Take a Bow, Marcus and Elsie I would like to express my appreciation to Elise Ackerman for her interesting article about Marcus Garcia and Elsie Etheart (“Cause for Return,” July 10), two members of Miami’s Haitian community whose commitment to the betterment of the lives of their fellow men and…
Walk the Black Point Plank, You Scurvy Dog Sean Rowe missed an important point in his article “The Pirate of Black Point” (July 3). It may be true that the Dade County Park and Recreation Department has occasional management problems, but the Black Point Marina lease is not one of…
Lead Stories *A California pro-prostitution organization called the National Sexual Rights Council began a fundraising appeal in April for its campaign to get teenage hookers off the streets. For a $250 donation, the Council’s Pretty Woman Committee gives the donor a T-shirt and a membership card, but for $150,000 (which…
The following is a copy of a letter I sent last week to Chief Justice Gerald Kogan of the Florida Supreme Court. Your Honor: I am writing to you in the hopes of preventing a great tragedy. On your calendar is Supreme Court Case No. 90,805 — The Florida Bar…
Last month’s decision by the Dade County Commission to reject an ordinance that would have guaranteed equal protection for gays may have been the most important vote that body has taken in years. It is doubtful, however, that commissioners realized the significance of their action. After all, it’s hard to…
Lead Stories *In May the Russian press reported that 76 top aviation officials flying to the U.S. declined to take the national airline Aeroflot because of safety concerns, flying Finnair instead. And in March a rusty Stavropol Airlines passenger jet literally fell apart in the air and crashed, killing 50…
Brilliant New Plan for Thinning the Crowds on South Beach Regarding the “Stallonegate” article by Paula Park (“Good Fences, Bad Neighbors,” June 26), I agree with [open-gate proponent] Joe Beasley for this reason: If everyone in Dade who didn’t feel secure could put up fences, all neighborhoods would be enclosed…
Lead Story *In March, armed with evidence that a drug dealer had been killed with a single gunshot during a robbery by two men, Torrance, California, prosecutor Todd D. Rubenstein obtained separate convictions for both men for firing the fatal shot. Both robbers’ guns had fired, but one missed; a…
The Long and the Short of It Your story about the yacht Lone Ranger (“Mystery Cruise,” June 19) was interesting and informative, but there were a couple of small errors. She is 255 feet long, and the overhaul has been going on since early March. It has been our pleasure…
Lead Stories *The Federal Emergency Management Agency reported in May that only 946 of more than 10,000 households in Grand Forks, North Dakota, were covered by flood insurance when the recent floods hit. Four months earlier FEMA had begun issuing numerous advisories about imminent flood danger and spent $300,000 on…
Blumner’s ACLU: In Good Hands Without Me Paula Park’s story about the ACLU’s Robyn Blumner (“Free to Speak Her Mind,” June 12) left out some of the things I said, thereby possibly conveying a somewhat distorted impression of my views. I continue to support the ACLU, which has done a…
Myths: The Kids Got It Right After being torn apart by the pain permeating Lynda Edwards’s story “Myths Over Miami” (June 5), I had second thoughts. Ms. Edwards seems to think that the homeless children she wrote about are imagining a world of demons, angels, and war. But I think…
What are the odds that Miller Dawkins and Cesar Odio will be bunkmates in prison? And if they are, will Dawkins continue to order Odio around the way he did when he was a Miami commissioner and Odio was the city manager? Or will the big house instill a new…
You can’t blame Carmen Lunetta for being a cocky bastard. For years he got away with one of the most audacious scams in local history. According to Lunetta, the Port of Miami, which he has ruled like a Third World despot, was an economic powerhouse. From the cruise industry to…
Lead Stories *A German television station reported in January that as many as 50,000 former Nazi soldiers (including more than 3000 who live in the U.S.) might be receiving up to $600 a month in German government pensions for World War II injuries, while no comparable government benefit exists for…
This Week’s Wisdom: Life Is like a Box of Compromises I read with great interest Jim DeFede’s column in reference to County Commissioner Katy Sorenson and HABDI, developers of the Homestead Air Reserve Base (“HABDI to Sorenson: Get Lost!” May 29). Having been in the banking business for 40 years…
Lead Stories *Ms. Courtney Mann, head of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of White People, was rebuffed in an attempt to join a Ku Klux Klan-sponsored march in Pittsburgh in April, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Though she has been in the NAAWP for at…
I owe Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson an apology. Several weeks ago I wrote a column about a group of developers known by the acronym HABDI, and an internal feud that raised doubts about their ability to turn nearly 2000 acres of Homestead Air Reserve Base into a commercial airport…
Best Drain-Hole Avoidance I just got back in town a couple of days back and found a wonderful surprise: Once again Reggae Beat was chosen by New Times as Best Reggae Radio Program. Many thanks. This year has found me rather busy, and there has been many a Saturday I…
As the scandal at the Port of Miami deepens, it’s reassuring to see a new voice emerge as an advocate for honest government. “Allegations of misconduct, though allegations, raise many concerns that must be addressed,” Dade County Commissioner Miriam Alonso announced last week. “Undoubtedly the criminal probe from the United…
Lead Stories *In May in Santa Fe, New Mexico, schoolteacher Roger Katz, age 50, was sentenced to eighteen months in prison for having sex with a fourteen-year-old student. He was convicted despite his compelling explanation that he had fallen in love with her after she saved his neck in a…
Lead Stories *The New York Times, describing several civil disturbances now raging in Zaire as President Mobutu’s 30-year reign ends, reported in April about the “quixotic on-and-off conflict waged by Mai-Mai guerrillas, who hide in the jungle and smoke large quantities of marijuana.” People fear the Mai-Mai because it is…
