EJones@SFLTimes.com
OPPORTUNITIES
The South Florida Times is expanding its distribution network once again. There are opportunities available for part-time route delivery drivers in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties. Interested persons should contact Circulation Coordinator Robert Beatty II at 954-356-9360
POLITICAL SLAP
The Herman Cain campaign for president has yet to respond to questions as to why the Rev. O’Neal Dozier was unceremoniously pulled from a campaign event two weeks ago. Dozier, pastor of the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach, was scheduled to give the invocation at a Cain campaign rally in Coral Springs but he was dumped just minutes before he was to take the stage. Dozier is the darling of Tea Party groups and the unexplained slight could lead to some local operatives resigning from the campaign.
Palm Beach County
Two years ago, Joseph Littles Nguzo Saba Charter School was out of money and facing eviction. The Afrocentric charter school’s future was bleak. But school founder and chairman Amefika Geuka has announced the school is now thriving. It has relocated to the historic Roosevelt High School building in West Palm Beach. Funding remains a challenge but the school reportedly is on sound footing, with a new principal and other staff. Congratulations!
SHOPLIFTING ARREST
Four women — Iesha Waters, 20, Sequoia Jordan, 21, Aceia Mack, 19, and Ariel Grimes, 19, all of Boynton Beach have been charged with shoplifting over the holiday weekend. They are accused of stealing merchandise worth more than $300 from the Macy’s in Boynton Beach on Saturday, Nov. 26. The four face one count each of felony retail theft. Grimes, who had a 4-month-old baby with her at the time of the alleged offense, was charged also with child neglect. Police say the women tried to hide the alleged stolen items in a baby stroller. They were booked into the Palm Beach County Jail.
Broward County
Ormond Rossi, 37, a state correctional officer at the Broward Correctional Institution, has been charged with accepting bribes. Rossi allegedly accepted $2,000, pain pills, steaks and alcohol in exchange for bringing contraband into the state-run prison. It was a sting set up by Collier County sheriff’s deputies. Rossi has been relieved of duty pending the outcome of the case.
DROPPING OUT
Sunrise City Commissioner Sheila Alu has ended her bid for a Broward County commission seat. Alu, a prosecutor with the Broward State Attorney’s Office, was recently promoted to the Sex Crimes division and will focus her attention on her new duties.
SPEEDING COPS
A Florida Highway Patrol state trooper pulled over a speeding Miami police officer in his squad car last month. The officer was ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint, handcuffed and detained in the back seat of the trooper’s car. That incident set off a chain of similar incidents of law enforcement officers pulling over one another in police vehicles. The controversy is escalating and for apparently no good reason. Law enforcement officers usually look the other way when their colleagues violate traffic laws. The city of Fort Lauderdale police addressed this problem years ago by installing global positioning systems in its squad cars. The GPS tracks the location, speed and idle time of each squad car. If an officer is speeding at any time, that officer must explain the reason to superiors. Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley is a strong proponent of installing GPS systems on all law enforcement vehicles. That would go a long way to settle the ongoing issue and keep track of rogue cops who speed and endanger lives simply because they can.
LAKES OF DEBT
The city of Lauderdale Lakes is struggling to get funding from the county to pay its debts. City Manager Jonathan Allen has submitted a plan to get the municipality back on a sound financial footing but county commissioners are not convinced. Whether the default happens now or later, Lauderdale Lakes will not be able to sustain itself over the next decade. City officials are blaming the financial problems on former City Manager Anita Fain-Taylor. But they gave her a fat severance package even though there is a criminal investigation into the city’s finances.
MINOR SEX CHARGE
Darren L. Bryant, 48, of Miami Gardens, has been charged with several counts related to having sex with a minor. The child’s mother reported him after reading text messages on the child’s cell phone. The age of the victim and how Bryant came to know the child were not immediately known.
FINANCIAL STRIFE
Fort Lauderdale City Manager Lee Feldman may have his work cut out for him. There are all sorts of rumors swirling about the city’s finances. Sources say reserves of $70 million have been depleted and the city will have to borrow to meet its obligation to employee pensions and more. The city has given pay raises and held the line on taxes but the chickens may be coming home to roost.
Miami-Dade County
COMMUNITY CUTS
The Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board (CRB) works to address community issues and develop solutions to conflicts. The staff who provide administrative and organizational support to the CRB have now been cut to one person, program officer Amy Carswell. Ed Harris and Oscar Braynon Sr. have been informed their jobs are being eliminated. Former Homestead mayor and now County Commissioner Lynda Bell has expressed concern about the salaries of staff there, but there may be more to this than meets the eye. It was the CRB that advocated for Homestead residents who sought to ban the Confederate flag from the annual Veterans Day events held in Homestead. Bell disbanded the city’s community relations board and some wonder whether there is any connection with the cutback of the county CRB staff.
NEW BLOOD
Alan Becker, a former state legislator and attorney who founded the Becker & Poliakoff law firm, is the new president of the Beacon Council business development agency. Becker takes over from outgoing president Frank Nero. The Beacon Council works to bring businesses and commerce to Miami-Dade County. Becker has been a member since 1996.
HISTORIC LEADERSHIP
Addy Villanueva made history when she became the first Hispanic woman to become Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Miami field office. Villanueva, 44, oversees 52 agents in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties. She was promoted to the post in May, when she succeeded Amos Rojas Jr., who retired after eight years in the post.
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