WATCH: Te'o and Couric on his phone calls with 'Lennay Kekua'








Manti Te'o remains doubtful that accused hoaxer Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was the voice he spent hours talking and listening to over the phone, according to a new preview of his interview with Katie Couric, which is set to air in full today.

Te'o reportedly had 1,000 calls with someone he thought was "Lennay Kekua," including one in which he claims to have heard her come out of her coma.

WATCH: TE'O 'HOAXER' IN AWKWARD HUG WITH GRIDDER AFTER USC GAME

Te'o told Couric that he heard breathing followed by her whispering his name.

Couric said Te'o told her, when asked whether he thought it could have been Tuiasosopo, or a man, on the phone, "It didn't sound like a man; it sounded like a woman. If he somehow made that voice, that's incredible. It's an incredible talent to do that, especially every day."




Couric, who's heard the voicemails, said the voice sounded like a woman to her, too.











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Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal




















The Miami Dolphins ramped up their public campaign for a tax-funded stadium renovation this week, buying full-page ads against their top critic and trying to distance the plan from the unpopular Marlins deal.

The team bought an ad in Tuesday’s Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald knocking auto magnate Norman Braman’s criticism of the Sun Life Stadium deal, which would have Florida and Miami-Dade split the costs with owner Stephen Ross for a $400 million renovation. The Dolphins would pay at least $201 million, with taxpayers using state funds and a higher Miami-Dade hotel tax to pay $199 million.

In a fact sheet sent to media Tuesday morning, the Dolphins listed ways their deal differs from the 2009 Marlins deal. First: Ross, a billionaire real estate developer, would use private dollars to fund at least 51 percent of the Sun Life effort, compared to less than 25 percent from Marlins owner Jeff Loria. Second, Sun Life helps the economy more than the Marlins park does.





“Just because the Marlins did a bad deal doesn’t mean we should oppose a good deal where at least a majority of the cost is paid from private sources and more than 4,000 local jobs are created during construction alone,” the fact sheet states. And while the Dolphins’ Miami Gardens stadium has hosted two Super Bowls since 2007 and is in the running for the 2016 game, “Marlins Stadium does not generate the ability to attract world-class sports events -- other than a World Series from time to time depending on the success of the team.”

NFL teams play eight home games a year if they don’t make the playoffs, while baseball teams have 81.

Miami and Miami-Dade built the Marlins a $640 million stadium at the site of the Dolphins’ old home at the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Marlins contributed about $120 million and agreed to pay between $2.5 million and $4.9 million a year for 35 years to pay back $35 million of debt the county borrowed for the stadium. As a publicly owned stadium, the Marlins ballpark pays no property taxes. Most of the public money came from Miami-Dade hotel taxes, along with $50 million of debt tied to the county’s general fund.

Sun Life is privately owned and pays $3 million a year in property taxes to Miami-Dade. It currently receives $2 million a year from Florida’ s stadium program, a subsidy tied to converting the football venue to baseball in the 1990s when the Marlins played there. The Dolphins also paid for a second full-page ad with quotes from leading hoteliers in Miami-Dade endorsing the stadium plan. Among them: Donald Trump, whose company recently purchased the Doral golf resort. “Steve Ross’ commitment to modernize Sun Life Stadium -- while covering most of the construction costs -- is the right thing for Miami-Dade,’’ the ad quotes Trump as saying.

Also on Tuesday, Ross and team CEO Mike Dee sent a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and county commissioners requesting negotiations over the stadium deal. The letter said the deal Ross unveiled last week is a “baseline for debate” and asked for talks. The letter also urged the commission to adopt a resolution proposed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan endorsing the state bill that would allow taxes for Sun Life. The resolution is on the agenda for Wednesday’s commission meeting.





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Judge to rule on Miami-Dade absentee ballot ordinance




















A judge will rule Wednesday whether Miami-Dade County’s ordinance governing the collection of absentee ballots is constitutional.

The ruling will come in the criminal case against Sergio Robaina, who prosecutors say illegally collected ballots, and filled out two against the wishes of two voters, one of them a woman with dementia. Robaina insists he was just helping elderly citizens who could not deliver their absentee ballots themselves.

Robaina is charged with two counts of violating the ordinance, and two felony counts of voter fraud.





Two years ago, in an effort to crack down on perceived election fraud, the Miami-Dade County Commission passed the ordinance that outlawed the collection possession of more than two absentees ballots, making it a misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail or a fine of up to $1,000.

