Maybe the Sun-Sentinel, which is losing circulation like a crack whore loses teeth, has hope after all. In a story on page 2B of today's edition, Ihosvani Rodriguez writes about Hollywood Mayor Mara Giulianti getting a whopping $22,250 from plumbers around the country associated with the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry. Why? Because she's supporting a $300 million expansion of a the Westin Diplomat Resort in her city which is owned by the union's pension fund.
In addition to heightening our inherent distrust of plumbers, the article also revealed that the mayor has a new policy.
"Giulianti declined to comment Wednesday," Rodriguez wrote. "She said it is now her policy not to answer questions from South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporters."
But the mayor couldn't help but comment on why she won't comment.
"The paper is conducting a witch hunt on me and I won't be
talking to anyone until this witch hunt is over," she told Rodriguez.
Congratulations, Sentinel, being shut out by Mara means you're doing a decent job. The rancor between the mayor and the newspaper began with the arrest of Giulianti's cohort, Keith Wasserstrom, on corruption charges (sparked by New Times reporting). That seemed to wake up the newspaper to the need to dig into the city. And the Sentinel, led by John Holland, has been vigilantly reporting Hollywood's problems ever since.
And don't worry, Mara will keep opening her mouth. She really can't help it.
-- In other news, the Miami Herald's Ina Paiva Cordle reports on the paper's former general counsel, Robert Beatty, taking over the Broward Times. Cordle got out of Beatty that he paid more than $1 million for the newspaper, which might help explain why it is doubling its newsstand price from a quarter to 50 cents tomorrow. She also reports that Beatty is looking to expand his media empire to include magazines, radio, television, and web sites. More power, Bob. More power.
