Miami News Blog

​Mayor Tomas Regalado;'s new administration has made its first choice -- and it's a guy who ain't likely to be too popular at the headquarters on NW Second Avenue.

Miguel Exposito who parlayed a whistle blower suit into a the rank of major, will become new Miami police chief, multiple sources are reporting.  

Exposito, you will recall, was demoted after publicly complaining about dossiers on elected officials. (Shades of Regalado?) He also supported calling in the FBI to investigate the alleged planting of a gun in the shooting of a homeless guy.

Meanwhile, 25-year veteran Frank Fernandez announced his retirement, noting in a memo that, "It is no secret my philosophy" is similar to [departing chief] Chief Timoney's.

​Fidel is a jerk. Raul is nearly as bad.

But what nailed the USSR will get Cuba. Let my people in!

The heads of foreign affairs committees in both houses of Congress -- Sen. Richard Lugar and Rep. Howard Berman came out together to say the 50-year-old ban should be lifted. Hell, Lugar is even a Republican.

After we lift the ban, we should send the following personalities to do their things there:

​Back in the 1990s, Ann Louise Bardach -- who speaks Sunday at 11 a.m. with Gerald Posner at the Miami bookfair, made herself infamous in Miami by scoring a huge interview with Fidel Castro for Vanity Fair. Later, she nailed American hypocrisy toward terrorists when talking with Magic City mad bomber, Luis Posada Carriles -- who masterminded the shoot down of a Cubana airliner. That work was published in the New York Times.

In her new book, Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana and Washington, Bardach tells more about the Castro's present maladies (she calls him the "convalescent-in-chief" ) and his complicated family tree than has ever been divulged before. He has had several operations that he never should have survived, she posits.

And he has a "tribe" of kids, he told Bardach. Some, like Francisca Pupo, have moved to Miami and live in anonymity, she says. Others of course have made big names for themselves on the island -- Fidelito for instance.

Of course there's also a bit of Kremlinology -- (Cubaology?) in the book as well, considering Raul's leadership and who will follow him.

Bardach predicts Fidel's death will be kept a secret "like Franco's, because Fidel is really more of a Spaniard. They'll have all their ducks in a row." His ashes will be spread over a mountain top and "there won't be a monument for anyone to deface" she says, then adds: "There are no small Cuban stories. Drama is the key to all."

Overall, it's an important and timely book -- really a "reporter's book," she says. Proof that it's honest? "I can kiss my visa good-bye," she explains.

​Our sister paper, New Times Broward-Palm Beach has done some pretty amazing reporting on the Scott Rothstein mess. Among the fallout from the alleged $57 million the Broward lawyer allegedly stole in a Ponzi scheme: South Beach.

Gianni Versace's former mansion on Ocean Drive, where a big buck restaurant and hotel have been operating, was closed after owners read about Rothstein's problems with the feds on Bob Norman's Daily Pulp blog.

Rothstein, you may have read, had a big expensive wedding at the landmark Casa Casuarina with Charlie Crist in attendance. He had formed a company called the Bova Group to run it. It is also owned by Tony Bova, who owns Bova Prime in Fort Lauderdale. The fate of that restaurant is unclear.

This is a big blow to the South Beach joint where Andrew Cunanan shot Versace. It recently attracted famed chef Wolfgang Birk and has always been a tourist attraction.

Many hoped it would again become a luxury destination on South Beach. Now it has to outlive a second stench.

​As far as I know, there were two Miami boyz playing in the World Series -- A-Rod (Westminster) and Raul Ibanez (Sunset) -- as well as a lot of Dominicans and others who spend significant time here.

Though Hideki Matsui won the MVP -- and he's a Yankee I generally don't despise -- I crown  A-Rod our top guy en la seria mundial. I mean, he's the team leader and started like crap but came on like a pile driver. He batted far under .200 for much of the series, but hustled -- even stole a base in the final game -- and was patient. He scored five runs, several off of walks, and his slugging percentage in the end was a respectable.550, the best on the Yankees.

The Phillies' Ibanez's numbers look better. He batted over .300 with an impressive four doubles and his slugging percentage was better, .609. But, the dude only scored two runs. When it mattered, he flopped. Shane Victorino, who missed an important catch, may be the goat of this series, but Ibanez's play was forgettable.

I just wish Hanley had been there. That kid deserves a ring!

