Online bingo shows its worth at Rank

LONDON (Reuters) – It may lack the noisy camaraderie of a trip to the bingo hall, but the online version of the numbers game has proved more profitable for Britain‘s Rank Group than the original.

The merits of the online business were further emphasized when Rank said a snowy January had cost it 3 million pounds ($ 4.7 million) in revenue as Britons opted not to venture out to its bingo halls and casinos.

Operating profit from online bingo was 11.4 million pounds, just beating the 11.1 million earned from the venues themselves.

The company, majority owned by Malaysia’s Guoco, reported a 4 percent decline in pretax profit to 31.3 million pounds in the six months to December, with its loss-making Blue Square betting business proving a drag.

Many parts of Britain have seen heavy snow over the last two weeks and there are fears that the bad weather will hit economic activity and push the country back into recession.

Pub groups Enterprise Inns and Mitchell & Butlers both said the recent cold snap had hit sales.

“Allowing for the slow start to the second half we remain confident in our prospects for the remainder of the year and in our longer-term growth strategy,” Rank Chief Executive Ian Burke said.

Rank’s main activities are in Britain where it runs 35 Grosvenor Casinos and more than 100 Mecca bingo clubs.

Profits growth in its online bingo business mirrors that in the gambling industry as a whole where online betting is the fastest growing part of the market, helped by the popularity of smart phones and tablets.

However, Rank has said it is reviewing the future of its own struggling online betting business Blue Square, a relative minnow in a crowded sector.

“We felt the losses were not losses we could continue to sustain,” said Burke.

Blue Square reported an operating loss of 4.8 million pounds in the six months and Rank has now cut its spending on marketing the business.

“There were 11 or 12 competitors advertising and that spending just wasn’t cutting through,” said Burke.

He declined to comment further on the future of the business pending completion of the review.

Rank is awaiting regulatory clearance for a planned 205 million pound deal to buy the casino business of Gala Coral.

A preliminary report by the Competition Commission said Rank could have to sell six casinos to get the deal approved.

($ 1 = 0.6332 British pounds)

(Editing by Louise Ireland and Brenda Goh)

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ANTM Winner Lisa D'Amato on Her Freak Accident

America's Next Top Model winner Lisa D'Amato faced a possible career-ending injury when she crushed her face after a nasty fall. Now, D'Amato is recovering nicely from her freak accident and telling ET what happened.

PICS: America's Next Top Model Hall of Fame!

While enjoying some down time on the set of an independent movie in Colorado earlier this month, D'Amato was doing handstands and flips with a crew member. D'Amato says that she was being held upside down by the ankles when she fell and the crew member landed on top of her.

"Then I just felt a waterfall going down my throat, and that's when I looked down and my hands were completely covered with blood," says D'Amato, who has modeled for companies as varied as Guess and the Ford Motor Company.

D'Amato's husband Adam promptly called 9-1-1 and she was rushed into medical and cosmetic surgery.

READY: ANTM Winner Suffers Horrible Face Injury

Today, things are looking better for D'Amato. On Saturday she visited the plastic surgeon who reconstructed her face, Dr. Ryan Naffziger, to remove the top layer of stitches from her nose.

D'Amato plans on keeping her new nose for a long time, promising to be more cautious in the future.

"I am just gonna be careful and not trust anyone else," says D'Amato. "No more duo moves!"

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Man convicted in murder of pregnant ex-girlfriend

A Queens man was convicted today for the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her toddler.

Jimmy Humphrey was found guilty of strangling Linda Anderson to death and setting her lifeless body on fire. The fire ultimately killed her 2-year-old son, Aiden Hayes, as he searched for his mother through the smoke in their St. Albans apartment.

"I'm not happy about the verdict, I really don't know how to feel. My little sister, Aiden and Gabriel are all gone," said Anderson's heartbroken older brother Rob, 40, outside of Queens Supreme Court.

The 6-foot 2, muscular Humphrey, 25, choked back tears as the forewoman read eight "guilty" verdicts to the court.

Humphrey will be sentenced on March 6.

Anderson, 25, was seven months pregnant with Humphrey's son -- to be named Gabriel -- when their complicated relationship escalated to a crime of passion on July 13, 2010.

Humphrey testified that after their altercation he went home to for a few hours to call his girlfriend and called 911 to report the fire from a pay phone three blocks away.

"I'll be alright, I love ya'll," said Humphrey, who faces up to 50 years in prison, to his family.

Both of Anderson's brothers are expected to give impact statements.

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Mompreneur jumps into the ‘Shark Tank’

It all started with a 4 a.m. email nearly a year ago: “Do you think a baby bib could change the world? I do...”

