Miami-Dade red light cameras coming at high speed now

Miami-Dade red light cameras coming at high speed now

Smile as you go under that yellow traffic light: There are many more red light cameras coming soon to 150 intersections near you. Yes, it appears that red light cameras — which have been limited to municipal streets — are headed to intersections in unincorporated Miami-Dade, after all. Or finally. This has been a long […]

Miami Beach cartoonist draws on Development Corp scandal

Miami Beach cartoonist draws on Development Corp scandal

You would think Miami Beach activist and amateur cartoonist Mike Burke would be sitting pretty, happy that the incumbents he railed against lost and glad that newly elected Mayor Philip “Fix-It Phil” Levine was taking over City Hall and everything else. He’s not. Burke is apparently perturbed, er, I mean inspired with the scandal that […]

Manny Maroño’ mama: latest 305 elected to harass the press

Manny Maroño’ mama: latest 305 elected to harass the press

Elected officials in Miami-Dade seem to habitually harass journalists on a regular basis. It’s like a virus or something. And it’s spreading. From Hialeah’s Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez having me followed by police and throwing me out of public meetings to newly elected Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine deciding who is a journalist and who […]

MacDougall draws 1st blood: ‘Curbelo soft on Obamacare’

MacDougall draws 1st blood: ‘Curbelo soft on Obamacare’

Ten months out, the heated contest for the Congressional seat in District 26 has already gone into attack mode. And Cutler Bay Mayor Ed MacDougall — seen as the least likely of three hopefuls in the Republican primary, mostly because he doesn’t have a z or a vowel at the end of his last name […]

Another Beach employee loses job to Mayor Philip Levine

Another Beach employee loses job to Mayor Philip Levine

Another Miami Beach city employee, the four or fifth so far by Ladra’s count, has lost his job due to the change in administration. Acting Planning Director Richard Lorber sent an email Thursday afternoon to his friends and contacts informing them that it would be his last day at City Hall. He also clearly implied it […]

Norman Braman backs Ed MacDougall for Congress

Norman Braman backs Ed MacDougall for Congress

Another endorsement has come out in this year’s headliner of a race for the 26th Congressional District: Auto mogul and political meddler extraordinaire Norman Braman has already picked his horse among the three Republican hopefuls lining up to unseat Democrat U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia. Braman, left, is backing Cutler Bay Mayor Ed “Mac” MacDougall, right, […]

Carlos Curbelo endorsement seems a special interest given

Carlos Curbelo endorsement seems a special interest given

It’s starting early this year: The parade of political endorsements that precede every election. Sometimes, they seem somewhat counterproductive to me. I mean, who would want the Latin Builders Association’s nod. Doesn’t that just reek of special interest? Or is it just Ladra? Of course, it is good to know who is supported by the […]

Told ya: Joe Garcia vulnerable in ‘likely to flip’ race

Told ya: Joe Garcia vulnerable in ‘likely to flip’ race

Ladra knew the Congressional race in West Miami-Dade, the GOP battle to take the seat from newly-minted U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, would be one of the closest watched races in the country because it is one of the seats Republicans hope to take back in 2014. I love it when I’m right. The National Journal […]

Oooops! Daniella Levine’s ‘early’ endorsement list changes

Oooops! Daniella Levine’s ‘early’ endorsement list changes

Miami-Dade County Commission hopeful Daniella Levine Cava, who filed Friday to run against Vice Chairwoman Lynda Bell, is set to announce her candidacy this afternoon, again, with a slew of “special guests” including local electeds and former electeds who, one would surmise, support her bid. But Ladra is curious about who is not on the […]