A made-for-TV drama plays out in Spanish-language television dispute

One of the best-known talk programs on local Spanish-language television has been cancelled and its host is out of a job — the result of a made-for-TV drama unfolding in the South Florida Hispanic media industry.

Hosted by popular journalist María Elvira Salazar, the María Elvira show was launched only three months ago on GenTV (WGEN-Channel 8), now an affiliate of MundoFox Broadcasting, a new Spanish-language network partially owned by a subsidiary of media giant News Corp.

María Elvira was abruptly taken off the air in December and this week Salazar’s contract was terminated.

Luis Calle — vice president for operations, news and sports of Caracol Televisión, one of the dominant media players in Colombia and an owner of Miami-based GenTV — confirmed that Salazar was out.

“We wish her the best future anyone can wish a person with her professional and human qualities,” he said.

The departure of Salazar is the climax of a controversial and confusing contractual tussle that involves two Miami TV stations and the new network, which was launched nationally in August by Fox International and RCN Televisión de Colombia.

GenTV cancelled all the programming it premiered just three months ago during its re-launch except its local newscast. Meanwhile, América CV Network, owner of América TeVé (WJAN-Channel 41), which had announced an affiliation agreement with MundoFox Broadcasting several months ago with great hoopla, has been sued by MundoFox for allegedly breaching two agreements signed last May.

“Obviously, Channel 8 made a decision to become part of a national network and a greater world and, based on its history of scant success in the local market, decided to take another course,” said Tomás Johansen, a veteran Spanish-language television executive.

“This is a real telenovela that we’re watching in 2013,” Johansen added.

On Friday, Dec. 28, at 8 p.m., just before the María Elvira program began, GenTV’s screen went black for a second. Immediately afterward, without notifying the audience or telling Salazar, the station changed its signal to MundoFox programming. The previous program had even promoted the María Elvira show.

Salazar and her team were on vacation. The day’s program was taped in advance.

“This caught the public in South Florida and those of us who work at the channel by surprise,” wrote Salazar on her Facebook page upon returning from vacation. “I am so sorry that so many of you feel deceived by Miami’s Channel 8 when it changed its programming without previous warning,” she continued the following day.

The programming changes and the primetime signal switch were ordered by MundoFox, which only a few hours earlier had announced its affiliation with GenTV. Until that time, the MundoFox signal had been broadcast in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market through frequencies belonging to América CV Network, a television company that has catered to the local Cuban audience.

“Simply put, from an operational standpoint, we were ready, and that was the time and date chosen by MundoFox,” Calle explained. “There was no ill intention; it happened by chance.”

MundoFox said in a statement that the addition of GenTV, “represents a major step forward for us in Miami, bringing full coverage, a consistent channel position, and a strong, built-in Spanish-language audience in this very important market.”

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Miami conclave to help map the next 50 years for Southeast Florida

On a Google map, the long stretch of Florida coastline from deep South Miami-Dade County to Sebastian Inlet appears a seamless mass of urban development jammed between a thin border of sand on one side and wetlands and farmland on the other.

But zoom in and it’s soon sliced up by lines both real and imaginary: roadways, highways, railways, waterways and the boundaries of numerous, and often overlapping, governmental jurisdictions.

Now this vast area, at once connected and disconnected, is the subject of one of the most ambitious planning efforts ever undertaken in Florida. Called Seven50, it aims to chart a coordinated, integrated future for the development of Southeast Florida’s seven counties for a couple of generations, through the year 2060.

On Thursday, the big moveable feast of thinkers, planners, economists, government officials and business leaders that is Seven50 will convene in downtown Miami for the effort’s second public summit since its launch in Delray Beach last June.

It may sound like “wonky stuff,’’ said Seven50 lead consultant Victor Dover, a Coral Gables-based planner. But he said Seven50’s scores of participants are convinced that agreeing to coordinated plans across jurisdictional lines is critical if the region is to prosper and meet a long list of common challenges. They range from transportation logjams to the prospect of rising seas and U.S. and international competitors trying to grab our share of international investment, tourism, cargo and trade.

And that competition is serious and well-organized, Dover said. In Texas, for instance, 13 counties and 100 cities between Houston and Galveston have banded together in a similar planning alliance, and so have cities and states along the Great Lakes.

The advantage Southeast Florida has, Seven50 planners say, is that old real-estate cliche: Location, location, location.

But it risks throwing its advantage away unless it better links up its airports and seaports, installs more and better-connected mass transit, and develops strategies to improve education and retain and attract the kind of skilled, educated young people considered key to economic prosperity in today’s economy.

