The Rothstein Affair: What Does It Mean?

• Kudos to karmakid, agree with all you have said! Debra V or whatever she calls herself is a professional liar and I believe has taken acting lessons! Lol She is not the poor little screwed up girl from Texas, she is just pissed she got caught. Debra and her low life kids would be flaunting Uncle Scotts money and treating the average Joe's like servants, they are all guilty of having no morals and treating others like veal! Karmas a Bitch Baby

• Doesn't look like Pulp dragged her name through the mud..looks more like her "BFF" jumped on that bandwagon. DVC ..remember she is married...again...so she has new initials but regardless oF what she calls herself, she is a real piece of work and if the Feds think she hasn't hidden money, then we are all in trouble...please. She must be spilling her guts everyday to try and get a reduced sentence....she "serviced" SR in more than one way seems like and talk was her kid did too...you know the old "uncle Scott" routine. DVC is a mean hateful person who looked out for herself at the expense of others and deserves to be put away for a long time. Dont think for a minute that the new husband doesn't have access to the hidden millions...why else would he be with her in Clue-lesston. He was an ass driving the maserati and showing off his watches and 'toys", going to the islands like he was somebody so they have a lot in common.She is a wretched bitch just based on what she did to the young employees at the firm. And Pulp..can you move the 'concrete" conversation to it's on blog?

• So Rothstein slept with his young female associates and Pulp believes there is no connection to the Melissa Lewis murder? Yawn...I knew Melissa and she was embarrassed as hell at her youthful indiscretions with the asshole who she later came to despise....Nice job of dragging her reputation through the mud after she can no longer defend herself Pulp. If you truly think there is no connection (and I agree with you on hat) why even bother to bring it up, other than to satisfy the bizarre sexual fantasies of some of your bloggers who have penis envy for Scotty Boy. Now Scotty banging the Bova girls......that's news!

• @ jad- Parrish is at it again. Lori Parrish is trying to block the acquisition of Arrowhead Golf Course in Davie, in support of the Seminole Tribe of FL's bid to get hold of 135 acres in the middle of Davie. Along with her judge husband, Geoff Cohen, former Davie Town Attorney/Councilmember/Mayor Monroe Kiar and former Councilmember Mike Crowley. She is threatening a lawsuit via her buddy Bill Scherer. Wonder how much $ of gambling proceeds was going in the burlap bag or brown bag "illegally", to contribute to campaign coffers? What political favors, higher immorality was promised? Hopefully, the FEDS, FDLE, the US and State Attorney offices are "paying close attention" to this "motley crew". As the beat goes on, As Davie Turns...please pass the air sickness bag.

• Fresh Air, that is excatly what happened at the school board. Still trying to justify the actions of the corrupt SBBC construction initiative? It is mandated that new school construction is evaluated and approved based on the most current plant survey. The school board set agenda items for vote in an expited manner in order to circumvent the current plant survey, that showed the economic slowdown was under way, in favor of the expired plant survey showing the need for more new schools. This was done for the very reasoning you claim is not true......"hurry up before people realize this isn't necessary". The records clearly reflect the bending of the rules and regulations by Garretson and his band of merry pranksters to facilitate the direction of construction funding to the new school projects. Meanwhile, the decaying eastside schools continued to crumble. If not true, then why all the arrests and charges against various school board entities. It is somewhat fortunate that Garretson passed because I am confident he would be knee deep in these corruption proceedings.

• How does the county determine how many and where the bus stops will be? I am assuming that there was not much ridership on the stops that were eliminated. In that case disabled person stand a better chance of getting a ride due to paratransit than able bodied persons who depended on those stops. I do not see this as an ADA issue. Only able bodied persons suffer from the elimination of these stops.

• Here is Warren Buffet saying the Rich have never had it better than they have it now under Obama. And that they should pay more in taxes. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/21/warren-buffett-paying-more-taxes_n_786516.html

• It's not the same service. Being able to use a sidewalk at your convenience any time you want is not the same as having to make arrangements for a van to come to your house. The attorney probably didn't bring it up because he knows it's not a valid point. Brittany's article is unclear about whether the $245,000 was for all 1,400 bus stops or only for the 54 that were shut down so the cost per bus stop is not clear. If it was for all 1,400 though, that works out to $175 per bus stop. Not a whole lot of room for graft.

