Advocates claim late amendment to new Florida elections law ‘provides a new means of suppressing the vote of young voters’
Part of a new elections law that requires “sufficient nonpermitted parking” at early voting sites will create an unconstitutional burden on young voters attending colleges or universities, plaintiffs in a long-running dispute over campus early voting argued in documents filed Monday. The parking requirement was tucked into a sweeping elections package during the waning days…
You best believe the 43rd annual Miss Parliament House Pageant is a big freaking deal
This is the 43rd year that Parliament House has hosted a Miss Parliament House drag pageant. Do you want to know what was happening the same year that the first pageant was held? Jimmy Carter won the election. The Son of Sam terrorized New York. Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Jesus,…
SideWard Brewing and Ravenous Pig are teaming up and we couldn’t be happier
Larry Foor of the Ravenous Pig Brewing Co. and Garret Ward of SideWard Brewing invite you to their first collaboration dinner at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 15, and it’s a doozy. The prix-fixe meal will feature four courses from the Ravenous Pig, including a chicharrones avocado nacho plate and a meatloaf and mashed potato “TV Dinner.” Each…
Cast off your masks and reveal yourselves in this Cancer season, urges Orlando astrologer RJ Speiser
I got a new tattoo last month (sorry mom and dad). The design idea was inspired by the drawing from my favorite Shel Silverstein poem, “Masks.” The black and white image (sketched by the author) depicts a boy and a girl holding large masks over their face while walking past each other. The general moral…
Revel in early Keanu at a Bill & Ted double feature at the Nook on Robinson
Now that the world is experiencing a full-blown Keanu-ssance, it’s time to revisit the pre-John Wick, pre-“You’re Beautiful!,” even pre-Sad Keanu oeuvre of the internet’s current boyfriend, Keanu Reeves. The Bill & Ted movies – 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey – star Reeves as dimwitted wannabe rock…
French New Wave classic Last Year at Marienbad will break your brain but dazzle your senses at Enzian Theater Saturday
In yet another programming coup, Enzian Theater shows Last Year at Marienbad as this week’s Saturday Matinee Classic, but fair warning: You might need to drink an extra espresso that morning to get prepared. Alain Resnais’ French New Wave classic tells the story of a couple (maybe?) who encounter each other again (maybe?) at the hotel…
Let yourself and everyone else eat cake at Saturday’s Bastille Bash in Audubon Park
Every time we look at Twitter we wonder if this is the day when America is going to storm the barricades. (Courage! It’s never too late, mes amis!) But if your interest in all things French runs more toward the cheese and wine, less toward the guillotine, this annual Audubon Park event is for you.…
Will’s Pub goes dark with a stacked lineup of dark-rock, dark-synth heavyweights including Curse Mackey and SINE
We said it before when David J came through town a few weeks ago, and we’ll say it again about Curse Mackey and SINE’s Orlando show this weekend: You expressed your heartfelt gratitude online for Mackey and SINE helping David J rally and save the day after Peter Murphy’s (second) last-minute cancellation, and this weekend…
NKOTB, Salt-n-Pepa and more hit Amway Saturday on a blockbuster tour heavy on nostalgia for the golden age of MTV
Pioneering Bostonian boy-band NKOTB (New Kids on the Block no more) are back, helming a blockbuster tour heavy on nostalgia for a golden age of pop-radio and MTV’s best days. And their “Mixtape Tour” is oh-so-perfectly timed for the summer, when nostalgia for the carefree days of youth hits a goddamned fever pitch. Think of…
Darkwave dance night Uberbahn returns to the Falcon to fill your heart with inertia
“Pause ist vorbei!” proclaims the event page of Uberbahn’s return to Thornton Park’s the Falcon, meaning “the break is over!” After a couple of months off, the night devoted to darkwave, EBM, post-punk, industrial, Krautrock – you know, the G-word – returns under the control of DJs NM and 0r10n. Now is the time on…
Skatepunk EDM DJ Mija rolls into Celine Thursday to sweat it out
Skatepunk EDM DJ Mija rolls into Celine this week for a stop on her “Sweat It Out” tour. The Arizona native’s career has been rising for years, and this tour finds her firmly planted in the upper echelons of the hard house scene after a world-spanning year involving dates in Japan, Australia, Mexico and Thailand.…
