Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones running for reelection

Eight years have passed since Michelle Spence-Jones was elected to the Miami City Commission.She isn’t willing to leave just yet.Spence-Jones — who was charged with bribery and grand theft in 2009, suspended from office, acquitted and reinstated to her post — is seeking reelection, she announced Friday. She represents District 5, which includes Overtown, Little Haiti and...

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Notre Dame’s Te’o says had no part in forming hoax

Jan 24 (Reuters) – Notre Dame football player Manti Te‘o said he was the victim of an elaborate online hoax and denied in an interview broadcast on Thursday having had any part in the construction of the dramatic story of his dying girlfriend.“No, I did not,” Te’o said in the interview with Katie Couric broadcast on the daytime talk show “Katie.” “I think what people don’t realize is that the same...

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

Disney/ Andrew H. Walker/ Getty ImagesThe Force is with J.J. Abrams. The prolific producer/director has agreed to direct the next installment of the Star Wars franchise, confirms Walt Disney Studios.Pics: Must-See Movies of 2013"I've consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller," said George Lucas of Abrams in an official statement. "He's an ideal choice to direct the new...

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No cold (or hot) cases! NYC gets nine days without murder during cold streak

They must have frostbite on their trigger fingers. The deep freeze that has New Yorkers shivering in their boots has been a crime-fighting blessing for the NYPD — and as of midnight had given the city a nine-day streak without a murder, law-enforcement sources told The Post.“Jack Frost is the policeman’s best friend,” said a source. “The criminals are staying...

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Fed aims for a 6.5% jobless rate

Six and a half percent unemployment in America would mean almost 2.1 million more people working than today. At the rate the country has been creating new jobs each month, it would take more than a year to find work for that many people.Keep 6.5 percent in mind this week when the Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to talk about its efforts to push interest rates...

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Broward contractor accused of accepting bribe for Florida Keys roadwork

A Pompano Beach contractor has been charged by federal authorities with bribery for accepting money to steer a state Department of Transportation contract to a subcontractor working on traffic signals in the Florida Keys, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.Ron Capobianco Jr., 40, is charged with committing bribery in connection with programs receiving federal funds. If convicted,...

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Somalia militants’ Twitter account down after hostage threat

NAIROBI (Reuters) – A Twitter account run by Somali militant group al Shabaab was unavailable on Friday, days after the al Qaeda-aligned rebels used the social media site to boast about killing a French agent and threatened to kill several Kenyan hostages.Al Shabaab often used its Twitter account to claim responsibility for attacks on African Union and Somali government troops, as well as senior officials...

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Amanda Seyfried Calls Mean Girls Her Best Work

Despite being fresh off an Oscar-nominated film (Les Miserables), Amanda Seyfried apparently holds a soft spot for her breakout film Mean Girls, calling it her "best work" to date."I was so innocent. I was so green," reflects Seyfried in an interview with Indiewire. "I still look back at Mean Girls as my best work."Pics: Amanda Seyfried as Porn Star Lovelace The 27-year-old star stole the show playing...

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Mayor Bloomberg blasted at candidates forum

William MillerNew York City mayoral hopeful Joseph Lhota at at a Thursday forum discussion.It looks like Mayor Bloomberg is in for a very long campaign year.The mayor got battered last night at a forum in the East New York section of Brooklyn that featured Republican contender Joe Lhota in his first appearance with other candidates.The former MTA chairman...

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Lennar design accommodates multigenerational families

In some cases, it may be Grandma moving in with the family. Other times, it may be a recent college graduate returning to the nest. For all sorts of reasons — financial, medical, personal — a rising number of Americans are moving into extended family households.Spotting a niche in the growing trend, Lennar Corp. has launched a new concept tailor-made for multigenerational...

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Last call? Iconic Keys bar closes indefinitely

One of Marathon's most iconic watering holes is closed for the foreseeable future.Famous for its Sunday night jam sessions and waterfront Boot Key Harbor location, Dockside Bar & Grill co-owner Brian Sweeney said Monday that the business has been closed since mid-December for significant renovations."Basically, we're rebuilding the floor," he said. "We're going to put...

