Big Cypress Casino celebrates Grand Opening Community by Peter B. Gallagher - May 22, 2012April 10, 2015 BIG CYPRESS — For Big Cypress Councilman Mondo Tiger, April 26 was "a long, long time coming" and "a dream come true." It was the Grand Opening of the new Seminole Casino on the Big Cypress Reservation. The parking area of Billie Swamp Safari, the Seminole’s outback tourist enterprise, was filled with
Noted artist paints Red Barn Community by Peter B. Gallagher - May 22, 2012April 10, 2015 BRIGHTON — Her name is Dorothy Gardiner. She is a famous artist, and she is painting the old Red Barn. Well, not exactly. The old classic structure really hasn’t had a good coat of paint since it was first built around 1941 by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a stable for the
Billie Bowlegs historical marker found Community by Peter B. Gallagher - May 22, 2012April 10, 2015 MOORE HAVEN — The mystery is solved. The Billie Bowlegs III road sign has been found. The Glades County landmark has been safely stored in Hendry County at the LaBelle office of the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) waiting for the completion of construction improvements at the intersection of West State
Thousands rock Tampa Hard Rock job fair Community by Peter B. Gallagher - April 25, 2012April 10, 2015 TAMPA — The first job seeker showed up at 2:30 a.m. First in line at the appointed State Fairgrounds exhibition hall, early bird Yvette Dube was followed by more than a thousand others hoping to successfully apply for more than 400 available jobs at the nearby Seminole Hard Rock Hotel
Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition Community by Peter B. Gallagher - April 25, 2012April 10, 2015 BRIGHTON — Lorene Gopher strolled about her "kitchen" beneath the large cookfire chickee in her backyard, not far from the main road through the Brighton Reservation. She gave the boiling swamp cabbage a stir with a long spoon, nudged the pair of roasting gopher turtles – upside down and still
Forever Changed: La Florida, 1513–1821 exhibit now open Community by Peter B. Gallagher - April 25, 2012April 10, 2015 TALLAHASSEE — Phase One of the new Forever Changed: La Florida, 1513–1821 exhibit opened at the Museum of Florida History last month, highlighting an important, but often overlooked era in state history. The exhibit aims to show that when Europeans came ashore almost 500 years ago, Florida was already home to
Q-and-A with Moses “Bigg Shot” Jumper Jr. Community by Peter B. Gallagher - March 27, 2012April 10, 2015 BIG CYPRESS – After 38 years with the Seminole Tribe of Florida Recreation Department, the man everyone knows as Bigg Shot is retired. Moses Jumper Jr., 62, Snake Clan, son of Betty Mae Jumper and Moses Jumper Sr. and grandson of Ada Tiger, the man who single-handedly built Seminole Tribal
Smallwood back in business: Developers pave Mamie Street Community by Peter B. Gallagher - March 27, 2012April 10, 2015 CHOKOLOSKEE — After missing three deadlines and twice being found in contempt of court, stubborn land developers Florida Georgia Grove LLC (FGG) have decided to comply with a September 2011 court order to restore and pave Mamie Street, the only road to historic Ted Smallwood’s Store and Museum for more
Bobby Henry: good medicine Community by Peter B. Gallagher - February 22, 2012April 10, 2015 When Seminole medicine man Bobby Henry has to make it rain, he tosses a live gopher tortoise into the air. That angers the gods because “turtles not s’posed to fly,” he said. When the gods get sufficiently angry, they roar with thunder and hurl spears of lighting. If Bobby keeps
Smallwood Store: developers want to move road Community by Peter B. Gallagher - February 21, 2012April 10, 2015 CHOKOLOSKEE — One thing that Lynn Smallwood-McMillin can’t get out of her mind is the unfairness of it all. “If a Circuit Court Judge ordered you or I or just about anybody on the street to do something and we openly defied the order, why, we would go right to jail