Legal Public Notices 7/10 issue
Orlando Legals Legal Public Notices Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at 1700 Celebration Blvd. Celebration FL 34747, on July 30 2019, at 1PM. Rene Torres: lamps, sports equipment, mirror, ladder, holiday decor, ottoman, utility box, toys, trophies. Adam Byrd: totes, clothes.…
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony set to play Orlando in September
Nineties survivors and rap-meets-R&B vocal group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony want you to meet them not at the crossroads (or the sky, as it were) but at the Hard Rock Live this September, when they touch down as part of tour that only includes one other Florida stop (in Fort Lauderdale) as of this writing. The group,…
Orlando House of Blues announces new Southern-inspired weekend Bayou Brunch
The House of Blues is set to rock even harder with the addition of the new Bayou Brunch starting Saturday, Aug. 3. The buffet-style brunch with a musical twist will feature Southern classics such as biscuits and gravy, shrimp and crawfish étouffée and more. A Build Your Own Old Fashioned bar will satisfy morning thirst…
Employee at Orlando middle school arrested for alleged molestation of 14-year-old students
A program assistant at an Orlando middle school was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of groping students and making sexually explicit comments. Milly Andy Michel, 29, was taken in on 10 counts involving lewd or lascivious molestation, offenses against students by authority figures, and false imprisonment, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. ARRESTED: Milly Michel, on…
Obscurity rocks the Falcon with Tidepools, Dunies, Dot Org and the Last Origin
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND Tidepools, The Last Origin, Dunies and Dot Org, The Falcon, July 7 A recent bill at the Falcon stocked with what seemed like promising but relatively unknown bands caught my eye as an event ripe for discovery. Sometimes you get a feeling, but sometimes you’re wrong. Life’s unfair like that. This time,…
Hate crimes in Florida increased by 102% between 2013 and 2017
Hate crimes remain widely underreported in America, but a new look at the data says Florida has witnessed a massive spike since 2013. According to a report from SafeHome, a home security provider, publicly available FBI data shows that Florida experienced a 102% percentage increase in hate crimes from 2013-2017. (The 2017 data is the…
Orlando Fringe Festival names new theater producer
The 29th annual Orlando Fringe is still 10 months away, but we already know that big changes are in store for 2020, because Fringe Festival producer Michael Marinaccio has stepped down after eight years and is taking on the new title of show director effective July 1. Marinaccio, who was a longtime Fringe artist before succeeding…
The Isley Brothers to romance Orlando live and in person in December
Celebrating 60 years (and counting) of soul and R&B supremacy, consummate musical lovermen the Isley Brothers have announced an anniversary tour that starts this month, but they’re saving the best for last and playing the City Beautiful as one of the last couple of newly added dates in December. The Rock & Roll Hall of…
Human Rainbow Brite doll JoJo Siwa comes to the Amway Center on Wednesday
JoJo Siwa first rose to fame dancing on the reality TV shows Dance Moms and Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition. She quickly gained massive popularity online, and has since become a Nickelodeon star, New York Times best-selling author (yes, really) and YouTube celebrity, even baby-sitting Kim and Kanye’s kid North West and vlogging it. Laugh all…
Central Florida woman’s diagnosis marks latest case of flesh-eating bacteria
Casselberry resident Sarah Martinez cut her leg while shaving a few days before a planned vacation to Sarasota, only to contract a potentially fatal case of flesh-eating bacteria once her cut was exposed to the water. WKMG was the first to report the story Monday. Martinez said she could feel the effects of the infection…
Pop an extra Xanax, parents, the Baby Shark live show is coming to Orlando
Put on your swim diapers, kids, and grab your earplugs, parents: The Baby Shark live experience is coming to Orlando. The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts announced that Pinkfong’s viral dance phenomenon is bringing a live production to town for one day only on Friday, Oct. 4. Tickets for the 6 p.m. show go on…
