Free Republic

Pat Santeramo, long-time president of the Broward Teachers Union, is under investigation amid accusations he blew through $3.8 million in union reserves, used dues to reimburse people for campaign donations and has been overpaid for most of his tenure. Santeramo, 64, said through his lawyer Monday he had no plans to resign, despite a criminal investigation by the Broward State Attorney's Office and a separate inquiry by the Florida Elections Commission.

DeFaria talks about his qualifications for the job, and how he plans to beat his Republican opponents as well as Wasserman Schultz .

FORT LAUDERDALE Nearly three years after a fellow student shot and killed Amanda Collette in the hallway of Dillard High School, the Broward County School Board has agreed to pay her parents $525,000. Board members voted unanimously Wednesday to settle a civil lawsuit brought last year by the 15-year-old victim's parents, Joyce Collette and Thomas Crowther. There was no discussion of the settlement. In the lawsuit, the parents claimed Amanda Collette's death in November 2008 could have been prevented. They said a student told a teacher that the shooter, Teah Wimberly, had a gun and had threatened to use it,...

You didn’t really think Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-In A Box) would resign did you? Forget the Congressman Chris Lee (R-NY) resigned over shirtless pic argument; Democrat politicians seldom play by the rules or follow logic. Broward county is full of examples. Deerfield’s Sylvia Poitier (D-Family) attacked her accuser, Chaz Stevens, until the day she was arrested. Broward School Board member Ann Murray (D-Bad Seats) is hanging on to her seat despite an outcry from her own party. Bunker-esque Stacy Ritter (D-Caddyshack) dances merrily along as opponents and family yachts disappear. Dancing Queen Published reports say another Broward commissioner, Ilene Lieberman,...

It was no evening of peace for the Deerfield Beach family, who’d just finished dinner with friends and family, and sent extra Easter dinner to a needy family connected with their church. Then, at 8:20 p.m., police got a call about a possible burglary next door. But a bad address caused police to go to the wrong home. “Do I feel safe?” asked Carmita Scarlett, the homeowner and sister of Judge Holmes. "No, absolutely not. No, no. So much confusion, so much anger. So much, almost like, resentment. You know, ‘you made the mistake and,’ I told them, ‘I'm the...

Well, it's finally official. The Broward County School Board wasted hundreds of millions of your dollars while doing the bidding of a select group of contractors and lobbyists. You've been reading about that here for the past five years. Now the statewide grand jury has found the same thing. The final grand jury report was released last night (yes, that means they aren't going to issue indictments). To get an idea of its tone, understand that it stated flatly that were it not for a constitutional mandate to have a school board "our first and foremost recommendation would have been...

The evolution of Broward shows few signs of slowing as the county becomes far more like Miami-Dade, its southern neighbor, than the ethnically and racially homogenous retiree haven of two decades ago, new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau confirm. The county has seen a substantial shift in the proportion of its population that is black or Hispanic since the 2000 census, and the minority share now approaches 50 percent of Broward residents, the newly released survey data show. While previous Census Bureau estimates have clearly delineated the trend, the new estimates — which represent five years' worth of aggregated...

The woman charged by the FBI with making a threat that led to the lockdown of more than 300 Broward County schools after hearing the words of right-wing talker Joyce Kaufman isn't a member of the Tea Party -- she's a member of the Green Party.

A firm handshake is usually seen as a good thing in business and even in politics. Not so much in South Florida. A candidate for the Broward County School Board wants the cops to lock up her opponent after what she claims was akin to battery after a recent debate. Jaemi Levine filed a complaint with the Broward Sheriff's Office claiming David Thomas squeezed her hand so hard during a post-debate handshake Tuesday that it now hurts. Instead of getting a grip on education issues, Thomas decided to get a grip on his opponent for the Disctrict 4 seat. Levine...

Gunmen opened fire on a Greyhound bus traveling on I-95 Sunday night, the second shooting on the highway in South Florida in the past two weeks.

