Last year, a group of progressive activists convinced the Florida Democratic Party to stop accepting campaign donations from private, for-profit prison companies. The industry, which makes billions by keeping other human beings behind bars, immorally incentivizes cities to needlessly lock people up, many activists agree. One of America’s two largest…
While Broward Supervisor of Elections employees counted ballots after this past November’s vote, an angry crowd gathered outside the door. The riled Republican protesters carried signs accusing those inside the Lauderhill office of stealing the election. They waved Trump flags and chanted against socialism and for draining the swamp. Most…
On a Saturday morning in November 2003, Dorsey Miller called his old friend Brenda Snipes and asked if he could drop by. Miller, an adviser to then-Gov. Jeb Bush, didn’t explain his motivations over the phone. He knew he’d have a better chance closing the deal in person. Expecting just…
This past November, Florida Republicans, conservative TV pundits, and President Donald Trump fabricated claims of “election-rigging” by two Florida elections supervisors in two of the state’s most heavily Democratic counties. Now those same Republicans have attempted to fire both of those elections chiefs. The Florida Democratic Party has already blasted Gov. Rick DeSantis’ latest move as a “politically motivated power grab” and an attempt to “consolidate” control of elections across the state.
Earlier this week, Hallandale Beach Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub decided, for some godforsaken reason, to post on Facebook that she was worried that Rashida Tlaib, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, was a “Hamas-loving anti-Semite” who would “blow up Capitol Hill.” In other words: With zero evidence, she accused a Palestinian-American of being a terrorist. That’s racist, full stop.
New Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony has officially begun the process of turning former Sheriff Scott Israel’s many controversial political hires into political fires. Tony took additional steps to clean house at BSO today, this time taking aim at two of former sheriff Scott Israel’s political cronies who’d been given high-level…
Unlike five other members of the Broward Sheriff’s Office command staff, Col. Frank Adderley remained at the agency over the weekend after Gov. Ron DeSantis ousted his boss, Scott Israel, as sheriff. Adderley, the at-times controversial former police chief of Fort Lauderdale, tried his fate with new Sheriff Gregory Tony, who…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to remove Broward Sheriff Scott Israel from his post today at 3 p.m. during a news conference in front of BSO headquarters. That much is clear. But there is much speculation about whom DeSantis will install as the top cop. New Times has confirmed a Politico report that the governor is expected to choose former Coral Springs sergeant Gregory Tony as the interim sheriff. Tony would become the first black sheriff in Broward history.
As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was sworn in this week, rumors swirled that Broward Sheriff Scott Israel would soon be removed from office over his agency’s botched response to the Parkland school shooting. One possible replacement for perhaps the most powerful job in Florida’s most Democratic county, according to two…
Embattled Broward Sheriff Scott Israel’s second in command, Undersheriff Steve Kinsey, has informed numerous sheriff’s department staff members he is resigning his post, according to three well-placed BSO sources. The decision by Kinsey comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took office Tuesday, is widely expected to suspend…
Newly elected Sen. Rick Scott is not, it seems, capable of empathy. If there’s one thing Floridians learned about Scott after eight years as their governor, it’s there is no amount of shameless, Rich Uncle Pennybags-style money-grubbing that is beneath him. Well, now he’s bringing his own, special brand of avarice to Washington…
Israel’s numerous political hires need to be swept out.
Given Florida’s reputation as the National Rifle Association-dominated “Gunshine State,” many political observers were surprised state lawmakers passed a relatively long list of gun-safety restrictions after the February 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. For example, legislators approved a “red-flag” law that lets cops temporarily confiscate guns…
The First Amendment protects Americans from being punished by the state for the things they say. The “state” part here is key: You are not being censored, for example, if you’re fired from your job as a newspaper columnist because you got caught hanging out with a neo-Nazi biker gang…
In most states, it’s legal for property owners to sell home-generated solar power to other people or to tenants living in their homes. This is usually called a “power-purchase agreement” — your landlord, for example, might put some solar panels on top of your apartment building and charge…
The record shows that BSO Lt. Kevin Shults’ high-ranking colleagues failed to conduct a complete investigation and essentially covered up the case, which has never before been made public
In public spaces across Florida, at least 30 monuments pay tribute to Confederate soldiers. Many of the memorials glorify members of the renegade army that declared war on the United States as “uncrowned heroes” or “a noble band” and celebrating their “dauntless valor.” It would become illegal to remove any of those…
Dem. State Sen. Kevin Rader last week proposed raising the minimum salary for Florida public school teachers to $50,000. But even after recent progress in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, a Republican-dominated legislature that supports charter schools makes it unlikely that the bill will pass.
Ever since the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) announced plans to build a 15-story affordable-housing complex in downtown Fort Lauderdale, nearby residents have been up in arms. Many locals suggested the development belonged west of I-95 instead of across North Federal Highway from the upscale Rio Vista neighborhood. One person wrote on Next Door: “Dump em in the glades.”
Michelle Obama — former First Lady, lawyer, university administrator, and now, hugely celebrated author — has just announced that the Becoming Tour: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama has added new stops on its U.S. leg along with future appearances in Canada and Europe. The additional tour dates announced this morning include a stop at the BB&T Center in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, May 10, 2019.
The best news for Democrats from the recent midterm elections was that Florida’s racist and ridiculously difficult road to voting rights restoration for felons was overturned — you know, the one that stopped one in five black voters from casting ballots. Now it looks as if Republicans don’t want to…
A whole host of civil-rights advocates believe that the private, for-profit prison industry should not exist. But former Florida State Senate President Joe Negron appears to, ahem, lean in the opposite direction: Politico Florida first reported yesterday that the outgoing Negron will take a cushy gig as…
