A grand jury’s decision not to indict the cop who three months ago killed unarmed teenager Mike Brown sparked protests across the country last night. Ferguson, Missouri, is still smoldering this morning after looting, teargas, arson, armored vehicles, and gunshots turned the St. Louis suburb into something resembling a war…
Brian Turner’s My Life as a Foreign Country is not your typical war memoir. As the title implies, there is something radically displaced about this soldier’s story. In one moment, Turner imagines himself as a drone aircraft, “plying the darkness above my body, flying over my wife as she sleeps…
Last night, President Barack Obama announced he will take executive action to shield 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. The prime-time speech was big news in the U.S., kicking up a political skirmish ahead of the 2016 elections. But it was far from the continent’s top story. Instead, that title…
Scarface. Cocaine Cowboys. How to Leave Hialeah. Now Miamians can add a new title to their list of must-haves: Tony Dokoupil’s The Last Pirate. The book’s subtitle says it all: “A Father, His Son, and the Golden Age of Marijuana.” Dokoupil, a reporter for NBC, will speak about his gripping,…
On a warm summer evening in 2010, a young man with kind eyes and a faint mustache took his position on the 50-yard line of a football field in Palm Beach. Sporting a baggy black shirt, jeans, and a Bible, however, Eric Readon wasn’t there to play. He was there…
SoHo Beach House: $460,000. Prime Italian restaurant: $280,000. Blockbuster video: $25,000. It reads like a bill for a raging Art Basel party. In fact, it’s just a few of the fees that local businesses owe the City of Miami Beach. Because of billing mistakes and lax enforcement, however, officials now…
A dramatic traffic accident created a bizarre scene last night in Little Haiti. Around 1:30 a.m., a red sedan lost control on North Miami Avenue near 79th Street, flipping upside down and landing on its roof. Afterward, the car’s occupants appeared unhurt and could be seen making phone calls. Passersby…
Florida International University is a juggernaut. The school is fast approaching 60,000 students, has two major campuses plus half a dozen satellite locations, and received voter approval last week to expand into 64 acres of Tamiami Park. But not all members of the FIU family are happy. In fact, some…
When Philip Levine announced last year that he wanted to become mayor of Miami Beach, many people wondered why a multimillionaire would spend a chunk of his fortune in pursuit of a $10,000-per-year position. That question was answered yesterday as Levine held court for more than a half-hour to boast…
For a moment, it looks like the standup comedian is about to cry. From behind thick black glasses, he peers out — pupils contracted by the glare — at the roomful of strangers and says nothing. Then he turns away from the crowd and pulls a crumpled piece of paper…
There are those who believe Wynwood is in decline, that as artisanal juice shops have pushed out art galleries, the neighborhood has lost its edge, that gentrification has made geriatrics of us all. To that, we answer with the angry hiss of a thousand energy drinks opened all at once…
Divine intervention it is not, but a last minute decision by a city official has thrown a Miami Beach mega development project into sudden disarray. Earlier today, Miami Beach’s special master ruled that the city’s Historical Preservation Board had erred in approving a controversial plan to turn a historic church…
If you see ghosts and goblins flying around town tonight, don’t be alarmed. Demonic spirits haven’t slipped out of Hell and stolen hipsters’ fixies. Instead, it’s just a special Halloween edition of Critical Mass. That’s right. The year’s most frightening holiday happens to fall on the last Friday of the…
When it comes to sleaze, all scandals lead to South Florida. Want to fix a South American election? This is the place. Want to fix an American election, for that matter? We’ve got that as well. In fact, according to a new book, South Florida practically invented sleaze. So it’s…
Across the nation, confidence in law enforcement is at a nadir. Secret and intrusive NSA surveillance has eroded America’s trust in its officials. Meanwhile, recent cop killings of unarmed civilians such as Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York City have shaken popular support for the police…
The Cuban expression “mañana, mañana.” is often interpreted by Anglos as an excuse for laziness. In fact, the saying speaks volumes about its island of origin. In a country that has been led by one Castro or another for more than half a century, what hope can there be that…
Call it a split decision. The latest legal skirmish over the Deep Dredge devolved into an all-day court battle over contracts and language yesterday. Despite the dredge drudgery, however, environmentalists emerged from federal court claiming important concessions in their ongoing battle against the Army Corps of Engineers, including almost half…
On June 30, 2011, Miami-Dade Police officers ambushed a band of robbers in the Redland, killing four — including the cops’ own informant — in a fury of bullets without receiving a shot in return. But when it came time to investigate the suspicious shootings, the agency leading the inquiry…
Could Miami’s porn industry be responsible for the adult film industry’s latest HIV scare? On Wednesday, the American adult film industry ground to a halt after reports that an actor might have contracted the virus. The Free Speech Coalition, an industry trade association based in California, announced it had “received…
Another holiday weekend. Another boating death on Biscayne Bay. In what is becoming a sick refrain in this city, a young woman was killed on Saturday when one boat struck another in Biscayne Bay. The Columbus Day weekend collision follows several other similar accidents, including a brutal July 4 crash…
UPDATE: City commissioners postponed a decision on the club for another six months. Lowe said he is relieved, but only temporarily. “I don’t believe the war is over,” he said. The fate of Wynwood’s only nightclub could come down to a debate over Grandpa’s wrinkled nutsack. Let me explain. This…
It’s happened to all of us. One minute you’re minding your own business on Lincoln Road, slaloming among septuagenarians with sugar babies on their wrinkly arms, or awkwardly grimacing at the toxically tan hostesses imploring you to look at monstrously large menus. The next you’re caught in the tractor beam…
