Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones running for reelection

Eight years have passed since Michelle Spence-Jones was elected to the Miami City Commission.

She isn’t willing to leave just yet.

Spence-Jones — who was charged with bribery and grand theft in 2009, suspended from office, acquitted and reinstated to her post — is seeking reelection, she announced Friday. She represents District 5, which includes Overtown, Little Haiti and Liberty City.

Whether Spence-Jones could run again has been the subject of much debate. The Miami city charter limits commissioners to two terms and Spence-Jones has twice won election. But City Attorney Julie O. Bru opined that Spence-Jones could run again because her second term was interrupted by the suspension.

“Our charter prohibits a commissioner or the mayor for running for reelection after that commissioner or mayor has served two consecutive terms,” Bru reaffirmed to Spence-Jones at a City Commission meeting Thursday. “You are eligible to seek reelection because you did not serve two full consecutive terms.”

Spence-Jones’s opponent isn’t buying it.

“The bottom line is, Michelle is term limited,” said the Rev. Richard P. Dunn II, who held the commission seat in Spence-Jones’s absence. “She received financial compensation for the time she was away and she was fully vested in the pension. Are the citizens of Miami going to pay her twice?”

Dunn plans to file a legal challenge “immediately,” he said.

Spence-Jones wants the additional term, she said, “to finish what I started.”

She pointed to the improvements she’s spearheaded along Northeast Second Avenue in Little Haiti. “We cleaned the place up, repainted many of the buildings and recreated a Caribbean feel by adding steeples,” she said.

The ultimate goal, Spence-Jones said, is to make Little Haiti a destination for tourists akin to Little Havana’s Calle Ocho. She has a similar vision for Overtown, which was once the cultural hub of Miami’s black community. To that end, Spence-Jones pushed for improvements to Northwest Third Avenue and provided grant money for local businesses.

“Now we’re going to move forward with a marketing campaign and build relationships with cruise lines and tour operators,” Spence-Jones said. “But these sorts of things take time.”

Other big projects are in the works.

Earlier this year, Spence-Jones pushed through a $50 million bond issue for improvements in Overtown — the largest investment the blighted community has seen in decades. The money will go toward affordable housing and some retail projects.

But Spence-Jones takes an equal amount of pride in some of her smaller initiatives, including a project that brought Hollywood director Robert Townsend to Overtown to film an independent movie. Students from the University of Miami and several local high schools had the opportunity to serve as interns. The film will debut this summer.

She plans to focus future efforts on Liberty City. She is already laying the groundwork for a program that will train residents to become laboratory technicians. A second program will help people with criminal records pursue careers in the automotive industry.

Spence-Jones’s tenure has been somewhat of a rollercoaster. After being elected to her second term, she was charged with bribery and grand theft in two separate cases and removed from office by then-Gov. Charlie Crist. Jurors later acquitted her of bribery, and prosecutors dropped the grand-theft charges.

A vindicated Spence-Jones returned to City Hall in August with newfound political heft.

Spence-Jones is now suing Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle and Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, accusing them of conspiring to destroy her political career via the prosecutions. She declined to talk about the suit, saying only: “I’m going to let my lawyers fight that battle.”

She may have another legal fight ahead.

Dunn believes the city attorney’s opinion giving Spence-Jones the go-ahead to run again won’t withstand a legal challenge. He says Spence-Jones has served two consecutive terms because she was paid for two consecutive terms.

Dunn also criticized the city attorney, saying she likely felt pressured to give that opinion because Spence-Jones is her boss.

“If it stands up in a court of law, I will respect that,” said Dunn, who attended Thursday’s commission meeting and took notes on a legal pad. “But I’m not going to be whitewashed by a city attorney’s opinion that’s biased by her boss’s posturing position.”

Dunn, who also sat on the commission in the mid-‘90s after Commissioner Miller Dawkins was removed from office, pointed to his own accomplishments as a commissioner. He said he helped secure funding for Gibson Park,and quelled racial tensions after Miami police officers shot and killed seven black men in 2010 and 2011.

“Michelle Spence-Jones does not own that seat,” he said. “It’s owned by the people of District 5.”

No other candidates have announced they are running for the post.

Read More..

Report: J.J. Abrams to Direct New 'Star Wars' Movie

Disney/ Andrew H. Walker/ Getty Images

The Force is with J.J. Abrams. The prolific producer/director has agreed to direct the next installment of the Star Wars franchise, confirms Walt Disney Studios.

