The Rise and Fall of South Florida's Daily Newspapers

A standing-room-only crowd attended the meeting where Rochelle Gilken decided to end her newspaper career. Behind the gleaming glass windows of the Palm Beach Post's headquarters in West Palm Beach on a June 2008 afternoon, hundreds of people held their breath.

Rumors of job cuts had been whispered around the newsroom for months. That morning, Gilken received an email on her BlackBerry from the Post's top editors. It explained that staffers with five or more years at the paper — Gilken barely made the cut — were eligible for a "voluntary separation package." Details... full story >>

Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison Are Locked In A Pitched Battle Over The Soul Of The GOP. They Are Also Running For Governor.

As temperatures dip into the low 80s, providing a brief respite from the searing September heat, a crowd of people enter the side entrance of the Jewish Community Center in North Dallas. Perhaps the pleasant afternoon weather is bashert, Yiddish for "meant to be," as the local Republican Jewish Coalition, which is hosting a Kay Bailey Hutchison meet-and-greet, hopes for a large turnout.

Democrats might view the notion of a Republican Jewish coalition as oxymoronic, considering the Jewish community is not widely perceived as part of the traditional base of Christian-right... full story >>

Fixers, feeders, and the strange, hidden world of feral cats

Kristin Des Marais crouches in the damp and shines a flashlight into the vast crawl space beneath the apartment building. The light sweeps across rocks and mounds of dirt, the glint of an empty tin can, a flash of tail. Eyes glare back, glittering and metallic, then disappear.

A light, drizzling rain muffles sound, but an unmistakable kittenish mewing rises from the depths of the cavelike recess, beyond the light's reach. A pudgy skunk waddles through the beam, headed away from the noise.

Des Marais stands up and clicks off the torch. "There's so many places they can... full story >>

The Tug of War

As temperatures dip into the low 80s, providing a brief respite from the searing September, a crowd of people enter the side entrance of the Jewish Community Center in North Dallas. Perhaps the pleasant afternoon weather is bashert, Yiddish for "meant to be," as the local Republican Jewish Coalition, which is hosting a Kay Bailey Hutchison meet-and-greet, hopes for a large turnout.

Democrats might view the notion of a Republican Jewish coalition as oxymoronic, considering the Jewish community is not widely perceived as part of the traditional base of Christian-right... full story >>

Miami pimp Hugo Gonzalez lavished gifts on his whores to keep them around

In a dreary yellow living room, a gang leader named Rudy Villanueva leans toward a video camera to taunt the police. The word Cuban is tattooed across his forehead, and he waves two assault rifles above his head like a pair of trophies. "Metro-Dade gang unit, here I am, baby," he boasts. "Come get some."

Within days, the footage — which was posted on YouTube — began to circulate around the Miami-Dade Police Department. Cops took it as a challenge. Who did this ballsy felon think he was? You can't pack heat when you're a convict. This thug was going down.

So... full story >>

Michele Bachmann: Crazy like a fox

It was just after 12:30 a.m. on election night when Michele Bachmann materialized in the cavernous ballroom of the Sheraton hotel in Bloomington. The din of clinking champagne glasses and festive chatter did little to conceal that this was a grim affair. Those gathered were witnessing—in some cases, experiencing—an electoral bloodbath that would strip the GOP of seven seats in the U.S. Senate and 21 in the House. Previously jubilant conservatives sat hunched over their beers and gin-and-tonics in the downstairs bar, in tears during McCain's concession speech. Discarded... full story >>

School of Hard Knocks: Three-Sport Gamer Mike Nixon’s Tried It All, But Can the Whip-Smart ASU Defensive Star Make It to the NFL?

Nixon closes the door, and part of the plastic flutters. His dark, buzz-cut hair — which shows a silver dollar-size bald spot in the back — matches the length and color of his facial hair. He looks emotionally spent yet strangely calm, as if he's been through this before. There aren't any hints of woe-is-me in his gait as the 6-foot-3, 224-pounder takes a... full story >>

Sanctuary Sellout

If you were to compile a list of threats to San Francisco's public safety, Oscar Martinez probably wouldn't make the cut. The quiet 15-year-old soccer player with a peach-fuzz mustache and adolescent slouch has a demeanor so laid-back it borders on spacey. He admits he gets mediocre grades, he forgets to do his homework, and is often late to class because he has trouble rolling out of bed.

So when Martinez says there's an explanation for how another kid's long foldup knife ended up in his backpack at middle school last year, you might believe he wasn't intending any harm. Not... full story >>

Babe 'n Arms: Tom was a hot-tempered cross-dresser with a garage full of guns — and then he became Rachel

Scott Clark heard screams as evening fell on May 24, 2007. He had just returned from work and climbed out of his car. The air was cool up on the wooded ridge in House Springs, where his home and a dozen others line a secluded lane. Cries of "God, help me," were coming from his neighbor's garage.

Clark was familiar with the woman next door, who asked that her name be changed to "Karen" for this story. She was heavyset and suffered from various health problems that made movement difficult. Still, she was a sociable neighbor, unlike her husband, Tom Hibdon IV, who'd barely spoken... full story >>