Broward Palm Beach News Blog

Here's John DeGroot's latest, which is one of his best in terms of turns of phrase (though the time factor might take some of the steam out of its stride):

That no one out there in Pulpland has rallied to my call to Save the Sun-Sentinel (SOSS) grieves me to the very depths of my aging ferndock.

Like where out there is the compassion for Florida’s fastest-shrinking newspaper? (The latest ABC numbers show a 10 percent decline in the newspaper’s readership during the most recent six months.)

Ah well..

Undaunted, I shall carry on with my jihad to Save the Sun-Sentinel by offering its editors a fact-based story idea that might actually interest someone with an IQ higher than a bag of mulch.

Anyhow.

Here goes…

Like this time, I’ll even write the bulk of story.

BROWARD’S BIG BUS BUST
(The Failed Penny Sales Tax)

So. How do you like them gas prices?

Thing is, you can bet your Texas Stetson, or Saudi caftan the Big Pump Thump is gonna get worse and worser.

Until one day you’ll be riding the bus with all the maids and burger flippers. Or peddling your sweating ass off in August.

Because it’s only a matter of time before a gallon of gas will cost more than an ounce of Jamaican Happy.

Which will REALLY twist your

Continue reading " DeGroot On The Big Pump"...

I think not. There's a debate about it at Romenesko which I find ludicrous. The argument started with this article, which apparently was based on a gripe by Sam Zell, the new Tribune Co. owner. If this is an omen of how Zell thinks, then the Sun-Sentinel and other Trib papers are truly in trouble.

The truth is that Google is actually a great tool for newspapers to build web traffic. And if it's about Google snaring advertising dollars, well, goddamn, it's a free market. It's simple, newspapers need to do a better job to entice advertisers to their websites to overcome the loss of revenue in the printed pages. Getting it done, of course, will take ingenuity. And that's in short supply in the tired newspaper industry.

More on the drowning of Giankarlo Squicimari in Palm Beach, this time from Michael Mayo in the Sun-Sentinel. Mayo reports that there were no lifeguards on the the beach near the Four Seasons Hotel when the riptide took Squicimari and damn near killed a few other people.

Look you don't want to get caught in a riptide. I've been in that position. I'm a fairly strong swimmer, but, like Squicimari, I had a child in my arms. It wasn't a rescue situation; we were pushed out together. It's about as bad a feeling as there is in the world, because you know you're not going to let go of the kid and, at the same time, you know both of you are going to drown. We wouldn't be here today if lifeguards didn't get to us (they first took the child then came back for me) before we were swept under for good.

People drown in these damn riptides every day in Florida, half of them tourists from other places drawn here by the marketing machine. (Read this from last year). What I want to know is why there were no lifeguards there at the time. It's not clear if this was a public beach or a spot of private Four Seasons beach. So you don't know who is responsible, the city or the hotel or the county or what. It just seems like a crime not to have trained lifeguards on the beach just like you would any public swimming pool.

Sunrise City Manager Patrick Salerno was passed over today in his attempt to become the city manager of Sarasota. Among his competitors was Susan Stanton, who was recently fired from Largo after changing her sex. At the time, she was known as Steve Stanton.

The question: Why is Salerno trying to flee Sunrise? The Sarasota job, had he landed it, would have cost him at least $30,000 a year in salary, according to a little profile in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Why does he man want to escape?

Another question: Why hasn't his bid to bolt been covered in the local newspapers? The man is one of the most veteran and better-respected city managers in Broward County, even if he does tend "to work too much and prefers to be behind the scenes," as the Herald-Tribune put it. Seems like something that should have been in the papers rather than leaving it for the Pulp to break.

The Palm Beach Post's S.V. Date, who is in Israel with Charlie Crist, reports that the governor suffered a nasty spider bite in Marathon 11 days ago. These brown recluses are nothing to play with. They're tiny little things, the picture there shows one in relation to a quarter, but they pack a punch. Though a nurse apparently shared her belief with Crist that he would die, it sounds like he's doing okay, minus a "divot" in his leg where a doctor cut around the bite. This picture here shows you about what the gov might have had to have dealt with.