​
Before Dwyane Wade, the O'Neal twins, Mario Chalmers, and Eric Spoiled Boy, a seven-foot two-inch giant ruled the Miami Arena. Alan Ogg drew calls of "Ogggggggggggg," and the fans loved him.

Now he's dead at age 42. An infection somehow reached his enlarged heart.

In 1991, then staff writer and now New Yorker calendar editor (and author) Ben Greenman wrote an admiring profile of the guy. It was a beautiful piece of work that aptly captured the city's early affection for the crappy team and this non-star:

"The rookie center with the Gumby physique has achieved a fame that defies statistics, transcends the simple performance-for-applause exchange that motivates most players. The rapport the fans feel with Ogg is ineffable, inscrutable, almost religious."

Alex Izaguirre

​Tuesday is local Election Day. Turnout is sure to stink. Mayors in Miami, Miami Beach, and Hialeah are certain to be elected in landslides.

This is odd, because the local economy is in its worst condition since 1989. Race relations are at a 20-year low. And government is cutting services like a butcher slices up a pig.

Vote, folks. Vote against Julio Robaina and scare him. The trickery in Hialeah, as witnessed by the scandalette over Katharine Cue's residence and conflicts at the Hialeah Housing Authority are at an all-time high.

Vote against Tomas Regalado. While accessible, easygoing, and generally decent, the Miami commissioner hasn't annunciated a vision for the city. Manny Diaz began development downtown and even got the port tunnel and Miami 21 approved. Regalado is no such visionary. He's a great contrarian. But a leader?

​The state fire marshal and Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms officers were in Miami this morning investigating a fire last night at the Barton G. warehouse at 400 NE 67th St. on the Upper Eastside. The blaze destroyed thousands of dollars' worth of linens and tables after the roof caved in. It was "one of the largest fires that we have had this year," says Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll.

No one was hurt in the blaze, but it might have done serious damage to one of the area's best restaurateurs just as the weather changes and the season begins. Barton G. recently moved offices from a location near NE 36th Street and Second Avenue to a place near the warehouse.

One of the geniuses of South Beach, where his 7-year-old restaurant has won national raves, he is also preparing a new venue, Prelude by Barton G., at the Arsht Center, where a prix fixe menu will go for $39. No word yet on whether the fire will affect the new venture.

Among the few local restaurateurs expanding in this down economy, Barton G. has shown fortitude. Riptide wishes him well and hopes there was no malfeasance involved in the fire. Miami Police this morning had nothing to say about the blaze.

Carroll says the fire was contained in one part of the warehouse, but there are gas dryers and other flammable material that could have caused significantly more damage. There were no sprinklers. Dozens of firefighters were cleaning up the site this morning.

"We have no idea what caused this yet," Carroll says. "We'll have to remove the roof to get a better look."

​Like thousands of other readers of the Miami Herald, I was charmed Friday when I read of the 20-year, multimillion-dollar effort to spruce up downtown sidewalks. World-famous artist Burle Marx designed about a mile of walkways similar to those on Rio's Copacabana for Biscayne Boulevard between the Arsht Center and the InterContinental Hotel -- downtown's beating heart.

Then I took a look.

The sidewalks, particularly the northern stretch, are full, and I mean full, of utility markings and other spray-painted messes that will be virtually impossible to remove. The Herald story noted the Downtown Development Authority is planning a trust to care for the sidewalks. That's just like this town -- prepare for the hurricane after it's hit. For more pictures of the sidewalk mess, follow the jump.

​Okay, I acknowledge Ted Kennedy did great things in the US Senate. He was a leader and a charmer.Health care would probably be done by now if he hadn't suffered, then died last night, from a brain tumor.

But, like everybody else, he showed his dirty side down here in the subtropics. Back in 1991, he accompanied his nephew, serial lady abuser William Kennedy Smith, to Au Bar in Palm Beach. The younger Kennedy, then age 30, picked up 29 year old Patricia Bowman and brought her back to the Kennedy compound, where Bowman claimed he raped her. Of course, Kennedy Smith was later acquitted, but you gotta blame the uncle for the morass. He was the old man. He was along for the ride, He shoulda known better, given his background with the messy drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne in Martha's Vineyard.

Miami Attorney Roy Black made his name defending Kennedy Smith -- who like his uncle has gone on to do great things. he later went on to defend Miami coip William Lozano after the 1989 Super Bowl riots and Rush Limbaugh on drug charges.