• Since we may have beaten this bus stop issue to a pulp (no pun intended), read how Warren Buffet repudiates " trickle down economics", stating Rich people in this country should pay MORE in taxes. This follows David Stockman's complete repudiation of Reaganomics and the GOP's policies in general. Stockman was Director of OMB under Reagan. Say Uncle you green blazer wearing jackals. Let's see if Obama has the balls to stick to his guns on this issue. If FDR were President, you people would be the ones who need handicap assistance because he would ride his wheelchair right across your jugular veins. And it would be completely justified!

• Here's what Hammerhead had to say: "they expedited the project so that they could pay the contractors before the public was able to catch on to the reduction in bus routes." I asked for some supporting documentation for that bold claim and got none. I don't understand how you "get" what Hammerhead is trying to say other than you are hearing what you want to hear and believing what you want to believe without the introduction of any facts. Say what you want about me but I have attempted to bring some facts into this discussion. I've said from the beginning that it is a travesty that the bus routes were canceled instead of some other service or pay raise to a county official. You're right. You can get carried away with "algebra" but you can also get carried away with cynically thinking that every single action by government has hidden meaning and is rife with corruption. As for the "emergency" claim, Wallman's article said the work was done over the last five years. Sounds like a pretty slow pace to me, not a case of "hurry up before people realize this isn't necessary" like you think happened with school construction. Hammerhead may be right. If so, I'd join him in complaining about it. But simply saying something is so doesn't make it so. Sometimes a sidewalk repair is just a sidewalk repair. As to your final point, I'm a liberal-minded individual that thinks we should all chip in for the greater good. The Americans with Disabilities Act was landmark legislation that separates this country from many others. Most of us have disabled relatives and the ADA requirements have greatly enhanced their lives. There is waste in this county and in every other county. Giving raises to staffers while simultaneously cutting services is wrong. Bringing the bus stops up to code was not. Know something about waste? Expose it. But making false accusations diminishes our message.

• The disabled person who brought the lawsuit in the first place probably never once tried to use paratransit. Wonder why the attorney didn't think to bring this up?

• County and State/DOT should enter into talks to negotiate fees so it is fair across the board instead of two different governmental agencies blindly providing the same services. Fresh Air needs to redo the math on the cost since making the statement of it being almost five grand per bus stop.

• I wonder how many other counties have been hornswaggled into duplicating this same service.

• It is available in I believe every county in Florida. http://www.dot.state.fl.us/ctd/contacts/ctcsbycounty.htm#6 I will give you the win on the fee. Fee should be the same as the bus unless they get discounts.

• We were talking about St Louis MO the other day It is rated The Most Dangerous City in America now, Camden NJ second place.I wonder what City is the most corrupt in the USA???

• Fresh Air - I've taken time to review your comments. I get what Hammerhead is trying to say and have seen enough to find merit in his/her comments regarding, what I'd call graft, or at least waste. You can get carried away with your thinker's version of an algebra problem with the cubic yards of concrete and hiring minority sub-contractors and that is all a very fun exercise, but what about this question...If the bus routes are there to provide a service to the most needy and vulnerable constituents in the county, why would the commission spend money to make them handicap accessible and then shut down the bus routes while keeping their over payed staff? That doesn't help create jobs unless they want to count the jobs open because those who counted on the bus service have been fired for not showing up. That would sure be a skewed statistic and one that provides an advantage to someone with a car or no disability. Didn't out-going commissioner Al C. Jones give his Chief-of-Staff a raise just before leaving? I can see where a young and budding Chief-of-Staff is more important than providing valuable services to handicapped would make sense...don't you? NOT. For your background, I do know the costs (or can access the costs) of concrete and the other miscellaneous materials involved in the bus stop upgrades (have family in the business). What I also know, having been in the construction business for more years than not, is that projects like these become urgent when something is on the horizon that, when known, would ruin the "emergency" claim. That is why I understand Hammerhead's position. Surely the heart-tugging nature of the project and the (then) perceived emergency were enough for any commissioner to soft-sell the idea. Fresh Air, I want you to educate me on why justifying these projects is so important to you; why you believe or do not believe that the commission is misusing their budgets at the expense of critical services to both handicapped and non-handicapped, and; why are you so militant when addressing anyone who perceives and agrees that there is waste in the county. I'll hang up and listen...

• Pretty pathetic, like who really cares about how many woman Rothstein fucked and concrte sidewalks...who the fuck cares...get a life people....

• You're wrong for many reasons. You keep making the point that the county has provided an alternate means of transportation for the disabled, therefore the ADA repairs were unnecessary. Forcing someone to pay $3.50 each way for the paratransit van instead of paying $1.75 each way for standard bus fare is discriminatory and not an equivalent alternative. Just imagine the lawsuits if THAT happened.

