News

New Times' Special Super Bowl Guide to Sex, Drugs, Gambling, and Living Large in South Florida

Welcome to the land of excess and instant gratification. You sensed it when you got off the plane or maneuvered into that I-95 exit lane. Or maybe it was the first time you spotted that shady, mustached man with sunglasses and a briefcase, standing conspicuously under a palm tree. This isn't the canned, corporately manufactured indulgence of Las Vegas. You're in South Florida now, the land of champagne dreams and billion-dollar Ponzi schemes. You can have anything you want for the right price. Down here, there's a general understanding that everybody needs something.

Maybe it's s... full story >>

In the War of Attrition Waged by the Texas Attorney General Against Robert O'Donnell, There Were Unintended Consequences

Robert O'Donnell stands rigidly in the courthouse hallway, his arms folded across his chest, trying to keep his rage in check. Like some Americans, O'Donnell is fed up with big government, but his simmering anger has nothing to do with Wall Street bailouts or health-care plans. After more than six years of squabbling and litigation, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in Texas ran his child support collection company out of business, and if that wasn't enough, today, its attorneys are trying to toss him in jail.

Taking his mind off the pending showdown, he stares out a fourth f... full story >>

Can a veterans court help former GIs find justice here at home?

What are you going to do, shoot me?"

It was around ten o'clock at night when Edward Lynch heard the strange shouting. He went to the utility room at the back of his house to investigate and saw a man standing in his neighbor's yard, yelling into the night. Much of what he was saying was gibberish — though there was mention of a gun.

As Lynch watched, the stranger went up to his neighbor's car and rammed his elbow into the driver's side window. When the window didn't break, the man picked something up off the ground and threw it at the car. At that point, Lynch stepped ... full story >>

Crash Reports

Steve Morrison probably never knew what hit him that April afternoon in 2008. After the 52-year-old swimming-pool company owner eased off the brakes of his green Saturn and headed south down Hillcroft across Westpark, a Nissan Frontier driven by a 28-year-old Salvadoran immigrant named Rosa Villegas-Vatres slammed into him, caving in his driver's side door — and his rib cage — and killing him instantly.

That Villegas-Vatres blew through the red light on Westpark is not in question. Several witnesses said she did and she also admitted as much. In the immediate aftermath o... full story >>

Allegations of racism and mismanagement spark a power struggle at the Mutual Musicians Foundation

Amid Kansas City's failure to preserve and redevelop 18th Street and Vine — a historic business district that flourished during segregation and a cradle of the jazz that put Kansas City on world maps — the Mutual Musicians Foundation has kept the beat.

Nearby, the American Jazz Museum requires a $550,000 annual subsidy from the City of Kansas City, Missouri. Ideas about the proper recognition of Buck O'Neil divide the leadership of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The district's main redevelopment agency can't seem to fill storefronts or rehab the fragile, old homes in... full story >>

Super Bowl guide to sex, drugs, gambling, and living large in South Florida

Welcome to the land of excess and instant gratification. You sensed it when you got off the plane or maneuvered into that I-95 exit lane. Or maybe it was the first time you spotted that shady, mustached man with sunglasses and a briefcase, standing conspicuously under a palm tree. This isn't the canned, corporately manufactured indulgence of Las Vegas. You're in South Florida, the land of champagne dreams and billion-dollar Ponzi schemes. You can have anything you want for the right price. Down here, there's a general understanding that everybody needs something.

Maybe it's sex or d... full story >>

Going Rogue: An Obsessive Phoenix Patrol Cop Tried to Nail the Wrong Guy in the Baseline Killer Case

With a mug shot of a sullen-looking African-American man looming in the background, Channel 5's anchor opened the newscast with:

"It's a new face on the most notorious crime spree in Valley history. This is Terry Wayne Smith. He once spent time in prison with Michael Goudeau, Mark's brother.

"He lived near several of the Baseline Killer crime scenes. And he allegedly hinted to his family that he was involved in some of the murders linked to the case."

This was scary stuff.

The ABCs of Ditching School

In the late morning of the first day of the new semester at John O'Connell High School of Technology, two boys stage their finely choreographed escape. While the security guard's back is turned, they scamper out the front door onto the sidewalk on Folsom Street in the Mission. Hoods pulled down to obscure their smiling faces, they crouch over and sneak past the office windows of Principal Rick Duber, who says snuffing out truancy at the school is one of his top priorities this year. After the teens make it past the main office's windows, they break into a mad dash down the street. Free!

Amazing Facts & Beyond! tries to sniff out the truth about the 66-Year Stink

It was the summer of 2010, St. Louis was a city under stench. It smelt of wet vomit, dry hops, swamp provel, Axe body spray, toxic glitter, and simple B.O. The usual suspects — the brewery, Metro-East oil refineries, Sauget nightclubs, landfills, basement punk shows — have all been ruled out. This is where I come in — Pursuer of Trivia, Provider of Content — Leon Beyond!

Now, please read "The Mystery of the 66-Year Stink." (Or click the individual mini-panels below to be taken to a larger version!)

... full story >>

Dan Buettner's Blue Zones teach nine secrets of a longer life

The red-walled foyer of Dan Buettner's Lake of the Isles home is packed with party guests. Black-clad waiters weave among the revelers, offering up twirls of scallops and skinny pasta spun onto silver forks. In one section of the house, the gossip columnist for the Star Tribune stalks the governor with her video camera.

"Hi, C.J.," says Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the potential GOP presidential candidate, offering an awkward wave.

C.J. has followed Buettner for years—he and former supermodel girlfriend Cheryl Tiegs were frequently the subjects of her gossip column. Tonight, the... full story >>