SETTLING IN
We have completed our relocation from downtown Fort Lauderdale to our new offices in the Tides at Bridgeside Square. Our new address is 3020 N.E. 32nd Avenue, Suite 200, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33308. Our phone numbers will remain the same. As we settle in, we are moving forward with the expansion of our distribution throughout Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The newspaper has several opportunities available for delivery associate positions. Interested parties should contact Circulation Coordinator Robert G. Beatty II at 954-356-9360.
Miami-Dade County
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Janet Reno, a former U.S. Attorney General and Miami-Dade State Attorney, lost out to former Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning and his wife in her bid to have a high school named in her honor. Miami-Dade School Board members made the decision on Wednesday, June 17 to name the county’s latest education center the Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School. It will be located at 2601 NE 151 Street in North Miami. It is scheduled to open this fall with 1,500 students.
CAT KILLING SUSPECT RELEASED
Tyler Weinman, 18, was arrested last week and charged with killing and mutilating 19 cats in the midst of 33 reported cat deaths in the Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay area since April. Weinman’s attorney says he is not guilty of the crimes. Weinman posted, and was released on, $249,500 bond on Wednesday, June 17. He is charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty, four counts of burglary and 19 counts of improper disposing of an animal's body.
Broward County
COACH ARRESTED
Dadrion Wilson, 30, of Coconut Creek, an assistant football coach at Deerfield Beach Senior High School, was arrested June 8 during a traffic stop at Northeast 10th Avenue and 169th Street in Miami Beach. Police say they found a bag of cocaine, a bag of marijuana, and a handgun in the vehicle, which was driven by 18-year-old Donte Dotson, who is a player on Deerfield Beach’s football team.
FRAUD LAWSUIT FILED
A lawsuit has been filed over accusations that former Broward County Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin hustled and cheated his 83-year-old neighbor, Barbara Kasler, out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The complaint was filed on Tuesday, June 16, alleging that Seidlin and his family manipulated the elderly woman into putting them into her will, and spending lavishly on them. Seidlin is known as the presiding judge in the custody battle for the daughter of deceased actress Anna Nicole Smith. A 2008 Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office investigation found that Seidlin’s family received more than $400,000 from Kasler between 2003 and 2008, but also found no evidence that any laws were broken. A Florida Department of Children & Families investigation concluded in May 2009 that there was no evidence the woman had been exploited.
CRIMES ALLEGED
Timothy “Chaz” Stevens is a political blogger who focuses on city of Deerfield Beach issues. He credits himself with filing the complaints with the Broward State Attorney’s Office that eventually led to the arrests and removals from office of the city’s former mayor, Al Capellini, and former City Commissioner Steve Gonot, in 2008. Over the last several weeks, Stevens has been feverishly filing criminal and other complaints against Deerfield Beach City Commissioner Sylvia Poitier. Among other things, Stevens wants investigators to look into Poitier’s $1,300 and growing unpaid water bills that are not being enforced by the city. But the most damaging could be a complaint he filed related to an organization called The Westside Businessmen Association, which is set up to provide affordable housing in the city. The complaint asks prosecutors to look into the $30,000 the city gave the organization in March 2009. Poitier’s daughter is listed as president of the group, and some of her relatives by marriage may also be involved in the organization. Stevens is vilified by some for his actions, and praised by others. He is a one-man watchdog agency, and no matter how anyone feels about those he has exposed, Stevens should be credited for trying to keep government honest.
MISSING RETIREE LOCATED
David Milligan, a 78-year-old Lauderhill man who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, had been reported missing for nearly two weeks. This week, he was found at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, in good condition. A week ago, he was picked up as a John Doe from an unknown location in Miami by paramedics, and transported to the hospital. On Tuesday, June 16, he was identified as Milligan, and his family was contacted. No one seems to know how he got to Miami, or what he has been through over the past weeks.
COUNTY ORDERS CUTS
Broward County commissioners made it clear during a budget workshop on Tuesday, June 16 that cuts will be made to cover a $109 million deficit, and they have no intention of raising taxes. County departments and county-funded agencies like the Supervisor of Elections, Property Appraiser’s Office, Clerk of Courts and Sheriff’s Office will all have to make cuts. This will likely mean more layoffs, including some at the Sheriff’s Office. There has been speculation that Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti will ask Gov. Charlie Crist to step in, to avoid closing more jails or laying off additional deputies. Oh, what a mess we’re in.
HONOR DELAYED?
Without any explanation, Fort Lauderdale city commissioners tabled a vote that would have honored New Mount Olive Baptist Church pastor the Rev. Dr. Mack King Carter with a street named after him. The measure would have renamed the portion of Northwest 9th Avenue between Broward and Sunrise boulevards as Rev. Mack King Carter Avenue.
RAPE SUSPECT SOUGHT
Hollywood police are looking for a man suspected in the rape and attempted abduction of two women in recent weeks. The latest incident happened on Friday, June 9. A woman walking near North 24th Avenue and Harding Street was approached by a man driving a white Chrysler Pacifica. The man pulled up next to her and tried to coax her toward his car. Police say this is similar to an incident that took place just blocks away on June 3, where a woman walking in the 2400 block of Coolidge Street was forced into a car at gunpoint, driven to a vacant building, and raped. Officials say he is the same man who tried to abduct a teenage girl earlier that morning as she walked to school. He is described as a black male, 25 to 30 years old, 6 feet tall, with a muscular build. Hollywood police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 954-967-4357 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
Palm Beach County
FORMER OFFICER’S COURT DATE
Carl Heflin, 51, a former city of West Palm Beach police officer, appeared in court on Wednesday, June 17 to answer charges related to his arrest for taking ownership of 30 foreclosed properties via counterfeit deeds. He told police he earned about $6,000 per month from renting the foreclosed homes. He is also being charged with multiple counts of burglary for allegedly breaking into the homes and changing the locks.
EJones@SFLTimes.com
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