Unemployment claims on the rise in Miami-Dade




















Miami-Dade County ended 2012 with more people joining the unemployment rolls than it did last year.

The late-year increase in first-time unemployment claims broke a trend of declining applications throughout most of 2012. First-time claims spiked about 15 percent in November and December, with about 17,500 new applications in all over those 60 days. That’s compared to 15,000 during the same time in 2011. For the entire year, claims were still down about 10 percent.

In Broward, overall claims were down 15 percent. In November and December, Broward residents applies for 10,200 first-time unemployment benefits, compared to about 10,500 in 2011 — a 3 percent drop.





DOUGLAS HANKS





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Hollywood OKs deal with Cinema Paradiso




















Cinema Paradiso will soon have a sequel.

Hollywood’s Community Redevelopment Agency board agreed Wednesday morning to buy 3,000 movie tickets a year — at a cost of $30,000 — to help the small art house theater open a second location.

“The outpouring of support is amazing,” said Gregory von Hausch, the theater’s executive director. “Now we just have to work to get it open.”





Having a Hollywood location has been three years in the making. The theater, which shows documentaries, foreign and independent films and retro movies, currently operates from a spot near the Broward County Courthouse on Southeast Sixth Street in Fort Lauderdale, but wanted a second, more metropolitan location.

It’s worked out a deal to lease a nearly 3,000-foot space at 2008 Hollywood Boulevard.

It just needed the CRA’s guaranteed financial support in order to commit. And city leaders say the theater is the perfect for downtown, where they envision an arts and cultural district.

“This is more than a no brainer,” said Mayor Peter Bober. “This is a deal that makes absolute sense.”

The tickets will be given for free to area hotels to distribute to guests. The theater will also work something out to encourage Hollywood residents to view films there.

Several residents and theater supporters came out in favor of having a theater location in Hollywood.

“Here is a wonderful way of bringing people from all over Hollywood downtown,” said Terry Cantrell, president of the Hollywood Lakes Civic Association.

With the approval, von Hausch said they will immediately start work on the space to create a ticket booth, concession stand, screen and other theater necessities. The hope is for the theater, which will have about 100 seats, to open in three months.

Board Chair Alan Koslow is already dreaming of a second phase.

“This is just the start,” he said, adding that the film society would love to add a film school. “We want to bring Hollywood, California to Hollywood, Florida.”





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Lawyers in Ohio football rape case want trial moved






(Reuters) – Attorneys for two Ohio teenage football players accused of raping a 16-year-old student have asked that the trial be moved because potential witnesses are afraid to come forward in defense of the boys, one of the lawyers said on Monday.


Walter Madison, the attorney for one of the accused rapists, Ma’lik Richmon, said social media efforts to bring the alleged rape into the national spotlight have led to an atmosphere of intimidation and coercion.






“This has a chilling effect on witnesses who could come forward to be part of this process so my client can get a fair and full proceeding,” he told Reuters. “So, we’re left without the opportunity to make our case. That’s pretty serious.”


Richmond and Trenton Mays, both 16 and members of the Steubenville High School football team, are charged with raping a 16-year-old fellow student at a party last August.


The two students are set to be tried as juveniles in February in Steubenville, a city of 19,000 about 40 miles west of Pittsburgh.


Madison said his client’s mother has had to change her cell phone number multiple times due to threats and harassment.


Last week, the online activist group Anonymous made public a picture allegedly of the rape victim, being carried by her wrists and ankles by two young men, and of a video that showed several other young men joking about an alleged assault.


Madison said that Richmond is not seen in the video.


A county sheriff under fire for how he has handled the high school rape investigation faced down a crowd of protestors on Saturday and said no new charges will be brought against anyone involved in the case.


Activists say there had been a cover-up by local officials to protect the integrity of the high school’s football program.


Meanwhile, a petition to the White House calling for the two rape suspects to be tried as adults reached 25,000 signatures Monday, the threshold required to receive a response from the Obama Administration.


Moving the case to the adult court system would allow for a jury trial and a more severe penalty, the petition says.


