The explosion at the Boston Marathon rippled throughout the country Monday night. Horrible pictures affected anyone like me who had ever run a marathon. Lots of South Florida runners were affected. A couple of examples:

The New Yorker is quoting Ken Bereski, from Miami, who had just finished his 12th Boston Marathon.

"I crossed the finish about two minutes before they went off," Bereski said. ("I'm counting my blessings right now that I finished two minutes ahead of where I was hoping to finish," he added later.) "I was still in the chute, just down by the water. I didn't see anything. I heard the explosions loud and clear... After the first one, people just shook it off. Then there was a second one. That's when everyone, myself included, realized something wasn't right."

He continued, "They started pushing everyone to get out of the finish chute area. Props to the volunteers -- they managed to even keep that under control. It wasn't a mad house. People were obviously rushing, but it was under control. People were clearly distraught. People who were just behind me rushed by, and they actually saw what happened. People near me were talking about lost limbs."

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Today is it. After more than 15 years on Biscayne Boulevard, Miami New Times is headed for Wynwood. Our new HQ is the Wynwood Building at NW Third Avenue and 27th Street.

You know, that zebra-striped building you see in quick cuts at the beginning of Heat games. The place is a block from NW Second Avenue, the heart of the monthly art walk, and a stone's throw from scores of new bars and restaurants that have arisen in the neighborhood.

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David Ryan, a lawyer who was disbarred for stealing from others' trust accounts and couldn't even declare bankruptcy right, has been accused with trying to sell guns stolen from the family of Saddam Hussein.

Ryan was charged December 19 with three New Jersey men in the crime.

Two of the pistols were marked Q.S. and allegedly belonged to the former Iraq heir apparent to Iraq, Qusay Saddam Hussein.

According to the criminal complaint, the guns -- which included two 12-gauge shotguns, two German pistols with gold inlay, and a pistol marked with the Jordanian flag, were appraised between $250,000 and $300,000.

One of the German pistols even had a picture of a moose.

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Now it's our turn. The Sun-Sentinel this morning endorsed Mitt Romney. Then the Miami Herald threw its support to Barack Obama.

We don't endorse candidates. We are just a motley crew of renegades who like to throw darts at pictures of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Britney Spears.

But we believe Mitt Romney is one mediocre candidate. Like you, we have watched the months of campaigning and decided it is wiser to eat canned tuna than swallow all the crap that has been tossed around. We aren't very happy with a lot about Obama's first term. For instance Dodd-Frank and Obamacare are nothing more than mediocre compromises. But we know this Romney dude is the worst Republican candidate since Barry Goldwater.

Here are ten reasons why:

10. Romney is not gay friendly (shocker!).

9. Romney is a liar.

8. He is part of a religion that was founded by a convicted con artist, not long ago supported polygamy and also recently held stated that black people are black because they were cursed by God.

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A quarter-century ago, my old, good buddy Mike Lacey came to Miami and decided to start a weekly paper. He wanted to move here, but a mugger and a prudent wife convinced him cocaine-fueled Miami wasn't the place to raise a family.

Today, Lacey bowed out. Along with his partner -- and another guy I consider a friend -- Jim Larkin, he agreed to sell Miami New Times (one of the 13 papers in Village Voice Media) to the folks who have been running the company the past few years: executive managing editor Christine Brennan, executive associate editor Andy Van De Voorde, president and COO Scott Tobias, and a few others.

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See a full slideshow remembering Hurricane Andrew here. Also read "Hurricane Andrew at 20: Miami Herald Reporters Remember." 

In a column published today, I gathered memories of a bunch of ex Miami Herald reporters about covering Hurricane Andrew, which ruined Miami 20 years ago today. The newspaper won a Pulitzer gold medal for its coverage. In this reminiscence, Bill Rose, former Tropic magazine editor and now a visiting professor in Mississippi, recalls the crazy chatter after the storm.

Remember the rumors? The government was hiding the shocking news that Andrew had claimed 1,000 lives in South Dade. National Guardsmen had buried looters in unmarked graves. Dead farmworkers were hidden in Burger King restaurants. Stacks of corpses were secretly shipped out of the county in refrigerated trucks. People were passionately insistent about this. They would fervently argue that they KNEW, they had PROOF, it really HAPPENED. Why, they would demand, is the media hiding the truth?

Finally, Tropic got sick of hearing it. We sicced Mike Wilson on the story. A good, thorough reporter, he collected the rumors and tracked every one of them down.

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An American Airlines plane that took off from Fort Lauderdale is headed for Miami International Airport with cabin pressure problems, NBC reports. The flight took off at 9:15 a.m., but still hadn't arrived at 10:20. There are 147 people aboard.

Five people were hospitalized yesterday after severe turbulence shook a plane from Aruba. Twelve were injured.

More on this as it develops.

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America has turned against black and Hispanic voters.

As I show in my column this week, 41 states have recently pushed forward with voting restrictions that will primarily effect minorities. Mostly Republican legislators, who flooded into office after the 2010 election, have shortened registration periods, required photo IDs at the polls, and cut Sunday voting.

These Republicans have alleged the changes were meant to keep the voting process honest. They have lied.

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A federal judge in Tallahassee this afternoon blocked some of the most severe restrictions of a voter registration law passed last year by the Republican Florida legislature.

The law has been severely criticized by opponents as an attempt to limit minority participation this fall's election. It was pushed by Republicans who mostly support Mitt Romney.

"A clear victory for Florida voters," says Lee Rowland, one of the attorneys who argued the case for the plaintiffs, who included the League of Women Voters. "The Florida legislature has tried repeatedly to stifle access to voter registration opportunities....the court has stood up for voters and for civic groups across the state helping Floridians register to vote."

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The longest series Miami New Times has run during my 14 years here is Pain & Gain, a Pulp Fiction like story about crazy weightlifters who couldn't even get it right when they cut up bodies and dumped them in the Everglades.

I spent the last few weeks tracking down those involved in the story (two are on death row so couldn't speak) and hanging around the set. It;s a fascinating place filled with good looking extras, high powered and occasionally neurotic movie people and, of course, the writer, Pete Collins -- who likes to play naked golf and got fired after urinating on my predecessor's spotless ride.

I've got a column this week about life on the set and the backstory behind the blockbuster. After the jump, check out some video of Pete failing to seduce some hot young extras.

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