Miami Beach Private Investigator: Former Commander, FHP LT. Florida State Police

Preview: MiamiHerald.com: Miami-Dade

MiamiHerald.com: Miami-Dade

Emotions on Gaza run hot in South Florida
Taunts, jeers, vulgar gestures and curse words filled the air Sunday afternoon as supporters of both sides in the Gaza conflict waged dueling protests outside the Israeli consulate in downtown Miami.

Florida Legislature begins special session to slash budget
The Florida Legislature began its $2.3 billion budget-cutting session Monday with even more bad news: The state took in $100 million less than anticipated in just the past month.

Ex-Miami Heat forward Antoine Walker arrested in Miami Beach
Former Miami Heat forward Antoine Walker was arrested and charged with suspicion of drunk driving early Monday in Miami Beach. Walker's black Mercedes was pulled over about 5 a.m. at 14th Street and Euclid Avenue after a police officer noticed he was driving with his headlights off, the arrest report said.

Elderly man disappears from South Miami-Dade home
An 89-year-old man who suffers from memory loss went missing two days ago from his home in South Miami-Dade County, and police have yet to find him.

Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom quits college post
Under fire for accepting a job at a college into which he poured state money, House Speaker Ray Sansom unexpectedly announced Monday that he is quitting the post as vice president of Northwest Florida State College.

Suspicious bag blown up near Miami-Dade School Board building
The Miami police bomb squad blew up a black duffel bag Monday morning after the abandoned package was discovered on a ramp near the Miami-Dade County School Board building entrance.

From dry to drenched, South Florida's rainfall in '08 was `average'
It started with Lake Okeechobee wallowing near historic lows. It ended even dryer, especially in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, which over the last two months have recorded less than an inch and a half of rain.

Cuban American named Florida Supreme Court justice
Jorge Labarga, who fled his native Cuba as a boy after Fidel Castro seized power, on Friday became the second Cuban-American justice to serve on the Florida Supreme Court.

University of Miami Hurricanes' defeat debt settled with stone crabs
Less than a week after the University of Miami's 24-17 loss to the California Golden Bears in the Emerald Bowl, Miami's mayor is making good on his bet with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Fidel Castro (no, not that one) arrested in Miami on traffic charge
Fidel Castro was cuffed in Miami. This Castro was not the Cuban dictator, who this week is celebrating 50 years of Communist rule over the island. Instead it was Fidel Christian Castro, 32, a habitual offender who appeared in Miami-Dade County bond court Friday morning after his arrest for driving with a permanently revoked driver's license.

Vandals spray West Kendall mosque with bullets
Sometime between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, about three dozen bullets were sprayed across the exterior of the Islamic School of Miami in West Kendall, according to mosque leaders.

Miami police donate DVDs to troops serving overseas
Miami police are sending baseball ghosts, super spies and castaways to soldiers in Iraq. The department's central district officers collected 160 DVDs, including well-known flicks such as Field of Dreams, The Bourne Ultimatum and Cast Away, for soldiers of the Army's Fourth Brigade Air Calvary stationed in Iraq.

Man charged with attempted murder after running down police officer
A Miami-Dade officer shot and wounded a man who tried to run him over during a traffic stop in South Miami late Thursday night, police said.

Maternity clinic denies illegal use of placentas
The Miami Maternity Center remains open for business after being raided by more than 20 state and federal agents investigating allegations that the facility was using placentas to make illegal pills.

Taught school in Cuba, U.S.
Maria Lydia Angones, mother of the Florida bar's first Cuban-born president, has died. She was 85. She died Saturday of complications following a stroke, said her son, Miami attorney Frank Angones.

Amateur athlete dies in Miami at 90
Married for 54 years, Helen Jane Smith never changed her name, which was highly unusual for a woman born in 1918. But for the one-time star athlete -- who nearly went pro -- it wasn't a feminist statement.

Professor loved education, humor
For Miami Dade College engineering professor Ignacio Warner, even a chocolate batido had to be properly constructed. His diabetes notwithstanding, he regularly ordered the thick milkshakes at La Caretta, a Cuban restaurant near his home in Key Biscayne.

