Lead Stories *Willie King, age 37, was arrested moments after he had allegedly mugged a 94-year-old woman in a housecoat just outside her front door in New York’s Greenwich Village in July. He picked the wrong prey: The woman is the mother of Vincent “Chin” Gigante, reputed godfather of the…
Commissioner Bruce Kaplan: So Sincere It Hurts Joe Wilkins and his neighbors are the heroes of the Roads, and I truly regret the inconveniences they were subjected to at the ill-fated June 23 graffiti paint-out (“A Pigment of Their Imagination,” August 8). The foulups in that event as reported were…
Lead Stories *Abdala (“El Loco”) Bucaram was elected president of Ecuador in July, six years after he briefly moved to Panama to evade corruption charges. In the campaign, Bucaram reminded voters of his tenure as the rectitudinous police commissioner of Guayaquil in the Eighties, during which he sometimes jumped off…
In 1858, when Abraham Lincoln ran against Stephen Douglas for the United States Senate, a series of debates was held across the state of Illinois. Thousands attended the now-legendary affairs, and to accommodate the sizable crowds, the debates were often held outdoors with the candidates standing atop raised wooden platforms…
Where’s Henry When You Need Him? Jim DeFede’s “Good Enough for Political Work” (August 8) brought out a very important point: Where has Henry Marinello been hiding all these years while folks like James Marshall, Lee Arthur Lawrence, and the late Kevin Broils were trying to bring a better quality…
There Is No Way to Silence Mr. Molina Jim Mullin’s article on “The Howitzer and the Flea” (August 1) indicates once again that my perception of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) is correct. It is an anti-democratic political organization whose sole purpose is to silence individuals such as Wayne…
Lead Stories *At Thailand’s national games in June, to select those who would represent the country in the Olympic games, the gold medal in men’s volleyball was won by a squad of twelve transsexuals who have developed breasts and who dress as women but who have not yet had genital…
Sizing up his chances for victory on September 3, County Commissioner Dennis Moss says, “I believe we have done a good enough job in District 9 to be re-elected.” In one sentence Moss expressed both the optimism of his campaign and the problem with it. Politically, that sort of assessment…
Lead Stories *Air New Zealand announced in June that it will permit cockpit crews on international flights to nap during periods of low activity as long as one pilot remains awake. The airline said that it thus hopes to end “unofficial and uncontrolled” napping, which it said pilots on all…
Perry and Thrust Jim DeFede’s piece “The Ethnic Chopping Block” (July 18) was a trenchant look at the rawness of Dade County’s politics and specifically the rave for Metro mayor. I am a candidate for that office and was mentioned in Mr. DeFede’s article. It contains an amateurish conclusion that…
The defining moment in the political career of Dade County Commissioner Alex Penelas came on April 22, 1993, shortly after he and his colleagues were sworn into office as part of an expanded commission elected from thirteen newly created districts. After taking the oath, each commissioner delivered a speech, and…
Wayne Smith is no friend of the Cuban American National Foundation. For many years — at least since he left the foreign service after serving as chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana from 1979 to 1982 — he has been an outspoken critic of the U.S. economic embargo…
Less Dead Than You Think Too often Miami and Dade County’s worst enemy is the unfounded negative perception. Predominantly fueled by a steady stream of sensational journalism, even long-time residents succumb to the media malaise and struggle to find the positives in our community. When national network news shows open…
Lead Stories *Two Fremont, California, men obtained a patent recently for a golf club that will fire a ball up to 250 yards by detonation of an explosive charge in the club head. *Two men who broke out of jail in Rutland, Vermont, in May were captured a week later,…
Stupid Name Tricks Sean Rowe’s article “Name Droppers” (July 11) could have had some redeeming qualities when he examined why people decide to change their names. In particular, the section that sought out people named Fidel Castro living in Miami was fair commentary on Miami politics. However, any journalistic value…
Lead Stories *In March a Washington physicians’ agency filed charges of unprofessional conduct against county coroner Dexter Amend of Spokane, citing among other things his preoccupation with sex. (For example, he allegedly asked the mother of a sixteen-year-old girl shot to death whether the girl had ever been sodomized by…
On June 27, Sen. John Chafee, a Republican from Rhode Island and chairman of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, signed a letter asking the head of the General Accounting Office (GAO) to launch an immediate investigation into the environmental impact of Dade County’s plan to transfer Homestead Air…
DeFede: Tomorrow’s Rich and Powerful Corporate Pig? God Bless My .357 Magnum Jim DeFede seems to be like an ostrich with his head in the ground regarding Micky Arison (“Why’s Everybody Always Pickin’ on Me?” July 4). First, why pick on Micky Arison and Carnival Cruise Lines? We’ve sailed on…
Poor, poor Micky Arison. You gotta feel for him. How misunderstood he is. How wrong the public has been to judge him so harshly, to question the propriety of taxpayers spending more than $130 million to build this gazillionaire a new basketball arena. At least that’s the impression South Floridians…
The mean season is upon us. The Dade mayor’s race is in full swing, a half-dozen county commission seats are up for grabs, and after months of wrangling over fractious issues such as building a new arena, repealing the county’s gasoline tax, and leasing portions of Homestead Air Force Base…
If no one will do it for you, you have to do it yourself. That’s the thinking behind Peep Diss Videos, a weekly cable-TV program whipped up by the marketing heads at Street Street Music, a rap and hip-hop label based in Boca Raton. Mark St. Juste, CEO and sales…
Evelyn and the Magic Bus I would like to thank Kirk Semple for clarifying the public transit situation for us, the users (“Token Ridership,” June 20). I ride the bus on a daily basis — to and from work, to doctors’ appointments, on shopping trips. I also take the bus…