Then Susie Taylor included a link to her website, bibbitec.com, and off it went to Shark Tank, the popular ABC television show where entrepreneurs pitch their companies to investors on the show — and by extension, 7 million viewers.

Four months later, as the “mompreneur” was leaving her Biscayne Park home to pick up her kids from school, she got a call from the show asking her to pitch on the spot. Driving with her phone on her shoulder, she told the Bibbitec story.

Shark Tank bit. After a few more back and forths, her segment was filmed last summer.

Friday night, Taylor is scheduled to be on the show pitching Bibbitec’s main product, “The Ultimate Bib,” a patented generously sized, stain-resistant and fast-drying child’s bib made in the USA — Hialeah, to be exact. Bibbitec’s $30 bib can be a burp cloth, changing pad, breast feeding shield, full body bib, place mat, art smock and more, Taylor says.

We won’t be getting any details on what happens Friday night when she and her husband, Stephen Taylor, get into the tank with Daymond John, Mark Cuban and the other celebrity sharks; Taylor has been contractually sworn to secrecy. But whatever the outcome, she believes it will be worth it for the marketing pop.

Taylor was inspired to create her bib after a long and very messy plane ride with her two young sons and started Bibbitec in 2008. She and her team — her husband is CFO, her sister, Heather McCabe, handles sales and marketing, her uncle, Richard Page, is in charge of production, and her aunt, Marcia Kreitman, advises on design — have expanded the line to include The Ultimate Smock for older children and the Ultimate Mini for babies. Coming soon: a smock for adults.

Taylor already got a taste of what a national TV show appearance can do for sales. In September, Bibbitec’s sales jumped 40 percent after she was on an ABC World News "Made in America" segment. “Within 30 seconds, we started getting sales from all over the country and they didn’t even mention our name on the air,” Taylor says. She said that confirmed her belief that a Shark Tank appearance would be worth it.

Plus, Taylor has been hooked on Shark Tank since the first time she watched it in 2008 as she was developing her product. Trained in theater, she admits she didn’t know much about business and learned from the show. She would practice how she would answer the questions.

“I’m all about empowering women who are sitting on the couch watching, because that’s what I was four years ago,” says Taylor. “All I wanted to do was to be on Shark Tank because I believed if I got on Shark Tank the world will see what I am trying to do and that’s all I need. I know it’s a great product.”

Will that theater training come in handy Friday night? Stay tuned. Shark Tank airs at 9 p.m. on ABC and Taylor hopes viewers will join in on Twitter using the hashtag #sharkbib.

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House proposes closing slush funds, raising contribution limits

TALLAHASSEE --
Florida House leaders unveiled what they hope will be behavior-changing campaign finance reform Wednesday, phasing out candidate-controlled political committees and ushering in stricter reporting deadlines, more contribution accountability and campaign contribution caps of $10,000 per election.

“It’s a way to start the conversation,” said House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, who has made reforming what he considers a “messed up” campaign finance system a top priority. “We are keeping the baby and throwing out the bath water.”

The most dramatic proposal of the 47-page bill is its goal of eliminating almost 700 Committees of Continuing Existence, political committees that can collect unlimited campaign checks but may not expressly advocate for candidates. The CCEs have been increasingly used as personal slush funds by candidates who can legally spend the unrestricted money on travel, entertainment and meals as well as steer money to other candidates and causes.

The bill would require all CCEs to be shut down by Nov. 1, giving time for organizers to allow them to become traditional political committees. Traditional political committees would remain in law to be used to advocate for a candidate or an issue and would continue to be allowed to accept unlimited contributions from donors.

The proposal also would increase Florida’s 20-year-old cap on campaign contributions from $500 to $10,000 per election, and from $1,000 to $20,000 per election cycle.

Ethics advocates such as Integrity Florida had urged lawmakers to consider eliminating all caps on campaign contributions in exchange for immediate, 24-hour disclosure. The House bill stops short of immediate disclosure but asks the Division of Elections to prepare a report by Dec. 1 that looks into the cost and possibility of moving to full disclosure for both state and local campaigns.

Under the bill, HB 569, candidates for state offices would be required to file weekly campaign finance reports after they qualify for office and provide 24-hour reporting during the last 10 days of the general election cycle.

The proposal also includes new limits on how candidates use their surplus funds after an election, allowing them to keep up to $100,000 for the next election in the same office or dispose of the money by returning it to donors or giving it to charitable causes.

The bill is expected to face resistance from legislators who want to retain the current CCE system and political consultants who have profited from it.