• @8:14 Not everyone is like you. Thank God.

• My case and point. If the sidewalk work was done solely so that the bus stops would meet ADA code because of an ADA lawsuit then the work was completely unnecessary. I would bet my bottom dollar that the attorney for the county did not even argue paratransit transportation. ***************** Fresh Air says: "Undertaking sidewalks to correct issues of non compliance is not the same thing as bringing the bus stop up to compliance. " Huh? The sidewalks were corrected to make the bus stops functional. What's your point? Posted On: Monday, Nov. 22 2010 @ 8:12AM

• Did you give it to him? I'm guessing "no".

• @ jad Your case study/primer on the way things work deserves and could enlighten a wider audience. I'm drawing a blank on possibilities (I thought first of journals of anthropology and psychology), but undoubtedly there's a forum that would be exactly right. The material might be a little raw for the more mainstream publications on government and political science, which right there is a sad commentary. Nevertheless, this valuable historical account, interspersed with useful interpretive remarks, could become a foundation document in a movement to reform county government.

• "Undertaking sidewalks to correct issues of non compliance is not the same thing as bringing the bus stop up to compliance. " Huh? The sidewalks were corrected to make the bus stops functional. What's your point?

• 25 Cents. I was approached by a man the other day. He said he didn't know that the bus fares went up in October (apparently he doesn't read New Times) he asked me for 25 cents to get on the ride.

• I went back and re-read Brittany Wallman's article and have a few more points. First of all, 54 bus stops weren't repaired, 1,400 were (54 were taken out of service after the repairs). And I take issue with Ms. Wallman's statement that "The $245,000 expense was for naught." It would be for naught if the bus stops were permanently shut down but concrete lasts for 20 or 30 years - when the economy recovers, those bus stops will still be there waiting to be put back into use.

• Undertaking sidewalks to correct issues of non compliance is not the same thing as bringing the bus stop up to compliance. The only thing I was incorrect on is there is a fee for the paratransit just as there is for bus service unless you have met other requirements. I know several people who use the paratransit service. You are incorrect about about it being for those with more sever disabilites. If someone in a wheelchair has to be assisted once they get to the bus it is no longer within the realm of able.

• I didn't know the Lewis woman was the exwife of an FBI agent. Interesting.

• There are varying degrees of disability. There are highly functional people that lead ordinary lives that wheel themselves down to the bus stop and catch a ride. Federal law requires that we accommodate them by building sidewalks with certain widths, slopes, and maximum elevation variations at transitions. The bus stop renovations were undertaken to correct issues of non-compliance. The paratransit service is, frankly, intended for those with more severe disabilities that prevent them from riding the bus like a more functionally disabled person can. There is no duplication of service here folks. And both forms of transportation require the payment of a fare from the person being transported - it's not a free service ($3.50 each way for the paratransit van). Those that would choose not to bring the sidewalks into compliance or to cancel the paratransit service are no better than the commissioners that shut down bus routes to save money.

• Open space bonds are created so that elected officials can purchase land from parties in collusion for exorbinate amounts over market value.

