In Time for Basel, MSG Graffiti Crew Prepares to Plaster Miami

It’s not just artists in the cubed-cheese-and-champagne-set who are making frenzied preparations for Art Basel. New Times’ favorite graffiti crew, MSG, promises that it has scads of plans- both legal and illegal- to coincide with the arrival of the massive convention. For starters, thirteen artists teamed up to paint a…

Beaujolais Nouveau, Crêpes, and French Lentils

Rootstock: Peace, Love and Beaujolais NouveauWe’ve already mentioned that this Thursday marks the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau, and that French wine producer Georges Duboeuf and its exclusive U.S. importer, W.J. Deutsch & Sons, are sponsoring a food drive to benefit Feeding South Florida. Last year, Feeding South Florida distributed approximately…

Another Teacher Who Cares About the Kids Gets Shafted

UPDATE: Ceresta Smith has gotten a temporary reprieve. Miami-Dade Public Schools administrators will not be asking the school board to suspend her today. Spokesman John Schuster says the school district is reviewing the matter.Miami-Dade County Public Schools is railroading another good, outspoken teacher. Today the school board will consider suspending…

Charlie Don’t Appoint

Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado’s insistence that Gov. Charlie Crist appoint a replacement for suspended Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones is getting ugly.Over the weekend, Regalado and commission chairman Marc Sarnof pressured Angel Gonzalez — who resigned yesterday as part of his guilty plea deal with prosecutors — to come to city hall for…

Moving Units: Top Five Albums at Local Independent Music Stores

Moving Units is a weekly column on Crossfade tracking the best-selling albums at South Florida independent record stores.Uncle Sam’s, South Beach1. Kaleidoscope, Tiësto2. Get Salted Vol. 2, Miguel Migs3. Where the Wild Things Are [Soundtrack], Karen O & The Kids4. Lungs, Florence and the Machine5.This Is It, Michael JacksonRadio-Active Records, Ft. Lauderdale1. Ultraviolet,…

So, Who Won the $4,000?

A few months ago, New Times Broward-Palm Beach announced that we would be giving away $4,000 to local artists through our first-ever MasterMind Awards, sponsored by the Amplitude Academy of Musical Arts, a new music school in Boca. This past Saturday, winners were announced at the Artopia event at Crobar@Exit…

Michelle Spence-Jones Knuckles Up

Michelle Spence-Jones, wearing a red-and-black dress, black stockings and no shoes, stood in the middle of her Liberty City home’s wood-floored living room.It was close to 1 p.m. this past Friday the 13th. Fourteen friends and family members gathered around her and listened raptly. She spoke authoritatively, gesticulating with both…

Michelle Bonds Out While Angel Skates

Early this morning, in front of the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building at 1351 NW 12th Street, after reading from a prepared statement asserting her innocence, Michelle Spence-Jones grew testy with some of the Miami media horde chronicling her surrender to law enforcement officials.When WPLG’s political reporter Michael Putney asked…

Flyer of the Week: Steve Aoki at Mansion November 25

Why does aging Cali club kid Steve Aoki always seem to be everywhere all the time? He’s like some kind of superhuman funhouse mirror, multiplying his slick indie-slouch image a million and one times throughout the mediated universe. It’s kinda creepy … Wherever I look (music mags, dark alleys, The…

So Who Will Replace John Timoney?

A Miami Police Internet message board is throwing out names on who will be the man to replace John Timoney. One thing is certain: it doesn’t appear that his loyal deputy chief Frank Fernandez (pictured here to the right of Manny Diaz and Timoney) will get the top post.Fernandez, along…

Miami Book Fair: Ann Louise Bardach on Fidel Castro’s Death

Back in the 1990s, Ann Louise Bardach — who speaks Sunday at 11 a.m. with Gerald Posner at the Miami bookfair, made herself infamous in Miami by scoring a huge interview with Fidel Castro for Vanity Fair. Later, she nailed American hypocrisy toward terrorists when talking with Magic City mad…

Letters From the Issue of November 12, 2009

Park ‘n’ Slide Stay Away from the Grove: Gus Garcia-Roberts’ November 5 story, “Park or Die Tryin’,” hit the nail on the head regarding parking in the Grove. I’ve lived in Miami for eight years, and love all of the outdoor “mall” type of places like Bayside, Lincoln Road, etc…

Let the John Timoney Boot Party Commence!

Well, that didn’t take long. WSVN and the Miami Herald report John Timoney is hanging up his Miami Police uniform. He’ll be gone by the beginning of the new year. Esquire once dubbed him “America’s Best Cop.” Miami New Times crowned him the nation’s worst cop. But rest assured, Timoney will…

Wednesday Blog Watch: Heat_R Photos and Hip-Hop MP3s

*The party Heat_r is back up and running, bringing indie electro back to Fort Lauderdale, now at Exit 66. We heard it was pretty well-attended. The party’s ostensible web site, though, which was at heatrparty.com, seems to have been subsumed by a catch-all nightlife site called Nightcure.com — which hasn’t…

The Timoney Boot Party Countdown, Day 2

The morning breeze whips John Timoney’s rosy cheeks as he settles into his rowboat moored at the Miami Beach Rowing Club. He pushes off the dock and begins paddling up Indian Creek, soaking in the dry, mild November weather, pondering where his next gig will be.Maybe he’ll roll through Tomas…

Nine City of Miami Workers Earning More Than $100K Get the Boot

A couple months ago, the City of Miami’s budget was about as well-balanced as Gary Busey on PCP. The Commission, Mayor Manny Diaz and the city’s three unions staged a vicious tug-of-war over who would feel the most pain in plugging a $118 million hole. But as Tomas Regalado prepares…

Casa Casuarina Closed. Thanks Scott Rothstein.

Our sister paper, New Times Broward-Palm Beach has done some pretty amazing reporting on the Scott Rothstein mess. Among the fallout from the alleged $57 million the Broward lawyer allegedly stole in a Ponzi scheme: South Beach.Gianni Versace’s former mansion on Ocean Drive, where a big buck restaurant and hotel…