A cold breeze rustles the thicket of cypress trees overhead as Octavio Ferro leans against a metal horse trailer, props his foot up behind him, and puts his hands into his pockets like a Ralph Lauren model. With carefully tousled blond hair, a chiseled chin, and clothes that make him…
Soccer Coach Tom Ruth’s cleats make a rhythmic clicking in the hallways of the Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts. The sound is foreign to this West Palm Beach public school for aspiring performers. The quiet patter of ballerina slippers, now that’s familiar. But cleats in the hallways…
At the head of a 20-foot table, the squat silver urn looks as if it should be under glass. It has been so meticulously polished that not a spot of tarnish can be found among the ornate ribbons and miniature flowers decorating its edges. A water spout emerging from its…
Boxes of pizza are stacked over on the plastic picnic table, and a waitress brings out free bottles of Bud. There’s a guy on a cordless microphone singing karaoke-quality funk tunes. But overall, it’s not a fancy party. That’s not Fay Fiess’ style, even though she just became a wealthy…
Michael Piquion, a shy 13-year-old with a soft smile and eyes that dart timidly away from strangers, sits in a Jackson Memorial Hospital room with walls decorated in pastels, polka dots, and Rugrats characters. With his left hand, he curls a crimson cord connected to a plastic bag overhead that…
“Huh-lo?” mumbles Alvin Midas when he answers the phone on a recent sunny afternoon at the statewide headquarters of the group that aims to legalize pot. Midas isn’t the leader of Florida Cannabis Action Network (FLCAN). In fact, he’s just the web administrator at the office in Melbourne. But he…
In an area world-famous for botched balloting, New Times endorses Republican Elliot S. Shaw in Palm Beach County’s Florida House District 89. A destitute lawyer whose sanity the Florida Supreme Court once questioned, he’s the perfect candidate for SoFla’s easily misled voters. We like his chances. Even the state’s fantastically…
A sneer builds in the corner of Howard Schnellenberger’s right eye, then slowly becomes a piercing gaze directed at the empty football field in front of him. His schedule calls for his men to practice at Eastern Kentucky University by 5 p.m. sharp, but the drizzling rain apparently didn’t get…
It’s rush hour in South Florida, and reports of car accidents, nasty traffic jams, and petty crimes blast at boom-box strength in John Wolmer’s Oakland Park home office. Surrounding him on a u-shaped desk are 40 noisy scanners spitting out police chatter picked up from West Palm Beach to Miami…
Alvin Keel headed out to a desolate stretch of Singer Island beach at 3 a.m. on May 29, 1998, with a plan to make enough money to feed his crack addiction for a week. The moon had set two hours earlier, leaving clear skies as black as the ocean. The…
The cop in the white polo shirt and black dress pants halted suddenly and took a step back, apparently shocked to see a white guy in the crowd. The officer leaned awkwardly on a banister just out of earshot. “You see that? The only reason he didn’t come over and…
Kristi Posvar swings her hips through a tight space in an overstuffed warehouse before spotting a planter the color of overcooked peas. “Oh my God, there it is. I was afraid they sold it,” she says, sliding her fingertips along the crackled paint finish. “This is one of the last…
The dozen shoes that protrude from beneath Clarence Kelley’s bed are neatly lined up, like cars at a dealership. First there are the patent-leather ones that cover his ankles, then the gray, plastic loafers with chrome buckles, then the aging blue sneakers with yellow stripes, and so on. Across the…
Kurt Klaus Jr. had good reason to get the hell out of West Palm Beach. On a blazing hot Tuesday, he tucked a modest stack of papers and folders under his left arm and bolted for his Toyota Tundra, which was parked under a tree across from the federal courthouse…
After a six-month investigation, Boca Raton police last week arrested matchmaker Helena Amram on charges of defrauding 54 clients who had paid as much as $50,000 to find the perfect mate. The cops seized Amram’s records this February and contacted some of the 650 or so people who had engaged…
