Red light camera opponents find questionable champion in Rep. Campbell

Opponents of red-light cameras could have found a better advocate for their cause than state Rep. Daphne Campbell, D-Miami, who is sponsoring a bill to outlaw the practice.

A Honda minivan registered to her husband, Hubert, has five red-light camera violations, according to records obtained by the Herald/Times from American Traffic Solutions, or ATS, a Scottsdale, Ariz. vendor that provides the cameras for most cities and counties in Florida.

Two of the tickets, a May 10, 2010, violation in North Miami and a July 16, 2010, violation in Hallandale Beach, remain uncollected.

A ticket costs $158. If unpaid, a traffic citation is issued and may result in the termination of the vehicle registration and suspension of the owner’s driver’s license.

ATS provided a photo of the Honda Odyssey minivan at one of the violations. It has a Campbell campaign sticker on it. Two videos show the minivan making reckless turns on red, one left and the other right.

When reached Friday night, Campbell explained she was filing the bill for her constituents.

“My constituents complained and the people are hurting,” Campbell said. “I promised them when I went to Tallahassee that I would repeal the red-light cameras.”

Asked about the five tickets, Campbell said she didn’t know about them. Or at least four of them. She said she did know about a ticket she received in the mail for an Oct. 22 Miami Gardens violation.

But she said she had no clue about the others.

“Something is definitely wrong,” Campbell said. “You are the one who just told me about it. This is news to me.”

Despite the video footage of the minivan blowing through the red lights, Campbell wasn’t buying it.

“It’s a lie,” she said. “That camera is a made up story. You can do anything with the computer now.”

ATS spokesman Charles Territo said it was unlikely Campbell wouldn’t have gotten notice of the tickets, and he vouched for the accuracy of his company’s records and the photographic evidence.

“I don’t know how she wouldn’t know, unless her husband didn’t tell her,” Territo said. “Someone there knows about them because three have been paid.”

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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.

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Asked to explain his character in the film, he replies, "You want to hear about that? Buy at ticket." Tatiana then tries another approach and asks him to describe the scene they're shooting that day. He jokes, "Today is the day I operate on my own appendix."

The man with a self-proclaimed reputation "that says I'm not easy" was, however, quick to praise his Max Rose director Daniel Noah along with the hard-working crew. He was also happy to talk about his upcoming birthday.

"Eight-seven, baby! I'm going to have a bottle of Dom Perignon and I'm going to pour champagne for my daughter and my wife and me and my puppies," says Jerry about his upcoming March celebration. "Like New Year's, every year we go to bed about 20 minutes to 10. We look at one another and say, 'Well, after 35 years I'm still crazy nuts over you.' And we give one another a kiss and we go to bed."

Max Rose follows the story of an 82-year old jazz pianist and recent widower who revisits key moments in his life when a discovery, made days before his wife's death, causes him to believe his marriage was a lie. Claire Bloom, Kevin Pollak, Kerry Bishé, Mort Sahl, Lee Weaver, Rance Howard, Fred Willard and Dean Stockwell also star.

"It's got action, animation, truth, sensitivity, honesty, a wonderful cast of wonderful actors and a crew that's the best you ever saw in your life," says Jerry. "They are so nice and so good that I work my heart out so that I don't come up empty, because they deserve more."

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Prompted to reflect on his legacy, Jerry quipped, "My legacy? I don't believe in legacies. I believe that if you want to say something good about me, do it while I can I can hear it."

He then added, "I don't like to have to go back and remember what's gone. I'd rather go forward anticipating what's coming, and I know that this film, if I know anything about the work, we're going to shake up some people, because it has an emotional nub to it."

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American, US Air boards close on merger decision

DALLAS — The boards of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways could decide early next week whether to merge their two companies and create an airline rivaling the world's biggest.

The AMR board is scheduled to meet Monday, and directors of US Airways Group Inc. planned to meet over the weekend or Monday, people close to the matter said on Friday.

The two sides have been trying to resolve two major outstanding issues — the division of ownership and management roles, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

Negotiators have settled on a split that would give slightly more than 70 percent of the new company's stock to AMR bankruptcy creditors and the rest to US Airways shareholders, said one person.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker would run the new company, which would keep the American Airlines name. But the exact role for AMR CEO Tom Horton has not been settled, said three of the people. He could be named non-executive board chairman, they said.