In light of Scott Rothstein's alleged Mafiosi takedown of alleged Sicilian mobster Roberto Settineri, the Sun-Sentinel this morning attempted to explain the Mafia's presence in Broward County. It made brief mention of Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, and Nicky Scarfo, but it was a superficial gloss-over with a few quotes from so-called experts. If you really want to know about the Mafia in Broward, read on. And the easiest way to chart the Mafia is, of course, through the ristorantes. Take what is perhaps the county's most popular Italian place, Martorano's on Oakland Park Boulevard. It's owned by Steve Martorano, who is the nephew of infamous mobster Raymond "Long John" Martorano, a late soldier who worked with Scarfo, one of...

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL---Our news partners at the Sun Sentinel report: U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, who represents Broward and Palm Beach counties, plans to resign from Congress. He plans to announce his plans at a news conference Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Boca Raton. A Democratic source with knowledge of Wexler's plans said he is likely to take a public policy job that deals with the Middle East. Wexler, a senior member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has long been involved in issues involving Israel and Turkey.

There is currently a huge corruption scandal involving public officials in Broward County Florida that is being investigated by the FBI. The local Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper, which has been dragging its feet until recently on reporting this scandal, has finally gotten around to criticizing someone involved in the scandal investigation...the informant who helped break the case. I kid you not. First let us look at the background on the Sun-Sentinel's reluctance to do what it is supposed to do, namely investigating local scandals. The reporter who has actually been writing about the breaking scandals in depth for weeks doesn't...

HALLANDALE BEACH - Armed with handguns and AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles, the members of the Southeast Broward Republican Club abandoned the usual community center for their club meeting this week, and gathered at a gun range where they fired bullets instead of political bombshells. The aims, said club president Ed Napolitano, were to have fun, educate club members who were new to shooting — and send a political message. "Why are we here? Because we're Republicans and we appreciate the fact that we have the right to bear arms," Napolitano said. "Without the Second Amendment I don't think the...

On Tuesday, September 8, 2009, Broward County Public Schools students will have the opportunity to watch an online national address from President Obama on the importance of education. The Web address can be seen locally in Broward County at 12 noon on the White House Web site (www.whitehouse.gov/live), and broadcast live on BECON Channel 24. According to Superintendent James F. Notter, there have been several calls into the Superintendent’s Office suggesting and/or requesting that alternative space and activities be provided for those students wishing to “opt out” of this activity. “As one of the premier major school systems in America,...

Proposed tax notices in Broward, Miami-Dade stir wave of protest, with homeowners taking to the streets Thursday and thousands of others calling property appraisers' offices The proposed tax notices arriving in mailboxes in Miami-Dade and Broward counties in recent days have stirred a wave of protest, with homeowners taking to the streets Thursday and others dialing their property appraisers' offices by the thousands. Many homeowners, already feeling pressure from high unemployment, a tumbling stock market and dwindling property values, were angry when they opened their TRIM -- Truth In Millage -- notices to find a property tax increase awaiting them,...

At a contentious meeting, Broward Republicans decided to hold off on deciding whether to have a straw poll to indicate their preference for Charlie Crist or Marco Rubio for Senate. BY AMY SHERMAN A move for Broward Republicans to hold a straw poll in the U.S. Senate race failed Monday night, avoiding for the moment what would have been the kind of tense vote that has taken place in other parts of the state. But there was lots of tension. Patrick Castronovo, a Lauderdale Lakes committeeman, made a motion to hold a straw poll to choose between two Republican candidates...

Saying its finances are weakened, State Farm's Florida unit wants to get out of the business of property insurance in the state. The company, Florida's largest private insurer of homes and condos with 1.2 million policies, wants to keep only auto insurance, it said in a statement. Other State Farm units would still sell life, health and other financial services, it said in a statement. Under State Farm's proposal, it would phase out of the property insurance business over two years, giving existing customers time to find new coverage. If State Farm's plan is approved by state insurance regulators, that...

At the Broward Democratic Party's monthly meeting Tuesday night, it started right at the beginning — with the invocation, delivered by Mike Moskowitz, the state committeeman for the county. He called for a "blessing on the elk and moose in Alaska who have been decimated by Sarah Barracuda" and included a prayer that Palin doesn't turn her sights on the squirrels in Washington, D.C

Even in the rough-and-tumble world of Broward politics, it seems odd at first. Three days after Property Appraiser Lori Parrish qualified for re-election, she hand-delivered paperwork to the Broward Elections Office on behalf of a rival candidate for the same post. Parrish was using a technique — critics call it an un-democratic loophole — that's becoming more common in Florida politics. By helping David Longstaff file as a write-in candidate, Parrish ensured that Republicans and independents won't be allowed to participate in the Aug. 26 Democratic primary for property appraiser in which she's favored over challenger Sara Truini. In overwhelmingly...

