The 20th Herald Hunt is over, an the winners are a team calling themselves "The Fiscal Cliff Hangers" from Davie.
The team of five people solved the brain-twisting Hunt at about 2:45 p.m. by piecing together their clues and finding a common theme, which led them to a phone number -- and still more clues. Come back to MiamiHerald.com later today to see the results.
What had ET readers buzzing this week?
1. Charges Filed Against Lindsay Lohan
California prosecutors have officially filed charges against Lindsay Lohan.
The charges, which include willfully resisting, obstructing, or delaying an officer in the course of their duties, supplying false information to a police officer and reckless driving, stem from the car accident Lohan was involved in last June when she crashed her Porsche into the back of a dump truck on the Pacific Coast Highway.
All three charges are misdemeanors, and no court date has been set at this time.
The accident in June occurred when she was on her way to the set of Liz & Dick. According to The Los Angeles Times, Santa Monica prosecutors had been weighing charges against Lohan for weeks after police said they found evidence she lied when she claimed she was not behind the wheel of her Porsche.
The charges come just hours after Lohan was arrested early Thursday morning after a brawl broke out at a New York City nightclub. Lohan was arrested for allegedly punching a female patron at Club Avenue, and is facing third degree assault charges from the incident.
2. Nancy O'Dell Launches New App
ET host Nancy O'Dell is combining her love of two things -- reporting and kids -- by launching a new storybook app on iTunes.
The highly interactive app features a holiday theme and uses the story and games to educate users. The voice of Arty the cameraman is provided by Bryson Foster, the Muscular Dystrophy Association's National Goodwill Ambassador, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the MDA.
Nancy says of her endeavor, "As the host of Entertainment Tonight, one of the things I love most about my job is how much I learn by meeting interesting people and going to so many different places. So, I thought, how fun it would be for little kids to do that too! Obviously, they can't travel the world in reality by themselves, but they can via an app."
Nancy discloses, "Every app is a magical story as Ashby and her FUNtastic crew go on their adventures. And what better first assignment for a little reporter to cover than Santa's Big Premiere on Christmas Eve. Little Ashby files her report on what the Holiday Spirit is all about!"
Check out the app, available just in time for the holidays, here.
3. Backstreet Boy AJ McLean Welcomes Baby Girl
Backstreet Boy AJ McLean and wife, makeup artist Rochelle Deanna Karidis, had their first child together on Tuesday, In Touch reports.
According to the news source, the couple welcomed a baby girl named Ava Jaymes.
"We are all doing well and are thrilled to welcome Ava to the world," said the singer, 34.
Ava was born weighing 7 lbs. and 7 oz., according to In Touch.
AJ and Rochelle made their pregnancy announcement just four months after their Beverly Hills wedding.
AJ announced the baby's gender and name via Twitter in July.
4. Angus T. Jones Apologizes For 'Men' Remarks
In a self-written statement obtained by ET, Two and a Half Men star Angus T.
Jones breaks his silence on controversial remarks made by the actor about the series in a video testimonial for Forerunner Christian Church.
In the note, Jones apologizes for harm he might have caused to his colleagues for labeling the popular CBS show as "filth" and in urging viewers not to watch. He writes:
I have been the subject of much discussion, speculation and commentary over the past 24 hours. While I cannot address everything that has been said or right every misstatement or misunderstanding, there is one thing I want to make clear.
Without qualification, I am grateful to and have the highest regard and respect for all of the wonderful people on 'Two and Half Men' with whom I have worked and over the past ten years who have become an extension of my family.
Chuck Lorre, Peter Roth and many others at Warner Bros. and CBS are responsible for what has been one of the most significant experiences in my life to date. I thank them for the opportunity they have given and continue to give me and the help and guidance I have and expect to continue to receive from them.
I also want all of the crew and cast on our show to know how much I personally care for them and appreciate their support, guidance and love over the years. I grew up around them and know that the time they spent with me was in many instances more than with their own families. I learned life lessons from so many of them and will never forget how much positive impact they have had on my life.
I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed. I never intended that.
The video in question shows Jones opening up about his conversations with God and how his new-found religious beliefs led him to stop doing drugs and leading a selfish life.
5. Bobbi Kristina in Crash That Sent Car Off the Road
Bobbi Kristina Brown was cited by police after being involved in a car accident Wednesday in which the vehicle left the road and traveled down an embankment.
Police in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta confirmed to ET that a passerby called 911 just before noon to report that the black Chevrolet Camaro had veered off the road and traveled through a wooded area striking trees before eventually coming to a stop.
"The investigation revealed the driver lost control and the vehicle left Beaver Creek Road on the east side and traveled down an embankment," a police statement said. Damage to the vehicle was described in the statement as "moderate."
Upon the initial arrival, officers say they found Bobbi Kristina standing beside the vehicle and she was uninjured. "Our officer completed an official accident report and issued a traffic citation to Ms. Brown for the offense of failure to maintain lane," the police statement said.
Bobbi Kristina appeared to address the accident Wednesday on Twitter.
"My#PersonalGuardianAngel thankumommiss&loveumre u'lleverkno. NotAScratch&ok Wow,PraiseGod. @nickdgordon #SeriousChangeswithinME," she wrote.
She also tweeted: "#LETMELIVE without YOUppl crucifying me?! OH, yes now I remember .. YOUppl did the SAME DAMN THING2 JESUS.& he overcame you ALL. #NOWWATCH."
Jennifer L. Gonzeles
ANGUISH: Maria Matias, mother or murdered boxing great Hector (Macho) Camacho, is carried away after becoming overwhelmed with grief at her son's burial in The Bronx today.
She just couldn’t accept it was the final round.
The wailing mom of slain boxing champ Hector (Macho) Camacho had to be dragged kicking and screaming from her son’s grave in The Bronx this morning after she refused to leave him when the service ended.
The inconsolable mom, Maria Matias, flailed her arms and fought back mourners who grabbed her as she vainly tried to return to her son’s petal strewn casket at St. Raymond’s Cemetery shortly before noon.
Jennifer L. Gonzeles
Hector "Machito" Camacho, son of boxing legend Hector "Macho Camacho" bends at the foot of his father's grave with his uncle Ponchito to the left
“My star. My star,” she screamed in Spanish, before she collapsed and was carried away, her arms outstretched in a prone position, to a waiting stretch limo.
But moments later Camacho’s brother, Ponchito, who was in the limo with his mother, yelled “Cardiac!”
An FDNY ambulance, which was on the scene, gave the unconscious woman oxygen and took her away in an ambulance.
She was taken to Jacobi Hospital, and listed in stable condition after suffering a panic attack, FDNY sources said,
It was a family affair of raw emotional outbursts throughout the day as the final bell tolled for the famous pugilist.
Camacho’s son, Christian, also lost it in front of hundreds of mourners and fans who braved the chill air to attend the brief grave side service.
“How could you do this to me? I’m his son. You’re the devil,” he yelled.
Even before the Spanish Harlem legend’s coffin was interred a few family members quietly argued and decided not to confront a woman there and question her about $125,000 missing from a bank.
Camacho, 50, was fatally shot while sitting in his car in Bayamon Puerto Rico on Nov. 20.
This morning a funeral mass was held at St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church in East Harlem.
Some 300 mourners attended that service, while hundreds of others stood behind police barricades for a final glimpse of the homegrown hero’s Puerto Rico flag-draped casket.
Even then emotions ran high. Camacho’s grieving sister complained of chest pains and was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital. His son, Comachito, walked into the church, looked at his father’s closed casket but was too over wrought and left before mass.
Camacho’s past romantic entangles took another surprise left hook when a third woman came forward claiming she was his long time lover.
Shelly Salemassi, 50, said she flew in from Detroit to say farewell to the man she had spent Christmas with last year and had known for 16 years.