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SAG Awards Flashback: Helen Mirren 2007

Helen Mirren has received many accolades for her acting over the years, but no year was more special for her than 2007. The nominations and awards came crashing over the English actress for her roles as Queens Elizabeth I and II. Backstage after winning an award at the SAG Awards, Dame Mirren finds her king.At that year's SAGs, Mirren was nominated for both of her Queen Elizabeth performances: Best...

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It’s plenty of 20 – plus flurries

When they say it’s “too cold to snow,” don’t believe them. A dusting of 1 to 2 inches is expected when snow showers develop tomorrow afternoon and continue into the evening.Before that we’ll get more struggling sunshine today, with temperatures peaking at 21 degrees — but icy winds feeling like only 2 degrees. Tonight’s low temperature will be about 13,...

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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...

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Drug-tracking Fat Albert blimp in the Keys will be deflated in March

Fat Albert, the familiar military blimp based on the bayside of Cudjoe Key, is set to come down permanently on March 15 after keeping watch over the Lower Keys since 1980.Due to federal defense funding cuts, the U.S. Air Force's Tethered Aerostat Radar System, comprising Cudjoe and eight other sites along the Gulf of Mexico, Mexican border and Puerto Rico, will shut down.The...

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Google’s 4Q earnings rise despite Motorola woes

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google eked out slightly higher earnings in the fourth quarter, despite a financial drag caused by the Internet search leader’s expansion into device manufacturing and a decline in digital ad prices as more people gaze into the smaller screens of smartphones.The results announced Tuesday pleased investors, helping to lift Google’s stock by 5 percent in extended trading.More advertising...

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Miranda Lambert Talks Self Esteem Issues, Husband Blake Shelton and Pedigree Dog Charity

"They're our family," describes country superstar Miranda Lambert of her growing collection of pooches, horses, chickens and hogs with husband Blake Shelton.While Miranda has a soft spot for just about any four-legged creature she comes across, the 29-year-old singer tells ET's Brooke Anderson that her brood of five pups holds her heart and she views them just as she would her very own babies."We...

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Filling no pain: Dentist all smiles in drunk-drill bust

Victor AlcornTOOTHY GRIN: Robert Garelick, a Long Island dentist, sports a goofy grin on his face as he is led away by cops in Suffolk County yesterday.It wasn’t the drill that was buzzing — it was the dentist.Long Island cavity filler Robert Garelick, 57, flashed his own pearly whites yesterday on his way to face charges that he operated on unsuspecting...

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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...

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Appeals court throws out Miami judge’s controversial fingerprint ruling

An appeals court has thrown out a Miami-Dade criminal court judge’s controversial ruling restricting long-accepted fingerprint evidence.The Third District Court of Appeals this week ruled that Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch should have removed himself from the case before issuing his ruling.The reason: Hirsch had earlier told two prosecutors that he would remove himself from...

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Cycling-No sympathy for Armstrong on social media

LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Lance Armstrong’s televised doping confession has done nothing to restore his shattered reputation, a study of responses posted to the Twitter social media site showed.“What was particularly noticeable in our analysis of the Armstrong revelation was the sheer lack of sympathy out there,” said Charlie Dundas of sports market research company Repucom.“The tone of the discussion...

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Jane Kaczmarek Guest Stars on 'Jake in the Never Land of Pirates'

Jane Kaczmarek, best known for her role as the mother on Malcolm in the Middle, recently headed to the vocal booth for an episode of the Disney animated series Jake in the Never Land of Pirates. Watch ETonline's exclusive clip to see if you can recognize her voice.In her guest appearance on the series, Kaczmarek plays an adventurous pirate named "Red Jessica," which makes her normal voice nearly indiscernible...