Hydraulic spill halts Orlando traffic on Orange Blossom Trail and Colonial Drive
A “significant” hydraulic leak at Orange Blossom Trail and West Colonial Drive caused a truck to veer off the road and onto train tracks Tuesday morning, fire officials said. The Orlando Fire Department advised motorists to expect traffic delays due to the spill, which extends for a quarter of a mile on Orange Blossom Trail and…
Florida high school principal reassigned after stating he ‘can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event’
A Boca Raton high school principal who came under fire for questioning whether the Holocaust occurred has been removed from his position, according to Palm Beach County school officials. “It is out of an abundance of concern and respect for the students and staff of Spanish River Community High School that school district administration has…
One of two male black-necked swans at Lake Eola dies, ending Orlando’s ‘swan-elorette’ story
More than a month after the made-for-internet love story began, the courting of “Queenie,” Lake Eola’s lone female black-necked swan, is over after one of her two potential male partners died today, city officials say. It’s unclear whether Queenie and the late swan had ever crossed the plateau of becoming star-crossed lovers – and the…
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is coming to Orlando in November, and it’s Joel Hodgson’s last mission with the crew
Get your popcorn – and hankies – ready! The mad geniuses behind the seminal Mystery Science Theater 3000 are taking their show on the road and bringing it to Orlando, and it’s going to be the curtain call for one of the most important members of their cast. The MST3K “Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour”…
Discovery of illegal drugs, live gator in Florida man’s front seat leads to his arrest
Last week a Florida man was taken into custody after officers found illegal drugs and a live alligator in his vehicle. According to the Hardee County Sheriff’s Office, deputies found “narcotics” on Anthony Richardson after he was pulled over for a traffic stop in the area of State Road 64 and Pioneer Park in Zolfo…
A remodeled Orlando-area Aldi’s location will reopen Thursday morning
Aldi will reopen its location in Casselberry on Thursday morning with a remodeled layout and a ribbon-cutting event. This comes as Aldi has pledged to invest more than $5 billion to remodel and expand by the end of 2022. Aldi’s 83 Florida locations are expected to see around $115 million of that effort. The renovated…
‘Floribama Shore’ star arrested for flashing cops and kicking out a car window in St. Pete
Joining a long list of MTV reality stars who’ve been arrested after having one too many, Floribama Shore cast member Nilsa Prowant was arrested early Saturday after allegedly flashing her breasts to cops and kicking out a car window. According to the arrest report, the 25-year-old star, whose real name is Nilsa Anderson, was taken…
Salsa legends El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico announce a return to Orlando in November
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico may have played the House of Blues only last weekend, but this legendary orchestra is already hungering to return to the City Beautiful. And thus El Gran Combo has just announced a return date in Orlando this November, perfect for those who want to bask in the lush salsa rhythms…
Universal Studios Orlando releases ‘Stranger Things’ artwork for Halloween Horror Nights
If your Stranger Things fix wasn’t satisfied by the recent release of Season 3 on Netflix, Universal Studios Orlando has you covered with a haunted house based on the show at their 2019 Halloween Horror Nights. In anticipation, Universal has released illustrations of the mazes from artist Kyle Lambert, who created art for the first three…
USWNT watch party at Lake Eola proves soccer is a big deal in Central Florida
It seems that we have finally arrived as hardcore soccer fans in Orlando. For a watch party at the Lake Eola Amphitheater on Sunday, fans came out in droves to witness the U.S. Women’s National Team defeat the Netherlands 2-0, securing their second consecutive World Cup title. The clamor to attend was for good reason: Featured…
DJ Smilin Dan’s Getting Away With It turns Remix Record Shop into an after-hours happening every week
