A petition filed this past September 10 with the state Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering ​shows the owners of Magic City Casino are serious about expanding their gambling operation beyond Flagler Street. The document asks division officials if Magic City’s owners can build a new facility for inter-track wagering and card…

Man, we knew Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff could be a prickly son of gun, but his meddling in a billing issue shows he can be both petty and vindictive as well.According to a June 1 memo by former CRA Executive Director James Villacorta, Sarnoff tried to speed up a…

Miami-Dade Police Director James Loftus is no longer a member of the Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents more than 6,500 law enforcement officers in the county and several cities. In a memo sent yesterday to all county cops, Loftus says he quit the PBA over comments union leaders…

Former Hialeah Police Chief Rolando Bolaños continues his social media attack on the city’s mayor, Julio Robaina. This past September 26, via a Facebook status update, Bolaños informed his friends network about the generous amount of tax payer dollars that have been allocated to Hialeah’s communications and events department run…

This past Saturday night, Banana Republican witnessed a magical moment in Overtown proving that Miami New Times columnist Luther Campbell has got it right when he says hip-hop has the power to bring people together. A true cross section of Miami’s hip-hop lovers came out to Ice Palace Studios to…

We’ve been exiled from our own capitol! At least that’s what a purported email from Miami City Manager Carlos Migoya indicates. If the memo is real, Migoya isn’t too keen on city employees reading up on all the shenanigans he, his subordinates and his bosses are up to via Banana…

We’ve never hidden our disappointment and disgust with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez’s administration. Voters handed him immense powers in 2007, but Carlos “El Fuerte” never materialized. And he sandbagged Miami-Dade taxpayers with the Marlins deal and most recently, his successful push to increase property taxes. The latter allegedly the motivation…

Today, the Miami city commission has a number of special public hearings to decide the fate of the city’s budget and how to spend a whole lot of millions of dollars meant to alleviate slum and blight in Overtown and the Omni neighborhood, including a $220,000 salary and benefits package…

Yesterday, Luis Felipe Perez, a Hialeah jeweler who federal prosecutors say swindled $40 million from victims who invested in his Ponzi scheme, agreed to plead guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He will have to pay up to $1 million…

A year ago we chronicled the life of Rene Martinez, a Miami Cuban American who went from gang-banging hell-raiser to a humble God-fearing MMA warrior. Since that cover story, Martinez, known by his street name “Level,” has won his first three matches as a professional and starred in a five-hour…

On a day when he wasn’t trying to figure out which one of his Coconut Grove houses he lives in, Miami city Commissioner Marc Sarnoff decided to show his adoration for the Miami Heat’s billionaire owner. During the Miami community redevelopment agency’s public hearing yesterday, the city commission was considering…

UPDATE: Miami Lakes Town Attorney Mitchell Bierman, a partner with the law firm Weiss, Serota et al. informs Banana Republican that Florida law allows elected officials to seek reimbursement for legal expenses incurred fighting ethics charges that are eventually dismissed. He also provided us with town legislation that allows Miami…