Senate leaders of both parties warned Wednesday that eliminating CCEs could concentrate power in the parties and weaken the ability of challengers to unseat incumbents. But those potential opponents made their remarks before they had seen the bill.

“I’d rather target the abuses, solve the abuses, than I would to take drastic action like that,” said Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, at a meeting of journalists at The Associated Press’ legislative planning conference.

Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, and Senate Democratic Leader Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale said they would also prefer to crack down on the abuses. “There have been abuses with CCEs, I’m not going to say there haven’t been,” Smith said. “But when you go after one problem you create another problem.”

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Rape trial of teenaged football players to be open to public: Ohio judge

(Reuters) – The controversial trial of two high school football players accused of raping a classmate will remain open to the public and will not be relocated to another town, an Ohio judge ruled on Wednesday.

Prosecutors and an attorney representing the accuser had sought a closed trial, arguing that public access to the juvenile trial would subject the accuser to unwanted publicity and make potential witnesses reluctant to testify.

Visiting Hamilton County Judge Tom Lipps said the presence of the media would prevent inaccurate reporting and enhance public confidence in the juvenile justice system, according to his written ruling, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

“An open hearing is especially valuable where rumors, mischaracterizations and opinions unsupported by facts have reportedly been repeated in social media postings and other published outlets,” Lipps wrote. “An open hearing will diminish the influence of such postings and publications.”

Prosecutors have accused Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays, both 16, of raping a classmate at a party attended by many teammates last August in Steubenville, a close-knit city of 19,000 near the Pennsylvania border.

The case attracted national attention after the hacker activist group Anonymous publicized a picture of two young men carrying a girl by her wrists and ankles and released a video showing other young men joking about the alleged assault.

Richmond’s lawyer, Walter Madison, said previously on CNN that his client was one of the young men in the photograph – which he said was taken out of context – but does not appear in the video. A lawyer for Mays has not publicly commented on the postings.

Community leaders have accused authorities of protecting the school’s popular football program by not charging more players who could have prevented the alleged attack.

Lipps also ruled on Wednesday that the trial will remain in Steubenville. He set a trial date for March 13.

Reuters generally does not identify people who say they have been victims of sex crimes.

(Editing by Paul Thomasch, Bernard Orr)

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Lindsay Lohan's Dad Michael Welcomes Baby

Following Lindsay Lohan's court hearing today, where she officially named Mark Heller her new attorney, Lindsay welcomed a new baby brother.

PICS: Candid Star Sightings

According to Us Weekly, Lindsay's dad Michael Lohan, 52, and his girlfriend Kate Major had their first child together at a Florida hospital.

The baby -- a boy named Landon Major Lohan -- reportedly weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces.

A rep told the news source that Michael was actively involved in the birth, even cutting the umbilical cord.

VIDEO: Lindsay Lohan Arrives to Court

This marks Michael's sixth child. He and Major (who was previously linked to reality star Jon Gosselin) have had an on-and-off relationship, as they broke off their engagement in 2010 only to announce the pregnancy in 2012.

Following Landon's birth, mother and child are said to be "doing great."

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Colombo underboss gets 63 months in jail

The underboss of the Colombo crime family was sentenced to 63 months in prison today on mob racketeering charges.

Benjamin “The Claw” Castellazzo, 75, will also have to pay $400,000 in restitution and serve three years probation.

The wiseguy - who's the second highest-ranking member of the Colombos - began his 55 year-long criminal career in 1958.

Castellazzo had pleaded guilty to a mob extortion stemming from a dispute over a stolen red sauce recipe from Brooklyn's L&B Spumoni Gardens pizza restaurant. He also admitted shaking down of a construction company.

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Mompreneur jumps into the ‘Shark Tank’

It all started with a 4 a.m. email nearly a year ago: “Do you think a baby bib could change the world? I do...”

Then Susie Taylor included a link to her website, bibbitec.com, and off it went to Shark Tank, the popular ABC television show where entrepreneurs pitch their companies to investors on the show — and by extension, 7 million viewers.

Four months later, as the “mompreneur” was leaving her Biscayne Park home to pick up her kids from school, she got a call from the show asking her to pitch on the spot. Driving with her phone on her shoulder, she told the Bibbitec story.

Shark Tank bit. After a few more back and forths, her segment was filmed last summer.

Friday night, Taylor is scheduled to be on the show pitching Bibbitec’s main product, “The Ultimate Bib,” a patented generously sized, stain-resistant and fast-drying child’s bib made in the USA — Hialeah, to be exact. Bibbitec’s $30 bib can be a burp cloth, changing pad, breast feeding shield, full body bib, place mat, art smock and more, Taylor says.

