Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale’s plan to temporarily house homeless people at a motel may be ending Monday, according to a city memo.

Rick Maglione was removed as Fort Lauderdale’s police chief Thursday by City Manager Chris Lagerbloom.

Vice Mayor Steve Glassman said the commission knew it was coming but declined to say what was behind the decision.

“He was removed today,” Glassman said. “I did get a text. The city manager wants everyone to call him for the details.”

Steven Pohorence, the Fort Lauderdale police officer accused of shoving a kneeling protester last month during a Black Lives Matters protest, has been charged with battery, the Broward State Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

Prosecutors filed the charges after an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into May 31 incident. The battery charge is a first-degree misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail.

Waitresses without masks. Customers drinking at the bar. Bars pretending to be restaurants.

All three can and will get you in trouble these days in Broward County as coronavirus cases hit a meteoric rise in South Florida.

The state of Florida has hit the city of Fort Lauderdale with a $2.1 million penalty, the largest in its history, after scores of sewage spills that wreaked havoc on house-lined streets and rivers and canals.

The Fort Lauderdale police officer relieved of duty for shoving a kneeling protester duringSunday’s demonstrations has a history of violent arrests, often carried out at gunpoint, police records show.

In every single use of force, Internal Affairs investigators from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department found Steven Pohorence’s actions consistent with department policy.

No chairs, no coolers, no umbrellas: that’s the official mantra of lifeguards and police officers at Fort Lauderdale Beach Saturday morning, the first sunny weekend since Broward county beaches reopened on Tuesday. While there are other rules in place for residents who wish to venture out to the beach after two months of prohibition, few —if any — seem to be getting enforced.

Fort Lauderdale’s city commission met virtually on Wednesday to discuss ongoing social distancing measures.

One of the main topics was last weekend's closure of one lane in each direction on Las Olas Boulevard. Mayor Dean  Trantalis said pedestrians and businesses appreciated it, as it provided additional space to walk on and expanded restaurant seating.

The commission plans another partial closure this weekend — weather permitting.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis emphasized the need for people to stay at home during a tele-town hall via conference call with residents on Friday night. 

The new coronavirus disease widened its attack on Florida’s most vulnerable population this week, with the announcement Wednesday that new cases were suspected or confirmed at 19 long-term care facilities.

The state would not identify the facilities or say where they were located. But one Fort Lauderdale facility may account for some of them.

A fourth person who could have been exposed to coronavirus at an assisted-living facility in Fort Lauderdale has now been hospitalized, a fire official says.

Three seniors who were residents at Atria Willow Wood have died amid the coronavirus pandemic, sparking fears that more deaths might be coming.

A 15-story apartment tower planned for downtown would have become home to the region’s lowest-income residents. But last fall, city officials blocked the project from moving forward on grounds it was not allowed.

Now, the developer has filed lawsuits in both federal and state courts accusing Fort Lauderdale of “explicitly discriminatory” policies and practices. Both lawsuits were filed Friday.