“Macho I owned his heart,” she said. “I’m sure eventually we would have wound up together.”
The recently widowed mother said she and Camacho had a long distance relationship, but that the pair had spent time together just a few months ago.
She dissed the two girlfriends back in Puerto Rico who began swinging at each other at his wake. Salemassi said “He would have been very embarrassed by it.”
REUTERS
FINAL FAREWELL: Maria Matias, mother of former boxing champion Hector "Macho" Camacho ,touches her son's casket.
This winter, the biggest NFL match-up in South Florida might be Super Bowl versus Boat Show.
As South Florida readies a bid for the 2016 Super Bowl, it must contend with a major potential conflict on the tourism calendar. The National Football League may move the Super Bowl to Presidents’ Day weekend, already home to the five-day Miami International Boat Show since the 1940s.
It’s a significant enough conflict that, in the past, local tourism officials have declined to pursue a Super Bowl if it fell on boat show weekend. But this time around they may have no choice. For the first time, the NFL is requiring that potential host cities agree to a Presidents’ Day weekend Super Bowl if they want to pursue the big game at all, said two people who have seen the NFL request for Super Bowl bids.
The NFL “invited South Florida [to bid] knowing there was going to be an issue with Presidents’ Day weekend and the boat show,” said Nicki Grossman, Broward’s tourism director. “In the past, South Florida has not responded to a Super Bowl date that included Presidents’ Day weekend. This package is different.”
South Florida vies with New Orleans as the top Super Bowl host, with government and tourism leaders touting the game as both a boon to the economy and a publicity bonanza. But the notion of accommodating both Super Bowl and boat show — not to mention a major arts festival in Coconut Grove — strikes some top tourism officials as a bad idea.
“There is not sufficient hotel inventory available in Miami that weekend to host a Super Bowl,” said William Talbert, president of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We have taken a close look at that weekend, and it’s not physically possible in Miami to host Super Bowl during the Presidents’ Day weekend because of the boat show and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. The hotel inventory is all being used for these two great events.”
His comments are at odds with the region’s top Super Bowl organizer and reflect the burden that the boat show may be to South Florida’s Super Bowl hopes for 2016 and 2017. The NFL invited Miami and San Francisco to bid for the 2016 Super Bowl by April 1, with the loser vying with Houston for the 2017 game. Talbert said the bid package states both decisions will be made in May.
For now, South Florida’s Super Bowl organizers face a largely hypothetical challenge, because the current NFL schedule has the Super Bowl occurring two weeks before Presidents’ Day weekend. The bid requirements for the ’16 and ’17 Super Bowls include three consecutive weekends as possibilities for the game, with the latest falling on the Presidents’ Day holiday.
Still, possible logistical hurdles may combine with political obstacles if the Miami Dolphins resume their push for a tax-funded renovation of Sun Life Stadium, the Super Bowl’s South Florida home.
Last year, the Dolphins proposed that Broward and Miami-Dade counties subsidize a $225 million renovation at Sun Life as a way to keep the region competitive for Super Bowls and other large events. The renovation includes a partial roof that would prevent the kind of drenching Super Bowl spectators suffered in 2007 when a rare February downpour hit Miami Gardens.
Tammy Goss is sitting on a park bench in a small patch of green wedged between Dixie Highway and the FEC railroad tracks. Staring down from the southeast wall of the corner community center is a huge blue-toned mural of a man’s face, his fingers curled around an electric bass guitar. She knows his name.
“Jaco Pastorius, I think,” said Goss, 45.
But that’s all she really knows about John Francis Pastorius III.
“I don’t remember him," admitted Goss, as she drags on a cigarette. “I guess he was before my time or something. So I’m not really sure what he did."
Johnny Boston says he hangs out in the park nearly everyday. He’s seen Pastorius’ name on a sign.
"And that’s who that dude is?" asks Boston, 57. “I didn’t know he was a musician."
Pastorius’ lightning-fast fingering and use of harmonics elevated the electric bass guitar from rhythm section pulse to a virtuoso’s instrument. He toured with jazz fusion band Weather Report and Joni Mitchell and won two Grammy nominations for his own debut album in 1977.
Unfamiliar to many but beloved by a solid group of devotees spanning generations and musical genres, Pastorius will have a tribute concert from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday marking the 25th year since his death. The concert, “A Tribute to Jaco,” will take place at Jaco Pastorius Park, 4000 N. Dixie Hwy. in Oakland Park.
The namesake park is a good start but much more is deserved, said Oakland Park resident Robert Rutherford, who in 2005 started a petition drive to name the seven-acre park near the railroad tracks after his musical hero.
“I think it could be a catalyst to more things in the future," said Rutherford, who is now throwing all his energy behind another grass-roots effort: a petition drive for a Jaco Pastorius commemorative postage stamp.
The spirit of Pastorius lives through devotees such as the four members of the Miami progressive metal band Neolythyc. All are 17 years old, born nearly a decade after Pastorius’ death. The band is among performers scheduled for Saturday’s concert.
Neolythyc bass player Jerry Caceres refers to Pastorius as "one of the old homies from down the block."
"He’s my dawg!” said Caceres, who sports a long mane of Jaco-ish hair. “He took a lot of trumpet leads, like in the be-bop days, and played it on the bass. And that’s amazing. To have that kind of speed."
In the late ’60’s, at just about the same age as the kids in Neolythyc, Pastorius was playing every gig he could get in South Florida, and earning the chops that would make him the most influential jazz fusion bass player of his time. Over a relatively short recording career, he managed to leave behind a huge body of work. But the guys in Neolythyc are unanimous when asked about their favorite Pastorius composition, Portrait of Tracy, recorded in 1976.
In Pastorius’ musical prime, the bi-polar disorder that plagued him all his life began to quell his incandescent talent. The illness often revealed itself in irrational behavior that left his fellow musicians baffled.
After struggling for years with the illness, the trail-blazing musician who performed with jazz fusion giants Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock ended up homeless on the streets of Fort Lauderdale.
In September 1987, after trying to force his way into a Wilton Manors nightclub, Pastorius was beaten by the bouncer on duty. He died nine days later, Sept. 21, at age 35.
But Rutherford said Pastorius was more magic than tragic. And he hears that in the music.
"I can picture flocks of ibis flying in the morning or in the evening back to roost,” Rutherford said. “You know, it’s going to be different for everyone how they interpret these songs. But the place and his music are so intertwined, they’re inseparable."
NEW YORK (AP) — A new survey finds that digital video recorders are now in more than half of all U.S. homes that subscribe to cable or satellite TV services.
Leichtman Research Group‘s survey of 1,300 households found that 52 percent of the ones that have pay-TV service also have a DVR. That translates to about 45 percent of all households and is up from 13.5 percent of all households surveyed five years ago by another firm, Nielsen.
The first DVRs came out in 1999, from TiVo Inc. and ReplayTV. Later, they were built into cable set-top boxes. The latest trend is “whole-home” DVRs that can distribute recorded shows to several sets.
Even with the spread of DVRs, live TV rules. Nielsen found last year that DVRs accounted for 8 percent of TV watching.
Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Rick Baker is being honored with a well-deserved Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, and the multiple Oscar-winning special makeup effects artist talks to ETonline about his first big break, how An American Werewolf in London would look onscreen today, the inspirations for his wild Men in Black 3 creatures and more.
Video: Will Smith Keeps Swingin' at 'MiB'
"I was part of the first generation of kids that grew up in front of the TV -- I was really attracted to the horror films that they'd show on Friday or Saturday nights," the 61-year-old Baker tells us. "I was so fascinated by those monsters. … I just thought, 'That's what I want to do when I grow up.' I was like 10 years old, and I just set my mind to it. And I started teaching myself how to do it. There weren't schools then, and there was very little information then, but I figured it out."