“Planning at this scale is profoundly American, from Jefferson to the creation of Washington, D.C., and if we don’t do it, we’re going to get blown away by the competition,’’ said Andres Duany, a renown Miami-based planner who will give the keynote address at the downtown gathering. “They’re gunning for us.’’

The free, full day of sessions at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson campus is designed to gather public input and share a still-in-development snapshot of the region as planners build what they describe as a massive data warehouse covering everything from demographics to housing, economics and transportation networks. Key discussion areas will be transportation, education and the daunting implications of climate change.

Because Southeast Florida will be among the first regions to experience rising sea levels, across-the-board planning on how to adapt will be essential. That could include difficult options like steering investment for new public infrastructure away from vulnerable areas, or protecting the region’s underground water supply from saltwater intrusion by raising freshwater levels in drainage canals, which could produce more seasonal flooding in some areas.

Some 200 public agencies, advocates, business groups and academic institutions, including the region’s principal universities, have signed up for the effort. Any resulting plans are purely voluntary, and no town or agency is obligated to adopt any ideas it doesn’t like, planners stress.

Still, the process hit a roadblock in the northernmost county, Indian River. The county commission and the Vero Beach city council voted to drop out after Tea Party-linked activists raised a public ruckus over their participation. The activists contend Seven50 is part of Agenda 21, a 20-year-old, nonbinding United Nations resolution that called for environmentally sustainable urban development, which they describe as a conspiracy to evict people from their homes and force them into dense urban housing.

Seven50 planners had to post a response on their website explaining they intend no such thing. Since then, the Stuart city council voted to join Seven50. Other Indian River agencies remain as participants.

The two-year planning effort, led by a consortium established by the South Florida Regional Planning Council and the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, is funded by a $4.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The federal agency is encouraging local governments to engage in long-range planning under the sustainability label, which covers a range of strategies to foster development of pedestrian-friendly urban zones that put jobs close to homes and save energy by providing alternatives to auto transportation.

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Meet the New Contestants of The Amazing Race

Meet the 11 new teams that will be competing on the 22nd installment of The Amazing Race, premiering Sunday, February 17 at 8/7c on CBS.

RELATED: Amazing Race Stars Cheer Up Bullied Gay Fan

First up is the young, athletic couple, John and Jessica, from Huntington Beach, California, who have been dating for four years. These two lovebirds only considered joining the program after a little prodding from friends.

Jessica made her case for why they stand a chance to win The Amazing Race, listing their wide range of interests -- from scuba diving to rock climbing.

"We're always kind of looking for the next adrenaline rush," said Jessica, who proudly views herself and her boyfriend as risk takers. "I think that the main focus is that we'll never give up."

The rest of the cast includes father and son David and Connor from Salt Lake City, Utah; best friends Pamela and Winnie from Los Angeles; firefighters Matthew and Daniel from Gaffney, South Carolina; married couple Chuck and Wynona from Daphne, Alabama; brothers Idries and Jamil from Ottawa, Illinois; best friends Joey and Meghan from Los Angeles; roller derby girls Mona and Beth from Colorado; newlyweds Max and Katie from Buffalo, New York; brothers Bates and Anthony from Raleigh, North Carolina; former band mates Caroline and Jen from Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, respectively.

Check out their videos below.

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Columbia grads file $16M sex suit

Two Columbia University graduate students claim a pair of lecherous former instructors ruined their career prospects by retaliating against the women for reporting their sexual advances.

In their $16 million Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit, filed today, the women also fault the Ivy League school and its deans for failing to address their complaints.

The suit names former Human Rights Department head J. Paul Martin, who now teaches at Barnard, and Law School lecturer Francis M. Ssekandi.

Scholarship student Laura Williams, 31, was in Martin’s campus office in 2005 when he allegedly cornered her against a wall, the suit claims.

“If you wanted a good grade, you’d need to have sex with me,” Martin allegedly told Williams.

Martin then allegedly asked Williams, who is black, “if she planned to have children out of wedlock,” the documents allege, adding that “he thought that black women typically have children out of wedlock.”

Fellow master’s student Susan Farley, 41, was doing research in East Timor in 2002 where Ssekandi allegedly harassed her, according to the suit.

“Ssekandi would hold Farley’s leg beneath the table and insist that she call him by his first name, which she refused to do,” court papers claim.

Both women told The Post they’ve struggled to find work since the incidents because the university has allegedly withheld transcripts and marred their credit ratings.

Neither the professors nor Columbia University returned calls or emails for comment.

