Imagine this scenario: A hurricane is about to pummel Dade County. Hundreds of thousands of panicked, jumpy residents sit on traffic-clogged escape routes, all trying desperately to get to safety. And now a simple question: Should all those people, even those without legal concealed carry permits, be allowed to carry…
When Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign finance co-chairman Mike Fernandez resigned abruptly last week, he said he wanted to spend more time with his family. Insiders speculate he might have been frustrated with the direction of the troubled campaign. Yet, now it’s come to light that Fernandez was also upset about…
All signs point toward Floridians approving a medical marijuana proposal on November’s ballot, but the legislature could ease the Sunshine State toward some legalized pot all on their own during this month’s session. One measure, which would kick start research funding into medical marijuana and legalize a non-euphoric strain for…
For the first time since Miami teen Trayvon Martin’s death, legislators are poised to approve a substantial reform to the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law. A bill that looks likely to pass the House this week would add warning shots to the protections under the law — a response to…
In Florida, you can get married if you’re a 13-year-old who accidentally knocks up his girlfriend, but not if you’re in a committed adult relationship with someone of the same sex. Rep. Cynthia Stafford, a Miami Democrat, wants to change that. No, not the part about allowing gays to marry,…
Poll numbers about how many Floridians support legalizing medical marijuana seem to be all over the place — well, except below the 60 percent necessary it would need to pass. A new University of North Florida poll shows that 74 percent of Floridians intend to vote to legalize medicinal pot…
They don’t agree about much up in Tallahassee, but apparently every state senator is against “revenge porn.” A bill that would make it illegal to post explicit photos of another person online without his or her permission passed the state senate unanimously today. See also: Miami Revenge Porn Victim Holly…
The right wing’s most influential techno hermit, Matt Drudge, lives in a mansion out in the Redland and was driving around Southwest Dade yesterday when he saw two things that freaked him out: the word “Obamacare” and the Spanish language. He tweeted a picture of a van touting an Obamacare…
Charlie Crist may be running on a “man of the people” platform, but that hasn’t stopped him from moving to Florida’s most expensive and exclusive zip code. Crist and his wife Carol Rome are apparently spending so much time in South Florida that they’re now renting a condo on ritzy…
On the one hand, mass drug testing laws are inherently evil and unconstitutional. But on the other, required screening for the same elected officials who keep trying to force drug tests on welfare recipients and minimum wage-earning state employees would be beautifully ironic — especially in the wake of one…
Protests have rumbled through President Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela for the past month, but in a televised press conference today, Hugo Chavez’s successor seemed more concerned with what was going on in Miami and Washington, D.C. Maduro singled out Senator Marco Rubio and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinene as leaders of a “Miami…
Gen. John F. Kelly, the chief of the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, gave a surprisingly candid testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday. He said that because of budget cuts and inadequate funding he’s only able to stop about 26 percent of illegal drugs that head from Latin America…
Reubin Askew, the Democratic Governor who helped bring Florida into the modern age, died early this morning at the age of 85. Rated as one of the top ten governors of the 20th century by Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Askew’s legacy still resonates throughout the state. He…
Because there are no two phrases Americans still recovering from the recession like to hear in the same sentence more than “Bush” and “Wall Street,” Bloomberg News reports that Wall Street’s money men are really hot on the idea of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush running for president in 2016…
In December, a New Timesinvestigation showed how an unlicensed doctor like Tony Bosch could sell tightly regulated drugs like steroids so openly from his Coral Gables clinic — including to superstar athletes like Alex Rodriguez. The answer: Florida’s laws include a giant loophole allowing clinics that only accept cash to…
Alex Sink just can’t seem to win anything. Four years after her narrow loss to now governor Rick Scott, Sink again came up short yesterday in a special election for Florida’s 13th congressional district. The contest was closely watched across the country. It was widely billed as a bellwether for…
Gov. Rick Scott has found time in his busy schedule to write a book. It’s called Chasing Sunshine: Remarkable People Who Found the American Dream in Florida. One of those people happens to be Tramar Dillard, AKA the rapper Flo Rida, AKA the guy who had a number one song…
Because Florida Republicans can’t find a gun violence problem they don’t think they can fix with more guns, a new bill that would allow teachers to pack heat in the classroom has passed its first state Senate panel…
Ana Alliegro, the woman at the center of one of Miami’s strangest political sagas, has been arrested in Nicaragua and will be deported back to America. She’s wanted on conspiracy, illegal campaign donations and false statements. See Also: Exclusive: Miami New Times Finds David Rivera’s Missing Pal Ana Alliegro…
After decades of the war on drugs, countless efforts to decriminalize dope, and tens of thousands of drug arrests, Florida has finally reached a turning point. The marijuana movement has reached critical mass. In January, the state supreme court ruled that voters can decide whether or not to legalize medical…
Sen. Marco Rubio doesn’t think discriminating against gay people is cool all the time. Just some of the time. Commenting on Arizona’s vetoed anti-gay, right-to-discriminate bill this weekend on Meet the Press, he claimed he didn’t believe that, for example, gay people should be denied service at a restaurant. However,…
A Florida restaurant chain is out to make your bill political. Eight restaurants that are part of the Gator’s Dockside chain are adding a one percent surcharge to customer’s bills and clearly marking it as an “ACA surcharge” on customers’ receipts. Signs, doors and tables at the restaurants also trumpet…