The surprisingly humble California native has won seven Best Achievement in Makeup Oscars (for such films as American Werewolf, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Ed Wood and Men in Black) out of a total of 12 nominations, and will also be entered in the Guinness World Records Book for most Oscar wins and noms in that category. In fact, the category was created by the Motion Picture Academy in honor of Baker's extraordinary work on 1981's American Werewolf.
One of Baker's first big breaks came from American Werewolf director John Landis, who hired the talented young artist to create a monster for his low-budget 1973 horror movie Schlock after well-known Planet of the Apes make-up artist John Chambers turned him down. Legendary Halloween mask maker Don Post also turned Landis down, but recommended Baker, who would regularly buy latex and polyurethane foam from Don Post Studios to fabricate homemade creations.
"[Landis] wanted basically what he kept saying was a crappy gorilla suit," says Baker with a laugh. "John called me up out of the blue, drove out to Covina, and went into my little bedroom workshop -- I grew up in a very lower-middle class, little teeny bedroom where I made all my stuff -- it was full of monsters, and he basically flipped out at the stuff that I had. He said, 'I've seen the stuff that the professional guys are doing, and your stuff is as good as them, and you're like, how old are you?' So I did John's first movie."
Pics: Our 10 Favorite Fright Flicks
Ten years later Landis had become a name director with such movies as Animal House and The Blues Brothers, and secured the financing for American Werewolf. Baker recalls, "[Landis] said, 'I want to do a transformation unlike what's been done before. It just doesn't make sense to me that when your body was going to transform like that, that you would sit in a chair like [original Wolf Man] Lon Chaney, Jr. and be perfectly still until he transformed.' He goes, 'I want to show the pain, I want to show what this body is going through, what's happening, and it's going to be my next movie and I want you to do it and you've got to figure out a way to do it.' It's like, okay! … And it's what really changed things."
Baker became a pioneer in his field, but has of course had to adapt with the changing technological times. "If American Werewolf was made in this day and age it would all be CGI," he says with a hint of resignation. "It's definitely taken away the animatronic part of my job, even though we did make some animatronic stuff in Men in Black. … I embrace the technology, but what I don't like about it is I think it's just made for sloppy filmmaking. The fix-it-in-post attitude is so prevalent in moviemaking now. It makes people not have to think about things. In American Werewolf we thought about everything in advance, we planned it out, we made storyboards, so I knew what to make."
Perhaps Baker's biggest crowning achievement, even more than winning multiple Academy Awards, was the first time he saw himself in the magazine that first got him interested in the craft behind the camera as a young boy: Famous Monsters of Filmland. "I really felt like I made it, you know?" says the silver-ponytailed artist with a child-like smile. "I still think that's the most excited I've ever been about any article that's been written on me, because it was my magazine, and it was the one that I was so fond of."
Related: John Landis Talks 'Three Amigos' and More
Baker's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located right next to friend and Oscar-winning Visual Effects icon Dennis Murin's star, which he finds "really exciting. … [Dennis, visual effects colleague Ken Ralston and I] were all like these teenage kids that found each other with similar interests and hoped that someday we could work on a movie, and we managed to all work on some pretty amazing movies, you know? … I've had so many surreal experiences in my lifetime pursuing my hobby."
For Men in Black 3, director Barry Sonnenfeld pretty much gave Baker free reign to create a rogue's gallery of aliens and creatures to populate both the foreground and background action. Designing a total of 127 creations gave the artist an opportunity to pay homage to the favorite B-movie baddies of his youth.
"You could basically name any film that was done from 1950 to 1970 or beyond that was a science fiction film and we paid some kind of homage to it," he says, "And a lot of them were films that people wouldn't even know unless they read Famous Monsters, or grew up in front of the same movies on TV as I did: Invasion of the Saucer Men, This Island Earth, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Invaders from Mars, Outer Limits, you name it."
Related: Watch 'Men in Black 3' in a Whole New Way
So what’s next for Rick Baker? He designed Angelina Jolie's makeup for the upcoming Malificent, and he's been doing a lot of painting: "I've really been having fun; I'm kind of at the point in my career where I only want to work when it's something I really want to do," he says. "I've painted a lot of things in my life. … I decided I really should paint all the classic monsters that inspired me. So I did 13 paintings for [an upcoming] show. I'm really excited about them. And I'm really looking forward to see people's response."
Baker's Classic Monsters show (a group effort alongside close to 30 artists, including Rob Zombie) debuts this weekend through the end of December at Halloween Town in Burbank, CA, while his latest onscreen creations can be seen on the Men in Black 3 Blu-ray, out now.
REUTERS
President Obama gestures next to Michael Araten, right, President of Rodon, and Joel Glickman, Vice Chairman, at the Rodon Group, a manufacturer of toys in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, Friday.
HATFIELD, Pa. — President Obama argued Friday that allowing taxes to rise for the middle class would amount to a "lump of coal" for Christmas," while Republican House Speaker John Boehner declared that negotiations to surmount a looming fiscal cliff are going "almost nowhere."
Obama took his case to an audience in a Philadelphia suburb, saying that this move would present a "Scrooge Christmas" for millions of wage-earners. Speaking at a toy factory, the president said Republicans should extend existing Bush-era tax rates for households earning $250,000 or less, while allowing increases to kick in for the wealthy.
On Capitol Hill, Boehner argued that Obama's latest offer — to raise revenue by $1.6 trillion over the next decade — would be a "crippling blow" to an economy that is still struggling to find its footing. The Ohio Republican told reporters he would continue working with Obama to avoid hundreds of billions in tax increases and spending cuts that will take effect beginning in January if Washington doesn't act to stop it, but gave a gloomy assessment of the talks so far.
"There's a stalemate. Let's not kid ourselves," Boehner said. "Right now, we're almost nowhere."
Obama's speech came a day after his administration proposed $1.6 trillion in new taxes over 10 years, new spending for the unemployed and struggling homeowners and savings of about $400 billion in entitlement programs like Medicare. The proposal amounts to requests that were already d in Obama's Fiscal 2013 budget plan. Republicans rejected the offer as unreasonable.
Obama said he believed both parties "can and will work together" to reach an agreement to get its long-term deficit under control "in a way that's balanced and is fair."
"In Washington, nothing's easy so there is going to be some prolonged negotiations and all of us are going to have to get out of our comfort zones to make that happen," he said. "I'm willing to do that. I' hopeful that enough members of Congress in both parties are willing to do that as well."
White House officials hoped Friday's trip would build momentum for the president's case, even as Republicans describe the outing as an irritant and an obstacle to fruitful talks. The road trip was part of a dual White House strategy of having the president's team meet with members of Congress while Obama travels the country to pressure Congress to act.
Republicans have said they are open to new tax revenue but not higher rates.
Obama spoke at the Rodon Group manufacturing facility, showcasing the company as an example of a business that depends on middle-class consumers during the holiday season. The company manufactures parts for K'NEX Brands, a construction toy company whose products include Tinkertoy, K'NEX Building Sets and Angry Birds Building Sets.
The president joked that he's keeping his own "naughty and nice list" for members of Congress — and only some would get a K'NEX set for Christmas.
Administration officials said the offer, presented to Hill Republicans by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, constituted much of what Obama has previously suggested in budget proposals.
One new feature in the Geithner plan is a call for increasing the nation's debt limit without the need for congressional approval. Under last year's debt ceiling deal, Obama simply had to notify Congress that he was raising the debt ceiling, a move that could be blocked only if both houses of Congress approved resolutions of disapproval that Obama could veto. The administration wants a permanent extension of the debt ceiling with a similar legislative arrangement and with no offsetting spending cuts, as demanded by Republicans.