• Anonymous @ 5:22 AM It�s called duplication of services. Broward County finds ways to double bill. It�s what they do. And, the county is accepted as believable, while acting unbelievably, as it sells the public on yet another duplicitous plan that the public (easily) becomes convinced it needs. Sometimes the county does not need citizen input, when tax dollars are used for a project that just shows up as an agenda item. Other times, the public input is necessary, especially when the item needs a majority vote of the �qualified electors.� Once upon a time in Broward County, when there was a devoted readership of the local newspapers (because the people believed that these newspapers printed what was known as the truth and would not steer the readership to vote for something that would be against the good of the citizenry), the Sun-Sentinel would sell the people on voting �YES� on bonds. Once convinced, the outcome would be that the public would only have to pay extra millage on their ad valorem tax bill for a period of time, that is usually thirty years, for a bill of goods that was just that and no more. That is because it would not have been necessary to purchase whatever it was that was being sold as necessary because the county already owned whatever it was that was being sold. For example, the county would sell the public on the need to enter into a debt so that the public would be provided with environmentally sensitive lands (�ESL�). The public would somehow be lead to believe that this would be necessary, in order to save dwindling green space, which had been touted as space that has been deemed worthy to purchase NOW or else it could forever disappear. Once the public bought into the county�s scheme, the county would pull a fast one, without the citizenry being any the wiser. While a bean-counter might size up a certain number that could be trouble for a program of this type, I�m guessing that the trouble was usually no worry. That would be so, because the county had the ability to silence any �dissident,� especially with the newspapers on the county�s side ready, willing, & able to lend their prostituted services to publish libelous matter to make the �dissident� appear to not know exactly what is being presented. In the ESL scheme, sold to the people in 1987, the public ended up with land that was already owned by the county. West Lake in Hollywood was already owned by the county, yet the county used $11 million of the $87 million ESL bond money for this particular purchase. The way that this was done was through falsifying county records. After the fact, when the county became aware that what they were doing was a violation of the bond, the county altered the resolution of the documents that they had approved. Someone simply modified the conjunction �and,� so that it would read as (and have the changed meaning of) �or otherwise�. In this way, the county was able to use the eleven million dollars to mitigate the property, known as West Lake, a property already owned by the county, before the public even heard of a need for ESLs. That was not the worst of the matter in the duplicitous nature of the county in taking advantage of a trusting, taxpaying citizenry. The county permitted Allen Swerdlow (of Hollywood, Inc.) and any other favored developer to claim the West Lake property as open space, which meant that favored developers did not need to dedicate space for parks or pay a premium price for the county to acquire such open space. The county granted this especial allowance to whomever was favored at the time, even though the category for ESLs was different than the category for open space/parks. (I believe that parks had been classified under a section 5, while the other was classified under section 9, in the Broward County Comprehensive Plan, back in the 1990s 10-year plan.) Thus, the people were paying tens of millions for a bond (which had been diminished since it had already enriched quite a few lawyers, bond dealers, accountants, and the like) that was supposed to provide for (extra open space, that were) ESLs, when in reality the main object that was provided was an excuse for the developers to continue developing (and not have to dedicate that �extra open space�). Yes, the public was paying out so that the developers could pocket more profit. It was unseemly. However, like the average citizen, I would never have known about such criminal behavior and conflicts of interest (since it most certainly was not reported in the local newspapers, dependent on glory & gifts from their advertisers). I realized what was occurring due to the fact that I had been appointed by the county commissioners to sit on the Board with oversight of the ESL bond moneys. This Board seemed to have not been established to really do anything. At the first meeting, county employees and news-people were there taking every one�s pictures (to make every one feel important, as shouldn�t those selected feel a sense of self-importance when so few would be selected). Indeed, we were made to feel special. Coffee was brewing. Cookies and other sweets had been laid out for us -- and our invited guests. (We had the right to invite anyone that we wanted so that we could expose them to the picture of how much we were needed in order that they should go back to tell others how much value we had.) The members of the Board sat around a table in front of the guests, and anyone of us could speak on anything we chose. We could discuss new programs, or speak to what we thought should be done with moneys from the bonds (like that really even mattered, since the main purchases had already happened and the bond moneys had dwindled). Each one of the Board members could seem very, very important in that meeting room at Secret Woods, where that park was only open for us (and of course, our invited guests). During the time that the meeting was supposed to have been held, I noticed a stack of papers on our table, and picked one up & read it. It was a listing of the agenda items that we were supposed to be discussing. I immediately brought this to the attention of Gil McAdams, who was the county employee closest to me. His answer made me feel uneasy. He said that we did not need to address the agenda items -- that it was OK to continue as we were. Needless to say, I was not that much of a hit at that meeting, because I felt that we had to stick to the agenda (since one did exist). I then inquired, from Bob Harbin, about the materials that the document made it appear that we had received (which were in regards to the Pine Island Ridge property in Davie). That�s when other county employees were made aware that I might have been questioning the role of the Board. At that time, the county employees spoke so that everyone could hear what was being discussed. They chided me for requesting documents to review, as though I had been acting as a wet blanket and could be seen as destroying the peace and harmony of the get-together of so many �major,� �noted� environmentalists (taking their time to sit on this county Board, instead of enjoying themselves with other pursuits). I couldn�t imagine that sitting on the Board took away from the people who had been appointed, and a check of the people sitting around the table assured me of that fact. We were being treated like royalty and we were becoming VIPs in the community because we had been chosen to be seated. I could see from that first meeting and the way that the invited guests had acted that we would be entitled to perks. One of the perks would be speaking engagements. While many will say that that is not really a perk, I would disagree. That is because if you have a message that needs to be heard, it is far easier for you to be invited to speak before a group of people (because of your position) than try to knock on doors (as an unknown) that probably won�t open or that just give you a small audience (because you have NO position). One of my speaking engagements was before the Rotary Club at Bonaventure Country Club. At that particular engagement, a man by the name of Austin Tupler asked me about the prowess of Lori Parrish, who he knew as an environmentalist, and he wouldn�t let me continue until I gave him an answer that would be agreeable with his comments. I did not want to insult the then-county commissioner, but I did not feel that she was an environmentalist. I had spoken to her. The way that she handled the situation brought to her attention (about the Secret Woods meetings that never had the documents that were listed) was to speak to most of the other �environmentalists� on the Board overseeing the expenditures of the ESL bond, to tell them to tell me to stop talking about the missing documents & misspending of the ESL bond money or else she would disband the group. That did not make me think that she was an environmentalist. On the contrary, since the ESL purchases were being fraudulently used by developers to overbuild in the county, I believed that she could not possibly be what she wanted people to believe that she said that she was. Anyway, Lori Parrish remained true to her word and disbanded the group even though I stepped down from my position (to prevent the Board from being dissolved). I suppose that she knew that discredit had already been brought to the Board because of the double billings or double purchases that had been discovered. West Lake wasn�t the only double. A property in the Town of Davie, known as Pine Island Ridge had similar characteristics. The difference seemed to be that the ownership of Pine Island Ridge may have been partly by that Town, or maybe not. I had found that a State of Florida Conservation and Recreation Lands (�CARL�) grant had been used to purchase the land, with a matching fund (that was either county backed or from the Town) prior to the ESL bond. I questioned how the bond money could have been used to buy an ESL that was already owned as an ESL. I also requested information that would reveal just who had received the ESL bond money (because the property was already publicly owned). Certainly, I did not want the county to have ended up purchasing the site a second time from Sea Ranch Properties and, I wondered why the county would have to use over $7 million to purchase the property from itself (or, whether the State would want its money back, if the purchase was from whoever had thrown money into the deal). I never got any answers for those queries (and, like I said, the Board was dissolved by the county). I don�t know if that helps you understand what the county did with that ADA money. Who knows, the county may have had several times that amount, and had to do something because some of it was federal. I just have to tell you that based on personal experience, I have caught the county double billing (red-handed), but nothing is ever done about it. Around 1993 or 1994, I thought that something might be done when I was contacted by the FBI. The �agents� that contacted me were 2 women. This was back when Robert Lewis, the husband of Melissa Lewis was one of the FBI agents out of the Miami office. Anyway, I stopped talking to them because whatever I said seemed to go to the county, which the county used to bury or destroy the documents that I was talking about. It was just a good thing that I had certified almost everything that I pulled. You just can�t trust these agencies. I�m still waiting for a clean investigation in my lifetime.

