It's SoFla

"The Hallmark Kid" Ryan Lipner: Running for Governor, Taken Seriously

By Kyle Swenson Thu., Jan. 17 2013 at 9:19 AM
Categories: It's SoFla
ryan-lipner.jpg
Last week, an earnest group of political candidates and potential voters wore their backs out in uncomfortable folding chairs for a few hours at a storefront clinic of SW 22nd Street. The event was the South Florida Democrats' monthly debate.

A moderator asked each of the four panelists questions. One by one, three popped open canned statements on the economy, guns, health care -- other CSPAN fodder. Then there was the guy sitting at the end of the table, bouncing in his seat like a spiked tennis ball.

"No, you don't understand," the guy barked to the bewilderment of the room at one point in the evening. "I'm the Hallmark Kid. I don't let anybody tell me what to do."

"The Kid" is no stranger to New Times readers. Ryan Lipner is a publicity stuntman from Plantation whose antics have put him regularly in our pages. And now, he's asking for your vote against Rick Scott in 2014. Not only is he an actual ballot candidate, he's being taken seriously... by some.

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Ryan Lipner
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It's SoFla

Delray's Salt Suite: Can 24,000 Pounds of Salt From The Dead Sea Cure Our Ills?

By Chris Sweeney Mon., Nov. 19 2012 at 7:00 AM
Categories: It's SoFla
saltsuite.jpeg
The adult room of Delray Beach's Salt Suite looks like a well-groomed beach. Plush white leather chairs line the perimeter, a flimsy white plastic partition separating each. But there's no sand. Just salt. Everywhere.

On the ground are several inches of coarse, granular salt. The walls are coated with dense, jagged layers of the mineral, forming what looks like a monochromatic Jackson Pollock. A floor-to-ceiling pillar is covered in the stuff.

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Delray Beach, Salt Suite
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It's SoFla

Ten Signs You've Probably Been in South Florida Too Long

By Stefan Kamph Mon., Jun. 11 2012 at 7:13 AM
Categories: It's SoFla, Listy Lists
354px-Dennis_Rodman,_2001.jpg
Wikimedia
11. You know this guy as "that eccentric dude in Publix."
Move down here for work, love, or sunshine and after a while, you start to melt into the place. You adopt the weird habits and mannerisms of the natives, who once were just like you: people running from something up north. After a while, the weather, people, and wildlife don't seem so strange anymore. Since all writers love to make generalizations based on their own experiences, here's a list of common symptoms. 

1. You're proficient in reading Doppler radar, despite no training as a weatherperson.

2. Your doormat is all awkwardly off to the left because the door opens outwards. Because of hurricanes. 

3. You don't speak French, but the phrase "Je me souviens" strikes terror and hatred into your heart. 

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bugs, Canadian jokes, drugs, hurricanes, it's really hot outside, road rage, South Florida
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Politics

Rush Limbaugh's Defense Attorney, Roy Black, Hosts Fundraiser for Patrick Murphy

By Lisa Rab Tue., Dec. 6 2011 at 11:21 AM
Categories: It's SoFla, Politics
patrick-murphy-square-2.jpg
What would the 99 percent say about this?
​Memo to Patrick Murphy: If you want to win street cred with the 99 percent, don't have Rush Limbaugh's lawyer host your fundraiser.

Murphy, the Democratic congressional candidate hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Allen West, has opened himself up to a lot of bad jokes with the fundraiser slated for tomorrow night in Coral Gables.

The event is being held at the home of Roy Black, the famed criminal attorney who defended Rush Limbaugh when Palm Beach prosecutors accused him of "doctor-shopping" for pain pills. Black is currently representing John Goodman, the Wellington polo mogul accused of driving drunk and causing a car accident that killed a 23-year-old last year.
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John Goodman, lawyers, Patrick Murphy, Real Housewives, Roy Black, Rush Limbaugh
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It's SoFla

How to Fake Your Own Death, Courtesy of Former Pot Runner John Darrell Boyd

By Kate Bradshaw Thu., Sep. 15 2011 at 5:54 AM
Categories: It's SoFla
Boyd 2 Small.jpg
Courtesy of John Darrell Boyd
Boyd in his heyday.
​A promo shows a young bearded guy pulling up to the edge of the Everglades and shooting the windows of his station wagon -- from the inside.

"He wants the crime scene to convince investigators that he was killed in a hail of bullets," says the voice-over.

Then a white-haired fellow, former pot runner John Darrell Boyd, explains how he splattered some blood around the inside of his car and dragged a pair boots to the swamp to make it look like his body was disposed of.

"Off I went to visit the alligators," said Boyd, now 67 years old and living in Hollywood.

