Tallahassee

Florida Bong Ban: Can You Buy Pieces Online If Bill Passes?

Hey, smoke heads: chill. Seriously. It's going to be okay. Trust us There's a lot of paranoid chatter out on the interwebs about the fallout from yesterday's passage in the Florida house of the bong ban. It's understandable. Basically everyone wants to know WHAT IT ALL MEANS? CAN I STILL GET M ... More >>

Lance Armstrong: The Next Richard Nixon or Pete Rose?

Lance Armstrong singlehandedly changed American bicycling. He won seven Tours de France. He held off testicular cancer. He dated and about married Sheryl Crow. Not long ago, presumably after quitting with the doping, he won his first 70.3 mile triathlon in Florida, up in Haines City.He is an am ... More >>

Florida Lotto Winning Ticket Worth $192,000 Is About to Expire

Did you play the numbers 8-19-27-28-30 in a Fantasy 5 lotto ticket back on July 30? Maybe left it in your jeans? In your glove compartment? Under your porn stash? Inside a shoe? In an empty coffee can? On a bus seat? In between the seats in your car with Larry's homework? Because, if you did, you ... More >>

Sandy Hook Tragedy Has Florida Parents and Students on Edge

Tensions have been high right here in Florida ever since the tragedy that unfolded in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday. People are being arrested for bringing guns into schools, modified lockdowns are being enforced over bullets found on a school bus, and we're learning that bulletproof backpacks ... More >>

Bill Clinton At Tampa Bay Rally Friday Night: Long-winded And Unintelligible

Former President Bill Clinton said a lot of things during his his hour-long speech in Tampa last night before a crazed crowd of 1,000 supporters at a campaign rally here Friday night. It would be nice to know what most of it was. We're not sure whether it was the mic system, or his apparent exhaust ... More >>

June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards Were Fired After Revealing Widespread Foreclosure Fraud

PIP Bill Won't Affect Injured People, Former Insurance Fraud Director Says

​John Askins spent 24 years in Miami investigating staged accidents, fake injury claims, and other car insurance fraud before going on to head the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud. He retired from government in September but followed this month's new personal injury protection (PIP) reform bill ... More >>

Google Glasses Show Why It's Too Late to Ban Texting and Driving

​By the end of the year, Google is expected to start selling glasses that display up-to-date information about the nearby environment on a tiny screen embedded in the lens.  The glasses, according to the New York Times, "will have a low-resolution built-in camera that will be able to monitor ... More >>

Florida Mulls Texting and Driving Ban While Feds Ask Auto Industry to Limit In-Car Distractions

​Lawmakers in Florida -- one of the most deadly states when it comes to driving -- are squabbling over whether we need a specific law against texting from behind the wheel. It seems like a no-brainer when considering, as reported by the Associated Press, that there are "drivers who text ... More >>

Leon County School Board Approves New Mavericks High School

​Perhaps the people in Tallahassee don't read much on the interwebs. Or maybe they don't mind entrusting their kids' education to a team of real estate developers. Whatever the reason, the Leon County School Board has decided to approve a new Mavericks High charter school.Mavericks in Education Fl ... More >>

Feds Seize 500-Year-Old Painting Stolen by Nazi Cohorts During World War II

ICE"Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rascal" -- not exactly stolen by Nazis.​"Nazis. I hate these guys." -- Indiana JonesGovernment agents seized a 500-year-old painting from the Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science in Tallahassee on Friday, a work of art the U.S. Attorney's Office says w ... More >>

Rick Scott Issues Press Release Explaining New Definition of 700,000-Job Campaign Promise

​Gov. Rick Scott's office issued a news release late last week to explain the retraction of his campaign promise to create 700,000 jobs on top of the state's "normal growth" projection of 1 million jobs by 2017.It looks like he's sticking to his new story, in which he claims he never promised to c ... More >>

