Mar 4-10, 1998

Mar 4-10, 1998 / Vol. 14 / No. 9

City avoids its day in court

The city has dropped its panhandling case against Henry L. Coulter, the homeless man who — in exchange for change — helps people park in the vast public lot under I-4 near Church Street downtown `”City guards its million-dollar lot,” Feb. 19`. Prosecutor Ken Hebert says he realized he’d need witnesses. When he encountered problems…

Lawrence Budd

Nudists try naked aggression

Tired of being carted off Playalinda Beach in handcuffs, the Central Florida Naturists are asking a federal judge to strip Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies of the power to patrol the beach. This is hardly news, the nudists’ legal battles with authorities dating back more than a decade [see “Butts, Seriously,” May 29]. But the group’s…

Lawrence Budd

Is Marsa off the dance floor?

Jon Marsa, the nightclub owner who came to personify the opposition to Mayor Glenda Hood’s push to shut down the city’s internationally recognized late-night dance scene, may have spoken his last on behalf of The Club. For the past year, Marsa was the most vocal of the downtown club owners opposed to the 3 a.m.…

Lawrence Budd

This is your Congress on drugs

Whether on toothpaste or breakfast cereal, you can bet that when a “New and Improved!” label appears on a package, it means you’ll pay more and get less. Congress has learned this art of deceptive packaging, too. Hence, Newt Gingrich’s 1995 proposal for a new tax giveaway to the privileged was labeled the “Job Creation…

Jim Hightower

Guitarist scales six-stringed summit

Guitar Summit III, with Sharon Isbin, Herb Ellis, Stanley Jordon, Rory Block, House of Blues, March 12, 1998 Sharon Isbin is busy. Not only is she on tour as part of Guitar Summit III, but she has recording sessions coming up and demands on her time as head of the guitar department at the Juilliard…

Garaud McTaggart

Swervedriver takes a dizzying journey

Swervedriver, opening for Hum, Sapphire Supper Club, March 9, 1998 Five years seems to be the average lifespan for many bands — enough time to toss out a few releases, savor a taste of success, drift into a slump, then head back to the day job. While Swervedriver’s last widely available recording was released five…

Daniel Fuller

Size Matters

Roni Size, Icon, March 6, 1998 As electronic music evolves, a breakout messiah moves in You can hear it pounding from the downtown rooftop of Cairo as you drive down Magnolia Avenue on Wednesday nights or blasting from the back patio of Barbarella on Thursdays as you wait for a slice at Planet Pizza on…

Matt Kelemen

Girls just wanna have — huh?

Assuming you have friends, ask what they’ve been doing. Ask if it was fun. Some will say “Oiyah,” the equivalent of “Oh yeah” as one word, with the “Oh” much higher than the “yeah,” meaning it was so great they can’t take you there. Usually they answer in a thin, soprano “Yeah?,” meaning they’re not…

Liz Langley

Tracking a fight

Once upon a time, there was a city that wanted to build a light-rail system. That goal encountered the predictable problems — garnering public support, winning over politicians and funding authorities, standing down, opposition, and then actually building the thing. ;; In 1998, that city is Orlando. In 1982, that city was St. Louis. What…

Richard Byrne

Revisiting history’s fade to black

We’ve just concluded another Black History Month, and as usual corporate America rolled out its best institutional African-American ads to demonstrate its “good will” toward the “black community.” From McDonald’s ads to a monthlong celebration at Disney-MGM Studios, this year like no other, mainstream America joined in. One of the refreshing things was the palpable…

Willie Clark

Tornado relief a disaster for some

‘I don’t blame the people [who needed help] and got it. I blame the officials’ The story is neither new nor novel. A hurricane, an earthquake, a flood: Relief agencies respond, public officials appear, and communities reach out. Days later people begin to learn about those victims left to fend for themselves. ;; This time,…

Michael Hoover and Lisa Stokes

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