The problem is big, and its name is Stuart Konecky. Bayview residents see him as six feet, four inches of mercenary disregard for the peace and quiet of their comfortable, mostly white neighborhood lying only yards east of his nightclub, the Roxy. Bayview residents who reside east of Federal Highway…
New Times: Journalistic MuseI have just finished Bob Norman’s article on Nica (“The Fast Life & Near Death of Nica,” April 20). I thought it was an excellent piece. I moved to South Florida four months ago and look forward to reading New Times more than any other source. It…
Here’s something new: We have praise for a daily newspaper. But since this is Undercurrents, we just can’t seem to let that stand. We must condemn the paper’s publisher. We are speaking of The Miami Herald and Alberto Ibargüen. It is amazing to see what can happen journalistically when a…
On April 11 of last year, at around two in the afternoon, a prison guard arrived unexpectedly at Bryant Troville’s cell, at the Cross City Correctional Institution, about 50 miles west of Gainesville. Without a word of explanation, the guard shackled Troville and led him from his cell. The prisoner,…
Arthur Keys, two friends, and half a dozen children stand under a melting afternoon sun beside a canal in the western reaches of Broward County, watching the water. Tea-color but transparent, the water’s surface is unruffled by wind. Fish appear in small schools close to the bank — tiny, almost…
The morning before her first wedding anniversary, Donna Weaver drove to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. Her husband was finally coming home. Just the day before, Gary Weaver called from Nassau and said, “Donna Mae, I’m coming home tomorrow.” Excited by the news, she told him that one of their twin…
The oven is about to be turned up to broil. For you newcomers we thought we’d issue a warning: The scorching summer heat is about to be upon us. Sure, you can lounge by the pool — if you have one. But for those hoping to jump into community pools…
Another Jeopardy! Also-Ran Comes Clean Your story brought back memories (“My Life in Jeopardy!” Ted B. Kissell, April 6). I also tried out last May in Miami and passed the test. They scheduled me for taping in early August, and my show aired October 19. I finished second, like Ted,…
Wilbert “Nica” Cuadra sat in his Chevy Caprice with four of his boys. It was a typical Friday night; Nica was drunk on Mad Dog 20/20 and infused with a familiar rage. Across University Boulevard he could see the enemy — members of a West Broward gang called La Familia…
Hold your thumb and forefinger a quarter inch apart: That’s how close Plantation inventor-entrepreneur Jeff Kaplan has come to making it big. Time and time again. Let’s see. There was the time 20 years ago when Kaplan, now 40 years old, got into the video-rental business. This was before billionaire…
Many lobbyists are subtle, some are more straightforward. A few are downright blunt and not afraid to antagonize the very people they are hoping to influence. Take Don C. Meyer — and some members of the Fort Lauderdale City Commission wish you would. “City Hall doesn’t appreciate what I’m doing,”…
We’ll Take “Happy Readers” For $500, Alex Ted B. Kissell’s story was humorous and truthful (“My Life in Jeopardy,” April 6). I never laughed so much, and I enjoyed his honesty, especially about the comment his father made. I almost fell out of my chair! Yes, contestant Robin was something…
Juan Jose Reyes sits quietly in a conference room on the first floor of A.G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana with his hands folded in his lap and his eyes cast down. His gaunt face, partially hidden by a baseball cap, is expressionless. When he does speak, his voice is…
Maria Sierra and her son, Adrian, wheel into the parking lot of a Hollywood condominium known as Paradise Gardens, where she helps the five-year-old boy out of her car. The three-story complex appears tidy — stairs clean, wood trim freshly painted, grass green and cut. Sierra beams. Dressed in black…
Gloria Senti scrutinizes the fine cracks crisscrossing her latest patient’s bald head. She looks at the instruments fanned out on a table beside her: mallets, scissors, needles. At her feet a scramble of minuscule arms and legs poke through a white wire basket, and torsos tagged with odd reminders like…
We love the rough-and-tumble of politics in South Florida. Elsewhere, many politicians and their supporters like to jab and dance away; here it breaks out into a brawl, no holds barred. And so it was last Election Day in volatile Hollywood when an argument at the polls between opponents led…
Slavin Puts Slavin to ShameSorry to see that pathetic wretch, Ericka Barker, has died, gone to Century Village, and proudly awaits the second coming of Corbett Monica or Connie Stevens — all at age 30! Hey, Ericka, the idiots who run New Times actually think you put me to shame…
I cannot for the life of me remember the first time I watched Jeopardy! I do remember a few games of Trivial Pursuit in which I mopped the floor with my family, my friends, and my family’s neighbors, who used to be their friends until one night I whooped a…
Alan Adaschik is waging a battle on behalf of you, the American citizen. All 274 million of you, roughly speaking. A battle, in essence, against the encroaching World Government. Adaschik is a 56-year-old Davie resident with a wife, an ex-wife, a receding hairline, a yellow Cadillac DeVille, and a job…
The folks at Rexall Sundown, Inc. don’t want the press looking into their questionable business practices, so they’ve done a smart thing: They hired an attorney who normally works for the press to make sure those snoopy scoundrels are held at bay. It seems that, after we revealed the details…
A Reader Puts Slavin to Shame Having read Mr. Slavin’s letter to the editor in the March 30 issue of New Times, I must take exception to his assertion that Paul Demko’s article “That’s Condotainment!” (March 2) was “overly long and boring” and intended to “mollify… nasty old geezers.” Overly…
Drive west! To a place where roads are made of dirt and plots of land stretch for ten acres. To a place where animals outnumber people and turtles swim in murky canals. To a place where palm trees are native and unruly and a hand-painted sign reading “Lost 3 Cows”…
