Miami Beach Philip Levine, known for his acute attention to quality of life issues in his town and his often cagey relationship with the local press and social media critics, decided to try his hand at crafting his own social media moment yesterday afternoon. Traffic is undoubtedly a major issue…
Just a week ago, the GOP establishment hoped New Hampshire might clean up their muddled primary mess by highlighting a mainstream savior to take down Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. The man most hoped would do so: Miami’s own Marco Rubio, who’d steamrolled to a surprisingly third place finish in…
We’re at the halfway mark of the Florida legislature’s two-month annual session. Like every year, politicians from across the state are filing plenty of bills that are either patently ridiculous or laughably controversial. Many of these pieces of legislation never so much as make it to committee hearing, but thanks…
Last month, county officials reacted with shock and horror at news that the Frost Science Museum — a signature project at the heart of the new Bicentennial Park downtown — had run out of cash before construction could be finished. Taxpayers were already on the hook for $160 million for…
Even though same-sex marriage is now legal in Florida, it’s still completely within the law for an employer to fire someone for being gay or a landlord to deny housing to a transgender tenant in large swaths of the state. For the 10th time, a coalition of bi-partisan lawmakers (yes,…
Throughout much of the state of Florida, it’s still completely legal to fire someone simply for being gay. Sure, several cities and counties in the state have passed local ordinances barring anti-gay discrimination, but those only protect 55 percent of Floridians (and not all of those local laws extend to…
What a strange month February has been for Marco Rubio. It was barely a week ago when the pride of West Miami sprinted out of Iowa in third place, riding waves of momentum as the establishment candidate who could take down Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. But an odd software…
There’s still a little over a month and about 20 state primaries and caucuses to go until Floridians get to go vote in their presidential preference contest, but by all indications, the race for both party’s nomination may still very much be contested by then. A new poll out of…
Will this finally be the year Florida bans red light cameras? State Senator Jeff Brandes sure hope so. The Tampa Bay Republican has introduced legislation for the past for years to ban the controversial traffic devices only to see the proposal die every session. His latest attempt has made it…
A Washington Post story last month revealing that Marco Rubio had been arrested after hours in a Brickell Park in 1990 quickly sparked far slimier allegations in the conservative Twittersphere: Namely, that the 18-year-old Rubio had actually been cruising for gay sex in the park with a good friend who…
Joe Garcia may very well end up spending more of his life campaigning for congress than he does actually serving in it. The former one-term Democratic congressman announced his fifth straight candidacy for a Southwestern Miami-Dade congressional district after being defeated in 2014 by current the current Rep., Republican Carlos…
An anti-immigration bill with language so harsh it makes Donald Trump sound like Cesar Chavez by comparison is advancing through Tallahassee right now. How strong are the provisions in HB 1095, the “Prevention of Acts of War”? Not only would the bill let Florida’s governor ban immigrants or refugees from…
Who gets control of your selfies when you die? Who can be entrusted with deleting your problematic tweets when you kick the bucket? Who gets access to your Facebook? Well, the law is murky, but a bill currently flying through the state legislature would clarify the matter in Florida. State Senator…
Has $14.9 million ever bought less? As Jeb Bush’s dispiriting campaign for president limped to an all too predictable wet thud of a finish in Iowa last night, his supporters played down the ramifications. New Hampshire matters much more, they say. Iowa’s strictly conservative base was never a great fit…
There are 120 different speciality license plates available to choose from at your local DMV, but state lawmakers are looking to trim the selection. A bill introduced by state Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican from St. Pete, would up the threshold of plates sold to keep speciality plates on the…
Despite the fact Roe v Wade has stood as the law of the land for over 40 years, a Florida House subcommittee passed a bill this week that would effectively make it a felony to perform an abortion in the state of Florida. The bill passed 8-3, but before taking…
Gray-haired abuelas roll creaky carts stacked with clothes inside Wash Time Coin Laundry, a bustling Little Havana storefront a mile west of Marlins Park. Angel Barrios, the owner, folds his arms across his chest and laments his bad luck that a kid he was arrested with 26 years ago has grown…
Rep. Alan Grayson may be Florida’s bluntest politician. He’s never short for words and always says what he means. Unless you ask him who he supports in the Democratic presidential primary. See, Grayson, who is currently running for Senate, accepted a spot on the Hillary Clinton Campaign’s Florida Leadership Council,…
Rep. Charles Van Zant is one of the most socially conservative Republicans in the Florida House. It’s not surprising as the man is also a Southern Baptist minister. Every year since 2010 he’s filed legilsation that would criminalize abortion in Florida, in direct conflict with the Supreme Court’s ruling in…
You already know that Jeb Bush is struggling. He’s scuffling so bad that his mom is pleading his case in campaign ads and DJ Khaled is jumping on late-night TV to try to light a spark under the former governor. But even the most cynical Jeb hater had to…
Who could forget one of the biggest Florida political controversies of 2003? Jeb Bush’s nebulous scheme to raise fees on snake owners was all Floridians could talk about in the spring of ’03. It nearly tore families and friends apart. I can still clearly remember one particular tense family gathering…
Last year The New York Times dug into Marco Rubio’s ticket-strewn driving history, and the local response was, “Well, he pretty much drives like a typical Miamian.” Turns out the Times missed a pretty big part of Rubio’s legal history that The Washington Post only just dug up: he was…
