Great-grandmother leads annual Miami-Dade, Monroe toy drive




















Beginning in August, Bunchy Gertner puts aside her social life, her needs and even her great-grandchildren to head over to the “North Pole,” the place where she stores, wraps and distributes thousands of toys destined for foster care children in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

“This is top banana,” said Gertner referring to the nonstop volunteer work she has done for the past 16 years. “Every kid will get a gift and — even if it’s just for a moment — they will know that someone cares.”

It’s Gertner who dedicates her time to planning and execution of the toy drive that will distribute 3,400 gifts to the children under Our Kids, a non-profit agency that provides foster care and related services in Miami and the Florida Keys.





“She focuses solely on the toy drive and lives to match the right toy with the right child,” said Fran Alegra, Our Kids CEO. “I don’t have staff that would be able to dedicate the time that she gives to this.”

Over the years, 78-year-old Gertner has not only given every foster child a gift, but she has made sure that everyone receives a good quality, age appropriate present.

“I think I have 3,400 children,” said Gertner. “Thank God I didn’t give birth to all of them and they’ve all left the house. But I feel like they’re all mine.”

Gertner has even made it her mission to look after the children who are aging out of foster care and are considered independent living. For these teens, she prepared a gift that includes a comforter, sheets, pillow cases, hand towels, bath towels, glass wear, pillows, dishes, pots and pans.

“They have no money when they leave foster care,” said Gertner. “I give them what a mom and dad would give a child who was going off to college or going off on their own.”

In order to raise money and collect presents, Gertner has relied on about 50 sponsors, who are responsible for collecting gifts. She distributes the first names of children with their age, gender and ethnicity to provide each child with an appropriate gift.

“I became a beggar. I got down on my hands and knees and begged everyone that I met,” said Gertner. “I write letters, I make phone calls and ask if they would want to help or if they know anyone who would want to do it.”

Once she receives the gifts from the sponsors, they are taken to her North Pole, which this year is an empty store donated by Gulfstream Park.

There, she sorts the presents that come with a specific child’s name by agency and begins wrapping the gifts that she receives with no specific name.

“I couldn’t do it alone,’’ said Gertner, who refers to her helpers as elves. “If it weren’t for the people helping me wrap and the sponsors, I wouldn’t have a toy drive.’’

On any given 10-hour work day, the volunteers, which range in numbers from a handful to two dozen, show up to wrap and sing holiday songs.

“This is better than staying at home in bed all day,” said Rivly Breus, a student at Florida Atlantic University. With a little experience under her belt from wrapping at Macy’s, Breus decided to Google a way she could volunteer her talents.

“It was hard for me growing up so it’s good to be able to shine a light on others,” Breus said.

Some come with no experience, like Gonzo Gonzalez, who often has to patch the spaces where he didn’t use sufficient paper.

“I didn’t have it easy growing up, but at least I had my parents,” said Gonzalez, who wrapped about 30 footballs on a recent Sunday. “It’s good to be able to give back. The kids who don’t have parents are not expecting anything.”

Although, Gertner does not give the presents directly to the children for privacy reasons, she is satisfied with knowing that there is a child at the end of every present. She said she will continue to do it until she can’t anymore.

“I know in my heart that what I do is enough,” said Gertner. “When I go to bed I know that I have fulfilled my mission and done my job well.”





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Suicide bombers attack mobile phone firms in Nigeria






KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) – Two suicide car bombers attacked the offices of mobile phone operators India’s Airtel and South Africa’s MTN on Saturday in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano, killing themselves but no civilians, police said.


Islamist sect Boko Haram has previously targeted phone firms, blowing up telephone masts and offices, saying the companies help the security forces catch its members.






“The one who hit the Airtel office was shot by military men before the bomb exploded … at the MTN office the car rammed into the fence but no civilians were killed,” Ibrahim Idris, the chief of police in Kano, told Reuters.


Airtel Nigeria’s parent company Bharti Airtel, India’s top cellphone operator, gave no immediate comment.


The national emergency agency confirmed the bombing and said it was not aware of any civilian casualties. The security forces have played down the death toll in previous bombings.


At least 2,800 people have died in fighting in the largely Muslim north since the sect launched an uprising against the government in 2009, watchdog Human Rights Watch says.


The sect wants to impose strict Islamic law on a country of 160 million people split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims.


The group has previously targeted churches on Christmas Day and security has been increased in all the major northern cities, although security experts say given the scale of Christian worship in Nigeria they cannot protect everyone.


Kano, Nigeria‘s second largest city after the southern commercial-hub Lagos, was the site of Boko Haram’s most lethal attack which killed at least 186 people in January in coordinated bombings and shootings.


(Additional reporting by Isaac Abrak in Kaduna; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Janet Lawrence)


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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NYPD report analyzes Newtown massacre, other active shooter incidents








Building security checks, evacuation drills and access systems could diminish the risk of an active shooter attack such as last week's Newtown, Conn. school massacre, according to an NYPD report.

"Active Shooter: Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation" was updated to include the Dec. 14 school rampage, in which shooter Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults before turning the gun on himself.

The report analyzes 230 different active shooter incidents, dynamic crime scenes involving a randomly-firing shooter in a confined, populated area.




Of those incidents, 24 percent involved a school - and only three percent of the cases involved a female attacker.

Adam Lanza's attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School was classified as "academic" in nature because the shooter once attended the school.

After murdering his mother, Nancy, at their home, Lanza gathered four guns and drove to the school. He broke in through the front door. School principal Dawn Hochsprung lunged at Lanza, trying to stop him.

She and 25 others - mostly children - were gunned down before Lanza took his own life.

The school had worked to implement safety measures at the beginning of the current school year, including a new security system for the school's front entrance, according to reports.

The NYPD's report includes procedural, system and training recommendations - including identifying evacuation routes and designating shelter locations. Officials also urge organizations and schools to incorporate an active shooter drill into emergency preparedness procedures.

Credential-based access control systems and closed-circuit TV systems are also recommended.

