Haviken Hayes unloops dozens of cords and cables as he reassembles and reconnects his turntables and one-man sound system. He and his musical partner, JG, the sole members of Over the Counter Intelligence, are still riding high this recent Wednesday evening after performing during antiwar and antiglobalization protests in Washington,…

Emil Danciu says he smelled victory a year ago. He’s slouched in his chair and looks a bit out of place seated in front of his daughter’s office desk. He’s faced with a phalanx of framed baby photos. Charlotte Danciu, a Boca Raton attorney who specializes in adoption and juvenile…

Rush-hour traffic is mounting around the Hollywood City Hall roundabout as Dennis Pellarin strolls from his office toward the west side of the traffic circle during a recent afternoon. He approaches the two-story building that squats beside City Hall, and he unlocks a door to a flight of stairs. Pellarin…

Back in January 2003, Jeb Bush dreamed of emptying out goverment buildings in Tallahassee. This commemorative scrapbook includes the greatest hits from the ensuing four-year parade of privatization. Bush calls for more faith, less government January 10, 2003 TALLAHASSEE — Standing on the steps of Florida’s old capitol, Jeb Bush…

Of the hundreds of South Floridians who recently auditioned for CBS’ Survivor at Fort Lauderdale’s Swap Shop Circus, one seemed to set a standard for sheer audacity in her allotted two minutes. Wearing shorts and a tank top, the young woman removed a dead raw fish from a container and…

Wearing dark sunglasses that masked his eyes, Seminole Tribal Councilman David Cypress strolled to the witness stand in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on December 13 and for the next five hours astonished observers. On trial were three former Seminole employees charged with embezzling millions of dollars. The trio’s defense…

A year ago, shortly after Thanksgiving, readers of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel were treated to a photograph of the merry and hopeful faces of Anthony and Charmaine Nelson and their four children. Anthony, in a bright white T-shirt, smiled broadly and revealed his missing eye tooth. Two-year-old Immanuel squirmed in…

Chris and Robin DiFranco operate a small contracting business from a worn second-story suite in North Miami. A couple of blocks from Dixie Highway, their cream-colored building is surrounded by a hodgepodge of auto-body and machine shops. The deadbolted first-floor door opens to a long flight of bare-wood steps. Their…

Leon Braun just wanted to show off his latest enterprise to his friends that Sunday afternoon some 13 years ago. They were driving back to his home in Hollywood after attending a wedding in St. Petersburg. Then in his late 60s, Braun was an engineer, inventor, and venture capitalist; he…

Willie Mae totters out the front door of the Cooperative Feeding Program in Lauderdale Lakes with an overstuffed grocery bag in hand. The 33-year-old, who is short and has a round, smiling face, stashes the goods in her car trunk, then moves beneath a shade tree in front of her…

Southwest Ranches is the last municipal outpost in western Broward County before the landscape gives way to the Everglades. It’s a sparsely settled gateway between the wetlands and the cramped suburbs; most of the 7500 people who live here relate more to the River of Grass than to the towers…

A festive spirit infuses the cast and crew of the film Realms of Blood. After all, there’s a near-decapitation planned for later tonight. The tony Coral Springs home in which they’ve gathered is the location for the final scenes of Painkiller, one of four separate stories that constitute Realms. It’s…

Daily newspapers in America have been hemorrhaging readers for decades — nothin’ new about that. And for just about as long, head honchos have searched for ways to stem the flow and win back subscribers. Take, for example, The Miami Herald. Its weekday circulation of about 326,000 is roughly 100,000…

Standing in a dark suit during an Oval Office ceremony this past May 29 with his brother Jeb at his side, President George Bush announced that the federal government would rescue Big Cypress National Preserve from ruin by buying private mineral rights for $120 million from the majority owner of…

Seated in a stuffed leather chair in her posh Tallahassee office, Dr. Flo Ridda flips open her notebook. She’s filled with a mix of nervousness and excitement. Kathleen Kearney, the patient reclined beside her, presents a once-in-a-career challenge. Rarely does a psychiatrist have the chance to treat multiple personality disorder…

A handful of cars dots the fast-food joints along University Drive in northern Davie — so few it’s almost not worth the eateries’ while staying open late this oppressively muggy Saturday night in July. Miami Subs, on the other hand, is bustling. Just a quarter-mile from the I-595 ramps, it…

Walter Swenson and Richard Courtney pore over a great many drivers licenses and ID cards during the evenings they crisscross the streets of central Broward County. Swenson, a Fort Lauderdale police officer, and Courtney, an employee of the Broward Coalition for the Homeless, routinely work together to help the down-and-out…

After a six-month investigation, Boca Raton police last week arrested matchmaker Helena Amram on charges of defrauding 54 clients who had paid as much as $50,000 to find the perfect mate. The cops seized Amram’s records this February and contacted some of the 650 or so people who had engaged…

Sheriff Ed Bieluch is decked out in full regalia: green uniform topcoat, slacks adorned with an ankle-to-hip gold stripe, white gloves, and a neck scarf. His hat, broad-brimmed and straight, covers most of his short, white hair. Aviator sunglasses obscure his eyes. As he stands before a throng gathered June…

At first glance, Czeslaw Bobryk’s central Palm Beach County apartment is an enigma. His sofa and easy chair face a squat television stand that is obviously designed to hold a jumbo set. But there’s no TV on it. To its right is a multishelf entertainment center. But precious little in…

How can I hope to make you understand Why I do what I do? — Fiddler on the Roof Sitting in the waiting room of Helena Amram’s plush Boca Raton suite, you can learn a great deal about the woman before she ever steps out of her office. The walls…

Sean Cononie sits in a jumbled office on the second story of the former Haulover Inn in Hollywood. The new headquarters of the Coalition of Service and Charity (COSAC) Foundation — three rooms connected by wide doorways — looks the way one would expect a place to appear shortly after…