'Bachelorette' Wedding Full of Love, No Red Roses

Fresh off their December 1 nuptials, J.P. Rosenbaum continues to keep the romance alive with wife Ashley Hebert.

The blissfully in love newlyweds met on The Bachelorette. History has shown that most such couples fizzle after the cameras go away, but not for these two lovebirds. "I think the romance part of it is the easy part. You know that's there. It's all about emotion and romance. That's what the franchise is all about. Just the question whether we'd get along as people," J.P. told ETonline. "Our real relationship started once we started living together."

Since exchanging personally written vows in their California ceremony, Ashley has found that the institute of marriage has brought "a sense of security and forever that didn't exist before" in the relationship.

The Princeton, NJ based couple selected a west coast destination as their venue because "of the options we had discussed with production and with ourselves internally, Pasadena was the most beautiful place we were considering," J.P. explained. "Not convenient for us east coasters, [but] far and away the nicest place we had seen."

Joining them at the altar was a familiar face, host of The Bachelorette. "When we were trying to figure out who we'd like to officiate, Chris Harrison really was our first choice," J.P said. "He has been there from the beginning. He's seen our good sides and bad sides. Even off the show, we keep in touch. It made sense to come full circle."

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As Ashley made her way down the aisle towards her awaiting groom, she was concerned about tripping on the long train of her custom-made Randi Rahm gown. The bride researched bridal fashion on Pinterest for inspiration and collaborated with the designer before settling on what she calls the "perfect dress."

The duo also teamed with famed wedding planner Mindy Weiss to create their fantasy affair. "We put everything in her hands," Ashley trusted. "[It was] above and beyond anything we could have done on our own." J.P. did have some input, though, asserting, "No red roses were allowed." Being under the very experienced care of Mindy, the biggest stress Ashley endured was rain on her wedding day, which is said to bring luck to a couple anyways. Skies cleared in time for the ceremony, though. And, J.P. struggled with cutting down the guest list.

Ashley's protective sister Chrystie Vachon, who was quite vocal on The Bachelorette that she didn't approve of J.P., quickly changed her tune after their initial sour meeting. Serving as maid of honor, Chrystie gave the couple her blessing and J.P. says they now get along very well. "She is like a sister to me. We Skyped in two days after we returned from Fiji," he reported.

Although Ashley maintained that the ceremony focused on "family and love," J.P. chose to incorporate some Jewish customs into the affair. "We got married under a chuppah, broke the glass, signed a ketubah, and I wore a yamaka," he shared. "We did dance the hora." Also at the reception, the Mr. and Mrs. were hoisted up in chairs to celebrate.

Proudly admitting it wasn't a "cookie cutter wedding," the bride and groom chose to forgo traditional vows. "I took the core things that I think make a marriage last. I made those promises. You definitely see some tears, but not as many as you might think. We were pretty composed," Ashley remembered. When the wedding is broadcast, will it be a tearjerker? J.P. gave the fans the disclaimer, "If my mom can make it through, you can make it through."

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Other wedding staples the blushing bride omitted was incorporating something borrowed and something blue and the tossing of her bouquet. "I didn't even throw my bouquet. It was too pretty to throw," she giggled. "We had so much going on, we forgot about traditions." The husband and wife were serenaded for their first dance to the song Love in a live performance by Matt White.

Besides having the televised special to replay over and over, the couple made sure to record mental notes throughout their special day. J.P appreciated his friends' tip: "Stephen Stagliano and DeAnna [Pappas] had pulled us aside and said, 'Whatever you do, take ten minutes and go off to the side to take it all in…because it'll be over before you know it.' I did it a few times throughout the night. It was important because I will have those memories."

Although some special moments eluded the TV cameras, fans can look forward to a two-hour wedding extravaganza this Sunday on ABC. J.P didn't find the extra lenses "overly intrusive," but Ashley was concerned about keeping the anxiety level down amongst her family and friends who had never appeared on camera before. Had they not gone the televised route, J.P. was concerned he'd regret the decision in 20 years. Ashley also wanted their fans to "celebrate and enjoy a happy ending."