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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 and Miami-Dade split the costs with owner Stephen Ross for a $400 million renovation. The Dolphins would pay at least $201 million, with taxpayers using state funds and a higher Miami-Dade hotel tax to pay $199 million.

In a fact sheet sent to media Tuesday morning, the Dolphins listed ways their deal differs from the 2009 Marlins deal. First: Ross, a billionaire real estate developer, would use private dollars to fund at least 51 percent of the Sun Life effort, compared to less than 25 percent from Marlins owner Jeff Loria. Second, Sun Life helps the economy more than the Marlins park does.

“Just because the Marlins did a bad deal doesn’t mean we should oppose a good deal where at least a majority of the cost is paid from private sources and more than 4,000 local jobs are created during construction alone,” the fact sheet states. And while the Dolphins’ Miami Gardens stadium has hosted two Super Bowls since 2007 and is in the running for the 2016 game, “Marlins Stadium does not generate the ability to attract world-class sports events -- other than a World Series from time to time depending on the success of the team.”

NFL teams play eight home games a year if they don’t make the playoffs, while baseball teams have 81.

Miami and Miami-Dade built the Marlins a $640 million stadium at the site of the Dolphins’ old home at the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Marlins contributed about $120 million and agreed to pay between $2.5 million and $4.9 million a year for 35 years to pay back $35 million of debt the county borrowed for the stadium. As a publicly owned stadium, the Marlins ballpark pays no property taxes. Most of the public money came from Miami-Dade hotel taxes, along with $50 million of debt tied to the county’s general fund.

Sun Life is privately owned and pays $3 million a year in property taxes to Miami-Dade. It currently receives $2 million a year from Florida’ s stadium program, a subsidy tied to converting the football venue to baseball in the 1990s when the Marlins played there. The Dolphins also paid for a second full-page ad with quotes from leading hoteliers in Miami-Dade endorsing the stadium plan. Among them: Donald Trump, whose company recently purchased the Doral golf resort. “Steve Ross’ commitment to modernize Sun Life Stadium -- while covering most of the construction costs -- is the right thing for Miami-Dade,’’ the ad quotes Trump as saying.

Also on Tuesday, Ross and team CEO Mike Dee sent a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and county commissioners requesting negotiations over the stadium deal. The letter said the deal Ross unveiled last week is a “baseline for debate” and asked for talks. The letter also urged the commission to adopt a resolution proposed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan endorsing the state bill that would allow taxes for Sun Life. The resolution is on the agenda for Wednesday’s commission meeting.

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Broward schools superintendent earns high marks

The honeymoon may be long over, but Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie still boasts the solid support of the majority of the Broward School Board — with six board members rating Runcie “highly effective” during his latest semi-annual performance review.

Broward’s remaining three school board members gave Runcie an “effective” grade — including School Board member Nora Rupert, who at times has been Runcie’s strongest critic. During discussion of the recently-completed evaluation at a Tuesday School Board workshop, boards members repeatedly showered Runcie with praise.

“He’s a dynamic individual, a visionary,” School Board member Patricia Good said.

Said board member Robin Bartleman to the superintendent: “What I admire most about you is, it’s all about the kids.”

When he became Broward’s schools chief in the fall of 2011, Runcie was tasked with restoring the reputation of a school district that had become a local poster child for scandal. Two board members had been arrested on corruption charges in recent years, and a grand jury report released eight months before Runcie’s arrival blasted the nation’s sixth largest school district as a backroom-dealing cesspool of lobbyist influence.

Under Runcie’s leadership, the district awarded teachers their first raise in more than four years, though the salary boosts were somewhat modest. Broward also dramatically improved its performance under Florida’s class-size rules, with the percentage of classes in compliance rising from about 54 percent to 84 percent.

Runcie not only halted teacher layoffs but found the money to hire hundreds of additional teachers, and electives such as music and art (previously a victim of budget cuts) were restored to elementary schools.

Not all of Runcie’s changes worked out perfectly, however. Some of the money for hiring teachers came from radically overhauling the district’s school bus transportation department. When Runcie’s new-and-improved transportation department botched the beginning of the school year (with widespread reports of late or no-show buses) the superintendent absorbed weeks of heavy criticism.

The supervisor in charge of that dysfunctional bus service, transportation director Chester Tindall, was a friend of Runcie’s from a time when the two men both worked in Chicago. With parents furious over the bus mishaps, Runcie reassigned Tindall but refused to fire him. Tindall finally announced his resignation last month.