"Unfortunately, many Democrats continue to rule out sensible spending cuts that must be part of any significant agreement that will reduce our deficit," Boehner said after meeting with Geithner Thursday.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday that the proposal for $1.6 trillion in tax revenue was presented in context of a "balanced approach" to deficit reduction throughout the campaign.
"This is the way that we can ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little bit more to deal with our deficit challenges," Earnest said aboard Air Force One as Obama flew to Pennsylvania.
"This was what the president has campaigned on for a long time and that was what president pushed for in context of the discussions with House Republicans," Earnest said.
Earnest said the proposal laid out by Geithner should not come as a surprise to anyone. Referring to comments by House Republican staffers who expressed surprise at Geithner's proposal, Earnest said, "This morning I was surprised they were surprised."
Helm Bank USA, based in Miami, signed a consent order with federal and state banking regulators Oct. 17, according to information on October enforcement actions released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday.
Helm Bank must deveop a Bank Secrecy Act compliance plan, implement internal controls and a training program, revise its strategic plan and develop a plan for managing interest rate risk, among other requirements, according to the 19-page consent order.
Banking regulators also modified Miami-based Great Eastern Bank of Florida’s consent order on Oct. 25. The consent order was originally issued in July. The modification includes a requirement that the bank submit a written capital plan to boost its capital and a plan to reduce its classified assets. It must also revise its strategic plan and its plan to improve earnings, and submit a Bank Secrecy Act compliance plan, among other requirements outlined in the 19-page modification.
INA PAIVA CORDLE
TALLAHASSEE --
Bad news and controversy are routine in the vast state government under Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s control. But don’t look for clues in Project Sunburst, Scott’s program of email transparency.
That’s because Scott doesn’t use email as a primary form of communication, and neither does his top aide, chief of staff Adam Hollingsworth.
Workers at state agencies also are wary of using email to alert Scott’s inner circle (and consequently the media) to impending trouble.
Anyone can access the email of Scott and his top aides at www.flgov.com/sunburst . But if Sunburst was designed to end secrecy in state government, it hasn’t.
“It’s been a disappointment to say the least,” said Barbara Petersen of the First Amendment Foundation, who had high hopes because the search for email from Scott’s office had been costly and time-consuming.
“The manipulation of content and lack of substantive communications — there’s simply not much there of any real value to the public,” Petersen said.
Hollingsworth, who puts a premium on accessibility, said his days are filled with meetings and he has no time to access email. He said Sunburst is a catalyst for better communication in Scott’s office.
“We actually enjoy getting together,” he said. “That sort of interpersonal communication is probably more productive and purposeful than an email system.”
The result is that Sunburst, promoted by Scott as an “open and transparent window into how state government works,” is in reality a vessel for the mundane work of government: meeting notices, routine reports, personnel moves and news releases.
Sunburst is so bland that partisan Democrats, ever eager to find negative material about Scott, pay little attention to it.
“I haven’t had the time, the inclination or the interest,” said Mark Hollis, spokesman for Democrats in the state House.
Hollingsworth and Scott’s communications director, Melissa Sellers, say they do not use private email accounts for official business.
Another of Sunburst’s unfulfilled promises: Scott has not expanded the system to include other agencies under his control as he promised to do “in the coming months” when he launched the system May 3.
Scott himself often poses a question that’s ripe for Sunburst: “Is each program achieving what it is intended to?”
What Sunburst does best is serve as a tip sheet for reporters burrowing deep into the bureaucracy and as an online town square where people air their grievances with Scott on everything from property insurance premiums to President Barack Obama’s policies.
“Overall, I’d rather have it than not have it,” said David Royse, editor of the News Service of Florida.
The brainchild of former Scott chief of staff Steve MacNamara, Sunburst was launched with the promise of unprecedented access to email of Scott and his top aides.
Integrity Florida, a nonpartisan watchdog group, tracks Sunburst daily and finds irregular compliance with Scott’s stated goal of making most messages available within 24 hours.
“That’s not happening,” said Dan Krassner of Integrity Florida.
Integrity Florida also found that some staffers did not comply with Scott’s policy to post emails within seven days of receipt.
Governor’s staff members are responsible for moving their mail to the Sunburst folder. Some email is necessarily delayed to allow time to redact information that is confidential under state law.
As of 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, emails sent to Scott and Hollingsworth were posted within 24 hours, the group said.
But the group found that it had been nine days since any email to Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Finkbeiner was online; 10 days for Sellers; and 14 days for Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll’s chief of staff, John Konkus.
“Sunburst has been just a small burst of sunlight through the big clouds of government secrecy,” Krassner said. “We’d like to see the governor’s office deliver on the original promise of Sunburst and meet the governor’s expectations of 24-hour disclosure.”
Hollingsworth said every employee must obey the Sunburst policy and that every Friday all Sunburst accounts are reviewed to be sure people are complying.
Hollingsworth, who arrived two months after Sunburst, quickly fixed the system’s most embarrassing failure: the posting of pro-Scott emails and the absence of those critical of him. All are now accessible.
Asked if Scott’s people are reluctant to use email to avoid Sunburst’s public glare, Hollingsworth said: “I’m going to leave that for you and others to characterize.”
Conta ct Steve Bousquet at bousquet@tampabay.com or (850) 224-7263.
Most people learned to love Margo Martindale thanks to her powerful and Emmy-winning turn as Mags Bennett on the second season of FX's Justified.
But the beloved actress first began winning over audiences with the first staging of Steel Magnolias in 1987 when she originated the role of Truvy. Now, she's returning to The Lucille Lortel Theater for a 25th Anniversary reading of Robert Harling classic play (benefiting The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) on December 3 -- although this time, she's tackling the role of Ouiser!
ETonline caught up with Martindale to talk about the 25th Anniversary, what it means to be re-staging this play and what happened when Steel the play met Steel the film and she met Julia Roberts!
ETonline: Is it crazy to you that it's the 25th Anniversary of Steel Magnolias?
Margo Martindale: Well, I must say, I didn't think much of it when they first asked me to do it since I'm not playing my own part. But I read over the script yesterday and sobbed the whole way through. My husband asked, "Why are you crying so much?" And I said "Because this was so much a part of our lives." My daughter was conceived during my last time on stage in New York and she is almost 25.
VIDEO FLASHBACK - Julia Roberts Wins A Golden Globe For Magnolias
ETonline: You are playing Ouiser for the first time. How does that compare to playing Truvy?
Martindale: Honestly, it's not radically different. It's just the flip side. Truvy is so big-hearted and just so funny but sweet. And Ouiser is not. And I think I'm more like Ouiser now than I was like Truvy. So it's kind of perfect.
ETonline: What do you think it is about these women that has kept audiences under their spell for 25 years?
Martindale: I think that originally with the play we didn't know what we had. We played that first show so seriously. It was a serious play and it was all about business. We had no idea it was so funny. When we put it in front of an audience, they just loved it. I think people love it because we were real people, with real feelings and real hearts. That's what people saw in the play and, in turn, I think that's how the movie was made.
ETonline: What did you think of the movie?
Martindale: I was actually doing the national tour of the play when the movie came out. You kind of want to criticize. It was vastly different from the play in that it's so open. The thing that I missed in the movie, which you can't do in a movie,is that in the play, everything takes place in one room. All the emotions were so huge in that room and you couldn't escape it, so you had to confront the pain of the loss of Shelby. I believe that all happened in the cemetery scene, which actually worked beautifully but it was very very different. For anybody who wasn't part of the play or hadn't seen the play first, I think the movie was perfectly beautiful.
PHOTO - Roberts & Field Celebrate Magnolias' Anniversary
ETonline: You've now tackled two roles, is there anyone in Steel you wouldn't want to play?
Martindale: I don't think I'd want to play Shelby or Annelle. I'm soooo not right for it. But all the others I can play I think.
ETonline: You're currently expericning the other side of the coin, working on the cinematic adaptation of August: Osage County. How much of that play has been "movie'd up?"