After the Jump: Notter, Gilken, and Chili Sauce

Looks like Gremillion is actually taking over six newspapers. Here's his farewell note to staff:

May 29, 2007 TO: Sun-Sentinel Company Employees FROM: Bob Gremillion RE: Farewell

By now you've probably seen the announcement that I am leaving Sun-Sentinel Company and that Howard Greenberg will be your next publisher. Many of you have heard me say that I would never leave this job. We have a great team of dedicated and talented people here. It's hard to believe that I will no longer wake up every day as leader of this newspaper and its impressive portfolio of web sites and targeted publications.I've been given two new assignments with Tribune. As most of you heard during the recent Transformative Change process meetings held throughout Sun-Sentinel Company, one of them is leading the change process within the Tribune Publishing and Interactive groups. Since kicking off the process in March, we have assembled teams of talented and energetic people from across Tribune, who are determined to meet the significant challenges facing our businesses today and transforming our company to help ensure its success tomorrow. Last week, Tribune Chairman, President and CEO Dennis FitzSimons asked me to take on additional responsibility as executive vice president of Tribune Publishing, overseeing the T6 newspaper group (Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, Morning Call and Daily Press) and working with Tribune Publishing President Scott Smith to manage the Publishing group staff in Chicago. Together, Dennis, Scott and I will lead our newspapers and interactive businesses through this very challenging business climate. The way I look at it, I was able to spend 10 years of my career in one of the best jobs in the newspaper business. Now it's time for me to use the valuable experience that I've gained to help us take Tribune to the next level. At Sun-Sentinel Company, we are very fortunate to have Howard as the next president and CEO and publisher of the Sun-Sentinel. In many ways, Howard and I have worked toward this day for years. He deserves much of the credit for our success to date. No one knows our business, our employees and our community better than Howard. His strong leadership, experience and institutional knowledge will serve us well. I look forward to continuing to work with Howard and his management team. I'm honored to have served as your publisher and glad we're still on the same team working to ensure Tribune's success for years to come.

Sincerely,

Bob

Gosh, all that and he still manages to get in a plug for Transformative Change. I loves me some corn.

After the Jump: Greenberg's note

The South Florida Business Journal is reporting that Howard Greenberg has been promoted to publisher of the Sun-Sentinel while former publisher Robert Gremillion moves up the corporate ladder to oversee four Tribune newspapers.

I don't like it. Gremillion -- who will now be the corporate overlord of the Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, and Baltimore Sun -- usually managed to strike a balanced tone between the business and editorial sides of the newspaper. Greenberg, on the other hand, is one of the biggest schmoozers in Broward County and is tied at the hip with the Chamber of Commerce and the Broward Alliance, a group of business leaders out to influence elected officials led by builder Terry Stiles. Here's a key passage from a ditty I wrote concerning Greenberg back in 2004:

In the most recent edition of the [Broward Alliance] newsletter, a front-page color picture includes Sun-Sentinel Vice President Howard Greenberg. With dark slicked-back hair and a fecal grin, he's hamming it up with Broward County Mayor Ilene Lieberman, among others. Greenberg, who has served as circulation chief and development director for the newspaper, is currently the alliance's vice chairman and has long sat on the group's board. The Sun-Sentinel is also a member of the Alliance's Investor Council.

It gets worse. In the newsletter, Greenberg is quoted about his recent meetings with county officials on behalf of the alliance. The meetings are "allowing us to gain the trust and respect of each commissioner," Greenberg says, adding that they are also "putting all of us on the same page from a priorities standpoint."

Wait a second -- is the Sun-Sentinel supposed to be on the "same page" as our elected

Continue reading " Greenberg Takes Over Sun-Sentinel "...

Remember Farris Hassan, the teen who made international news when he snuck off to Iraq last year? Well, now he wants to go to Havana and report on the "loser's of Castro's regime," according to the Miami Herald's Frances Robles on her Cuban Colada blog.

Here's part of a pitch Hassan wrote to several newspapers, including the Herald (which turned the poor boy down):

“When I investigate the communist government-run collectivized farms of eastern Cuba, I will work side-by-side with the field labor, sleep in the same shacks as them, and suffer the same hardships as them, so that I will get to feel life in their shoes as much as possible. When I investigate prostitution in Havana, I will spend several days following the life of an individual prostitute, documenting the little details of her wretched life in the context of the wretched existence lived by all Cubans as they struggle to survive in a system where everyone must hustle for hard currency in the form of dollars and euros. “Such immersion in the world of my subjects will give me the elements—vivid setting, dynamic characters, rich dialogue, personal narrative, story progression by scenes—to weave a great story in extraordinary color. And the entire time I will be reporting for you.”

