Lead Story *Hillsborough County, Florida, sheriff’s deputies charged Jeffrey Alan McLeod, age 29, with robbing a Chevron gas station in August. He was caught after a brief chase when his car ran out of gas. Said a sheriff’s spokesman: “When you’re going to rob a gas station, you’re supposed to…
A Smoldering Odio Should Never Be an Obedient Puppy I just finished reading Robert Andrew Powell’s article “Petty Cash” (August 22). Now, I know one cannot always believe everything one reads, but I also know that where there is smoke there is fire. I suspect that the facts behind the…
Lead Story *Three fishless bass-fishing tournaments were held last winter with anglers casting lines into indoor swimming pools and a computer determining whether the bait had struck water where a fish was. Dave Beuckman, publisher of a tournament fishing magazine, held the contests in Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; and…
Lit Over What That Brit Twit Writ I haven’t read any of the books about Miami mentioned in Sean Rowe’s article “Paradise Found” (August 8), but it’s true the general public here resents outsiders making naive observations about the Miami scene. And so he raises many interesting points about British…
Next Tuesday, for the fourth time in their political careers, Maurice Ferre and Xavier Suarez will appear on the same ballot, their futures left to the fancy of an electorate that in the past has been both loving and cruel to each man. On three separate occasions — in 1983,…
Nothing about Arthur E. Teele, Jr., is simple. He is a black Republican. He is mercurial, Machiavellian, and manic. He is paranoid, but often with good reason. He is charming in person, but can be abusive toward his staff, and he once punched out a lobbyist. He is married, but…
Lead Stories *Willie King, age 37, was arrested moments after he had allegedly mugged a 94-year-old woman in a housecoat just outside her front door in New York’s Greenwich Village in July. He picked the wrong prey: The woman is the mother of Vincent “Chin” Gigante, reputed godfather of the…
Commissioner Bruce Kaplan: So Sincere It Hurts Joe Wilkins and his neighbors are the heroes of the Roads, and I truly regret the inconveniences they were subjected to at the ill-fated June 23 graffiti paint-out (“A Pigment of Their Imagination,” August 8). The foulups in that event as reported were…
Lead Stories *Abdala (“El Loco”) Bucaram was elected president of Ecuador in July, six years after he briefly moved to Panama to evade corruption charges. In the campaign, Bucaram reminded voters of his tenure as the rectitudinous police commissioner of Guayaquil in the Eighties, during which he sometimes jumped off…
In 1858, when Abraham Lincoln ran against Stephen Douglas for the United States Senate, a series of debates was held across the state of Illinois. Thousands attended the now-legendary affairs, and to accommodate the sizable crowds, the debates were often held outdoors with the candidates standing atop raised wooden platforms…
Where’s Henry When You Need Him? Jim DeFede’s “Good Enough for Political Work” (August 8) brought out a very important point: Where has Henry Marinello been hiding all these years while folks like James Marshall, Lee Arthur Lawrence, and the late Kevin Broils were trying to bring a better quality…
There Is No Way to Silence Mr. Molina Jim Mullin’s article on “The Howitzer and the Flea” (August 1) indicates once again that my perception of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) is correct. It is an anti-democratic political organization whose sole purpose is to silence individuals such as Wayne…
Lead Stories *At Thailand’s national games in June, to select those who would represent the country in the Olympic games, the gold medal in men’s volleyball was won by a squad of twelve transsexuals who have developed breasts and who dress as women but who have not yet had genital…
Sizing up his chances for victory on September 3, County Commissioner Dennis Moss says, “I believe we have done a good enough job in District 9 to be re-elected.” In one sentence Moss expressed both the optimism of his campaign and the problem with it. Politically, that sort of assessment…
Lead Stories *Air New Zealand announced in June that it will permit cockpit crews on international flights to nap during periods of low activity as long as one pilot remains awake. The airline said that it thus hopes to end “unofficial and uncontrolled” napping, which it said pilots on all…
Perry and Thrust Jim DeFede’s piece “The Ethnic Chopping Block” (July 18) was a trenchant look at the rawness of Dade County’s politics and specifically the rave for Metro mayor. I am a candidate for that office and was mentioned in Mr. DeFede’s article. It contains an amateurish conclusion that…
The defining moment in the political career of Dade County Commissioner Alex Penelas came on April 22, 1993, shortly after he and his colleagues were sworn into office as part of an expanded commission elected from thirteen newly created districts. After taking the oath, each commissioner delivered a speech, and…
Wayne Smith is no friend of the Cuban American National Foundation. For many years — at least since he left the foreign service after serving as chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana from 1979 to 1982 — he has been an outspoken critic of the U.S. economic embargo…
Less Dead Than You Think Too often Miami and Dade County’s worst enemy is the unfounded negative perception. Predominantly fueled by a steady stream of sensational journalism, even long-time residents succumb to the media malaise and struggle to find the positives in our community. When national network news shows open…
Lead Stories *Two Fremont, California, men obtained a patent recently for a golf club that will fire a ball up to 250 yards by detonation of an explosive charge in the club head. *Two men who broke out of jail in Rutland, Vermont, in May were captured a week later,…
Stupid Name Tricks Sean Rowe’s article “Name Droppers” (July 11) could have had some redeeming qualities when he examined why people decide to change their names. In particular, the section that sought out people named Fidel Castro living in Miami was fair commentary on Miami politics. However, any journalistic value…
Lead Stories *In March a Washington physicians’ agency filed charges of unprofessional conduct against county coroner Dexter Amend of Spokane, citing among other things his preoccupation with sex. (For example, he allegedly asked the mother of a sixteen-year-old girl shot to death whether the girl had ever been sodomized by…
