It took Columbus two months in three leaky ships to reach the Americas and open up a new chapter in exploration. The Russians were less than twenty miles from Alaska (two miles if you count a few islands) and never managed to “discover” America before 1492. Why not? — Chris…
Any other time of the year, finding Fort Lauderdale Stadium is tricky. Crouched in the southeast corner of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, it’s obscured from the view of those driving down Commercial Boulevard by Lockhart Stadium, where the Fort Lauderdale Strikers used to play professional soccer. But during spring training,…
Politicians tend toward simple terms — “I,” “vote for me,” “send a check” — so when they start using strange-sounding words it usually means either they’re hiding something, or they’ve been staying up too late watching C-Span. Thus Undercurrents was intrigued at last week’s Broward County Commission meeting when, while…
It is the height of the ballyhoo season, yet fisherman Everett Hobby frets over an expected cold front about to blow in from the west. He worries about how he’s going to meet the demand for the popular baitfish if the winds are so stiff that he can’t fish. He…
My wife and I are at somewhat of an impasse. We debate (intermittently) whether or not braking a manual-shift car should be done solely with the brakes (meanwhile putting the car into neutral) or by gradually slowing down the car by downshifting — that is, shifting from fifth to fourth…
This Message Sponsored by the “Coleman for Mayor” Committee Your microscopic report (“Face Off,” February 5) by Sean Rowe on the mayor of Hollywood and her battle to retain an ironclad grip on the city is sensational. Finally a reporter who tells it the way it is in Hollywood government…
Beads of perspiration slide into his bloodshot eyes. The underarms of his shirt are soaked through, leaving salty circles. And the former grand wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is now sweating through his second cotton polo shirt in four hours. It’s not that humid, but Don…
By any right Paul Lautner should be a wealthy fellow. For the past four years, he has offered a practical solution to a vexing problem. The question is how to rid your household of sewage if your household happens to be a boat. The solution is the Turd Tug, a…
County Commissioners short-circuited last week after New Times revealed Clerk of Courts Bob Lockwood hired defeated Commissioner Ed Kennedy as his $110,000 computer consultant. “I read it and I thought holy…. I mean Lockwood is paying this guy that kind of money?” roared Commission Chairwoman Lori Parrish. “Ed Kennedy was…
Is there anything to the phenomenon known as “stigmata,” i.e., when people inexplicably develop the same type of bloody wounds inflicted on Jesus on the cross? — R.T., New York, New York Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but I have these scaly patches on my palm that have been…
Taking a Dive for the Environment Once again Terry Coburn and Brent Tubbergen haven’t a clue on issues that they feel it is their duty to inform people about (Letters, “Going Deep on Mike Halprin,” February 5). Dave Earp made a character statement about himself the day he chose to…
By the time Nina Chamberlain tried to restrain the student at Boca Raton Middle School, he’d already punched a teacher so hard that he caused permanent hearing loss. The brawl started after two teachers — one male, the other female — invited the emotionally disturbed fifteen-year-old and his mother to…
As defenders of both freedom and free enterprise, “Undercurrents” sounds the alarm on a threat to those colorful individuals who make life in South Florida so special: lawyers trying to make a buck. The state legislature, having solved such minor problems as crime and overcrowded schools, now focuses on a…
When our elected leaders announce they really don’t know what they’re doing, it is a very special time, like husbands admitting they forgot an anniversary or Bill Clinton remembering an affair. Broward County is experiencing such a time. Around the courthouse and governmental center it even has a name: “Computer…
Giulianti: Bringing the Glitz Back to Hollywood As a Hollywood resident and business person, I found Sean Rowe’s article on the Hollywood mayoral race extremely slanted against Mayor Mara Giulianti (“Face Off,” February 5). Aside from implying that the Johnson Street project was awarded due to bias, and a few…
My question to you is whether individuals have any right to the airspace above the land they own. Can I, for example, declare the space above my house a no-fly zone (I know that it would be virtually impossible to enforce this), or can this only be done on a…
The Gray Man does architecture, not carpentry. He does not drive through blue-collar neighborhoods to make sure campaign lawn signs are still standing after a windy night. He does not spot-check the jumbo shrimp before fund-raising cocktail parties or call up candidates’ friends in other states to wring contributions out…
The art of government: Color it confused. Reading that the planned parking garage for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has what the Sun-Sentinel called an “unanticipated” cost — $945,000 for art — a New Times reader asked: Why did government culture cops suddenly demand sculpture immortalizing ticket-takers, murals depicting forgetful…
To the untrained ear, it might not have been apparent that a civil-rights protest was under way last September 29 during the second-period string orchestra class at the School for the Performing Arts at Dillard High. As usual the students unpacked and tuned their instruments, locked eyes upon the conductor’s…
Why are people bothering with getting colds anymore? The site www.coldcure.com has been around for a couple of years now, and the product for stopping common cold symptoms is available in many places (Wal-Mart for one). Could you check out that site and apply your skill either (1) to debunk…
Going Deep on Mike Halprin In response to the article “Captains Outrageous” in the January 15 issue, I am writing to inform the readers and the diving community of my viewpoint. I am a diving instructor in Broward County, and having been on many of the local charter boats, I…
I just read your column about Circus Peanuts (January 1). In all seriousness, I happen to like Circus Peanuts. I really do. I’m not kidding. Just thought you should know that there is someone in the world who actually likes the things. — Brian, via the Internet I wholeheartedly (and…