If an active shooter event transpires, building occupants should evacuate only if it's safe, avoiding elevators or escalators; hide in a secure area; and try to disrupt the gunman only if no other options remain.

The report was issued by the NYPD's Counterterrorism Bureau.

Active Shooter 2012 Edition










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Investors shuffling assets ahead of fiscal cliff




















Some citizens aren’t waiting to find out if the White House and Republicans in Congress will be able to reach a last-minute deal to pull the country away from the “fiscal cliff.”

They are selling securities while capital gains tax rates are still low or transferring millions into trusts for the benefit of children and grandchildren before estate tax laws become more stringent. Others are getting out of the markets and parking money in less risky accounts.

Miami financial planner Cathy Pareta has been counseling her upper middle class clients — “the Johnsons, not the Rockefellers” — on whether to adjust investment portfolios, accelerate income or realize capital gains sooner than planned.





“Some people are going to get hit hard,” said John Bacci, a financial planner in Linthicum, Md., who has gone down his client list and run projections on what higher taxes would look like for them. He’s looking at tax-friendly alternatives for some clients, such as annuities or rental property.

At year’s end, the country will leap off the “fiscal cliff” unless politicians reach a compromise on mandated spending cuts and the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts.

For most investors, the expiring cuts will mean that the tax rate for long-term capital gains will rise from 15 percent to 20 percent. Dividends also will no longer be taxed at 15 percent but treated as ordinary income, which could mean a tax rate as high as 39.6 percent. And individuals with multimillion-dollar estates will find much more of their money subject to the federal estate tax.

Estate planning lawyers say the demand is so intense that they are putting in grueling hours to set up trusts.

“It’s very stressful. We are working day and night,” said Diana Zeydel, an estate planning lawyer with Greenberg Traurig in Miami. “Were doing three times what we normally do for end-of-the-year planning.”

Zeydel said many of her clients waited until after the elections in November to gauge how the political tide would affect their future finances. This gave them little more than a month to make major decisions about their wealth.

Most observing the political jousting in Washington expect taxes will go up even if the political leaders reach a deal — they’re just not sure how much. Many aren’t taking any chances.

Jim Ludwick, a financial planner in Odenton, Md., said one client in his late 50s cashed out stock and bond funds totaling $1.7 million not long after the election and stashed the proceeds in a money market fund.

The client, anticipating a market plunge due to the “fiscal cliff” and other issues, said he spent his entire working life building up a nest egg and wouldn’t have time to wait for his portfolio to recover, according to Ludwick. The client fears it won’t be safe to re-enter the stock market for another year.

“We have a number of clients who are taking capital gains this year, expecting that if they wait until next year, they will have to pay higher taxes on those same gains,” said Daniel McHugh, president of Lombard Securities in Baltimore. Some of those clients are realizing six-figure gains but are still willing to take the tax hit now, he said.

Of course, the downside is that the stock market could take off, and these investors will miss out on even higher gains, McHugh said. But, he added: “Given the state the economy is in, that’s a very small risk.”





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Weather alert: South Florida to feel ‘freezing’




















Get ready to say, “Brr.”

South Florida temperatures will dip into the 40s Friday night, but the wind chill will leave Miami-Dade and Broward feeling more like the 30s.

Although a freeze watch is in effect late Friday through Saturday morning, the cold front will be mostly dry. There is a 30 percent chance of isolated thunderstorms Friday morning, but no chance of rain late Friday through early Saturday.





A brush fire warning will be in effect from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday because of the dry air.

Winds will be brisk — 15-25 mph —so stay away from swimming or boating.

Temperatures will warm up on Sunday, with highs in the mid-70s and lows in the high-50s.

In the meantime, grab a scarf and warm hat, and don’t forget keep pets in the house overnight.





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Facebook tests $1 fee for messages to non-friends






SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook says it is testing a service that will charge users $ 1 to guarantee that messages they send to people they are not connected to arrive in users’ inboxes, rather than in an often-ignored folder called “other.”


Launched in 2011, the “other” folder is where Facebook routes messages it deems less relevant. Not quite spam, these include messages from people you most likely don’t know, based on Facebook’s reading of your social connections. Many users ignore this folder.






Now, users will be able to pay $ 1 to route their messages to non-friends. Facebook said Thursday that it is testing the service with a small percentage of individuals — not businesses — in the U.S.


“For example, if you want to send a message to someone you heard speak at an event but are not friends with, or if you want to message someone about a job opportunity, you can use this feature to reach their Inbox,” Facebook said in an online post. “For the receiver, this test allows them to hear from people who have an important message to send them.”


The company says charging for messages could help discourage spammers.


In October, Facebook unveiled another feature that lets users pay if they want more people to read their updates. For $ 7, users can promote a post to their friends, just as advertisers do.


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Jennifer Lawrence Fashion Time Warp

"It" girl Jennifer Lawrence is getting a lot of attention this year, and with good reason! 

The recent Golden Globe nominee has proven herself worthy of the big-screen hype thanks to the box office success of The Hunger Games and Silver Linings Playbook. On top of that, the beauteous bombshell has become a fashion-forward phenomenon.

Related: Five Things You Don't Know About Jennifer Lawrence

Join us as we look back at Jennifer's best and worst looks of red carpet past.

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Storm brings heavy rain and wind to NYC, flight delays to La Guardia and JFK








Dan Good


A storm system has brought rain and wind to the region, with travel delays expected across the northeast today.



Better bring the umbrella.

A storm system brought gusty wind and heavy rain to the northeast this morning, making for a messy New York City commute and causing travel delays across the region.

A five-story scaffold fell about 1:30 a.m. in Bensonhurst. No injuries were reported from the incident.

The structure broke away from a four-story building in that is under construction and fell onto electrical wires. It also damaged an SUV that was parked across the street.




The storm also flooded roadways in New Jersey, forcing officials to close lanes on I-287 southbound in Harding Township, Morris County, as well as NJ 35 northbound in Old Bridge Township, Middlesex County.

Meteorologist Patrick O'Hara at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly says about an inch of rain has fallen across the state, although there's been an inch and a half in northern sections.