Citing people familiar with the discussions, Bloomberg News reported that Horton's tenure in that position would only last one or two years.

An announcement is possible as early as Tuesday but could be delayed. The two sides are rushing to complete a deal by next Friday. That's when a key group of AMR bondholders who support a merger will no longer be restricted by the confidentiality agreement that has prevented the parties from discussing the talks.

AMR and US Airways declined to comment on the talks.

American is the nation's third-biggest airline and US Airways ranks fifth by passenger traffic. Together, they would be bigger than current world leader United Continental Holdings Inc., although United would remain slightly larger if regional operations such as United Express and American Eagle are counted.

US Airways is the product of a 2005 merger with America West, which was smaller but controlled the deal and took over the bigger company's name. It has been pursuing a merger with American since shortly after AMR filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2011.

AMR sat out the last several rounds of consolidation in the airline industry and lost its perch as the world's biggest airline in 2008. Its last major acquisition was TWA, which was bankrupt at the time, in 2001.

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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 and business brands.

During our finance panel, audience volunteers will be invited to explain their financing needs to the group. During our box-lunch session, they will be invited to pitch their business or personal brand to our coaches.

Those who prefer just to listen will be treated to a keynote address by Alberto Perlman, co-founder of the global fitness craze Zumba. Panels include success stories from the local entrepreneurs who founded Sedano’s, Jennifer’s Homemade and ReStockIt.com; finance tips from experts in small business loans, venture capital, angel investments and traditional bank loans; and insiders in the burgeoning South Florida tech start-up scene.

Plus, it’s a real bargain. $25 includes the half-day seminar, continental breakfast and a box lunch.

Register here.

Program

8 a.m.

Registration and continental breakfast, provided by Bill Hansen Catering

8:30 a.m. Welcome

Host: David Suarez, president and CEO, Interactive Training Solutions, LLC

•  Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

•  Alice Horn, executive director, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE South Florida)

•  Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge Overview:

•  Nancy Dahlberg, Business Plan Challenge coordinator, The Miami Herald

8:45 a.m. Session I – Success Stories

Moderator: Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

Speakers:

•  Jennifer Behar, founder, Jennifer’s Homemade

•  Matt Kuttler, co-president of ReStockIt.com

•  Javier Herrán, chief marketing officer, Sedano’s Supermarkets

10 a.m. Session II – All about Tech

Moderator: Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Speakers

•  Susan Amat, founder, Launch Pad Tech

•  Nancy Borkowski, executive director, Health Management Programs, Chapman Graduate School of

Business, Florida International University

•  Mark Slaughter, CEO, Cohealo.com

•  Chris Fleck, vice president of mobility solutions at Citrix and a director of the South Florida Tech Alliance

11:15 a.m. Keynote

Speaker: Alberto Perlman, CEO and co-founder of Zumba® Fitness

Introduction: Jane Wooldridge, business editor, The Miami Herald

11:45 a.m. Session III – Show me the money: Financing your small business

An interactive session featuring audience volunteers who will be invited to make a short investment pitch before a panel, including experts in microlending, SBA loans, traditional bank loans, venture capital and angel investing. Audience volunteers should come prepared with a two-minute presentation that includes details about current backing, how much money they are seeking and a brief synosis of ow that money would be used.

Moderator: Melissa Krinzman, founder and managing director, Venture Architects

Panelists:

•  Marjorie Weber, chairman, SCORE of Miami-Dade

•  Cornell Crews, Jr., program director, Partners for Self Employment

•  Darius G. Nevin, co-founder, G3 Capital Partners, a mid-market and early-stage investment company

•  Boris Hirmas Said, chairman of the board, Tres Mares S.A. (Santiago, Chile) and entrepreneur in

residence at the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center

1 p.m. Lunch session - Polish your Pitch, Brighten Your Personal Brand

An interactive session featuring audience volunteers who will be invited to make short pitches about their businesses and themselves. Audience volunteers should come prepared with a two-minute presentation.

Coaches: Melissa Krinzman of Venture Architects and Michelle Villalobos of Mivista Consulting

advise audience volunteers on how to best pitch themselves and their products.

Box lunch provided by Bill Hansen Catering

All speakers confirmed unless otherwise noted. Agenda is subject to change without notice .

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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 perhaps the only Venezuelan ever to have accomplished this.

