Eleanor Sobel

Dog and Cat Sales Regulation Bill Up for Vote

If you want to sell a cat or dog in Florida, you may have to whip out a certificate proving that you're allowed to do so, because a bill up for a vote in the Legislature regulating the sale of dogs and cats in Florida is a go. The bill (House bill 1257 and Senate bill 1614), drafted by Rep. Jared ... More >>

Florida Domestic Partnership Bill Scrapped

Ay yay yay, Florida. Why do you work so hard at being terrible? The domestic partnership bill that would have created a domestic partnership law, which would have given unmarried couples some of the same rights married couples have in Florida, has officially been scrapped. The Florida Senate commi ... More >>

Anti-Frankenfood Group Lobbies State Senator Sobel on Genetically-Modified Food; Holds "GE-Free Cook-Off" This Sunday

Depending on your point of view, last week's election was either a massive victory or an epic failure. For anti-GMO groups, it was the latter. California's Proposition 37--the bill that pushed for the mandatory labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms in food--failed to pass the state legislature. ... More >>

"Rally for the Right to Know": Activists Gather at Yellow Green Market

In honor of last week's World Food Day, a group of local activists gathered Saturday at Hollywood's Yellow Green Market. The group gathered together to show support for an initiative, Propostion 37, that will appear on the November ballot in California. Food activists nationwide are pushing an effor ... More >>

Tomorrow: Day of Action Against Genetically-Modified Foods; Event in Young Circle

The debate about mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods, otherwise known as GMOs, is raging on. With California's Proposition 37 -- a bill that would require labeling of GMO foods -- on the November ballot, many of these groups are stepping up their game in an attempt to add similar initia ... More >>

Keep Your Frankenfood Outta My Publix (Or at Least Label It, Please): Protestors Rally Against Genetically Modified Foods

Despite stormy weather Friday afternoon, as part of Occupy Monsanto's Global Week of Action, a group of individuals turned out for the national endeavor to require mandatory labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in foods. The protestors are hoping to garner suppo ... More >>

Ink Wars: A New Law Pits Florida Tattoo Artists Against One Another

Governor Rick Scott Attempts to Show Inner Charlie Crist

By Kate BradshawScott walks into a greasy spoon and orders an ice water.​Rick Scott walks into The Floridian diner on Las Olas at about noon today for a photo op lunch with South Florida lawmakers. There's an odd funk in the air, sort of a mix between french fries and kitty litter.He walks halfway ... More >>

Holocaust Rail Car Restoration is Another Train Project that Rick Scott Won't Fund

A rail car used in the Holocaust​The whole country knows that Governor Rick Scott turned down $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money for a high-speed train between Tampa and Orlando (and many are blaming that move for his current dismal 29 percent approval rating). But another train project, this ... More >>

In Which The Legislature Saves Us From Texters With Cars

​Big news from State Sen. Eleanor Sobel (D., Hollywood): Legislation she originated in SB 758, which addresses the terrible dangers of texting while driving, has passed through the chambers and now awaits the governor's signature in Tallahassee.It's a no-frills kind of bill, running a good deal le ... More >>

Steve Geller: Will He Get His Fingers in Sunrise?

Daily BreezeWild art: Millions of dead sardines turned up in Redondo Beach today. Suspected cause: Winds drove them into small areas where they basically smothered each other. ​Who wants to be the new Sunrise city attorney?Well, there are a few interesting applicants among the dozen or so in the r ... More >>

Exclusive: Feds Eyeing Lobbyist Ron Book, Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority

In Broward and Tallahassee politics, influence peddling comes in countless forms. Here's one currently under investigation by the federal government: A powerful lobbyist, seeking to curry favor with a state senator and benefit a major client, helps to secure the senator's boyfriend a job at th ... More >>

Political Money Man Mendelsohn's Sentencing Pushed Back

Wild art: The first edition of the official Tea Party mag. ​Hollywood lobbyist and political fundraiser Alan Mendelsohn won't be sentenced on his federal conspiracy conviction next week after all. The sentencing has been pushed back to April 28, according to court records. Sounds mundane ... More >>

Former School Board Construction Chief Talked of "Machine"

When we stop to remember Michael Garretson, we should never forget that the late School Board construction chief led the spending of a billion dollars a year in what was one of the largest and most damaging school building booms in Broward County history. For ... More >>

Mendelsohn Singles Out Klenet During Guilty Plea

The illicit payments made to former legislator Mandy Dawson had been widely reported, but it is interesting that seedy lobbyist and political fundraiser Alan Mendelsohn, an eye doctor by trade, singled out Russell Klenet in federal court today. When Mendelsohn pleaded guilty to a fed ... More >>

Broward Dems Say Change Is Coming

Let's start with some fun. Last night's Heat game against the New Jersey Nets provided a real glimpse of the kind of high-flying show this team is going to be. Dunks galore. But none was better than the one above. While the Nets watch helplessly, the towel boy can't repress his ... More >>