At least the kid has an open mind.

Finally, a personnel move at the Sun-Sentinel to celebrate. In what can only be taken as a rare promising sign, the newspaper has moved columnist Steve Svekis off the Help Team to an unspecified assignment.

Let's hope this is the beginning of the end for that experiment in journo-marketing gone horribly awry. Not that Smilin' Steve wasn't Helpful. Why just last week he advised us to turn down our water heaters. Before that he gave us a primer on mosquito sprays. Prior to that came the memorable lede: "I love me some corn." And who can forget his suggestion that we buy Mom fruits and vegetables on her big day?

Don't blame Svekis -- this is definitely a hate the game situation. It was the Help Team that did it, man. Guy should get an award for sticking it out for 14 months without shooting up a diner or something. Let's just hope his next assignment is one that isn't based on some bogus readers survey.

P.S. To get an idea of what it must have been like to be a Help Team columnist, check out the two comments under the farewell story, both from someone named "Chris" from Fort Myers. Chris is just there to bitch about his satellite TV service. "Could use someones HELP here," he concludes. "Thanks for ANY Help." I'm sure one of the dozen or so Help Team members left jumped into action. ... No?

After the Jump: Earl Maucker and Other Weekend Coverage Highlights

What follows, from John DeGroot, needs no introduction. The man knows how to find interesting statistics and they tend to indicate Florida is on the highway to hell.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
________________________________________________

We need to stop blog-flogging the Sun-Sentinel for its tragic fall into the depths of Journalism Lite aka mediocrity.

If for no other reason than the simple human compassion and charity we would extend to the dying on life support, or lost souls trapped on a sinking ship.

True, the captain and officers aboard the Good Sip Sun-Sentinel, are busy tossing the passengers overboard first in a desperate effort to save their hides.

But still…

We would not heap ridicule and scorn on the victims of Darfur just because their government sucks--- so how then can we take shameless delight in the terminal victims of Mother Tribune and her evil stock hustlers?

Thus, in the sweet spirit of mercy and charity, I call upon all men and women of good will to offer up a weekly collection of decent story ideas* for the beleaguered pod souls struggling to survive the current famine of hope at the Sun-Sentinel. (*Ideally with stuff the graphic department can play with ala the Factoids of Editor Earl

This morning came the first Showtime mag in the Sun-Sentinel with the movie reviews from the wire rather Phoebe Flowers. It really hit home. One was from Associated Press -- a right dry little thing -- and the other was from Newsday. Might as well read Parade or some other idiotic ad-bag that nobody cares about.

In other news, Charlie Crist has proven once again why he might become the greatest governor this state has ever known. He vetoed a record half-billion dollars worth of pork -- including things like a $1.3 million improvement to Las Olas Boulevard (yes, that impoverished street) and the building of a $900,000 for "gospel music education complex in Fort Lauderdale. At the same time, he refused to raise tuition rates for students. As we discussed on Barry Epstein's radio show this morning, a lot of lobbyists are having to explain to their clients this morning why their promised turkey won't be on the table this year.

Q: How does the Crist veto story tie into the killing of the Sun-Sentinel movie reviews?

After the Jump: The Answer and Something About My Wife

The Sun-Sentinel reports that a "super breed" of iguana is infesting Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods. Here's what resident Denise Fox told the city commission:

"One or two in the backyard nine years ago seems kind of fun,'' she said. "Now we've got 40 or 50 of them.''

Fox said the iguanas dig big holes, ruin house or pool foundations, and "eat our nicely landscaped yards.''

Mayor Jim Naugle told her that animal control, which includes iguanas, is Broward County's bailiwick.

"I don't know what the city itself could do,'' he said, "have an iguana patrol or iguana officers?''

Hollywood police Lt. Charles Roberts wasn't arrested for leaking news of the FBI investigation but for making false statements to feds investigating the leak.

Here's the press release:

U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney Southern District of Florida 99 N.E. 4 Street, Miami, FL 33132

(305)961-9001

May 24, 2007

NEWS RELEASE:

CHARGES FILED AGAINST HOLLYWOOD POLICE LIEUTENANT

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced that Hollywood Police Lieutenant Charles Roberts was charged in a criminal complaint with making material false statements to FBI agents who were investigating the leak of the FBI and United States Attorney’s Office’s long-term undercover investigation into ongoing corruption within the Hollywood Police Department, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.