• And subject to an $11,000 fine. That is insanity.

• I also have issues with the TSA probe. We have millions of illegals in this country it is politically incorrect to profile. Yet everyone who flies WITHIN the US is now a suspected terrorist.

• From the article: Schwartz called public transportation a "basic service'' that the county should be encouraging, after allowing development to spread across it. Seems disabled persons have already been accomodated way beyond "basic services". Florida has won awards for this service and is a model for all other states to live up to.

• Maybe some layoffs are long overdue at the paratransit agency.

• I don't object to helping the handicapped. I object to duplicating services for them and meeting settlement obligations after they've already been accomodated. The concrete was an unnecessary agenda.

• Interesting debate between Fresh Air and Anonymous on this handicap bus issue. My inclination is to side with accomodating the handicap, but it will almost certainly be under utilized. How often do you drive into a parking lot for a commercial shopping center and almost every handicap spot in front is empty? How about "everytime"? It's a complicated issue because as a society, we do have to do everything in our power to help the handicap, and therefore even if the services are under utilized and/or duplicated, the alternative is to not accomodate. The other question I have for anonymous is, you fancy yourself as a fiscal conservative. Do you object to the corporate sudsidies in this country with the same passion that you object to helping the handicapped? I understand this is a local issue, but I would bet you never open your mouth when the wealthy feed at the public trough, which they do more often than you could imagine. Or, did you just have nightmares about Raymond Burr when you were young?

• It is insane to pour money into an ADA project while an agency sits idly by, waiting to service the disabled since the year 1990. Now how does Broward lose a lawsuit filed in 2003 over this? Who is the dog and who is the pony?

• The only reason elected officials (and lawyers) get away with pulling the wool over our eyes is because the general public is ignorant to important details especially when it doesn't pertain to them.

• As far as I am concerned and that is speaking from an actuarial point of view is that the accomodation has been made and there was never a need for duplication of services to begin with. No need for concrete if the generating factor was ADA compliance so that disabled riders could use BCT. You may think it's the right thing to do but that is your opinion. We all would like to do as much as possible. However, from a legal standpoint the obligation looks to have been met.

