Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Texas campus issues alert amid reports of shooter

A Texas college has gone into a lockdown amid reports of a shooter on campus.

Jed Young, a spokesman for the Lone Star College System campus in north Harris County, told The Associated Press that a shelter-in-place order has been issued.

Emergency personnel have responded to the Houston-area college campus.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office had no immediate details.

The shooting happened sometime shortly past noon at the campus, according to the Sheruff’s Office, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Initial reports indicate at least three people may have been wounded. No other information about injuries was immediately available.

"We know that shots have been fired and we are in a shelter-in-place situation on the campus," Vicki Cassidy, manager of media relations for Lone Star College System, told the Chronicle. "It's a pretty chaotic scene at this point in time."

Cassidy said she could not provide any other details about the shooting. The campus is one of six that makes up the community college system.

Early reports indicate the shooting may have occurred in the library as well in the cafeteria.

The campus has been placed on lockdown as authorities investigate the case. Officials asked students and faculty to remain where they are on the campus. They also ask other people not to come to the campus.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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Apple slips, BlackBerry slides and Windows Phone stalls in December

Kantar Worldpanel’s December smartphone market share numbers are out. And they are as fascinating as ever. Kantar pegs the BlackBerry market share in America as 1.1% last month, down from 1.4% in November. Surprisingly, Windows Phone’s market share also ticked down to 2.6% in December from 2.7% in November. That might be a statistical artifact, but it is surprising not to see a substantial boost in Windows share considering the marketing support and new devices from AT&T (T).

[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 OS walkthrough, BlackBerry Z10 pricing]

In Europe, Windows Phone is rapidly picking up steam. Its market share soared to 13.9% in Italy from 11.8% in November. In the UK, Windows Phone’s share moved to 5.9% from 5.1% in a month.The EU average share of Windows Phone bloomed to 5.4% from 4.7% between November and December.

[More from BGR: Verizon Q4 loss doubles to nearly $ 2 billion despite record subscriber adds]

At the same time, BlackBerry dipped to 4.0% from 4.4%. The stage is set for the spring battle between Windows Phone and BlackBerry camps.

Interestingly, Apple’s (AAPL) share in the UK slipped to 32.4% in December from 36.1% in November. The massive popularity of Samsung (005930) models in the British market was undoubtedly the main reason; Android’s share hit 54.4% in the UK.

This is the latest sign that Apple’s market share problems outside the U.S. market are not limited to emerging markets and Southern Europe. The UK has traditionally been the second most loyal market to the Apple brand, right after the United States. According to Kantar, Apple slipped 2.1 percentage points in America between November and December, ending up with 51.2% share of the smartphone market.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

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'Olympus Has Fallen' Trailer

The White House is a major target at the movies this year, with no less than two action films featuring a serious breach of security – and only one man that can protect the president. In addition to Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum's White House Down (in theaters this June), the first film out of the gate is Olympus Has Fallen starring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman. Watch the intense trailer.

Pics: Stars Who Have Played the President

In theaters March 22, Olympus finds Butler as a secret service agent struggling to recover from a tragic accident involving the first lady who unexpectedly becomes the only man who can protect the commander-in-chief after terrorists attack the White House, code named "Olympus." Die Another Day star Rick Yune plays the terrorist mastermind who matches wits with the president (Eckhart) while the speaker of the house (played by Freeman) scrambles to save the nation's top man and avert an even bigger disaster.

Video: Can Channing Tatum Save the Prez?

Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Olympus Has Fallen also stars Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo and Ashley Judd.

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NYPD can temporarily resume stop-and-frisk: Fed judge

A federal judge is allowing the New York Police Department to temporarily resume some controversial Bronx residential trespass stops.

Judge Shira Scheindlin decided Tuesday to lift the order she issued earlier this month while the city appeals.

The judge said she still believes she was correct. She found that the city acted unconstitutionally in making trespass stops without reasonable suspicion at thousands of privately owned buildings.

She said the city had shown it would be expensive to immediately implement an order that could be reversed.

A trial in March is set to decide the fate of a lawsuit challenging more broadly the city's stop-and-frisk practices. The judge refused a request by the city to delay that trial.

Warzer Jaff

The NYPD practices the controversial stop and frisk technique at a training facility.

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Existing home sales and prices rose in Broward in December

South Florida’s housing recovery is on strong footing.

In Broward County, the median price of an existing single-family home surged 21.1 percent to $230,000 in December from a year earlier, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors.