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND Getting Away With It Fridays, Remix Record Shop, July 5 Gather round, kids. Here’s some music lore for you. Once upon a time, people had to purchase music! Even more fantastical, they had to travel – yes, over mountain and wood – to record shops to procure it on physical media, arcane…
New video shows Florida men who dragged shark behind boat also shot animal for fun
A new video obtained by Tampa’s Fox 13 shows one of the three Florida idiots who filmed themselves dragging a live black tip shark behind a speedboat in 2017 actually shooting a shark with a pistol for fun. It’s unclear if it’s the same animal in the latest video. Prosecutors are using the video in…
NOAA says there’s an 80% chance Tropical Storm Barry will hit the Gulf of Mexico this week
The National Hurricane Center is now saying there’s an 80% chance of a storm system headed southeast from the Midwest will develop into Tropical Storm Barry this week. “A trough of low pressure located over the southeastern United States is forecast to move southward toward the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, where a broad area of…
SPLC adds plaintiffs to solitary confinement suit against Florida Department of Corrections
Nearly two months after the Southern Poverty Law Center sued the Florida Department of Corrections for “widely overusing” solitary confinement in state prisons, the group has added new plaintiffs to the case. The lawsuit, filed in early May, focused in part on five inmates who said they were put in solitary confinement for extended periods…
Welcome to BITE 2019: The best guide to Orlando dining
This year Orlando Weekly restaurant critic Faiyaz Kara spoke to 16 Orlando chefs about some of the hottest current topics in the dining industry: issues of cultural appropriation in food. What does it mean to be an immigrant chef in America today? Who owns a cuisine, or is it even possible for a cuisine to…
Chef Jenn Ross of Eatonville’s DaJen Eats wants people to have an emotional connection with her food
A self-described “happy, irie vegan,” Jenn Ross left Jamaica when she was 16, taught herself how to cook, then adopted a plant-based diet as a way to live a more compassionate life. DaJen Eats started as a pop-up, then moved into a Citgo gas station off North Orange Blossom Trail before finding a permanent home…
Va and Trina Gregory-Propst make magic out of flour and water at Sette Italian
On the heels of their uber-popular Southern comfort spot Se7en Bites, Va and Trina Gregory-Propst bring comfort Italian style to Ivanhoe Village with Sette – a restaurant that they say draws inspiration from Italy’s food culture. Cultural appropriation has become an increasingly sensitive topic in the world of food. What are your thoughts on food…
Chef-owners Jasmeet Kaur and Pooja Patel of Forever Naan keep their food bold, spicy and authentic
Forever Naan’s charming 20-something proprietors, Pooja Patel (pictured above) and Jasmeet Kaur (quoted below), could’ve been operating a gas station had kismet not intervened and presented them with the vacant space on Curry Ford Road in which they opened Forever Naan. The small curry shop is very much like the ones they often visited while…
Yojan Gonzalez and Lisa Plasencia of A Lo Cubano Kitchen stay true to their roots and culture
Yojan Gonzalez is from Cuba, Lisa Plasencia is from Miami and, together, the husband-and-wife tandem behind the A Lo Cubano Kitchen food truck bring a little taste of Havana’s Malecón and the flavor of Miami’s Calle Ocho to the streets of Orlando. What effect has your personal immigrant experience had on your business’s evolution? As…
The best way to fight the incursion of lionfish? Fry them up
Eat ’em to beat ’em
Where to get your fix of Asian pastries, cakes and rolls in Orlando
One bun leads to another
Five ways to know if your woodfired pizza is the real deal
Gimme all your dough
Rodolfo Guzman went from laying tile at the original Jaleo to head chef of Jaleo at Disney Springs
It’s true: Bolivian chef Rodolfo Guzman once laid tiles at the original Jaleo in Washington, D.C., then washed dishes, before rising through the ranks to become head chef at Jaleo Disney Springs. That José Andrés believes Guzman cooks better Spanish food than he does himself speaks volumes. What effect has your immigrant experience had on…
Pop bottles: Natural wine is the unpretentious next step in Orlando’s craft beverage scene