Good-bye Teddy Kennedy. You were a force for good in politics. Just wish you would have shown better judgment in your personal life. Had you done so, we might not have had to suffer through two failed Bush presidencies.

​Crispin Porter + Bogusky has long been an anchor of Miami business. Coconut Grove-cool and booming. But now it's on the decline, and this smells bad for the South Florida economy. Indeed, as the recession cools off spending among high-end consumers, the falling fortunes of this leader in boutique advertising world might have broader implications. 

Tuesday it was announced the company lost its staple -- and coolest -- account with Volkswagen. The reason is unclear. VW, it seems, wants to go mainstream and so decided to review its advertising generally. Like a girl who doesn't attend the dance because she might not be invited onto the floor, Crispin declined to compete against others for the $220 million contract and issued this statement: "As a rule, we do not participate in reviews for current accounts and this will not be an exception."

Gregory Poux was killed last night around the corner from New Times, at the Windwood Car Wash on NE Second Avenue.

The 34-year-old who lived up the street in Little Haiti was shot multiple times and then died at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The Miami Herald and cops portrayed the death as tragic. He cared for his handicapped mom. His son misses him.

Now, we don't mean to be insensitive. Maybe it was just a random crime and he was just a victim. But two things point to the fact that it might have been something more than just tragic.

First, his criminal record: Poux had been charged with aggravated assault, armed robbery, and most recently possession of pot. Four felonies since 1999. He was found guilty on some charges and cleared on others.

Second, Manny Rodriguez, a 62-year-old who has been using the car wash for more than 30 years, says it is no crime mecca. "I can't believe it," he told me. "In all the years I have been coming here, nothing like this has ever happened."

Our sister paper in San Francisco notes that Miami-Dade's new $200K housing director Gregg Fortner isn't particularly well liked back home:

Two quotes from the piece: "Fortner fell out of favor with [Gavin] Newsom after the mayor discovered a city-built playground at the Sunnydale development torched for the second time and not repaired. Also, Fortner refused to comply with the mayor's request of all department heads that they submit resignation letters."And this from Sara Shortt, director of the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco: "Miami has one of the most troubled agencies in the U.S., and I'm shocked they didn't do their due diligence," she said.

Read more here. And here.

So now comes the news that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are gonna be celeb minority owners of the Dolphins, like Jimmy Buffett and the Estefans before them. (Follow the jump for the news release.)

I get what Dolphins owner Steve Ross is doing. Pandering. That's what he's supposed to do. With Barack Obama in the White House and rich guys everywhere quaking in their boots over higher taxes and health care, pandering is like a new hobby for a lot of the gazillion-dollar-a-year set.

But what Ross is ignoring is the Albanians. Jim Belushi, listen up. (Does Mother Teresa have offspring? Guess not.) There are six guys in Allapattah who speak Shqip (the Albanian word for their language), and they want in. Imagine them singing not "The Star-Spangled Banner," like Ole Marc Anthony is gonna do on Hispanic Heritage Day, but maybe the Greek national anthem, just to mix things up.

And while we're at it, Mr. Ross, consider the idea of bringing in celebs whom football fans really like. Maybe Simon Cowell. Or Lil Wayne. Perhaps Borat. Riptide readers, got someone you want to nominate?

Miami Police this morning are reporting 12 people shot in Overtown.

Details are really vague, but it seems a group of three wearing black clothes shot into a crowd at a birthgday party. In addition, one person was hit by a car. Police Chief John Timoney reported AK-47 casings were found at the scene.

It all happened not long after midnight at 527 NW Fifth St. Three of the victims are in critical condition.

The area is just a half-mile from the Miami Police station and has a long tradition of nasty crime. More on this story as it develops.

WQAM- 560 just announced that Neil Rogers is leaving the station for good. Rogers was suspended in May when he said "Fuck Joe Bell," on the air.

Bell, the station's general manager, had fired Rogers' producer and fill-in host, Jorge Rodriguez, the week before. Callers were angry. Beasley Broadcasting, which owns the station, had sent in a lawyer, Joyce Fitch, to investigate.

Henceforth the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. slot will be filled by sports talk. We definitely need more of that. Rogers will "consult," according to a press release.

Funny thing is, Rogers -- a South Florida icon for as long as I can remember -- lives in Toronto. He has done his show from his living room in the frosty north for quite a while.