Martindale: It's beautiful. So beautiful. I think it really retains the spirit of the film. Tracy Letts (who wrote the play) wrote the screenplay so he kept it really close to the play. He's opened up some of it, but most everything takes place in the house. I absolutely loved working with Chris Cooper, Meryl [Streep], Benedict [Cumberbatch], Julia [Roberts]; everybody was wonderful.
ETonline: Did you and Julia ever talk about your shared Steel connection?
Martindale: We talked about it. She was just so sweet about that. She said "Steel Magnolias gave me everything. I owed it to the people
that kept the play going for the movie to be made."
ETonline: I've been a fan of yours for so long, but I'm curious, do you have a role like that? One you feel like "gave you everything?"
Martindale: It was only two years ago, but I do think Justified really changed my career. It made everybody a little more aware of me and what I could do. It also brought me to the public eye and made people more aware of how long I been doing this.
ETonline: You've worked on a lot of shows and played a lot of supporting characters in big films. Is there any character you'd love to revisit in a bigger capacity?
Martindale: Well, I loved Paris, Je T'aime. It's like my top two favorite things I've ever done and I think it was a beautiful. I think it was a perfect seven minute movie, or whatever it was. I don't know how that would work in a bigger movie, but she was an interesting character I would have loved to have been with longer.
For more on The 25th Anniversary reading of Steel Magnolias to benefit The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, click here!
WASHINGTON — The controversial detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, could be closed and the 166 detainees being held there could be absorbed safely by US prisons, a government report says.
Many of the detainees are accused of plotting terrorist acts against the United States.
"This report demonstrates that if the political will exists, we could finally close Guantanamo without imperiling our national security," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman who released the Government Accountability Office study Wednesday.
The GAO study shows that US prisons already hold 373 prisoners convicted of terrorism in 98 facilities across the country.
"As far as I know, there hasn't been a single security problem reported in any of these cases," Feinstein said. "This fact outweighs not only the high cost of maintaining Guantanamo — which costs more than $114 million a year — but also provides the same degree of security without the criticism of operating a military prison in an isolated location."
The study said there are six Defense Department prisons and 98 Justice Department prisons that could take the detainees, but it does say that existing facilities likely would need to be modified and current inmates may need to be relocated to make room for the new arrivals.
President Barack Obama ordered the closing of the Guantanamo's detention facility when he took office in 2009, but that was blocked by a Republican-led bill that cut off funding to move the detainees to the US The lawmakers cited security concerns, saying the presence of the detainees would encourage terror attacks in the states or cities where they were being held.
Feinstein commissioned the study in 2008 to find out where the detainees could be held, if the White House was able to move ahead with Guantanamo's closure.
Despite a dearth of homes and condos on the market in Miami-Dade County, pending sales rose 67 percent in October with 4,172 residential properties going under contract compared with 2,488 a year earlier, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.
The number of pending sales rose 18 percent in October from September.
In a statement, Martha Pomares, chairman of the board of the Miami Association of Realtors, said “The Miami real estate market is poised for another record year that would suprass the all-time sales record set in 2011. Strong demand persists despite the shortage of housing inventory, and listings are increasingly selling at a more rapid pace, driving in significant price appreciation.’’
With strong demand and little on the market, properties are selling for closer to their asking price and sellers aren’t inclined to offer discounts. For October, single-family homes in Miami-Dade sold at 95 percent of the original listing price, while condos went for 97.1 percent of original listing price on average, the Miami Realtors said. In October 2011, single family homes fetched 91 percent of listing price on average and condos got 93.6 percent of listing price.
Pending sales are a forward indicator based on the number of contracts signed over a given period.
Jose Padilla, the convicted terrorist who once called the Fort Lauderdale-area home before joining the ranks of al-Qaida, faces up to life in prison at his resentencing Monday in Miami federal court.
But his defense attorney hopes a judge Wednesday will postpone the sentencing until January, so Padilla can improve his mental health by visiting with family members in the meantime at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami.
Padilla, 42, is serving a 17-year prison at the maximum security prison in Florence, Colo.
“Since his arrest in May of 2002, the government has systematically attempted to destroy Jose by psychologically torturing him and imprisoning him under the severest of conditions,” Federal Public Defender Michael Caruso, who represented Padilla at his 2007 trial, wrote in court papers.
“Not surprisingly, this psychological torture has taken a toll on Jose.”
Federal prosecutors voiced strong opposition to the delay, unless Padilla’s defense lawyer were to request a competency examination of his client.
Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that the one-time “enemy combatant” — perhaps better known as the “dirty bomber” — should receive harsher punishment reflecting his extensive criminal record.
The appellate court found that U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke was too lenient when she “unreasonably discounted” his criminal history before lowering a potential 30-year-to-life sentence.
Padilla, born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, was a former Chicago gang member with 17 arrests and a murder conviction before becoming a recruit for al-Qaida, according to federal prosecutors.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the controversial case back to Cooke to resentence Padilla, who trained with al-Qaida the year before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to trial evidence.
Caruso appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying Cooke “imposed a fair and reasonable sentence.” But the high court declined to hear his petition.
The appeals court in Atlanta, in a 2-1 ruling, upheld the terrorism convictions of Padilla and two others: Adham Amin Hassoun, a Palestinian who had met him at a Broward mosque in the 1990s; and Hassoun’s colleague, Kifah Wael Jayyousi, a U.S. citizen of Jordanian descent. They were sentenced to 15 years and eight months, and 12 years and eight months, respectively.
All three defendants, convicted of conspiring to support Islamic extremists overseas, sought a new federal trial based on claims of improper testimony by the lead FBI agent and a terrorism expert, along with insufficient evidence and other allegations. Padilla also challenged Cooke’s decision to reject a motion to dismiss his indictment based on “outrageous government conduct” while the former enemy combatant was held in a Naval brig before his transfer to Miami to face terrorism charges in 2006.
Padilla was held without being charged in the South Carolina brig for 3 1/2 years — time that the Miami judge cut from his sentence.
The appellate court, in an opinion written by Chief Judge Joel F. Dubina and joined by Judge William H. Pryor, sided with the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami. Prosecutors, who were seeking life imprisonment for Padilla, appealed Cooke’s 17-year sentence. They argued the judge’s prison term was 13 years below the low end of sentencing guidelines — 30 years.
The appellate court wrote that Cooke’s punishment “reflects a clear error of judgment about the sentencing of this career offender.” The court noted that his codefendant, Hassoun, had no prior criminal history but received a sentence that was “only” 20 months less than Padilla’s.
Cooke “attached little weight to Padilla’s extensive criminal history, gave no weight to his future dangerousness, compared him to criminals who were not similarly situated, and gave unreasonable weight to the condition of his pre-trial detention,” Dubina wrote.
In a dissent, Appellate Judge Rosemary Barkett countered that Padilla’s sentence “should not be disturbed.” Barkett said “doing so simply substitutes sentencing judgment for that of the trial judge” with the inherent authority.
We're less than six weeks away from the Pretty Little Liars season premiere, and to help make the wait pass faster, I caught up with star Lucy Hale to talk all about season 3B!
RELATED - 10 Best Dressed TV Stars
We met up at P.S. 64 in NYC where Hale had partnered with the Duracell Power Holiday Smiles program, benefiting Toys for Tots, to gift the students with some early Christmas presents ... batteries included!
VIDEO - First Look at PLL's Season Premiere
In addition to watching the kids freak out upon seeing the adorable actress, Hale revealed the best Christmas present she's ever gotten and told me that fans can expect a drastically different tone in the 2013 episodes of Pretty Little Liars! Watch!
Pretty Little Liars premieres January 8 at 8 p.m. on ABC Family, and for more information on the Duracell Power Holiday Smiles program, click here!
