Fort Lauderdale City Commission

Fort Lauderdale Hen Project Petitions City Commission to Allow Backyard Chickens

Josephine Jones loves chickens. "They're awesome pets," says Jones. "They're friendly. They're not aggressive. I consider them productive pets. They're very sociable - they're just awesome." Jones, along with co-organizer Melissa Melissa Kloepfer and her daughter Lindy Kloepfer, are the forces beh ... More >>

Fired Water Taxi Employee Is Organizing a Parade to Defend Giant Rain Tree

We recently introduced you to Chris Brennan, the Water Taxi employee who was fired after he made a YouTube video defending the six-story-tall, nearly 100-year-old rain tree -- which will be moved if developer Asi Cymbal is permitted to build the Marina Lofts development in downtown Fort Lauderdale. ... More >>

Water Taxi Employee Fired for Video Defending Rain Tree: "Tell Him to Stick It Up His Ass and Fire Me"

It's pretty much the standard David-versus-Goliath battle of South Florida -- environmentalist versus developer. But in this case, a long-haired, laid-back outdoorsman is pitted against a hot-shot businessman who's tied to trendy projects in New York and Miami. Chris Brennan is a 33-year-old who wor ... More >>

Propagandapalooza: Koch Bros. Festival on Las Olas for Spring Break

A bouquet of reactionaries and crackpots will blossom at a "Freedom Academy" on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale on March 9. They'll be there to explain why the "foundations of liberty" rest on the ability of corporations to rape the environment and bust up unions, enriching the rich and impove ... More >>

Riverside Market: Happy Ending in Sight?

This year we've been captivated by the saga of Riverside Market which has all of the makings of a good Disney movie. There's the greedy mega-bucks millionaire, the blundering city government, the affable main character who brings positive changes to a sleepy town, and the tight-knit locals who rall ... More >>

Dixie Highway Speed Limit Might Get Reduced Again, Ostensibly Because a Man Was Killed

The Fort Lauderdale City Commission will vote tonight on a measure recommending that the speed limit on a section of Dixie Highway be reduced from 30 mph to 25 after being reduced from the 35 mph that a traffic study found to be appropriate in 2009.The request, on paper, is because of a pedestrian w ... More >>

Fort Lauderdale to Add 15 Red-Light Cameras: Your Handy Map

If Fort Lauderdale's red-light program has helped traffic safety, there's no way to actually tell yet. Crashes at the six intersections where cameras are currently installed actually went up slightly after their installation, but it went from 21 to 24 crashes over ten months, so it's not clear what ... More >>

The Fort Lauderdale Intersections With the Most Red-Light Runners

Data is starting to come together in Fort Lauderdale's red-light camera program, which dished out more than 25,000 tickets between September 2010 and February 2012. A lot of it is more complicated than just the raw numbers (Where's that money going? How many people are actually paying them? What abo ... More >>

Fort Lauderdale's Anti-Panhandling Scheme Gets Attention From National Lawyers' Guild

There's a no-panhandling zone in downtown Miami, and Fort Lauderdale currently prohibits asking for change along the beach. But the Fort Lauderdale City Commission is considering some tough new regulations that would effectively ban panhandling in the entire downtown area. That's in addition to a pr ... More >>

With Lot Back to Bid, Riverside Market Sees a Brighter Fate

The saga of Riverside Market continues. Last night, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission decided that the parking lot that had been awarded to taxi czar Jesse Gaddis would go back up for bid.Riverside Market owner Julian Siegel is pleased, albeit guarded. "The only way the ruling is in my favor is th ... More >>

Fort Lauderdale Considering Quintupling Red-Light Cameras: Where Does the Money Go?

​The Fort Lauderdale City Commission was receptive to a new proposal heard Tuesday about ramping up the city's red-light camera program from using six cameras to 36. While Mayor Jack Seiler said he was "not for something as massive as that," according to the Sun-Sentinel, he said he was open to ad ... More >>

Riverside Market Retains Parking Lot, for Now

At last night's City Commission meeting, the bid was reconsidered on the city-owned land adjacent to the Riverside Market that was awarded to taxi czar Jesse Gaddis for $15,500.Without access to the land or an amendment to the city's parking requirements, owner Julian Siegel argued in his state ... More >>

The Bill That Could Bring Destination Resorts to Broward "Dead for This Year"