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Bath salts bust in Hell's Kitchen

Byron SmithPolice at the scene on West 54th Street where officials had suspected a meth lab — cops found illegal bath salts instead.Something foul is cooking in Hell’s Kitchen.Police raided a West 54th Street co-op and found pounds of the illegal designer drug "bath salts" in a possible drug lab after neighbors complained that apartment smelled of cat urine,...

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Series for Miami’s emerging art collectors begins Thursday

For art enthusiasts interested in bring their interest home, Miami’s Bakehouse Art Complex is hosting a lecture series for emerging collectors. The first panel, slated for Thursday at 6 p.m., features arists and curators who will talk about fine tuning your taste and learning to make informed decisions. The second session, Feb. 7, is oriented to the mechanics of purchasing....

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Cuban exile mother of poet laureate Richard Blanco now in spotlight as his inspiration

At first, Geysa Blanco thought her son was kidding. "He said, ‘Mom, I have news for you,’ " Blanco said, recalling the telephone call from her son a few weeks ago. "Between English and Spanish, he told me that they had chosen him to write and read a poem at the presidential inauguration,” she said. But Richard Blanco, a child of exiles who was raised...

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Notre Dame hoax tip was emailed: Deadspin.com editor

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The tip that led to the revelation that one of the most widely recounted U.S. sports narratives of the past year was a hoax came to the editors of an online sports blog as many of their news tips do: an unsolicited email.That email led Deadspin.com assignment editor Timothy Burke on the hunt of a story that exposed the heart-wrenching tale of standout Notre Dame linebacker Manti...

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Gayle King Reacts to Oprah Winfrey Interview with Lance Armstrong

ET's Rocsi Diaz chatted with Oprah Winfrey's best friend Gayle King on Sunday, where the CBS This Morning co-anchor revealed that Lance Armstrong wasn't the only one with a lot at stake during last week's interview.RELATED: Biggest Celebrity Scandals"I've only seen [Oprah] nervous twice -- Michael Jackson, back in the day that was live, and with Lance Armstrong," Gayle said at The Daily Beast/Newsweek...

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Death toll climbs past 80 in Algeria terrorist siege

ALGIERS, Algeria — The death toll from the terrorist siege at a natural gas plant in the Sahara climbed past 80 on Sunday as Algerian forces searching the refinery for explosives found dozens more bodies, many so badly disfigured it was unclear whether they were hostages or militants, a security official said.Algerian special forces stormed the plant on...

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Three-generation family businesses share their secrets of success

In 2009, when Larry Zinn took over as sales manager for the Infiniti dealership that his father owned, he had a great idea: retrain the sales staff in a team approach and offer customers complimentary add-on services for the first year.Some salesmen who were used to selling the same way for decades up and quit. But that didn’t deter Larry from insisting a new sales culture...

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

Congratulations to my friend and former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who has will be presenting his new book at 9:45 a.m. in the Roca Theater at his alma mater, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, 500 SW 127th Ave. in West Miami-Dade.His book is titled Miami Transformed: Rebuilding America, One Neighborhood, One City at a Time.Born in Cuba, Diaz really is a Miami success story....

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Hundreds attend NYC memorial for Internet activist Aaron Swartz

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Supporters of Aaron Swartz, the 26-year-old Internet activist who committed suicide last week, gathered in New York to remember the computer prodigy on Saturday, with some calling for changes in the criminal justice system they blame for his death.Swartz, who at 14 helped create an early version of the Web feed system RSS and believed the fruits of academic research and other...

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Michelle Obama on Inauguration President Barack Obama

ET's Rocsi Diaz sat down first with First Lady Michelle Obama at the Kids' Inaugural Concert to discuss a variety of topics from her new hairstyle and birthday celebration to Lance Armstrong. RELATED: Actors Who've Played Presidents Mrs. Obama debuted her shoulder-length bob with eye-level bangs via Twitter on her birthday, Thursday, January 17, and she told Rocsi that Dr. Jill Biden may have had...

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