City politics is supposed to be simple. Private companies vie for public projects, with the job going to the best bid. But not in Miami Beach. Here, city officials secretly conspire to award friends with lucrative contracts in exchange for envelopes full of cash (just Google “Gus Lopez”). Government on…
Charlie Crist’s possible return to the top of Florida’s government, this time as a “Democrat,” just got a whole lot easier. Alex Sink, the state’s former CFO and the Democratic nominee in 2010 who lost to Rick Scott by about one point, has announced that she will not run again…
Apparently if you fail in Miami Beach, you just make your way a little up the island to one of those fancy little towns. Former Miami Beach police chief Donald DeLucca ended up in Golden Beaches, and now former Miami Beach city manager Jorge Gonzalez is set to serve that…
If the results are any indication, Hilda Caballero Diaz-Balart was a supermom. Her sons Lincoln and Mario grew up to become congressmen. Her son Rafael is a banker, and her other son Jose is the main national news anchor for Telemundo. The Cuban matriarch passed away yesterday afternoon at the…
As his reelection efforts ramp up, Florida Governor Rick Scott thought it would be a good idea to raise money by killing some of Florida’s most iconic creatures. He was all set to host a $25,000-a-person gator hunt in mid-October. Now Scott has canceled the event. Not because it was…
Yesterday in a column torn to shreds by our Northern brethren over at The Pulp, Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino suggested that Tim Tebow would make an excellent choice for Rick Scott to pick as his next Lieutenant Governor. Hold your groans. It’s actually a brilliant idea. So elegant,…
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has pretty much admitted she values money more than justice. Bondi has come under fire for postponing the execution of a cold-blooded killer and rapist who committed ghastly crimes in Miami-Dade so that she could instead attend a lavish fundraiser meant to kick off her…
So you think that Thanksgiving is a November holiday started in Plymouth Rock and celebrated with turkey and mash potatoes? Well, according to Adam Putnam, Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner, you’re wrong. Putnam claims that Thanksgiving really originated right here in Florida more than 50 years before the Plymouth Rock affair. Apparently…
A group of animal rights activists want to send a big message to the Miami-Dade County Commission for not passing an animal welfare plan. They plan on recalling one of the commissioners who voted against the plan. They’re just not sure which one, so they are literally going to put…
Last year, two Miami reps pushed a bill banning red light cameras through a committee with some loud public support (thanks in part to a Tampa TV station’s investigation showing Florida had helped shorten yellow light times to collect more ticket revenue). But that bill eventually flopped in the full…
So Francis Suarez called off his run for City of Miami mayor after a few minor (well, by Miami-Dade standards at least) “scandals,” but most politicians in Miami aren’t as easily shook. Blind ambition rarely finds its bounds down here. So it’s not really all that surprising that just two…
While news that Miami-Dade County decided to keep all existing libraries open may have seemed like a win, now Mayor Gimenez has released a new plan that could see some of those spared branches open for only 16 hours a week. That’s three to five hours a day for four…
Governor Rick Scott will be in Miami tonight to grab dinner with former Gov. Jeb Bush, Board of Education chairman Gary Chartrand and State Senator John Thrasher. Of course, John Thrasher has been touted lately as a possible replacement for ex-Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll. Though, Scott’s staff says tonight’s dinner…
Have you ever shared your name with a Hurricane? It makes for a rather odd week when Hurricane [Your Name] is churning toward Florida and threatening to destroy it. Well, environmental advocacy group 350.org has come up with a new way to name Hurricanes that would spare people who happened…
Well, Tomas Regalado is now all but certain to be Miami’s mayor again for the next four years. According to reports from both The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, his main competitor, commissioner Francis Suarez, is expected to drop out of the race after a turbulent period in his…
Six weeks ago, Miami-Dade County commissioners refused to touch the property tax rate, knowing that without an increase they’d have to drastically chop services. County Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s solution — shuttering 22 libraries — was met with a rowdy public protest. This weekend, Gimenez told commissioners he’d found a way…
Carletha Cole will not face any charges as long as she stays out of trouble for the next 12 months. If you don’t remember, Cole is the former aide to disgraced ex-Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll who, among other things, accused Carroll of enjoying a lesbian office fling and had allegedly…
The same week President Obama added a new dog to his family, he’s also come out against breed-specific legislation that forbids ownership of certain types of dogs. The White House responded to a “We the People” petition calling for the ban of all breed-specific legislation and claimed laws like Miami-Dade…
After a monthlong sit-in, threats of a national musician boycott, and impassioned pleas from the family of slain Miami teen Trayvon Martin, a legislator has taken the first step toward repealing Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. Rep. Alan Williams, a Tallahassee Democrat, has filed HB 4003, which would overturn the…
South Florida had to know that booting Allen West out of Congress wouldn’t mean an end to reading about Allen West’s antics. The guy almost immediately landed a gig on Fox News after leaving Washington, after all. Still, dealing with West’s rants about Muslims and Obamacare on Murdoch’s network is…
Florida is one step closer to getting a statewide public vote on legalizing medical marijuana. With powerful backers like Orlando super-lawyer John Morgan and funding from big Democrats around the state, the push by People United for Medical Marijuana is blazing ahead. The group announced yesterday that it’s already gathered…
North Florida Republican Rep. Ted Yoho, a Tea Party favorite, was caught on tape last week at a town-hall meeting in Gainesville claiming the tanning tax created by the Affordable Care Act is “racist.” He then claimed that because he went to a tanning salon twice, he has now been…