If you go to the site, click on the "green" precinct, you see that the Broward SOE is reporting a 109.68% turnout rate for that area of Broward.

In what sounds like a scene out of Prison Break, a Broward Sheriff's Office inmate fashioned a fake bomb out of socks, newspaper and radio wires and threatened to blow it up if jailers didn't let him go. Then the violence got real. The man produced a shank -- a homemade knife -- and tried to stab a detention deputy. He also grabbed the deputy's pepper spray and sprayed it. The inmate was subdued by a team of deputies, but not before inflicting minor injuries on two of them. One of the injured, the original deputy, suffered cuts and the...

By WANDA J. DeMARZO, BREANNE GILPATRICK AND MARTIN MERZER AP PHOTO Police are looking for Michael Mazza, the man they believe shot a BSO deputy Wednesday morning. » More Photos Document | Mazza's criminal record Law enforcement officers have found the jail transport van involved in Wednesday's shooting of a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy, but the suspect remains at large, is armed and may be accompanied by one or more co-conspirators, police said.All 283 public schools and charter schools in Broward County are on lockdown. Parents were advised to stay away from the schools until the situation is resolved.The van...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne has a few more days to sign a plea agreement with federal prosecutors or face an indictment by a federal grand jury of allegations that he used his position for personal gain, Local 10's Rad Berky reported. A deadline of 5 p.m. Friday has now been extended until Tuesday at 5 p.m. The grand jury has uncovered evidence that Jenne took as much as $100,000 in loans and payments from companies doing business with the Broward Sheriff's Office and then did not report the income on financial disclosure forms or his...

Radio station WIOD likely will remain Broward County's official channel for emergency information despite concerns it is also home to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. County commissioners said they were deluged with complaints from throughout the country Wednesday after they questioned whether to cut their ties with the station because of their dislike for Limbaugh. By the end of the day, a majority of commissioners vowed to renew WIOD's agreement next week. The deal with WIOD, AM 610, would ensure news conferences and other critical announcements are broadcast live during hurricanes and other emergencies. Kristin Jacobs and Ilene Lieberman,...

Broward County commissioners may cancel a contract with radio station WIOD, which is the official source of emergency information, because it features the Rush Limbaugh show. Would you support this?

Rush Limbaugh has long been a thorn in the side of liberals, but now, because of him, some Democratic politicians don't even want to join with a local radio station to broadcast hurricane information. Radio station WIOD, AM 610, has been the official channel for emergency information from Broward County government for the past year. The County Commission, all Democrats, balked at renewing the deal Tuesday, unable to stomach the station also being home to Limbaugh's talk show.

Local Police Attempt to Block Collection of Pro-Marriage Petitions Agape Press - June 7 ,2006 A pro-family group in Florida is outraged over the behavior of some police officers last weekend who tried to stop a petition drive aimed at protecting traditional marriage. Last weekend members of the Florida Family Policy Council were at a Promise Keepers conference in Broward County where they were collecting petitions for the Florida4Marriage campaign, an effort to get onto the November 2008 ballot an amendment protecting traditional marriage. The pro-family group had paid a fee to have a booth at the PK event at...

WEST PALM BEACH (FBW)–Palm Beach County Commissioners voted unanimously Jan. 10 to create a county-wide registry of domestic partners. Unmarried couples, including homosexual partners, may sign up to receive “visitation rights and decision-making abilities,” according to the Palm Beach Post. Couples may pay a $50 enrollment fee to make them eligible to make decisions for each other on health care and funerals and burials, and also make “family” visits in jails and hospitals. Couples must prove partnership through documents showing common home ownership, address and credit card accounts. Palm Beach County is the second Florida county to create a domestic...

FORT LAUDERDALE · The Police Department is looking for a few good men and women -- who are gay. The department has begun running advertising targeted to a gay and lesbian audience, hoping to add diversity to the ranks. The department also will have its first booth at the next gay Pridefest here, officials said.