• The ADA Paratransit Service is for persons with physical, cognitive, emotional, visual or other disabilities, which functionally prevent them from using the Broward County Transit (BCT) fixed route bus system permanently, temporarily or under certain conditions. http://www.broward.org/BCT/Services/Documents/adaapp.pdf Fresh Air I don't know how much more ADA compliant our municipality can be. Normal life they cannot have because of their disability. They have been accomodated. This should have never made it to court or settlement.

• What a load of crap. The paratransit system is "for persons with disabilities who are unable to use the regular fixed route bus system." That doesn't apply to every disabled person. Most handicapped people just want to try and lead normal lives -- that means showing up for a bus on a fixed schedule, not sitting around all day waiting for a van to show up at their house. They can't do that when the facilities aren't up to the ADA code. Fixing the bus stops was the right (and legal) thing to do.

• From the article: The county has about 200 more bus stops to improve for wheelchair accessibility. The county has no choice but to upgrade them, Walton said, under a county settlement on a 2003 ADA lawsuit. From me: What asshole attorney was representing the county in this case? His/her client had alternate means of public transportation in the form of paratransit services.

• Bob tell Brittany to find out why the commission felt the need to duplicate services or pour concrete for services that have already been met with our tax dollars. Fresh Air you can put that in your pipe and smoke it.

• Broward County Mass Transit Division "TOPS" Broward County Paratransit Service 3201 W Copans Road Pompano Beach, FL 33069 Broward County Transit (BCT) provides ADA paratransit service for persons with disabilities who are unable to use the regular fixed route bus system. To be eligible for this program, each applicant must submit a written application and have this application verified by a physician. You may request an application by calling the customer service number shown below. Broward County Transit also provides free transportation services for elderly and/or disabled Broward County residents who receive meals at designated nutrition sites in Broward County. The nutrition sites are responsible for enrolling their clients in this special program. Telephone Number: 954.357.6794 TDD: 954.357.8330 FAX: 954.978.0795 Website: www.co.broward.fl.us/bct

• Why would Broward Commission even put all that money into making it easier for the handicapped to ride public transportation? They can make a phone call and get picked up at their doorstep by a van. Oh yes they can. If they are taking public transportation they are more than likely on medicaid and that qualifies them for paratransit non-medical transportation. It services the disabled and the elderly. Florida happens to be a model for the nation.

• christy, you're the best taking that clown's silly question and laying down some knowledge. now we know.

• "The name comes from rugby. In that sport, when a player advances the ball into his opponent's end zone, he has to physically touch the ball down to the ground for the score to count. Football originally used the same rule but abandoned it in the early 20th century while retaining the terminology." Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_they_call_it_a_touchdown#ixzz15yrUYIgW

• Wow, now this is real journalism. "Combine that with what we already know about Rothstein and it's almost surely true."

• The fact remains they cut the routes. They should reinstate them and utilize the upgrades. The handicapped and the other riders need their bus service!

• 8:46 PM is ABSOLUTELY full of crap. The cost of concrete is for the material ONLY. And $70/CY is CHEAP. I recall that it was more like $90 to $100 per yard five years ago. The companies that provide the material are not in the business of forming, reinforcing, and placing it. If you see a concrete price, it is always for material only. You must hire someone else to form, place, and finish it.

• Okay, now we're getting somewhere. $70 per cu yard, assuming that was the going rate at the time, is for the material cost from the concrete supplier only. The contractor that buys the concrete still has to set up barricades to protect the public from the dangers of construction, demo the existing sidewalk, pay the salary and insurance costs for laborers to pick up the heavy chunks of concrete and haul them away, pay for the trucks, fuel, and insurance. Buy a payment and performance bond. Advertise and seek out disadvantaged subcontractors to fulfill the county's requirements for small business participation, hire someone to bring in a bobcat to excavate the sidewalk, hire someone to compact the soil, hire someone to test the soil for proper compaction, hire someone to form, reinforce, and finish the concrete that the concrete company delivers at $70 per cubic yard, pay someone to monitor the work until the concrete cures, so vandals don't leave their names and handprints in the concrete, hire someone to re-work the irrigation system, hire someone to deliver and install and water and fertilize sod and possibly an electrician to run lighting circuits to the bus stop shelter and any irrigation pumps or timers, a miscellaneous metals subcontractor for any required bollards to protect fire hydrants, possibly some chain link fencing, then pay someone to survey the completed project and provide "as-built" plans for the county's archives. It's not cheap. Most contractors are lucky if they don't lose money.

