Longest-Staying Inmate Had Drugged-Up Lawyer

The letter arrived at the judge’s chambers in 2003, signed by a public defender-turned-convict named Anthony Genova. He had been busted for drunk driving, was a self-described Xanax addict, and did time for bankruptcy fraud. It was addressed to his old courthouse buddies — judges and attorneys — explaining he had found Jesus behind bars. His…

Letters from the issue of February 11, 2010

Trash Talk A real pain: I can’t believe these a**hole writers are telling out-of-towners how to get pain pills (“Super Blow,” Michael J. Mooney and Gus Garcia-Roberts, February 4). It’s hard enough to get them for my real pain, let alone telling people how to score just to get high…

Top 10 Moments in Black Music History at the Palms in Hallandale

The image above is of the sleepy-looking beachside town called Hallandale, Florida and gives no indication of the city’s Black musical history. But the Palms in Hallandale, just north of Miami, otherwise known as the Million Dollar Palms, was a major stop on the Chitlin Circuit, a nationwide string of…

Wish You Were There: Furthur’s Miami Show on YouTube

While most of the city was freaking out over the Super Bowl, some other legends were in town on Friday night: Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, formerly of the Grateful Dead. In a pretty unusual booking for downtown Miami, the two touched down at the recently revamped Bayfront Park Amphitheater…

Isiah Thomas Stays Put Just in Time to Make the Cover of New Times

Over the weekend, Florida International University men’s basketball coach Isiah Thomas denied a Foxsports.com report that the Los Angeles Clippers were courting him to be the NBA team’s president, general manager, and coach.During his postgame conference following the Golden Panthers’ latest home loss, Thomas said, “I’m very happy here at FIU…..

Crossfade Live: Free Album, Locos Por Juana at Jazid, February 5

Locos Por Juana are fuckin’ awesome, and we’ve got the proof. Welcome to our first edition of Crossfade Live, where we bring you our original high definition concert recordings from bands and venues all over South Florida.Today we bring you a full, live album we recorded Friday night at Jazid. If you’ve…

MP3 of the Day: The Loose Cannons – “The Wilderness”

Here’s a track from the forthcoming collaborative effort between some of South Florida’s most notorious, adept and unfortunately under-recognized musicians. We’re talking here about Bobby Tak (formerly of the Bobs and New Wave sensations the Cichlids), guitar master Charlie Pickett, and Ian Hammond (of the DT Martyrs).I’ll be examining their…

The Grouch Who Rules North Bay Village

Turns out North Bay Village Mayor Oscar Alfonso is not so neighborly. James Carter, a mortgage broker who lives next to Alfonso’s three-bedroom waterfront house at 7520 W Treasure Dr., says his property gets completely soaked in water every time hizzoner turns on the sprinklers.Carter says he’s angry that the…

Who Is the Super-est Moron of the Week?

Word on the street is some kind of athletic contest will take place in the Miami area this weekend. Such frivolous spectacles do not interest Riptide. We are more fascinated by contests of the mind — or, more specifically, finding out who’s been really dumb in the county this week…

Blogger’s Bout: Girl Scout Cookies, Pro & Con

From Miami New Times Editor Chuck Strouse:I hate Girl Scout cookies. They started just as the first World War ended in Muskogee Oklahoma. That’s right, the year of the Russian Revolution, they were peddled in a high school cafeteria. That was just five years after the Girl Scouts themselves got…

FFF: Barry, Bombeck, Seinfeld & Black

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence. ~Erma BombeckNot all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.~Dave BarryMTV…

Katy Sorenson: A Good Lady Steps Away From the Game

Can’t blame Commissioner Katy Sorenson for calling it a day. Sixteen years is a long time to spend battling the unreformable majority on the county commission.For a decade and a half, Sorenson has consistently been the voice of ethical reason on an elected body that has often voted in favor of…