The rain is expected to taper off before the afternoon.

Wind gusts of 50 mph are expected to lower to gusts of 40 mph.

The wind is downing tree limbs and power lines. Atlantic City Electric is reporting 14,423 customers without service, mainly in Cumberland and Salem counties.

Jersey Central Power & Light has 5,513 homes and businesses without service, mostly in Ocean County.

Officials are urging drivers to slow down on bridges due to the high winds.

According to weather.com, rain should fall until the early afternoon, but the wind should continue, likely leading to widespread air delays.

The storm should drop temperatures into the 20s during the next few days, worrisome cold for city residents and Christmas travelers.

The Federal Aviation Administration says some flights arriving at La Guardia Airport on Friday morning are delayed an average of nearly three hours each. Flights heading to John F. Kennedy International Airport were not permitted to take off until after 7:15 a.m. due to high winds.

The NWS has issued a high wind warning for the city and Long Island, forecasting winds gusts up to 60 miles per hour.

The NWS has also issued storm warnings starting Friday and lasting until later Saturday afternoon for an area stretching from New York's southwest corner to the Rochester area. Friday's rainfall will give way to snow storms that will dump between 2 inches and more than a foot in some areas in the Buffalo-Niagara region, depending on elevation and proximity to the Lake Erie shoreline.

Blowing snow could be a problem in some western areas as winds hit 20 mph to 30 mph.

Several inches of snow is expected to fall in parts of central New York and the Adirondacks.

Newark Liberty International Airport officials issued a weather statement this morning stating that travel disruptions are likely - and urging travelers to contact their airline to check on flight statuses.

The same storm system dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of the midwest.

With AP

AP


The storm system is seen on a NOAA satellite image.












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Cuba lashes out against U.S. fines on foreign banks




















The Cuban government Thursday denounced what it called the “unjust and illegal” multi-million dollar fines the U.S. government slapped on two foreign banks for violating Washington’s sanctions on the island.

The U.S. actions show that its “ferocious persecution of financial and commercial transactions by Cuba and those with legitimate relations … has only changed but has hardened,” a Foreign Ministry official said in a statement.

The British-based HSBC bank agreed to pay $1.9 billion to the U.S. government last week to settle accusations that it laundered drug money through its Mexican and other branches, and violated U.S. economic sanctions on Cuba.





The next day Washington announced that Japan’s Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ bank had agreed to pay $8.6 million to settle what the Cuban statement called “a supposed violation of the unilateral sanctions of the United States against various countries, including Cuba.”

Under the trade embargo, banks cannot move Cuban funds through U.S. financial institutions or handle U.S. dollar deposits for Cuban entities or citizens. Cuba is subject to other sanctions as well because it is on the U.S. list of countries that support international terrorism.

The Foreign Ministry statement noted that the sanctions came one month after the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for the 21st time to condemn the 50-year-old trade embargo against Cuba.

While the HSBC settlement was reported to be one of the largest ever, the U.S. Treasury Department has hit several other foreign banks in recent years for violating sanctions on Cuba and other countries, especially Iran.

The Netherlands’ ING bank agreed to a $619 million settlement earlier this year. Credit Suisse agreed to pay $539 million in 2009. And the Swiss UBS bank was hit with a $100 million settlement in 2004.





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Florida schools buy emergency toilets for extended lockdowns




















The Seven Spring Middle School eighth-graders warily eyed the white plastic bucket.

Is it for carrying cleaning supplies? Moving mulch?

Then they noticed the black plastic seat on top. Their eyebrows raised, their noses crinkled, as it dawned on them that this was a portable toilet, designed for use during emergency lockdowns in classrooms without restrooms.





"It's a terrible idea," Justin Anahory, 14, said, shaking his head. "No. I'm not going to use it."

"Never. Unh-uh," agreed Sydney Steele, also 14. "I would just hold it."

What if the students had no choice but to remain in their classroom for long hours for, say, extended hurricane conditions?

"I doubt a hurricane would keep us here a couple of days," Sydney said, noting she hardly will use the school bathrooms, much less a mini portable potty behind a tarp wall held up with duct tape.

"It might be a good idea," chimed in Mariah Guy, 15. "But it's still disgusting."

In recent months, the Pasco County school district has been distributing these "emergency response classroom kits" to schools that don't have restrooms adjoining the classrooms. For the most part, that means middle and high schools.

So far, they've given out 2,249, with another 552 remaining in the district warehouse. The total cost for the kits, which also include toilet paper, hand wipes, trash bags and latex gloves, was $64,876, or about $23 each. The money came from a two-year federal emergency management grant.

The Hernando, Hillsborough and Pinellas school districts have not made similar investments, and have no plans to do so.

"Along the food chain, that's probably somewhere below an amoeba," Hernando superintendent Bryan Blavatt said.

Pasco's grant also has paid for the emergency response plans revisions, and for other supplies such as bottled water and first aid kits. Student services director Lizette Alexander said it has helped the district improve its readiness.

"Try not to make it a joke," Alexander said of the bucket toilets. "When it is needed, it is needed terribly. It is not a joke. It is preparedness."

Still, it did create some laughter among Seven Springs middle schoolers as they discussed its pros and cons. Most had not seen the kits before and didn't know they were in the school.

Eighth-grader Brandan Comito, 14, sized up the bucket and wondered about its weight capacity.

He sat on it and found it held him up, but complained about the seat being too small.

"It needs to be thicker," he said, drawing chuckles from friends, who also wanted to test it out.

The kids engaged in detailed conversations about the logistics of the potty, ranging from concerns about germs to the aesthetics of such a bucket in mixed company.

"What if it gets filled to the top?" asked seventh-grader Kylie Renzetti, 12.

"It could be used as a weapon" against any intruder causing a lockdown, responded eighth-grader Dylan Johnson, 14.

Seventh-grader Devin Bird was not alone in his inability to get past the notion that kids might have to use the contraption "in front of people," never mind the tarp.

"It's a bit weird," he said.

