure, not…

The confetti wafted onto his impossibly square shoulders. The Nashville audience stood and roared. Then a medal on a royal-blue ribbon was draped around Miami-Dade schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s neck. Last month, after more than five years of agonizingly hard work, the self-proclaimed son of “pretty dramatic poverty” who grew…

It took an incident close to home for Spike Lee, the Do the Right Thing director, to see the reality facing African-American neighborhoods across the country. During a Black History Month lecture recently, he grumbled about his dad being harassed by new white neighbors for playing music too loudly. “He…

Cuban Downfall Us against them: Uncle Luke is right to slam Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto for giving Cubans too much credit for building the Magic City (“Last Gasp,” Luther Campbell, February 27). Souto is part of the old guard, old politics, old thinking, and old reasoning. I am Cuban, and…