Miami News Blog

​And so we come to this. Sitting at 4-5, the Miami Dolphins face a must-win game tonight as take on the equally desperate (and some would say equally craptastic) 4-5 Carolina Panthers. The winner will experience the sweet taste of being a .500 team for the first time this season while embarking on an epic journey of chasing the Wildcard spot in its respective conference (tastes like victory). The loser will experience the not-so-sweet taste of having its season pretty much done (tastes like shit and onions). So lots is riding on tonight's game.

It seems as if pretty much everybody even remotely involved in the showdown is injured. Carolina lost perennial bad-ass linebacker Thomas Davis and All-Pro left tackle Jordan Gross for the year. DeAngelo Williams is listed as questionable with a bum knee. As for the Dolphins, the biggest news heading into tonight is the loss of Ronnie Brown and his amazing feats of awesomeness; he's out with a foot injury. This puts a huge dent in the Dolphins' plans of trying not to suck. And now the running game falls square on Ricky Williams's shoulders. How much will the Fins miss Brown's face-demolishing, ass-kicking ways? We'll find out tonight. The outlook is not great.

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Welcome to the hot seat, Miguel Exposito.

Just a few hours after Tomas Regalado named his choice for new chief of the City of Miami PD, the first murder of the not-yet-official Exposito era crackled across the police radio.

The details are still sketchy, but sometime before 8:15 p.m. a man was standing in front of his vehicle at 14th Ave. and NW 27th St. when bullets started flying.

The victim was hit multiple times. He was dead on the street by the time police arrived a few minutes later.

Police aren't releasing the name yet as they try to notify the man's family, says Officer Jeffrey Giordano, a Miami PD spokesman.

Exposito, meanwhile, is expected to be named chief at an 11 a.m. news conference today.

​Hello, Kitty: I've been single for close to three years, and even though I hook up with girls, I'm still sexually unfulfilled. Not that I want something more consistent, it's just that the girls I find aren't open to doing the things I want to do. It seems like they all want me to be lovey-dovey and gentle, when I really just want to pound away at them. If I try to up the speed or intensity, it's all "What are you doing?" and "Ouch." So lately I've been considering trying prostitutes, but I don't know if this is a good idea. Also, where would I find one?

John Mee

Click here for Kitty's answer.

Two very unique (and different) cinematic experiences for you today, both of which take place in places that get the Culture Blog's "Two Pipes Up" of approval.

One is courtesy of the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives: a screening of historic footage of the Civil Rights movement in Miami at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida (101 West Flagler Street, Miami). Here's a sneak peak, a television clip of Miami's first black city commissioner M. Athalie Range commenting on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The screening starts at 6:30 p.m., is free, and will be moderated by UM History Professor Gregory W. Bush. Call 305-375-1621.

​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.

readyy aim via flicker cc

This past May, the New York Times quoted the property manager of Parkview Point Condo in Miami Beach. Rosa M. Rodriguez, age 60, told a sad story about being broke. The units around her were foreclosing, Rosa said, and she had to pay for the damages.

She explained to the Times reporter that she dislikes answering visitors' questions about crumbling ceilings at Parkview. "We're not going to tell them we don't have any money," she said. "That's embarrassing."

Well, the condo board might have been broke, but Rosa sure wasn't. According to Miami Beach police, she embezzled more than $50,000 from the elderly owners of units in the building. She was arrested and charged with organized fraud and first degree theft this past June. Miami media never reported it.

Says 55-year-old Parkview resident Tina Koperwas: "She cleaned out my mother's bank account."

Before the arrest, Tina called the police on Rosa several times. Now she says Rosa's "left hand man" - the new property manager - is retaliating against her.

​Given that Florida is the only state with it's own category on strange news emporium Fark.com this shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but we've officially been named the strangest state.

​U.S. District Court Judge Joan Leonard handed out the first sentence to a member of the Liberty City Seven. Burson Augustin will serve six years in prison. Significantly less than the 30 years prosecutors wanted. Leonard believed he played only a minor role.