When the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Michael Newdow’s lawsuit to strike “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance on June 26, I just thought, “The crazy bastard pulled it off.” I had almost forgotten about Newdow, whose name I first ran across at the federal…
Blowing the whistle on the DMV: After reading Chuck Strouse’s June 27 column, “Security Collars,” I want to offer encouragement on reporting a story that too many people are ignoring. Yes, it is a scary time for national security, and yes, we do have to live with inconveniences at the…
For 32 years, Luise Buettner marked the beginning of the tourist season with the arrival of the Joessmans, the Uoesers, Inga Koetz, and Karl Heinz. The Nuremberg-born motel owner catered to vacationers from her homeland. Herzlich Willkommen, read a sign in the office window of the Noble Motel Apartments, 3110…
A long, laborious rumble of afternoon thunder is dampened under the massive tree’s imposing branches and aerial roots. A wood-slat fence literally disappears into the rope-like maze that is the main trunk. Towering 60 feet high, it can be seen for blocks, its canopy extending for at least 200 feet…
Bill Griffin’s new job has prompted a handful of activist groups to demand he relinquish his old one — as mayor of Pompano Beach. More than 100 protesters met last Tuesday to demand Griffin’s resignation after learning in this space that the mayor had landed a job with a construction…
Insecurity is complex… if you’re Cuban: I recently read and enjoyed Chuck Strouse’s June 27 article, “Security Collars,” and need to add a situation that my wife and I encountered this past weekend at McCarron International Airport in Las Vegas. On our return flight through Dallas to Fort Lauderdale, a…
On dry and dreary Dixie Highway, just north of downtown West Palm Beach–near Cheerful Street and Beautiful Avenue, not far from where Contentment Avenue once ran–Everee Jimerson Clarke sits in a blue, bunker-like concrete building, guarding a storehouse of memory. A broad and handsome woman of 75 years — graceful…
Swedish businessman Peter Tsounis deals in yachts for a living. He wears expensive suits, flies first class, and carries hundreds of dollars in cash as well as 20 credit cards. So he was surprised March 16 when a cop slapped handcuffs on him and six more lawmen surrounded him as…
Mayor Griffin, repent!… Or quit already: I enjoyed Bob Norman’s article on Pompano Beach Mayor Bill Griffin (“Swimming in Trouble,” June 20) and the mayor’s new employment with Turner Construction, a company that is interested in building the Swimming Hall of Fame. Swerdlow will probably choose Turner as the hall’s…
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…
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…
This is Nina Arias’s party, and she’ll cry if she wants to.The pixie-sized owner of LaLush Gallery is fluttering up and down a flight of stairs with a cordless telephone. She’s laughing into the receiver, the chiffon of her vintage, teal cocktail dress swinging to catch up. It’s hard to…
Congratulations are in order for Pompano Beach Mayor Bill Griffin, who recently landed a new job at a huge, Dallas-based firm called Turner Construction. You may not have heard about the new gig, since Griffin hasn’t talked about it publicly, but it’s a very big deal. Turner has offices in…
LaLush is just the latest modern art venue to end up in Broward County’s gallery graveyard. Two other places, Gallery Yes! in Wilton Manors and Skot Foreman Fine Art Ltd. on Dania Beach’s antique row, have been shuttered in the past three months. Like LaLush, both tried to bring nontraditional…
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…
McMansions be damned: After reading with interest Jeff Stratton’s recent article (“There’s Goes the Neighborhood,” June 13), I thought I would contact you. At present, I am a Victoria Park property owner who is disgusted by the recent developments in the neighborhood. I have long thought we should fight this…
It used to be only about the trees. Victoria Park values its green canopy, its rare South Florida shade above all else. Earlier this year, residents beat back Florida Power and Light’s designs on trimming or removing trees along the neighborhood’s grand 17th Avenue. During a recent monthly meeting of…
While all the media heat has lately been on the FBI and CIA, Osama bin Laden surely has another federal agency on his thank-you card list: the Federal Aviation Administration. To pull off the September 11 attacks, the terrorists needed an easy mark, and thanks to the FAA, they got…
The $10 million that Broward County and Hollywood politicians aim to spend in the area’s most visible park to create an arts extravaganza will be wasted. Tossed in the toilet. Spent and forgotten. Though many suggest it will reenergize the shuttered downtown, it won’t. First, let’s dispense with the blather…
You have nothing to lose but your wallets: Susan Eastman’s slant on her May 30 story, “Dr. Strange Train,” seems to be extremely conservative and “old fogey” (for lack of a better term), a position I rarely see in New Times. This story panders to the retiree population of Florida…
Joe Eggelletion is a man who likes his green. He likes it well-cut and smooth, all laid out crisp and unsoiled. And he knows it feels really good when you can walk around like it’s yours, like you own it. When the green is going Joe Eggelletion’s way, he sometimes…
Barbara Whiteman snagged an original Sara Lee doll about 15 years ago. Created by Belle Glade florist Sara Lee Creech and produced briefly from Christmas 1951 to 1953, the sweet-faced replica of an African-American baby was a find. It was prized among collectors because its history mirrors America’s entrenched and…