Active in business, law and the community
William L. ''Bill'' Pallot was a banker, a lawyer and a public servant who may have lived to 97 because he had so much to do. Born in November 1911, he died Feb. 8 of natural causes in hospice care. A brief listing of his involvements from the 1940s forward:

Former commissioner had radio show, advice column
Connie Morrow was a founding Sunny Isles Beach commissioner, a psychologist, radio talk-show host and newspaper advice columnist. After serving on the District Advisory Council for Sunny Isles Beach when it was part of unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Morrow was elected in 1997 to the first City Commission.

Lawyer Stuart Mishkin, 61, cared about clients and colleagues
Just before he died of lung cancer on May 28, at 61, Stuart Mishkin e-mailed a close friend, one of many younger lawyers he had mentored:

Married for 54 years, Helen Jane Smith never changed her name, which...
Married for 54 years, Helen Jane Smith never changed her name, which was highly unusual for a woman born in 1918. But for the one-time star athlete -- who nearly went pro -- it wasn't a feminist statement.

Former Sunny Isles commissioner had radio show, advice column
Connie Morrow was a founding Sunny Isles Beach commissioner, a psychologist, radio talk-show host and newspaper advice columnist. After serving on the District Advisory Council for Sunny Isles Beach when it was part of unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Morrow was elected in 1997 to the first City Commission.

The location of American Senior High School was incorrect in Sunday...
The location of American Senior High School was incorrect in Sunday's obituary of Al Bencosme on Page 5B. The school is in unincorporated Northwest Miami-Dade County.

A story on the Orange Bowl Committee's changing scope on page 5D in...
A story on the Orange Bowl Committee's changing scope on page 5D in Friday's Sports section contained an incorrect quote from OBC president Daniel Ponce. The correct quote is, ``I don't think the founders would have given my broken-English grandparents a chance to be on the Orange Bowl Committee.''

An item in Thursday's Beach Buzz column about students of the month...
An item in Thursday's Beach Buzz column about students of the month being treated to breakfast at The Forge restaurant in Miami Beach misspelled the name of Forge owner Shareef Malnik.

Ticket prices for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus...
Ticket prices for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at AmericanAirlines Arena were incorrectly reported in Friday's Weekend section. Tickets cost $10 to $80.

A photo Thursday on Page 14A showed destruction caused by a rocket...
A photo Thursday on Page 14A showed destruction caused by a rocket fired from Gaza that struck a school in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on Wednesday. The location was incorrect in the accompanying photo caption.

A story Wednesday on Page 1A incorrectly noted that the ''Big Orange...
A story Wednesday on Page 1A incorrectly noted that the ''Big Orange'' would descend the InterContinental Miami Hotel on New Year's Eve. It ascends the hotel.

The Promiscuous Palate column that ran in several editions of Neighbors...
The Promiscuous Palate column that ran in several editions of Neighbors on Dec. 25 contained an error about the previous location of the TGIF restaurant in North Miami. It was previously located at Aventura Mall.

A map of Alabama's Gulf coast in the Travel section on Sunday misidentified the state to the west
A map of Alabama's Gulf coast in the Travel section on Sunday misidentified the state to the west. It is Mississippi. A photograph that was published on page 6 of Business Monday misidentified Stacey Silvera, a co-owner and vice-president of Apricot Office Supplies & Furniture.

Miami-Dade schools' finances draw state scrutiny
Eight Florida school districts -- including Miami-Dade -- are being monitored by the state Department of Education because their reserves are dangerously low.

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz a long shot for D.C. job
It's a new year, with a new president, but there's probably not going to be a new title for Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. Diaz, who has been mentioned for weeks as a possible appointment in the incoming Barack Obama administration, now seems unlikely to head to Washington.

Florida Lotto jackpot up to $6 million
The Lotto jackpot grew to $6 million after no one matched the six numbers drawn Saturday night, the Florida Lottery said. Saturday's numbers were 2, 4, 8, 10, 30 and 33.

Powerball jackpot huge, but sales are slow
Peter Vasquez strolled out of the Publix supermarket near Northeast 90th Street and Biscayne Boulevard on Sunday, several lottery tickets in hand.

South Florida PI

Miami Beach Private Investigator