Perhaps so, acknowledged schools superintendent Kurt Browning, who only learned Tuesday of the kits ordered by the previous administration. The buckets have been the brunt of jokes on Facebook since they arrived in schools.

But "if you've got to go," he said, "you've got to go."





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Upstate brewery to produce 'Game of Thrones' beer








COOPERSTOWN — A new line of beers linked to the hit HBO drama "Game of Thrones" is being produced for the series by an upstate New York brewery.

Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown will bring out Iron Throne Blonde Ale in time for the premiere of the show's third season on March 31. The company says another beer will be released in the fall and others are planned for future seasons.

Company officials say the brewery's Belgian-style beers are a good fit for the series, based on the George R.R. Martin fantasy novels set in a medieval-like time of jousts, wars and intrigue.



Ommegang officials say the beers will be named and crafted to directly tie into "themes and nuances" of Westeros, the fictional realm where Lannisters, Starks and various other factions battle for supremacy.










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Survey shows better lending climate




















Most Miami-Dade businesses believe they have easier access to borrowed money amid a slowly improving economy.

That’s one result from a recent survey of executives by Miami’s Bilzin Sumberg law firm. The online survey of about 200 top executives was conducted during the second half of 2012.

Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they thought the financing environment had improved since 2011, with venture capital funds and community banks identified as the top sources of potential capital. Fifty-two percent called the economy “growing slowly,’’ compared to 7 percent describing it as “strong and growing.” Only 16 percent described the economy as weak.





DOUGLAS HANKS





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Weather alert: South Florida cold front to bring low-50s by Friday night




















As if right on cue, a cold front is moving in as Christmas nears.

Thursday night lows in South Florida will drop to the mid- to upper-60s. And then, by Friday night, say “ahh.”

Friday night lows are forecast to dip to near 50, according to the National Weather Service in Miami-Dade. The cool will be accompanied by a breeze with gusts as high as 24 mph.





Saturday night will remain chilly, in the mid-50s. Temperatures will gradually warm Sunday and Monday, Christmas Eve.

The Christmas Day forecast for Tuesday? Mostly sunny, with highs around 80.





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Angelina Jolie to Direct Unbroken Film

Angelina Jolie is in final negotiations to direct her second film, Unbroken, based on the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympian-turned-World War II prisoner of war, according to Deadline.

Video: Angelina Jolie Talks Kids, 'Blood and Honey'

"I was so moved by Louie Zamperini's heroic story, I immediately began to fight for the opportunity to make this film," said The Oscar-winning actress in a statement. "Louie is a true hero and a man of immense humanity, faith and courage. I am deeply honored to have the chance to tell his inspiring story."

Adapted from Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption, the feature film will tell the real-life tale of American Olympic distance runner Louis Zamperini, who was captured and imprisoned by the Japanese Navy during World War II.

Unbroken will be the second film directed by Jolie. The 37-year-old made her debut in 2011's In The Land Of Blood And Honey.

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French judges keep Strauss-Kahn pimping charges








PARIS — French judges decided Wednesday not to drop pimping charges against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, his lawyers said. They quickly vowed to appeal.

The case is the last remaining legal headache involving alleged sex-related crimes for Strauss-Kahn. The 63-year-old one-time Socialist presidential hopeful resigned from his IMF job in May last year and saw his international reputation collapse after a hotel maid accused of him of trying to rape her. A settlement was reached in that case last week.

In a statement after a court in the northern city of Douai retained the preliminary charges, Strauss-Kahn lawyer Henri Leclerc lashed out at investigating judges in the case. He claimed the charges against Strauss-Kahn were not specified, that some evidence was hidden from the defense team, facts were twisted and definitions of the legal term "pimping" were created with no basis in law.




Outside the Douai courthouse, Frederique Baulieu, another defense lawyer, told reporters: "We are certain that Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be cleansed of all charges against him."

Strauss-Kahn was hit in March with preliminary charges of "aggravated procurement in an organized gang" in an investigation into a hotel prostitution ring in nearby Lille that was said to involve prominent city figures and police.

The case against Strauss-Kahn hinges on whether he knew he was partying with prostitutes, and whose money was used to pay them. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have said he attended "libertine" gatherings, but didn't know some women present were paid.










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iOS apps you need right now




















If you’ve just gotten an iPhone 5 or an iPad Mini, you’re going to want to play with it. And if you’re looking for apps to try out on your new iOS device, these old and new favorites are perfect — not to mention cheap or free.

PHOTOTOASTER

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (Outstanding)





The good: PhotoToaster is one of the best ways to add effects to your images, and features an excellent interface layout for giving your images a really cool look.

The bad: Like many apps, PhotoToaster has begun to add in-app purchases, but there are several included filters that do the job nicely.

The cost: 99 cents

The bottom line: There are tons of image editors in the App Store, but PhotoToaster is easy to recommend, with its slick and simple interface, helpful menus to get you started and extremely impressive results.

ANGRY BIRDS STAR WARS HD

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (Outstanding)

The good: Angry Birds Star Wars does just enough with new worlds and new Star Wars-themed birds to add variation to an already great game mechanic.

The bad: The app is not universal to both phones and tablets, so you’ll need to purchase it twice if you want to use the game on both.

The cost: $2.99

The bottom line: With new birds, new powers andnew levels to explore set in the Star Wars universe, this is a worthy purchase, even if you’ve played the previous games.

NETFLIX for iOS

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (Outstanding)

The good: Great-looking streaming shows and new interface elements make browsing through scenes easier.

The bad: The streaming library is only a fraction of the larger DVD library. You still can’t add to or change your DVD queue via the app.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: If you don’t mind the limited streaming library, the Netflix app is a great way to watch movies, and the new interface elements make it easier to use.

FIFA SOCCER 13

4.5 stars out of 5 (Outstanding)

The good: Not only the best soccer game, but the best sports game on an iOS device. New skill moves are easier to pull off, making them integral to the game. Precise controls and fast-paced action make for excellent gameplay.

The bad: Skill levels still feel too far apart. Poor camera selections make playing on an iPhone difficult, with very small players forcing you to bring your iPhone much closer than you’d like.