Florida: Today Is the Last Day to Legally Have Sex With Animals

​Attention, Florida: Today is the last day to legally buck a bronco, hump a horse, grope a goat, or perform any other activities related to barnyard bangin'.Senate Bill 344, which bans "sexual contact" and "sexual conduct" with animals, goes into effect on Saturday.Unfortunately for animal sexers, ... More >>

Broward County Commission to Oppose Everglades Drilling (Which Already Exists)

Flickr/boggerthelogger​In next Wednesday's meeting, the Broward County Commission will move to adopt language in its state and federal legislative programs "opposing any oil drilling or exploration in or around the Everglades."The legislative programs are a set agenda of issues that the County Com ... More >>

In Defense of T-Pain: An Excerpt From Ben Westhoff's new book, "Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, and the Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip-Hop"

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 >>

School Board Pay Comes Under Attack

Wild Art: A recent photo of disgraced Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman, who continues to represent the county on state and national boards after being implicated as a player in the Chait scandal. This comes from a just-released video from the Florida Association of Counties aimed at prote ... More >>

"A Rodeo of Phonies and Pimps"

A fine Monday-morning quote comes from Carl Hiaasen: "I once referred to a past Legislature as a festival of whores, which in retrospect was a vile insult to the world's oldest profession. Today's lackluster assemblage in Tallahassee is possibly the worst in modern times, and cannot fairly be ... More >>

Felon Voting Laws, Racism, Rick Scott, and Pam Bondi, Part II

Florida Attorney GeneralYou really think justice is colorblind, Ms. Bondi?​The Florida Clemency Board's decision last week to reinstate an archaic felon voting ban has set off a storm of protest. The new rule, which requires nonviolent felons to wait five years after completing their sentences to ... More >>

Doctors Who Ask Patients Whether They Own Guns Would Face Up to $100,000 in Fines Under Proposed Law

​Being a doctor in Florida these days is risky business, and pill mill doctors aren't the only ones who should be worried about being on the wrong side of the law. A proposal being debated in Tallahassee would slap big-time fines on any doctor who asks a patient whether he owns a gun.A s ... More >>

The Lobbyists Who Keep PIP Insurance Fraud in the Headlines

Facebook.comPIP reform is a never-ending fight.​Auto insurance fraud has been in the news a lot lately. Last month, the Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald published lengthy stories about the fraudsters who stage fake car accidents and the lawyers who earn hefty fees fighting  insurance compani ... More >>

Broward League of Cities Set to Drop Klenet

The hits keep coming for lobbyist Russ Klenet. As if investigations regarding his work for Mutual Benefits fraudster Joel Steinger, a State Attorney's probe into his Broward County Commissioner wife Stacy Ritter's involvement with dirty developers Bruce and Shawn Chait, and civil charges stemm ... More >>

Ritter Has Date in Tallahassee Over Election Allegations

I hate to say it, but James Stokes -- the new School Board attorney who quit this morning before he even started -- probably made a good decision. Who would want to jump into the dysfunctional soup that is the Broward County School Board? It's a little surprising that he decided it "didn't feel rig ... More >>

UPDATED: Did Judge Lazarus Violate Judicial Canons?

The recent ridiculous "Convicted Criminal" mailers targeting Broward County Commission candidate Chip LaMarca is indeed tied directly to Broward Mayor Ken Keechl's campaign. Another egregious Keechl mailer​Turns out that the address of the "Broward Good Government Commi ... More >>

Loranne Ausley, Florida CFO Candidate, Completes 4-Day Bike Ride to Palm Beach

via Facebook​At least this proves she has follow-through as a political stunt artist, has a respectable level of endurance (she's a triathlete and marathon runner), and knows how to stay in shape while giving someone a metaphorical bitch-slap. That summary nails down Loranne Ausley's campaign plat ... More >>

