Texas Gov. Rick Perry last spring vetoed a bill that would have let victims of wage discrimination sue for back pay in state court. That shouldn’t have surprised anyone. The numbskulled chief executive has never been known as a friend of working folks. But when the news later broke that…

A new study ranking greenhouse gas emissions from power plants on a state-by-state basis places Florida number three nationally. Within Florida, the study finds FPL’s West County Energy Center, in Palm Beach County, the state’s third most polluting. See also: – Tree-huggers Mobilize to Stop FPL From Building Everglades Power…

Jonel Jones has special reason to pause and reflect today, the anniversary of the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center. “My father was a firefighter,” the Lake Worth native told New Times. “The sacrifices made that day, I really felt them.” The aftermath of the attacks also have a…

Small acts of defiance have sometimes sparked political infernos. December 1955: Seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to sit in the back of the bus and touches off the Montgomery bus boycott. August 1980: Electrician Lech Walesa hops a fence at the Gdansk shipyards and goes on to lead a strike that…

Born in Damascus, Dr. Hadi Yaziji has been a Miami resident and a U.S. citizen for some years now. He is a pathologist by training and, as conflict has consumed the land of his birth, he has turned his analytical skills from medical problems to the disease of war. Dr…

The fratboy thug mentality runs deep on the political right, from the acned James O’Keefe to the buffoonish, belligerent Andrew Breitbart (may he rot in hell). Boca Raton conservative activist Jack Furnari is cut from the same crude cloth. Just yesterday, for instance, Furnari made an ass of himself with…

The epic task of restoring and preserving the Everglades faces a major new hurdle in the coming weeks, as a draft report on implementation of the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) comes under review by the general public and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Finalizing the plan in timely…

Our robotic governor last week nominated a youngish IT gazillionaire and an Indian River County advertising executive to fill two vacancies on FAU’s Board of Trustees. Whether the nominations constitute an honor or a cross remains to be seen. Daniel Cane, 36, of Boynton Beach, was nominated to fill the…

A few weeks ago, a powerful Tallahassee attorney named Karen Walker posted a warning on her firm’s website about new language in state public records law. It could, she wrote, lead to increased litigation against businesses that provide services to Florida state or local government. The new language comes from…

Political progressives from all across Florida are gathering tomorrow for a day-long conference in West Palm Beach under the banner “Agenda 2014 – Policy Positions for Progress.” The group will focus on issues rather than candidates, though according to the meeting’s mission statement: “The conference will serve as a launching…

When WPB State Rep. Mark Pafford announced he was offering walking tours of the Florida outback to his constituents (and anyone else who cares to make the trip), “bemused” was the word that came to mind: What was a nice Jewish boy from Miami doing trekking around in the swamp,…

For some time now, a massive, three-story building at 2119 S. Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, formerly the site of Ragtops Antique Car Showroom and Museum, has been undergoing a sweeping renovation. Virtually every square inch of its space has been repaired, redone, patched and freshly painted. The project’s…

Last week, the Daily Caller, a right-wing news website, called Florida Atlantic University “the worst place in America to attend college.” The main reason for the condemnation was the school’s “speech code.” See also: – FAU President and Trustees Keep Saying Ridiculous Things…

Palm Beach County was built on tourism and agriculture. But once established as a haven for money and power, and as the world grew smaller through the advance of technology, it also became a flashpoint for global intrigue. JFK’s apocalpyse bunker was installed here. Cuban sugar baron exiles linked the…

A majority of Lake Worth’s City Commission voted Tuesday to ignore the result of a March referendum to limit building heights in the city. Voters approved the measure –a charter amendment — by 56 percent to 44 percent. But even before the commission acted, the referendum’s organizers went to court…

Medical marijuana activist John Tracey was arrested (see video, below) in the parking lot of Cruzan Amphitheatre before Wednesday night’s Black Sabbath concert in West Palm Beach. He was attempting to gather signatures for a petition to allow a referendum on medical marijuana on Florida’s 2014 ballot. According to a…

Lake Worth City Commissioners are set to ignore the will of city voters Tuesday and overturn the results of a legally valid election. They’re doing so to chase after a development pipe dream rather than work at real solutions to the city’s problems. See also: – Gulfstream Hotel: A Red…

One of our very favorite global corporate octopi — right up there with the GEO Group and Monsanto — is at it again, chalking up another victory for “free enterprise,” de-regulation and all that’s good, right, true and…Freedom! Turns out that Halliburton, the company formerly helmed by Darth Vader, has…