CHICKENED OUT
General Magistrate Paul Gifford on Tuesday, May 19 ruled in favor of the city of Hollywood in a dispute over one family’s pet chickens. Gifford ruled that while the seven chickens that Steve Kohn’s family keeps very well may be their pets, the farm animals are prohibited within city limits, and must go. The family has until Aug. 17 to get rid of the chickens from their Emerald Hills home, or face $250 per day fines. Kohn says he will take his fight to court.
BLACK CAUCUS MELTDOWN
The Florida Democratic Party’s Black Caucus held its annual convention in Gainesville this past weekend, and it was disgraceful. There are reports of constant arguing, and nearly every seminar and all grievance hearings were canceled by President Lizzie R. Jenkins. The election of new officers was also canceled, and now there are rumblings that Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman could move to decertify the organization. Daisy Black chairs the Black Caucus’ grievance committee. Black says a number of grievances are being filed over this weekend’s debacle. To make matters worse, many black elected Democrats are not members of the Black Caucus, and those running for office ignored invitations to attend the convention. Who can blame them?
POLITICS AGAIN
The politics of it all is getting thick. Jim Lewis, the attorney who rose to fame by representing Lionel Tate, who at 12 years old became the youngest person in the country to be sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 beating death of his playmate, Tiffany Eunick, is running for office – again. Lewis announced he is seeking the Florida attorney general’s post in 2010. In the past, he has run unsuccessfully for Fort Lauderdale mayor, Fort Lauderdale city commissioner, Broward County public defender, Broward circuit judge and state representative. Among other things, Lewis wants Florida’s laws changed so drug addicts will no longer be locked up in prison. He wants the law instead to focus on the dealers. Lewis says he believes this will free up prison beds for violent offenders.
CAT KILLINGS
There have been at least 20 incidents of cats being killed and skinned in the Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay communities of Miami-Dade County in recent weeks. Another incident took place on Tuesday, May 26. The feline bodies are being left in yards, and along roadsides. It’s unclear exactly what is happening. Residents are being warned to keep their pets inside. Anyone with information is asked to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
SEX EDUCATION
Maria Guzman Hernandez, 32, a sixth-grade teacher at Our Lady of Charity, a Catholic school in Hialeah, was arrested Tuesday, May 26 on sexual battery charges, according to police. The charges stem from an admitted sexual relationship she had with a 15-year-old student at the school where she teaches, investigators say. Her own two children also attend the school. The boy’s mother is also being investigated for having knowledge of the affair and not reporting it to police.
EJones@SFLTimes.com
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