Neil, we salute you. Fuck the FCC. Fuck Beasley. Fuck Bell.

 

Last time we turned to Florida Marlins baseball, we watched a mediocre team being pummeled by the best in the game. The New York Yankee fans were giggling at the ineptitude of a school of Fish that could only garner three hits.

It was pathetic, But that was last night. And tonight it's all forgotten. That's because of two beautiful double plays that ended first a rally by the Yanks in the eighth and then the game in the ninth. That's because Dan Uggla is an ace at second. Hanley Ramirez is a pro at short. Matt Lindstron is really not that bad a closer even though his ERA is 2 million or something like that. And Derek Jeter is a twit,

Yeah, Jeter ended the rally in the eighth with a hit right up the middle that my nine year old son (it's his birthday todaym by the way) coulda turned for a double play,

More good news. Josh Johnson held that awesome line-up to theee hits. And Uggla, who was an all star last year but has pretty much been stinkin' ever since at the plate, turned it around with a home run. And there were 46,000 fans in the seats. Did I mention that?

The whole thing just really helped me love baseball....at least partly because I hate hate hate the Yankees, 

 

I once thought Biscayne Times editor and publisher Jim Mullin was a principled, smart journalist. I don't anymore. 

TV news is hurting. The best are deserting us.

Nick Bogert, the WTVJ smart guy who has provided some politics and substance along with the gore on the local airwaves, will depart for Chicago this fall. He's covered everything from hurricanes to the fall of commissioners such as Joe Gersten, Miller Dawkins, and Humberto Hernandez. He's helped us understand the news. That's a rapidly disappearing quality. He's also my neighbor and I'll miss him. Thanks to SFLTV for reporting this first.

Also outta here is the guy we named Best TV News Reporter this year: Q. McCray. He left WSVN Channel 7 for Orlando. Friggin' Orlando!? We need the guy. We need the news.

Of course, if we're lucky, both of these guys will end up like Rick Sanchez: on CNN. Except they will never be nearly as annoying.

A former US State Department employee and his wife have been busted in Washington D.C,. spying for Cuba. Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn, worked for Fidel Castro for 30 years, according to an indictment handed down by the US Attorney General's office this afternoon.

Myers had top secret clearance, prosecutors charge. He also had access to more than 200 classified reports. (I had that same access when I worked for the government back in the 80s, No big deal.)

The couple personally met with Fidel Castro in 1995, according to a report from CBS News. (I have never done that.)

The BBC is reporting the couple was busted in a sting operation. An American posing as a Cuban agent convinced the couple to hand over some information. And check out my column
in this week's newspaper about some other Cuban spies, whose case is just about to be heard about the Supreme Court.

 

Jerry Jean Juste spent time in jail in Haiti. He brought together Miami's troubled expatriate Haitian community in its most troubled hour. He hated no one -- at least publicly -- not even  When he winked at you, it was as if the skies had opened.

He died yesterday of a stroke. I'll miss him.

The city should all be wearing black, If we ever had a civic candidate for sainthood, it's Jerry.

Almost two decades ago, the guy rescued me when --as a Miami Herald reporter -- I briefly got between an angry Haitian crowd and Cuban store owners armed with automatic rifles on Northeast 79th Street. I saw him galvanize crowds as Miami pushed for the ouster of Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who killed thousands of his countrymen and lead celebrations after US troops restored Jean Bertrand Aristide, another activist priest and Jean Juste friend. as Haiti's president in 1994.

Though he was an ordained priest, he had the guts to call Archbishop Edward McCarthy "a racist." And along with anotrher local hero, Ira Kurzban, he and the Haitian Refugee Center won a landmark victory for Haitians in the Supreme Court in 1980 when a Miami federal couret ruled the immigration service discriminated against Haitians.

Now, as Haitians are again threatened by violence in their homeland, and are pushing for Temporary Protected Status, we'd all do well to stop for a few minutes and think about the gifts of this great man to our troubled metropolis.  

Florida Comprehensive Assessment test scores came out last night and they stunk. Particularly in Miami-Dade. Yeah, the Herald made a big deal about Liberty City Elementary improving. And over the years, we have improved. I thank Jeb Bush for that. Lawton Chiles gets a C and Charlie Crist an F.

Fact is that less than two-thirds of third graders in the county read at grade level. And Miami-Dade is among the bottom five counties in the state -- and clearly the worst big county.

