When Sweetwater Mayor Manuel Maroño and his alleged bagman, lobbyist Jorge Forte, were arrested in early August on federal bribery charges, the FBI alleged the duo also collected referral fees for attempting to recruit other South Florida mayors into their scheme. Those elected officials, whom the FBI has not identified,…
Hip-Hop Central Long way to go: Both the rappers in your piece about Carol City’s hip-hop explosion (“It’s Deeper Than Rap,” Francisco Alvarado, September 5) have shortcomings: SpaceGhostPurrp is a good producer, but he’s not as lyrical as Gunplay. Either way, Miami still has a long way to go before…
Call it Farenheit 305. Ever since he released a proposed budget plan that would have shuttered 22 libraries across Miami-Dade earlier this summer, County Mayor Carlos Gimenez has been trying to put out a fire of his own making. The backlash prompted him to find a way to keep those…
A sea of University of Miami football fans and alumni dressed in white, orange, and green, (and one lone Florida Gator fan who possibly cried at the end of the game) flooded Titanic Brewery and cheered on the Hurricanes as they chomped the Gators with a 21-16 victory. Rivalry aside,…
Sometimes, you’re better off dead. But sometimes, your music is the kind of synth-pop perfection that lives through the ages, and in the end, we’re all a lot better off because you survived the ’90s. That’s certainly the case with London’s electronic forefathers Pet Shop Boys. They helped lay the…
The University of Florida Gators are coming to town this Saturday for a football game against the University of Miami Hurricanes. So now is a good time to reflect on UF’s long history of racism. For decades, the Gainesville school’s overseers were instrumental in preventing African-Americans from getting a higher…
College Complaints Bateman helps Homestead: The critics of Dade Medical College and its expansion in Homestead (“Pass/Fail,” Francisco Alvarado, August 29) fail to mention that the downtown area the college bought was a festering shithole including a crack motel that has now been emptied out. The area has improved greatly,…
Sure, you may have had some steamy flings this summer, but the one thing that scored more points on the sex-o-meter was the music — those pop hits that played during the half-naked pool parties and intense make out seshs with the invasion of European tourists. And if there was…
Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke breaks down the good ole boy history of the University of Florida. The Gator nation is always acting like they are so much…
Days following his August 6 arrest on federal bribery charges, Michael Pizzi was walking around shell-shocked and despondent. In a blockbuster moment for public corruption fighters, the Federal Bureau of Investigations had nabbed the Miami Lakes mayor, his counterpart in Sweetwater Manuel Maroño, and two lobbyists allegedly accepting payoffs in…
For at least three months, John Renfrow, director of the Miami-Dade Water & Sewer Department, knew about the $18.5 million fine CH2M Hill had to pay the federal government to avoid being prosecuted for time card fraud. Yet Renfrow didn’t stop the Colorado-based firm from bidding on a lucrative contract…
No matter which current incarnation of Black Flag you may prefer to see or which former lineup is your favorite, there is no simply no arguing with the fact that the essential appeal of this band (beyond the imposing sonics, beyond Raymond Pettibon’s vital imagery, beyond the legends chronicled in…
A pungent odor permeates an empty mosaic-tiled room inside a shuttered motel at 304 N. Krome Ave. in downtown Homestead. Mildew seeps through the walls. “Before I owned this place, it was a haven for crack addicts and prostitutes,” says the 43-year-old owner, Ernesto Perez, who bought the place for…
Just when I was about to give Rev. Richard Dunn II the benefit of the doubt, he proves he can’t be trusted to represent the African-Americans in his district. Now that he’s the frontrunner to replace incumbent city commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, who isn’t allowed to run again, Dunn is cutting…
Sex Criminals Activists are just as bad: Unfortunately, your story about the battle over how to treat sex offenders (“Sympathy for the Devils,” Kyle Swenson, August 22) did not do enough to highlight the harassment that anti-sex-offender activist Valerie Parkhurst has dished out, including harassing the daughter of one registered…
A Colorado-based company vying for a lucrative contract to oversee Miami-Dade County’s multi-billion dollar sewer system renovation projects admitted it defrauded the federal government earlier this year. Back in March CH2M Hill and one its subsidiaries agreed to pay $18.5 million in civil fines and restitution because the firms had…
Carol City, Miami, Florida, is the home of freestyle music. And a group called Freestyle originated the name, the sound, and was the first musical act from the area to make national and international hit records. You may not recognize the name Garfield Baker, but he’s the pen behind such…
Another city mayor in Miami-Dade has been busted this morning. Less than a month after the arrests of Sweetwater Mayor Manuel Maroño and Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi on federal bribery charges, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is accusing Homestead Mayor Steven Bateman of unlawful compensation. At his home earlier…
Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke gets the scoop on Rev. Richard Dunn II’s biggest supporter. Just when I was about to give Rev. Richard Dunn…
Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. Today, Luke weighs in on Miley Cyrus’ performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. There are a lot of people hating on Miley…
Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie” was blasting from the outside speakers of Shots Miami as ladies in black shorts, sandals, and colorful skirts wearing straw wajiro bonnets and afros, and guys in denim jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers rockin’ Mexican sombreros and Santa Claus hats crowded the bar for F@^k the…
Andrew Mossberg made a painful mistake two months ago. He thought Miami Beach Police Det. Philippe Archer was a purse snatcher and tried to help the woman he believed was the victim. His thanks? Getting his face obliterated by the cop. In the early evening of June 26, the 50-year-old…
