The Florida Panthers people are trying to get new breaks from the county in the form of a loan and debt restructuring. The parent company, Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, is also asking commissioners to approve the giant pie-in-the-sky development it calls Oz (an apt name, really, because it seems to be all make-believe). So SSE owner Alan Cohen has both hands out these days when it comes to the commission. Oh, wait a second -- didn't Cohen hire Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter's husband, Russ Klenet, as a lobbyist? Yeah he did. Hey, this seems to really help explain that hire, doesn't it?
But wait a second. Klenet also has the gig as a paid lobbyist for the City of Sunrise (thanks to buddy Roger Wishner, the mayor who cast the deciding vote in Klenet's favor). Sunrise Sports & Entertainment is, of course, located in Sunrise and has constant business with the city. Isn't that a conflict of interest?
Hey, maybe somebody should ask Sunrise City Attorney Stuart Michelson. Oh, wait a second. Isn't Michelson is the husband of Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman? Hey, isn't she buddies with Klenet and Ritter? Why yes, she is.
Isn't Broward cozy?
-- Anthony Caravella, who spent his teens, 20s, and 30s in prison for a rape and murder he didn't commit, was finally freed. Now, after this railroading by police and prosecutors, shouldn't somebody pay the price for the crime that was committed upon Caravella?
(As an aside, reporter Paula McMahon helped make that case happen -- and the Sentinel had a strong newspaper today. Hey, credit where credit is due.)
