The Not Ready for Prime Time Mayor Who can forget the night Alex Penelas made an ass of himself By Jim DeFede Free Weekly Dupes Gullible ReadersElian saga unmasks insidious conspiracy: I was completely disgusted by Jim DeFede’s article “The Not Ready for Prime Time Mayor” (August 24). Despite being…
Despite what most people probably believe, the defining moment of Alex Penelas’s tenure as Miami-Dade County mayor was not that infamous press conference in front of the federal courthouse on March 29. Certainly his conduct that day was revelatory of his character, or lack of it. Standing outside the courthouse,…
Revenge of the Penny Tax FIU and MDCC foundations draw new scrutiny from state investigators By Jim DeFede Our Hallowed Institutions of Higher ChurningMoney Laundering 101 makes the grade: In response to Jim DeFede’s column “Revenge of the Penny Tax” (August 17), and on behalf of the Colombian-American Democratic Council,…
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle has asked the governor to appoint a special prosecutor to review allegations that the presidents of Florida International University and Miami-Dade Community College violated the state’s campaign finance laws during last year’s failed effort to raise the sales tax by a penny in order…
The Wimp Gary Dellapa’s retirement from MIA comes not a moment too soon By Jim DeFede Merrett Speaks Up for MeritIf Dellapa were such a loser, I’d have booted him long ago: I can’t think of anything good that was accomplished by Jim DeFede’s mean-spirited article on Miami-Dade County aviation…
Forget about smoke-filled backroom deals, angry convention-floor fights, or black-bandanna-clad anarchists running through the streets. Right now, on a sweltering August afternoon in mid-Miami Beach, the campaign trail is pretty uneventful. Alvaro Fernandez and his girlfriend, Patricia Bravo Segall, are working their way door to door up Alton Road, and…
The Perfect Cop He never ever makes a mistake and he’s definitely not Rolando Bolaños: As a retired federal investigator, my attention was drawn to two articles in the July 27 edition of New Times, both dealing with law enforcement. The first, “Prosecuting the Police” by Jim DeFede, noted the…
During the past three decades, Miami International Airport has had three directors: Dick Judy, Rick Elder, and Gary Dellapa. Judy oversaw MIA during the glory days, from 1971 to 1989, and was responsible for building the airport into one of the nation’s largest. Judy ruled the place as if it…
“There’s more girls coming down here than ever before,” sighs the booker from a prominent South Beach modeling agency. “They all think they’re going to be models, but they just don’t have it. So now there’s all these bottom-feeder “agencies’ that get $300 to send these girls to a convention…
The Chief’s Retreat Rolando Bolaños lied and got away with it, but stay tuned By Tristram KortenSnacking on RaulPump more lead into progress city: Think Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez is going to do or say anything to punish his partner in crime, Police Chief Rolando Bolaños (“The Chief’s Retreat,” July…
Hardly a week goes by in South Florida without a new dot-com opening an office, tossing up a splashy billboard, and then issuing a hyperbolic press release on the riches that lie ahead in Latin America. April’s NASDAQ crash appears to have done little to dim the fervor of local…
All About the Benjamins Cuba’s musicians are anxious to cash in on the overseas market. But in the process they could sell out their sound. By Celeste Fraser Delgado Wanted Dead or Alive for Musical MurderBrainless American mass culture and the Cubans who worship it: Of course Cuban music is…
I don’t know if Miami Police Ofcr. Jesse Aguero and Miami-Dade Police Det. Laura Russell have ever met, or even if they know each other. But I do know they have one thing in common: They are both killers. Aguero is one of the most notorious cops in the City…
Pablo Herrera’s home in the Havana neighborhood of Santos Suarez isn’t that dissimilar from those of his rap-producer counterparts in the States. A mixing board, synthesizer, speakers, and a scattering of CDs fill a table in one corner of his living room. Underneath lie crates of vinyl, every producer’s basic…
Firpomania! Firpo Garcia has one big advantage in his school board campaign. His name is Sol Stinson. By Ted B. Kissell I’M HIGH ON FIRPOAnyone who’s attended that many meetings deserves a medal: In response to Ted B. Kissell’s profile of Dr. Firpo Garcia’s campaign for a seat on the…
At first glance you might think you were still in Miami, perhaps amid the cameras on the set of the latest Jay-Z video. About 200 people are gathered on Thursday evening, June 22, in front of a hardscrabble building on a block that is vacant except for palm trees. The…
Lawbreakers Beware! Until the county’s Cuba ordinance is rescinded, it remains the law of this land. Which is precisely why we must support the Cuba Affidavit Citizens’ Auxiliary. By Robert Andrew Powell Jiang Zemin Stuns World, Embraces DemocracyChinese leader faced threat of South Florida trade ban: The county’s Cuba ordinance,…
These are rough days for the City of Miami’s police department. The Elian Gonzalez affair cost them a chief and a major. The chief, William O’Brien, resigned in disgust after Miami Mayor Joe Carollo tried to have him fired for not alerting him in advance to the INS raid on…
The Knight of Blight Miami developer Aristides Martinez once seemed an inner-city savior. Today he goes by another name: Slumlord. By Victor Cruz SLEAZY, LAZY, AND FILTHY RICHTen reasons why I just love public housing: Victor Cruz’s article about public-housing developer Aristides Martinez (“The Knight of Blight,” June 22) brought…
George Nethercutt made history in 1994. A relatively unknown attorney from Spokane, Washington, he defeated a sitting Speaker of the House for his seat in Congress. Nethercutt’s victory over Democrat Tom Foley was stunning. The notion of an electorate choosing a political neophyte over the person second in line to…
At first glance, poolside at South Beach’s tony National Hotel would seem an odd place to interview director Greg Harrison. His debut feature Groove is a loving portrait of his own mid-Nineties head-first dive into the guerrilla-style parties of San Francisco’s rave scene, a grimy spirit far removed from the…
Don’t Look for the Union Label For two years Goya Foods has waged a war to prevent its workers from unionizing. Now things are starting to get really ugly. By Kathy Glasgow GOYA, GOYA, GONELoosen the purse strings or lose me: It was with disappointment that I read Kathy Glasgow’s…
