Broward Commissioners on Ethics Bill: WhatEVER

In a conversation that seems to have been recorded at the cafeteria lunch table where the in crowd sits, Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter and Commissioner Ken Keechl decided that fellow Commissioner John Rodstrom is not in-crowd material. That’s because Rodstrom’s pushing a bill that would bar commissioners from calling upon…

Fort Lauderdale Child-finding Group Considers New, Woefully Misleading Name

Currently, it’s called “A Child Is Missing,” but the Fort Lauderdale organization founded to quickly circulate reports of missing children to Florida law enforcement may soon name itself after Caylee Anthony. It’s not even the organization’s idea. Rather, it’s the brainstorm of Orlando-area U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, who told the…

Speaker Pelosi Visiting Hollywood Monday

Nancy Pelosi will appear at a news conference Monday with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to announce $1.5 million in funding for Broward Community & Family Health Centers. That money’s a tiny chunk of the nearly $800 billion federal stimulus package that passed in February. With a policy that huge, Democrats…

Rep. Hasner: Taking From Teachers, Giving to Jewish Museum

We didn’t set out to make this Pick on Adam Hasner Week here at the Juice, but after Monday’s heads-up that the Jewish state representative from Delray Beach was supporting a controversial anti-Islam conference, we stumbled across this item from the St. Pete Times showing that Hasner introduced an amendment…

One of the Worst Contractors in Iraq Lands in Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County is running so smoothly these days, what it really needs is a taste of Iraqi-style contracting. Private companies rake in billions of dollars supporting the military operations in that stunningly successful war, so why shouldn’t they also earn a buck or two at home? That’s where Kellogg,…

Sunrise Learns Hassles of Hiring a City Attorney With Conflicts

They should have seen this coming. Last year, when the Sunrise City Commission chose as its new city attorney, Stuart Michelson, it guaranteed itself a future full of ethical quandaries. The latest one is whether it’s ethically appropriate for Michelson to advise a charter review board whose decisions will influence…

Fort Lauderdale, You Have Tea on Your Face

Who would have guessed that witnessing a tea bagging would be so hard to swallow? Honestly, I thought yesterday afternoon was going to be funny. I figured I’d stroll a few blocks from the New Times the Juice office down to the federal courthouse at Broward and NE Third Avenue…

Wasserman Schultz Pummeled in Press

This time of year, the nation’s college football teams stage spring practices, and in a measure to spare quarterbacks from risk of injury, teams dress that player in a red or yellow jersey — a visual reminder to linebackers that this one player is untouchable. When Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz…

Cats in the Cradle Have the Silver Spoon

South Florida’s most exclusive real estate is crawling with feral cats who have — in a fashion that the children of a wealthy divorced couple might appreciate — been playing one of their benefactors against the other. It’s “PB Cats” versus “Island Cats of Palm Beach,” both of whom would…

Gulfstream and Mardi Gras at Odds Over Gambling Bills

[jump] Another bill the House passed Monday would eliminate blackjack at tribal casinos like the Hard Rock, but would increase betting limits in poker across the state (raising the maximum buy-in from $100 to $1,000), allow card rooms to operate 24 hours a day, and decrease taxes pari-mutuels pay on profits from…

Mark Foley to Make Film Debut Next Week; Will Charlie Get a Role?

Just when things had finally quieted down for uncloseted former Palm Beach Congressman Mark Foley, here comes a documentary called Outrage by notorious celluloid provocateur Kirby Dick. In advance of its debut next week at the Tribeca Film Festival, the picture is getting buzz for being controversial, if only because…

State Rep. Adam Hasner: Supporting “Anti-Muslim Hate Fest”?

Today, the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) pointed out that State Rep. Adam Hasner — the House Republican leader — is listed as a “coalition partner” for an upcoming coming “free speech summit” that could be seen as an anti-Muslim event.  The featured speaker will be Geert Wilders, a controversial…

Hallandale Beach Commissioners Have Extraordinary Powers of Memory

Hallandale Beach has a fairly quirk-tastic government. Remember the one about the city manager to whom it paid nearly a half-million last year? Good stuff. Another quirk: the commissioners habit of waiting several months, even years, to approve the minutes of past meetings. At this Wednesday’s meeting the city will…

Fort Lauderdale Kids Meet President — of Ghana

While we spent the week cubicle-dwelling and and driving up and down I-95, some young people from Fort Lauderdale’s Honey Project were meeting with the president — of Ghana. The Honey Project is an international program that teaches entrepreneurial skills. Honey farmers in Ghana sell their product to urban kids…

Who Is Nancy Nord?

Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida wants Obama to fire Nancy Nord, chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. agency that he says ought to have been monitoring the quality of drywall being shipped here from China, the same drywall presently destroying the value of a slew of South…