This past election season, as allegations of absentee ballot fraud rose in Miami-Dade, police used the ordinance as a probable cause-stepping stone to investigate felony charges of voter fraud.

Robaina’s lawyers have asked Miami-Dade Judge Milton Hirsch to throw out the ordinance, saying it unfairly targeted certain voters.

“It cuts off a certain class of voters, for the most part elderly Hispanic who probably live in the Sweetwater area who are accustomed to having confidence in certain people and they talk to them about how to vote,” lawyer Joseph Klock told the judge.

Also, the lawyers alleged, the ordinance is fundamentally unfair because it applies only in Miami-Dade — while some ballots include races for districts that stretch into neighboring counties.

Oren Rosenthal, an assistant county attorney, argued that the commission had every right to enact the ordinance under state law. He also said the ordinance “cuts off a class of fraud that has been proven unique in Miami-Dade County over the years.”





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Bachelor Alum Helene Eksterowicz Engaged

Though it turns out it wasn't meant to be with Bachelor Aaron Buerge from season two of ABC's hit The Bachelor, it looks like Helene Eksterowicz has found love after all.

Helene, 37, who Aaron proposed to in the season finale but split just five weeks later, is engaged to Andrew Goodman, a senior technology consultant for IBM. The two have been dating for a year and a half, and she couldn't be happier.

Pics: Meet Newest 'Bachelor' Sean Lowe's Lucky Ladies

"We are very happy about planning our future together," she tells People. "Andrew is a great guy – handsome, loving, family-oriented, hardworking and very non-Hollywood, which is perfect!"

Helene, a middle school psychologist, plans to marry this summer.

Video: Chris Harrison -- Sean Is Most Sincere 'Bachelor' Ever

Aaron has since moved on from their broken engagement as well -- he married Angye McIntosh, his hometown sweetheart, in 2009.

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'Princess Bride' fan causes stir on Qantas flight with 'Prepare to die' shirt








For most folks on this side of the pond, the classic Inigo Montoya quote from "Princess Bride" is an unforgettable part of childhood.

Unfortunately for a flier on a New Zealand-bound flight, fellow passengers didn't feel the same way about his T-shirt featuring the movie's most famous quip.

Wynand Mullins was on a Sydney-to-Auckland trip Sunday when a flight attendant told him some passengers were intimidated by the Mandy Patinkin-line, according to stuff.co.nz.




The brown T-shirt, featuring a "Hello, my name is..." name tag graphic, continued with "Inigo Montoyo. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

"The flight attendant said to me: ‘Are you able to remove it because some of the passengers are quite intimidated by it'. I thought it was all a bit silly. The person next to me was laughing, because they knew the movie," Mullins told the site.

Mullins, who told the magazine he was hoping to snag a pilot's shirt as a swap, said the flight attendant never returned after making the initial inquiry.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they had someone watching me the whole time," he said. "The whole experience was a bit over the top, but also a bit comical."

A Qantas spokesman told the site the airline had no record of the incident.

"Qantas does have dress standards for passengers travelling on our aircraft . . . particularly for slogans which other passengers may find offensive or threatening."










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Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal




















The Miami Dolphins ramped up their public campaign for a tax-funded stadium renovation this week, buying full-page ads against their top critic and trying to distance the plan from the unpopular Marlins deal.

The team bought an ad in Tuesday’s Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald knocking auto magnate Norman Braman’s criticism of the Sun Life Stadium deal, which would have Florida and Miami-Dade split the costs with owner Stephen Ross for a $400 million renovation. The Dolphins would pay at least $201 million, with taxpayers using state funds and a higher Miami-Dade hotel tax to pay $199 million.

In a fact sheet sent to media Tuesday morning, the Dolphins listed ways their deal differs from the 2009 Marlins deal. First: Ross, a billionaire real estate developer, would use private dollars to fund at least 51 percent of the Sun Life effort, compared to less than 25 percent from Marlins owner Jeff Loria. Second, Sun Life helps the economy more than the Marlins park does.





“Just because the Marlins did a bad deal doesn’t mean we should oppose a good deal where at least a majority of the cost is paid from private sources and more than 4,000 local jobs are created during construction alone,” the fact sheet states. And while the Dolphins’ Miami Gardens stadium has hosted two Super Bowls since 2007 and is in the running for the 2016 game, “Marlins Stadium does not generate the ability to attract world-class sports events -- other than a World Series from time to time depending on the success of the team.”

NFL teams play eight home games a year if they don’t make the playoffs, while baseball teams have 81.

