Despite winding up on different ends of the hip-hop spectrum, the lives of Jay Z and Pitbull have some major similarities. Both grew up in major cities and were raised by single mothers after their drug-addicted fathers abandoned their families. Both have admitted to selling drugs in their youth, and…
Update: The commission has unanimously passed the resolution. As David Beckham and his partners quietly line up their next site for a Major League Soccer stadium in Miami, the county commission is likely to throw its support today behind a temporary home field: Florida International University. The commission will vote…
Some South Florida massage therapists are dealing with a headache that no back rub will fix. That’s thanks to a new state law mandating that, by January 31, all licensed massage therapists in Florida submit to a criminal background check if they want to continue practicing. The law was designed…
The Miss Universe pageant may have given international exposure to the city of Doral (despite technically not being held there), but the back-and-forth between the city government and Donald Trump has certainly given local exposure to how odd local politics can be. Just a few weeks after publicly declaring that…
After a 41-year hiatus, the federal government is moving back into the Freedom Tower. At least on a part-time basis. The U.S. Department of State has reached an agreement with Miami Dade College, current owner of the iconic building in downtown Miami, to use portions of the tower as its…
Rick Scott unveiled his proposed budget today, and it contains $673 million in tax cuts at a time when the state is sitting on a $1 billion surplus. Interestingly, those cuts would most likely save the middle class some dough by lowering taxes on their cell phone and cable bills,…
The Spanish-language radio station La Poderosa (670 AM) broadcasts from a large, square concrete-and-glass building on SW 27th Avenue in Little Havana. The building’s cafeteria, Bocadito Express, is a poorly lit, one-room blue-collar spot on the ground floor where area workers drop in for cafecitos and medianoche sandwiches. Raquel Regalado…
Marco Rubio and around 300 of his biggest supporters and confidants entered the swanky Delano Hotel on South Beach today. By the time they leave tomorrow, they may have a better idea of whether Rubio will run for president. In fact, according to the Miami Herald, Rubio has already told…
The last time a hit-and-run driver killed a cyclist on the Rickenbacker Causeway, it sparked a new law in Tallahassee: the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act, which toughened penalties against drivers who flee fatal accident scenes. This week, yet another cyclist is dead and another is seriously injured after an…
Rick Scott knows a thing or two about emergency damage control. This is the same executive, after all, who survived his company getting hit with the biggest Medicare fraud fine in history, escaping with a golden parachute and a path into politics. Last night, Scott showed his finest scandal-ducking form…
Another police controversy, another case of cop unaccountability. North Miami Beach officials apologized Tuesday for city police using mug shots of black men for target practice. In what seems to be a national trend, however, no cops were held accountable for the incident. “It’s real sad,” said Lisa Kelly, the…
Watching freshman Miami Rep. Carlos Curbelo deliver the Republican Spanish-language rebuttal to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, one could only wonder: Where the heck was Sen. Marco Rubio to hand his homeboy a tall drink of water? You might recall Rubio took a break from his response…
As Jeb Bush’s all-but-certain run to the White House ignites for liftoff, one of the biggest lingering questions is whether he’ll hit any serious turbulence over his decades of sometimes questionable financial dealings since leaving Tallahassee. Well, it didn’t take long for Bush’s first financially tied mini-scandal. Last week, Jeb…
The Miami-Dade Charter’s Citizens’ Bill of Rights prohibits local politicians from lying to the public under the “Trust in Government” clause. Yet the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust has never actually targeted an official for breaking that trust in government. Well, until now. Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez has…
Hey, Florida, remember Jeff Kottkamp, your former lieutenant governor? The mustached politician served alongside Charlie Crist and was chosen mostly because he was a reliable conservative in contrast to Crist’s more moderate stance. Well, after a failed run for state attorney general in 2010, Kottkamp has emerged from political obscurity…
Sometimes a politician introduces a bill that makes you think, Yes, that seems like a very sensible idea, before you realize, How big of a problem could that actually pose anyway? That was our reaction to Florida Rep. Bob Cortes’ “All-American Flag Act,” which forbids Florida or any county, or…
Gov. Rick Scott has never received 50 percent of the vote in Florida. He spent most of his first term with approval ratings that would make Enron executives blush with shame. His personal narrative includes a detour into the largest Medicare fraud penalty in American history. This is a man…
Medical marijuana supporters have officially started to repack their bowls for 2016. Attorney and main supporter John Morgan has officially filed a new amendment with the Florida Secretary of State today with hope of getting it on the ballot in time for the next presidential election. See also: Don’t Worry,…
Even most hard-line Florida Republicans have accepted that gay marriage is here to stay. As thousands of LGBT couples from the Panhandle to Key West have tied the knot and business leaders have trumpeted the economic boost gay weddings will bring, the state GOP’s response has ranged from Attorney General…
You can’t accuse Marco Rubio of self doubt. The Florida senator has not yet made a decision about whether or not he’ll run for president, but he’s seems pretty damn certain that if he did run, he’d totally be sitting in the Oval Office come January 2017…
Remember last year when we reelected Rick Scott as governor? Yeah, crazy stuff. Well, his second term officially begins tomorrow, and it doesn’t seem that many people are that excited about it… including Florida’s former governors. Traditionally, living ex-governors are invited to inaugurations (as is the case in presidential inaugurations…
Marco Rubio doesn’t seem to have noticed that this stock has fallen a bit since 2010. He’s no longer trumpeted as the “Republican savior” or “GOP Obama,” but rather just the second most popular Republican from Florida. Despite that (and a whole lot of polls), he’s still openly talking about…