We won’t be getting any details on what happens Friday night when she and her husband, Stephen Taylor, get into the tank with Daymond John, Mark Cuban and the other celebrity sharks; Taylor has been contractually sworn to secrecy. But whatever the outcome, she believes it will be worth it for the marketing pop.

Taylor was inspired to create her bib after a long and very messy plane ride with two young sons and started her company in 2008. She and her team — her husband is CFO, her sister, Heather McCabe, handles sales and marketing, her uncle, Richard Page, is in charge of production, and her aunt, Marcia Kreitman, advises on design — have expanded the line to include The Ultimate Smock for older children and the Ultimate Mini for babies. Coming soon: a smock for adults.

Taylor already got a taste of what a national TV show appearance can do for sales. In September, Bibbitec’s sales jumped 40 percent after she was on an ABC World News "Made in America" segment. “Within 30 seconds, we started getting sales from all over the country and they didn’t even mention our name on the air,” Taylor says. She said that confirmed her belief that a Shark Tank appearance would be worth it.

Plus, Taylor has been hooked on Shark Tank since the first time she watched it in 2008 as she was developing her product. Trained in theater, she admits she didn’t know much about business and learned from the show. She would practice how she would answer the questions.

“I’m all about empowering women who are sitting on the couch watching, because that’s what I was four years ago,” says Taylor. “All I wanted to do was to be on Shark Tank because I believed if I got on Shark Tank the world will see what I am trying to do and that’s all I need. I know it’s a great product.”

Will that theater training come in handy Friday night? Stay tuned. Shark Tank airs at 9 p.m. on ABC and Taylor hopes viewers will join in on Twitter using the hashtag #sharkbib.

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Rick Ross raps about ducking hail of bullets

Rapper Rick Ross was keeping a low profile Tuesday, one day after his brush with bullets on the streets of Fort Lauderdale.

Though he has yet to comment on the incident, the self-proclaimed “Boss,” did what he does best: He rapped about the incident.

“I can’t believe I’m alive,” he said, dropping a rhyme about his near-death experience into a recording by a fellow rapper, Kendrick Lamar, titled “B---- Don’t kill my Vibe.” The verse was distributed through social media by his record label late Monday, and spread quickly over the Internet. Ross, whose real name is William L. Roberts II, also posted a link to a story about the shooting on his Facebook page. His publicist did not return phone calls.

Social media sites, however, were abuzz about the incident, mostly skeptical that he was the target of an attempted assassination. Many tweeters theorized the gunfire was staged to help boost his “street cred,’’ which has been a source of contention in the rap community. The timing of the episode also raised eyebrows, coming a little more than a week before the Grammy Awards. Ross is nominated for “Best Rap Album,’’ and referred to his nomination in the verse released Monday.

Rapper 50 Cent — who knows something about street violence, having been shot nine times in a single incident — declared the shooting a hoax, saying “lol it looks staged to me. No holes in the car,’’ referring to the 37-year-old Ross as “Fat Boy.”

Ross has frequently feuded with fellow rappers. He admitted to placing Young Jeezy in a choke hold at BET’s music awards last year and had reportedly received death threats from a group called “Gangster Disciples” a Chicago street gang that felt he disrespected one of their leaders by using his name in a song without paying him. Following the threats, Ross cancelled the second leg of his 2012 tour, though he denied he pulled the plug because of the threats.

In a move that may have further antagonized the gang, at a concert in Chicago, he made producers turn off the sound system as he arrived on stage in a $40,000 black Chinchilla coat.

“I told them to cut the music off. I wanted them to just look at me for a while,” he said in a December interview with Miami’s 99 Jamz. “Look at the beard, look at the coat, look at the walk. I’m here to make money.’’

The bulky, tattoo-covered rapper, who graduated from Carol City High and attended Albany State University on a football scholarship, formerly worked as a corrections officer, leading some to ridicule him for producing urban lyrics that seem to contradict his stable upbringing and law enforcement background.

Fort Lauderdale police were reviewing video surveillance tapes of the scene Tuesday, but released no new details of the shooting, which happened early Monday on Las Olas Boulevard, near the landmark Floridian diner. Witnesses said anywhere from five to 20 shots may have been fired, but they missed Ross, his girlfriend and the Rolls Royce they were riding in — no small target. Ross crashed the Rolls into some trees, but was not injured. His girlfriend, Shateria Moragne-el, is a native of Maryland who has her own fashion line.

Miami Herald staff writer Nadege Green contributed to this story.

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