Pics: Must-See Movies of 2013

"I've consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller," said George Lucas of Abrams in an official statement. "He's an ideal choice to direct the new Star Wars film and the legacy couldn't be in better hands."

In October, it was announced that Disney had acquired Star Wars creator George Lucas' company Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4.05 billion in cash and stock, in turn announcing that new Star Wars movies will be released. The first new Star Wars movie -- Star Wars: Episode 7 -- will be released in 2015 with Lucas serving as creative consultant. Kathleen Kennedy, who is the current co-chair of Lucasfilm, will become Lucasfilm's president and serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films.

Of course, Abrams successfully rebooted the Star Trek franchise in 2009, with his highly anticipated follow-up sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, hitting theaters May 17.

Related: New 'Star Wars' Films in the Works

Said Abrams, "To be a part of the next chapter of the Star Wars saga, to collaborate with Kathy Kennedy and this remarkable group of people, is an absolute honor. I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid."

Read More..

24 people killed as militant groups clash in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — 'Two Islamic militant groups clashed Saturday over control of a prized valley in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens more, officials said.

Arshad Khan of the Khyber tribal region said the fighting between the two Islamic militant groups began Friday in Tirah valley, near the Afghan border, when the militant group, Tehrik-e-Taliban, captured the base of another militant group, Ansarul Islam. Ansarul Islam tried to retake the base and fighting continued into Saturday.

The Pakistani military has been battling a stubborn insurgency in northwest Pakistan in rugged tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

The remote valley, tucked in mountainous terrain, is highly valued by militant groups as a base of operations. It's difficult for the Pakistani military to enter the area, which allows militants easy access to Afghanistan and other tribal areas of Pakistan.

Most of the dead were militants, but some local tribesmen also were killed, according to a Pakistani military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information to the media.

In Baluchistan province in the south, government troops have been waging a longtime struggle against Baloch nationalists, who demand a greater share of income generated from mineral and gas resources there.

On Saturday, a large group of armed men attacked a post manned by pro-government tribal militia members in a remote area in southwestern Baluchistan, killing two tribesmen and abducting seven more. The post is 300 miles (500 kilometers) northeast of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but Baluch nationalists often target government forces and their supporters.

Local administrator Noor Illahi Bugti said dozens of armed men attacked the post, shot and killed two of the tribesmen and then forced the others to surrender. He said seven of the militia volunteers were then taken away by the armed group.

Bugti said security forces rushed to the area and were searching for the militia volunteers.

Read More..

Fed aims for a 6.5% jobless rate

Six and a half percent unemployment in America would mean almost 2.1 million more people working than today. At the rate the country has been creating new jobs each month, it would take more than a year to find work for that many people.

Keep 6.5 percent in mind this week when the Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to talk about its efforts to push interest rates down. The hope is that the cheap cash will spur on investment leading to job creation. After all, the central bank has promised to keep its target interest rate near zero as long as more than 6.5 percent of Americans in the workforce are without work. The Fed has put other conditions on maintaining its historically low interest rate such as low inflation, but official measures remain tame. So its job growth the Fed is looking for.

It won’t have to wait long for the latest update. On Friday the first jobs report of 2013 will be released. Hiring has been a slow grind but it has been positive.

Finding work in January, though, can be tricky. Winter weather, a hangover from the holidays and seasonal work ending can slow down hiring.

It will be months, maybe even a couple of years before the U.S. unemployment rate hits 6.5 percent. There is nothing magical about that number, but as long as the Federal Reserve has it in its sights, so should we.

Tom Hudson is anchor and managing editor of Nightly Business Report, produced by NBR Worldwide and distributed nationally by American Public Television. In South Florida, the show is broadcast at 7 p.m. weekdays on Channel 2. Follow him on Twitter, @HudsonNBR.

Read More..

Broward contractor accused of accepting bribe for Florida Keys roadwork

A Pompano Beach contractor has been charged by federal authorities with bribery for accepting money to steer a state Department of Transportation contract to a subcontractor working on traffic signals in the Florida Keys, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Ron Capobianco Jr., 40, is charged with committing bribery in connection with programs receiving federal funds. If convicted, he could get 10 years in prison. He had his first appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer Wednesday morning.

He is accused of accepting $4,000 for steering a $25,000 contract to a subcontractor. Prosecutors did not say who that subcontractor is or whether the subcontractor approached authorities or they approached the subcontractor.

