Coral Gables Commissioners on Wednesday named Assistant City Manager Carmen Olazabal the interim chief of the city until they can find a permanent replacement for Pat Salerno, who resigned abruptly last week rather than face questions about lies he told the elected body. And they also talked about choosing a recruiting firm to make a […]
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez — who has been denying allegations for years that he committed felony usury — took to the stand in his predecessor’s trial and admitted that he loaned money at 36% interest to a convicted Ponzi schemer who is now the feds’ star witness in the tax evasion and fraud trial against […]
I gotta admit, it sounds kinda strange to hear Republican Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera — who is doing radio rounds this week to push the guv’s campaign — defend former Democrat Sen. Nan Rich, who is running for the top state post in the primary. But then I realized he was really giving front runner […]
The Coral Gables Commission will meet for a special meeting this afternoon to name an interim city manager after the abrupt resignation last week of Pat “My Way or the Highway” Salerno when he was apparently caught in a lie that he basically didn’t want to have to explain. But Assistant City Manager Carmen Olazabal, […]
Federal prosecutors will bring two of the most interesting witnesses to the stand Wednesday in the tax evasion and fraud case against former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and wife Raiza, in connection to their alleged shadow banking business that boomed in the City of Progress during Robaina’s reign. Expected to testify today: Councilwoman Vivian “I’ll […]
Miami-Dade Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz may have a challenge to his re-election this year, after all: At least one group has been actively recruiting for a candidate to run against the former Sweetwater mayor. Pet’s Trust Miami — the organization that was able to get a majority of the public to vote on funding improved […]
Fight, fight! But Ladra bets the ugly, public brawl between a group of Republican legislators and the beloved president of Miami Dade College isn’t really over yet and that the former doesn’t know what they have gotten themselves into. Jaws dropped all over the county last week when the typically staid and methodically elegant MDC […]
Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime raised a whopping $77,000 in contributions in March — more than he has in any other single month since he started raising funds in March of last year — bringing his total to nearly $300,000 for his re-election bid. Monestime’s monthly take was the biggest of all the incumbent commissioners up […]
No, she’s not getting a nose job. Doral Councilwoman Bettina Rodriguez-Aguilera missed the half of the council meeting Wednesday night because she was at Baptist Hospital with an intestinal obstruction. “I do not know how many days I will be here. But I am well taken care off,” she told her Facebook friends Friday morning. […]
Opening statements began today in the federal tax evasion and fraud trial against former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and his wife Raiza, in what is likely to become one of the closest watched local political trials lately — and that’s saying something in this atmosphere. According to documents from the U.S. Attorney’s office, witnesses include […]