Nick Navarro Put Me In Jail and Put People To Work

Luther “Luke” Campbell, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. In this special edition, Luke remembers the man who had him arrested for singing obscene lyrics.Nick Navarro was the Made-For-TV-Sheriff…

What Miami Needs: Great Bread

Giant rounds of Jewish-style onion-rye bread float through my dreams, float through clear blue sky, float in slow motion as though taking part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Behind the rye are enormous loaves of pumpernickel bread, hearty grain breads encrusted with oats and seeds, bright yellow challah breads,…

Corina Esquijarosa, Embattled North Bay Village Mayor, Gets Canned

North Bay Village Mayor Corina Esquijarosa now has more time to fight the recall effort against her. She’s been laid off from her job as a project representative for the city of Miami Public Facilities Department. Esquijarosa’s position, which paid her an annual $97,000 salary and benefits package, was eliminated…

Deirdre DiBiaggio and Katie Carmichael: Let ‘Em Get Hitched!

Two Miami lesbians are getting the shaft from a town clerk in New York.Of course, Deirdre DiBiaggio and Katie Carmichael can’t get married in Miami Beach, where they live in a $400,000 home near Alton Road and 42nd Street. DiBiaggio is an attorney. Carmichael is a filmmaker.Rose Marie Belforti, from the…

Genting Group’s $3 Billion Resorts World Miami Includes Public Land

In this week’s Miami New Times, we take a peek at the brewing battle over the The Genting Group’s grandiose plan to redevelop the Miami Herald’s storied waterfront home into a gigantic casino resort,  Leading the criticism is former Miami Mayor Joe Carollo, who warns the Malaysian gambling conglomerate is trying to…

Gastric Bypass Hypnosis Surgery Halfway Point

As I mentioned before, I was going to try Rena Greenberg’s Gastric Bypass Hypnosis Surgery program, a non-invasive tool to help me lose weight.The program consists of several CDs, one of which is the actual “surgery.” Greenberg’s voice guides you through the experience of having gastric bypass surgery so that…

Racism Starts at Home Then Progresses in School

Luther “Luke” Campbell, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke addresses the absence of bigotry in children.When I drop my 2-year-old son off at day care, I…

Carlos Gimenez Has Family Connections to a County Contractor

A possible conflict has forced Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez to sit out the awarding of a $50 million contract to a local construction company that employs his son Julio and uses his other son Carlos Jr. as its lobbyist. Munilla Construction Management submitted the lowest bid out of seven firms…

Miami-Dade Commissioners Pass Budget, Help Selves, Screw Cops

Miami-Dade commissioners, in one of those crazy late night donnybrooks, passed a $6 billion budget Friday morning, but kept their cozy office deals and proposed to cut back on cops and other public employee salaries.That is what I call hypocrisy.According to this morning’s Herald story, the commissioners held onto a…

Top Five Food Festival Etiquette Faux Pas

It seems premature to say that the South Beach Wine & Food Festival is already a subject of talk about town, but they recently released the 2012 line-up, and we already spoke to Lee Schrager to get the inside scoop. Plus, Wine Enthusiast’s Toast of the Town is this Friday…

Richard Scruggs Goes From Public Corruption to Gang Busting

The public corruption unit at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is getting quite a makeover. Longtime unit chief Joe Centorino will soon depart to take on a new gig as executive director of the Miami-Dade ethics commission. And assistant state attorney Richard Scruggs is now working the gang detail, Banana…