The median price of an existing condo or townhouse in Broward in December jumped 24.7 percent to $95,100 year over year, the group said.

Sales of single-family homes in Broward climbed 14.9 percent in December year over year while the volume of condo and townhouse closings increased 4.7 percent over the period.

The inventory of single-family homes in Broward fell 35.5 percent in December from a year earlier, while the inventory of condos and townhomes on the market declined 25.2 percent year over year, the Fort Lauderdale group said.

“Buyers are quite surprised there is not more inventory after everything they have been hearing,’’ said Eyvonne Kafourus, an agent with Prudential in Fort Lauderdale. “I see a lot of people coming in from other states, for job transfers and retirement.’’

“Buyers are getting aggravated because they are losing deals,’’ said Charles Bonfiglio, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors. “Eighty to 90 percent [of sales] are multiple offer situations. They’ve got to move quickly.’’

The median days on the market for a single-family home in Broward declined to 37 days in December from 56 days a year earlier, the Realtors group said.

Florida has been seeing a flow of new arrivals after a period of exodus during the downturn.

“We’ve obviously turned the corner. We’ve noticed inventory tightening up,’’ said Philip Vias, a broker associate with Prudential in Fort Lauderdale.

Vias said more buyers seem to be coming in from the Northeast. “What’s held things up is homes weren’t selling up north. North it’s starting to trickle down.’’

Statewide in Florida, single-family home sales climbed 15.8 percent in December from a year earlier as the median price increased 14.1 percent to $154,000.

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Gov. Rick Scott's ex-dog Reagan bit mansion employee, records show

TALLAHASSEE --
Reagan, the now famous dog that once belonged to Gov. Rick Scott, was banished from the Governor’s Mansion after biting an employee who moved his water bowl.

“The governor and first lady love dogs and they had to make a hard decision when it was clear that Reagan was very anxious around lots of different people,’’ Scott spokeswoman Melissa Sellers said.

The dog bite occurred while the governor was in Orlando on Jan 7, 2011, just three days after Scott took office, according to an incident report released by Scott’s office late last week. Mansion grounds employee Jennifer Kinsey was arranging flowers in the mansion when Reagan bit her on the right hand, according to an incident report made by her supervisor for the Department of Management Services. The report noted that the injury was not serious and required no medical treatment.

Scott introduced the yellow Labrador to Facebook readers on Sept. 7, 2010, shortly after he won the Republican nomination and before his election in November 2010. Facebook friends chose the name Reagan from a list of three choices suggested by the campaign and applauded the candidate’s decision to adopt a rescue dog.

After the bite report, Sellers said Scott flew Reagan back to Naples on his private jet and returned the dog to All Pets Grooming and Boarding, a Collier County groomer. Owner Kelly Normand has refused to comment. Last week WTSP-Channel 10 said she told them that Reagan’s name has now been changed to Pluto and he lives on a horse ranch in Collier County, but no one at the grooming business would confirm the report.

“The family decided that the best decision for the dog and all those who visit (the Governor’s Mansion) would be to have the grooming business find Reagan a more appropriate home with less people and activity,’’ Sellers said. “It was a hard choice that sometimes pet owners have to make.”

The Scotts have since adopted Tallee, a calmer, gentler 7-year-old yellow Lab.

Earlier this month when first asked about the disappearance of Reagan and the appearance of Tallee, the governor’s current and former staff repeatedly refused to respond. When directly asked about it a few days later, Scott said he returned the dog to prior owners because it barked a lot and frightened mansion staffers, including photographer Eric Tournay. He said the dog never bit anyone. Sellers said Scott was out of town and did not recall the incident when he talked to reporters.

Tournay has since denied being frightened by Reagan, noting that he has owned several pit bulls.

Sellers, communications director for the governor since September, was not working for Scott during the campaign or the state when Reagan was adopted and returned. She said she was not aware of the dog’s return until the Tampa Bay Times reported it. She then asked First Lady Ann Scott about the dog.

A Times story about the dog sparked an outcry from animal lovers, who were critical of Scott for promoting the adoption during the campaign and getting rid of Reagan as soon as he was elected.

