Gisela Hidalgo got a free 2005 Toyota Prius from Miami-Dade County and sold it for $8,200.

How much can you get for a donated 2005 Toyota Prius previously owned by Miami-Dade County? A cool 8,200 bucks. Talk about a steal of a deal! Too much of a steal, according to the Miami-Dade Office of the Inspector General. And now it has cost a well-respected Cuban-American human rights activist her livelihood.More »

via YouTube

Two months ago, six Hialeah Police officers stamped out a gathering of young folks attempting to shoot an impromptu street video of "Harlem Shake," the popular Internet meme that went so viral even the Miami Heat players did their own version. When cops ordered the crowd to disperse on February 24, they ended up arresting three shakers, including FIU student Eric Faden, who was filming Hialeah's finest with his cell phone. Despite being on a public street, he was arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest without violence.

The cops also confiscated Faden's cell phone and kept it as evidence even though the charges against him were dropped the day after his arrest. Faden finally got his phone back, and he posted the footage he recorded, which shows that Hialeah police officers need a refresher course on the First and Fourth amendments.

See also:
- "Harlem Shake" Shoot in Hialeah Goes Horribly Wrong

More »

Our advice: Don't park in the lot at Lennox Avenue and 17th Street

Last week, Banana Republican warned readers about a private parking lot on 17th Street and Lennox Avenue on Miami Beach masquerading as a public lot. It's even equipped with a meter that is identical to the ones used by the City of Miami Beach for street parking and public lots.

Except this particular lot is owned by private parking magnates Solomon Mayberg and Andrew Mirmelli. And if you don't pay at the meter inside their lot get ready to have your car towed by Tremont Towing, one of two companies in Miami Beach known for notoriously hauling off with people's rides to make a quick buck.

Well, guess what? Even if you pay the meter inside the lot, your vehicle might still get towed and you will have to fork over $241 to get it back. That's what happened to Eduardo A. Pagan Torres on March 26.

See also:
- Pay the Meter and You'll Still Get Towed at This Private Miami Beach Lot
More »

Michelle Spence-Jones

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge E. Cueto should have known better. On Tuesday, he angrily removed himself from a civil case challenging Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones' third run for office. After ruling in favor of her opponent, Rev. Richard Dunn, that she could not run again, local media outlets reported that in 2007 -- a year before he was elected to the bench -- Cueto was a state prosecutor who worked on a criminal investigation into Spence-Jones allegedly selling her vote. Cueto did not disclose that fact prior to hearing Dunn's lawsuit against his longtime nemesis.

As Cueto tersely read his ruling removing himself from the case, he blasted the media and Spence-Jones' attorneys for making his undisclosed conflict of interest an issue, according to the Miami Herald. He also took issue with Spence-Jones' lawyer Bruce Rogow leaking to the Herald a motion demanding he recuse himself.

More »

Illustration by Chris Whetzel

Back in February, Banana Republican tackled the thorniest, hot-button political issue of the moment: banning assault rifles. Even though I took an objective approach to the subject, a majority of comments in response to the cover story were full of invective and sabre rattling from gun enthusiasts from around the country. It seems no one can ever engage in a gun control debate without devolving into lunacy and personal insults.

Well, the Good Government Initiative at the University of Miami is aiming to change that. On Wednesday, April 17, the organization founded by former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson is hosting a community discussion and luncheon featuring yours truly, gun control advocates, and representatives of the gun industry.

See also:
- Assault Rifles Are Big Business in Florida as Federal Ban Looms
More »

Ana Sol Alliegro says she won't plead the Fifth.

In the lakeside tourist city of Granada, Nicaragua, visitors strolling along La Calle Libertad come upon a blue Colonial-style building with a small sign reading, "Salon La Libertad." On a recent afternoon, a slim Cuban-American woman with short blond hair and intense blue eyes chats on her cell phone inside. Her business card identifies her as Ana Solá, a professional stylist and the salon's owner.

Tucked between a small store selling handmade bracelets and the home of Granada's Roman Catholic bishop, Solá's salon offers haircuts, dye jobs, and manicures to the tourists enjoying sweeping views of Lake Nicaragua.

More »

Bruno Barreiro

More »

Private lot meter is the same as the ones used at city lots.

There's a new twist to the ol' South Beach towing racket. At 17th Street and Lennox Avenue, just north of Lincoln Road, there's a parking lot that looks identical to scores of other nearby city-run lots. To pay, there's an electronic meter, just like all the city meters scattered around.

But here's the catch: The lot is privately owned, and if you pay in a nearby city meter instead of the one machine in the lot, Tremont Towing trucks are ready to pounce.

See also:
- South Beach towing companies go to war
- Don't Get Your Free Beach Towing VIP Decal Right Here

More »

Eric Faden

Uncle Sam wants you at the FIU anti-war protest April 8 and 9.

More »

David Rivera (second from right) dines with Central American communists.

Throughout his embattled political career, David Rivera used his power to undermine Cuba's communist government at every turn. The Cuban-American Republican was one of the staunchest hard-line crusaders against Fidel Castro's regime. When he was a state legislator, he successfully championed a law that prohibited private colleges and universities from using state money, and public colleges and universities from using any money to plan, organize, or implement travel to countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. State Department.

During his one term as a U.S. congressman, Rivera tried to pass changes to the Cuban Adjustment Act that would have banned Cubans who claim political asylum in the United States from returning to the island nation.

So what the heck was Rivera doing raising glasses of wine with three Central American socialists from Central America this past September?
More »