Subject: Ron Book

• Mayo, Euthenasia, and DeGroot

  June 5, 2007

• Reporter Accused of Stealing Notebook

  July 26, 2007

• How A Vagrant's Saliva Brings A Tear To The Eye

  Joe the Plumber is over. America needs a new working class hero. Meet Joe the Vagrant, the deranged man who expectorates with uncanny accuracy and astute political judgment. This morning, as lobbyist Ron Book left the Broward Government Center, fresh from shepherding an embattled, ill-conceived development through the county commission, Joe the Vagrant's loogy hit him square in the eye.If you don't know Book, carve away a half-hour and sit down with this New Times classic, by Jim DeFede. Or just

  December 10, 2008

• Ron Book Recounts Spitting Incident

  Ah, a career highlight -- I got the first Ron Book post-loogey-in-the-eye interview. I believe that means I have finally arrived as a journalist in this town. We've all heard by now that the lobbyist was accosted by a mad vagrant Tuesday night after pushing the commission to vote in favor of the massive and controversial Commons project in Davie. He told me Thursday night that he spent five hours in the hospital taking injections to protect him from hepatitis and other possible disea

  December 12, 2008

• My Best Friend's Wedding: Boca War Profiteer Gets Invite

  From panty raids to war profiteering. Frat brothers grow up so fast, eh Charlie?What's a wedding without at least one war profiteer? That's the baggage that Harry Sargeant's been lugging around the last several months, ever since a congressional oversight committee took a close look at the deal Sargeant's Boca Raton-based Oil Trading Company International had with the Pentagon. A suit alleges Sargeant's company paid bribes to officials in Jordan in exchange for the exclusive right to ship fuel t

  December 12, 2008

• The Sheriff's Criminal Association

  October 15, 1998

• To the Victor Go the Spoiled Children

  October 22, 1998

• The Reeducation of Ms. Kristin Jacobs

  October 29, 1998

• Undercurrents

  December 30, 1999

• The Broward County Commission Is A Nest Of Whores

  I've decided to go with more blunt and truthful headlines ... can you tell? The inspiration for this one is the passing of lobbyist Ron Book's initiative to bring more money to the county's bail bondsmen at the expense of our tax dollars. Book, who represents the bondsmen, has been working on the commission to curtail the successful pretrial release program so that more people have to pay bail. The disgusting part: Book is also employed by the county commission as a paid lob

  January 29, 2009

• DeGroot Picks Apart Ron Book, Lobby Racket

  The legislative session, marking the real advent of springtime in Florida, begins in Tallahassee this week. And the busiest bees working the capital are the lobbyists, who are buzzing about, putting their noses in everything they can, spreading their demon seed far and wide.  If you don't care, you should. You're paying for the all that pollination, after all.   John deGroot, bloggerOn his new blog, John deGroot did some digging and found that Broward County and

  March 3, 2009

• Broward County bail bondsmen want to kill pretrial intervention, and the County Commission is willing to help

  December 18, 2008

• The Broward School Board awards a million dollars in work to an unlicensed company

  April 16, 2009

• How´s Your Slime IQ?

  Take the Broward Corruption Quiz

  June 7, 2007

• Terrible Trio

  The Wasserstrom conviction should have at least a few pols shaking in fear — but, hey, this is Broward

  October 4, 2007

• Return to Sender

  When it comes to the specter of corruption, the Ritter-Klenet-URS connection has it all

  August 30, 2007

• Family Ties

  Broward Commission, lobbyists ooze coziness

  August 9, 2007

• Marital Law

  Does Stacy Ritter's lobbyist husband swing her vote?

  July 26, 2007

• All You Need to Smear

  Slimy newspaper article, hokey moral values committee, cash from a slush fund — and voilà

  April 5, 2007

• The Friendly Ties of United

  Gubernatorial candidate Tom Gallagher has been linked to the shady insurance firm for almost a decade

  March 9, 2006

• Fish Bait

  December 8, 2005

• Another Lobbyist Who Wasn't There

  A Miami developer used undue influence to win a $100 million job to build a new downtown for Lauderdale Lakes

  December 23, 2004

• All the Governor's Men

  A sweetheart hospital district deal could land Jeb Bush in front of a grand jury

  March 4, 2004

• Political Pull

  The lucrative Dania Beach towing contract is worth all the political clout Vice Mayor McElyea exercised to win it

  June 26, 2003

• Swimming in Trouble

  Pompano Beach Mayor Bill Griffin is, well, conflicted over the Swimming Hall of Fame deal

  June 20, 2002

• Dr. Strange Train

  Or: How I learned to start worrying and hate the bullet train

  May 30, 2002

• Longshot

  Florida House minority leader Lois Frankel is waging an impossible campaign for governor

  November 15, 2001

• Maurie, We Hardly Know Ye

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

  October 21, 1999

• Her Word Is Not Her Bond

  Former Broward County financial adviser Teressa Cawley had a bright career… until the SEC passed judgment on her

  July 22, 1999

• Deputy School Superintendent Is "Appalled" By Employees

  Deputy Superintendent Michael Garretson has written a memo regarding last week's column to Superintendent Jim Notter assuring him that the payment of $1 million to an unlicensed firm represented by lobbyist Ron Book was all above board. Hey, I'm going to let Garretson speak for himself and urge you to read the column. But his aside about being "appalled" is ridiculous. He better start listening to the those school board employees who have the courage to tell the truth a

  April 19, 2009

• Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter and Sheriff Al Lamberti Face Campaign Finance Investigations

  June 25, 2009

• Morning Juice: Conflict Brewing Over Compact; Stress in the West 'Burbs

  ​Here's what's happening in the 954 and 561:Pari-mutuals are not fooled by the governor's compact with the Seminoles, and they're bringing all their lobbyist power -- starting with Ron Book -- to the fight that's brewing in the Legislature. [Sun-Sentinel]How about the nerve of Dushuan Smith? He contacted CBS-4 a few months ago to ask for help promoting the Fort Lauderdale camp he runs for needy children. And now Carey Codd reports that Smith has been arrested for allegedly trying to pass a pho

  September 3, 2009