The cost: $6.99

The bottom line: If you want a great soccer game for iOS, FIFA 13 hits the mark on almost every level. With tons of teams, new skill moves, and online multiplayer, this is the sports game to beat on iOS.





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Miami-Dade commission to take up annexation, Jackson proposals




















Miami-Dade commissioners will take up a pair of proposals regulating the expansion of existing cities on Tuesday during their last meeting of the year.

The board is scheduled to take final votes on two annexation measures, both sponsored by Commissioner Javier Souto. One would prohibit cities from annexing portions of communities exploring cityhood bids of their own. Another would prohibit cities from annexing areas that would divide existing U.S. Census tracts.

Souto, who represents unincorporated West Miami-Dade, has been at odds with the city of Sweetwater. Sweetwater, which is not in Souto’s district, is trying to annex Florida International University’s engineering campus and portions of West Flagler Street and Southwest Eighth Street. The campus and the roads are in Souto’s district; he has accused Sweetwater of eyeing the nearby Fontainebleau community in his district, which has long considered becoming its own city. Sweetwater has denied that annexing Fontainebleau is in its plans.





Separately, commissioners are also slated to reconsider the structure of the governing board of the public Jackson Health System. A divided commission gave preliminary approval in October to permanently reshape the Public Health Trust to seven members, from 17.

The proposal had the strong support of former Commission Chairman Joe Martinez. who left the board in November after losing the county mayoral race. Commissioners had been scheduled to vote on the matter earlier this month, but the item was deferred without explanation.

In other business, commissioners will decide which policies their lobbying team should support, oppose and advocate for at the federal and state levels in 2013. Several of the state-level policies will involve tweaking elections laws, in the aftermath of the long lines and slow ballot-counting during last month’s presidential election.

The meeting will take place at 9:30 a.m. at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, 111 NW First St.





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YouTube Announces Top 10 Videos of 2012

YouTube has just released their top 10 videos of 2012 along with one dazzling video bound to become a viral sensation in its own right.

Watch the clip to see the Rewind YouTube Style video featuring the website's biggest stars acting out a parody of Gangnam Style and Call Me Maybe. The video was shot at the new YouTube Space in Los Angeles, a place for YouTube creators to come learn, collaborate, and create great content to put up on their YouTube channels.

Check out the list of 2012's greatest YouTube moments below:

1) PSY - Gangnam Style: The Korean pop music video that surprised the world is set to hit 1 billion views and has become the most viewed video of all time in just six months.

2) Walk off the Earth: This is the most-viewed cover song of 2012, attracting 140 million views this year.

3) KONY 2012: This video contained a call to action and collected 31 million views in a single day -- the most views ever for a YouTube video.

4) Call Me Maybe - Bieber, Gomez, Pena: This video, covering the song of the summer, kicked off a trend of lip sync videos that spanned from the Harvard baseball team and celebs to Olympians.

5) Epic Rap Battles - Obama vs. Romney: This episode featured well-known Obama impersonator Alphacat, and is one of the better known instances of the 2012 trend of Obama and Romney videos.

6) Dramatic Surprise: This video, featuring a mysterious sign in the middle of a Flemish square, brought in 25 million views in its first week.

7) Why You Asking All Them Questions: Comedian Emmanuel Hudson's popularity exploded this year partly from this video that garnered 39 million views -- almost half of which came from mobile devices.

8) Lindsey Stirling: Lindsey's trademark dubstep violin styles created a lot of buzz this year -- especially in the U.S., Germany and Poland. This video, which was shot by Lindsey's fellow YouTube creator Devin Graham, has over 500,000 likes and 100,000 comments.

9) Facebook Parenting: This video taught us not to mess with Dad. Bringing in 11 million views in one day, this video was the catalyst for an international discussion about parenting and Facebook.

10) Stratos Highlights: This live stream of Felix Baumgartner's free-fall from 128,000 feet shattered previous live stream records with 8 million concurrent views.

Visit youtube.com/rewind for more.

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Parents nationwide relaxing rules after Newtown horror, grateful kids are safe








There's snow on the ground in Londonderry, NH, nearly 200 miles to the north of the still-raw slaughter at a Connecticut elementary school, and dad Eric Heenan found himself in a routine fuss with his 9-year-old son over boots.

"It's not cool to wear snow boots to school," he said Monday, "and then I was like, you know what, God forbid the last conversation we have is this. There but for the grace of God go we."

Parents around the country are letting the small stuff slide, indulging their kids just a little bit, relieved as Heenan is to have them safe only a few days after a gunman claimed the lives 20 students and six adults in Newtown.




In Safety Harbor, Fla., close to Tampa Bay, Christie O'Sullivan feels it with her two boys, 5 and 6, the latter the same age as many of the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary.

She returned home Friday afternoon, several hours after Adam Lanza's rampage and suicide, to find a sink clogged by toilet paper and dirty tissues all over the floor of her guest bathroom as she madly tried to clean for a holiday party.

"I had to just stop and appreciate my messy bathroom," she said. "Having a 6-year-old myself and imagining him seeing this horror in his life crushes me. Just the very thought of it makes me break down into tears."

Child experts urge, among other things, that parents worried about the reaction of their children to the Newtown tragedy maintain routines. But at least two acknowledged O'Sullivan's loving act is perfectly acceptable as she and other parents work through their own grief and anxiety. At least for a time.

"It's a very understandable, emotional reaction that we have," said Emanuel Maidenberg, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles. "The function is really helping parents to deal with our sense of helplessness."

The bottom line, added New York University's child and adolescent psychiatry professor Glenn Saxe: "If there is any time to be a little more flexible about routines and rules in support of our children, it is now."

Lanza, 20, opened fire Friday at Sandy Hook after shooting his mother at the home they shared. The first two of his tiny dead, Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner, were buried Monday.

Cortney Green's son isn't 6, like Jack and Noah. He just turned 9 — three years younger than his older sister — and got to eat leftover birthday cake for breakfast on Monday, the first day back to school for millions after the Newtown massacre.