Prosecutors say Capobianco worked as an engineering and inspection consultant at Miami's Metric Engineering Inc. DOT contracted with Metric to provide services including designing, inspecting and troubleshooting construction of roads, signs and traffic signals.

DOT considered Capobianco an expert on signalization and lighting construction, including the use of video cameras for traffic signalization and control. Prosecutors say that around 2009, DOT began its work in Marathon to improve traffic flow.

They say that around May 2009, an agent of the subcontractor offered to pay Capobianco $5,000 if the subcontractor could receive at least $25,000 to install video detection equipment. Capobianco reportedly agreed to the deal, enabling the subcontractor to make a significant profit.

The subcontractor's estimate was approved and subsequently paid by the state after the equipment was installed. Then around May 2009, Capobianco reportedly met with an agent of the subcontractor in Plantation in Broward County and was paid $4,000 in cash for his help getting the subcontractor the work.

Read More..

James Franco, Rachel Weisz Oz The Great and Powerful Posters

Oh My!

The release of Oz the Great and Powerful is just over a month
away, and in anticipation for the return of this famous story to the big
screen (there is a twist of course), Disney released some rather
telling character posters. One of which shows Rachel Weisz (Evanora) in
her best witch wear, and in the other, we see James Franco (Oz) giving a
greeting with his top hat. Also starring Michelle Williams and Mila
Kunis, the new Oz film, out March 8th, is about a Kansas
con-artist who is swept into a magical land where he must fight an evil
sorceress. Click the pics for a closer looks at the fun film posters.

Read More..

Bloomberg on micro living: I did it for 10 years

He invented the industry-shattering "Bloomberg Box," but young Mike Bloomberg was a flop when it came to putting up a single bookshelf.

The billionaire mayor, one of the wealthiest men in the US, got to reminiscing about his about his early days in New York in the '60s when the discussion on his weekly WOR radio show turned to the 55 "micro" apartments of 250 to 370 square feet that are planned near Bellevue Hospital.

"It's bigger than the apartment I lived in for 10 years, or roughly the same size," Bloomberg recalled, referring to a 325-square-foot fitted-out model at the Museum of the City of New York, where the micros were debuted.

Getty Images

Mayor Bloomberg

"I used to sleep on a couch sometimes, where you'd open the couch up and it was a pain to take the pillows off and everything and then open it up and make the bed."

The mayor said all his furniture came from the Door Store or Alexander's -- the East Side department store that closed in 1992 -- and when he tried his hand at self-made furnishings the results were laughable.

"I made my own shelves and then I stained them and then the shelves warped," Bloomberg said. "For 10 years, my books rocked back and forth. I was so annoyed with myself. I should have thought of that."

Records show Bloomberg, who made a king's fortune from Bloomberg terminals that provide financial data, now holds title to 11 homes around the world.

On another housing issue, the mayor said he sympathizes with homeowners in Sandy-damaged districts who have no heat and won't re-locate.

"If it were me, I might very well stay at home," he said. "Cold showers are not fun and living with lots of clothing is not fun. But, you know, it's your home. I don't know what I would do. I certainly would not rule out staying at home."

Read More..

Lennar design accommodates multigenerational families

In some cases, it may be Grandma moving in with the family. Other times, it may be a recent college graduate returning to the nest.

For all sorts of reasons — financial, medical, personal — a rising number of Americans are moving into extended family households.

Spotting a niche in the growing trend, Lennar Corp. has launched a new concept tailor-made for multigenerational family living.

It’s basically a house within a house: a smaller living unit next to the main home designed to provide independence but also access to the rest of the family household.

“People are really loving the whole concept,” said Carlos Gonzalez, president of the southeast Florida division of Lennar, a Miami-based home-building giant. “We adapted to the market from a design standpoint.”

In Miami-Dade County, Lennar is selling various versions of multigenerational homes in three new developments in Doral, Kendall and Homestead.

Louis Moreno of Kendall and his wife, Danilza Velez, signed a contract for a large NextGen home in The Vineyards development in Homestead last October — even before the models had been built.

“We loved it,” said Moreno, a 45-year-old engineer.

Moreno said his mother-in-law will be able to use the new suite when she visits, as will his family members who frequently come to town from Puerto Rico. “This will provide them with more comfortable space and more privacy,” he said. He also plans to use it as a game room and entertainment area.

The two-story Zinfandel home Moreno picked has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in the main home with a family room and two-car garage. In addition, it has an ample 789-square-foot suite with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchenette. The suite has its own garage, a separate front entrance and an internal door connecting to the main home.