“This is a serious offense and this needs to be an example for everyone that this type of behavior should not, and will not be tolerated in our society,” it says.


The petition, created December 25, more than doubled its number of supporters overnight. It had 11,000 signatures on Sunday.


It was submitted to the White House through its online petition website, We The People. Now that it has the required 25,000 signatures, the Obama Administration will give an official statement at some point in the future. The petition has no legal impact.


(Editing by Paul Thomasch and Andrew Hay)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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First ET Interview: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the hardest-working men in Hollywood today. Following his star turns in Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, Premium Rush and Inception, he also had a key role in Lincoln, just completed a turn in the director's chair for Don Jon's Addiction, and was just cast in the growing company of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Video: What If 'Looper' Stars Could Time Travel?

Now, we're flashing back to the fall of 1995, when "Joey" was a very precocious young man working on a brand-new sitcom called Third Rock From the Sun.

Video: JGL Predicts His First Golden Globe

Watch the video as the fresh-faced, 14-year-old star talks about his "hormonal" alien character, Tommy Solomon, and the "eccentricity" of the show's writing.

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Hillary Clinton 'thrilled to be back' at work

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she is "thrilled to be back" at work after a month-long absence due to illness, a concussion and a blood clot near her brain. But she says she is looking forward to leaving the job as America's top diplomat and taking a break for at least "a little while."

In her first public appearance since returning to the State Department earlier this week, Clinton told reporters on Wednesday she had "the most extraordinary experience" as secretary of state and wants to wrap up unresolved issues before she goes.




AFP/Getty Images



Hillary Clinton today at the State Department



She said she would not use the word "retirement" to describe her future plans but rather called it "stepping off the very fast track for a little while."

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4 smartphones with standout features




















These days, smartphones are almost all drawing from the same bag of tricks, and it can be hard to tell one from the next. If the average smartphone will do all the basic things you want it to, what does it take to be special? Here are four smartphones with unusual features that really make them stand out.

Nokia Lumia 920

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)





The good: This phone forges new Windows Phone ground with wireless-charging support and a highly sensitive screen you can use with gloves. Moreover, Nokia helps fill in Windows Phone OS gaps with a few missing features.

The bad: A thick, heavy build and slippery finish for some colors make the Lumia 920 harder to hold and carry, and the phone’s overhyped camera doesn’t have enough settings.

The cost: $99.99

The bottom line: Nokia’s Lumia 920 is heavy and thick, but if you want the most powerful, feature-rich Windows Phone smartphone available, this is it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: Oodles of screen real estate make this terrific for videos, games, and reading, and its improved stylus aids productivity. A blazing quad-core processor, a great camera and strong battery life round out the advantages of this Android 4.1 phone.

The bad: The huge display makes it unwieldy to carry, and hiccups in the S Pen stylus and apps can slow you down. The pricey Note 2 isn’t a suitable tablet replacement across all categories.

The cost: $149.99 to $309.99

The bottom line: Samsung delivers a powerful, boundary-pushing device that gets a lot right. Yet its complicated features and high price raise questions about its purpose.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: This Droid (Verizon) offers fast performance, a big, eye-popping screen and luxurious design. It also has great call quality, lots of storage, 4G data speeds, and unbeatable battery life.

The bad: The major weakness is a camera that produces subpar images. The phone is filled with Verizon bloatware as well.

The cost: $149.99 to $299.99

The bottom line: Motorola’s fast, stylish Droid Razr Maxx HD offers outstanding battery life, but its camera captures unimpressive images.

Samsung Galaxy Beam

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: An integrated pico projector, as well as a dual-core processor, 720p video capture and a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen.

The bad: The projection software needs some work, the 5-megapixel camera sometimes blurs indoor shots, and the Beam is thicker and heavier than many phones.

The cost: $474.49 to $839.99

The bottom line: Despite weak software, the Galaxy Beam’s bright projector pushes boundaries, and strong smartphone features make it a worthy standalone device.





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Scott Israel is sworn in as Broward sheriff




















As several thousand people looked on inside the Faith Center of Sunrise, new Broward Sheriff Scott Israel was introduced at Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony to a standing ovation.

