For a growing arts district near Fort Lauderdale, there’s a lot riding on a name. Unfortunately, there’s some confusion about it.FAT Village is the stretch of NW First Avenue between Fifth Street and Sistrunk. It’s home to a monthly art walk (last Saturday nights from 7-11) and special events like…
Call it another nail in the coffin for shiny, nice-smelling print media, or an long-overdue corporate reform — Borders Books is packing up and leaving Broward County.It’s only two stores, but it’s a good portion of the local book-selling landscape: Broward has six Barnes & Noble stores and a smattering…
Ever wish you could have a mimosa before noon at Sunday brunch? Try to check out at Publix with a six-pack at 11:45 on Sunday, and be told you need to hang around and wait for 15 minutes? Fear not, problem drinker. The Fort Lauderdale city commission is on your…
It’s been a rough few days for Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas. Last weekend, a crew member on the Port Everglades-based megaship was murdered on a beach in Cozumel by a Mexican bartender; now a passenger has been charged with dealing drugs on board.Steven Krumholz, a 51-year-old from West…
That seems to be the implication of some emails between the public defender’s office and a judicial assistant regarding the case of Charles Harper. (Harper pleaded guilty on February 2 to stalking his former foster dad, Broward Circuit Judge John Bowman). The public defender’s office refused to represent Harper because…
It was nine o’clock on a Thursday night in Fort Lauderdale, where the railroad tracks cross Sistrunk Boulevard and warehouses sit dark and empty, surrounded by chain-link fences, at the north end of FAT Village. But one of the warehouses was filled with light, garage doors open to passing freight…
In mid-November, the world’s largest cruise ship arrived at its new home in Port Everglades to throngs of cheering fans. Soon it embarked on its maiden voyage, a cruise of the Caribbean — including a stop at Labadee, Haiti, an isolated hamlet just miles from the cholera and destruction of…
Lots of people who happen to be homeless eat, sleep, and socialize in the shady comfort of downtown’s Stranahan Park. But the city is constantly trying to send them elsewhere, spurred by the complaints of business owners. A recent move by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department seems downright sinister:…
When Charles Harper pleaded guilty to stalking his former foster dad, Broward Circuit Judge John Bowman, he gave up any chance of appeal and received a permanent mark on his adult criminal record. As part of a plea deal reached with the state, Harper has to apologize publicly to Bowman…
Jimmy Dac Ho was employed as an FAU police officer when he confessed to shooting escort Sheri Carter in the abdomen and neck on Monday, January 31. Before taking the job at FAU, Ho was fired from his post at the Broward Sheriff’s Office — over a number of previous…
Boynton Beach police have announced that Sheri Carter, 29, the woman working as an escort who was allegedly shot in the neck and abdomen by FAU police officer Jimmy Dac Ho, died this morning around 8:35 a.m. Ho has been charged with murder.Carter was being treated at Delray Medical Center…
At a hearing this morning, Charles Harper put in a guilty plea on charges of stalking/domestic violence against his former foster dad, Broward County Circuit Judge John Bowman. Cops arrested Harper in December near Bowman’s home. Afterward, Harper came forward with sex abuse allegations against the judge while he was…
Update 2/4: Carter died in the hospital on Friday morning.Jimmy Dac Ho lived a troubled life with a gun on his belt, first as a Lauderhill police officer and, until yesterday afternoon, as a member of the Florida Atlantic University police force. From 2002 to 2004, he worked for the…
What’s off-white, crumbly, sold in gas stations, and goes up your nose? Hint: You’re not actually supposed to take a bath with it. The party drug MDPV, marketed as “bath salts,” packs the anxiety-laden punch of a vat of coffee and the comedown of a mild meth tweak, and apparently…
Broward Circuit Judge John Bowman called 911 from his home last month, explaining that his ex-foster son, Charles Harper, 18, was outside the house making calls from a fake number. This resulted in Harper’s arrest on charges of stalking. Last week, Harper came forward with allegations of sexual abuse by…
In 2002, Broward County Circuit Court Judge John Bowman took Charles Harper, a foster child who had come through his courtroom, to live in his home in Plantation. Last month, Harper, now 18 and living on his own, was arrested on charges of stalking Bowman outside his home. Over the…
Update: Details of the sex abuse allegations from a police report.Original post, 1/24 5:30 p.m.: In December, 18-year-old Charles Harper was arrested on charges of stalking his ex-foster father, John Bowman. Bowman is a circuit court judge in Broward County and presided over hundreds of adoption cases before bringing Harper into his…
Update 1/24: Harper has given a statement to police alleging abuse by Judge Bowman. Read the latest on the case.We’ve learned a bit more about the case of Charles Harper, the 18-year-old who was accused of stalking his ex-foster dad, Broward County Circuit Court Judge John Bowman. Harper is still…
Mike Butler is facing an uphill battle. He’s the blogger and gadfly of record in Hallandale Beach (the 40,000-citizen heel of the Broward boot), and he’s the one who calls out the city for spending through its reserve funds, paying its city manager nearly half a million bucks a year, and…
Update 1/22: For the latest details on the case, read our updated story with information from Harper and Bowman.Eighteen-year-old Charles Monroe Harper will be in court this morning to answer charges of stalking his ex-foster father, John Bowman, in December.According to a police report, Harper stood across the street from…
Our feature story this week tells the harrowing tale of Gregoire-Ronald Chery, who was murdered in Haiti when kidnappers came for a young girl in his family. Chery was a 17-year federal agent who worked in the Miami office of the Customs and Immigrations Service. When he was killed, federal…
Need a house for free? Luckily, you’re in South Florida, which exists for the sole purpose of providing lots and lots of people with houses. Recently, a lot of those houses have turned up empty. So why not just take one?Starting in early 2009, mortgage broker Mark Guerette cruised through North…
