Miami News (BETA)

A former Bolivian cabinet member dubbed the ''minister of cocaine'' was deported to his native country late Wednesday after serving almost 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into South Florida.

The Florida Supreme Court unanimously ordered Thursday that a Death Row inmate be set free because there wasn't enough evidence to convict him of murdering a Broward County pawn shop worker.

A Miami mother accused of hatching her own son's kidnapping then standing by as her co-horts singed his leg with a blow torch intends to change her plea Friday.

Congress has debated the wisdom of it. Human rights groups have decried the use of it. Now Merriam-Webster, the dictionary people, have decided it's a real term that came into the American vernacular in 2004.

Fort Lauderdale police are searching for two men who abducted a juvenile girl from her home and tried to rape her. Police spokesman Sgt. Frank Sousa said the abduction happened about 4:05 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Riverland Road and U.S. 441.

Despite concerns about the weather, NASA is moving ahead with its countdown for Saturday's launch of space shuttle Endeavour. Endeavour and its crew are set to will deliver and install the last part of Japan's massive space station lab.

A Miami firm is suing Paris Hilton alleging she didn't do enough to promote a movie titled "Pledge This!" And now, her next appearance may be before a Miami federal judge as the lawsuit goes to trial on Thursday.

36-year-old Herman Lindsey's death sentence has been overturned and an acquittal was ordered by the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday. Lindsey faced the death penalty for the 1994 murder of Joanne Mazollo during a pawn shop robbery.

The 2009 Hurricane Season has been in full swing for a little over a month and so far, all has been quiet in the tropics, and that could be the trend. NOAA scientists say an El Niño has arrived in the central and eastern tropical Pacific waters. An, El Niño typically supresses Atlantic tropical activity.

Two more deadly cases of H1N1 flu have been confirmed in Florida. The Florida Department of Health said the latest deaths were a 25-year-old woman from Palm Beach County and a 55-year-old man from Duval County.

Between bites of a braised lamb shank, Richard von Houtman — or as his black American Express card reads: Baron Richard von Houtman — holds his iPhone sideways to display a recent call. It's a Chicago number alongside the name "Siohvaughn." As in Siohvaughn Wade, the ex-...

The email arrived just before lunchtime June 15. In it, a photo showed a tanned nude blonde bending over, underpants around her thighs. With seductive eyes, she gazed at the camera. Below the image was a list of her interests: "Role-playing, cuckolding, slaves, ATM piggies, verbal humiliation..."...

What happens when a wayward cop goes unpunished for a blatant crime? Ask Sgt. Juan E. Mendez. Last month, a citizen oversight group considered the 92nd complaint filed against the Miami Police officer in his 25-year career. Those complaints include 22 for excessive use of force, 22 for di...

Cops on Miami Beach, like those in Miami, can be rough at times. Clubgoers, homeless guys, and even the famous bicycle-riding resident rooster, Mr. Clucky, have felt their wrath. But until recently, there was one thing Beach officers didn't do: kill people. Or at least they hadn't done so...

Every day, Richard Ruiz maneuvers his mountain bike through swarms of tourists in neon "I'm in Miami Bitch" T-shirts on Lincoln Road. Sweating through his white uniform, he watches for shoplifters and herds away panhandlers. Once in a while, he breaks up a drunken shoving match. Ruiz stil...

Before his family could even bury him or grieve his loss, Tom Monaghan became the victim of fraudsters who immediately went to work stealing his identity within 48 hours of his death.

Donnie Hendrix, who killed a woman after injecting her with silicone, was arrested for offering illegal injections out of her home.

A Miami city commissioner is calling for action following the mass shooting in Overtown that killed one person and left 12 wounded.

Police deputies shot a man threatening suicide while in a parked car in Pompano Beach last night.

Julio Marin might not know CPR but he knows how to find the off switch

Since Michael Jackson died June 25, fans from around the world have expressed their grief in flowers, balloons, teddy bears, candles, pictures and handwritten notes left throughout the city.