But, they don't want to over-share with audiences. They've deferred their honeymoon to the first half of 2013 and will shun cameras from their tropical getaway. Cameras in the delivery room are also out of the question, according to Ashley, when they eventually have children. "J.P. wants two, I want one," she said. She thinks she'll be protective of her kids' privacy and is unsure if she'd welcome reality TV cameras into her home.

It is a bit premature to predict if Sean Lowe will too be saying "I do" to his perfect gal when he stars in the upcoming installment of The Bachelor, premiering January 7 on ABC. Ashley doesn't know him personally, but "from watching he seemed like a good guy [with a] good head on his shoulders," she said, expecting an "honest season."

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Report finds teachers with more poor or disabled students likely to get lower ratings than peers

Teachers in classrooms with high numbers of poor or disabled students tended to get slightly lower ratings than their peers under the state’s new evaluation system, according to an outside review.

Similarly, teachers whose classes enrolled lots of already high-performing students were slightly more likely to earn better ratings on average, a report by the American Institute for Research found.

The trends came despite the fact that the evaluation system — which rates teachers based in part on the state test scores of their students — tries to account for the effects of poverty, disability, prior test scores and English proficiency on a student’s performance.

Experts say it’s because the new system doesn’t account for the effects of having large numbers of challenging or high-performing kids concentrated in one classroom.

“It certainly is a problem — although from what [the state has] presented so far, it isn’t apparent how big the problem is for individual teachers’ scores,” said Sean Corcoran, an associate professor of education economics at NYU.

The ratings, which are called “growth scores” because they look at a teacher’s ability to boost students’ test scores over prior years, account for only 20 percent of a teacher’s evaluation.

The state calculated those partial ratings for the first time this year - even though the city and dozens of other districts are still negotiating with teachers unions over the specific measures that will comprise the remaining 80 percent of a final rating.

The report by AIR, which only looked at the partial ratings that it helped create for the state, acknowledges that classroom characteristics shouldn’t correlate at all with a teacher’s growth score.

But both the reviewers and state officials sought to minimize the “minor” correlations that emerged by emphasizing that plenty of teachers serving challenging kids were able to earn good marks.

“The bottom line of it is that each teacher... has a roughly equal chance of being at the full range of performance,” State Education Commissioner John King told The Post. “There are teachers serving [classrooms of] 100% economically-disadvantaged kids who are getting... top ratings.”

State officials said the fact that teachers in high-performing classes got marginally better growth scores than their peers supports a recent study that found that the best teachers often work in top-notch classrooms or schools.

They said the uneven distribution of teacher talent would also explain why teachers in high-poverty schools — which have trouble attracting the best educators — tended to get slightly worse scores than their peers.

“It’s a question of, is this telling you something descriptive about where talent is placed? Or is it telling you something about the classroom effect [or] school effect of concentrations of students?” said King.

“This data alone can’t really answer that question, which is one of the reasons to have multiple measures — so that you have other information to inform your decision-making,” he added. “No one would say we should evaluate educators on growth scores alone. It’s a part of the picture, but it’s not the whole picture.”

State officials said they’re looking to control for classroom- and school-level student characteristics in coming years, using a more complex evaluation model known as “value-added.”

But Teachers College sociology and education professor Aaron Pallas said the failure to account for the effects of large concentrations of challenging kids could result in a biased review of certain teachers.

“The report tries to down-play this by saying that regardless of a teacher’s class characteristics, there can still be a wide range of [scores] — but that’s little consolation for the teacher who gets a lower score than she should have for reasons outside of her control,” he said.

Compared to teachers, there was an even higher correlation between principal ratings and the concentration of challenging or high-performing students in their schools.

The new principal evaluation system is similarly under negotiation between the principals’ union and the city.

The city has until January 17 to ink a deal with both unions or else forgo more than $250 million in state education aid.

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Tips for managing workplace stress

There are end of the year deals to close, budgets to meet, gifts to buy, and just thinking about it has your stress level rising. But when does stress turn into distress and at what point should your employer intervene?

For American workers, coping with workplace stress is a year-round concern that employers are beginning to see as partly their responsibility. Three-fourths of employees believe that workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago and nearly half say they need help in learning how to manage it, an Attitudes in the American workplace study by the American Institute of Stress shows.