According to the complaint, in mid-January 2007, the Hollywood Police Chief and a limited number of his command staff were informed for the first time about the federal undercover investigation, which had been ongoing since 2004. Unbeknownst to federal authorities, this detailed information was shared by the Chief with additional Hollywood Police Department command staff members. In late January or early February 2007, a command staff member provided the details of this investigation to Roberts. Roberts subsequently informed another Hollywood Police Officer of the details of the undercover investigation, and that officer in turn informed one of the targets about

Continue reading " Alleged Hollywood Leaker Arrested "...

The most e-mailed story on the Sun-Sentinel site right now is a bit surprising: It's about a rate increase on garbage pick-up in Plantation. I'm not sure how valuable these rankings are, but I think it's safe to say that the most viewed articles are the one with the widest interest while the most e-mailed are those with the most intense interest. Basically, the most e-mailed stories of the day are the ones that have enough impact on readers that they're sharing them with friends or other people they think might be affected.

I'm starting to sound like Earl Maucker. Anyway, living in Plantation, it shouldn't be surprising to me that the garbage situation in the city has created so much buzz, even if it only affects a small portion of the Sentinel's readership area. For the uninitiated, Plantation has a weird trash system that employs "blue bags" that you buy from Publix. All your garbage has to go in these bags, which cost $2.29 apiece.

And it is something of a

There is no joy in Pulpville with this announcement:

The Sun-Sentinel is transferring resident film critic Phoebe Flowers to another writing assignment and will not be running in-house movie reviews in the future. Instead, they'll be running retreads from Tribune Company heavyweights like the L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, and Newsday.

And there are murmurings that this could be a Tribune Company-wide trend that could kill local movie coverage in a number of Tribune newspaper towns.

We first got the hint from this post on Miami Herald film critic Rene Rodriguez' blog, Reeling. I contacted Rodriguez, who said his information came confidentially but that it was true. I then contacted Flowers, who confirmed that she was getting new

The headline above probably caused the blood pressure to rise among some of the Sentinel managers for a moment. In this journalistic age of early retirement buyouts and cost-cutting, the very words "age" and "discrimination" coming within 100 yards of each other make executives tremble.

But this isn't about Sentinel employees, though, it's about Sentinel subjects. On today's Local front, there's a story about 17-year-old kid from Weston accused of intentionally running over five ducks in his car, and possibly baiting them with food to set up the kill. Yeah, sick shit. That boy wasn't named by the Sentinel because of his age.

In the briefs today, there's a thing about two Sunrise teenagers who glued shut 50 doors on Piper High School. Sure it's vandalism, but it's also a prank. Anyway, the newspaper not only published their names but also slapped their pictures at the bottom of the brief to make sure their public humiliation was complete.

Why? They are 18 and happen to be months older than the duck killer.

Now, if you lived next door to all three, who would you rather know the identity of, the duck killer or the door gluers? I'm saying the duck killer. It's unfair and ludicrously arbitrary, any way you look at it. But, then again, like my grandfather always told me as I was growing up, the Sun-Sentinel isn't fair.

-- Also in today's papers, you have Todd Wright's story re: Hugh Jass. I was wary to put this article up here, since I don't fancy that ad campaign in the least. I like mildly vulgar sophomoric humor as much as anybody, but the whole name tag thing is just dull. But the juxtaposition here makes it worth posting. I guess.

Chief Judge Dale is stepping down from his throne (read Wanda DeMarzo's story here and also this one by Tonya Alanez).

I'm going to take a politic tone on this one and say that whatever you may think of Ross, it's good for this county that he's vacating his position. Seventeen years is just too long to be supreme ruler of the Broward County judiciary. From here on out there should be term limits for the job. That's all.

The latest from John DeGroot, this time on the steep increase in Baker Act exams for people involuntarily committed to the nuthouse for being a danger to themselves and/or others:

Okay. I will try to be positive.

Because last week, a Pulp Blog reader properly scolded me for being a negative Cassandra of local journalism in my regular rants re the Decline and Fall of Journalism in South Florida. While another charged that I “hate” the Sun-Sentinel.

Fair enough.

First, I do not “hate” the newspaper from which I retired after 21 years. Rather, I admit to a toxic dose of on-going rage spawned by what the newspaper could have been --- given its stunning potential back when it was the fastest-growing newspaper in Florida.

Or more to the point: Why in God’s name is today’s Sun-Sentinel so routinely boring?