It was in Paris two years ago that I first heard people talking about natural wines. Pét-nat was on the menu at many of the trendier places we went, but I never tried a glass. But when natural wines and pét-nat started popping up here back in the states, I figured it was time to…
At La Kuma Coffee, Justin Xiong delves into Japanese coffee culture
Coffee connoisseur and self-taught bean freak Justin Xiong not only wanted to share his passion for coffee with the masses, but, in his Longwood coffee house La Kuma, wanted to offer exacting and precise cups of coffee with Japanese flair. When did you have your first taste of coffee? I was 10 years old when…
Vishal Chunilal had an ‘iron resolve’ to make Oviedo Brewing Co. happen
Even success in the IT field couldn’t stop Vishal Chunilal, an avid home brewer with a passion for the craft of beermaking, from chasing his dream of opening a brewery. Along with partners Vishal Chawhan and Prajesh Mohan, he opened Oviedo Brewing Co. in the Oviedo Mall earlier this year. An Indian-owned and operated brewery…
Maria Palo and her family make customers feel at home at Stasio’s Italian Deli & Market
Maria Palo and her husband, Louie, moved to Florida with a newborn in 1984 and soon after opened Amalfi’s Italian Restaurant on Chickasaw Trail. Fifteen years and three children later, they sold Amalfi’s, then opened Carnevale di Amalfi on East Colonial Drive, which became Louie & Maria’s Italian Restaurant. Then Palo’s kids wanted an authentic…
Chef Bram Fowler of Sanford’s Old Jailhouse says his South African upbringing inspires him to cook world cuisine
South African-born chef Bram Fowler is no stranger to our dining scene, having wowed guests at his Longwood restaurant Journeys well before helming the kitchen at Sanford’s Old Jailhouse, a stunning restaurant specializing in “Sun Belt Cuisine.” As a chef, there are obvious challenges when you run the kitchen but don’t own the restaurant. How…
Lewis Lin’s Susuru is the piece of Japan that he wanted to bring to Orlando
Lewis Lin transformed College Park mainstay Jade Sushi & New Asian into one of the better restaurants in the neighborhood, but his tourist sector gastropub, Susuru, offers a completely different experience – a whimsical, nostalgic and socially minded izakaya of the sort he frequented while living in Japan. Cultural appropriation has become an increasingly sensitive…
Paddlefish chef Steven Richard makes a mean lobster roll, but secretly loves Coney dogs
As a Massachusetts native, some of Steven Richard’s earliest memories are of driving around with his grandfather sampling lobster rolls all over New England. No surprise that a career in the pharmaceutical industry eventually led to a career in culinary with stints at Wolfgang Puck Grand Café, Portobello Country Italian Trattoria and, now, as executive…
Chef Rifat Altuntas of the H Cuisine learned from the best in Istanbul’s bastions of beef
Istanbul native Rifat Altuntas honed his skills alongside some impressive culinarians in that magnificent city, many of whom went on to high-profile posts, including Julien Piguet (Brasserie Lipp, Zurich), Martin Satow (Grand Hyatt Seoul) and Fabrice Giraud (Maison Blanche, Paris). At the H Cuisine, an Orlando steakhouse with Turkish leanings, Altuntas applies the knowledge and…
Hakan Ogun left a career in IT to follow his bliss at Cafe 34 Istanbul
Hakan Ogun came to the United States from Turkey as an IT professional, but after 15 years in the field, he followed his passion for food and cooking – a passion instilled as a young boy in his mother’s kitchen – by helping close friend Jack Davis develop the menu and market restaurant/hookah bar Cafe…
Chef Aimee Rivera is the boss at Victoria & Albert’s, one of the finest restaurants in Orlando
Puerto Rican-born chef and Johnson & Wales grad Aimee Rivera worked under the venerable Scott Hunnel at Victoria & Albert’s as a sous-chef before assuming the title of chef de cuisine. She’s now one of Orlando’s highest-profile female chefs, overseeing the culinary operations of one of the finest restaurants in the city. What are you…
Backhaus konditor Benno Deifel says his baked goods emphasize German authenticity
German-born Benno Deifel and his wife, Heike, opened Backhaus in 2014, offering fresh-baked German breads, pastries and cakes. Their recipes emphasize authenticity, and most of their baked goods use ingredients imported from Germany. Have you ever felt the need to compromise authenticity in order to please a broader palate? With our German upbringing, and having…