The Zinfandel, which has 2,249 square feet of air-conditioned space in the main house, starts at $283,990 in the Homestead community at 128 SE 28th Ter., but a similar home in Kendall would run about $100,000 more, primarily because of higher land costs, Fernandez said. (In Doral, there is a NextGen home priced at $677,990.)

Some multigenerational models have suites as small as 489 square feet, but all have a separate entrance, a bedroom, a bathroom and some sort of kitchen space.

The idea takes various shapes. One option at the Kendall Square development at 16950 SW 90th St. is a Granny unit above a detached garage.

“Independence is the key word,” said Frank Fernandez, director of sales and marketing for the southeast Florida division.

Depending on local zoning rules, some homes can have full kitchens, others are restricted to kitchenettes with a microwave but no stove. Similarly, some municipalities permit the space to be used as a rental, others prohibit it.

The choice is proving popular. Fernandez said in The Vineyards development in Homestead, 10 of the 14 homes sold to date are NextGen. At Kendall Square, 35 of 107 sales are multigenerational, and at the Isles at Grand Bay development at 11301 NW 74th Street in Doral, five of 48 houses are.

Adapting homes for special needs, such as wheelchairs and safety railings, is done at cost, Fernandez said: “That is company policy.”

As one of the nation’s largest home builders, Lennar has been rebounding strongly from the housing crash. Last week, the builder, whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, posted better than expected earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Nov. 30, 2012.

Read More..

Miami-Dade County Commission helps Miami Dolphins more than voters

If deceptive inconsistency were currency, the Miami-Dade County Commission could make a mint.

And the Miami Dolphins would be happy for it. That way, the county commission could simply give the money away to help cover the football club’s $400 million stadium renovation plan.

Unable to do that, the commission Wednesday urged the Legislature to give the county the authority to raise hotel taxes and give the Dolphins an additional $3 million annual state subsidy.

The plan has the slimmest of chances in the Florida Legislature. It’s controlled by Republicans, many of whom can’t afford to run in a GOP primary where they can be accused of voting to raise taxes or of doling out corporate welfare or both.

But the county commission asked anyway. Despite the long odds.

Is this the same county commission that decided not to ask the Florida Legislature to reinstate 14 early voting days because of the long odds in Tallahassee?

Why yes, yes it is.

“I’m not sure that you’re going to get 14 days out of the state Legislature,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Dec. 14 when a county election advisory group reviewed Election Supervisor Penelope Townsley’s proposal for two full weeks of early voting.

So the commission essentially negotiated with itself and asked for nine days of early voting. That’s just one more than the current eight days, which (coupled with county bumbling over precincts and early voting sites) helped lead to exceedingly long and embarrassing voting lines. The lines stretched for more than eight hours in some places, and made Florida and Miami a national elections embarrassment.

Again.

Even Gov. Rick Scott, who signed the early voting cutback and refused to extend early voting days, realized what a politically bad idea eight days of early voting is. Scott recently proposed a return to 14. That’s not a guarantee it’ll return to 14 days, but it’s a good indication of strong support.

So the commission didn’t ask. Despite the short odds.

The argument was bogus at the time. The commission often urges the Legislature to do things it might not do.

At best, it’s inconsistent. At worst, it’s deceptive. In reality, it’s both. Whether the commissioners are self-deceived or not will take some figuring.

But it’s a good idea of where their priorities are.

More early voting? Well, let’s not ask too much.

Money for a football stadium? Hell, let’s ask for $200 million from taxpayers.

But not every commissioner is to blame.

County Commissioner Esteban “Steve” Bovo, who incidentally supported nine days of early voting, was at least consistent and was one of four commissioners to oppose the Dolphins deal as well. Bovo was a state legislator and said his former colleagues won’t go along with the idea. Also, he said, the last stadium deal from the county was a stinker.

Said Bovo: “The stench of the Marlins deal is in the pores of everything this is about.”

That ain’t the only thing that stinks.

Read More..

Allison Williams Impersonates Dad Brian Williams

Allison Williams admits that when your dad is NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, the man who knows "a lot about a lot," it's hard to tell him anything he doesn't already know. But as his daughter, the Girls star shares with Jimmy Kimmel some inside embarrassing information about the news man and does an impression of her father reading her obituary. It's not as eerie as it sounds!

"I have never once in my entire life broken something down for my dad," Allison said on Wednesday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live! "He's been eight months ahead of me music-wise forever."