“I feel very fortunate for this,” Villalonga said in an interview this week, just days after receiving the green card. “I know there are many people being separated from their families and they never reunite again, so for me this is a blessing.”

His mother, Helene Villalonga, is a well-known activist for human rights and a critic of Hugo Chávez’s government. In 2000, when Juan was 11 years old, the family fled Venezuela because of political persecution. They sought political asylum in the United States but were ripped off by two lawyers who did not represent them properly. The family’s petition was denied.

Venezuelan exiles, unlike Cubans, do not enjoy special immigration privileges, though officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the number of deportations of Venezuelans had diminished in recent years. According to ICE numbers, more than 400 Venezuelans were deported every year between 2007 and 2010. In 2011, however, the number of deportations dropped to 290.

Villalonga graduated from high school with honors in 2007, was awarded a scholarship, and was accepted into Florida International University — but due to his undocumented status he did not have access to his scholarship funds. After his first semester as a psychology major, he realized he could not continue to pay tuition on his own. Then he decided to go to Canada, where he had also been offered scholarships by several universities.

He drove for six days in his gold Dodge Neon, and was close to the Canadian border when, on June 27, 2009, he stopped on a road in Vermont and was arrested by a highway patrol officer.

“Are you aware that you have a deportation order?” he said the officer asked him.

“I explained to him that my family had an open case of political asylum, but it was there that I learned that there was a deportation order against us and our lawyer never notified us,” Villalonga said.

He went through three prisons in two months and, though his family warned immigration authorities that he would be in danger if he were returned to Venezuela, one night in August he was deported without having time to inform anybody.

He arrived in Caracas at 5 a.m. with $195 in his pocket. Villalonga remembered two telephone numbers of relatives in Venezuela, those of his aunt Vivian and his grandmother Blanca.

“I knew nothing about Caracas because I had never been there,” said Villalonga, whose family is from Valencia, west of Venezuela’s capital. “But I did know that it is one of the most dangerous cities in South America.”

During the two years Villalonga was in Venezuela, his mother launched a campaign to demonstrate that her son’s life was in danger.

Villalonga said that while in Venezuela he received threats by email. One day when he was alone at his aunt’s house, he heard someone enter the back yard. When he came out to check, he found three armed men wearing red shirts and red berets.

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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!

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In theaters February 15, the out-of-this-world 3D animated comedy also features the vocal talents of Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, William Shatner, Sofía Vergara, Rob Corddry, George Lopez, Steve Zahn, Chris Parnell, Ricky Gervais and Jonathan Morgan Heit.

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Told from the alien point of view, the fast-paced family comedy-adventure follows the misadventures of famed interplanetary astronaut Scorch Supernova from the Planet Baab and his buddies. Trapped by evil government forces on the distant "Dark Planet" (aka Earth) and tossed behind bars in Area 51, it's up to his nerdy brother Gary to navigate the third rock from the sun's strange customs and inhabitants in order to save him.

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Accused witch burned alive in Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea -- Assailants stripped, tortured and bound a woman accused of witchcraft, then burned her alive in front of hundreds of witnesses in a Papua New Guinea town, police said Friday after one of the highest profile sorcery-related murders in this South Pacific island nation.

Some of the hundreds of bystanders took photographs of Wednesday's brutal slaying. Grisly pictures were published on the front pages of the country's biggest circulating newspapers, The National and Post-Courier. The prime minister, police and diplomats condemned the killing

Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old who had a child, had been accused of sorcery by relatives of a 6-year-old boy who died in the hospital the day before, police spokesman Dominic Kakas said.

She was tortured with a hot iron rod, bound, doused in gasoline, then set alight on a pile of car tires and trash in the Western Highlands provincial capital of Mount Hagen, Kakas said.

"Investigations are continuing. We've got good leads. The husband is the prime suspect," Kakas said.

Sorcery has traditionally been countered by sorcery in Papuan New Guinean culture. But responses to sorcery allegations have become increasingly violent in recent years.

Kakas said the death was the first the sorcery-related murder in Papua New Guinea in a year.

Police Commissioner Tom Kulunga described the murder as "shocking and devilish."

"We are in the 21st century and this is totally unacceptable," Commissioner Kulunga said in a statement.

He suggested courts be established to deal with sorcery allegations, as an alternative to villagers dispensing justice.

Prime Minister Pete O'Neill said he had instructed police to use all available manpower to bring the killers to justice.