Tattoo Bill by Broward Activists May Be Signed Into Law Today

Photo courtesy Stevie MoonDuring a recent visit to Moon's shop, Sen. Eleanor showed off a (temporary) tattoo.​One year after a small group of Broward tattooists launched a statewide effort to defeat what it believed to be deeply flawed legislation reforming the industry, a new bill -- drafted in c ... More >>

Tattoo Take 2! Eleanor Sobel Takes Another Shot at Bill Regulating Tattoo Industry

Flickr: MettaMommaSobel​Six months after Florida tattooists organized, hired a lobbyist, and gunned down her bill regulating the industry, Sen. Eleanor Sobel will introduce a new bill -- this time with those same adversaries as allies.We told you last week how Fort Lauderdale tattooist Stevie Moon ... More >>

Sen. Eleanor Sobel Now Wearing Tattoo Support on Her Sleeve

Photo provided by Stevie MoonFort Lauderdale tattoist Stevie Moon, with Sobel, his partner in Florida tattoo legislation.​Oh, relax! That's only a temporary tattoo Sobel's wearing. And this is kind of my fault. Recently, when I learned that former foes Stevie Moon and Sen. Eleanor Sobel had resolv ... More >>

A Senator Walks Into a Tattoo Parlor...

flsenate.govSobel​The best visits to tattoo studios are usually spontaneous, but Hollywood Sen. Eleanor Sobel is not your typical patron. She has scheduled an appointment at 10 a.m. Monday at Stevie Moon Tattoo NE 26th Street in Fort Lauderdale. There she'll meet her foe-turned-friend, Stevie Moon ... More >>

Joel Steinger and Mutual Benefits Corp. Stole a Billion Dollars by Peddling Bogus Life Insurance Policies

Taxpayers Expense: $30,000 To Pretty Up Senator's Office

State Sen. Eleanor Sobel is renting an office from the City of Hollywood. Nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is that the city is planning to spend $30,000 to renovate the office for Sobel and the lobbyists and suckers -- oops, I mean constituents -- who visit her. I ... More >>

Legislative Champion for Tattooists Perplexed by Desire for Tattoos

Florida Rep. Mary Brandenburg, the Democrat from Lake Worth, is what passes for a champion of tattooists. You see, in a Republican-dominated legislature, tattoos are like Satan's graffiti on God's aluminum siding. But, oh well. Tattooists have learned to be pragmatic in their political forays, and t ... More >>

At Last, Peace Reigns in Tattooland

The bill that would have overhauled tattoo regulation in Florida is dead. The two factions of state tattooists, who had earlier this month waged an epic, expletive-laden battle in the comments thread of this Juice post, are now on the same team, or soon to be. And together, they will work toward a b ... More >>

Senator's Office to Tattooists: Don't Panic!

First, the problem was that Florida tattooists didn't have a good way to communicate with each other. That's how hundreds of them were caught by surprise when they learned that Hallandale Beach Sen. Eleanor Sobel had introduced a bill that would overhaul regulation of the state's tattoo industry. No ... More >>

It's the Battle of Tattooing!

(Sadly, only the biggest of my fellow Star Wars dorks will catch the pun in that headline. Anyway...)On one side of this intergalactic conflict, the Florida Professional  Tattoo Artists Guild. The nonprofit corporation has been active in legislative issues that affect the state's tattoo industr ... More >>

Letters From the Issue of March 12, 2009

Florida Tattoo Guild: Guardian Angels or Ulterior Motives?

Revelations of a state bill and a mysterious "guild" have spooked Florida tattooistsFor a bill that aimed to overhaul Florida's regulation of the tattoo industry, it sure was quiet. Stealthy, almost. Senate Bill 1130, sponsored by Hallandale Beach Sen. Eleanor Sobel, was introduced February 2. It cr ... More >>

Sen. Sobel Caught in Tattoo Snafu

flsenate.govSobelA state bill that aims to make the tattoo industry safer is certain to have the opposite effect, according to the local tattoo artists organizing quickly to oppose it. Senate Bill 1130, sponsored by Florida Sen. Eleanor Sobel, the Hallandale Beach Democrat, would make it tougher for ... More >>

Election Post-Mortem

Vote Counting Stopped In Broward

The School Board Mafia Backs New Soldier

Minority Madness

Wisecracking Democrats in Tallahassee were steamrollered during the presidential contest. But they didn't take it lying down.

Maurie, We Hardly Know Ye

Grant-writer Maurice Connell has become a well-paid institution in Hollywood. How? The politics of power and money.

A Bunker Mentality

A criminal investigation of David Lottes, who runs Hollywood's golf courses, was botched by a city official, but her colleagues could care less.

Undercurrents

Sea, sun, and pedophilia

You Call This Emergency Planning?

Thanks to the Red Cross, more than 130,000 Hollywood residents are without a primary hurricane shelter

Undercurrents

Face Off

John Coleman and his fellow reform candidates in Hollywood face an uphill battle against mayor Mara and Co.