It’s time for North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre to tell his former law partner Marc Douthit and his ex-campaign manager Willis Howard to come up with a better deal.The two insiders and their partners are buying the mortgage note on the foreclosed Biscayne Landing site, which they intend to convert…
For 7.5 months in two years, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lt. Lisa Hart failed to show up for work. She apparently got away with it. The county police department concluded an investigation eight months ago, but fire rescue officials refuse to release the investigative report — asserting the probe remains open…
After a five-month hiatus, the Miami Art Museum is rebooting its monthly Thursday networker tonight with a rather fun exhibition featuring some of Miami’s leading contemporary young professionals.The museum corralled Sweat Records co-owner Lauren “Lolo” Reskin, filmmaker Juan Carlos Zalvidar, Supermarket Creative guru Michelle Leshem, Miami poet P. Scott Cunningham,…
Film czar Harry Emilio Gottlieb nixes pop quiz, aces take-home exam
Yuppie Rambo Richard “Kudo” Couto takes on the C-9 Basin, Miami-Dade’s most lawless outpost
Who knew that Harry Emilio Gottlieb, a prolific writer of letters to the editor denouncing cronyism, was a Hollywood wheeler-dealer?Why else would he get a $63,000-a-year gig as the man in charge of Miami’s film and cultural affairs office? It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with his close friendship…
When Natacha Seijas wants something done, you have to read between the lines. You have to decipher her messages with the keen sensibilities of a mob button man when he gets the order to whack somebody.So when a friendly county fire-fighter forwarded Banana Republican a letter the Miami-Dade County commissioner…
Ski slopes and mayoral sleaze in North Miami
Rudy Moise must be desperate for cash to finance his political campaign. The Haitian physician is running for the U.S. congressional seat being vacated by Kendrick Meek, who is running for the Democratic Party’s nomination in the U.S. Senate race.This afternoon, I received an email from Moise’s wife, Mirjam, lamenting…
The buyers of the failed Biscayne Landings project in North Miami have a novel idea for what to build on the city-owned, 193-acre site: a ski and snow-sports mountain park that would include a 550-foot-tall slope.In addition to downhill skiing, Solar Mountain would include a 163-meter ski jump, ice-skating rinks,…
FDLE intelligence analyst gets caught snooping in a work database
When a 300 pound 6’3″ retired NFL quarterback killer talked smack about Billy Corben on WQAM 560’s Sid Rosenberg show last week, the Miami documentary filmmaker didn’t waste time sacking Warren Sapp’s blathering nonsense.The former University of Miami and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman was on Rosenberg’s afternoon show this…
Jeanette Espinosa was snooping in places she wasn’t supposed to. The 44-year-old intelligence analyst for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement admitted to investigators from her agency that she used law-enforcement databases to look up private information about her co-workers, their families, and a private citizen.The FDLE launched an internal…
Former Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairman Joe Garcia is wasting no time knuckling up for his latest run for U.S. Congress. One week after announcing he will again run for Florida’s 25th district, Garcia is accusing the leading Republican candidate, state Rep. David Rivera, of trampling over a law that prohibits state legislators from…
During the 2008 presidential election, Annette Taddeo set her sights on a big target: Congresswoman Ilena Ros-Lehtinen. The Colombian-American businesswoman, who loaned her campaign $350,000, lost but established herself as a viable candidate for public office.Late yesterday, Taddeo announced she is running again. This time, she is positioning herself for a…
Phil Spinella, owner of A&B Body Shop in Homestead, insists the damage he repaired on Mayor Steve Bateman’s city-issued SUV was caused by a blown tire.”There is no question about it,” Spinella said via a telephone interview. “The tire’s rubber housing took out the rear bumper. That’s what we billed…
Oscar Alfonso (right) and Joe Geller (center) lost their hand-picked city manager Matthew Schwartz (left).This past Tuesday night, a coup went down in North Bay Village. The city commission voted 3-2 to fire city Manager Matthew Schwartz. Before he left the city commission meeting, Schwartz addressed the audience. “I wish…
The Royal Palm Hotel on 16th Street and Collins Avenue was supposed to be a beacon of atonement for Miami-Dade County’s racist past. In 1989, county officials snubbed South African leader Nelson Mandela when he visited Miami. African Americans across the country boycotted Miami-Dade, costing the area tens of millions…
The Royal Palm Hotel on 16th Street and Collins Avenue was supposed to be a beacon of atonement for Miami-Dade County’s racist past.In 1989, county officials snubbed South African leader Nelson Mandela when he visited Miami. African Americans across the country boycotted Miami-Dade, costing the area tens of millions in…
Power struggle between North Bay Village police and city hall gets ugly
This past September 16, Miami’s planning advisory board recommended the city expand African Square Park on NW 14th Avenue and 61st Street. The board recognized the need for more public green space in one of Miami’s poorest neighborhoods, but the city commission apparently didn’t get the hint.View Larger MapThree months…
If you grew up in Miami Beach prior to 1993, the floor above the neighborhood drug store on Fifth Street at Washington Avenue was a magical place.For more than a quarter-century, aspiring boxers climbed two flights of creaky stairs to a cavernous, broiling-hot room to train, hoping they would emerge…