Most of us harried workers struggle with the daily pressure of time demands, but some cross over into the danger zone. The telltale sign that a breakdown is near is a complete lack of work-life balance.

“Often these are the people working 14 hours a day and expecting others to do it, too,” said Charles Nemeroff, chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “I’ll ask them when is the last time you had fun and they look at me like are you kidding?”

Service professionals such as lawyers, financial advisors, accountants and doctors particularly are susceptible with increased client demands and technology making it more difficult to shut off job stress. Often they push themselves harder and harder to achieve.

Attorney Harley Tropin, a shareholder at Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, just doesn’t see that formula leading to a long career. He wants to help his lawyers strive for balance and change the way their brains and bodies react to stressors. Last month, he brought in medical experts to help them identify stressors and learn coping skills such as breathing and meditation. “It’s important to deal with stress the right way, to make a conscious effort to do something about it and not assume it will take care of itself,” Tropin says.

Tropin personally defuses the stress of arguing in court, by practicing Mindful Meditation, a widely adopted form of meditation that has become increasingly popular with business leaders. It involves focusing on your mind on the present and becoming aware of your breathing.

Alan Gold, a federal judge for the Southern District of Florida, also practices mindfulness meditation and has become a proponent of teaching practices for stress reduction to attorneys. Gold has advocated for the creation of a task force on the mindful practice of law with the Dade County Bar Association and the local Federal Bar Association.

Gold says he regularly sees attorneys shuffle into his courtroom on the brink of a breakdown. He links erosion in the degree of civility in the profession with lawyers’ inability to cope with extreme stresses.

They may lash out in anger at a co-worker, assistant, client — or even a judge.

“If you recognize you’re in this situation, the next step is to get out of it. The quickest and simplest way is to slow down and take time to focus on your breathing. This is not something that comes naturally for lawyers. It’s counterproductive to their bottom line way of doing business,” he says.

Outside of meditation, some employers are turning to on-site yoga, or just simply workload management to help employees better manage stress. At Kane & Company, a South Florida CPA firm, employees recently learned from a psychologist how to become more effective controlling their job-related stress. Suggestions included breathing exercises, exercise in general and focusing on relaxation techniques. Monte Kane, the firm’s managing director, says the workshops help his staff with everyday stress, but he makes it his responsibility to know when they have entered the burnout zone.

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SunPass investigation shows South Florida officers often go home early

South Florida police officers used to return to the station at the end of a shift to turn in their paperwork and patrol cars. But technology has revolutionized a cop's workday, and those laptops, radios and take-home cruisers make it possible to go AWOL or duck out of work early.

SunPass toll records analyzed by the Sun Sentinel found cops from Miami to Plantation cutting out before their shifts ended, sometimes signing off via the radio from locales nowhere near their jurisdiction.

"The truth is, it's easy," said Miami police Maj. Jorge Colina, who oversees internal affairs for the area's biggest municipal police force. "You're hoping you don't get dispatched to a call ... But you could get a head start and be up on the expressway out of the city when they tell you, 'OK, have a good night.'"

To read the entire two-day Sun Sentinel investigation click here.

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Isabelle Allen Beams Over Les Miserables Role

Just last year, Isabelle Allen was playing the lead (as a boy) in a production of The Pied Piper of Hamelin at her school. Tonight, the 10-year-old actress will attend the star-studded premiere of her first big movie, Les Miserables.

ET's Christina McLarty caught up with the young thespian (who portrays the younger version of Amanda Seyfried's Cosette) at Dylan's Candy Bar in New York City, her first-ever visit to the Big Apple.

Video: Stars of 'Les Mis' Singing Live on Set

In preparation for the night's big premiere, Isabelle reveals she picked out a special dress for the occasion to make her feel like a princess.

"It's a white dress and it's got a netted skirt with little bits of sparkles in it and a bow," said the young actress proudly.

Co-stars Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried and Russell Crowe are expected to join Isabelle on the red carpet Monday, and as it turns out, the burgeoning star tells ET she forged great relationships with everyone on set.