• Vick for President Chaz Vice President

• Why do they call it touchdown? They throw and run the ball, so the question stands, why do they call it touchdown?

• Touchdown Vick and the gay birds

• @ 8:47PM the only COMEMIERDA here is YOU!

• who cares about how much concrete costs, you see what I mean, idiots talking about nothing?

• Where are the regulars: Virgil DF3 Christy ATG Btan Jets Fan Judge Sirica Local Lawyer Local Joe Unowho Billy D and all the other comemierdas?

• Stamped and decorative concrete don't cost that damn much!

• And that $70 per yard covers grading, laying the foundation, labor and reinforcement for those of you who don't know.

• Concrete was going for what $70 per cu yard at the time? How many yards per bus stop where they doing? 66? Do you have any idea how many square yards is covered by 66 cubic yards?

• Great game tonight Giants @ Eagles - Vick is the man but the Eagles are just gay birds. Go Giants!

• When was the last time any of you did this that and the other?

• isn't' kind of stupid for you all you comemierdas to talk about things that are just blah blah blah.

• Viva Chaz and all the Chazets

• Anon at 8:21, The article is about bus routes that were canceled due to lack of funds. Why on earth would you make baseless accusations about the contractors that completed the work years ago? I just did some quick math and found that $250 million divided by 54 bus stops = $4,629 per bus stop. Where's the fraud? There's no way a construction company could demolish an existing sidewalk, haul away the concrete, pay disposal fees, form, reinforce, and pour a new sidewalk, then restore the sod, mulch, and other landscaping for 1/10th of that price. You're paranoid and out of your mind.

• Only I bet the charge to the county was 10 times what it should have cost. there was proises for other lucrative work also at inflated costs and kickbacks to Keechl et el.

• Hammerhead at 8:00 PM: Can you please elaborate? What do you mean by "who said the plan was for the contractors to "keep" the money?" If 54 bus stops were improved over 5 years there were probably many contractors that made a very small profit on the work. Seriously, a sidewalk/ramp at a bus stop couldn't cost more than a few thousand bucks and most of that is materials and labor. The profit is next to nothing. If you were handicapped and had to use public transportation, you would feel differently about the county's decision to spend a few thousand dollars at every bus stop to make life better for you.

• Where's the fiction? According to Brittany Wallman's reporting, the bus stop improvements were planned and carried out over the last 5 years: "For five years, Broward County has been pouring money into pouring concrete. Bus stops across the county were improved with fresh, wide concrete slabs for bus riders in wheelchairs." I think that most readers would see this as a rare but positive community improvement. If the improvements were planned 5 years ago -- in 2005 or earlier -- it was at the height of the boom. Upgrading 54 concrete slabs at bus stops scattered across the county costs PEANUTS. Like I said before, its a travesty that bus service has been cut to those, or any, routes. But the cutting of the routes is in no way linked to the improvements, it's just a symptom of our near-depression economy combined with poor decision making on what to cut out of the budget. I challenge you to provide evidence to the contrary.

• What's it mean? It means that Debra Villegas, irrespective of motive or lack thereof, may be telling the truth, or part of it, or none of it. Beyond my personal doubts as to Tony Villegas' participation in the murder, it means what it always means, that those who behave in manner of Mr. Rothstein and his many colorful 'associates' are as stones tossed into mudpuddles. That which they do spreads in all directions and splashes many innocents with misery and death. It never ceases to amaze, and always bears repetition, that a even small ship of corruption can leave in broad and deep destruction in its wake. Paul Vincent Zecchino Manasota Key, Florida 21 November, 2010

• You're right Fresh Air. It's perfectly acceptable to spend close to a quarter of a million dollars on fix up and concrete paths only to eliminate the routes. The coffers were never flush. You have a history on this site of being utterly ignorant to what's actually going on and extremely arrogant in your narror thinking.

• Who said the plan was for the contractors to "keep" the money??????? C'mon Fresh Air.

• Concrete companies don't make shit on a few dozen individual bus stop pads spread out across the county. Utter nonsense.

• Certainly more than you can back your fictional account Fresh Air.

• Anonymous at 6:42, the entire country, if not the world, is still reeling from the bubble that burst. I guess you sold your house at the peak, knowing that the bubble was about to pop. Hammerhead, just stating that doesn't make it a fact. Can you back those absurd claims up?

• I wouldn't be surprised if there was a nice kickback from the concrete company.

• Actually Fresh Air, they expedited the project so that they could pay the contractors before the public was able to catch on to the reduction in bus routes. Just another swing and miss. Put your head back between your legs now...

