Ever since a whistleblower pointed out that there might be some serious flaws in the DNA analysis performed by the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the crime lab has been in a tailspin. Its leaders are fighting to maintain accreditation and the Broward state attorney’s office has been forced to re-open as many…
With Halloween less than two weeks away, it’s officially crunch time for anyone who hasn’t come up with a costume. Which is why we need to offer this PSA: if you are a white person, please, for the love of god, do not dress up as Kodak Black. Here are…
When Westley Williams started working as a sandwich maker at the McDonald’s on South University Drive in Miramar two years ago, he quickly noticed his new coworkers had an unfortunate habit of making fun of gay people who came into the store. Williams, a 41-year-old Hollywood resident who is gay…
In late June, some 2,500 Boca Raton residents received a notice in the mail telling them that they’d be heading to the Islamic Center of Boca Raton to vote in the August primary and November general election. It shouldn’t have been all that noteworthy: churches and synagogues have been used…
Garrett Siegel, a local artist and graphic designer, had a novel idea for yesterday’s rally in West Palm Beach. He wanted someone to stand outside with a sign that said “Grab ‘Em By The Pussy.” “It’s kinda performance art, it’s kinda not performance art,” he explained. “I thought it would be…
On an October afternoon in 2014, Daniel Tyson, a 30-year old vocalist and graduate of Miami’s New World School of the Arts who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and manic depression, went out onto his balcony naked. A neighbor saw him talking to the air and a nearby tree…
Jail overcrowding is an ongoing problem in Broward County, to the extent that some inmates sleep on plastic “sleds” because there aren’t enough beds to go around. One possible solution? Stop jailing mentally ill people. That’s the answer proposed by the Broward Sheriff’s Office after crunching the numbers and finding…
After Gregory Frazier was shot by deputies from the Broward Sheriff’s Office in his Pompano Beach back yard, it didn’t take long for the local media to start portraying him as a criminal. “Florida Department of Corrections records show Frazier had served several brief stints in prison,” the Sun Sentinel…
On October 1st, it became illegal to purchase or possess kratom, which is derived from the leaves of a Southeast Asian shrub and often served in drinks and teas at kava bars. It’s now considered a Schedule I Controlled Substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which puts it in the same category as heroin,…
Hurricanes sometimes bring out the best in people. Prime example: Vanilla Ice, one-hit wonder and white rapper, turns out to make an excellent weatherman. From his home in Palm Beach, which he seems to be refusing to evacuate, Vanilla Ice (a.k.a Robert Matthew Van Winkle) has been posting periodic updates on the storm…
It’s looking possible that Florida in general, and Palm Beach in particular, will be hit not once but twice by Hurricane Matthew. This raises the question: will this be God’s revenge on Donald Trump? Will Mar-A-Lago, the private club that doubles as his Florida home, be swept away by the…
Are you single and under the age of 30? Getting evacuated from your oceanfront condo? Good news: random sketchy dudes on Craigslist have you covered. Just search for the word “hurricane” in the personal ads and shield your computer screen when anyone walks by, because you’re about to see a lot…
As soon as news broke that Broward and Palm Beach were under a hurricane warning, public schools in both counties cancelled classes. This morning, local colleges followed suit: Nova Southeastern University and Broward College announced that administrative offices would close and all classes would be cancelled starting at 5 p.m. today through Monday morning…
It’s beginning to look increasingly likely that Hurricane Matthew will hit Florida. Government agencies have been giving out typical advice: Have an emergency evacuation plan, stock up on non-perishable food and water, make sure you have extra flashlights and batteries, and so on. All good advice, but we figured some…
Nearly a month after Gregory Frazier was fatally shot in his Pompano Beach backyard, the Broward Sheriff’s Office has released the names of the two officers who shot him. According to spokesman Veda Coleman-Wright, both Zachary Hasson, 22, and Andrew Landells, 26, fired their guns. Both were relatively new to…
Jason Calleri doesn’t usually tell people that he keeps venomous snakes as pets. “One of the first things people say is, ‘Do you have a girlfriend? Are you married?’” he explains. “It’s like I’m disgusting, and girls wouldn’t want to be around me.” Calleri, who is 42 years old and…
Hugh’s Tropic Cafe in the Broward County Courthouse trie s to create something fun. If you ever received the Oriental Trading catalog in the mail, you will likely recognize the decor from their “luau party” collection: bamboo curtains, tropical bird figurines, a tiki bar. (Sadly, the tiki bar only serves…
Two years ago, Boynton Beach-based forensic expert Tiffany Roy was hired to double-check a piece of DNA evidence swabbed from a knife handle. What she found was troubling: the Broward Sheriff’s Office crime lab had misinterpreted the evidence, claiming it was conclusive when, in fact, it wasn’t. As New Times…
In April, Aledys Llorens was riding his motorbike in the I-95 express lanes through northwest Miami-Dade when a driver abruptly plowed through the orange plastic poles, cutting him off in the process. Llorens, a 28-year-old Hialeah resident who worked at Port Everglades and had a four-year-old daughter, couldn’t come to…
It’s been more than two weeks since Gregory Frazier was fatally shot by Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies in his Pompano Beach backyard. And we still don’t know the names of the two deputies who are responsible. By way of comparison, when Alton Sterling was shot by Baton Rouge police in…
For at least six years, Crescent House, a Fort Lauderdale group home for teenage boys, was the source of constant calls to the police. Neighbors found crack cocaine baggies littering the streets, and said that kids pelted their car with rocks. Finally, this summer, the city shut down the facility,…
The Monday after Gregory Frazier was fatally shot by deputies from the Broward Sheriff’s Office in his backyard, Sheriff Scott Israel stood in front of an angry crowd that had gathered at the Bethel A.M.E Church in Pompano Beach and made an announcement: all officer-involved shootings, including this one, would…
