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 take their…
Dr. Arthur Jordan, an expert witness paid $300 per hour by federal prosecutors to testify in a number of pill mill cases, has a bizarre criminal past that the government kept secret for years. The new information could be used to appeal a slew of pill mill convictions throughout the…
It turns out Florida is pretty damned good at letting the easily corruptible get into positions of power. Since 1976, the state’s federal courts have handed out nearly 1,800 public corruption convictions, the fourth highest in the country. That’s an average of 49 public corruption convictions a year, or about one…
On Friday, the Department of Justice filed an aggressive response to Buju Banton’s appeal and continued to write off the fact that the drug case was built by a deceitful snitch with tremendous financial incentive to entrap people — as detailed in last week’s cover story.The DOJ also filed its own appeal of…
When it comes to shark attacks, Florida is tops. In 2011, there were 11 unprovoked attacks in the state’s waters, including one in Palm Beach. The next closest state was North Carolina, which had only four. Losers.But the 11 attacks in Florida marks a huge drop over past years, according to…
What do all the Beatles, George Michael, and Lil Wayne have in common? At one point or another, they’ve been busted with dope. The list of musicians who have been accused of drug-related crimes is staggering. And since this week’s cover story is about the cocaine-related conviction of Grammy-winning reggae Buju…
UPDATE: New Times initial story on Banton caused one of the singer’s gun charges to be tossed out by a judge, knocking five years off his sentence, though — despite two trials and an exhaustive series of New Times stories tracking the shady business behind Buju Banton’s convictions — the…
This week’s cover story takes a look at whether the U.S. government, with the help of a shady snitch, entrapped Buju Banton, and iconic and controversial, Grammy-winning reggae musician.Buju is one of those rare reggae artists who achieved global fame while remaining a fan favorite in Jamaica. His career has…
Alex Johnson — a main character in this week’s cover story about the conviction of Buju Banton — on Monday further delayed his bankruptcy hearing. On the surface, there’s nothing extraordinary about that; many Americans have turned to bankruptcy proceedings, which can stretch months if not years. But Johnson isn’t…
A big yellow school bus could be the source of your next traffic ticket. Officials with the School District of Palm Beach County are weighing whether to install high-def cameras on buses to nab the license plates of drivers who ignore those little stop signs that extend from the side of the vehicles. As the Palm…
The American International Fine Art Fair kicks off this weekend at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. It’s sure to be a week chock-full of art snobbery and superrich collectors.On Sunday, Géza von Habsburg, director of Fabergé Inc. USA, will deliver a lecture titled “Fabergé Then and Now,” a history…
If you need affirmation that West Palm Beach is too rich rich for your blood, Forbes has you covered. Using a semiscientific method that accounted for things like housing affordability, the cost-of-living index, and median salaries for college grads, the magazine produced a list of the most overpriced cities in the U.S. The Sunshine…
It’s no secret that Burmese pythons have been wreaking havoc in the Everglades, but the extent of their destruction has been hard to grasp. A new study provides some of the first hard statistics on how these invasive reptiles are altering the food chain, and the numbers are downright scary.Between…
As we noted earlier this month, there are plenty of weird and awful ways to die on a cruise ship. Now falling can be added to the list of lethal hazards.Broward Sheriff Office investigators on Monday combed over Royal Caribbean International’s Liberty of the Seas after a 47-year-old woman missed a step and…
There’s not another person on the road. And sure, you see the “No Turn on Red” sign, but that’s just a suggestion. So you go for it. Then, boom — the back of your car is illuminated by the flash of a covert camera. Your stomach sinks knowing that a…
Everyone knows red light cameras suck. But now a new study from the University of South Florida indicates that they might actually be dangerous and lead to an increase in red-light-running fatality rates in cities that use them.The research, published in the Florida Public Health Review, tore apart a study…
The Broward Sheriff’s Office is on the hunt for a “slithering thief” who “shimmied under a semitruck” in West Park and made off with a truck’s computer system. The BSO is also apparently embracing alliteration like never before.The guy needed less than two minutes to get under the truck, which…
Nature shows are simply brilliant television. Sharks devouring seals in midair, a Golden Eagle dragging a helpless mountain goat to a savage death, and monkeys getting wasted off fermented fruit — these are things dreams are made of. Now South Floridians can puff out their chest with local pride and…
Imagine a drug that could stop the spread of HIV. People could screw whomever they wanted however they wanted and sleep peacefully knowing that the virus wouldn’t soon be waging an all-out assault on their immune systems. It sounds like a quick fix to one of history’s most pressing public health…
The Department of Justice should have filed a response to Buju Banton’s appeal on Friday, but as has been the government’s style throughout the more than two-year-long saga, it’s dragging its heels. Now federal prosecutors have until February 10 to counter arguments made in the hulking, 17,000-word appeal. …
Reggae star Buju Banton, who was sentenced this past June to ten years on federal drug charges, isn’t in the best financial shape. A bank recently foreclosed on his Tamarac duplex, and he’s got a hefty legal tab to work off after going through two trials, the first of which…
The Italian Coast Guard on Wednesday halted efforts to recover bodies from the wreckage of the Costa Concordia, a massive cruise ship that capsized last week off the coast of Italy. With at least 11 people dead and more than still 20 missing, the accident has already dealt a financial…