Basically, I was taught – and still believe – that a newspaper’s primary goal should be to surprise its readers by offering them a daily feast of interesting and well-told stories. Trouble is, aside from it’s Sports Pages, I find the Sun-Sentinel to be the least surprising and interesting newspaper in South Florida (which may explain why it’s losing readers at a dramatically greater rate than the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post).

Or as Kurt Vonnegut once said, “It’s a writer’s job to know what is interesting and what is not.” Which, in the case of the Sun-Sentinel, its editors obviously don’t. Even worse, the editors at the Sun-Sentinel are so unimaginative and uncreative that they’ve taken to asking their readers (via market surveys and focus groups) what’s – gasp – “interesting.” Which is a tragic metaphor of how bad things are among the Pod People high atop 200 East Las Olas.

And, as for the Pulp Blog reader who properly scolded me as a

Continue reading " DeGroot Answers Critics, Offers Story"...

Here's the lede from the Tampa Tribune story, picked up by the Associated Press, on the Sunshine State Awards that were given out to journalists this weekend. See if you can spot the problem.

The Associated Press Published: May 20, 2007

MIAMI - The Tampa Tribune picked up five first-place awards Saturday night at the Florida SPJ Awards of Excellence contest, sponsored by the north central Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Yeah, they got the chapter and the name of the awards wrong. Not sure if it was an AP mistake or if the Tribune typed it in. But apparently nobody wondered why the (smaller and less influential) north central Florida SPJ chapter hold its awards ceremony in

When Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is aligned politically with the right-wing religious crowd, announced he was cracking down on "online predators," the Help Team jumped to his side.

Today, Sun-Sentinel Help Team columnist Daniel Vasquez writes about youngsters who while online are being put at "risk of dangerous contact with strangers." After reading it, I think he's angling for a job on Dateline's Perverted Justice. Take this quote:

"Even children in middle school are very familiar with all the evil on the Internet, but they're not familiar with the fact that [the evil] can get them," McCollum told me this week. "That's why parents have to get involved."

Don't you love the added "evil" in

The Sun-Sentinel busted out another hit on Hollywood over the weekend, this time focusing on waste, mismanagement, and possible corruption at the city's Arts Park in Young Circle.

Yeah right. It's all about Mayor Mara.

Giulianti is always the thing in Hollywood, just as a drunken mother is at the heart of a dysfunctional family. In this case, reporter John Holland looked at a million or so of her e-mails and found out she was trying to keep the Arts Park's nearly $15 million in cost overruns out of the public eye.

Here's the beef:

On Oct. 19, 2005, Giulianti ordered spending figures removed from a city-sponsored magazine article and fact sheet promoting the Arts Park. In a memo to Allison Hibbert, the city's public relations officer, Giulianti ordered it rewritten and said, "I don't know why we have to put in how much the project will cost. That may not be a smart move." Hibbert removed the reference.

Giulianti tried to keep the monthly Hollywood Gazette newspaper from running what she and former CRA Director Jim Edwards called a June 2005 "hard news" story about costs overruns. Giulianti sent e-mails and placed phone calls to Editor Meredith Brown saying she was "extremely

Continue reading " Mayor Mara's Arts Farce"...

Liz Doup does the Sun-Sentinel's society reporter proud. Gross was 75.

Also, as you go home to relax this weekend, remember that it's Haitian Flag Day -- a day where kids on the eastern side of Broward County fight it out in schools and on the streets. I hear Ely High in Pompano was damn near shut down because of violence between Haitian and African American youths. Let's hope they don't bring out the guns tonight.

Yeah, I had sex with a 16-year-old prostitute and got caught. Damn.

At least that's what I hear ex-North Miami City Attorney Barry Kutun saying after pleading guilty to one count of child abuse in Miami-Dade.

He's still got a felony case in Broward to contend with for paying to have sex with the young hooker, who isn't cooperating with authorities in the case.

Speaking of sex with nubile femmes, Marilyn Manson is in the papers today, lamenting his December divorce. "I was someone who had to be apologized for," he says. "I wasn't prepared to be alone. I came out of this naked, a featherless bird."

I liked him better when he hid his feelings under makeup and the macabre. So what brought the former Broward boy out of it? Well, according to the AP:

His outlook changed when his friendship with 19-year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood turned romantic. He tells the magazine he was impressed when she said she would die for him.

"It might sound strange, but this made me want to live," he says.

