Tireless blogger, tenacious gadfly, and prolific Juice commenter Chaz Stevens hopes to add a new line to his business card: Deerfield Beach Commissioner. The ubiquitous Stevens will announce his 2011 candidacy against incumbent Joe Miller at tonight’s meeting.”It’s real simple: I care about three things,” says Stevens. “Corruption — that’s…
It used to be that pit bulls rescued from dogfighting rings like the one written about this week in New Times were destined to be put down. Even some animal activists thought they’d be too aggressive to become family pets. Now many of the dogs are placed with families through…
Animal rights activists from Broward and Palm Beach counties are hoping the photos they recently helped publicize will lead to nothing less than the complete closure of Primate Products, the research facility in Doral where the pictures were taken. The photos, which show several monkeys with severe head injuries (you…
Deerfield Beach Fire Rescue Lt. Howard Noland — husband of Deerfield Beach Mayor Peggy Noland — has been suspended for a day without pay following an investigation into allegations that he was insubordinate when he placed his own lock on a locker at the fire station where he worked.The problem…
They revere him because he says what most Republican candidates think but don’t say. Yet the tea partiers and right wingers who support Allen West’s bid for Congress apparently feel the need to protect him from his boldest, most controversial statements and to recast the 2003 incident that led to…
Jimmie Bo Horne, a promoter who booked acts for Deerfield Beach’s city festivals over the past decade, has been contacted by a forensic auditor seeking records of how city money was handled for that event.”Any information I provide to (the investigator, Michael Kessler) will be done for the integrity of…
Black bears are invading the suburbs. And the Broward Sheriff’s Office Broward County parks officials are trying to find places for the five horses they just laid off. Fate can’t make it much more obvious than this: Black bear horseracing must happen in South Florida.I know this probably isn’t legal,…
A South Florida-based animal-rights advocacy group recently published photos it says are from inside Primate Products, a monkey research facility in Doral. The group has previously protested the facility and the home of Primate Products president, Donald Bradford. Smash HLS, founded by Boca Raton resident Gary Serignese, published 10 pictures…
U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek had a lot of reasons to feel good about his primary win last week over Jeff Greene. Despite recent polls that showed Greene doing well, Meek trounced him with 57 percent of the vote.But there’s also something that should worry Meek: Greene took 32 of the…
David Brady won a modest 23.3 percent of the vote in last week’s primary against Allen West in the race for the Republican nomination for the 22nd Congressional District. But considering that West has raised about $4 million and that Brady spent about $1,000 on his campaign, it was a respectable…
I know that sometimes the politics behind Broward County Commission decisions can seem complex, but trust me: Anyone who has been to high school can understand the social dynamics at work on the county’s legislative body.The commissioners may be twice as old as high schoolers, but they have teenaged insecurities…
Ha ha, just kidding about the tea party protest. Not likely these folks turn on one of their own “patriots,” even if the recent revelations suggest that West has done exactly what he and his tea party allies have pilloried the government for doing: spending money you don’t have.The West…
Tuesday’s election returns proved that there’s strong anti-incumbent sentiment toward the Broward County Commission, especially as regards the leader of the scandal-plagued dais, Mayor Ken Keechl, whose opponent barely spent a dime yet still managed to get 35 percent of the vote.But Keechl may be fortunate in that he faces…
When David Gould, a 26-year-old Fort Lauderdale man, showed up at Oakland Park Boulevard and Federal Highway — the spot known to local tea partiers as “the corner” — he expected some sort of confrontation. He’s pretty liberal, and this is, after all, the location of the self-proclaimed “longest-running tea…
As the Republican challenger to Broward Mayor Ken Keechl, Chip LaMarca was interested to see how Keechl would perform against Beverly Kennedy, a Democrat who had far less money, experience, and name recognition than LaMarca can bring to the race.”I feel pretty damned good, to be honest with you,” says…
In the months before yesterday’s election, Broward candidates lined up behind campaign rainmakers who possessed extraordinary powers for rounding up votes. Of course, they would share these powers only if the price was right. Since incumbents could outraise their challengers, incumbents could afford to pay the campaign operatives.Now that we…
By 8:30 last night, the subdued gathering in the West Palm Beach Marriott conference room had the feel of an awkward bar mitzvah. Heavy chandeliers cast a dim glow on the gaudy pink-and-green carpet. In a far corner, the DJ was spinning Sade-style mood music. Hardly anyone touched the small table…
Producers for liberal MSNBC pontificator Keith Olbermann have been following our extreme conservative candidate for Congress, Allen West, since April when the host devoted his “Special Comment” segment to the campaign comments where West encouraged supporters to make incumbent Ron Klein “scared to come out of his house.”But West has…
We’ve had server problems today, but I’m told that they’ve been mostly resolved, minus the comments field. UPDATE: Totally not resolved, it turns out. The server acted up shortly after this post, meaning we couldn’t get back online to post updates. Sorry about that.The most interesting race to watch this…
In Broward County elections, the condo vote is the most coveted, and for several election cycles, two figures have emerged as powerful mobilizers of that vote: Barry Harris and Norma Goldstein.It’s hard for candidates to tell which of the two is more skilled at rounding up votes from the county’s…
At a time when cynicism toward Broward politics is at an all-time high, incumbents on the Broward County Commission have turned to high-priced political consultants to ensure they don’t get toppled by a challenger.Today’s news of Commissioner Ilene Lieberman allegedly directing developers to hire a consultant of her choosing, well…..
Take a bow Jack Shifrel. No matter what happens in tomorrow’s election, you’ve already made over $15,000 across eight county and state judicial races. Of course, Shifrel won’t be keeping all of that loot. Some of it surely goes to the condo commandos who make sure that a candidate’s name…