"Hey, you take your giant casino drawings and you GET OUT OF TOWN, MISTER."​The Florida House bill that would grant three licenses to developers looking to build South Florida resorts has been killed, at least for the time being. The House Business and Consumer Affairs committee postponed a vote r ... More >>

Former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle Backs Rick Santorum

​Call it a match made in heaven.Rick Santorum is best-known (among 20-something alt-weekly types, at least) as the evangelical homophobe who likened gay relationships to "man-on-dog" sex and consequently suffered the wrath of Dan Savage's revolting Google bomb.Jim Naugle is known locally as the fo ... More >>

Occupy Fort Lauderdale Told to Leave Bubier Park

Stefan KamphAdam Salater (left) and other organizers handle communications on Monday afternoon.​After their demonstration on Saturday, protesters with the Occupy Fort Lauderdale movement decided to do just that: occupy. The site they chose was Bubier Park, at Las Olas Boulevard and Andrews Avenue. ... More >>

Coffee Art: Osama Bin Latte

Ron Gunzburger's Facebook PageThis is the fine work of Rob Negron at the Brew Urban Cafe on Himmarshee.​Al Qaeda put out a statement on the internet today about Osama Bin Laden's death: "It [Bin Laden's blood] will remain, with permission from Allah the Almighty, a curse that chases the Ameri ... More >>

God, Complex! Does Lauderdale Candidate Have Inappropriate Ties to Holy Spirit?

romneyrogers.comA leaked memo suggests that local attorney Romney Rogers is relying upon an omniscient, omnipotent Celestial Force to carry him to victory in the Fort Lauderdale City Commission race. Posted on the blog of former Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Tim Smith, the "campaign prayer" appears t ... More >>

Sooo Sweet

How Not to Kill a Film

Bust Me if You Can

If it looks like a lawyer and quacks like a lawyer, is it really a lawyer?

Towering Rage

Luxury condo developers up the ante with critics

Jack and Diana

Swimmer Diana Nyad says coach Jack Nelson molested her 40 years ago. Now Nelson´s returning fire.

Golf Meets Politics

Jim Scott's Little Investment Is a Hot Topic in His District

Political Links

Fairway for Investors, Dead End for You

A Sistrunk Shame

Dark Tower

Las Olas River House was supposed to be the life of the party, not a hollow high-rise

Hall in Flames

Strife at swimming's prime shrine threatens to wash away a local icon

Letters for May 22, 2003

A classic polemic

This week's Day-by-Day

The Mercury Program

Gimme Shelter

Allen Reesor's friends-and-family program has other homeless-services professionals crying foul

Print and Politics

The Broward Times delivers unconventional, often shrill journalism to an unsuspecting town

A House Surrounded

As the city spars with deep-pocketed developers, will a vertical horizon obscure the historic Stranahan House?

Festive Debt

One of the most hallowed traditions in Broward's black community faces financial ruin

Bandwidth

Next thing you know, those meddling kids will be eating ice cream in the streets!

A Scout for Life

Gay Eagle Scout Mark LaFontaine nudged the Broward school board to historic heights

Keith Clayborne in Black and White

A lesson in becoming a black power broker by doing business with the white media elite, courtesy of the controversial editor of The Broward Times

Bandwidth

Boy Scout bigots and Fugazi fans dumb down Fort Lauderdale

Undercurrents

The late-night bars and clubs battle continues

No More Mr. Mean Guy

After years of playing political hardball, Ron Gunzburger says he wants to take a softer approach with his nationally known Website

Undercurrents

Undercurrents

The Great Barrier Beef

With crime on the wane, Lake Ridge residents love their new roadblocks. But business owners beg to differ.

Letters

Letters

Out of the Closet and Into Battle

Broward's gay politicos face tough opposition in seeking office: each other

Undercurrents

Impeachment as Cache

If there's anyone who can feel Bill Clinton's pain, it's ousted-judge-turned-congressman Alcee Hastings

A Dream Deferred

After a decade in office, Carlton Moore hasn't done much for Fort Lauderdale's poorest residents. But he has helped himself.

Bikini Thrill

What began as a spring break attraction is now a full-time profession offering money and acclaim. But there's no future in it.

Sonny's Last Stand

Coming soon to a courtroom near you: dueling conspiracy theories that pit Fort Lauderdale's finest against their political bosses. One certain verdict: There's a price to pay for tangling with civic activist Sonny Irons.

Forgive Them, Father, For They Know Not Where to Pray

The ACLU will file suit against Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle for his proposed prayer meeting in the city commission chambers.