Boyd's story may be familiar to some New Times readers -- he was the subject of a 2007
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Discovery Channel, Faking death, Florida, John Darrell Boyd, marijuana, War on Drugs
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It's SoFla

Strip Club Cocktail Waitress Claims Sexual Harassment at Work

By Victoria Bekiempis Fri., Sep. 9 2011 at 10:11 AM
Categories: It's SoFla, Law, Law & Order

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The travails of T&A.
​A cocktail waitress at a Hialeah strip club says she was unjustly fired -- for refusing to give massages to customers, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

Lysa R. Jacobstein, of Hollywood, says that she had always been an "exemplary employee" at PT's Showclub, formerly known as Platinum Plus. Reprimands began in early June 2010, however, when her boss said she would also be required to provide "TLC" massages to patrons.

Jacobstein said 'no,' and was given a written reprimand and sent home without pay, Broward County Civil Court docs indicate.

Jacobstein has said in the filing that strip club work, including cocktail waitressing, obviously has sexual elements to it, but that she is OK with cocktail waitressing because it is a slightly less sexual job, one that she finds less "personally and reasonably offensive" than a job involving straight-up nudity, or outright physical contact. 

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lawsuit, Lawyers Gone Wild, strip club, strippers
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It's SoFla

Underwater Music Festival Looks Like Little Mermaid Revival (Video)

By Matthew Hendley Tue., Jul. 12 2011 at 7:59 AM
Categories: It's SoFla
Little-Mermaid-movie-02.jpg
rightmyerrants.blogspot.com
​Sometimes you have to wonder what's going on in the Keys.

This weekend, there was a 500-person underwater music festival in the National Marine Sanctuary six miles south of Big Pine Key, which looked like a Little Mermaid revival concert with scuba equipment.

Aside from actually playing songs from The Little Mermaid, "famed" underwater musicians such as "Eel-vis Presley," "Bob Marlin," and "Joss Stone Crab" also played other ocean-themed music like the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" and Jimmy Buffett's "Fins," according to the Associated Press.

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Big Pine Key, Little Mermaid, Looe Key Reef, Underwater Music Festival
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Crime

Dalia Dippolito's Lover Backed Her Reality-TV Defense

By Lisa Rab Mon., Jun. 27 2011 at 11:36 AM
Categories: Crime, It's SoFla
dippolitomug.jpg
PBSO
Dalia Dippolito is now facing 20 years in the slam.
​Many observers have wondered why Dalia Dippolito chose a reality television defense to explain why she plotted to have her husband killed. Her attorney argued that Dalia's attempt to hire a hit man was part of an elaborate ruse designed to make her husband, Michael, a TV star (like the Balloon Boy ploy, except with sex and murder).

Michael Dippolito vehemently denied this allegation, and the jury in the Palm Beach Circuit Court case was equally skeptical. In May, Dalia was convicted of solicitation to commit murder. Judge Jeffrey Colbath, who called Dalia "pure evil," sentenced her to 20 years in prison.

Why did Dippolito choose such a novel, and unsuccessful, defense strategy? That's anyone guess, but a clue can be found in the sworn deposition of her lover, Michael Stanley.

Stanley, 39, is a construction contractor who dated Dalia just before she met Michael

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Dalia Dippolito, Mike Stanley, murder-for-hire, reality tv
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Almost-Great Ideas

Spirit Airlines to Charge Fee for Boarding Pass; We Hope Bathrooms Are Still Free

By Lisa Rab Tue., Jun. 21 2011 at 1:17 PM
Categories: Almost-Great Ideas, Business, It's SoFla
Thumbnail image for wastedmoney.jpg
Give us your cash, we'll let you board the plane.
​Spirit Airlines, the Miramar-based discount carrier that makes your miserly 83-year-old grandpa look generous, has announced its latest fee: It will now cost five bucks to have a ticket agent print a boarding pass at the airport. And starting next June, they'll even charge customers a dollar for printing their own passes at an airport kiosk!

This is the same company that charges $30 for carry-on baggage and up to $60 for reserving a seat.

Spirit's nickel-and-dime fee strategy may drive some customers insane, but company execs insist they are only being helpful.

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air travel, boarding passes, fees, Spirit Air
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It's SoFla

Miss Skunk Ape Pageant Planned

By Victoria Bekiempis Fri., Jun. 17 2011 at 12:31 PM
Categories: It's SoFla
SKunk ape.jpg
Rawr
​To hell with Miss America.

There's a new pageant on the horizon -- and it's Skunk Ape themed.



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Dave Shealy, Ochopee, Skunk Ape
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