The local personalities, egos, and public figures who swung through the news cycle this week, ranked by New Times' crack research department using a highly scientific algorithm (i.e., calculating the mean number of these you can look at before getting misty).
5. Broward Taxi Drivers. Protest is riding the February air these days. When Yellow Cab employees in Broward went code-red over newly installed cab-tracking devices, they took the issue public. On Tuesday, drivers showed up as usual at the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport but refused to take on any passengers. Reports of a sing-along and acid test are unconfirmed.
4. Stop Owlcatraz Campaigners. Campus demonstrations, sit-ins, and social-justice-speak are enough to make anyone do a doubletake here in 2013. But for all this to happen in the sun-sick apathy of South Florida... in Boca Raton, no less -- that's impressive. Since Florida Atlantic University announced last week that its stadium would be named after a world leader in locking up folks, student activists have been fighting back. Hats off.
3. State Sen. Jeff Clemens. Is a state soaked with red-state politics ready for medical marijuana? Is the swollen tip of America's conservative impulse really as progressive as California or Colorado? Probably not. That said, Jeff Clemens is trying to push through a medical green bill. Symbolic gesture? Maybe, but a conversation like this might be a good barometer for where the state sits on future legalization issues.
2. Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein. When details came out about a Coconut Creek cop named James Yacobellis getting off the hook for threatening a 19-year-old suspect with a Taser and a bathtub full of water, Broward's public defender has been a steady megaphone of indignation over the injustice. In fact, he's about the only public official stepping up to the plate on the matter.
1. Jeffrey Loria. Now, being a piss poor isn't much of a power move for a sports owner. More like the standard operating procedure. But to be one of the Worst Owners in sports, if not The Worst Owner, as AP columnist Tim Dahlbery suggested this week, now that's the whole next level of supervillain.
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