"Other times when I've allowed an indulgence it is the recognition their childhoods are rapidly going by and figuring an occasional caving in does little harm in the big scheme of things," said Green, an English instructor at a community college in Columbia, SC.

"This time it was definitely Newtown and my apprehension about sending them off to school, knowing they are without me most of the day," she said.

The hours away from her three children, ages 8, 5 and 3, had single mom Tara Bordelon in Alexandria, La., breaking one of her hard-and-fast rules over the weekend: no kids in her bed at night. The social worker couldn't wait to gather them under the covers for popcorn and a movie. Her tears came as two fell asleep on one of her shoulders and the third on the other.

"I just want them to be innocent," she said. "He didn't hurt just those families. He hurt everybody."

As for Christmas, Heenan and his wife were on the fence about a couple of gifts just a week ago, an iPod Touch and the latest Nintendo DS for his fourth-grader and a younger son, age 7.

"Now, we're kind of like, all right. It's Christmas and thank God," he said.

Robin Vilchez, 30, of Manhattan and his wife are on that page. There might just be a Wii U under the tree for his kids, ages 7 and 4.

"We want to see them glow," Vilchez said. "We want to see every moment how they glow."

Amy Connor in Northport, NY, is a mom of two. She's also a theater director overseeing a local production of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Something profound struck her Saturday morning.

"We had a sold out house — 400 people, most of them children," she recalled. "As the show let out there was the usual crush, the long lines for autographs, the children wanting to stay and meet the cast. The noise, the impatience, the whining, the crying."

None of that happened as it usually does during the show's holiday run.

"In all that chaos," Connor said, "for the very first time, not one single parent yelled at their child. Instead I saw hands being held, faces being touched, shoulders being hugged. I saw gratitude spilling from every parent."










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American Airlines adds new agreements, flights in South America




















In a nod to the importance of Latin America for its business, American Airlines on Monday announced new codeshare agreements with airlines in the region as well as new routes.

American has agreed to codeshare with TAM Airlines, based in Sao Paulo, and LAN Colombia, both part of LATAM Airlines Group.

The airline also said that it will add new routes in late 2013 between Miami and two destinations in Brazil: Curitiba and Porto Alegre. American also plans to add service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Bogota late next year.








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Key Largo man shot in argument over open relationship, police say




















What began as a jealous argument almost turned deadly for a Key Largo man involved with a woman in an open marriage, Monroe County police say.

Candice Lee, 37, allegedly shot her former lover, Shakir Muilam, 45, with a .22-caliber rifle after the two argued over her relationship with a new boyfriend, said Deputy Becky Herrin, spokeswoman with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Lee and her husband, whom the Sheriff's Office did not identify, are in an open relationship, which allows them to have other sexual partners, Herrin said.





Lee and Muilam were in a relationship but broke up recently. However, she and her husband allowed Muilam to live with them when he was diagnosed with cancer.

While living with her husband and Muilam, Lee began a new relationship with yet another man. Muilam found Lee and her boyfriend talking early Thursday outside of their home at 217 St. Croix Pl. and became angry, according to police. Lee reportedly told Muilam that if he didn't approve of her new relationship, he could move out. Sometime during the argument, Lee reportedly fell and hit her head.

She went inside the house and came back outside with the rifle and pointed it at Muilam. Lee told investigators that as she and Muilam argued, he reached behind himself and she shot him in the thigh.

Lee said she ran to her next-door neighbor's home to call the police. She then ran back to her home and applied pressure to Muilam's wound.

When deputies arrived, Lee pointed to where the gun was leaning up against a bookshelf. Deputies booked Lee into jail, where she is being held on no bond facing a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.





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Google could emerge unscathed from federal web search probe – WSJ






(Reuters) – Google may not face any major repercussions from the Federal Trade Commission‘s (FTC) two-year-old anti-trust investigation into its web search business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.


The FTC might drop the investigation sometime this week based on voluntary changes Google will make to its search practices, rather than making the company sign a formal settlement called a consent decree, the Journal said.






The web search investigation examined whether Google tweaks its search results to disadvantage rivals in travel, shopping and other specialized searches.


Google will probably still be required to sign a consent decree for a separate federal investigation into the licensing of mobile-technology patents it acquired when it took over phone maker Motorola Mobility, the Journal said.


An end to the federal probe into Google’s search business would allow the company to avoid getting mired in anti-trust investigations like rival Microsoft Corp endured in the early 2000s.


The European Commission, which is also probing Google, is expected to announce a decision next month.


The FTC declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal and could not be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular business hours. Google could not be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular business hours.


(Reporting by Tej Sapru in Bangalore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Newtown plans victims' burials as school's future debated








REUTERS


A woman and a child pray over candles outside Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church a day after a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut Saturday.



NEWTOWN, Conn. — A grieving Connecticut town braced itself Monday to bury the first two of the 20 small victims of an elementary school gunman and debated when classes could resume — and where, given the carnage in the building and the children's associations with it.

The people of Newtown weren't yet ready to address the question just three days after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and a day after President Barack Obama pledged to seek change in memory of the children and six adults ruthlessly slain by a gunman packing a high-powered rifle.




"We're just now getting ready to talk to our son about who was killed," said Robert Licata, the father of a student who escaped harm during the shooting. "He's not even there yet."

Newtown officials couldn't say whether Sandy Hook Elementary, where authorities said all the victims were shot at least twice, would ever reopen. Monday classes were canceled, and the district was considering eventually sending surviving Sandy Hook students to a former school building in a neighboring town.

TERRIFIED STUDENTS RAN INTO DANGER

OBAMA: "THESE TRAGEDIES MUST END"

MOTHER DEVOTED HER LIFE TO HIM - THEN HE ENDED IT

The gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, was carrying an arsenal of hundreds of rounds of especially deadly ammunition, authorities said Sunday — enough to kill just about every student in the school if given enough time, raising the chilling possibility that the bloodbath could have been even worse.

The shooter decided to kill himself when he heard police closing in about 10 minutes into Friday's attack, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said on ABC's "This Week."