It’s one of the most powerful elected post in the county, overseeing about 5,500 employees and a $670 million budget.

The BSO Honor Guard and a pipe and drum corps led the procession on stage. Israel’s triplets, 16-year-old Blair, Blake and Brett, led the “Pledge of Allegiance.’’





Israel, a Democrat, takes the reins from form Sheriff Al Lamberti, a Republican, who served in the post since first being appointed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007. Lambert won over challenger Israel in 2008, but in the most recent election, Israel handily ousted the incumbent. Lamberti has not said what his future plans include.

Even before taking office, Israel set to work changing things at BSO. In December, his transition team sent emails to 28 high-ranking employees telling them they would be out once Israel took over. Many top officials had already announced they would be leaving, including BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal, attorney Judith Levine and Undersheriff Tom Wheeler. Emails from Israel’s transition team to BSO show that Israel has sought information about every aspect of the agency, including budget forecasts, contracts for everything from garbage collection to lobbying, statistics about the race of employees and even about the protocol for military casket arrivals.

Beyond staff changes, it is not yet clear how Israel, a 56-year-old former Fort Lauderdale police captain and North Bay Village police chief — will change BSO.

But Israel’s senior command staff includes many who played key roles in his campaign, including his new general counsel, Ron Gunzburger, son of County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger, and Lisa Castillo, who worked on Israel’s campaign. The name of her husband, Pembroke Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo, is also being bandied about as having a role in the Israel administration.

Israel, his wife Susan and their teenage triplets live in Parkland.

Miami Herald staff writer Amy Sherman contributed to this report.





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Kathie Lee and Hoda Give Up Drinking Wine

Say goodbye to Tuesday, Booze Day! Co-hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb announced on the final hour of TODAY that they will be giving up drinking wine on their show for an entire month! Can they do it?!

The women are so dedicated to their New Year's resolutions that they've put a clock up on their website to track how long they go without drinking on a show that starts at 10 a.m. They enjoyed their last glass of wine on Monday's TODAY.

Kotb and Gifford are known for their mid-morning cocktails, with even Saturday Night Live alums Kristen Wiig and Jenny Slate imitating the co-hosts.


Place your bets below on how long Gifford, 59, and Kotb, 48, can go without their booze. Will they make it to Wines-day?

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Village 'bomb mom' out of hospital, set to be arraigned








Morgan Gliedman -- the Dalton-grad doctor's daughter allegedly caught with explosives and shotguns in her Greenwich Village apartment -- left St. Luke's Medical Center in custody this morning and is due to be arraigned sometime today.

It will be the first post-arrest -- and post-partum -- appearance for the pretty Gliedman, 27, who had been busted two Saturdays ago, along with her sweetheart, Aaron Greene, 31, the son of a prominent architectural restorer.

Gliedman was on the brink of giving birth to her daughter by Greene at the time, and had been hospitalized since delivering the baby by Cesarean section.







Morgan Gliedman





Gliedman has lawyered up while in her hospital bed -- hiring noted criminal defense attorney Gerald Shargel, who is expected to spring her on bail after the arraignment.

Her baby daddy, Greene, remains in Rikers on the same felony explosives and weapons possession charges -- for allegedly possessing seven grams of HMTD -- a highly volatile white powder, along with a 12-gauge shotgun, a Ruger shotgun and 60 shotgun shells.










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Norwegian Cruise Line to go public




















In a long expected move, Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Tuesday announced plans to take the company public.

The company has registered an initial public offering of 23,529,412 ordinary shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares will be traded on the NASDAQ; no price has set been set.

The third largest ocean-going cruise line, Norwegian Cruise Line has 11 ships with itineraries in North America (including Alaska and Hawaii), the Caribbean, Bermuda, the Mediterranean and the Baltic. Genting Hong Kong - a subsidiary of Genting Group, a gambling and resort conglomerate that purchased the land currently occupied by The Miami Herald in 2010 for $236 million - owns 50 percent of the cruise line in a partnership with private equity firms Apollo Management and TPG.








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