Bal Harbour cops spent lavishly with seized drug loot

Flush with millions of dollars seized from drug dealers, Bal Harbour police financed a freewheeling spending spree: $3,200 for a Miami-Dade police chiefs golf outing at Miami Shores Country Club; $1,000 for two nights’ stay at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and thousands more in sumptuous meals at Carpaccio Restaurant in the Bal Harbour Shoppes.There were...

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Ten Commandments join Isaac Newton’s notes online

LONDON (Reuters) – A copy of The Ten Commandments dating back two millennia and the earliest written Gaelic are just two of a number of incredibly rare manuscripts now freely available online to the world as part of a Cambridge University digital project.The Nash Papyrus — one of the oldest known manuscripts containing text from the Hebrew Bible — has become one of the latest treasures of humanity...

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Riveting Details Emerge from CT School Rampage

As morning turned to afternoon on Friday, further details continued to emerge from Newtown, CT, a tight-knit community shaken by a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of innocent students and teachers, in addition to the gunman, reportedly identified as Adam Lanza.RELATED: President Fights Tears as He Addresses NationAs President Barack Obama touched on in his tear-jerking...

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Obama will travel Sunday to Newtown, Conn., attend vigil for mass shooting victims

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will attend an interfaith memorial service Sunday in Newtown, Conn., the site of Friday's deadly elementary school shooting.Twenty-six people, including 20 children, were killed when a man opened fire inside the school.Hours after the shooting, a tearful Obama said he grieved first as a father. In those remarks and later...

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Miami in spotlight at AVCC, other entrepreneurship events

Entrepreneurs from around the world took the stage during this packed week of entrepreneurship events in Miami: Florida International University’s Americas Venture Capital Conference (known as AVCC), HackDay, Wayra’s Global DemoDay and Endeavor’s International Selection Panel.The events, all part of the first Innovate MIA week, also put the spotlight on Miami as it continues...

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Miami photographer sentenced to 10 years in child-porn case

A Miami-area photographer who secretly videotaped children while they changed clothes in his home studio was sentenced in federal court Friday to 10 years in prison. Diego Tobias Matrajt, 37, pleaded guilty in September to distribution and possession of child pornography.Last February, Matrajt distributed 10 images of child pornography to an undercover agent by using a peer-to-peer...

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Riveting Details Emerge from CT School Rampage

As morning turned to afternoon on Friday, further details continued to emerge from Newtown, CT, a tight-knit community shaken by a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of innocent students and teachers, in addition to the gunman, reportedly identified as Adam Lanza.RELATED: President Fights Tears as He Addresses NationAs President Barack Obama touched on in his tear-jerking...

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SHOCKING AUDIO: Gunman's rampage took only minutes, cop radio calls reveal

AFP/Getty ImagesState Police inspect the area near Sandy Hook Elementary School.Judging by the radio calls, it took only a few minutes for a gunman to snuff out the lives of 20 Newtown school children and six adults.The first word of the horrifying Newtown school shooting went out over the town’s police radio at 9:36 this morning. Two minutes later,...

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Miami in spotlight at AVCC, other entrepreneurship events

Entrepreneurs from around the world took the stage during this packed week of entrepreneurship events in Miami: Florida International University’s Americas Venture Capital Conference (known as AVCC), HackDay, Wayra’s Global DemoDay and Endeavor’s International Selection Panel.The events, all part of the first Innovate MIA week, also put the spotlight on Miami as it continues...

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Gift from the Miami Parking Authority; fewer citations during the holidays

The Miami Parking Authority will launch its two-week ‘Holiday Parking Courtesy Citation” program on Monday. That means drivers whose meters expire get a reprieve. Instead of being issued a ticket, they will get a courtesy citation explaining that they have been granted up to one free hour of parking beyond their expiration time. The program is in effect...

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Angry Birds beats Samsung in viral marketing as mobile interest surged in 2012

This past year has shown us how effective leading smartphone and mobile app companies have become at leveraging viral videos. In Ad Age’s top-10 viral videos list for 2012, Samsung (005930) and Rovio each hog two spots. The Angry Birds Space video racked up 109 million views and the Angry Birds Star Wars hit the 41 million view mark. Meanwhile, Samsung managed to get 79 million views for its...

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Top 5 Riskiest Golden Globes Fashions

Who topped our list?The lucky guys and gals nominated for a 2013 Golden Globe statuette this morning are no doubt already fielding offers from top designers for the January ceremony.Pics: Tops & Flops of Globes Fashion Past While the big show's red carpet has a reputation for making fashion history, not everyone's glamorous gowns are received with critical acclaim.Check out ET's top five picks...

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Gambino crime family associate known as 'Seven-Second Bandit' cried when he was busted: defense

This mobster turned rat has one heck of a sob story.Known as the “Seven-Second Bandit,” Gambino crime family associate and speedy serial bank heists Jack Mannino had 24 New York bank stick-ups under his belt — enough to earn him life behind bars — when the FBI caught up to him.But the feds had no idea the wannabe wiseguy was also a crybaby.“The day you...