Related: Anne Hathaway Didn't Eat For 13 Days Filming 'Les Mis'

In particular, Isabelle says she loved spending time with Hugh who, during breaks, would help her sharpen her craft.

"I got lots from Hugh," she said. "We do a lot or running scenes from Javert so [he taught me] how to look really tired."

Watch the video for more!

Les Miserables opens Christmas Day.

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Cops hunting Bronx rape suspect

A sicko followed a young woman into a Bronx apartment building and brutally raped her, cops said today.

The creep stalked the 21-year-old woman as she walked on East 143rd Street in Mott Haven around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, cops said.

He forced the woman into a stairwell, where he raped her.

The suspect is described by cops as a black man in his 20s, about 5’7” tall and has a bump on his left cheek.

He was wearing black sweatpants, a black hooded sweatshirt and a Yankees cap.

Sketch of Bronx rape suspect.

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AutoNation: Back in the fast lane with expansion, higher sales

Despite an agonizingly slow economic recovery, the country’s largest auto retailer, Fort Lauderdale-based AutoNation, is thriving again as demand for vehicles expands.

The company, one of Florida’s largest, is posting increasingly strong profits and revenues. Just last week, in a sign of confidence, Autonation announced a major acquisition — buying six large auto stores in Texas — that will add about 700 employees to its national payroll of 19,400.

In announcing the deal Tuesday, which is expected to provide AutoNation with $575 million in additional revenues next year, the company’s CEO and chairman, Mike Jackson, expressed optimism about the prospects for continued growth in vehicle sales.

“You want to know what I’m thinking, look at what I do,” Jackson told viewers on CNBC’s Squawk Box program.

No information was released on the cost of the transactions, but in recent years auto dealerships sometimes sold for three to five times revenue, which would represent a significant investment for the company.

Tough times

To be sure, AutoNation has struggled through some tough times. It was battered by the Great Recession, which depressed sales and pushed the company into a $1.2 billion loss four years ago. As sales began to improve in 2010 and 2011, it was blindsided by a shortage of Japanese-made cars last year after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 shut down Japanese manufacturers of some essential components.

Since then, however, AutoNation has rebounded. Unit sales, revenues and profits all performed well in the first three quarters of this year, and the company expects new vehicle sales to continue their recovery nationwide, rising to the mid-14 million units this year, up from about 12.7 million in 2011. In the third quarter of 2012, AutoNation’s new car unit sales grew by 21 percent over the same period in 2011, doing better than an estimated 15 percent increase industry wide. November’s sales of new vehicles increased by 21 percent over November 2011 .

The big dealerships acquired sell Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen and Chrysler products in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth markets. They are expected to sell 14,000 new and used autos this year, and will add substantially to AutoNation’s future sales.

“We are in the right industry at the right time,” Jackson said during an interview. “The recovery in new vehicle sales is being driven by replacement demand,” added Jackson, who has 42 years of experience in the auto business. “The average age of the light vehicle fleet in the country has increased to 11 years, and even though cars and trucks last longer today, they can’t go on forever. About 12 to 13 million vehicles are scrapped every year and need to be replaced.”

Other factors are contributing to stronger demand for vehicles. “The population is growing, interest rates are low, there is ample credit available and manufacturers are producing a wide range of new models that offer attractive styling, power and greatly improved gas mileage,” said Jackson, who took over as AutoNation’s CEO in 1999. “Auto financing is more available than it has been in recent years. A little known fact is that people are more likely to default on a mortgage than on a vehicle loan.”

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U-Haul chase suspect appears in Miami-Dade court on Sunday

The suspect arrested in connection with Friday’s chase through the streets of Miami-Dade in a rental U-Haul truck appeared in front of judge Sunday morning.

Darrell Conyers, 45, made his first appearance in bond court.

Conyers faces a number of charges including grand theft, fraud and resisting arrest with violence.

During the hearing, the judge noted that the only charge before her was driving with a suspended license. For that she set bond at $2,000. Conyers will return to bond court at a later time for the additional charges.

