PETA Backtracks on Neutering Tiger; Juice Has List of Alternates

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has scrapped plans for a billboard featuring Tiger Woods (“Too Much Sex Can Be a Bad Thing”), meant to encourage the spaying and neutering of pet kitties. They’d planned to debut the billboard in Tiger’s hometown of  Windemere, Florida. But talks with…

Are There Really More Pain Clinics in Broward Than McDonald’s?

Among the statistics about pain clinics: a new one opens here every three days; doctors in Broward alone dispense nearly 10 million oxycodone pills a year; more than half of the illegal prescription pills in the country come from South Florida.But this weekend’s debate between Democratic attorney general candidates in…

Arrest Made in 2004 Carjacking Murder

Renalto Obos was shot dead in November 2004 while sitting in a car on NW Third Avenue with his girlfriend. It was a robbery gone awry. The killer wore a mask, and due to the random nature of the crime, Broward Sheriff’s Office couldn’t find a suspect until last month,…

Heath Miller and the Watkins “Thunder Machine”

Before he was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting students last year, Heath Miller was one of the most popular teachers at H.L. Watkins Middle School in Palm Beach Gardens. More than 400 students enrolled in the band, chorus, and drill team, traveling to Fort Pierce and Orlando, winning music competitions…

Unanswered Questions About Heath Miller’s Shooting of an Armed Intruder

A year after his death, many unanswered questions remain about the night Robert Rashard Tomlin broke into band teacher Heath Miller’s Wellington home, wielding a .40-caliber gun.Miller said he defended himself by firing a .38-caliber revolver at the masked intruder. A Palm Beach County sheriff’s incident report says Miller, 35,…

Who Will Be Haunted by Sheriff’s “Ghost”?

It hardly seems fair for the Broward Sheriff’s Office to be chasing speeders using a car like the one above: the Dodge “Ghost” Challenger R/T, which looks merely like some spoiled teenager’s hot rod, until the flashing lights come on.Fortunately for leadfoots, there’s only one Ghost Challenger patrolling Broward roads…

Mahoney Baloney: Boynton Murders Were Religious Persecution

Guess the Christian Defense Coalition hasn’t been reading the Juice lately.If it had, it would have figured out that the fatal shooting of Tite Sufra and Stephen Ocean in Boynton Beach on January 30 probably had exactly nothing to do with the fact that it was evangelizing. But the Rev…

Criminal Investigation Launched Against Another Hospital Commissioner

Broward Health Commissioner Mike Fernandez is being investigated by the Broward State Attorney’s Office for criminal corruption. The investigation was launched after Juice reported potential conflicts of interest between Fernandez’s public office and his private work as a salesman for SonoSite, an ultrasound manufacturer that services the hospital district.He is…

Letters From Prison Reveal Desperate Father

Last week, we brought you the story of Antontio Balta, the Peruvian horse groomer whose daughter died in the back seat of his car in Hallandale Beach six years ago as he gambled and waited for his girlfriend to get off work. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison,…

Former Watkins Parent Speaks Out About “Creepy” Band Leaders

After reading about former H.L. Watkins Middle School band teacher Heath Miller and his best friend, Franklin King — both charged with child molestation — the mother of a former band student felt compelled to speak out. The woman, who spoke anonymously because she fears retaliation, says her son was…

Lake Worth Discusses How to Ease the Pain of Pain Clinics

The Lake Worth City Commission voted last night to pass an emergency ordinance that would place a 180-day moratorium on filing or receiving any applications to establish a pain management clinic within city boundaries. The commission scheduled a second reading and public hearing for Monday morning, March 1, hoping to…

Legislators Hope to Take On Pill Mills

We’d like to think of it as some sort of response to our extensive expose of South Florida vice, though maybe that’s presumptuous. Either way, the “pain clinic” problem is simply too big for anyone with a conscience to ignore. A Florida Medical Examiners Commission report estimated that on average,…

After Parking Dispute, Man Beaten With His Own Bat

Last Wednesday, in the midst of an argument over where he’d parked his Jeep, Virlyn Watson grabbed a bat, then threw it at the man he was arguing with. That man dodged the bat, then picked it up and beat Watson with it.The incident, which occurred around 1:45 in the…

Profiling Bicyclists a New Police Strategy?

Based on a scan of recent Broward County mug shots, it appears local police are using the lack of a bicycle light as the basis for stopping and then searching a person they suspect of carrying drugs.Check out the mug shot slideshow on the Sun-Sentinel’s website. If you search it…