• Anyone seen Kimmie around? When are his homes going to go on the market? @ Pulp -- maybe you can re-post the photos of the golden thrones. Priceless!!!

• The economy wasn't good. It was inflation. They were flush with inflation and anyone with half a brain knew inflation turns into deflation. Noone could have predicted? Really?

• 4:37 PM: It was a good thing to improve the bus stops for bus riders in wheel chairs. The economy was good when that plan was devised and the County was flush with property tax dollars. No one could have predicted what was going to happen next. Yes, it's a travesty that bus routes had to be canceled but to suggest that it was a case of bureaucratic incompetence to pour the concrete pads and then cancel the routes is intellectually dishonest.

• @ 4:11PM you can say that again! PULP, this is not a surprise, we also basically knew he bedded most of the female attorneys there. What was Tony's motive, the possibility of one of Rothstein mafia associates cannot be dismissed?

• http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-broward-busstops-waste-20101119,0,1483220.story South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com County upgrades bus stops, then stops the buses By Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel 2:18 AM EST, November 21, 2010 WHAT: Fifty four bus stops were improved with concrete pads for bus riders in wheelchairs, and then the county cut bus service to them. COST TO US: $245,000 WHO'S RESPONSIBLE: Broward County Commission

• No, but Dan Marino.....

• Did everyone see how happy Rex Reed was on the sidelines?

• Also reminds me of the "Monday Night Miracle" in the Meadowlands! JUMBO!! God, the Jets own the Dolphins badly!

• Did Rothstein bang Mark Sanchez??

• Reminds me of the 51-45 game at the old Meadowlands. Half the stadium cleared out because the Jets were down 2 touchdowns with a few minutes to go. They came back to tie the game and win in OT. Wesley Walker scored 4 touchdowns. This was against the Dolphins in the late 80's. In that game, the fans came back from the parking lot, back into the stadium. They likely didn't have enough time to do that today. "It ain't over till the fat lady sings."

• Ditto, what a game.

• So I don't like the Jets but DAMN!!!! what a game!

• Rothstein is a MUTT. How many deaths are in his wake and how many people curse the day they met him!

• @3:30 Why don't you get lost obsessive lunatic.

• @DF3 You read my mind.. I'm sure DV "Serviced" Rothstein willingly. Maybe she was the jealous one. @Christy You're theory is not far off from mine She couldn't be in prison soon enough. She's nothing but trash capable of very bad things. Rothstein is a MUTT. How many deaths now are in his wake?

• Virgie my friend ... nothing personal but...sometimes you talk like a politician!!!

• Hey DF Why don't u tell us the real reason you left

• While I disagree with the Lee Harvey Oswald comparison-- who clearly did not act alone-- I agree that this is likely much to do about nothing and Tony did act alone. Also agree that with Scott's access to huge sums of money and members of organized crime, he very easily could have hired a professional from out of state to fly in and do the job. I was originally a conspiracy theorist on this issue, but abandoned the conspiracy within weeks. Having said that, a skilled defense attorney could have enough to throw against the wall at the time of trial, which could lead to a reasonable doubt jury verdict. But this appears to be a moot point as Tony is still catatonic.

• They were originally going to peg Melissas' murder on someone else. When that didn't pan out Tony was next up. New York Post gets the award for best pat- down photo.

• @ Christy SR would fuck anyone who would let him or who he could manipulate or pay. There are some deep insecurities in a guy like that. Your theory is flawed. In that once in an interview room, bad guys are generally willing to give up the big fish. SR would've been the big fish, even with TV not knowing about the ponzi, SR would be the big fish if he procured the murder. My question is how many times did SR fuck DV? Was SR on TV's hit list?

• Not for nothing, but she was decent looking and apparently smart enough to get into a third rate law school.

• There is just one thing that bothers me. Debra and Tony were in the throws of a divorce. We Know Debra and Scott were close. So it would be an easy way to get rid of Tony for Debra if Scott convinced Tony to kill Melissa. Tony being an unprofessional would surely be caught. Tony goes to jail then Debra doesn't have to worry about the divorce . (Scott could have concocted this on his own thinking he was helping Debra because she would complain to Scott about Tony Yada, Yada, Yada). Could Scott have planned this without Debra's knowledge? Interesting that after the murder Scott Showcases (like he likes to) hires the entire Ft. Lauderdale police force, Mr. Good guy. Buys a big Memorial for Melissa. Then Buys a house and car for Debra. Possible?

• You read my mind.

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