Congressman Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate just released a statement about Charlie Crist’s announcement that he was appointing former chief of staff George LeMieux to the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martinez.From the moment Senator Martinez announced his retirement, Governor Crist placed his ambitions over Florida’s…
As far as I can tell — and I’m going by this list, the most immediate one available — there has never been a U.S. Senator from Broward County. So what does it say about this county’s history of incestuous, corrupt politics that the breakthrough would finally come not through…
It seemed too nakedly cynical to be possible — and yet it just happened. Pass the smelling salts.We warned Charlie Crist this could be his Harriet Miers moment. He didn’t listen — to us or to the people in his campaign who must have had the same anxieties. If Crist…
Members of the dragon boat team fighting to keep practicing in West Lake Park finally made their pitch to the Broward County Commission this week. But they were met with resounding… silence. The commissioners, who allowed the Blazing Paddles to make a presentation at Tuesday’s meeting, listened and smiled while…
Like so many in this market, Eileen Miller wants to sell. But the owner of two small hotels on Hollywood Beach — the Swan and the Mermaid — is up against a formidable adversary. The City of Hollywood, which is also a seller and whose commissioners and staff are under…
A few moments ago, President Barack Obama released this statement about the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy: Michelle and I were heartbroken to learn this morning of the death of our dear friend, Senator Ted Kennedy. For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights,…
Joe Truhe, former associate general counsel of the North Broward Hospital District, is asking that board’s chairman to investigate whether its acting general counsel, Sam Goren, is wasting district resources by billing for unnecessary legal work.Goren’s Fort Lauderdale firm of Goren, Cherof, Doody & Ezrol has been running the district’s…
[jump] A salesperson at Maroone Chevrolet in Fort Lauderdale told me that location stopped taking in clunkers on Friday. Maroone is owned by AutoNation. The program (and indeed the president) has many detractors (something about not wanting to give away taxpayer money), and some dealers aren’t totally confident they’ll get…
“All art is quite useless,” Oscar Wilde once declared. But in Palm Beach Gardens, maybe not. The Palm Beach Gardens city council has $440,000 burning a hole in their pockets: They’re planning to spend the money commissioning eight works of public art that will also function as bus stops. The…
Anonymously mailed envelopes are usually full of a whistleblower’s goodies. But today’s discovery was a bit of a let-down: This envelope with no return address contained the minutes of the April 7, 2008 special meeting by the North Broward Hospital District board.That was the day that the commissioners had summoned…
Sam Goren, the attorney hired in May by the North Broward Hospital District to fill the general counsel’s role, is racking up legal bills at a rate more than double the combined salaries of the two attorneys whose firings created that opening.Billings provided to Juice in response to a Florida…
It wasn’t exactly Watergate, but for Deerfield Beach, it had the makings of a defining moment in its scandal-plagued history: firefighters accused by residents of engaging in improper political activities during the final, frenzied week of the city’s municipal elections in March. With a new mayor and two new commissioners,…
Broward County Library staff is bracing for a round of layoffs next month, and in the meantime anxiety and suspicion is spreading through the ranks. Who among them deserves to be spared? And who deserves to go?One Broward County Library worker told Juice of a recent conversation she had with…
They’re still working on destroying Obama’s health-care plan, but in the opening moments of this New York Times video, Sunrise seniors dealt a death blow to hip-hop. Chilling video here.The accompanying article is set in the massive Sunrise Lakes retirement community, and the writer remarks at how that area voted…
“Dear Media Friends,” the email read. “The Wexler ‘town hall’ meeting is a sham. Tickets. Reserved seating. Written questions. In other words, NO DISSENT INSIDE.”To speak to real, independent thinking citizens, be in the South County Civic Center Parking Lot at NOON.”The email was signed “Sid.”The Juice knew that “Sid”…
OK, so maybe it’s not the most riveting video of this month’s clashes between congressional Democrats and health-care reform opponents, but this is a perfect illustration of the media echo chamber we’ve entered. Below, a woman shooting a video after yesterday’s Ron Klein forum in Boynton Beach. And judging by the…
That’s the first name that popped into my head when I heard that Crist was serious about tapping his former chief of staff, George LeMieux, Broward County’s most connected political player, to serve the remainder of Mel Martinez’s term in the U.S. Senate.Harriet Miers, of course, was White House counsel…
That’s video from outside yesterday’s Tom Rooney town hall in Stuart. In the ongoing battle over what side of the health care debate is more civilized, this is the Zapruder film. A reform proponent, apparently, is dressed in camouflage and allegedly spits at one of the tea party types he…
Broward Health Commissioner Robert Bernstein has cast himself as a watchdog for waste at the county’s public health-care district. But in the months since he led the charge to terminate the hospital district’s two lead attorneys, questions remain about whether his motives were complicated by Republican special interests, such as…
Before Marc Goldstone was fired as general counsel of the North Broward Hospital District in mid-May, he had expressed concern that his job would be threatened if he followed through on the district’s request to reduce its billings to outside law firms — in particular, the firm of Gray-Robinson.The firm,…
Just two business days before the North Broward Hospital District board was to consider spending $2 million to sponsor an exhibit at Fort Lauderdale’s Museum of Discovery and Science, one commissioner was vowing to embarrass museum staff. This based on his obligation to “protect taxpayers” against a potentially foolhardy investment.It…
It’s a pity that not all commenters are as classy as those here at Juice. I’m reminded of this disparity after looking hopefully toward the comments field in this NBC6 Miami report about Damon Weaver, the 11-year-old African American boy from poverty-ravaged Pahokee who just might be the youngest person…
