For the last three years, executives for All Aboard Florida, now known as Brightline — the private railroad line that will connect Miami and Orlando — have been trying to secure funding, conducting studies, and holding meetings. Although the project remains controversial — it’s had trouble attracting investors, critics have…
Some anthropologists might compare sororities to cults. They involve strange chants, private ceremonies, induction rituals, weird insignia, and hand motions. Members obsess over a doctrine— sororities call theirs “standards” —and create a false sense of family by calling members “sisters” and assigning a “big sister” to each new recruit. To…
Theresa Caputo, also known as “the Long Island Medium” on her TV show of the same name, might be moving to Fort Lauderdale, as she revealed on an episode last night. With her children in college but her husband Larry in tow, Theresa Caputo — a gregarious, platinum blonde with…
Maxime Cherilus, a bulky, soft-spoken 22-year-old, had only $1.13 in his bank account. It was October 2012 and his $500 rent payment was due. Two years earlier, Cherilus had to drop out of college because he needed money. He was now balancing two jobs as a cashier at a smoke…
The United States constitution says that “no person… except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have…
In November, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals helped Hendry County law enforcement to care for over 100 dogs seized from an unlicensed, substandard puppy mill in Clewiston, 100 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale. The dogs were found in crowded, filthy cages, with no access to…
Scientists concerned about global warming and sea level rise often describe Miami as ground zero — the next Atlantis, even. Magazines including Rolling Stone and the New Yorker have speculated that huge chunks of the city could go underwater and that people would flee in a mass exodus. (The symptoms…
One hour into 2016, Daniel Stettin jumped into an Uber. He was leaving Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale and on his way to Weston. The 25-mile ride usually costs $30. Fifty-one minutes later, he arrived and looked down on his phone. $217.33. “I had a good night up until…
2015 was a rough year for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Flakka incidents soared in Broward County, making this year especially difficult. The department was met with heavy criticism after a racist video created by four officers surfaced online. It didn’t help that the year before officers arrested 90-year-old activist…
On New Year’s Eve, Debbie Castagna isn’t thinking about her midnight kiss or her resolutions. She’s thinking about Jasper, her 5-year-old terrier mix terrified in their Delray Beach home. That’s because at midnight, when everyone ignites their fireworks, Jasper panics, sprints around the house, and darts into a closet. He…
Grayson Flory will not be spending New Year’s Eve sipping champagne in his swankiest outfit. Instead, the 28-year-old activist will be making as much noise as possible on the sidewalk outside of the Broward County jail. Scores of other activists are expected to join him with pots, pans, drums, megaphones,…
Julie Featherston and her six-year-old son pick up litter whenever they’re at Treasure Island Beach outside of Tampa. The whopping number of cigarette butts that spanned their local beach alarmed the duo. Featherston’s son worried about the wildlife that might accidentally ingest the tossed cigarette butts; Featherston worried about her…
In the Atlantic Ocean, 17 miles southeast of Miami and 100 feet under the surface of the water, Lazaro Cabrera reaches the sunken remains of a steel freighter and swims inside. The lean 41-year-old, in an army-green camouflage wetsuit, scans for movement. Thirty seconds pass, and then he sees it:…
Data pinpoints Broward county as the epicenter of Alpha-PVP use, a designer drug imported from China. Unlike bath salts and Ectasy, this synthethic drug, more commonly known as flakka, sells on the street for only $5. Its side effects—agitation, paranoia, delusions—are a dangerous combination that have been linked to a…
It seems like just yesterday you were laughing at your coupon-cutting aunt for rushing to Target before dawn on Black Friday. Now she’s laughing at you, because December is almost over and you procrastinated, once again, with your holiday shopping. The worst part is: you know that the only place…
Last month, Broward judge Matthew Destry sentenced a 23-year-old to 60 years in prison. Though he changed reduced the sentence after a public outcry, other people say that the judge has a pattern of doling out unnecessarily harsh sentences — in some cases, even longer than the prosecutor recommends. Herbert…
On Saturday, December 12, at a yoga studio in Doral, a dozen barefoot people hold PVC pipes covered with foam. They break off into pairs and then swing their DIY weapons as hard as they can at each other. After a few minutes, they take a break. Their knuckles hurt…
Keith Wallace’s stepdaughter and mother passed away on the same day. Twelve-year-old Shania Jackson—whom Wallace called his daughter and helped raise since she was 3— crossed the street in Hallandale when a car swerved into her, striking her, and then sped off. A few hours later, Wallace’s mother succumbed to…
Three years ago, a female graduate student at the University of Miami accused her professor — the most prominent member of the philosophy department — of sexual harassment. Monica Morrison’s case against Colin McGinn, a married, world-renowned author of 25 books, grew into a contentious battle detailed by New Times…
On Sunday evening, a throng of activists strutted down A1A on Fort Lauderdale Beach. They were waving dozens of hand-painted posters of world leaders: Donald Trump, Rick Scott, Bernie Sanders, Raul Castro, Bashar al-Assad, Robert Mugabe, Hitler, and others. They also lugged with them a small crate filled with used…
Two weeks ago, 23-year-old Herbert Smith was sentenced to 60 years in prison. No, he is not a murderer or a rapist. In 2012, he was found guilty of seven felonies—mostly burglary and thefts—and served two years in prison and was out on probation. Then, in October, he had broken…
For the last decade, All Saints Catholic Mission has fed people who might not be able to afford a meal. This year, though, the City of Oakland Park passed a zoning ordinance that made the food-sharing operation illegal. For months, Father Bob Caudill, who leads the organization, has defied this…