Yeah, wonder of wonders. Who would have thought banging a hot actress exactly half his age might lift the guy's spirits?

The Palm Beach Post's Andrew Abramson writes about a high school linebacker's gruesome injury. It's a well-done article all the way, but let me share the top few graphs here:

When Will Claunch felt some pain after tackling a teammate during a South Fork High School intrasquad football scrimmage last week, he figured he had jammed his finger.

Then he looked down at the injured digit and didn't see any skin.

"All the skin on my right (middle) finger was sliced from the base to the tip ... all the skin was gone," Claunch said.

The junior linebacker's finger got caught in the drawstring of his teammate's pants, ripping the flesh from the inside bottom of his finger from the first joint all the way to the tip, exposing the tendons.

Doctors considered amputation, but instead they attached the finger to the area between Claunch's abdomen and

Continue reading " Morning Reads "...

So I notice in the ever-burgeoning number of briefs populating the Sun-Sentinel's local section one that seems way too interesting to limit to 100 words or less:

City sues public defender over refusal to take on code cases Fort Lauderdale has sued Public Defender Howard Finkelstein for his decision to stop representing the poor in cases in which they're charged only for municipal code violations. The city wants a court to force the Public Defender's Office to continue such representation.

Finkelstein informed Broward County cities of his decision March 22 and ceased representation May 3. Finkelstein said he no longer wanted to be part of a system he thinks targeted the homeless. Cities who want to prosecute the cases must hire private defense attorneys, he said.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, argues the public defender is legally bound to represent the poor in municipal code cases. Fort Lauderdale also sued the state's Justice Administrative Commission, arguing its refusal to pay for special public defenders is unconstitutional.

Here's a story with a good conflict, allegations of governmental abuse, and one of the most

Funny Cide Leads To Funny Case

It's not the ruling that's especially noteworthy, though -- it's the legal opinion written by Judge Gary M. Farmer.

You might remember the case: After the 2003 Kentucky Derby, the Herald alleged that Funny Cide's jockey, Jose Santos, used an electronic device in his hand to prod the colt to victory at Churchill Downs. But the Herald was wrong, embarrassingly so. It did the right thing, though, and ran a correction and apology.

Funny Cide went on to win the Preakness, but lost the Belmont Stakes, coming in third. The gelding's owners then sued the Herald, claiming that the false article had caused Santos to over-ride the horse in an attempt to vindicate the horse in the Belmont and thus lose the coveted Triple Crown -- and the millions of dollars that would have come from it.

Ridiculous, right? Of course it is -- and the appellate court upheld the lower court by ruling that there were no provable damages in the case:

Here, despite the novelty and creativity of the allegations, it cannot be said that the loss of the Belmont and the Triple Crown was a direct and immediate result of the Herald article. Simply put, it was not legally foreseeable that the article would cause the jockey to over-ride the horse in the Preakness, sapping the horse of its strength, and resulting in a third-place finish in the Belmont. Those damages are too tenuous and this claim cannot be countenanced in the law.

In the written opinion, Judge Farmer took advantage of the outlandish nature of the proceeding to write one of the strangest -- and most entertaining -- legal papers in the state's history (tell me if I've gone too far after you've read it). In it, Farmer brings up Guys and Dolls, the Fugue for Tinhorns, Ecclesiastes, and a good bit of Triple Crown history. His footnotes include lines like: "Does all this sound like it came from a newspaper guy who wrote a book and a songwriter who put it to words and music?" and "Is there still a two-dollar window?"

More than an exercise in creative writing, it's a repudiation of the boring legal screeds we reporters are too often cursed to read. Of judicial writing, Farmer opines:

"Most of it is dreary and tedious. ... opinions are filled with 'long, vague and fuzzy words.' Another critic has described them as 'wordy, unclear, pompous, and dull.' ... A surprising number are way too long. There is often a painstaking account of background and trial which turns out to be unnecessary to grasp the essential issues to be decided."

Amen.

Click below to read the entire eight-page opinion, which I painstakingly include in all its glory (and thanks to New Times writer Kelly Cramer for the heads-up on the ruling).

After the Jump: Judge Farmer's Opinion

Erstwhile Pulp contributor Ellen Dalton, from Greenacres, reports that the Sun-Sentinel is tightening its belt in Tallahassee and that longtime capital writer Mark Hollis has been called back to South Florida. I haven't confirmed any of it, but Dalton also touches on Howard Goodman's move -- I'm told involuntary move -- from the printed page to the Internet:

So the Sun-Sentinel has ended its Metro column in Palm Beach County. (The columnist, Howard Goodman, remains with the news operation -- apparently in some blog-editing capacity) How can a publication that purports to be a major metropolitan newspaper (though it won't be if circulation keeps dropping) not have a columnist in its second-largest county?

