Lead Stories *Township supervisors in East Marlborough, Pennsylvania, proposed an ordinance in November to ban offensive smells within the town, requiring that a panel of people with “ordinary and reasonable sensibility” be convened to determine which odors are unacceptable. The issue arose when one supervisor complained about the smell from…
Ever wonder what the initials J.L. stand for in Miami City Commissioner J.L. Plummer’s name? For the longest time, I thought it stood for Just Loquacious. Attend any city commission meeting and you will soon realize that Plummer loves the sound of his own voice. He’s a redneck Chatty Cathy…
If She’s Such a Great Psychic, How Come She Didn’t Know She’d Be Appointed Queen? I suppose Ray Martinez felt compelled, in his article on King Mango’s new queen, Ellen Whitmore, to get into the spirit of the Strut and zero in on the zanier aspects of Ms. Whitmore’s personality…
Lead Stories *Officials at the Central Penitentiary in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, revealed in October that they are encouraging male inmates to marry each other in order to hold down HIV infections. Eight couples have taken the plunge so far. The marriages are valid only in prison because Honduran law does not…
Lead Stories *In October Miriam Flores, serving six years for robbery in Mexico City, was selected Miss Mexico Jailhouse in a pageant that featured fourteen of the city’s foxiest female inmates. A week later Pham Ngoc Tam won first place in a nationwide beauty contest of female jail guards held…
Would You Like Totally Start Making Sense Please? I was totally appalled by Jim DeRogatis’s article “Bush Whack” (December 19). Bush has one thing in common with Nirvana: They both have made great and original music. Bush is the best band to come along since Kurt Cobain died. The group…
A week before Thanksgiving, on Thursday, November 21, the Miami Herald ran a rather laudatory story on the front page of its business section. “BRANDSMART EXPANDING” the headline blared above a large picture of the company’s smiling president Michael Perlman. Below the picture was a secondary headline: “Thriving chain outgrows…
Lead Stories *People getting too much sleep: Michele and Tony Phebus were arrested in Lafayette, Indiana, in August after they fell asleep in their car between the microphone and the pick-up window at a White Castle drive-thru; police found numerous marijuana butts in the car and a brick of the…
No Reservations Regarding Empathy for Native Americans I am writing in response to Paula Park’s informative story about the Miccosukee Tribe in the Everglades (“The Last of the Indian Wars,” December 12). I have done a lot of research on the plight of American Indians. They are unnecessarily confined to…
Seven years ago, while working at a daily newspaper in Spokane, Washington, I met Damon Chapple. He stood only five feet nine inches tall but he weighed 200 pounds — all of it muscle. Chapple was a fighting machine, as perfect a creature of destruction as either Heaven or Hell…
Lead Stories *In a procedure denounced by the Association of Professional Piercers, Phoenix piercer’s apprentice Joe Aylward recently had a metal plate implanted under the skin of his skull so he can screw decorative spikes into his head. *Incriminating fingers: In Amsterdam in August and Miami in June, men were…
The Antichrist of Broward, Part 1 I am writing in response to a letter by David L. Laurence you printed under the headline “DeFede Flunks Civics 101” (November 28). Who is this David L. Laurence character and why does he feel he is an expert on journalism? Why do you…
There Goes the Neighborhood Regarding Kirk Semple’s article “First the Bumbling, Then the Crumbling” (November 28), I really did move to Miami Beach from New York City in 1989 because I loved the Art Deco buildings. On a beautiful, crisp, sunny, dragon-clouds-racing-by day, I was sitting having a colada with…
Lead Stories *On October 21 the CBS Evening News aired a videotape of an Iraqi wedding reception in which members of a cult of Sunni Muslims performed a series of severe self-mutilations to demonstrate their devotion to Saddam Hussein. While Saddam’s sons Odai and Qusai looked on approvingly, the men…
Less than three months ago, on a dazzlingly bright Sunday afternoon, Donald Manning and I stood outside a church in Liberty City discussing the bribery scandal enveloping his long-time friend County Commissioner James Burke. The just-concluded religious service had turned into a rally of sorts for the embattled commissioner, and…
A Student of the Game In his November 14 column (“Arena Winners and Losers: Alex Shoots, Alex Scores!”), Jim DeFede failed to mention those who suffered the greatest loss of all — the people of Dade County. Not only were we duped into allowing the use of at least $250…
Lead Stories *Denny Constantine revealed to the San Jose Mercury News in October that he was part of a team that almost got the go-ahead to drop flying-bat bombs on Japan in World War II. The plan: Tiny incendiary devices would be attached to millions of bats, which would be…
Lead Stories *A New York Times report on the first day’s rescue operations for TWA Flight 800 in July mentioned a man in an army uniform who showed up at the crash-site command center and helped direct helicopter traffic for about twelve hours before those in charge realized they had…
Dukes to Heat: Take Your Turkey and Stuff It I have just read Norma Jean Walker’s opinion of the Miami Heat’s support of the Overtown community (“Letters,” November 14). Now let me give you my opinion. The letter states that the Heat sponsored the first Thanksgiving celebration and will do…
Lead Stories *Several news services reported in October on the growing number of “telephone clubs” in Tokyo in which men (mostly middle-age and older) talk sex with junior high and high school girls. According to the Wall Street Journal, perhaps eight percent of schoolgirls participate at least occasionally. Many of…
The arena war is over. No more obnoxious commercials. No more slick brochures in the mail. No more annoying telephone calls asking for your support. A surprise pact between Miami Heat owner Micky Arison and Dade Mayor Alex Penelas goosed up voter confidence enough that the project enjoyed an overwhelming…
A Corrupt City, a Faltering Newspaper On Saturday, November 9, Miami made the front page of the New York Times for the corruption that marks our city like the wine stain on Gorbachev’s forehead. (The article was titled “Corruption and Money Woes Divide and Anger Miamians.”) This bashing — you…