WASHINGTON — A moderate Republican senator crucial to any White House hopes of getting UN Ambassador Susan Rice confirmed as secretary of state said Wednesday that there are still lingering unanswered questions about the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya.
Emerging from a 95-minute, closed-door meeting with Rice, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she would need more information before she could consider backing the ambassador if President Barack Obama tapped her to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
At issue is Rice's much-maligned explanation for the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. In a series of talk show appearances, Rice blamed the attack on a spontaneous demonstration to an anti-Muslim video rather than terrorism.
AP
Sen. Susan Collins today
"I still have many questions that remain unanswered," Collins told reporters after the meeting. "I continue to be troubled by the fact that the UN ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election campaign by agreeing to go on the Sunday shows to present the administration's position."
Collins stopped short of saying she would try to block a nomination as Sens. Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte have said they would do.
But in a clear message to the White House, Collins said that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., would have a smooth path to confirmation if Obama chose him over Rice for the State Department job.
In back-to-back meetings, Rice met with Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, who is in line to become the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee.
Corker declined to say whether he would support Rice or not, but was highly critical of the intelligence apparatus and the administration.
"The whole issue of Benghazi has been a tawdry affair," Corker told reporters after his 90-minute session with Rice and acting CIA Director Michael Morell.
Pressed on a possible nomination, Corker said he will decide when Obama announces his choice, but he made it clear that the president should carefully weigh the decision.
"I would just ask that the president step back away from all of the buzz around this particular situation, take a deep breath and decide who is the best secretary of state for our country," Corker said.
The meetings with Collins and Corker marked the second straight day of private sessions for Rice as she tries to quell the uproar over her initial assessment of the Benghazi raid. Rice answered questions Tuesday from Sens. John McCain, Graham and Ayotte about her explanations about the cause of the September attack.
The holidays are coming fast, and if you’re like me, you’ve probably gotten very little of your gift shopping done.
Here are suggestions for a variety of gifts for the techie and the not-so-techie people on your list.
Some of these items can be found in stores and some are only available online, but you should be able to order them in time for Christmas or Hanukkah.
IOMEGA EZ MEDIA & BACKUP CENTER
What is it? A hard drive that lives on your home network so you can share files, store all your photos and music and back up your home computers. Works on Macintosh, Windows and Linux computers.
The EZ Media & Backup Center is available in 1-, 2- and 3-terabyte capacities. It is simple to set up. It lives next to your home router and plugs into the network via Ethernet.
Major features include a built-in iTunes server so your music is available to all connected computers, Time Machine support for easy Macintosh backups and Iomega’s Personal Cloud to access your data from any Internet connection.
It can also stream your video files to your TV if you’ve got a compatible streaming box or an Internet-connected TV.
Software for backing up Windows PCs is also included.
Who’s it for? Any family that wants central storage for their digital lives. This is a great home for your digital photo, music or video library.
What does it cost? One terabyte for $169.99, two terabytes for $209.99, three terabytes for $279.99.
Where can you get it? Online at www.iomega.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Apple store, Fry’s.
NETATMO URBAN WEATHER STATION
What is it? A wireless indoor/outdoor weather station that displays through an application on your Apple or Android mobile device.
There are two parts, one that lives in your house and one you place outside.
The indoor component plugs into the wall and monitors the temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, carbon dioxide level and even the sound level in decibels.
The outdoor module is battery-powered and measures temperature and humidity.
Once you connect the Netatmo to your home Wi-Fi network, you can download the free app and see your weather stats from anywhere.
Setup was easy enough, and you can set the app to notify you when carbon dioxide rises to levels that you should be warned about — which is great.
Who’s it for? Weather geeks and people who like to know what the temperature is without having to fire up a browser.
What does it cost? $179
Where can you get it? www.netatmo.com
3M LED ADVANCED LIGHT
What is it? 3M’s first foray into the home light bulb market is with the LED Advanced Light, which uses light-emitting diodes (LED) to produce 800 lumens (the light of a 60-watt bulb).
The Advanced Light has a life span of 25 years and costs just $1.63 per year if it’s turned on for three hours per day.
The bulb lights instantly and is dimmable.
It’s a little intimidating to start buying light bulbs that might outlive me, but my wallet approves.
Who’s it for? Anyone who wants to save money or wants a bulb that might not have to be changed until 2035.
What does it cost? $25
Where can you get it? Select Wal-Mart stores. For more information, go to www.3mlighting.com/LED.
STEM IZON 2.0 WI-FI VIDEO MONITOR
What is it? A small, wireless video camera that you can monitor remotely with an iOS device.
Violent criminals are not the only threat to neighborhoods, Miami police say. Prostitutes, drug users, and even motorists who disobey the rules of the road can jeopardize the safety of residents.
That’s why Miami police cast a broad net with Operation Resilience, a citywide crackdown that launched in December 2011 and concluded in November with more than 1,000 arrests made for crimes ranging from suspected murder and drug trafficking to prostitution and robbery.
Maj. David Magnusson, commander of tactical operations for Miami police, said the broad sweep targeted violent crime in the city.
“Homicides are lower at the same point now than they were last year,’’ he said, “and [the numbers of] people shot are lower than they were at the same time last year.’’
Tapping officers from several divisions within Miami’s police department — including gang units, narcotics investigators, robbery detectives and traffic cops — Operation Resilience flooded the city’s streets with police during crackdowns, Magnusson said.
Police conducted 12 separate sweeps over the year with each operation taking place over two, nonconsecutive days, he said.
During those sweeps, police made 380 felony arrests, including 83 for drug possession, 93 for drug trafficking, 156 for drug purchasing, 10 for gun possession, and 19 for battery.
While the operation’s primary mission was to reduce drug-related violent crime, officers also targeted “quality of life’’ crimes such as public intoxication, indecent exposure, gambling, prostitution and traffic infractions.
Magnusson said residents frequently complained of drivers speeding or running stop signs in their neighborhoods, and vagrants pushing carts on public streets in the middle of the night.
“We have found, and there is scientific proof, if you let these things go on unchecked, it just gives that atmosphere that anything goes,’’ Magnusson said, “and after a while anything does go.’’
Police reported making 259 “quality of life’’ arrests and 110 traffic arrests during the course of the operation. They also issued 4,832 traffic citations.
While traffic infractions are not considered serious crimes, Magnusson said they act as a deterrent in crime-ridden neighborhoods.
“People aren’t going to be up to their tricks when cars are being stopped by police,’’ he said.
Magnusson said Miami police are aware of the criticism that such sweeps provide only a respite from crime, and that the criminals return once the operations are completed. He estimated that each sweep was followed by a period of seven to 10 days of relative quiet in the affected neighborhoods.
“We have to find new ways to deal with these issues,’’ he said, “but at the end of the day it’s putting the officers out there.’’
Now that Operation Resilience is complete, Magnusson said, Miami police will launch Operation Throw In the Towel, which will target drug traffickers who work out of homes and businesses.
Police plan to use forfeiture, liens and fines to pressure those drug dealers or their landlords to “throw in the towel,’’ Magnusson said.
“We’re going after the sellers,’’ he said, “and after the structures they sell from.’’
Now it's starting to get exciting… Both Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are returning to the X-Men franchise in their signature roles for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past, according to a tweet by director Bryan Singer.
Related: Bryan Singer to Helm 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'
The director of 2000's X-Men and 2003's X2 tweeted today, "Thrilled to announce @ianmckellen118 & @SirPatStew are joining the cast of #XMEN #DaysOfFuturePast #magneto #professorX More to come…"
It's clear now that we'll see both the younger and older versions of Magneto and Professor X in the new film -- said to be inspired by an Uncanny X-Men comic book storyline that ran back in 1981 – which contains a complicated time-travel storyline and alternate future scenario that bridges the gap between mutants of the past and mutants of the future.
