Broward Palm Beach News Blog

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​Watch this video of an assault and car theft that occurred at a BP gas station in Pompano Beach. Maybe I'm jaded, but it's at least a little comical how the man in the wifebeater comes out of the mini-mart, hugging a 12-pack of Corona, only to see that some local toughs were harassing his friend, Jose Rodriguez, who had been waiting behind the wheel in a white Pontiac Sunfire.

For a moment, the wifebeater guy appears to consider whether he should rescue his friend or protect his recent investment in a delicious 12-pack of Mexican beer.

To his credit, he chooses his friend -- though not before putting down the 12-pack.

Photo: Fort Lauderdale PD

​No, this one didn't involve Scott Rothstein. It was the lonely, forlorn creature to the left, who came to the SunTrust at 501 E. Las Olas this morning, then waited patiently for other customers to leave. This is from the Fort Lauderdale Police news release:

Once he was alone in the bank, the suspect approached a teller and placed a note on the counter stating he had a gun and demanded money. There was no weapon seen but the suspect kept his hand in his pocket as if he did. The teller complied with the demand and gave him cash. The suspect fled on foot and was not located.

Flickr: Martina V.

In dressage, it's hard to prance with bum hoof.

​Jodie Kelly, a horse dressage rider from a well-known family in Destin, has been sued by a woman who says she relied upon Kelly's opinion in buying a $38,000 horse that proved to be lame.

The plaintiff is also from Destin -- Victoria Guennewig, who in 2007 was shopping for a horse with which to train for the sport of dressage. After Guennewig became interested in a horse kept in a farm near Wellington, she hired Kelly, a decorated rider who trains horses in Destin, as well as in Loxahatchee, at Checkered Flag Farms.

Since the sport requires a horse to have perfect form and make precise movements, its physical health was a crucial factor. Kelly was to perform a pre-purchase examination

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Lee Abrams would like you to AFDI.

​If you've read this week's New Times cover story on the rise and fall of South Florida's daily newspapers, you're familiar with the Sun-Sentinel's infamous memo-writer, Lee Abrams. He's the chief innovation officer for the Tribune Co., the Chicago-based media giant that owns the Sun-Sentinel.

Abrams' goal is to get the company to "evolve" and thrive in the digital age. He's known for emailing long-winded "think pieces" to employees, pontificating on how they can improve, using catch-phrases like AFDI -- Actually Fucking Doing It.

New Times columnist Bob Norman has graciously chronicled many of Abrams' memos on his blog, The Daily Pulp. I also recently interviewed Abrams by phone. Here's a collection of some of the best Abrams quotes from both sources. Read them and try not to weep.

1. "You are either WITH the revolution or AGAINST it. You will either be embraced by the company and win or the company will beat you. No middle ground."

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Castle in the sky?

​Nearly 23 years ago, Pembroke Pines-based Survival Research Foundation launched an investigation into whether the deceased really survive death, existing in a parallel world. Dr. Arthur Berger, head of the foundation now headquartered out of Aventura, tells me there is sufficient evidence that suggests there is life after what we call death.

"This issue has been a lifetime interest of mine," Berger tells me. "And it should be to all of us, seeing as we all will die."

Okay, a bit morbid, but moving right along...

Flickr: crazyphotoman

​Technology. It's supposed to be our friend. But friends don't conspire with a Deerfield Beach company to help police officers write more speeding tickets. In its methodical march toward world domination of the ticket-writing technology market, Advanced Public Safety on Fairway Drive just landed a contract with the police department in Bowie, Maryland.

You're welcome, Bowie drivers! Now, after cops give you a ticket, they don't have to haul their paperwork into the station. The APS device allows them to send it there electronically, Less hassle, less time. Leaving cops with more time to write more tickets.

Oh, don't fret, South Floridians. The nefarious technology is already in place here -- Broward Sheriff's Office has it; ditto Fort Lauderdale P.D., Hollywood P.D., and West Palm P.D., among some 750 law enforcement agencies in the APS empire.

​There's something that's been irking me for some time now. It's the one reason I least enjoy most technological get-together events, even the purely local ones here in South Florida. The problem? It seems that most of these events aren't about meeting people, finding out who's around locally doing tech, etc. Instead, these events are about sales.

I don't mean booths and vendors showing off their wares. That's a given at any event and is usually what makes them financially possible. I'm talking about the overall attitude people seem to take when attending these things. They see them as a way to "network" and promote themselves, their business, or their services. Rarely do they see it as a way to mingle, make connections, and help others who might need it or find the help they need.

Sure, those things are basically all the same, just with different vocabulary to explain them. Or are they?

Think about this: The first is all about getting something for yourself. The second is all about social interaction (albeit in the name of business). The subtle difference there is the attitude I was talking about.

Flickr: Linnette Alissa

​The wild card in the race for the Republican nomination to U.S. Senate is the endorsement of Jeb Bush. To get a read on whether he's leaning toward Charlie Crist or Marco Rubio, I consulted a source who -- in exchange for his or her candor -- we will simply call a high-ranking Bush associate. My sense is that this source speaks for a great many Floridians who have fond memories of Bush's time in the governor's office and in whose eyes Crist's tenure has been very frustrating by comparison. From the source:

Jeb Bush always put the state first, then the party and his own ambition last. Toward the end of his term, he was being recruited to run for the U.S. Senate, and he turned it down because he wanted to finish his term strong. He could have been the NFL commissioner, but he turned it down because he wanted to finish strong. You can't even begin to compare Jeb's passion for Florida and his respect for the office of Governor with Charlie Crist. Jeb didn't see the office as a stepping stone. He saw it as an opportunity to make meaningful changes and he worked until the clock ticked to zero.

Flickr: paolinipix

The Ritz-Carlton in Manalapan: an unlikely place for a neo-Nazi stabbing.

​The stabbings that occurred October 26, during a presentation by a Nazi historian at the Ritz-Carlton were a one-sided affair, it seems. That is, Christopher Nachtman stabbed John Kopko -- multiple times. And now the attorney for Kopko suspects that the Palm Beach State Attorney's Office is considering a charge against Nachtman for attempted murder.

"It was unprovoked and Mr. Kopko was unarmed," says Lee Levenson, the Boynton Beach attorney representing Kopko. "We believe he was trying to kill Mr. Kopko -- right in front of (Kopko's) family."

Levensen denied reports that the fight was an outgrowth of tension between two rival skinhead groups -- Volksfront and the Confederate Hammerskins. Pressed to offer a theory about what made Nachtman attack, Levenson said:

Don't worry, the new gay paper will still cover Charlie.

​South Florida Blade editor Dan Renzi stopped by his Wilton Manors office last Sunday evening to check his email, and encountered a strange sight. Michael Kitchens, co-president of Blade parent company Window Media LLC, was standing at the front door, crying.

"He looked at me and said, 'You can't go in. We're done," Renzi says.

It was a dramatic scene, bolstered the next day by news reports that Window Media, the nation's largest gay newspaper group, had suddenly shut down. The Southern Voice in Atlanta and the Washington Blade in D.C were unceremoniously shuttered, prompting
concerns across the country that gay and lesbian media was dead.

But Renzi says the hand-wringing in South Florida was overblown. On Monday,