Authorities say a prankster persuaded a married couple to smash their Florida hotel window after falsely telling them the room had a gas leak.

The ACLU files a lawsuit over laws that led to a group of sex offenders settling under the Julia Tuttle Causeway as the Miami Commission considers another lawsuit.

The Florida Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence in a 1994 Broward County murder and ordered an acquittal in the case.

Florida now has seven cases of swine flu deaths after a man in Duval County and a woman in Palm Beach County died from the disease, health officials said.

The Junior Orange Bowl Committee (JOBC) met on June 6 for its annual Goal’s Conference at the Coral Gables Branch Library. Over fresh coffee and bagels, the enthusiastic volunteers spent their Saturday morning setting goals for the year and summarizing accomplishments the organization has reached during the past 60 years.

As U.S. Century Bank’s continued commitment to supporting educational initiatives, three graduating students from the College of Law at Florida International University (FIU) received scholarship awards from U.S. Century Bank, one of the fastest growing community banks headquartered in Miami.

Manny Garcia-Linares is a commercial litigation attorney as well as a certified public accountant. Despite a busy work schedule as a managing shareholder of the law firm of Richman Greer PA, Garcia-Linares still finds time to serve the community.

The cities of La Antigua, Guatemala, and Coral Gables share a common thread of historic architecture, tranquil neighborhoods and love for art and culture.

Palmetto Bay Councilmember Howard J. Tendrich (District 2) checks out a specialized rain barrel provided by the Miami-Dade County Cooperative Extension Service.

R. Alexander Acosta clerked for Samuel A. Alito Jr. when the US Supreme Court justice served on the US Court of Appeals.

By Jacquelyn Weiner Coral Gables residents could be hit with an up-to 19% increase in property tax rates in the upcoming fiscal year to balance the city's budget.

By Jacquelyn Weiner and Zachary S. Fagenson A state attorney general's opinion could mean bad news for plans of Miami's Community Redevelopment Agency to help fund construction of a new site for the Camillus House outside the agency's bounds.

By Risa Polansky A rise in debt service payments on Miami-Dade Aviation's ongoing $6.2 billion capital improvements program means that, combined with growing operations expenses, the airport is to face a projected $500 million in new annual costs beginning in 2015.

By Risa Polansky Though Miami-Dade scored big in the stadium bonding game last week, the county isn't yet in the final inning of the financing.

Accused of arranging her son's kidnapping, watching as he was singed with a blow torch A Miami mother accused of hatching her own son's kidnapping then standing by as her co-horts singed his leg with a blow torch intends to change her plea Friday.

Jan's Jewelers has seen its share of drama: thefts, alarms and burglary attempts. There was even a shootout once with robbers, leaving one dead.

A middle-aged man was killed in Dania Beach while driving on his way to work this morning, authorities said.

Two customers face drug trafficking charges Authorities have shut down a pharmacy they say filled hundreds of fraudulent prescriptions and supplied two drug traffickers with thousands of potent pain pills.

Officials for the state Department of Corrections announced today they demoted the warden of the Indian River Correctional Institute following several weeks of investigating the use of electrical devices on students visiting the facility in April.

The top 19 U.S. airlines improved their on-time rates slightly in May, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The days of hot growth in advertising on social networking sites may be over, according to a forecast issued Thursday, despite strong gains at Facebook Inc.

The Ohio company that operates Florida East Coast Railway yards in Miami Springs, Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville has notified the state that it may have to layoff 142 employees if Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) does not renew its contract.

For a second week in a row mortgage rates eased. Freddie Mac's weekly report says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.2 percent this week, down from last week's average of 5.32 percent. A year ago, 30-year mortgages were averaging 6.37 percent, although rates fell below 5 percent earlier this year.

In the last six months lenders have filed more than 52,000 foreclosures in South Florida and it’s expected that by the time the year is over there will be more than 100,000 foreclosures filed in the tri-county area, according to a new report from Condo Vultures LLC.