That school bus soap opera did make its way into some board members’ written evaluations of the superintendent. In writing that Runcie “Needs Improvement” in the Leadership/Management category, Rupert called the busing mistakes “The Giant Elephant in the Room.”

Bartleman, while overall complimentary of Runcie, wrote “The transportation issues that occurred at the beginning of the year have overshadowed many of Mr. Runcie’s accomplishments.”

Some board members also complained that the district’s communication skills — both internally and when reaching out to the public — are sorely lacking. Other Florida school districts, for example, have glitzier websites. The Palm Beach County school district has its own mobile phone app.

Runcie responded that improving the district’s web presence will also require upgrading some of its outdated computer technology. In an interview following the workshop, Runcie said he planned to move forward on that front, as he felt there was lots of good news about the district to promote online.

“Overall, we’ve turned the corner,” Runcie said. “Does everybody out there recognize it? I don’t know.”

Regarding the difficulties he encountered in remaking the transportation department, Runcie said the goal was to steer more money into the classroom, and that experience wouldn’t deter him from similar efforts in the future.

“The bottom line is this: any time you’re going through any real transformative change, it’s not going to be always smooth,” Runcie said.

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Google’s fourth quarter results shine after ad rate decline slows

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Revenue from Google Inc’s core Internet business outpaced many analysts’ expectations during the crucial holiday quarter and advertising rates fell less than in previous periods, pushing its shares up more than 4 percent.

The world’s largest Internet search company introduced new product listings during the fourth quarter – typically its strongest – and also benefited from business growth in international markets, analysts said.

Excluding traffic-acquisition costs, the business generated net revenue of $ 9.83 billion, up from $ 8.13 billion a year earlier, Google reported on Tuesday. That surpassed a $ 9.6 billion average forecast from six analysts polled by Reuters.

“Business looked really strong, especially from a profitability perspective. They really grew their margins in the core business,” said Sameet Sinha, an analyst with B. Riley Caris. “Most of that strength seems to be coming from international markets which grew revenues quite substantially: up 23 percent year over year, versus the 15 percent growth in the third quarter.”

Average cost-per-click, a critical metric that denotes the price advertisers pay Google, declined 6 percent from a year ago, the fifth consecutive quarter of decline.

Google executives told analysts on a conference call that the company had focused on improving the metric – shoring up margins – while lowering the overall growth rate of paid clicks in the holiday quarter.

“Click prices are still declining, but it’s better than expected,” said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

MOTOROLA MOBILITY “STILL LOSING MONEY”

Consolidated net income in the fourth quarter was $ 2.89 billion or $ 8.62 per share, compared with $ 2.71 billion, or $ 8.22 per share, in the year-ago period when Google had not yet acquired Motorola.

Excluding certain items, Google said it earned $ 10.65 per share in the fourth quarter.

“The core business is a great business and the fourth-quarter is always a time for Google to shine. However, Motorola is still losing money and click rates still declined. They only declined 6 percent, but go back four or five quarters and click prices were improving. So mobile is still pressuring click prices,” Gillis said.

The company posted consolidated revenue – which includes its Motorola Mobility mobile phone business but not the television set-top box business it recently agreed to sell – of $ 14.42 billion on Tuesday.

Motorola Mobility had an operating loss of $ 353 million during the quarter.

Shares of Google were up roughly 4.5 percent at $ 734.46 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Sheryl Crow on Lance Armstrong Doping Confession to Oprah Winfrey

Sheryl Crow (who will be advising Blake Shelton on The Voice this season) opened up to Nancy O'Dell on the set of the singing competition over the weekend, commenting on Lance Armstrong's doping confession.

RELATED: Shelton Taps Sheryl For The Voice

"I think that honesty is always the best bet and that the truth will set you free," said Crow, who caught "bits and pieces" of her ex-fiance's interview with Oprah Winfrey. "To carry around a weight like that would be devastating in the long run."

Armstrong, 41, and Crow, 50, began dating in 2003 -- the same year that Armstrong divorced his wife of five years, Kristin -- and split in 2006.

Last year, a report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency led to Armstrong's downfall. The shamed cyclist was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and, until now, vehemently maintained his innocence.

RELATED: Biggest Celebrity Scandals of 2012

During a series of rapid-fire yes or no questions, the retired cyclist confirmed to Oprah last week that he had blood transfusions and used the banned substance erythropoietin (EPO) during his career -- particularly during all seven of his Tour de France victories. Although he expressed a desire to make things right with the people he may have hurt, Crow was never mentioned by name.