But perhaps the most interesting things about the results is that Florida Virtual Academy showed about 90 percent of the kids reading at grade level. It was a small sample, but the numbers were tops. It's a supplemental school praised by conservatives and based in Orlando that is ten years old and generally meant to supplement regular schools. 

The state legislature threatened to mess with it this year, then backed off. Some teachers have seen the place as a threat -- and pushed to take away its money.

But it's clear, I think -- and these test scores confirm -- that Florida has long lagged behind the rest of the country. Putting money into this school -- which has been of service to 85,000 students -- is innovative. That's something badly needed in a state that spends about $7000 per kid per year -- a really pathetic amount. The state's making progress -- and bad economic times should  make us lean more heavily on this sort of thing...not less.   

Details are still vague, but cops were called to two deaths this morning.

In one, at Miami International Airport, it seems a 43-year-old American Airlines customer service manager named Thomas Juxovich was working on a lift near gate E-10 when he fell and died at Miami International Airport. It happened around 2 a.m. Cops and OISHA are investigating. merican Airlines issued a statement that said, ``Our thoughts are with the employee's family at this time,'' said a press release from American Airlines.

In a second case, a Metrobus hit a pedestrian on NE Second Avenue near 73rd Street. Second Avenue was closed down. Nothing is getting through. Miami-Dade police are handling the case. More news to follow.

  

Here's a pretty good item from a couple years ago. Best of Miami is coming June 11. You can vote on a lot of other categories here.

Best Road Rage

Florida International University got a new president this weekend: Chancellor Mark Rosenberg. And guess what? He'll make a lot more than the last guy, Mitch Maidique. At $680,000 per year, he'll garner in excess of what you or President Obama or the heads of many multinational corporations and foreign lands.

Thing is, even as the FIU president's salary is skyrocketing -- Maidique made a paltry $630,000 -- the university is slashing majors, departments, and jobs. And it's raising tuition.

In effect, it's screwing you and me, the taxpayers, as well as the 39,000 or so students who matriculate there.

And to add insult to presidency, Ivy League-educated author and FIU professor Bruce Nissen offers the following: The place is bureaucrat-crazy.

Over the past six years, the number of administrators at the nation's 25th largest university (and probably its most Hispanic) has nearly doubled, from 377 to 742, Nissen shows in a recent paper, "How Does FIU Spend Its Money?" During the same period, the quantity of professors and those who work in the classroom -- "people who produce something," according to Nissen -- has changed by only one percent -- from 928 to 933.

And check out this number: Total tuition paid has increased by 60 percent -- and is likely to go even higher. Administrative salaries -- for "deans, associate deans, provosts, and associate provosts, the highly paid people" -- have doubled.

"They just keep diverting more and more money to administrative overload," Nissen says. "They wiped out entire majors in the college of engineering. They are talking about wiping out religion, dance, and fine arts. These are stunning numbers."

So far, the university leadership hasn't responded to the study, which was sponsored by a union that includes the professors. A call to FIU Associate Vice President Tonja Moore, who Nissen said is working on a response, wasn't returned.

[PDF: Full report "How Does FIU Spend Its Money?"]

Religion in a courthouse? Sounds like the Taliban, right? Or maybe the Inquisition? Hell no, it's just Miami -- a part of America where we don't seem to separate church and state.

A new group, the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild, is inviting the public to a mass Thursday by Miami Archbishop John Favalora at a downtown church, then a luncheon/reception at the nearby Wilkie D. Ferguson Courthouse. They are celebrating the Red Mass, an ancient event that honors "the Holy Spirit's guidance" in legal affairs. 

The invitation to the event, which you can find after the jump, is from Chief Judge for the Southern District of Florida Federico Moreno, Patricia Seitz, James Lawrence King, Jose Martinez, Marcia Cooke, and Cecilia Altonaga. All are judges and all are Catholic, according to William Trueba, a lawyer and member of the steering committee for the guild, which is a new version of an old group.

Trueba explains that religion will be limited to the service. Yeah, the group's name, "Catholic Lawyer's Guild," is on the invitation, and there's a possibility Favalora will attend the luncheon, which will also honor a magistrate, but, "There is no violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment," he explains. "Right now there is nothing on the agenda that calls for a prayer or a religious ceremony at the courthouse."

Whether or not Trueba is right, I don't like the idea. How might holding an event like this at the courthouse make defendants in religious discrimination cases feel?