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Wynwood co-working center funded by Knight Foundation, angel investors

The LAB Miami announced Thursday it will open a 10,000-square-foot co-working center in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and local angel investors are investing $650,000.As Miami’s startup community continues to grow, The LAB Miami said its “work-learn campus” will offer an in-house mentor network that will include investors and...

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Wisteria Island: A tussle for a wild isle in the Florida Keys

In the middle of Key West Harbor, there’s a modern-day Gilligan’s Island just a short dinghy ride from Schooner’s Wharf. It’s 21 acres of wild green space with a rusting barbecue grill and an empty beer keg swinging from a tree. And if you thought the fictional island on the 1960s TV show harbored a quirky assortment of characters, get a load of the ones who’ve figured in...

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‘Dishonored’ tops a diverse year in video games

The video game universe in 2012 is a study in extremes.At one end, you have the old guard striving to produce mass-appeal blockbusters. At the other end, you have a thriving community of independent game developers scrambling to find an audience for their idiosyncratic visions. Can’t we all just get along?Turns out, we can. For while some industry leaders are worried (and not without cause) about...

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Israeli national amid Grimm probe wants to be released from house arrest

He's going stir crazy being out of stir.The Israeli national enmeshed in an FBI probe into a Staten Island congressman’s 2010 election bid wants to be sprung from house arrest - only two months after he was released from a federal detention center. Ofer Biton was asked to become an FBI informant and tell tales about the fundraising practices that helped...

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Lennar to borrow $1.7 billion from Chinese bank

Miami-based Lennar Corp. has gotten approval on $1.7 billion in loans from China Development Bank to fund the development and construction of two major projects in San Francisco, according to a person familiar with the transaction.The contract, set to close by Dec. 31 subject to various conditions, would mark the first U.S. loan by the big state-owned Chinese bank. One condition...

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Parents of students at Broward school warned of Legionnaires’ Disease exposure

Parents of students at Olsen Middle School in Dania Beach were being informed on Tuesday that their children may have been exposed to someone diagnosed with Legionnaires’ Disease, Broward School District officials said. The person with Legionnaires’ Disease was not a student, district spokeswoman Nadine Drew said. They did not say if the infected person was a teacher. Automated...

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Jessica Chastain on Top Secret Zero Dark Thirty Shoot

The black ops mission to capture or kill Osama bin Laden was as top secret as they come and, as it turns out, so was the feature film adaptation of the true-life story. In fact, Zero Dark Thirty's cast, headlined by Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke and Kyle Chandler were forbidden to speak a word of the hush-hush project to the press which caused a few problems for one cast member in particular.Video:...

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Cop dragged for a block by runaway livery cab

A cop trying to issue a ticket to a livery cab picking up an illegal fare in Times Square today was struck and dragged for a block by the runaway vehicle, authorities said.The cop noticed the black town car picking up passengers in front of Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant on Broadway around 6:15 p.m., witnesses and cops said.The uniformed cop then approached...

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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...

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Overtown drive-by shooting leaves one dead; unborn baby wounded

A man wounded Sunday night in a drive-by shooting in Overtown has died while a pregnant woman also struck by bullets remains hospitalized after giving birth.Tiffany Davis, 26, was eight months pregnant and doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital prematurely delivered her baby daughter, who was also wounded in the arm.“The bullet went through the mother’s stomach and through...

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Ariel Winter's Mom Sues for Alleged Defamation

Chrisoula 'Crystal' Workman, the mother of Modern Family's Ariel Winter, has sued one of her daughter's associates for alleged defamation, according to The Associated Press.RELATED: Ariel Winter's Sister Continues Temporary CustodyThe news source reports that the defamation suit cites an online comment that actor Matthew Borlenghi allegedly made, referring to Workman as an "abusive monster."Winter,...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Singer Jenni Rivera Feared Dead in Plane Crash

The remains of a private plane carrying singer Jenni Rivera have been found in Mexico with no survivors following a suspected crash. Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico's Secretary of Communications and Transportation, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that, on Sunday, officials found the remains of an airplane that was carrying the Mexican-American superstar and her entourage who were traveling from...

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Saved! US troops rescue Colo. doc from Taliban — Special Ops soldier dies in effort

Morning Star DevelopmentColorado doctor Dilip Joseph was rescued from his Taliban captors in Afghanistan. A doctor from Colorado who was kidnapped by Taliban thugs during a humanitarian mission in eastern Afghanistan was rescued over the weekend by US Special Forces, the White House said today.But the raid to free Dr. Dilip Joseph, a medical advisor with...

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Events showcase Miami’s growth as tech center

One by one, representatives from six startup companies walked onto the wooden stage and presented their products or services to a full house of about 200 investors, mentors, and other supporters Thursday at Incubate Miami’s DemoDay in the loft-like Grand Central in downtown Miami. With a large screen behind them projecting their graphs and charts, they set out to persuade...

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