At the interfaith service in Newtown on Sunday evening, Obama said he would use "whatever power this office holds" to engage with law enforcement, mental health professionals, parents and educators in an effort to prevent more tragedies like Newtown.

"What choice do we have?" Obama said on a stark stage that held only a small table covered with a black cloth, candles and the presidential podium. "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?"

The president first met privately with families of the victims and with the emergency personnel who responded to the shooting. Police and firefighters got hugs and standing ovations when they entered for the public vigil, as did Obama.










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Five years after the recession, a slow recovery plods on




















Five years ago this month, the Great Recession began. Which leads to this question: How much longer until South Florida can erase the damage?

Officially, the recession ended in June 2009. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the national economy began contracting in December 2007 and did not grow again for 19 months. Using taxable sales figures, it’s probably safe to say South Florida experienced a longer downturn. Overall spending contracted for the first time in South Florida in March 2007 and didn’t post a year-over-year gain until February 2010.

“Miami was at the forefront of the housing boom and bust,’’ said Karl Kuykendall, an economist who follows South Florida for IHS Global Insight. “It’s no surprise Miami was early into the recession and somewhat late coming out.”





But whatever the actual duration of the downturn, it doesn’t take much math to realize the economy still feels shaky. South Florida lost its first net job in more than two years in October, when a tiny decline of 300 payroll slots interrupted 26 months of consistent expansion. The upcoming November report out Friday will show whether the losing streak continues.

And while unemployment is off near-record highs set in April 2010, more than 180,000 South Floridians were listed as officially out of work in the last count. That’s almost 90 percent more than the 98,000 people listed as out of work in the first month of the recession.

Tourism posted an early recovery, particularly in Miami-Dade, where foreign visitors helped hotels shake-off a sharp drop in U.S. vacationers and business travelers. But the recession lingers in Broward’s tourism industry, which is just now retiring past records.

Housing suffered the most dramatic crash throughout the recession and was also the last of the major indicators to begin its recovery. The Case-Shiller real estate index pegs May 2006 as the peak of the bubble in South Florida. Although each neighborhood is different, the average South Florida house worth $200,000 that month would have fallen down to $97,600 by the time the market hit bottom just over a year ago, in November 2011.

Values have recovered 9 percent since then, meaning the same house should be worth just over $105,0000. That’s a loss of 47 percent over six years.

Recovering from that kind of crash takes time, and five years clearly isn’t enough. To give a hint of the progress underway, Business Monday checked into businesses and residents on the frontlines of the recovery. The reports follow:

Housing

After fending off a foreclosure and battling to get out from under an onerous option ARM mortgage, Marie and Wilson Destin recently worked out a loan modification on their 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house near Miami Lakes.

With the help of Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida, a nonprofit agency that helps people navigate the Byzantine home financing landscape, the Destins cut their monthly mortgage payment to $1,500 from $1,900 under a new fixed-rate loan.

In 2006, when the housing market was booming, the Haitian-American couple had taken out an option ARM loan on the property, which they had owned for several years.

“Somebody came to the house and approached me with an option ARM loan,’’ said Wilson Destin. “They said I would pay less.’’

The option ARM — which has triggered financial woes for thousands of homeowners during the downturn — allowed for flexible payments and negative amortization, practically encouraging people to defer payments.





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7-year-old in critical condition after accident




















Police were investigating an accident involving a 7-year-old who was struck by a vehicle in a Lauderhill neighborhood late Saturday, Lauderhill Police spokesman Rick Rocco said.

The vehicle and its driver, who has not yet been identified, remained on scene after the incident near the intersection of Northwest 27th Court and 56th Avenue.

The child was transported to Broward Health Medical Center in critical condition immediately after the incident, police said.





Details of the accident were not immediately available.

This post will be updated as we receive more information.





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Facebook unveils new privacy controls






SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc began rolling out a variety of new privacy controls on Wednesday, the company’s latest effort to address user concerns about who can see their personal information on the world’s largest social network.


New tools introduced on Wednesday will make it easier for Facebook’s members to quickly determine who can view the photos, comments and other information about them that appears on different parts of the website, and to request that any objectionable photos they’re featured in be removed.






A new privacy “shortcut” in the top-right hand corner of the website provides quick access to key controls such as allowing users to manage who can contact them and to block specific people.


The new controls are the latest changes to Facebook’s privacy settings, which have been criticized in the past for being too confusing.


Facebook Director of Product Sam Lessin said the changes were designed to increase users’ comfort level on the social network, which has roughly one billion users.


“When users don’t understand the concepts and controls and hit surprises, they don’t build the confidence they need,” said Lessin.


Facebook, Google Inc and other online companies have faced increasing scrutiny and enforcement from privacy regulators as consumers entrust ever-increasing amounts of information about their personal lives to Web services.


In April, Facebook settled privacy charges with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it had deceived consumers and forced them to share more personal information than they intended. Under the settlement, Facebook is required to get user consent for certain changes to its privacy settings and is subject to 20 years of independent audits.


Facebook’s Lessin said some users don’t understand that the information they post on their Timeline profile page is not the only personal information about them that may be viewable by others. Improvements to Facebook’s so-called Activity Log will make it easier for users to see at a glance all the information that involves them across the social network.


Facebook also said it is changing the way that third-party apps, such as games and music players, get permission to access user data. An app must now provide separate requests to create a personalized service based on a user’s personal information and to post automated messages to the Facebook newsfeed on behalf of a user – previously users agreed to both conditions by approving a single request.


The revamped controls follow proposed changes that Facebook has made to its privacy policy and terms of service. The changes would allow Facebook to integrate user data with that of its recently acquired photo-sharing app Instagram, and would loosen restrictions on how members of the social network can contact other members using the Facebook email system.


Nearly 600,000 Facebook users voted to reject the proposed changes, but the votes fell far short of the roughly 300 million needed for the vote to be binding, under Facebook’s existing rules. The proposed changes also would eliminate any such future votes by Facebook users.


