penned a letter asking a federal judge to show leniency for former Broward County Board Member Beverly Gallagher, who has pleaded guilty to bribery and other federal charges that stemmed from an undercover FBI corruption investigation. Florida Commission Ethics Chairman Roy Rogers wrote the letter for Gallagher on May 23, and…
I’m fixing to go off on Steve “Gasbag” Geller (maybe this afternoon), but first I think we need to talk about Broward County Judge Peggy Gehl. Gehl was recently criticized for what Public Defender Howard Finkelstein in a letter called racist, demeaning, and inappropriate statements. Maybe so, but they are…
Controversial Broward County School Board Member Bob Parks is expected to announce soon that he is withdrawing from the School Board race against challenger Nora Rupert and leave the board after some 24 years in office, according to reliable School Board sources. Parks, facing his first opponent since 1998, may have…
Yesterday’s Cooper City Commission meeting melted down in near-chaos in front of a troop of Boy Scouts — and we have video. It all began when a citizen had the audacity to criticize Mayor Debby Eisinger. Longtime resident and former City Commissioner Gladys Wilson, speaking during the public-input part of the meeting, said that…
Tonight, Dennis Mele, the lobbyist everyone seems to hate, will again be the object of scorn. When people see Mele come into their town they might as well be looking at swarm of locusts — bad things are going to happen to their land. Don’t worry about Mele though, he’s got to be used to…
— If you’re tired of being mad, Sunrise, how about Hollywood? The Balance Sheet, a Hollywood political sheet, has looked into the city’s efforts to get wi-fi, and it appears to be another multimillion-dollar government boondoggle. This one involves a hefty Bank of America loan and the company Johnson Controls. — The Fort Lauderdale mayor,…
When you watch the BP oil lap up onto shore and decimate fragile ecosystems, don’t ever forget why that oil rig was ever allowed to be built: cold cash. BP and other oil companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars greasing the political wheels with campaign contributions and have…
So how does it happen? How does a giant ugly giant Marriott Hotel-anchored development get built west of the Sawgrass Expressway on a part of the Everglades that was meant to be an open space park and is now popular with hikers and boaters? It’s done in secret. It’s done with lobbyists…
Very busy this morning, but here’s a videotape of former Broward GOP Chief Chip LaMarca’s speech declaring his candidacy against Broward County Mayor Ken Keechl. I’ll come back with commentary a little later. LaMarca is striking a populist tone — and it has resonance: “If you’re… tired of reading the…
The slime runs deep in Broward’s Democratic Party, which has become a cesspool of cheaters and profiteers. And the Florida Democratic Party is nothing but a rubber stamp for the local party’s shenanigans. It’s unfortunate but true. And the whole party needs to be cleaned out from top to bottom. Recently Broward…
No, that isn’t an Ed Wood zombie in the purple dress; it’s Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter about to hit the dance floor. And you’ll notice she’s doing it with same wild and mindless abandon she brings to her wacky political career. Give Ritter credit — it was all for charity…
The Broward Sheriff’s Office’s new public corruption investigator will be working in complete cooperation with the FBI, according to sources. That may have something to do with the fact that Sheriff Al Lamberti hired a former FBI agent, Al La Manna, to investigate local politicians. News of the cooperation is historic — the feds and locals for…
The Broward School Board sold our children’s future out to their lobbyist and construction-company friends, overspent hundreds of millions of dollars, and dug the district $2 billion in debt. The board remains under federal investigation. One former member, Beverly Gallagher, is heading to prison after taking bribes from undercover FBI agents posing…
The power of the pen is alive and well. In the space of a month, a sitting judge — Broward’s former chief criminal judge no less — has resigned the bench to avoid a JQC investigation and a Broward County commissioner is reported to be on the verge of being charged by state prosecutors. Both the…
[UPDATE: County Judge Mary Rudd Robinson has filed a lawsuit to disqualify her opponent in the judicial race, Jordan Howard Breslaw. Why? Because “Jordan Howard Breslaw… does not exist,” according to the suit filed by attorney Bill Scherer. See the jump for more.] Religious and political extremists have struck in Pompano…
Who needs an inspector general when you have a highly motivated former FBI agent digging into Broward County corruption with all the power of the Sheriff’s Office behind him? It’s a highly secretive operation, and I’ve got more reporting to do, but La Manna, an organized-crime expert who spent some three decades with…
If you thought the race between Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger and former state Sen. Steve Geller was going to be an austere and polite affair, think again. Here’s the first television spot from Gunzburger: You’ll notice Gunzburger, whose campaign is being run by her son Ron, includes a piece…
Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper has warned us about the dangers of pain clinics. Last June, he was in the Miami Herald talking about the dangers of doctor shopping, where people go to numerous clinics to stockpile pills like oxycodone, Xanax, and Valium. “It’s almost impossible to monitor different…
Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper, who became a bit of a national celebrity during the Anna Nicole Smith case and is an occasional guest of Nancy Grace, is involved in a bitter dispute with his daughter’s in-laws, who claim Perper’s daughter and her husband pilfered their fortune. The claims of 75-year-old Thelma…
Just about every office has a pot guy. You know, it’s the person who is happy to hook up anyone he can with a little weed, not to make money but mostly just to fulfill what he believes is a service to humanity. Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm had at least one of them. According to emails that…
I’m going to throw some emails at you this morning. It begins with an email from an activist and ends with Broward County Commissioner John Rodstrom jumping up in Hallandale Mayor Joy Cooper’s grill. Obviously it’s a convoluted tale, so let me start at the beginning (all the emails involved will be included in full…
Embattled Broward Circuit Judge Ana Gardiner awarded Richard Cole, the attorney who recently hired her, some $600,000 in legal fees last summer, according to court documents. Cole, managing partner of the law firm Cole Scott & Kissane, said the award played no part in his hiring of the judge, who was facing charges from…