Related: First Look: 'The Wolverine' Poster
Singer took on directing responsibilities for the follow-up to X-Men: First Class after Matthew Vaughn departed the project.
X-Men: Days of Future Past is expected to arrive in theaters on July 18, 2014.
TMZ has denied they are pushing to own drones.
The gossip site responded to earlier reports that they put in a request with the FAA for the unmanned aircraft.
The Web site's plan to own drones was first reported by The San Francisco Chronicle.
"TMZ is NOT getting in the DRONE business ... we don't have a drone ... we don't want a drone ... we never applied for a drone," the site posted.
Drone makers have pushed for more missions, leading to provisions in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, signed into law Feb. 14.
The law requires the FAA to fully integrate the unmanned aerial vehicles into national airspace by September 2015, the site reported.
According to the Chronicle, FAA officials said last week that TMZ “does not have a permit.”
Niche technology company Heico Corp. said Tuesday that its board of directors declared a special dividend in addition to the regular $.06 per share semi-annual dividend.
The cash payments — which total $1.20 per share — will be made Dec. 21.
Heico, which has headquarters in Miami and Hollywood, said the dividends were declared because of expected tax increases in 2013. The regular six-cent per share dividend would have normally been paid in January.
The company makes replacement parts for airplanes and components for the space, defense, communications, medical and computer industries.
A man who collapsed during a roach-eating contest last month at a Broward pet shop died from choking on insect parts, according to the Broward medical examiner.
The death of Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach, has been ruled an accident, Medical Examiner Craig Mallak said Monday in an advisory. An autopsy tested negative for toxic substances.
Archbold’s airway became obstructed with “arthropod body parts” and he died of asphyxia, according to the medical examiner.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Online sales jumped during the first hours of Cyber Monday suggesting strong growth from earlier in the holiday shopping season continues, according to data from International Business Machines Corp.
Online sales were up 24.1 percent as of 12:00pm EST on Cyber Monday, compared to the same period a year earlier, said IBM, which tracks transaction data from 500 U.S. retail websites. In 2011, the early Cyber Monday year-over-year growth was 15 percent, IBM noted.
Strong online sales growth on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday sparked concern that shoppers may just be buying earlier, threatening revenue later in the season.
“So far that is not the case,” said Jay Henderson, Strategy Director, IBM Smarter Commerce. “Extending the shopping season has really just fueled additional online spending rather than cannibalizing days later in the season.”
(Reporting By Alistair Barr)
Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Larry Hagman's manager is opening up about funeral arrangements for the Dallas star who passed away on Friday at age 81.
RELATED: Dallas Star Larry Hagman Dies
John Castonia confirms exclusively to ET that the Hagman family will hold two private invitation-only memorial services this week, one in Texas and another in California.
RELATED: Barbara Eden Mourns Death of Larry Hagman
Castonia also revealed that Hagman's son, Preston, plans to spread Larry's ashes all over the world, per the late actor's wishes.
Gov. Cuomo said Hurricane Sandy cost the New York region a staggering $42 billion in damages - a worse housing and economic toll than Hurricane Katrina leveled on New Orleans and the Gulf.
After meeting with the New York congressional delegation, Cuomo said he would urge Congress and President Obama to cover the cost.
"Hurricane Katrina, in many ways, was not as impactful as Hurricane Sandy, believe it or not," the governor said.
"Because of the density of New York, the number of people affected, the number of properties affected was much larger in Hurricane Sandy than Hurricane Katrina. That puts the entire conversation, I believe, into focus."
Cuomo said $32.8 billion of the cost is for repair and restoration costs - about half in New York City.
Another $9.1 billion covers "mitigation and prevention" costs to prevent future flooding, particularly in MTA tunnels and underground utilities.
The prelimary estimate found more than 305,000 houses damaged or destroyed, compared to 214,700 during Katrina.
There were 2.2 million power outages, compared to 800,000 during Katrina.
And there were 265,300 New York businesses impacted, compared to 18,700 during Katrina.
PANAMA CITY, Panama — As a real estate agent shows off a model apartment — white leather sectional, stainless steel appliances, open concept, ocean views — in the 59-story Yacht Club Tower, and touts its fitness center and pool deck designed to mimic a ship floating on the sea, he makes a telling statement:
“We tried to emulate the Miami style in this building.”
Approaching this Central American capital from the air, the first thing a traveler notices is a skyline on steroids — gleaming towers jutting skyward like so many pickets on a fence. There’s even a Trump high-rise here — the sail-shaped 72-story Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower. And it’s not uncommon for those active in Miami real estate and development circles to try their luck in Panama or move back and forth between the markets.
Although Miami is nearly 1,200 miles from Panama City, the real estate markets of the two cities share certain similarities. Both went through booms and overbuilding and then had way too many empty condominiums. Wealthy Latin American buyers were a salvation in both cities when traditional segments of the market fell off.
“Now that things are starting to pick up in the States, they are picking up here too. Now that there’s not as much economic uncertainty in the United States, people feel more confident about Panama too,’’ said Morris Hafeitz, general manger of Emporium Developers. He used to work in Miami as a project manager for Odebrecht, the Brazilian conglomerate.
Now Hafeitz is trying to sell Allure at the Park, a 50-story building Emporium developed in Panama City’s Bella Vista neighborhood. The building is chock full of amenities — gym, teenage game room, adult lounge, toddler playroom, pool, squash court and even miniature golf on the roof — but one of its main selling points is that it overlooks a park and two low-rise historic buildings. “In the heart of the city without the hassles of the city,’’ said Hafeitz.
During the boom, many buildings in central Panama City went up practically on top of each other. “In the beginning of the boom there were no regulations on density,’’ said Mauricio Saba, a project manager at Zoom Development in Panama City and another Miami real estate alum. “I have a friend who said he could watch his neighbor’s TV from his balcony.’’
Margarita Sanclemente, a Miami real estate broker with offices in Panama City and New York, has seen it all — the boom, the irrational building and the slowdown — and has stuck with the Panamanian market.
She first ventured into Panama in 2005. The Panamanian real estate market, which had been sluggish for more than a decade, was undergoing a rebirth and Americans, lured by low prices and the low cost of living, were snapping up properties.
The sweet spot was the 1,000 to 1,500-square-foot apartment, sans maid’s quarters, which appealed to retirees from Canada and the United States, she said.
That was back when Americans still believed you couldn’t go wrong with real estate. “Some of the buyers didn’t even see the units. We sold them by phone,’’ Sanclemente said. Condo prices at new buildings such as Destiny averaged $98 to $120 per square foot. She herself bought a 1,000 square foot, one bedroom condo for $123,000 back in 2005.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Four tickets — three sold in South Florida — matched all five Fantasy 5 numbers and will collect $67,943. each.
The Florida Lottery said Sunday that the winning tickets were bought in North Miami, Opa-locka, Hialeah and St. Augustine.
The numbers drawn Saturday night were 6-17-26-31-34
The 384 tickets matching four numbers won $114 each; another 10,816 tickets matching three numbers won $11 each.
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(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia‘s No.2 telecom operator Etihad Etisalat Co (Mobily) has been suspended from selling pre-paid sim cards by the industry regulator, the firm said in a statement to the kingdom’s bourse on Sunday.
Mobily’s sales of pre-paid, or pay-as-you-go, sim cards will remain halted until the company “fully meets the prepaid service provisioning requirements,” the telco said in the statement.
These requirements include a September order from regulator, Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC). This states all pre-paid sim users must enter a personal identification number when recharging their accounts and that this number must be the same as the one registered with their mobile operator when the sim card was bought, according to a statement on the CITC website.
This measure is designed to ensure customer account details are kept up to date, the CITC said.
Mobily said the financial impact of the CITC’s decision would be “insignificant”, claiming data, corporate and postpaid revenues would meet its main growth drivers.
