Editorial Voice

Gimenez, Robaina are soft-money whores

The man once dubbed “Mayor Loco” and who showed up at a constituent’s house in his bathrobe when he was Miami mayor is still a formidable rainmaker. Xavier Suarez has picked up $109,950 in campaign contributions in his second bid to become a county commissioner.Suarez is running against former state…

The Mad Dog bled aqua and orange until his last breath. Former Miami Dolphins tight end and local sports radio personality Jim Mandich died Tuesday evening after months of battling cancer. For anyone who has rooted for the hometown NFL franchise, Mandich ranks right up there with Dan Marino and…

Thought the recall election would change things at county hall? Think again. If campaign money is any indication, former state Rep. Esteban Bovo is a shoo-in for the Miami-Dade Commission seat representing northwestern parts of the county vacated by Natacha Seijas. And he is beholden to a lot of special interests…

Roach Motel What the Hell, It’s Roach Motel (Destroy Records) myspace.com/roachmotelrules Take the Dead Kennedys’ linguistically progressive rants, the social critique via saxophones of CH3, water it down with the mind-altering misused politics of Minor Threat, add a half-cup’s worth of the youthfulness of Youth Brigade, and mix in a…

It’s time to start planning your road trip to Lollapalooza land ’cause King Perry Farrell just released his 125-name guestlist for this August’s three-day Grant Park extravaganza. And if you don’t wanna be left at the gate, crying and clawing the dirt like a pauper, you better buy a full-weekend…

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once 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 — who is a candidate to replace more-boring-than-bread-pudding ex-Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez on May 24 — follows…

After North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre’s wife caught unhinged activist David Leven on camera calling her the politically incorrect words for — excuse our French — African-American, female dog, and the feminine sexual organ, Banana Republican decided to dig up other embarrassingly bigoted moments in South Florida politics:…

I get a lot of complaints (or suggestions) that I don’t promote local hip-hop enough. And I apologize. But as a matter of fact, I’ve really been enjoying the local stuff recently. So much so, that outside of my usual appreciation for old-school rap (say ’83 through ’94), the only…

Last time we checked on Hank Adorno, the once prominent Miami attorney was indefinitely suspended from practicing law after a Florida Bar investigation found he had violated nine bar rules.This week, the Daily Business Review reports the Florida Supreme Court decided to suspend Adorno for three years, the harshest punishment…

There was a certain millennial flash-point when New Wave-y New York City goth-pop quartet Interpol seemed as though it might play a major part in the cleanup of a half-decade’s crappy music. This was near the outset of the 21st Century when the whole mall-crawling Western world and every one…

Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week 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 series…

While making the local radio rounds this past 4/20 promoting his latest epic documentary, Square Grouper, Rakontur auteur Billy Corben articulated his unwavering support for Luther Campbell’s mayoral campaign on Sid Rosenberg’s 560 WQAM show.”This is the first and only opportunity to see an African American as mayor of Miami-Dade…

The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s Office is looking to collect $3,109 from North Bay Village Mayor Corina Esquijarosa. That is how much she owes in unpaid property taxes on a downtown Miami condo she claimed was her homestead. Following our report that Esquijarosa was getting a tax break on the condo…

The race to become the next mayor of Miami-Dade County is turning into a costly affair. The three alleged front-runners, Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina, former county Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, and ex-state Rep. Marcelo Llorente have raised a combined $1.2 million according to their first quarterly campaign finance report. And there…

Letters from the issue of April 21, 2011

An assistant Miami fire chief who is on paid administrative leave while she awaits trial on federal mortgage fraud charges wants to get away for a while. The Straw Buyer reports the lawyer representing Veldora Arthur, who is paid $184,336 annually to oversee the fire department’s payroll, wants to travel…

Yesterday, we brought you a trailblazing (and clearly drunken) Cuban riff on a video by those alternative rock retreads Live. But the real gem is this dude’s take on a Rick Ross song. And it’s not for the faint of heart. In the video, el Cubanito rips the glorified ghetto-ness…

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once 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 — who is a candidate to replace more-boring-than-bread-pudding ex-Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez — makes a campaign promise…

Last week’s local YouTube sensation was a marimbero who took it upon himself to reinterpret a couple of choice musical numbers, including a video by ’90s alt-rock retreads Live. The lively running commentary features gags on arrebatos, primos who don’t shut up, and the headache after a good party –…

North Bay Village’s mayor has a homestead problem. While claiming to reside in the small three-island city, Corina Esquijarosa has been receiving a $25,000 homestead exemption on an apartment she rents out to a man named Osmary Ramos. In order to get the tax break, Esquijarosa is required to live…

About two dozen Haitian Americans protested new deportations of alleged criminals outside the immigration building on Northwest Seventh Avenue this morning. Authorities had suspended the flights for more than a month after a 34-year-old Haitian American man with only minor crimes on his record had died days after arriving on…