It's bad judgment on the part of judges, who don't answer to the public but should know better. I hope they reconsider -- and maybe have the luncheon at a restaurant.

 

The Florida Marlins now have the best record in baseball and lead their division. New speedster Emilio Bonifacio just might be the hottest player in baseball.

And that giant Chris Volstad has made us forget Scott Olson.

Could it be this team is for real? Yesterday's 5-1 defeat over the pretty dang good Atlanta Braves -- led by the more than pretty dang good Javier Vazquez, who pitched 12 strikeouts -- left me with the feeling that this team is better than last year's, and, if we can build up a lead, well, who knows? Can you say 2003?

OK, so $674 million and the worst deal for taxpayers in America on the new park (in a lousy location) is still ridiculous. I'm still pissed. But watching the Marlins win -- amid economic torment -- might be a better stimulus than anything Washington has to offer.  

 Make the jump to see Volstad's stats.

 

OK, so over here, we have the Marlins stadium, the port tunnel, and the Design District cable car. Cost: More than $1 billion.

Then over here, we have the paltry $5 million that Brazilian racecar driver Helio Castroneves is trying to get away without paying taxes on. Yesterday in Miami was a big day in the federal trial of Castroneves and his agent -- former NFL star Alan Miller.

NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson testified on Miller's behalf. Talk about trying to snow the jury with star power.

I've just learned that three old friends are leaving South Florida's daily newspapers: one-time Miami bureau chief David Cazares and columnist Ralph De La Cruz are moving on from the Sun-Sentinel....and editorial page editor Joe Oglesby is retiring from the Miami Herald. That's on top of editor Manny Garcia, who moved from the English language Herald to El Nuevo Herald -- and reporter Elaine Del Valle, who says she's taking a buyout

I started at the Herald with Ralph -- knew David well during my time at the Sentinel -- and bonded with Joe in his crusade against injustice, both in the newspaper and outside it at the Herald. Manny and Elaine are friends as well -- even if it's been a few years.

These are first-class journalists all. And their departures make me wonder how many minority voices will soon be left at our daily newspapers. Miami and Fort Lauderdale are heavily minority communities -- particularly Hispanic here in the Magic City...and the people who report here should reflect them.

Problem is, the bulk of people making these decisions are Anglo....and this may flavor the decisions their thinking. Or maybe it's just coincidence. IN any case, it's trouble for us readers.

Are the daily newspapers going to soon be out of tune with the community they cover? As they slim down,. this seems an important consideration. Can you hear me, Earl and Anders??!!

Luis Montealegre poured a café Cubano on Tuesday, paid a delivery guy for croquetas, and peered east a few blocks from his corner cafeteria. There was only blue sky where a $634 million Marlins baseball stadium will soon rise. "This is the poorest part of the city, the one that needs the most help," said the handsome 44-year-old in Spanish with a Nicaraguan lilt. "I love baseball, but this stadium won't help anybody here. It 'll do nothing for the middle class."  
After 15 years of blather, first Miami, then Miami-Dade commissioners this week ponied up their parts of the new $634 million stadium on the old Orange Bowl site. Calling it "our own stimulus package," they raised the possibility of spending even more. Eloquent opponents like Miami-Dade's Carlos Gimenez and Katy Sorenson, as well as Miami's Marc Sarnoff, were mowed down like summer grass.

The morning after the vote, though, the heavily Latin neighborhood around the site was underwhelmed. Riptide questioned about two dozen shop owners and others. Almost none spoke English fluently. Some came from baseball-loving countries like the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.  Others were born in Honduras, Colombia, and Argentina where Abner Doubleday's invention - at least for now - is no big deal.

All but one or two predictedel estimulo won't stimulate anything.

 "They'll sell things in the stadium, not outside."

"This area will never change. The stadium is window dressing."

"It's politics. It's mierda."

Four Honduran construction workers who live opposite the site criticized the stadium in machine-gun fashion. All were fathers. All would like to see basketball courts parks, playgrounds, and baseball diamonds for their kids.  None expected to get a job on the stadium even though 50 percent of the work is guaranteed to locals.  Why? Well, two don't have work permits. The others have lived here long enough to get it. "It's too much money," says Luis Alberto Padilla, a 32 year old who's been in this country for 14 years. "We, the people who pay for this, will never get back what we invested."