The firm, which competes with Saudi Telecom Co (STC) and Zain Saudi, reported a 23 percent rise in third-quarter profit in October, beating forecasts.
Prepaid mobile subscriptions are typically more popular among middle and lower income groups, with telecom operators pushing customers to shift to monthly contracts that include a data allowance.
Customers on monthly, or postpaid, contracts are also less likely to switch provider, but the bulk of customers remain on pre-paid accounts.
Mobily shares were trading down 1.4 percent at 0820 GMT on the Saudi bourse.
(Reporting by Matt Smith; Editing by Dinesh Nair)
Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Larry Hagman, best known for playing Dallas villain J.R. Ewing, died Friday morning from complications stemming from his recent battle with cancer.
He was 81 years old.
Video: Larry Hagman Talks 'Dallas', Cancer and Veganism
"Larry was back in his beloved Dallas, re-enacting the iconic role he loved most," his family said in a statement via The Dallas Morning News. "When he passed, he was surrounded by loved ones. It was a peaceful passing, just as he had wished for. The family requests privacy at this time."
Hagman's rep says the late actor will be cremated.
His Dallas co-stars Linda Gray (who played his wife Sue Ellen) and Patrick Duffy (who played his brother Bobby) were reportedly at his bedside when he died, The Sun is reporting.
"Larry Hagman was my best friend for 35 years. He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew," Gray told ET in a statement. "He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented, and I will miss him enormously. He was an original and lived life to the fullest ... The world was a brighter place because of Larry Hagman."
"Friday I lost one of the greatest friends ever to grace my life. The loneliness is only what is difficult, as Larry's peace and comfort is always what is important to me, now as when he was here," Duffy said in a statement. "He was a fighter in the gentlest way, against his obstacles and for his friends. I wear his friendship with honor."
Victoria Principal, who played Pamela Barnes Ewing, added, "Larry was bigger than life ... on screen and off. He is unforgettable, and irreplaceable, to millions of fans around the world, and in the hearts of each of us, who was lucky enough to know and love him. Look out God ... Larry's leading the parade."
Video: J.R. Menaces in New 'Dallas'
Hagman, who also starred as Air Force Captain Anthony Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie, was last seen on television in TNT's Dallas reboot, where he returned to play his most well-known character.
"Larry Hagman was a giant, a larger-than-life personality whose iconic performance as J.R. Ewing will endure as one of the most indelible in entertainment history," Warner Bros., Dallas executive producers Cynthia Cidre and Michael M. Robin, and the show's cast and crew said in a statement. "He truly loved portraying this globally recognized character, and he leaves a legacy of entertainment, generosity and grace. Everyone at Warner Bros. and in the Dallas family is deeply saddened by Larry's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and dear friends during this difficult time."
"It was truly an honor to share the screen with Mr. Larry Hagman," Dallas reboot star Jesse Metcalfe, who plays Christopher Ewing, said in a statement. "With piercing wit and undeniable charm he brought to life one of the most legendary television characters of all time. But to know the man, however briefly, was to know a passion and dedication for life and acting that was profoundly inspirational."
AP
Bangladeshis and firefighters battle a fire at a garment factory in the Savar neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh,where more than 100 workers were killed Saturday.
DHAKA, Bangladesh — At least 112 people were killed in a fire that raced through a multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, an official said Sunday.
The blaze broke out late Saturday at the eight-story factory operated by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tuba Group, which supplies Walmart and other major retailers in the U.S. and Europe.
By Sunday morning, firefighters had recovered 100 bodies, fire department Operations Director Maj. Mohammad Mahbub told The Associated Press. He said another 12 people who had suffered injuries after jumping from the building to escape the fire later died at hospitals. The death toll could rise as the search for victims was continuing, he said.
Local media reported that up to 124 people were killed in the fire. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear, and authorities have ordered an investigation.
Army soldiers and paramilitary border guards were deployed to help police keep the situation under control as thousands of onlookers and anxious relatives of the factory workers gathered at the scene, Mahbub said. He would not say how many people were still missing.
Tazreen was given a "high risk" safety rating after May 16, 2011, audit conducted by an ethical sourcing assessor for Wal-Mart, according to a document posted on the Tuba Group's website. It did not specify the conditions or violations that led to the rating.
A spokesman for Wal-Mart said online documents indicating that the factory received an orange or "high risk" assessment after the May 2011 inspection and a yellow or "medium risk" report after an inspection in August 2011 appeared to pertain to the factory where the fire occurred.
The August 2011 letter said Wal-Mart would conduct another inspection within one year. Spokesman Kevin Gardner said it was not clear if that inspection had been conducted, or if the factory was still making products for Wal-Mart.
If a factory is rated "orange" three times in a two-year period, Wal-Mart won't place any orders for one year. The May 2011 report was the first orange rating for the factory.
There was no indication whether the violations had been fixed since the May inspection. Neither Tazreen's owner nor Tuba Group officials could be reached for comment.
AP
Smoke billows out of the building as firefighters try and bring equipment to bear.
A second administration of President Barack Obama will be forced to revisit the issue of subsidies for renewable energy and, with it, those for electric vehicles. Despite the millions of dollars spent on government incentives, marketing and promotion, sales of fully electric cars are well below projected targets. Investment in vehicle charging infrastructure also has fallen victim to budget cutbacks, limited usage and concern over the return on money spent.
Indeed, only last month, a leading automotive battery manufacturer, A123 Systems, was forced to declare bankruptcy. And the founder and CEO of Better Place, Shai Agassi, whose company (in which I was employed) promotes all-electric vehicles with batteries that can be both charged and replaced, was himself replaced due to low sales figures and high capital expenses arising from the deployment of battery-switching stations.
As a result, the question is now being raised: Are we again bearing witness to the death of the electric car?
Any such conclusion over the longer term may be premature. With declining costs and gradually improving technologies that can extend battery range beyond its current limitations, the electric car continues to hold promise. Rising gasoline prices and potential disruptions in oil supply favor alternative sources of energy.
To achieve mass market adoption, however, cars running on electricity — or any other alternative energy source — must satisfy the three “C’s”: cost, convenience and connectivity.
Few buyers are able or willing to pay more for a car running on clean energy unless the upfront cost of the car roughly equals or is below its carbon-powered alternative. Advertised savings over time in powering a car using alternative “fuels” so far have failed to persuade the average driver to buy. And while government subsidies play a role in reducing initial costs to consumers, such incentives so far have not been sufficient to attract large numbers of drivers to switch to electric vehicles.
Cars driven solely or partially by electricity or other alternative energies also must be at least as convenient as those powered exclusively by internal combustion engines. Drivers appear unwilling to sacrifice the expected hundreds of miles in driving range between refuelings. Likewise, drivers demand refueling times equal to what they are accustomed — about five minutes at the gasoline station.
Further, there must be adequate infrastructure in place to enable large numbers of drivers to connect to an alternative energy source before that source can be widely adopted. While a scattering of drivers simultaneously connecting to a power grid may not have much impact, large numbers of drivers doing so can cause major power outages that escalate absent the real-time balancing of energy loads across the network. Moreover, the environmental impact of the connected cycle between car and infrastructure, often referred to as the “well-to-wheel” balance, has to result in less pollution overall for alternative energy vehicles to achieve significant market traction.
Until the fully electric car can satisfy all three C’s, any assessment of projected vehicle sales must reflect a variety of energy sourcing options, both traditional and alternative, all competing for market share.
Gasoline and diesel likely will remain the predominant source of energy in the foreseeable future for new car buyers, with hybrid vehicles that run on both petroleum and alternative energy sources taking an increasingly larger share of the market. Although more costly than pure gasoline-driven cars, hybrids do offer a more environmentally friendly solution and provide the driving range demanded by car buyers.
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