Dan Marino, perhaps the greatest quarterback in the history of pro football, slumps on a bench in front of a locker ripping wads of tape off his legs. The Dolphins have just lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a road game 500 miles north of Miami. Marino himself has been…
Judah Feldman was dying a slow and painful death. He was only 56 years old, but he looked 80. His beard was gray and stringy, his sunken eyes vacant. More than a decade earlier, he’d battled cancer, which forced doctors to remove one of his kidneys. Now diabetes caused his…
When Mad Mike’s tattoo parlor opened in the heart of Fort Lauderdale’s black community in August, word on the street was that Mike Scibica, the burly white guy with a skinhead haircut who appeared to be dealing in skin art, was really an undercover cop branding the neighborhood drug dealers…
The news media should continuously and closely scrutinize law enforcement. The reason is obvious: Those folks with badges hold awesome powers, and when cops make allegations, they have the weight of the law behind them. That’s why it was alarming to us to be accused of lying and misrepresentation by…
The Fear of Reporting Without Context I am writing about the article on Victory Living Programs that appeared in your October 22 issue (“The Fear of Living Dangerously,” Paul Belden). It is unfortunate that all the good work we do is undermined by a reporter looking to sensationalize a story…
Why aren’t seat belts mandatory in all school buses? — Kesti16, via AOL When I first considered this question, the words natural selection bobbed inexplicably in my mind. On examination, however, the main factors are safety and expense. Which one was more important to the people in charge I leave…
On a cloudy, gusty July afternoon, the trawler Calanus is plowing eastward through a light chop in the Gulf Stream about five miles east of Key Biscayne. In shorts, white T-shirt, orange life jacket, and blue helmet, Jim Post stands astern, bare feet against the wooden planks of the deck…
With a month left before Election Day, Kristin Jacobs rode the elevator to the top floor of the white stone and stucco building at 888 SE Third Ave. Once at the top, in Suite 501, a secretary led the Broward County Commission candidate into the office of Austin Forman, Fort…
Broward County Commissioner Scott Cowan has nothing to worry about this coming Election Day, he ran unopposed. But the cunning campaigner still spent thousands of donated dollars to buy information about, well, us. On his shopping list: The names, birth dates, races, and ages of all registered voters; the names…
Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn? — Nruggierbc, via AOL I don’t care! Sorry, couldn’t resist. As you know from this column’s previous attempts, song interpretation is not a science, and the passage of time hasn’t made things any easier. A hundred years from now, God knows…
The Shining Light Association My congratulations to New Times for “The Sheriff’s Criminal Association,” by Bob Norman (October 15). The best guarantee against corrupt public officials is for the press to shine the spotlight on them. This is a serious matter that needs more investigation. Robert M. Andrews Fort Lauderdale…
After having his hand broken in three places by a mop handle, Darin Militello decided a month ago that it was time he came up with a survival plan. Mulling it over he decided the best way to play it safe would be to avoid risks altogether. So from now…
Scott Cowan’s dilemma was one most politicians could only wish to have. After winning his fifth consecutive term on the Broward County Commission when no one ran against him, Cowan was faced with deciding how to spend in excess of $130,000 that was sitting in his campaign fund. Florida’s campaign…
The last we saw of SunCruz Casinos in these pages, its fleet commander Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis was enjoying the dog days of summer, stepping out of the office at every opportunity to leave his numerous legal woes behind him. Evidently Boulis and the attorney with the best name in the…
Carlton: Moore Is More Blaming Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Carlton Moore for the lack of progress in economic renewal in the near Northwest is wrong (“A Dream Deferred,” Jay Cheshes, October 8). In fact, Commissioner Moore should receive most of the credit for whatever “successes” we have had in that…
I’ve always been intrigued by the ancient custom in China of binding women’s feet. I’ve never seen an actual picture of what they end up looking like but have heard them referred to as “lotus blossoms.” Do they end up looking like a claw or just little tiny feet? Was…
Ken Jenne, the recently elected sheriff of Broward County, has never been a lawman. He’s never gone through a law-enforcement academy, never arrested anyone, never so much as issued a traffic citation. Instead, during his quarter century in public life, he’s been a lawyer, a dubious businessman, and a prodigious…
The last vestige of the Old South may be an ability to ignore racism when its presence is about as clear as Kentucky moonshine. And, perhaps, as potent. Even after decades of civil rights activism, the Southern sentiment of paternalism and discrimination has never really died, particularly in a few…
The menacing figure brandishing a knife atop a pile of concrete looks like an outcast from the World Wrestling Federation. His upper body is a mass of muscle, and the gnarly grimace on his face screams, “Come near me and I’ll rip your head off.” But the words emanating from…
Jeff Sagansky just might be living proof that anyone can be a TV executive. Until fairly recently he had high-powered jobs in the entertainment divisions of Sony and CBS. But he left those schlocky outfits for what could have been the chance of a lifetime — president of the West…
Regarding your recent column on the belief that infants must have a name before leaving the hospital (August 27), I was once acquainted with a burly six-footer whose legal name was Baby Boy Smith. That was the name on his birth certificate, and his family had never given him a…
Imagine Marcia and Greg Ambling Down Ocean Drive In response to Robert Andrew Powell’s article “TV From There” (October 8): It’s disappointing to see that WAMI-TV, which started with the aim of boosting South Florida TV with original shows and series, has only served to drain its talent. I can’t…