Miami and Miami-Dade built the Marlins a $640 million stadium at the site of the Dolphins’ old home at the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Marlins contributed about $120 million and agreed to pay between $2.5 million and $4.9 million a year for 35 years to pay back $35 million of debt the county borrowed for the stadium. As a publicly owned stadium, the Marlins ballpark pays no property taxes. Most of the public money came from Miami-Dade hotel taxes, along with $50 million of debt tied to the county’s general fund.

Sun Life is privately owned and pays $3 million a year in property taxes to Miami-Dade. It currently receives $2 million a year from Florida’ s stadium program, a subsidy tied to converting the football venue to baseball in the 1990s when the Marlins played there. The Dolphins also paid for a second full-page ad with quotes from leading hoteliers in Miami-Dade endorsing the stadium plan. Among them: Donald Trump, whose company recently purchased the Doral golf resort. “Steve Ross’ commitment to modernize Sun Life Stadium -- while covering most of the construction costs -- is the right thing for Miami-Dade,’’ the ad quotes Trump as saying.

Also on Tuesday, Ross and team CEO Mike Dee sent a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and county commissioners requesting negotiations over the stadium deal. The letter said the deal Ross unveiled last week is a “baseline for debate” and asked for talks. The letter also urged the commission to adopt a resolution proposed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan endorsing the state bill that would allow taxes for Sun Life. The resolution is on the agenda for Wednesday’s commission meeting.





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Six finalists chosen for Miami-Dade Police director




















County Mayor Carlos Gimenez has chosen six finalists to become the next director of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Gimenez and his top deputies plan to interview the finalists next week and make a decision soon thereafter. The department has been without a permanent leader since former Director James Loftus retired early last August. All of the finalists come from within the department.

The finalists are: Maj. Andrianne Byrd, who oversees the economic crimes bureau; Division Chief Randy Heller, who is in charge of north operations; Maj. Delma Noel-Pratt, who heads the Kendall district; Assistant Director J.D. Patterson, who has temporarily been at the helm of the department; Division Chief Juan J. Perez, who is in charge of south operations; and Maj. Alfredo Ramirez, who leads the homicide bureau.





Gimenez culled the finalists after one-on-one meetings he held after Loftus’s retirement with the nearly 30 members of the department’s command staff.

A previous version of this report misspelled Maj. Andrianne Byrd’s name.





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Beyonce GQ Cover Shoot BRoll

Earlier this week, ETonline revealed that Beyonce had been named Miss Millennium in the February issue of GQ and now we've got some behind-the-scenes video of her steamy photoshoot!


VIDEO - Beyonce's Beautiful Inauguration Performance

Titled Home Alone with Miss. Millennium, the video chronicles Terry Richardson's sexy shoot with the new mom (although you'd never know it judging from her bangin' bod)!

VIDEO - Beyonce Reveals Blue Ivy's Ultrasound

So go inside Beyonce's filthy (you'll see) photoshoot, and click here to see the other 99 women who were named to GQ's list of The Millennium's Sexiest Women!

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College student sues NYPD over Empire State Building shootout








A security official places signs to identify evidence after a shootout at the Empire State Building on August 24, 2012.

REUTERS

A security official places signs to identify evidence after a shootout at the Empire State Building on August 24, 2012.



A University of North Carolina student wounded in last summer's shooting outside the Empire State Building is suing New York City police department.

Chenin Duclos and eight other bystanders were wounded by police gunfire, ricochets and fragments. Officers were engaged in a gunfight with a man suspected of gunning down a former co-worker.

Duclos alleges the officers were grossly negligent.

The lawsuit says police should have taken steps to avoid the confrontation. It suggests they should have waited until he moved away from bystanders.



The shooting happened as thousands were on the streets surrounding the landmark on a bright August morning.

There was no immediate comment from city officials.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. It was filed Tuesday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.










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Series for Miami’s emerging art collectors begins Thursday




















For art enthusiasts interested in bring their interest home, Miami’s Bakehouse Art Complex is hosting a lecture series for emerging collectors. The first panel, slated for Thursday at 6 p.m., features arists and curators who will talk about fine tuning your taste and learning to make informed decisions. The second session, Feb. 7, is oriented to the mechanics of purchasing. The third, on Feb. 21, explores how to manage your collection.

Moderating all three panels will be Denise Gerson, independent curator who served as associate director for the Lowe Museum of Art for 24 years. Cost is $25 per session or $60 for the series. Seating is limited; reservations are recommended.

Information at 305-576-2828; www.bacfl.org.





Jane Wooldridge





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