TALK OF OUR TOWN

Joan Fleischman
Joan Fleischman, Talk of our Town columnist, was a staff writer from 1978-2008. Among her beats: general assignment reporting, police and state and federal courts. E-mail Joan at joanfleischman@yahoo.com.

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TALK OF OUR TOWN

Filmmaker serves time after killing

Independent film maker Mel Kiser, who directed a well-received documentary about Miami's S & S diner, hasn't eaten there in years. He's been in prison -- for killing a man.

TALK OF OUR TOWN

Westbrooks seek prospect for Gables manse sale

Hugh Westbrook and wife Carole Shields Westbrook, co-chairmen of Merrill-Stevens shipyard, just listed their bayfront compound at 158 S. Prospect Dr. in Coral Gables -- for $23.5 million.
TALK OF OUR TOWN

Police chief gets traffic ticket

Jim Skinner, the Golden Beach police chief who once led Coral Gables PD, received a traffic ticket -- from a Gables motorcycle cop. Officer Alex Castello nailed Skinner on Sept. 16 for making an illegal left at Riviera and Jeronimo drives.
TALK OF OUR TOWN

Goldmans call it quits -- on marriage, not restaurant

Charles Joseph Goldman and wife Bethea -- the ``Joey'' and ``Thea'' who own the popular Joey's Italian Cafe in the Wynwood arts district, are in Miami-Dade divorce court. He filed.
TALK OF OUR TOWN

Kids' mag hits court in business spat

Legal battle between former business partners: Ocean Drive magazine founder Jerry Powers and Niche Media CEO Jason Binn, who bought Powers' media company two years ago.
TALK OF THE TOWN

No lawsuit over this slip-and-fall

Miami attorney Steve Zack, the American Bar Association's president-elect, won't be traveling for awhile. Zack, 61, broke his right fibula, the smaller of the two main bones near the ankle.
TALK OF OUR TOWN

Kelley Mitchell's overdue `I Do'

Former TV anchor Kelley Mitchell, who was gravely ill last February, is on the mend at her Miami Shores home. In between a series of hospitalizations, she says, she managed to do something she'd put off forever -- get married. Yup. Mitchell, 52, and longtime beau Kirk Wade, 48, WSVN-Fox 7's chief photographer, quietly tied the knot on March 16. Nothing fancy -- just a courthouse ceremony at the North Dade Justice Center. ``I am the ultimate procrastinator,'' laughs Mitchell, explaining she and Wade were ``engaged'' for 11 of their 15 years together.
TALK OF OUR TOWN

Miami pol gets headache over name mixup

Miami political consultant Armando Gutierrez was not amused to find his name in news articles that said he'd been indicted on public corruption and money-laundering charges in New Mexico. Wrong Gutierrez. The Gutierrez under indictment is Texas-based and operates a political consulting firm with a similar name.