Conyers was scheduled to appear in court on Saturday but was unable to do so because he was still in the hospital being treated for injuries he sustained at the end of the chase which apparently started as an attempted robbery at a tool shop on South Dixie Highway.

For 45-minutes the U-Haul truck weaved in and out of city streets, jumping on and off the Palmetto Expressway and headed in different directions along Southwest Eighth Street and Flagler Street.

The chase finally came to an end 12:45 p.m. next to Miami Senior High in Little Havana on Flagler Street and 26th Avenue.

When officers moved in to apprehend the driver, an unidentified Miami-Dade Police officer was injured when he was pinned between the U-Haul truck and a police vehicle. He was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he was treated for a broken leg.

Another Miami officer cut his hand from broken glass. Police say that happened when officers had to break the glass on the U-Haul truck to get the suspect out of it.

Police said Conyers has had previous run-ins with the law and has convictions for firearm violations, fleeing police and carjacking.

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Apple, Samsung face off in court again

SAN JOSE (Reuters) – Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics squared off again in court on Thursday, as the iPhone maker prepares to convince a U.S. district judge to ban sales of a number of the Korean company’s devices and defend a $ 1.05 billion jury award.

Apple scored a sweeping legal victory in August at the conclusion of its landmark case against its arch-foe, when a U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad and awarded it $ 1.05 billion in damages.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh is expected to address a range of issues at the hearing, which began Thursday afternoon. They include setting aside any of the jury’s findings on liability, juror misconduct, and the requested injunction.

Twenty four of Samsung’s smartphones were found to have infringed on Apple’s patents, while two of Samsung’s tablets were cleared of similar allegations.

Koh began by questioning the basis for some of the damages awarded by the jury, putting Apple’s lawyers on the defensive.

“I don’t see how you can evaluate the aggregate verdict without looking at the pieces,” Koh said.

Samsung’s lawyers argued the ruling against it should be “reverse engineered” to be sure the $ 1.05 billion was legally arrived at by the jury, while Apple said the ruling should stand as is.

FIERCEST RIVAL

Samsung is Apple’s fiercest global business rival, and their battle for consumers’ allegiance is shaping the landscape of the smartphone and tablet industry, and has claimed several high-profile victims including Nokia.

While most of the devices facing injunction are older and, in some cases, out of the market, such injunctions have been key for companies trying to increase their leverage in courtroom patent fights.

In October, a U.S. appeals court overturned a pretrial sales ban against Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone, dealing a setback to Apple’s battle against Google Inc’s increasingly popular mobile software.

Some analysts say Apple’s willingness to license patents to HTC could convince Koh it does not need the injunction, as the two companies could arrive at a licensing deal.

Apple is also attempting to add more than $ 500 million to the $ 1 billion judgment because the jury found Samsung willfully infringed on its patents.

Samsung, for its part, wants the verdict overturned, saying the foreman of the jury in the trial did not disclose that he was once embroiled in litigation with Seagate Technology, a company that Samsung invested in.

Both Apple and Samsung have filed separate lawsuits covering newer products, including the Samsung Galaxy Note II. That case is pending in U.S. District Court in San Jose and is set for trial in 2014.

(Reporting By Poornima Gupta)

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Prince William Attends Centrepoint Winter Whites Gala Without Kate

Prince William made his very first public appearance since the announcement of wife Kate's pregnancy last week to attend a charity event in London sans his expectant bride.

Video: Prince William Visits Kate in the Hospital

Without Kate, the Prince continued on with his royal duties attending The Winter Whites gala at Royal Albert Hall in support of his homeless charity Centrepoint. Although the Duchess of Cambridge was originally expected to attend, Kate remained at Kensington Palace after recently being released from an extended hospital stay due to acute morning sickness.

William spoke at the event of his personal connection to the charity, telling the story of how he willingly spent the night on the streets of London to better understand the plight of homeless youths.

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"About this time a few years ago, I gave up the warmth and comfort of my bed and tried sleeping on the streets," he said. "After that night, the chief executive at Centrepoint, Seyi Obakin, and I decided that Centrepoint should set itself a goal: to eradicate homelessness in the next ten years. We are now several years into that decade and the problem remains as acute as ever."

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