Cashing in on state contracts becomes growth industry

TALLAHASSEE -- Even for Tallahassee standards, the scene was notable: lobbyist Brian Ballard dining with a nursing home executive, Gov. Rick Scott and a top aide at a pricey restaurant just blocks from the Capitol.That Ballard’s clout could command a private dinner with the governor for a client speaks to the influential lobbyist’s fundraising finesse. But equally important,...

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Double Take Celebrity Lookalikes

Stacy Keibler and Heidi Klum ETonline has found the lookalikes to the stars and, it turns out, it's their Hollywood peers. Click the pics and let us know if you think these celebs bear a resemblance to one another.  ...

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Child, 8, reportedly killed in LI apartment fire, more than 200 left homeless

HEMPSTEAD — Police say an apartment fire that spread to several buildings has forced 250 people from their homes, killed one and sent 11 to hospitals on Long Island.Nassau County police say one victim is in critical condition after fire Saturday morning in Hempstead. The rest have injuries that aren't seen as life-threatening.Police haven't released the...

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Mega mansion frenzy: Buyer snaps up Pat Riley’s $16M home to level it, rebuild

Miami Heat President Pat Riley sold his spectacular bayfront mansion in gated Gables Estates for $16.8 million last March.The 12,856-square-foot Mediterranean-style dream house at 180 Arvida Parkway has a theater, wine cellar, library, and a sprawling pool with waterfalls and an aqua bar.But that’s all coming down. Turns out the lure was the lot: a rare...

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Feds indict 11 South Floridians for stealing IDs, filing taxes for 2,700 dead people

A South Florida ring accused of plotting to fleece $34 million from the U.S. government by filing phony tax returns in the names of thousands of dead people was indicted this week.The indictment charged 11 defendants with conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by stealing the identities of nearly 7,000 people, including more than 2,700 who were dead, to file fraudulent...

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Jerry Lewis Max Rose Set Visit

Hollywood legend Jerry Lewis explores the dignity of aging, the value of family, and the power of marriage in his new movie Max Rose. The octogenarian star exclusively shares a day on the set of the upcoming film with ET, and also gives our young interviewer Tatiana Toomer a hard time – just for the fun of it.Pics: 13 Must-See Movies of 2013 Asked to explain his character in the film, he replies,...

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Deers of joy: Seemingly dead fawn pulled from icy waters 'licked' back to life by family of deer

It’s like the Enchanted Forest out there.Suffolk County cops pulled a seemingly-dead fawn out of icy waters in Fire Island today — and a family of deer came up to it and licked it back to health!Suffolk County PDMarine Bureau officers Robert Femia and Peter Bogachunas were nearing the Davis Park Marina on their boat about 1:04 p.m. when they noticed a little...

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Sign up for Feb. 21 Miami Herald Small Business Forum

Prepare your best pitch for the Miami Herald’s Small Business Forum, Feb. 21 at the south campus of our sponsor, Florida International University.In addition to how-to panels and inspirational stories from successful entrepreneurs, our annual small business forum will include interactive opportunities with experts to learn about financing options and polish your personal...

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Green card ends terrible chapter for South Floridian

Juan José Correa Villalonga looked at the envelope, felt its contents and held it close to his chest, but he would not open it. He let his mother do it, because the permanent residence card inside represented long years of her struggles.And thus, the young Venezuelan became one of the few people who have been deported and later allowed to return to the United States. He is...

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'Escape from Planet Earth' Premiere

Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch, Craig Robinson and the rest of the voice cast of Escape from Planet Earth hit the red carpet on terra firma this week to premiere their fun new movie. Will Jessica's kids see the movie over and over and over? Watch the video highlights!Pics: 'Star Wars' Scoundrel Casting: Young Han Solo In theaters February 15, the out-of-this-world 3D animated comedy also features the vocal...

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Lohans hit with court papers over Long Island manse

A process server slapped Lindsay and Dina Lohan with court papers today — part of Chase Bank’s years-long battle to foreclose on their Long Island mansion, sources said. The server tacked the court papers on the front gate of the troubled Starlet’s childhood house in Merrick — where Dina and Lindsay brawled in October.Today’s court documents — which a source...

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Miami startup that turns text to video receives $1 million in seed funding

Guide, a new technology startup based in Miami, announced Tuesday it has closed a $1 million round of seed funding from investors including the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Sapient Corp., MTV founder Bob Pitman, actor and producer Omar Epps, and early Google employee Steve Schimmel. The Knight Foundation is supporting Guide through its new early-stage venture...

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Judge angered after learning mentally ill Miami man was placed in assisted living facility, and escaped

After Cristobal Abreu was arrested for stabbing a Hialeah SWAT officer with a large BBQ fork in December 2009, doctors deemed his mind too ravaged by mental illness to stand trial.For years, he bounced around mental health facilities.Then a stay at a Miami Gardens assisted living facility, where funds for his medications ran out and his mental state deteriorated, ended last...

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EXCLUSIVE: BTS of Austin Mahone Flo Rida Say Your Just a Friend

The music video for Austin Mahone's smash single Say You're Just a Friend, featuring Flo Rida, is debuting Thursday, but today we're taking you behind-the-scenes of the video shoot in this exclusive clip.PICS: New Music Tuesday!In the video, Mahone goofs off with backup dancers and shows off one impressive hat trick all while giving a sneak peek of his flashy dance moves.The 16-year-old YouTube sensation...

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Upper West Side molestation trial in jury deadlock

A Manhattan jury deadlocked today in the molestation trial of an Upper West Side school aide, with only five out of 12 jurors believing the nine-year-old alleged victim's account of repeated unwanted stripping and "massaging" in the boy's room and auditorum.Gregory Atkins, 57, remains accused of on four occasions last winter bringing the boy into a bathroom...

