Morning Juice: Gayer Mayor in Broward; Gretsas Out in Lauderdale

The headlines around South Florida:Ken Keechl was picked by his fellow Broward County commissioners as mayor, which is exciting because he’s gay and because he hasn’t been the subject of a recent criminal investigation for corruption. Progress! [WPLG]Rene Varela won the runoff for Lake Worth mayor, defeating restaurant owner and…

David Irving Speaks About Hack Attack

In a brief telephone conversation this afternoon, Nazi historian David Irving confirmed that his websites and private email account were attacked by hackers opposed to his writings of World War II. He told me that he’s been in contact with the FBI in hopes of bringing the hackers to justice…

For Conservatives, the Party’s at the Breakers in Palm Beach This Weekend

Check out the star-studded guest list for this weekend’s conference by David Horowitz’s Freedom Center. Among them: Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Fred Thompson, Liz Cheney, and the unflushable Geert Wilders, the Dutch parliamentarian who’s back to help us fight terrorists and illegal immigrants — or does he not distinguish between…

Bar Complaint Against Hospital District Attorney Dismissed

The Florida Bar Association has ruled that Sam Goren, acting general counsel of the North Broward Hospital District, did not act incompetently or violate professional ethics standards in giving advice to the board, which led to the firing of the district’s two lead attorneys and the hiring of Goren’s firm…

Morning Juice: Bernie’s Boats Go to Auction; Dalia’s in Deep

Let’s check out local news on this Tuesday:Which boat of Bernie’s floats your boat? The whole “flotilla” is to be auctioned today in Fort Lauderdale, with proceeds going toward a good cause: the scores of cheated investors. But mostly, attorney fees. [Sun-Sentinel]Dalia Dippolito, the Boynton Beach woman who’s accused of…

Frank “The Fist” Ortis Tells Nation’s Mayors to Play Nice

That’s video from August 29, when Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis climbed in the ring with NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Considering that LT could have crushed Ortis’ skull with one swing, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that the rolly-polly mayor is an advocate of civility and…

Can You Guess This Stripper’s Age?

On the right, pictured beneath the unforgiving fluorescent light in the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, that’s Ann Marie Fletcher, a dancer at Platinum Showgirls. Or at least she was a dancer as recently as October 30, when the Boynton Beach club was raided by police. Were it not, maybe Fletcher…

Victim Identified in Deadly Tamarac Fire

Daniel Arnodo, a 26-year-old from Coral Springs, was one of the two people killed Sunday morning in a fire that erupted in his home in the Shaker Village subdivision just north of Commercial Boulevard.The other fatality is a woman, but Broward Sheriff’s Office investigators aren’t going to name her until…

X-Rated Details on Platinum Showgirls Case

In a post Friday I quoted a former dancer who claimed that clubowner Matt Barrow was conscientious about the law and that he strictly forbade both drugs and sex with customers. She expressed doubt about investigators’ claims that Barrow and club managers were aware of and profited from the dancers’…

Ex-Dancer Says Police Have Limp Case Against Platinum Showgirls

This week I spoke with a former dancer at Platinum Showgirls, the gentleman’s club in Boynton Beach that was raided on the night of October 30. That raid came after a sting by undercover officers who claimed they found drug-dealing and prostitution.The dancer, who knows club management and several current…

Delray Beach Cop Charged With Domestic Abuse, Battery

Roldry Philia, a 34-year-old Delray Beach Police officer, was arrested late last night on charges of beating his wife. The probable cause affidavit released by the Boynton Beach Police Department does not mention the name of Philia’s wife, just that she’s 24 years old. She told police that she’d been…

Arrest in Pompano Beach Murder

A parked car, a shooting in the early morning hours: The death of Michael Frank, a 22-year-old from Lighthouse Point, sounded like it was drug-related, and that’s what Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives are reporting, now that they’ve arrested Filipe Cruz, the man they believe killed Frank around 2 a.m. Thursday…

Harbor Beach Currently Rich in Metaphors

A metaphor of a different of age, construction of the Oasis of the Seas began during a time in American history when it was still a good idea to flip Florida properties and take out a mortgage you couldn’t afford and invest with that guy whose record was so spectacular,…