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)…
The Broward Sheriff’s Office is responsible for housing all of the county’s bad guys and gals. Surprisingly, over the past decade, the department, which is the largest fully accredited sheriff’s department in the nation, has seen a dramatic dip in the number of people it’s housing…
Invasive species is something of an issue in Florida. From lion fish, to giant African land snails, to the Burmese Python — animals that are not native to our state have managed to ensconce themselves into the ecosystem, and effectively start screwing things up. But the Florida Fish And Wildlife…
Last year, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz took a decidedly un-progressive stance against Florida’s medical marijuana amendment. In a statement she said that Amendment 2 was “too broad” and borrowed talking-points from noted anti-medical marijuana voices such as Attorney General Pam Bondi, comparing the legalization of medical cannabis…
It’s always unsettling when your doctor gets it wrong. You can multiply that feeling by 100 whenever cancer is involved. But according to one former inmate in the custody of the Broward Sheriff’s Office, not only did BSO’s medical provider bungle a cancer diagnosis, they failed to provide the agonized…
Update 5: Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra during Friday’s practice: “In terms of all the rumors and speculation, we’re aware of all the things that are out there. Everybody’s jumping the gun right now. Frankly, there is not a full diagnosis, so for everybody to speculate at this stage is…
Pat Riley has done it again. As the NBA’s trade deadline loomed Thursday afternoon, the Miami Heat was able to pull off a trade that netted them Goran Dragic from the Phoenix Suns, immediately improving the Heat’s point guard situation while still keeping key pieces. According to several reports, the…
It’s cold out here today. And it’s about to get even colder than originally expected. The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill advisory for Broward and Palm Beach Counties for Thursday night, with temps expected to dip into the 30s and even 20s in some parts of South…
Thirty eight gang members from the Latin Kings, Top 6, and Sur-13 have been federally indicted following a 16-month investigation, the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday. The massive operation, dubbed Operation Check Mate, began in August 2013, and was set up to disrupt and dismantle the narcotics trafficking by…
A recent lawsuit that dropped in a Miami district court spells out a sad tale of sexual assault at a foster home — a situation that could have been prevented had responsible adults paid attention. According to the detailed unveiled in the lawsuit filed by the mother, Precious Sharpe, the…
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice has released its annual Delinquency in Schools report, and there’s some good news: School arrests are down across the state, including Broward and Palm Beach counties. The bad news: black youths are proportionately arrested most in nearly every single county in Florida. DJJ’s report…
The lawsuit filed by the family of Florida resident Mary DeLorenzo Knight, one of the victims slain by Aaron Alexis during the Washington Navy Yard massacre in 2013, has been ordered out of Florida by a federal judge. The suit, filed in December 2013, alleges negligence by the government. Alexis,…
TV actor Nicholas Brendan was hanging out at Shock Pop Comic Con in Fort Lauderdale when, at some point, he decided to take things up a few levels and show those comic nerds how real deal celebs party down — and then he ended up behind bars for not paying…
With the sudden blast of arctic coolness making its way down to our neck of the woods, Broward and Palm Beach counties have declared a cold weather emergency for at least the next two days. The National Weather Service has forecast low temperatures tonight through Thursday, including a wind chill…
Once he stole bass lines from Queen and David Bowie. Now he’s nabbing pool heaters. Palm Beach County’s Robert Van Winkle — or Vanilla Ice to all you ’90s nostalgia junkies — apparently hasn’t hung up the thug life. The 47-year-old was arrested by Lantana Police for a residential burglary,…
Kayla Mendoza, the 21-year-old woman who tweeted out “2 drunk 2 care” before driving a Hyundai Sonata the wrong way on the Sawgrass Expressway and crashing into a 2012 Toyota Camry, killing two people, pleaded guilty to two charges of DUI manslaughter in the deaths of Kaitlyn Ferrante and Marisa…
Boynton Beach City commissioners unanimously approved, on first reading, for the city to adopt a civil rights ordinance. The ordinance would establish that Boynton Beach opposes discrimination based on race, nationality, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity, among factors. It’s another progressive move by the city that has steadily…
Riviera Beach Police busted into a home by shooting out the front windows and throwing a flash-bang grenade before pointing a gun at the homeowner in search of drugs and money. But turns out, they got the wrong house. And the woman whose house they broke into and held at…
Last summer, we brought you a sad tragedy from the streets of Hollywood involving a love triangle involving a gang-banging drug dealer, a young woman, and the struggling MMA-fighter they allegedly murdered. Now, there’s a coda to the murder of Michael Rivera. The father of the man police say pulled…
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that heroin-related deaths spiked 39 percent between 2012 and 2013. According to the CDC, 8,257 people died of heroin-related deaths in 2013, compared with 5,925 deaths in 2012. The number of overdose deaths overall increased from 41,340 to 43,982. Overall,…
As she climbed the hill leading to Florida’s State Capitol last spring, Lauren Book broke from a walk into a run. The 29-year-old blond with a pink ribbon wrapped around her ponytail raised both arms in triumph and flashed a huge smile as she crossed the finish line of the…