In fact, it was her 53-year-old father that first introduced her to Hanson when the brother band was coming up. "Let's just put that out there. He was a fan of Hanson," she revealed.

RELATED: Allison Williams: My Grandparents Saw My Solo Sex Scene

When asked about her dad's reporting, the actress did admit that she wonders how he'd read her obit if ever she were to die. Of how he would announce the death on Nightly News, she joked, "And then he would pause and just sort of look down and say, 'She will be missed. We'll be right back with more news on how you can save on your hard medication.'"

RELATED: Lena Dunham: Brian Williams Is Always On Set

The laughs didn't stop there! Check out Allison and Jimmy's impersonation of royal couple Kate Middleton and Prince William:

Read More..

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.

Read More..

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.

Read More..

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.”

Read More..

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.

Read More..

'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."

Read More..

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.

Read More..

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.

Read More..

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!

Read More..

College student sues NYPD over Empire State Building shootout

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.

Read More..

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

Read More..

Ex-Mayor Diaz to talk about new book at alma mater

Congratulations to my friend and former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who has will be presenting his new book at 9:45 a.m. in the Roca Theater at his alma mater, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, 500 SW 127th Ave. in West Miami-Dade.

His book is titled Miami Transformed: Rebuilding America, One Neighborhood, One City at a Time.

Born in Cuba, Diaz really is a Miami success story. He came to Miami when he was 6, and went on to become a local attorney and later mayor, serving two terms. He also served as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Diaz is being presented by the Belen Alumni Association of Jesuit Schools from Cuba and Miami, the Ramón Guiteras Memorial Library and the school's Social Studies Department.

For those who are unaware, the school was founded in 1854 in Havana. In 1961, Belen and all private schools in Cuba were confiscated by the new political regime. That same year, Belen was re-established in Miami. Today the all-boys' school has an enrollment of 1,500 in grades six through 12 and has more than 6,000 alumni.

The program is free and open to the public.

Music for Overtown

The Overtown Music Project will have its annual fundraiser from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. The program will include an 18-piece big band, along with hip hop, funk and soul.

According to Amy Rosenberg, spokeswoman for the fundraiser, the event will celebrate the connection between Overtown and the Fontainebleau, a hotel where Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Etta James once performed.

The program will include several musicians who played in Overtown's many venues during its heyday. The musicians are now in their 60s and 90s and will be showcased at the event.

Rosenberg said the event will fund the six annual events in Overtown, and three programs geared toward bringing music back to the area permanently.

For tickets and more information go to: www.evenbrite.com/event/5147700912 or www.overtownmusicproject.org.

Children’s Chorus

The Miami Children's Chorus will present a program, "Bring on the Boys," a singing workshop for boys with unchanged voices, from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday at the University of Miami Frost School of Music in the Victor E. Clarke Recital Hall, 5501 San Amaro Dr. in Coral Gables. Timothy A. Sharp is the music director for the Miami Children's Chorus..

The registration deadline is Thursday and the fee is $20 per person and $17 per person when registering five or more youngsters together.

For more information call 305-662-7494 or go to miamichildrenschorus.org or info@miamichildrenschorus.org.

Play looks at gay marriage law

A staged reading of the play 8 will be performed at 7 p.m., on Jan. 27, in Room E352 at the University of Miami School of Law. The play, written by Dustin Lance Black, chronicles the historic constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8. Black is the Academy Award-wining screenwriter of Milk

The production of 8 will be staged under license from the American Foundation for Equal rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact. It will be directed by Marc Fajer, a member of the law school's faculty who has had more than 30 years of theatrical directing experience.

The performance was arranged by OUTlaw, a student organization at the University of Miami School of Law, that seeks to advance the priorities of the gay, lesbian, bisexzual and transgender community on the campus.

Read More..

VP Joe Biden sworn in for second term

AFP/Getty Images

Vice President Joe Biden, with his wife Jill Biden, holding the Biden family Bible, shakes hands with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor after taking the oath of office at the Naval Observatory.

WASHINGTON — Formally embarking on a second term, Vice President Joe Biden took the oath of office Sunday, surrounded by family and friends in an early morning ceremony that kicked off a day of celebrations marking four more years for the Obama administration.

President Barack Obama was to be sworn in just before noon at the White House, 24 hours before re-enacting the ceremony before an expected crowd of hundreds of thousands gathered at the Capitol and across the National Mall.

Biden, following a private Mass, was sworn in at the Naval Observatory. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, appointed by Obama as the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court, administered the oath of office to Biden, who placed his hand on a Bible his family has used since 1893.