(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Riveting Details Emerge from CT School Rampage

As morning turned to afternoon on Friday, further details continued to emerge from Newtown, CT, a tight-knit community shaken by a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of innocent students and teachers, in addition to the gunman, reportedly identified as Adam Lanza.

RELATED: President Fights Tears as He Addresses Nation

As President Barack Obama touched on in his tear-jerking press conference, this is not the first time the nation has witnessed a tragedy of this kind. The recent mass shooting at an Aurora, CO movie theater is just one instance of such violence. Columbine High School and Virginia Tech also resonate as prime examples.

Hollywood's biggest stars were quick to react to the news on Twitter and made an outcry for stricter gun control regulations.

Watch the video for ET's complete coverage of today's biggest headline.

RELATED: Celebs Tweet Reactions to CT School Shooting

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Remembering the kids gunned down in the Newtown massacre








First-grader Jesse Lewis loved working on hismom’s farm. Six year old James Mattioli had chubby cheeks, wore his hair in a mohawk and liked to sport an “Angry Birds” shirt. Friends of his family described him as a “sweet angel.”

Grace McDonnell, 6, had blond hair and eyes so blue that neighbors said she “was like a little doll.” They all went to Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday as they always did, but they would never return home.

Savage gunman Adam Lanza, 20, stole the tender lives of 20 children, all just 6 or 7 years old. He randomly slaughtered sons and daughters and one child’s twin sister. He cut down six adults as well.




Strong-willed Charlotte Bacon, 6, couldn’t wait to wear her Christmas outfit — a pink dress and white boots — to kindergarten. Her mom finally relented, so she wore it to school Friday. “She was going to do a lot of things in her life,” uncle John Hagen told The Post. “She would light up a room.”

Emilie Parker was an upbeat 6-year-old who always put others’ feelings first. “She always had something kind to say to anybody,” said Emilie’s grieving father, Robbie Parker. “I’m so blessed to be her dad.”

Ana Marquez-Greene, 6, daughter of jazz saxophonist Jimmy Greene, was gunned down but her older brother escaped unharmed.

Yesterday, police concluded the painful process of showing families photos of their murdered loved ones after autopsies were conducted in a makeshift morgue set up near the school.

Here are the innocents taken from us.



Emilie Parker, 6

Emilie was a loving 6-year-old who lit up a room.

The kindergartner and her family had moved to Newtown, Conn., from Utah in the past year. She had two younger sisters.

Emilie’s father, Robbie Parker, fought back tears yesterday and gasped for breath as he spoke about losing his beautiful, happy angel soon after the list of victims was released.

“She was beautiful. She was blond. She was always smiling,” he said outside his home.

It was difficult to explain to her little sisters why they will never again get to play with Emilie, he said.

“They seem to get the fact that they have somebody they’re going to miss very much,” he said.

The little girl was always happy to cheer up anyone who was down, her father said.

“She never missed an opportunity to draw a picture or make a card for those around her,” he said.

His daughter loved to try new things, and she made the world a better place, he said.

“I’m so blessed to be her dad,” he said.



JESSE LEWIS, 6

First-grader Jesse loved math, riding horses and working on his mom’s farm. His father, Neil Heslin, said he was a happy boy that everyone knew — and he loved animals.










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Miami in spotlight at AVCC, other entrepreneurship events




















Entrepreneurs from around the world took the stage during this packed week of entrepreneurship events in Miami: Florida International University’s Americas Venture Capital Conference (known as AVCC), HackDay, Wayra’s Global DemoDay and Endeavor’s International Selection Panel.

The events, all part of the first Innovate MIA week, also put the spotlight on Miami as it continues to try to develop into a technology hub for the Americas.

“While I like art, I absolutely love what is happening today... The time has come to become a tech hub in Miami,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, who kicked off the venture capital conference on Thursday. He told the audience of 450 investors and entrepreneurs about the county’s $1 million investment in the Launch Pad Tech Accelerator in downtown Miami.





“I have no doubt that this gathering today will produce new ideas and new business ventures that will put our community on a fast track to becoming a center for innovative, tech-driven entrepreneurship,” Gimenez said.

Brad Feld, an early-stage investor and a founder of TechStars, cautioned that won’t happen overnight. Building a startup community can take five, 10, even 15 years, and those leading the effort, who should be entrepreneurs themselves, need to take the long-term view, he told the audience via video. “You can create very powerful entrepreneurial ecosystems in any city... I’ve spent some time in Miami, I think you are off to a great start.”

Throughout the two-day AVCC at the JW Brickell Marriott, as well as the Endeavor and Wayra events, entrepreneurs from around the world pitched their companies, hoping to persuade investors to part with some of their green.

And in some cases, the entrepreneurs could win money, too. During the venture capital conference, 29 companies —including eight from South Florida such as itMD, which connects doctors, patients and imaging facilities to facilitate easy access of records — competed for more than $50,000 in cash and prizes through short “elevator’’ pitches. Each took questions from the judges, then demoed their products or services in the conference “Hot Zone,” a room adjoining the ballroom. Some companies like oLyfe, a platform to organize what people share online, are hoping to raise funds for expansion into Latin America. Others like Ideame, a trilingual crowdfunding platform, were laser focused on pan-Latin American opportunities.

Winning the grand prize of $15,000 in cash and art was Trapezoid Digital Security of Miami, which provides hardware-based security solutions for enterprise and cloud environments. Fotopigeon of Tampa, a photo-sharing and printing service targeting the military and prison niches, scored two prizes.

The conference offered opportunities to hear formal presentations on current trends — among them the surge of start-ups in Brazil; the importance of mobile apps and overheated company valuations — and informal opportunities to connect with fellow entrepreneurs.

Speakers included Gaston Legorburu of SapientNitro, Albert Santalo of CareCloud and Juan Diego Calle of .Co Internet, all South Florida entrepreneurs. Jerry Haar, executive director of FIU’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center, which produced the conference with a host of sponsors, said the organizers worked hard to make the conference relevant to both the local and Latin American audience, with panels on funding and recruiting for startups, for instance.





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