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Weberman victim's impact statement

Thank you, Honorable Justice Ingram for your role during this trial (and beyond.) A very special thank you to Assistant DA Kevin O’Donnell for your endless hard work and sleepless nights throughout the trial in order to see justice served.

Standing here, I think back to those years throughout my ordeal when I suffered great psychological damage and fell into severe depression. I clearly remember how I would look in the mirror and see a person I didn’t recognize. I saw a girl who didn’t want to live in her own skin. A girl whose innocence was shattered at the age of 12.

A girl who couldn’t look at her own reflection without feeling repulsed knowing what abuse that tortured person was continuously experiencing. A girl who couldn’t sleep at night because the horrifying images of the recent gruesome invasions which had been done to her body kept replaying in her head. A girl who numbed her feelings and froze her emotions every minute of the day just to stay sane. A girl who was forced to lose any respect for herself. A girl who lost the right to say NO, to an abuser who used and abused her repeatedly for years that seemed like forever and ever. A sad girl who so badly wished she could have lived a normal young teenage life but instead was stuck being victimized by a 50 year old man who forced her to experience and perform sickening acts for his sick sense of pleasure again and again.

I saw a girl who didn’t have a reason to live.

I would cover up the burn marks inflicted on the body he used to serve his sadistic pleasures. Every time I would look at it, I would get flashbacks and feel my body burning all over again. I would cry until my tears ran dry.

But now, with the help and support of so many officials, family members, friends, supporters, and of my dear husband, I finally stood up and spoke out.

I gathered all my inner strength and courage to go through this battle. A battle of justice, to right in some small way the terrible wrong, to prevent further evil, to protect the innocent, and most of all, to heal. It continues to be a very rough battle that brought me, my parents, and family great humiliation and intimidation, aggravation and rejection, strain and loss of business, each too great to describe.

However, this same battle was one of righteousness. A battle that was the voice of other silent Weberman victims coming forward to bring this monstrous perpetrator to justice. Unfortunately, the others could not or would not publicly testify. Many were too scared to face the opposition and repercussions from the community while others had already passed the statute of limitations — but we were all one voice as they were with me in spirit.

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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 and Miami-Dade split the costs with owner Stephen Ross for a $400 million renovation. The Dolphins would pay at least $201 million, with taxpayers using state funds and a higher Miami-Dade hotel tax to pay $199 million.

In a fact sheet sent to media Tuesday morning, the Dolphins listed ways their deal differs from the 2009 Marlins deal. First: Ross, a billionaire real estate developer, would use private dollars to fund at least 51 percent of the Sun Life effort, compared to less than 25 percent from Marlins owner Jeff Loria. Second, Sun Life helps the economy more than the Marlins park does.

“Just because the Marlins did a bad deal doesn’t mean we should oppose a good deal where at least a majority of the cost is paid from private sources and more than 4,000 local jobs are created during construction alone,” the fact sheet states. And while the Dolphins’ Miami Gardens stadium has hosted two Super Bowls since 2007 and is in the running for the 2016 game, “Marlins Stadium does not generate the ability to attract world-class sports events -- other than a World Series from time to time depending on the success of the team.”

NFL teams play eight home games a year if they don’t make the playoffs, while baseball teams have 81.

Miami and Miami-Dade built the Marlins a $640 million stadium at the site of the Dolphins’ old home at the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Marlins contributed about $120 million and agreed to pay between $2.5 million and $4.9 million a year for 35 years to pay back $35 million of debt the county borrowed for the stadium. As a publicly owned stadium, the Marlins ballpark pays no property taxes. Most of the public money came from Miami-Dade hotel taxes, along with $50 million of debt tied to the county’s general fund.

Sun Life is privately owned and pays $3 million a year in property taxes to Miami-Dade. It currently receives $2 million a year from Florida’ s stadium program, a subsidy tied to converting the football venue to baseball in the 1990s when the Marlins played there. The Dolphins also paid for a second full-page ad with quotes from leading hoteliers in Miami-Dade endorsing the stadium plan. Among them: Donald Trump, whose company recently purchased the Doral golf resort. “Steve Ross’ commitment to modernize Sun Life Stadium -- while covering most of the construction costs -- is the right thing for Miami-Dade,’’ the ad quotes Trump as saying.

Also on Tuesday, Ross and team CEO Mike Dee sent a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and county commissioners requesting negotiations over the stadium deal. The letter said the deal Ross unveiled last week is a “baseline for debate” and asked for talks. The letter also urged the commission to adopt a resolution proposed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan endorsing the state bill that would allow taxes for Sun Life. The resolution is on the agenda for Wednesday’s commission meeting.

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