Secondhand Serenade Brings a Little Acoustic Love to the Culture Room

Morning Juice: Nobody Wants Oil or Feces in Their Backyard

​Let's scan the headlines for this Thursday morning:If you challenged Miramar resident Joe Otano to name one exceptional quality of living next door to  Ellie Boudreau, here's what he'd say: "What really makes it stand out is the throwing of feces over into my property -- human feces." [WPLG] ... More >>

For Local Officials, Skin Condition Means Less-Informed Electorate

 Even when you're in the newspaper business, it's jarring to see someone you know on the front page of the New York Times website. (It's been updated since then, but you can see the screen grab from earlier today.) As a cub reporter ten years ago, I covered politics for a daily newspaper in nor ... More >>

Who Is Ari Porth? And Why?*

-- How do we get all these shameless, grandstanding state reps? Adam Hasner, Nan Rich, it just gets so tiresome. Now listen to this from Rep. Ari Porth, a Democrat from Coral Springs: "I'm ashamed that my county has the unenviable distinction of being the pill-mill capital of the Uni ... More >>

State Rep. Adam Hasner: Supporting "Anti-Muslim Hate Fest"?

Today, the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) pointed out that State Rep. Adam Hasner -- the House Republican leader -- is listed as a "coalition partner" for an upcoming coming "free speech summit" that could be seen as an anti-Muslim event.  The featured speaker will be Geert Wilde ... More >>

Immature Teachers Unable to Secure Raises

A reenactment of the Broward teacher rally.Teachers flooded a School Board meeting last night in an attempt to ask for bigger raises. However, the teachers were unsuccessful in their attempt to sway the officials using their overwhelming immaturity.The room full of teachers -- the same ones who send ... 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 >>

Senate Dem From Weston Lands Gig for 2010

flsenate.govSen. Nan RichThere has never been a female leader of the Florida Senate's Democratic Caucus -- and there won't be till 2010, when Sen. Nan Rich, the Weston Democrat, assumes the role. She will get the formal designation at a press conference in Tallahassee at 10:30 this morning."It's lon ... More >>

Last Night: Adult Swim Presents Tim and Eric Live, at Revolution

Ian WitlenTim and Eric backstage at Revolution Sunday night. Click here to view the full slideshow.It takes an, um, special sensibility to really get into the Cartoon Network's Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job, which airs on the network's Adult Swim block of late-night programming. Pretty much t ... More >>

Move Over Madoff, Here Come the Marching Trojans

I, for one, feel duped. This morning I received the itinerary for the J.P. Taravella High School Marching Band's trip to Washington DC, where they are to perform in president-elect Barack Obama's inuguration parade. Band director Neil Jenkins had told me that the youngsters would be doing ... More >>

Morning Juice: DCF Protects Children with Racists, State Beats Legion of Doom for Most Corrupt

The children of DCF.DCF Managers Use Racial Slurs That You'll Need to Look UpEmployees at the Department of Children and Families office in Tallahassee apparently like to throw around racial insults. An internal DCF audit found that six employees, even supervisors, were throwing around words, like " ... More >>

Wait, Let Me Change Hats

Geller does costly deals but shuns "L" word

The Talk of the Green Iguana

Will American voters elect the first gay vice president in November?

Stephen Marley

Mind Control (Tuff Gong/Universal)

Hardballed

If Waldman's a Dem, What's With the GOP Cash?

Another in the long tradition of Broward elephants posing as donkeys.

Letters for March 9-15, 2006

Earache

Tha Union organizes against the fakers and haters of hip-hop

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Passing Gas

Planned pipelines threaten fragile coral formations

Acting Out

Whether or not the state helps out AIDS sufferers, last week's botched protest says much about the HIV community's problem

An Education in Double Dipping

A politico gets a salary from the Broward school board that most teachers would kill for. Why? Because he's a state legislator.

Florida Alliance for Patronage

A group dedicated mainly to its own business interests is getting taxpayer bucks from Broward County commissioners

Letters

Undercurrents