On a weekly basis, stacks upon stacks of letters from Florida prisoners filter into the Lake Worth headquarters of the Human Rights Defense Center, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of the human rights of people held in U.S. detention facilities. Some of the letters are simple thank yous…
Lolita, the orca at the Miami Seaquarium, has been in captivity for decades. Now, in addition to the animal rights groups that have long been calling for her release, another groups of people are demanding her retirement. Several Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest, where Lolita was born, are…
Over the past two years, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has more than doubled the amount of investigations of police shootings and use of deadly force incidents, going from 50 in 2013 to 103 in 2014. WFTV news reports that the increased number is due to local police departments…
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, since December, police had been receiving complaints from women that a stranger had touched them inappropriately when they were walking in the Rock Creek subdivision of Cooper City. Tuesday night, police were in the area investigating when 911 received a call from a woman…
Since the car service Uber began operating in Palm Beach in August, county commissioners have been working on details to regulate the ride-sharing service, two bills have been introduced in the state legislature to legalize it, local cab drivers have been expressing their frustration over it, and at least two…
In a major shift on how it conducts its entertainment business, Feld Entertainment Inc., the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, announced Thursday that it will remove Asian elephants from its traveling circus performances. The plan is to have Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus phase…
On Tuesday, Florida Rep. Frank Artiles’ restroom bill passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee on a 9-5 vote. It was one of three subcommittee votes the bill will have to get through in order to get to the House floor. Still, it was a symbolic defeat for LGBT activists and…
Is it possible that Rick Scott 2.0 will be a kinder, gentler governor? Uh. Maybe? In a first term that was filled with dickhead moves, Rick Scott’s primo dickhead policy position was probably his push to drug-test welfare recipients. Grounded in the imaginary conservative bogeyman that welfare recipients sit around…
Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Victor Ramirez gained widespread infamy when he slapped a homeless man suspected of trespassing in a public bus terminal last month and video of the incident went viral. But internal affairs files show that the “slap heard around the world” definitely wasn’t the first time Ramirez…
Jeff Weinberger is an activist who works on homeless issues. If Fort Lauderdale officials, including newly reelected and now three-term Mayor John P. “Jack” Seiler, are as serious as they claim to be about working with the multitude of food sharing groups that provide daily meals to the city’s homeless…
Students at Parkway Middle School, located at 3600 NW Fifth Court in Lauderhill, were evacuated Wednesday morning after an apparent bomb threat. While Lauderhill Police are not revealing the specifics, they did say that it’s being treated as a “credible threat.” According to police, a resource officer at the school…
House Republican Leader Dana Young has introduced a massive, 316-page bill that could change the face of gaming and casinos throughout Florida, particularly in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Young, a Republican from Tampa, was charged with taking on the state’s gambling issues by Speaker Steve Crisafulli last month. And…
The State Attorney’s Office in Broward County recently released details of its investigation into two high-ranking Hollywood Police officers who deleted internal affairs files and found that the requests came from a wide range of people, including defense attorneys, a reporter, and even a fellow cop. Major Norris Redding and…
Update: The bill has passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee on a 9-5 vote. The majority of the votes came from House Republicans. Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant released the following statement: “I was appalled today as I watched Florida Republicans stand united to write discrimination into law. Frank…
South Florida bird advocates are seeking the public’s assistance in protecting vulnerable hatchlings from being snatched from nests and sold as pets. Shawn Denton, director of public services in Pembroke Pines, says he’s seen about 20 palm trees in his town with gouge patterns. He suspects the gouges are from…
After failing to push through legislation over the past couple of years, a bill requiring racetracks to report greyhound injuries was passed by the Florida Senate on Tuesday. Senate Bill 2, titled, “The Victoria Q Gaetz Racing Greyhound Protection Act,” has been championed by greyhound safety advocates Grey2K USA, the…
On Monday night, the City of Boynton Beach enacted an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance that establishes that the city opposes discrimination based on, among other things, race, color, national origin, religion, disability, marital status, pregnancy, familial status, or age. Also included are sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The…
There’s somebody in South Florida driving around with a camera on his dashboard ready to capture “stupid” drivers and shame them on YouTube. But here’s the punch line: It’s actually the person taking the videos who’s the bad guy. On the Stupid South Florida Drivers YouTube page, you won’t see…
Up in Tallahassee, the Florida Senate this week is scheduled to hash over a proposal that could have some serious consequences for the upcoming 2016 presidential contest. A bill snaking through both houses of the legislature would push back Florida’s presidential primary, a move that nicely tees up the state’s…
The light-colored SUV was already parked when Keri Street wheeled into a neighboring spot at the KinderCare in a Seattle suburb. As Street gathered up her two kids, she ran a suspicious eye over the vehicle. The guy behind the wheel was cocooned in a baggy gray hoodie. A young…
Jesse Teplicki, who was arrested in 2013 for growing marijuana, was found not guilty by a jury on Monday. After just 30 minutes of deliberating, the jury delivered its verdict, making Florida history. Teplicki says he uses pot to treat his severe anorexia, and thus became the first man in…
Back in 2003, after months of meetings, the City of Fort Lauderdale adopted a downtown master plan. It defined how Fort Lauderdale should grow and become a livable, walkable city over the next few decades. The visionary document laid out a dozen guiding principles, including to “green the Downtown with…
