Update: Broward Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives have released the name of the victim as Kenol Jean, 51, of Pompano Beach. A married couple were looking at a home in Washington Park they were interested in buying with their real estate agent when a gunman walked in and fired his gun,…
The biggest companies in Florida — including Fort Lauderdale-based AutoNation — pay less in state taxes than the 5.5 percent rate they should. So says a new study released by the nonpartisan government watchdog group Integrity Florida. The study says that 13 of Florida’s Fortune 500 corporations paid an average…
Before the Fort Lauderdale Police Department held a news conference to address the video showing one of its own slapping a homeless man for no good reason, one newspaper wasn’t allowed to attend: the Homeless Voice, Fort Lauderdale’s long-running publication dedicated to homeless issues. Sean Cononie, executive director of the…
Tensions in Fort Lauderdale have been on the rise since the city’s commissioners implemented the homeless feeding ordinance back in November. Since then, we’ve seen a 90-year-old war veteran cited several times for feeding the homeless, advocate arrests, protests at the mayor’s house, and national ridicule fall upon the city…
According to a news release from Beyond Pesticides, the EPA yesterday granted Florida farmers a 2½-year emergency exemption to use a powerful pesticide known to have a side effect of killing bees. Clothiandin is a neonicotinoid, a type of pesticide that has been linked to declines in honey-bee populations and…
A new report about school suspension rates finds that Florida suspends students at a higher rate than any other state in the nation. Broward County, however, has gone against the state trend by lowering school suspensions. But the same can’t be said for Palm Beach County. The report, Are We…
The Broward sheriff’s deputy who was caught on video dragging a mentally challenged woman across the floor of the Broward County Courthouse on Monday is under investigation. Attorney Bill Gelin, who runs the JAABlog, caught Deputy Christopher Johnson dragging Dasyl Jeanette Rios by the chains binding her feet across the…
A Brooklyn man has been arrested in Florida and accused of wanting to join the terrorist group Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Federal prosecutors say Abror Habibov, who operated mall kiosks in Jacksonville, and two other men were arrested early Wednesday on charges that they plotted to…
Bahama Mama, a cruise ferry that will offer three-hour tours between Fort Lauderdale and Freeport Harbour, Grand Bahama Island, is set to launch her maiden voyage on Thursday. The Bahama Mama, owned and operated by Spanish company Balearia Ferry Express, will feature economy and first-class seating, private suites, a swimming…
Mark Levinson, the prominent South Florida jeweler and founder of Levinson Jewelers, was found dead Tuesday morning, apparently of a suicide. Levinson, 60, and his wife, Robin, founded their jewelry store in the 1989, and the store at 888 E. Las Olas Blvd. has become a fixture in Fort Lauderdale…
Whoa. There are a lot of words here. Big words. Numbers too… decimal points… lot of really aggressive punctuation, brah…
UPDATE: At the end of tonight’s meeting Fort Lauderdale commissioners postponed the decision on the aquatic center, again, until March 17. They are taking this time to review RDC’s cost increases because City Attorney Cynthia Everett says she does not see anything in the city’s contract with the contractor that…
Victor Ramirez, the Fort Lauderdale police officer who slapped a homeless man who wanted to use a public restroom, didn’t bother mentioning the slapping part in the arrest report he filed. Ramirez arrested Bruce Laclair, a 58-year-old homeless man, on Sunday, February 22, for trespassing. The exchange between cop and…
The Boynton Beach Police Department is under an FBI investigation for brutally beating a suspect who had led them on a high-speed chase on August 20, 2014. And in an effort to give “some context to the public,” the BBPD showed helicopter footage captured by PBSO that night. Byron Harris,…
Is humanity lost in America? Filmmaker Kirk Gillon asks this very question in his documentary film Breaking Bread, a story that follows 91-year-old activist Arnold Abbott as he serves plates of food to the homeless, an effort Abbott has led for more than 23 years in Fort Lauderdale — an…
Photo by Jonathan MannionBuju Banton remains behind bars on drug charges.Ever since Buju Banton, one of Jamaica’s most talented and controversial reggae singers, was convicted of cocaine trafficking and gun charges in 2011, there have been signs his trial was not on the up-and-up. You may recall he was sentenced…
Dad jeans fashionista and former NBA godhead Michael Jordan has been living quietly as a South Floridian since setting up shop in Jupiter in 2010. His Airness’ retirement has included watching his terrible NBA team, puttering around his 11-room mansion, and a lot of golf. A lot. But that last…
Video by Mitchel Worley Somewhere near the back of the Florida Renaissance Festival, through the castle gates and around the mounds of golden-brown turkey legs, past the amateur archers and ax-throwing station, is a crowd overflowing from four sets of bleachers. When one approaches, the sound of hooves and trumpets…
UPDATE: Victor Ramirez, the Fort Lauderdale police officer seen in this video slapping a homeless man who wanted to use a public restroom, didn’t bother mentioning the slapping part in the arrest report he filed. A video is being shared online of what appears to be a Fort Lauderdale Police…
A 4-year-old boy named Chase has been at the center of a long court battle between his parents over whether he should be circumcised. The courts have now ruled that the circumcision be allowed to proceed, and the boy is reportedly due to be circumcised tomorrow at South Florida Pediatric…
Florida leads the nation in charging juveniles as adults — a result of the state’s controversial Direct File law, which gives prosecutors the power to charge juveniles as adults whenever they choose. Experts say this unchecked power causes myriad problems, ranging from extreme sentences to forced pleas — and Rep…
On March 24, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal in Atlanta will consider the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (ALDF) lawsuit regarding the captivity of Lolita, the orca exhibited at Miami Seaquarium. In the years leading up to the suit, numerous animal-rights activists contacted the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)…
