Jason ArrivalStar claims that its patents covered the basics of vehicle tracking, across a huge array of different software and systems used. The company’s founder and inventor, Martin Kelly Jones, says he thought up the basics of vehicle tracking and notification with a telephone-based system in the 1990s; now he…
It’s taken a thousand-signature petition, a mass-letter-writing campaign, widespread condemnation from homeowner’s groups, multiple lawsuits, and hundreds of angry resident complaints, but the Fort Lauderdale City Commission is finally looking a little shaken about the proposed Bahia Mar development plan. After roughly five more hours of public comments, the City…
Last week a federal court judge dismissed a case by animal rights activists that alleged Lolita, the orca at the Miami Seaquarium, was being mistreated under the the Endangered Species Act. In her order dismissing the case, the judge acknowledged that Lolita is being held in “less than ideal” conditions,…
It’s not easy to book a helicopter flight. You can’t hail one off the street like a taxi. You can’t catch one at a certain time or place like the bus. You certainly can’t purchase a flight on Orbitz. Until recently, an interested flier in South Florida would have to…
The call came in to police at 1:16 a.m. November 22, 2009: a burglary in progress at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, a former yacht club that had become a resort hotel perched on the Intracoastal Waterway just off the 17th Street Causeway. Kenneth Post, the burglar, was a 46-year-old,…
MMA fighter Kimbo Slice (real name: Kevin ferguson) has died at age 42 in Coral Springs due to undisclosed reasons, according to reports. The CEO of Bellator MMA gave a statement: “We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the…
Beverly Hawthorne is thrilled to celebrate her 65th birthday with her grandchildren later this month. For 35 years, Hawthorne struggled with a crack addiction that kept her cycling between the streets, jail, and the emergency room. Finally, in January 2014, Hawthorne filled out a survey, which revealed that of the…
According to a federal lawsuit filed Friday, a person calling himself “Mr. Joe” started an email campaign against Florida Atlantic University officials in 2014. The messages accused various members of the faculty of colluding with one another to keep salaries low and promote inept employees. The university this May…
In 1994, Richard Rabin migrated from snowy New Jersey to Plantation. The 54-year-old retired union leader and former bodybuilder was ready to spend his days taking it easy in the warm weather, entertaining his four grandchildren when they came to visit. Adept at computers, he took up graphic design as…
Broward Sheriff’s Office Dep. Peter Peraza killed Jermaine McBean. This fact is not in dispute. McBean, 33, was shot dead while carrying an unloaded air rifle through an Oakland Park apartment complex. Court records indicate that McBean, who was black, also suffered from mental illness, and a photograph showed that…
Whether their stadium will be ready or not, the Miami Dolphins are nearing a return. Every year, we see the signs: Hurricane season starts, summer begins, July 4th passes. When the dollar store starts selling those autumn colored placemats, we have officially passed phase one. You should probably buy some bottled…
Ever since Lolita, the sole orca at the Miami Seaquarium, was declared an endangered species last year, activists have pushed to retire her by suing the marine park for violating protections of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In May of 2015, Howard Garrett, the president of the Seattle-based Orca Network,…
When the city of Hollywood was founded in the 1920s, Florida was still very much a segregated state. Understanding that his black workers would not be allowed to stay in the city after dark once it was incorporated, J.W. Young, the developer of Hollywood, created an area specifically for African-Americans: Liberia. …
During the coming election season, Florida voters will have to deal with one of the more devious legislative tricks we’ve seen in a while: Two upcoming ballot initiatives say they’ll make it easier for consumers to install solar panels on their homes. One of them — Amendment 4, slated for…
The newspaper business has been saved! Yesterday, it appears the long-flagging Tribune Publishing, which owns the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel, and our dear South Florida Sun Sentinel, formally vanished from the earth. Tribune was, until yesterday, a publishing compa ny designed for yesteryear, a flagging print-media behemoth…
Sea levels are inching up. Flood days are increasing. The threat of stronger, more powerful storms looms over us. The effects of climate change have never been more apparent in South Florida. Despite a governor who refuses to utter the C word, Floridians are more conscious about their carbon footprint…
An animal-rights group is engaging in controversial practices as it targets not just animal researchers — but their friends and relatives. Gary Serignese is president of South Florida Smash HLS (so-called for Huntingdon Life Sciences, a British animal-testing lab that was the group’s first target). For years, he has been…
In a 6-1 vote, Hollywood city commissioners approved an ordinance yesterday that bans the retail sale of pets that come from puppy mills. The goal of the ban is to rid the area of mills, which have animal activists have decried for years due to concerns that the large scale…
Cara Jennings became internet-famous after a video of her yelling at Governor Rick Scott — she called him “an asshole” — went viral. This Friday, she will lead a rally in Gainesville against Scott’s policies, foucsing specifically on women’s healthcare and reproductive rights. The event, held in conjunction with National…
A development group is planning to plunk two 29-story towers on the publicly-owned Bahia Mar complex on Fort Lauderdale Beach. In May, we reported that close to 30 people related to the development group bundled between $5,000 and $6,600 to each City Commissioner’s campaign in 2014 and 2015. Also, one of…
Nouman Raja, the Palm Beach Gardens police officer who shot and killed local musician Corey Jones, has been arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, as well as manslaughter, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a press conference yesterday. “The grand jury today found…
The whitefly is back. Though it looks like the sort of adorable insect that would star in a Dreamworks film, the humble whitefly is actually a god-awful invasive species that will stop at nothing to decimate crops. The bug can carry more than 111 different plant-killing viruses — a wave…