"It is reprehensible that women, the old and the weak in our society should be targeted for alleged sorcery or wrongs that they actually have nothing to do with," O'Neill said.

The U.S. Embassy in the national capital Port Moresby issued a statement calling for a sustained international partnership to enhance anti-gender-based violence laws throughout the Pacific.

The embassy of Australia, Papua New Guinea's colonial ruler until independence in 1975 and now its biggest foreign aid donor, said "We join ... all reasonable Papua New Guineans in looking forward to the perpetrators being brought to justice."

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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 fund, the Knight Enterprise Fund.

Led by CEO and founder Freddie Laker and COO Leslie Bradshaw, Guide’s team of seven is focused on turning online news, social streams and blogs into video for users who may be cooking, exercising, commuting or getting ready in the morning. The free application offers consumers a selection of about 20 “anchors” — including a dog, a robot and an anime character — that will read the article and present the accompanying photos, pull-out information and video clips in its video presentation. Revenue drivers for Guide could include in-app purchases, advertising-based anchors and customizations from publishers, said Laker, a former vice president at SapientNitro.

Laker and his team plan to launch a public beta next month, which they plan to do with a splash at the huge technology conference South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas.

Read more about Guide here on the Starting Gate blog. Follow Nancy Dahlberg on Twitter @ndahlberg

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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 month when the 72-year-old Abreu was shipped without a judge’s permission to Jackson North Medical Center.

Then last week, a Jackson case worker — again, without permission from the court — sent him to an ALF in Little Havana. He promptly escaped.

“I’m free! I’m free,” Abreu yelled as he shuffled away from the San Martin de Porras facility Tuesday, according to lawyers and court personnel who aired the episode over two days in court this week.

Abreu’s ping-ponging treatment has drawn the ire of Circuit Judge Ellen Sue Venzer, who has now ordered hospital and state-contracted mental health administrators to court Friday to explain what happened.

“The system is broken,” Venzer said angrily in court this week, adding: “What would have happened if Mr. Abreu had decompensated and gone out and hurt somebody else in our community?”

Abreu’s escape was short-lived: police quickly detained him, committing him back to Jackson Memorial Hospital for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation.

The unusual episode underscores what mental health advocates in Miami-Dade’s criminal justice system say has been a reoccurring problem: “incompetent” defendants are often shuffled between facilities without the knowledge of the court tasked with supervising them.

ALFs mostly house the elderly and others with mental health issues or disabilities. It is not unusual for incompetent defendants, usually non-violent ones, to be placed at an ALF in a residential neighborhood.

“The people in the social services arena have to recognize that a court-order is sacrosanct,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Wednesday. “I really understand the judge’s ire. She has the absolute right to be livid with everyone in the system.”

Subpoenaed to appear before the judge on Friday: Representatives from Jackson, the South Florida Behavioral Network, which contracts with the state to manage cases of the mentally ill defendants, and New Horizons Community Mental Health Center, which monitored Abreu’s case.

A lawyer for the Florida Department of Children and Families will also appear.

“It sounds like all these different agencies are treating these individuals like hot potatoes,” Venzer said in court Wednesday.

Abreu was initially arrested in December 2009 for attempted murder and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer. The attempted charge was later dropped; the SWAT officer was not hurt because the knife pierced his shield.

During a jailhouse interview with a psychologist, the incoherent Abreu admitted that he sometimes hears voices and see visions of “flowers [and] gold diamonds.”

The court determined that Abreu was “incompetent” to proceed to trial, meaning he could not assist his lawyer in defending the accusations.

After stays in several other facilities, Abreu wound up at the Graceful Gardens ALF, 18101 NW 47th Ct., in November.

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Justin Timberlake Reveals New Album Cover for 20 20 Experience

We're one step closer to The 20/20 Experience!

Justin Timberlake just dropped a major treat for his fans on Twitter, revealing the cover art and track listing to his upcoming solo album, The 20/20 Experience.

"I wanted you guys to see this first!!!," wrote Timberlake with a link to the cover (featuring the singer dressed to the nines behind a phoropter) and song titles.

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Check out the full track listing below:

-Pusher Love Girl

-Suit & Tie

-Don't Hold The Wall

-Strawberry Bubblegum

-Tunnel Vision

-Spaceship Coupe

-That Girl
Let The Groove Get In

-Mirrors

-Blue Ocean Floor

The 20/20 Experience hits stores on March 19.

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