I am writing this to let you know the other side of the story. Today was a beautiful day in Broward County, Florida. I watch and heard about the angry line of people waiting for free water and ice. I had out-of-state friends watching these images call me in a panic, "Are you okay?" they asked. "What's it really like?" they asked, concerned for my safety.I said, "It's a beautiful day in South Florida!""What's it really like..." I see neighbors outside helping each other cutting down trees. I see people sharing supplies (water, charcoal, food...), I see people opening their...

FORT LAUDERDALE -- Kelly Ray Jones, the boyfriend of a man accused of killing a Broward Sheriff's deputy, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison Friday for the child pornography case that set off the tragedy. Jones begged the judge for mercy and a chance to see his partner, Kenneth Wilk, who is locked up and may face the death penalty if he is convicted of the August 2004 murder of Deputy Todd Fatta.

Judge Recommends Fine for Former Broward Elections Chief The Associated Press Published: Aug 31, 2005 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - An administrative judge recommended that the state fine former Broward County elections supervisor Miriam Oliphant $2,000 because of the botched 2002 primary. Judge Claude Arrington in Tallahassee ruled that Oliphant willfully neglected her duty because dozens of polls did not open on time and closed early in Broward County on the 2002 gubernatorial primary. The state Elections Commission had proposed a $55,000 fine, but Arrington said that was too harsh since she has lost her job and faces financial problems,...

________________________________________ From: Ana Gomez-Mallada [mailto:AGM656@bellsouth.net] Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 9:07 AM To: AGM656@bellsouth.net Subject: INVITATION TO ALL REPUBLICANS DDear Fellow Republican: As Republicans, we are in the midst of a monumental struggle for control of the Party of Lincoln. At stake: a truly conservative voice in the conduct of our national affairs. On the one hand, is the vast majority of Republicans who believe in the core values of the Grant Old Party of Abraham Lincoln: individual freedom, fiscal responsibility, small government and limiting government intrusion in the life of the individual to the barest, most inevitable basics. Republicans...

The group of about 35 people accused the shopping centers and their anchor stores, Macy's and Burdines, of exhibiting a double standard when it comes to religious symbols during the holidays. While both malls display menorahs for Hanukkah, they don't put up Nativity scenes for Christmas -- and they should, according to this group.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Broward County officials want prosecutors to investigate about 30 registered voters who attempted to cast ballots twice in the Nov. 2 election. Members of the county's canvassing board, who certified the county's election results Friday, said they were concerned about voters who cast ballots by touch-screen voting machine at early-voting sites in the days before Nov. 2, then tried to cast paper ballots at the precincts on Election Day. Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes said she....(excerpt)

FORT LAUDERDALE · Broward County prosecutors should investigate about 30 registered voters who attempted to cast ballots twice in last week's election, county officials said Friday. Members of the Broward County canvassing board, meeting to officially certify the county's election results late Friday afternoon, said they were concerned about voters who cast ballots by touch-screen voting machine at early-voting sites in the days before Nov. 2, then tried to cast paper ballots at the precincts on Election Day. Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes said she had spoken with representatives of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement about such voters. Earlier,...

Friday, November 05, 2004 FORT LAUDERDALE — It had to happen. Things were just going too smoothly. Early Thursday, as Broward County elections officials wrapped up after a long day of canvassing votes, something unusual caught their eye. Tallies should go up as more votes are counted. That's simple math. But in some races, the numbers had gone . . . down. Officials found the software used in Broward can handle only 32,000 votes per precinct. After that, the system starts counting backward. Why a voting system would be designed to count backward was a mystery to Broward County Mayor...

I'm a Poll Watcher at a Pembroke Pines precinct, 67X, at 9450 Palm Circle North (94th and Pines Blvd). I have been attempting to gain access in that capacity since 0700 this morning, however I was advised that I'm not on a list of certified Poll Watchers. Subsequently, I was told they have no list, and were told there were no Poll Watchers assigned to their precinct. The person in charge of elections in that precinct, Lisa English, was sincere in trying to clear up this situation, and finally gave me the number for the Supervisor of Elections for Broward...