"I will support and defend the Constitution of the United states," Biden said as he recited the oath.

Among the 120 guests on hand to witness the vice president's second swearing-in were Attorney General Eric Holder, departing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and several Democratic lawmakers.

Sunday's subdued swearing-in ceremonies are a function of the calendar and the Constitution, which says presidents automatically begin their new terms at noon on Jan. 20. Because that date fell this year on a Sunday — a day on which inaugural ceremonies historically are not held — organizers scheduled a second, public swearing-in for Monday.

A crowd of up to 800,000 people is expected to gather on the National Mall to witness that event, which will take place on the Capitol's red, white and blue bunting-draped west front. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who famously flubbed the oath of office that Obama took in 2009, was to swear the president in both days.

Once the celebrations are over, Obama will plunge into a second-term agenda still dominated by the economy, which slowly churned out of recession during his first four years in office. The president will also try to cement his legacy with sweeping domestic changes, pledging to achieve both an immigration overhaul and stricter gun laws despite opposition from a divided Congress.

But for one weekend at least, Washington was putting politics aside. Obama called the nation's inaugural traditions "a symbol of how our democracy works and how we peacefully transfer power."

"But it should also be an affirmation that we're all in this together," he said Saturday, as he opened a weekend of inaugural activities at a Washington elementary school.

Only a small group of family members was expected to attend Obama's Sunday swearing-in, including first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha. A few reporters were to witness the event.

Roberts was to administer the oath of office shortly before noon in the White House Blue Room, an oval space with majestic views of the South Lawn and the Washington Monument.

The room, named for the color of the drapes, upholstery and carpet, primarily has been a reception room as well as the site of the only presidential wedding in the White House, when President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsum in 1886.

Obama and Biden were also to lay at a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery Sunday morning, then address supporters at an evening reception.

The president planned to save his most expansive remarks for Monday's inaugural address to the crowd gathered on the Mall and millions more watching across the country and the world. Obama started working on the speech in early December and was still tinkering with it into the weekend, aides said.

The president's address will set the stage for the policy objectives he seeks to achieve in his second term, including speeding up the economic recovery, passing comprehensive immigration and gun control measures and ending the war in Afghanistan. Aides said Obama would save the specifics of those agenda items for his Feb. 12 State of the Union address.

The president launched a weekend of inaugural activities Saturday by heading up a National Day of Service. Along with his family, Obama helped hundreds of volunteers spruce up a Washington area elementary school.

Obama wore rubber gloves, picked up a paint brush and helped volunteers stain a bookshelf.

Obama added the service event to the inaugural schedule in 2009 and is hoping it becomes a tradition followed for future presidents.

Mrs. Obama, speaking to volunteers Sunday, espoused the importance of giving back in the midst of the weekend of pomp, circumstance and celebration.

"The reason why we're here, why we're standing here, why we're able to celebrate this weekend is because a lot of people worked hard and supported us, and we've got a job to do and this is a symbol of the kind of work that we need to be doing the next four years," Michelle Obama said at Burrville Elementary.

Read More..

Investors await word from Apple

No company today elicits such devotion and dedication among its customers and shareholders like Apple. The fervor felt by Apple fans for its products, its leaders and its business underscore the company’s technological eco-centric strategy. While that loyalty has made for rich rewards over the long term, it will mean very little to a myopic stock market when Apple reports its latest financial results Wednesday.

When a company so dominates a business like Apple does, it is subject to plenty of rumors, especially when that company, like Apple, is disciplined to not respond to speculation. There have been a series of anonymous and Wall Street analyst worries floated in the past quarter centered on the iPhone 5. First were concerns Apple couldn’t get enough supplies to build the phones fast enough. Then there were hints Apple cut its supply orders, suggesting slower sales.

Apple optimists have been quick to defend the company even as its stock has fallen from $700 to around $500 per share since September. The stock drop has come even as Apple probably sold a record number of iPhones and iPads during the holiday quarter.

No doubt Apple will trumpet its financial prowess on Wednesday. And it should. After all it generates more than $500 million dollars a day. But the short-sighted stock market has been conditioned to expect big numbers. Therein is the challenge for Apple: incubating such devotion without inflating expectations.

Tom Hudson is anchor and managing editor of Nightly Business Report, produced by NBR Worldwide and distributed nationally by American Public Television. In South Florida, the show is broadcast at 7 p.m. weekdays on Channel 2. Follow him on Twitter, @HudsonNBR.

Read More..