September is not shaping up to be a banner month for the Coconut Creek Police Department. One of the department’s officers has been busted in a sex sting of a Boca Raton Asian massage parlor. But James Yacobellis isn’t a stranger to trouble. Barely mentioned in most of the recent…
In April, New Times reported on the filing of a lawsuit that had everyone’s inner ’90s alt-rock fan paying attention. Back in 2013, Candlebox — the grunge chart-toppers of “Far Behind” fame — had been mapping out a comeback to mark the band’s 20th anniversary. The band’s then-managers, Lujen Brands,…
The Tupac hologram wasn’t enough. Back in 2012, New Times brought you a comprehensive post-op on Digital Domain, a California-based special effects company that grabbed a lot of attention after it resurrected hip hop legend Tupac via hologram for the 2012 Coachella music festival. But at the same time the…
This week, your social media is probably just a clogged drain of news, speculation, rumor, and blah, all themed around the celebrity nude photo scandal. To recap: Hackers targeted big names like actress Jennifer Lawrence and model Kate Upton and others this weekend, somehow springing nude photos from their private…
It’s getting ugly between Florida’s solar industry and the state’s public utilities. All summer, both camps have been sniping at each other after Florida’s power companies blocked solar industry advocates from sitting in on a policy skull session at the Florida Public Service Commission. Now, the war of words is…
The Broward Public Defender’s Office doesn’t shy away from the spotlight. Besides being one of the more accessible public officials in the county, top man Howard Finkelstein is a well-known face on TV thanks to his “Help Me Howard” segments. But now Finkelstein’s whole office might be headed for a…
This week’s election was cruel to incumbents. Among the sitting Broward pols who are soon going to be looking for new jobs: Steven Feren, the jurist whose decisions in family court set the stage for Megan Everett to run off with her 2-year-old daughter, Lilly. After we published a long…
Police action in the heartland! Fevers sweeping Africa! Rockets lacing the skies over the Middle East! Real estate bubbles! Rising seas! Mosquito-borne illnesses! Steroids derailing professional sports! Everywhere you look, the headlines are ballooning with more bad news. But what issue is truly itching away inside every South Floridian? What…
Today is Election Day, time to cash out on a season’s worth of primary drama. Also, your mailbox will soon be filling up with less junk — hopefully. But just now as we’re getting ready to shelve politics for a couple of months, a sideshow issue has broken out in…
Police action in the heartland! Fevers sweeping Africa! Rockets lacing the skies over the Middle East! Real estate bubbles! Rising seas! Mosquito-borne illnesses! Steroids derailing professional sports! Everywhere you look, the headlines are ballooning with more bad news. But what issue is truly itching away inside every South Floridian? What…
After a couple of weeks of relative quiet, chikungunya is back on the radar of local health officials. This week, authorities in Palm Beach announced that two more people had contracted the fever in the area, bringing the local total of Palm Beachers affected to four. The latest victims pretty…
Let’s face it, if you are going to raise your kids in a crime-free environment, South Florida isn’t your best option. That said, there certainly are some blissful pockets in this fallen landscape of face-eating zombies, coke-crazed baddies, hucksters, con men, predators, and maniacs. According to a new list of…
It’s been a long haul for Buju Banton, the famous Jamaican recording artist who has been gummed up in federal drug and gun charges since 2009. Despite two trials and an exhaustive series of New Times stories tracking the shady business behind the convictions, Banton — born Mark Anthony Myrie…
Steve Esdale has zero options left. For more than a decade, the stocky Weston contractor has been trying to drum up interest in the mysterious death of his father; for more than a decade, people have been ignoring him. Now, Esdale is banking on one last move: asking the US…
Ryan Lipner is no stranger to the pages of New Times. From his weird crusade to own a greeting-card store empire to his continual campaigns for political office to a lawsuit against his own parents for child support, trouble always seems to be following the dude. Now, after years of…
Robert Baumann watched as his ex-girlfriend changed before his eyes, going from a free-spirited girl from Broward to an angry young woman with radical, hard-right politics. But it wasn’t Megan Everett’s transformation alone that bothered Robert. He was troubled by the impact his ex’s new life had on their 2-year-old…
Democracy is a great idea, sure whatever, but more money can be made if you have a velvet rope to cordon off your plebes from your patricians. Social media is about the last place we have equal footing in the world. But a new app cooked up by a team…
UPDATE: Since this story was published, the judge in charge of this custody case, Steven Feren, lost his seat in August’s elections. Robert Baumann has still not seen his daughter, Lilly. The clock reads 20 to 6 as Robert Baumann wheels his Ford Escape north. The 26-year-old is beat-tired, his…
Andy Andrist is putting a maximum stress test to the adage “humor heals.” The Oregon-based standup comic laughs through trauma stemming from sexual abuse he suffered as a kid. But instead of confronting his demons in therapy, he tracked down his alleged abuser and met him face-to-face in Florida with…
As part of its effort to watchdog Rick Scott’s administration, the Florida arm of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) combs through the annual data about the caseload of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The thinking goes that a shrinking number of corrective actions by the state’s…
As we’ve told you earlier, there’s a big, OK Corral-style showdown going on in Florida over the future of solar energy. On one side of the debate, you have a small yet scrappy band of private businesses who rig homes with solar; on the other, Florida’s powerful utilities, who over…
Kadesha Roberts was camped out at a friend’s condo in a cookie-cutter, tile-roofed development off McNab Road when the knock came. The short Jamaican woman with spiked hair opened the door to find a UPS man clutching a large package. After identifying herself, she grabbed it. Then all hell broke…