I just went back to my heavily Demoratic polling site. Dead. Noone. Nada. This morning was reasobably busy. Now it is dead. I believe GOPers will continue to turn out heavy later in day after work as well. I will update at 6pm to let you know how site is. Anyone near a GOP site in Florida. We should compare lines or lack there of.

Calling all able bodied Patriots!! We have close to 2,000 Bush/Cheney signs to put up in South Palm Beach County over the next three nights. The sign crews will be out all night every night and we need your help! Come even if you can only do a few hours! We will be signing from Boynton to Boca. We also need volunteers early Tuesday morning to patrol polling locations and put up signs if they’ve been ripped down by Dem thugs. If you have step ladders, staple guns, and staplers bring them, we do not have enough stakes for all...

I've just started to hear on different news stations here in SE Florida, that they now believe, after checking the records, that there are no missing ballots, just unreturned ones. Now, how did they think that they could confirm any such ballots with absentees, anyway? Media nonsense, once again trying to make Florida look bad for partisan purposes.

Michael Moore, the documentary film-maker who directed the anti-Bush movie Fahrenheit 9/11, is expected to deliver a protest speech outside the Broward County Supervisor of Elections office at 7 tonight. Moore plans to discuss news reports that 58,000 absentee ballots are missing in Broward, according to his publicist, Terri Hardesty. For months, both political parties and critics of the touch-screen machines used in Broward, Miami-Dade and 13 other counties have urged voters to use absentee ballots, which are on paper. That led to a surge of absentee requests, topping more than 300,000 in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Broward's...

Michael Moore, the documentary film-maker who directed the anti-Bush movie Fahrenheit 9/11, is expected to deliver a protest speech outside the Broward County Supervisor of Elections office at 7 tonight. Moore plans to discuss news reports that 58,000 absentee ballots are missing in Broward, according to his publicist, Terri Hardesty. For months, both political parties and critics of the touch-screen machines used in Broward, Miami-Dade and 13 other counties have urged voters to use absentee ballots, which are on paper. That led to a surge of absentee requests, topping more than 300,000 in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Broward's...

SECOND CHANCE: Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes said her office is resending about 76,000 absentee ballots to voters who say they asked for but still haven't received them. Broward County's election office is resending about 76,000 absentee ballots to voters who say they asked for but still haven't received them, an ominous sign of voting problems just days before the nation again sets its eyes on Florida. The elections office is still trying to discover why so many people haven't received the absentee ballots. But with so little time before Tuesday's election, officials will mail out replacements -- thousands...

Broward County's election office is resending about 76,000 absentee ballots to voters who say they asked for but still haven't received them, an ominous sign of voting problems just days before the nation again sets its eyes on Florida. The elections office is still trying to discover why so many people haven't received the absentee ballots. But with so little time before Tuesday's election, officials will mail out replacements -- thousands of them -- today. The ballots will be shipped via overnight mail to people outside the county, said Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes. Broward's mix-up is the most...

Broward to resend missing ballots, add workers to help answer calls By Scott Wyman and Jean-Paul Renaud Staff writers Posted October 28 2004 Hoping to avoid another presidential election fiasco, Broward County officials scrambled Wednesday to replace tens of thousands of missing absentee ballots, cut long waits for early voting and beef up a phone system deluged with calls from angry voters. A day after acknowledging that up to 58,000 absentee ballots have not reached the voters who requested them, Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes decided to mail new ones. She will pay extra for overnight delivery of those sent outside...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Up to 58,000 absentee ballots may never have reached the Broward County voters who requested them more than two weeks ago, election officials said, and state police are investigating. Hundreds of people have called the county elections office to complain that they never got their ballots. The phone system was so overwhelmed some frustrated voters could not get through. The county election office said the problem involved ballots mailed on Oct. 7-8, though the number of those actually missing was uncertain. Some absentee ballots mailed on those dates have already been returned to be counted....

US Postal investigators on Wednesday were trying to find thousands of absentee ballots that should have been delivered to voters in one of Florida's most populous counties, officials said.The issue evoked memories of the polling problems that bedeviled the Florida election of 2000 and which the state has been trying to address before next Tuesday's presidential election, which is again is expected to be a very tight race.Broward County deputy supervisor of elections Gisela Salas said 60,000 absentee ballots, accounting for over 5 percent of the electorate in the county north of Miami, were sent out between October 7 and...