When Andy Lant was hired at Certified Vacations Groups Inc., a leading seller of packaged getaways for Disney and airlines such as Continental and Delta, he was given the title of information systems manager. But Lant says his direct supervisor, Sam Menist, preferred to think of him in other terms…
A few crusty lead balls, flint chips, and yellowed shards of pottery occupy a glass display case on the second floor of the Broward County Main Library. The fragments are less impressive than the colorful maps that accompany them but just as important. A caption says these pieces, part of…
In fact, we issue those little “Darwin” fish with feet to all of our employees: Drs. Johnson, Behe, Dembski, and Meyer have authored and coauthored numerous books laying the groundwork for Intelligent Design theory (“The Nutty Professors,” Steve Ellman, April 11). Remarkably, instead of engaging even a single argument, Steve…
Florida Atlantic University’s 2002 honors convocation on April 9 convened late. At 3:30 p.m., the FAU Wind Ensemble was finishing its practice on stage, and only a sprinkling of seats in the University Theater were occupied. By the time the gowned and capped procession of senior faculty had settled into…
Remember the classic 1998 Texas documentary, Hands on a Hardbody, which described how 25 people tried to hold on to a new truck for the longest time to win it from a publicity-hungry dealership? This was the SoFla version. Here in the capital of senescence, it was the person who…
And don’t forget, “it is Pompano”: When it comes to capital letters, Bob Norman’s name sure screams out loud and BIG. I enjoyed his article (“Marina Madness,” April 4) very much, but what’s new? I am sure you have heard “you can’t fight city hall.” Well, that’s for sure, not…
The two most storied teams in the long history of Cuban baseball, the Havana Reds and the Almendares Blues, are waiting for the last of their teammates to show for today’s game. One Red claims he’s too tired to throw the ball around: “No puedo. Estoy cansado….” Another can’t find…
Driving across the western reaches of Broward County along I-75, you probably wouldn’t notice the Florida headquarters office for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, whose agents are responsible for investigating everything from mail fraud and theft to child pornography and terrorism. Just off Miramar Parkway, the structure is off-white, with…
Cruising one of the dozens of canals that snake past multimillion-dollar homes in America’s Venice last week, Steve Pollock sipped a rum runner and scanned the deck of the small green-and-yellow boat in which he rode. A tan young mother from Chicago was drinking a beer and chiding her kids…
It must have felt more like open season than the opening home game for the Florida Marlins’ new top brass this past Monday at Pro Player Stadium. Indeed, so cold was the reception from the media and fans that new owner Jeffrey Loria and team president David Samson might have…
What about Dad? Susan Eastman’s article “Not Kid Stuff” (March 28) is timely and well-written. It boggles the mind to imagine that this story is being repeated over and over in our community and around the nation. I honestly believe that these youths are not inherently evil and that their…
By 8 a.m., Bruce and Rick Rutsky are at their table in Rose’s section at the Denny’s on U.S. 441 just south of Hollywood Boulevard, clamoring for their bowls of oatmeal and bananas. The two huge, grizzled, and grimy men look like tractor-trailer drivers who just rolled off the turnpike,…
Miss Cleo’s act is based on mystery. The pseudoshaman, shilling for her Fort Lauderdale bosses, dons exotic dress to sit in a cloud of smoldering incense, enticing callers to avail themselves of her self-professed fortunetelling powers. Millions have fallen for her pitch, and many thousands have complained that they didn’t…
Pompano Beach is a city of 80,000, but it’s ruled by a tiny cluster of backroom dealers. At the top of the very short list of Tweed-like (or Hogg-like, depending upon your frame of reference) bosses are Mayor Bill Griffin and lobbyist Tom Johnston. You’ve seen those names before. Pompano…
Adopt a new law: As a resident and Florida voter, I am outraged by Florida’s ban on gay adoption as described in Ashley Fantz’s March 21 story, “A Queer Law.” I am a devoted Presbyterian and come from a long line of ministers. My family settled in Florida in 1904…
The clock says 5. Above a dish rack stacked with black-and-white dinner plates, above a small sink and a window shaded with deep green vertical blinds, is an old-fashioned, schoolhouse-style clock, round with big numbers and circled in brown trim, moving through the minutes, the hours, the days, the months,…
Had everything gone according to plan, the bullhorn wouldn’t have shown up 20 minutes after the protest was over.Greg Scott took a moment to inhale calmly, beads of sweat chasing down his white, bald head and into the creases of his squinting blue eyes. The People with AIDS Coalition (PWAC)…
At 5:30 a.m. on Florida Derby morning, the silhouette of Barn 16 in the stables at Hallandale Beach’s Gulfstream Park gleams in watery light. Grooms lead horses from their stalls, and the only sounds are the muffled steps and occasional coughs of the animals on their way to morning exercise…
Dear Marlins Fans, Some of you might wonder why you haven’t heard much from your Florida Marlins lately. Well, first off, I’ve been extremely busy — you know how it is when you move. Getting everything switched over to your name, waiting for the cable guy, dealing with our bald,…
Miles to go: Just a few words to let you know that Ashley Fantz’s March 21 story, “A Queer Law,” was great. As a gay man, I’m very offended not only by laws in Florida but by laws throughout the country about homosexuality. Even though I think we’ve come a…
Two weeks before Christmas in 1995, Doug Houton got a handful of unexpected gifts. The 32-year-old pediatric nurse was in the middle of his afternoon shift at Fort Lauderdale’s Children’s Diagnostic and Treatment Center. He was thinking about what to do for the holiday — maybe take a vacation to…
Earnest and dutiful as a schoolgirl at first communion, Ann Marie Nyhuis sits in a cramped room in a Royal Palm Beach office building and leafs through a diary of her days as a lay employee of the Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach. A pleasant-looking, modestly dressed woman in her…
