Sewage water backing up through floor drains, standing water ‘below customers’ tables’: 2 South Florida restaurants shut

The state temporarily closed two South Florida restaurants — one each in Palm Beach and Broward counties — last week due to issues ranging from standing water underneath dining room tables and sewage water backing up through floor drains to an employee handling raw chicken then cooking pork without washing their hands. The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically highlights restaurant inspections conducted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Broward and Palm... Read More

Ukrainian teenager pleads not guilty to killing grandmother

Sofia Koval, the Ukrainian teenager charged as an adult with manslaughter for allegedly killing her elderly grandmother in May, pleaded not guilty Wednesday. She faces 15 years in prison if convicted, but her youth and her history may come into play when her defense lawyers argue for leniency if she is convicted. Originally Published: October 16, 2024 at 2:21 p.m. ... Read More

The ‘Least of These’ and the Quest for a Post-Christian Conscience

This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here. Every few years, someone makes the point that, “actually,” the “least of these” passage from the Gospel of Matthew doesn’t really have anything to do with how we treat the poor or the stranger or the hungry. The “brothers” to which Jesus refers, the argument goes, are the messengers he sent out—meaning that the way one responds to the bearers of Jesus’ word signifies the way one responds to him.... Read More

Guide to the Arts 2024: Best art exhibits of the season

As part of our Guide to the Arts, which published in PRIME Magazine on Oct. 6, entertainment writer Phillip Valys offered his Critic’s Picks for the best visual arts exhibits coming up in South Florida. ‘Calida Rawles: Away with the Tides’ Through Feb. 2, 2025, at Pérez Art Museum Miami; 305-375-3000 or PAMM.org. In Calida Rawles’ acrylic painting “Release What I Will Not Give,” a woman floats face-up within swirls of the ocean while a hand reaches up into the frame from below.... Read More

People with felony records can vote in Nebraska. Ruling could help tip the balance on Nov. 5

By MARGERY A. BECK OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s top election official had no authority to strip voting rights from people convicted of a felony, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that could add hundreds of new voters to the rolls and potentially help tip the balance on Nov. 5. The order by Republican Secretary of State Bob Evnen could have kept 7,000 or more Nebraskans from voting in the upcoming election, the American Civil Liberties Union has said. Many of them... Read More

Rick Scott’s latest ad depicts hurricane leadership. In challenger Mucarsel-Powell ad, he’s a snake.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, who has been barnstorming the state showing himself as Florida’s governor-like hurricane responder, is following up with a reelection campaign ad extolling his storm-season leadership. It’s a collection of testimonials from six Florida sheriffs, five of whom are in their uniforms, praising the Republican senator they’ve endorsed for reelection. “I can tell you he is the first phone call we always get if there’s a hurricane, if there’s an issue that goes... Read More

Pastors and Public Servants: Lead Your Neighbor as Yourself

As a pastor, I’ve found one of the main difficulties in leading faithfully and living as good neighbors is that we can’t always choose our neighbors or the context and circumstances in which we lead and live. And in a time of tense divisiveness, global conflicts, natural disasters, and other complex crises, this sense of helplessness is nearly universal. We have all experienced the reality of a world beyond our control—not least during the COVID-19 pandemic, when life changed for all... Read More

Mind the Power Gap in Missions

In the past 50 years, the center of Christianity has shifted from the West to the Majority World. As Zambian mission leader Lazarus Phiri told me during a recent interview, “Those who were once a mission field are now looking like a mission force.” Yet all too often, well-meaning mission partners in the West operate as if this shift has not occurred. The reason, in part, is that the centers of power (including money, education, institution, passport privileges, etc.) remains in the... Read More