A week before Thanksgiving, on Thursday, November 21, the Miami Herald ran a rather laudatory story on the front page of its business section. “BRANDSMART EXPANDING” the headline blared above a large picture of the company’s smiling president Michael Perlman. Below the picture was a secondary headline: “Thriving chain outgrows…
Lead Stories *People getting too much sleep: Michele and Tony Phebus were arrested in Lafayette, Indiana, in August after they fell asleep in their car between the microphone and the pick-up window at a White Castle drive-thru; police found numerous marijuana butts in the car and a brick of the…
No Reservations Regarding Empathy for Native Americans I am writing in response to Paula Park’s informative story about the Miccosukee Tribe in the Everglades (“The Last of the Indian Wars,” December 12). I have done a lot of research on the plight of American Indians. They are unnecessarily confined to…
Seven years ago, while working at a daily newspaper in Spokane, Washington, I met Damon Chapple. He stood only five feet nine inches tall but he weighed 200 pounds — all of it muscle. Chapple was a fighting machine, as perfect a creature of destruction as either Heaven or Hell…
Lead Stories *In a procedure denounced by the Association of Professional Piercers, Phoenix piercer’s apprentice Joe Aylward recently had a metal plate implanted under the skin of his skull so he can screw decorative spikes into his head. *Incriminating fingers: In Amsterdam in August and Miami in June, men were…
The Antichrist of Broward, Part 1 I am writing in response to a letter by David L. Laurence you printed under the headline “DeFede Flunks Civics 101” (November 28). Who is this David L. Laurence character and why does he feel he is an expert on journalism? Why do you…
There Goes the Neighborhood Regarding Kirk Semple’s article “First the Bumbling, Then the Crumbling” (November 28), I really did move to Miami Beach from New York City in 1989 because I loved the Art Deco buildings. On a beautiful, crisp, sunny, dragon-clouds-racing-by day, I was sitting having a colada with…
Lead Stories *On October 21 the CBS Evening News aired a videotape of an Iraqi wedding reception in which members of a cult of Sunni Muslims performed a series of severe self-mutilations to demonstrate their devotion to Saddam Hussein. While Saddam’s sons Odai and Qusai looked on approvingly, the men…
Less than three months ago, on a dazzlingly bright Sunday afternoon, Donald Manning and I stood outside a church in Liberty City discussing the bribery scandal enveloping his long-time friend County Commissioner James Burke. The just-concluded religious service had turned into a rally of sorts for the embattled commissioner, and…
A Student of the Game In his November 14 column (“Arena Winners and Losers: Alex Shoots, Alex Scores!”), Jim DeFede failed to mention those who suffered the greatest loss of all — the people of Dade County. Not only were we duped into allowing the use of at least $250…
Lead Stories *Denny Constantine revealed to the San Jose Mercury News in October that he was part of a team that almost got the go-ahead to drop flying-bat bombs on Japan in World War II. The plan: Tiny incendiary devices would be attached to millions of bats, which would be…
Lead Stories *A New York Times report on the first day’s rescue operations for TWA Flight 800 in July mentioned a man in an army uniform who showed up at the crash-site command center and helped direct helicopter traffic for about twelve hours before those in charge realized they had…
Dukes to Heat: Take Your Turkey and Stuff It I have just read Norma Jean Walker’s opinion of the Miami Heat’s support of the Overtown community (“Letters,” November 14). Now let me give you my opinion. The letter states that the Heat sponsored the first Thanksgiving celebration and will do…
Lead Stories *Several news services reported in October on the growing number of “telephone clubs” in Tokyo in which men (mostly middle-age and older) talk sex with junior high and high school girls. According to the Wall Street Journal, perhaps eight percent of schoolgirls participate at least occasionally. Many of…
The arena war is over. No more obnoxious commercials. No more slick brochures in the mail. No more annoying telephone calls asking for your support. A surprise pact between Miami Heat owner Micky Arison and Dade Mayor Alex Penelas goosed up voter confidence enough that the project enjoyed an overwhelming…
A Corrupt City, a Faltering Newspaper On Saturday, November 9, Miami made the front page of the New York Times for the corruption that marks our city like the wine stain on Gorbachev’s forehead. (The article was titled “Corruption and Money Woes Divide and Anger Miamians.”) This bashing — you…
Stierheim: A Target for Friends of Odio Regarding Robert Andrew Powell’s interview with Merrett Stierheim (“The Stierheim Report,” October 31), the Cubans are maligning an honest public servant who is Miami’s friend. He is not deserving of the racist comments by a few people who are friends of Cesar Odio…
Lead Stories *Right place, right time: In Pittsburgh, during the Steelers-Ravens football game in September, Allen E. Adams was picked up on a previous arrest warrant when a police officer recognized Adams’s name as a winner in the halftime field-goal-kicking promotion. And a few days later, in Victoria, British Columbia,…
Chief Warshaw’s Invitation: How Ironic I just finished reading Elise Ackerman and Michelle Mayer’s article “Policing the Police” (October 24), and found Miami Police Chief Donald Warshaw’s sentiment (“The police department … invites citizens to complain … in order to foster community confidence in the department”) to be rather ironic,…
Lead Stories *Overcoming disabilities: In September wheelchair-using men in Frankfurt, Germany (no legs), and Pompano Beach (missing part of a leg and one eye) attempted bank robberies but were thwarted when a customer and a cop, respectively, rushed in and tipped over the wheelchairs. Also in September, police in East…
Sometime this week Judge Robert Kaye is expected to rule on a lawsuit this newspaper brought against P. Anthony Ridder, chairman of Knight-Ridder, Inc. As we all know, Knight-Ridder owns the Miami Herald (and more than two dozen other newspapers). Tony Ridder, one of the nation’s top media executives, unceremoniously…
The Miami Heat has placed me on waivers. In their eyes I am the Rex Chapman of writers. The Rony Seikaly of columnists. The Alan Ogg of newsmen. Juwan Howard showed more loyalty to this team than I have, and as a result, I am about as welcome in their…