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Miami startup that turns text to video receives $1 million in seed funding

Guide, a new technology startup based in Miami, announced Tuesday it has closed a $1 million round of seed funding from investors including the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Sapient Corp., MTV founder Bob Pitman, actor and producer Omar Epps, and early Google employee Steve Schimmel. The Knight Foundation is supporting Guide through its new early-stage venture...

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6 Miami-Dade cops fired or suspended for loafing

A Miami-Dade police sergeant and two officers have been fired, and three others have been suspended, capping a two-year investigation into accusations that they ignored emergency calls, filed false police reports and lied about calls they handled, Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Nancy Perez said Tuesday.The Miami-Dade Internal Affairs Bureau launched the investigation into...

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Jessica Chastain Reveals Her Oscars Date Will Be Her Grandmother

Who will arrive arm-in-arm with Jessica Chastain on Oscar Sunday?The 35-year-old beauty, who is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in Zero Dark Thirty, tells ET she plans to bring a very special date to Hollywood's biggest night!"I'm going to take my grandmother to the Oscars," beamed Jessica at The Hollywood Reporter's award season bash at Spago in Los Angeles on Monday. "We...

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Car swiped in Bronx -- with baby in back seat

A car left idling outside a cell-phone store in The Bronx was swiped tonight — with an 8-month-old baby in the back seat, cops said.The silver Jeep was found a little over an hour later with the little girl inside unharmed, police said.The perp is still in the wind.The child’s dad told cops that he had hopped out of the 2005 Grand Cherokee — leaving it...

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Report calls Florida business incentives “corporate welfare’’

TALLAHASSEE -- A government watchdog group and a conservative advocacy group blasted Florida’s government Tuesday for the hundreds of millions of dollars it gives to corporations, blaming the state’s public-private jobs agency for “pay-to-play” cronyism and “corporate welfare.”A new report by Integrity Florida and Koch brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity highlights...

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Member of Miami-Dade marijuana growhouse ring pleads guilty

An operative in the Santiesteban family’s alleged marijuana growhouse ring pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to kidnap a rival gang member, admitting he witnessed the man’s murder after the target stole 50 pounds of pot from the Miami-Dade clan.Juan Felipe Castaneda’s plea agreement signaled a major development in the federal government’s crackdown on one of South Florida’s...

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Facebook After Death: Who Owns Your Pages When You Die?

Most people can’t live without Facebook — but what happens to your Facebook page when you are no longer living? New Hampshire and other states are trying to figure that out.State Rep. Peter Sullivan has introduced legislation to allow the executor of an estate control over the social networking pages of the dead. Last week, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted 222-128 to give Sullivan...

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Carpet Countdown: Directors Turn Fans at DGAs

Filmmakers like Ben Affleck, Kathryn Bigelow and Tom Hooper have provided inspiration for young up-and-comers, who hope to reach their level of greatness, but who do the Oscar-nominated directors look up to? Click the video to find out.RELATED: Hot Looks of the Oscar Lunche...

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Woman in yoga pose awoken by man masturbating next to her, lawsuit claims

She was finishing her workout; he was just starting his. An Upper West Side woman in post yoga, meditative bliss was allegedly rudely awoken by a maintenance worker masturbating next to her mat, a new lawsuit claims. Keiko Herskovitz, a regular yogi at Equinox's Pure Yoga on W. 77th Street, was in the corpse pose called shavasana, laying down with her eyes...

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VIP storage service for clothes comes to South Florida

There’s hardly any woman alive who doesn’t complain about a lack of closet space.Now space-challenged South Floridians who want to store clothes in a climate-controlled atmosphere can turn to the same service used by celebrities and designers. Garde Robe believes it has the answer. The New York-based company expanded into South Florida this month, aiming to serve savvy fashionistas,...

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Engineers: South Florida bridges rated ‘deficient’ remain safe to use

Of the hundreds of bridges both big and small in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, only a handful are rated as “structurally deficient” — and engineers say none is in danger of collapsing or being shut down.But the cost of maintaining, repairing and replacing aging local bridges over the next decade and a half will easily mount into many hundreds of millions of dollars at...

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Take-Two delays launch of Grand Theft Auto V video game

(Reuters) – Take-Two Interactive Software Inc said on Thursday it has pushed back the launch of the latest game from its hit “Grand Theft Auto” franchise to September 17 from its previously announced release window of spring 2013.Shares of Take-Two were down six percent at $ 12.31 in early afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.The delay was to allow Take-Two’s Rockstar Games studio, which develops “Grand...

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Destiny's Child Rocks Super Bowl Halftime Show with Beyonce

After weeks of speculation, the moment fans have been waiting for finally arrived when Destiny's Child accompanied Beyonce on stage during her Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show.PICS: Stars Flock to Super Bowl XLVII The Superdome erupted at Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams' entrance when they accompanied Beyonce for their classic hits Bootyliscious, Independent Women and Single Ladies.Prior to Kelly...

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Deadly deserts

Ralph Peters Violence in Allah’s name in northern Africa won’t end in my lifetime — and probably not in yours. The core question is: To what extent can the savagery be contained?From the Atlantic coastline to the Suez Canal, struggling governments, impoverished populations and frankly backward societies struggle to find paths to modernization...

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Digital Debrief: David Klock getting down to Business

David R. Klock took the helm of Florida International University’s College of Business as dean, on Oct. 1, after serving in a similar role at the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s School of Business.A milkman’s son who earned a doctorate in finance, Klock’s career has spanned leadership positions in both academia and business.Soon after he arrived at FIU, Klock began holding...

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