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Rumored Xbox 720 specs: 8-core processor, 8GB of RAM, 800MHz GPU

Console gamers frustrated that their Xbox isn’t holding up well compared to high-end gaming PCs can relax a bit, because it looks like the next-generation Xbox is going to be a monster. It seems that website VGleaks has gotten ahold of leaked specifications for the Xbox 720, which it says will include an 8-core 1.6GHz processor, 8GB of RAM, an 800MHz graphics processor, a 50GB 6x Blu-ray Disc drive, and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. The leaked specifications are in line with previous rumors that also gave the next-generation Xbox an 8-core processor and 8GB of RAM, so there’s nothing overly surprising about VGleaks‘ report. The Xbox 720 will likely be announced at the E3 gaming convention this June and will be released in the fall.

[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 OS walkthrough, BlackBerry Z10 pricing]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

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Prince Harry Talks Las Vegas Nude Photo Scandal

After remaining mum on the subject for six months (not difficult considering he's been serving his country in Afghanistan), Prince Harry seriously addressed the subject of his nude photo scandal from August, telling various news outlets, "I let my family down."

RELATED - Prince Harry Named 2013's Most Eligible Bachelor

"I probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down,” he admitted to journalists as he sat on a parked Apache helicopter in Afghanistan during a recent series of rare interviews.

But "at the end of the day," he added, "I was in a private area and there should be a certain amount of privacy." A sentiment echoed by the city of Las Vegas, who used Harry's hotel room romp to underscore its motto -- What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas -- in a series of subsequent ads.

PHOTOS - Kate Middleton's Most Stylish Moments

For the always-candid Prince, that was yet another example of the press crossing the line when it comes to his family's privacy. "The newspapers knew that I was going away to Afghanistan, yet still published the photos," he said. "So the way I was treated by them I don't think is acceptable."

Same goes for all the hubbub surrounding William and Kate's baby news. "I think it's very unfair that they were forced to publicize it when they were, but that's just the media for you,” he said about no outlet in particular.

It should come as no surprise that there is no love lost between Harry and the press given his mother's tragic passing in 1997, when an aggressive paparazzo caused her death. When asked how far back the mistrust goes, the prince said: "I think it's fairly obvious how far back it goes, it's when I was very small."

PHOTOS - How The Royal Family Spent The Holidays

While the interview hit somber patches, there were moments of levity as well, like when Harry was asked one thing he loved about being stationed overseas. "It's a chance to be away from you guys," he laughed.

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UK's Prince Harry returns from Afghanistan

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In this image released on January 21, 2013, Prince Harry, makes early morning checks as he sits on an Apache helicopter at the British controlled flight-line at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan

LONDON — Capt. Wales is coming home to be Prince Harry once again.

The Ministry of Defense revealed Monday that the 28-year-old prince is returning from a 20-week deployment in Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache helicopter pilot with the Army Air Corps. It did not immediately divulge his exact whereabouts.

In interviews conducted in Afghanistan, the third in line to the British throne described feeling boredom, frustration and satisfaction during a tour that saw him kill Taliban fighters on missions in support of ground troops. He also spoke of his struggle to balance his job as an army officer with his royal role — and his relief at the chance to be "one of the guys."

"My father's always trying to remind me about who I am and stuff like that," said Harry, the younger son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. "But it's very easy to forget about who I am when I am in the army. Everyone's wearing the same uniform and doing the same kind of thing."

Stationed at Camp Bastion, a sprawling British base in the southern Afghan desert, the prince — known as Capt. Wales in the military — flew scores of missions as a co-pilot gunner, sometimes firing rockets and missiles at Taliban fighters.

"Take a life to save a life. That's what we revolve around, I suppose," he said. "If there's people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we'll take them out of the game."

Harry's second tour in Afghanistan went more smoothly than the first, in 2007-2008, which was cut short after 10 weeks when a magazine and websites disclosed details of his whereabouts. British media had agreed to a news blackout on security grounds.

This time, the media were allowed limited access to the prince in return for not reporting operational details.

A member of the air corps' 662 Squadron, the prince was part of a two-man crew whose duties ranged from supporting ground troops in firefights with the Taliban to accompanying British Chinook and U.S. Black Hawk helicopters as they evacuated wounded soldiers.

He said that while sometimes it was necessary to fire on insurgents, the formidable helicopter — equipped with wing-mounted rockets, Hellfire laser-guided missiles and a 30mm machine gun — was usually an effective deterrent.

"If guys get injured, we come straight into the overhead, box off any possibility of an insurgent attack because they look at us and just go, 'Right, that's an unfair fight, we're not going to go near them,'" Harry said.

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