And, as of last week, the S-S told longtime Tallahassee bureau reporter Mark
Hollis that it was cutting back the Capitol operation and that he'd have the option of coming back to So Fla to work to work for the mother ship.

Sounds like Earl Maucker needs a help team to figure out what to do for his sinking ship.

After the jump: DeGroot on Road Rage

Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has some very eager employees working for her in Washington, according to TheHill.com.

Read the article here. Most interesting hire is one Rachel Streitfeld, of Plantation. Might she be the daughter of Broward County Circuit Judge Jeffrey E. Streitfeld?

Seriously, is she? Not that there's anything really wrong with it, but I don't know.

UPDATE: The Hill newspaper can't get enough of Streitfeld, apparently. Watch out -- Rachel wants to run for office someday.

Every morning, an article in your daily newspaper should get under your skin, make you angry. And I'm not talking about a crime story, where all the lazy comfortable schmucks in this town sit around talking about what a shame, say, the killing of a restaurateur by a robber in front of his customers. No, horrific as that is, it's too easy. I'm talking about a story that gets you where you live. America. A story that assaults the ideals on which this country was founded -- and feels like a slap, or SLAPP, to your face.

There was such a story this morning (and it happened to have been written by someone who lives where I live) in the Sun-Sentinel. The developer of the high-rise tower next to the historic Stranahan House is suing opponents of its construction, including one activist personally. Related Group is suing in part because the opponents said the Related Group is trying to "destroy" the Stranahan House and called the developers "greedy."

What an outrage. Calling a developer greedy. Almost as bad as trying to stop a 42-story building from ruining downtown.

I wasn't really against building the thing before, but now I'd like to see the Related Group run right out of town. For once I agree with attorney Bill Scherer, who represents the Stranahan House and called the legal action a classic SLAPP suit -- Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.

"I think it makes their black hat blacker," he told the newsaper. "Bigger and blacker."

That's a damn fine quote, Bill. Related Group's attorney, Don Hall, on the other hand, should get ready for some serious ridicule and Related Group founder Jorge M. Perez might as well be resigned to fight hard for every single brick he ever wants to lay in Broward County, because he's now officially become Public Enemy No. 1.

But hey, everything is fair in love, war, and South Florida development right? Shouldn't the greedy Related Group be able to utilize everything in the arsenal -- whether it has any merit or not -- to destroy the Stranahan House?

Sure, but it must suffer the public lacklash for trying to crush free speech and, perhaps even more egregious, for suing activist Scott Strawbridge personally. Here's what Brittany Wallman wrote:

Strawbridge, who led a political action committee against the condo, said he is "sad" to be sued.

"The thought that they want to hold me personally responsible is, uh," he stopped and sighed. "I have to think of the right word to describe it. It's unbelievable."

I concur -- and, for some strange reason, emphathize heavily with you, Scott. The great majority of the people are behind you. Hang tough.

After the jump: Fred Grimm On JAABlog, Dale Ross, and the Wheel

Young reporters read this latest screed from John DeGroot carefully -- your life just might resemble it.

Here's the text/outline DeGroot sent the Pulp this morning:

Yesterday’s Sunday editions of the Miami Herald and Sun-Sentinel were textbook examples of Journalism Redux. Well done, yes. But….

In the case of the Herald, it was Part One of yet another series on “What’s With Cuba?” – a question that’s been around since the Spanish-American War.

In pandering to a different market, the Sun-Sentinel gave us Part One of a yet another series on “More Development & More People” – a subject as old as the first Conquistadors (here's Part 2).

Okay. In all fairness, Journalism Redux has been the warp and woof of the news business for as long as I can remember.

For example: While South Florida’s news media have Cuba and Growth, the small town daily I worked for as a fuzz-faced reporter back in Ohio had the Pothole Crisis – a source of annual local outrage which we wrote about every year when frozen roads began to thaw.

No matter. Be it Cuba, Growth, or Potholes, it’s still the SOS – or the Same Old Shit.

And therein lies both the rub and the creative challenge for the news media, which is: How to repackage their SOS to make it look like new

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