The Juice has obtained a copy of the 110-page civil suit filed yesterday in West Palm Beach Federal District Court on behalf of 242 Colombian plaintiffs against Chiquita Brands International (click here for a copy of the lawsuit). The suit, brought by Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, which has offices…
Thirty-year-old Romeo Ramirez has worked on Florida farms for his “whole life,” he says. And despite the conditions he’s seen — stagnant wages, no benefits, and even migrant farm workers forced to work against their will — he still seems to see the state he lives in as a vast…
Last week, we brought you the sad tale of Darrin Podder, handcuffed and hauled to jail by Broward Sheriff’s deputies for “littering” a 20-foot tree on a construction site in Pompano Beach that he’d been hired to landscape by Butters Construction. Podder was in the middle of replacing a row…
This week’s feature story details the escalating battle between Big Agriculture and the Humane Society, the organization behind a nationwide campaign to legislate the safety and comfort of farm animals. The Humane Society helped push through Florida’s “pregnant pigs” constitutional amendment in 2002 — its first such victory in the…
Tamarac homeowner LeRoy Browne moved from Washington D.C. to Paradise Estates in the 1980s because he was looking for, well, Paradise. But now his heavenly retreat is threatened: Browne’s house sits directly on a golf course that the city wants to rezone. The plan is to pave Browne’s Paradise and…
Squawk Radio guru Joyce Kaufman, whose show airs daily on 850 AM WFTL, has announced that Citizens for National Security (CFNS), a nonprofit Public Charity, “has completed an exhaustive 14-month research study which conclusively reveals that a vast number of Florida’s elementary and high-school history and geography textbooks are Islam-slanted.”And…
The Sun-Sentinel is reporting another cop shooting this morning. A Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy evidently shot and killed a man, ***44-year-old Richard Montero ***, during a traffic stop at Summit Boulevard and Jog Road in West Palm Beach around 6:30 a.m.UPDATE: It now appears that as with the PBSO…
A Chicago-based Private Investigator who owns a vacation home in Broward, Chris Bauer says he spends his leisure time when he comes to Florida “people watching” on Las Olas or at downtown art shows. In other words, Bauer’s always at least halfway on the job. He has said he can…
Lake Worth blogger Lynn Anderson has reported that slain Nova cancer researcher Joseph Morrissey was a Lake Worth high alumnus who graduated in 1981. Anderson quotes from Morrissey’s yearbook profile that his ambition was to “get rich quick and spend a lot of money.” She also notes that the 46-year-old…
A Fort Lauderdale 911 operator took the call. “They are beating my son!” a woman screamed. “They are going to kill my son!” “Ma’am, slow down. Who is beating your son?” the operator responded. “The poliiiice!” The words were an agonized wail. “I tried to talk to them, and the…
Boynton Beach police are investigating a possible child abduction this morning. The girl, age 4 or 5, was wearing pink shorts and a white top with pink flowers. She was taken from a bus stop in the 1600 block of SW Eighth St. The suspect may be a white male…
Twitter and FB may rule the Zeitgeist, but an old-fashioned communications medium may be on the mend: low-power FM radio. A bill cosponsored by U.S. Sens. John McCain and Maria Cantwell — the Local Community Radio Act — would repeal some of the more draconian FCC rules and open up…
When Darrin Podder went to dig up some dead trees from a construction site in Pompano Beach on June 5, 2008, he had no idea he’d end up in handcuffs being led away to jail. Podder didn’t know littering was a felony. He didn’t even know he was littering. Like…
Lake Worth environmental activist Panagioti Tsolkas was one of many locals who banded together five years ago to protest the Scripps Biotech development on Mecca Farms. Some of those same activists, including members the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition and Everglades Earth First, are hoping to use similar tactics to…
Leadership Florida released its fourth annual Sunshine Survey yesterday, and already supporters of Hometown Democracy Amendment 4 are crying foul. The survey, conducted by Nielsen ratings, suggested that the constitutional Amendment 4 that supporters have fought to get on the ballot in November 2010 may not muster the 60 percent…
Men of Florida, don’t despair: There’s always somebody out there with a willie smaller than yours.This month, condomania.com released the results of its extensive survey of penis sizes around the nation. The company says it gathered “detailed information” about 27,000 peckers so to better design its condoms, which come in…
One thing we noticed at this year’s gay pride parade is that gay people pretty much look like everybody else.Does this mean we have assimilated? The high flamboyance of yesteryear, the antics of the Radical Fairies, the haute drag queens in their showgirl finery were not so much in evidence…
You could theoretically travel around the world for 12 months attending gay pride festivals, from Melbourne in January to Manila in December. The big U.S. celebrations, in New York and San Francisco, are scheduled to coincide with the historic Stonewall Riots in late June. But in South Florida, the festivals…
“Civilians often confuse use of force with excessive use of force,” Commander David Robshaw told the Juice in an interview this week. “Lawful authority can be construed as excessive.” Robshaw thinks we’ve all been watching too many episodes of Law and Order. Public perception of police brutality is fueled by…
Freestyle Alligator Wrestling is now officially a professional competitive sport, thanks to the Seminole Tribe in Hollywood. The first officially sanctioned competition was staged recently, showcasing 12 competitors from around South Florida. To get the full story, as told by New Times reporter Gail Shepherd, click here…
Two Palm Beach sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a man in Lantana this morning while serving him a warrant for violation of probation. The Palm Beach Post has identified the man this afternoon as Allen H. Hunter, 45. Hunter’s brother told reporters that Hunter suffered from a bipolar disorder.Sheriff Rick…
Hey, don’t call this a “diary”; it’s a JOURNAL, OK? And Nadia says I’m supposed to write in this thing every day: She wants me to write about my “feelings” and all that stuff. But the real reason I agreed to keep this dia… I mean… JOURNAL is because someday…
