‘Unsung Heroes’ to be honored Feb. 10

There are many reasons I like writing this column. One is because I get to tell you the good news.And some of the good news today is that I get to announce the 2013 BTW Unsung Heroes. Not all the honorees are graduates of Booker T. Washington High School. They come from all the formerly all-black high schools in Miami-Dade County.One of the heroes is Thomas Leo Albury Jr.,...

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Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Sheehy resigns over phone scandal

(Reuters) – Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy, the leading candidate to replace the current governor in the next election, resigned on Saturday after a newspaper investigation raised questions about improper cell phone calls made to women.The Omaha World-Herald investigation found that the 53-year-old Republican made about 2,000 late-night calls to four women, other than his wife, on his state-issued...

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Buzzmakers: SAG Winners Pics and Nicole Kidman Explains Jimmy Kimmel Lap Dance

What had ET readers buzzing this week?1. PICS: SAG Winners with their Statues! Some of Hollywood's biggest stars gathered Sunday night to honor acting achievements at the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Anne Hathaway -- winner of the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for Les Misérables -- kicks off our gallery of the stars accepting their handsome statuettes!Click...

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How Ed fixed New York

Michael Goodwin Ed Koch was one of New York’s three great mayors in the 20th century, joining LaGuardia and Giuliani in that hallowed circle. Each faced different problems with unique style, but all turned the city away from disaster and toward prosperity.That Koch departs in an election year, accompanied by an outpouring of praise...

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Hollywood cardiologist’s ties with St. Jude sales rep raises red flags

Mark Sabbota, a Hollywood cardiologist, regularly implants $5,000 pacemakers in patients at Memorial hospitals in South Broward — generating, last year alone, more than a half-million dollars in sales for a manufacturer called St. Jude Medical. Sabbota, public records show, also happens to be partners with a St. Jude sales rep in two corporations that run frozen yogurt shops....

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At University of Miami, Justice Sonia Sotomayor gets real

From her days as a young girl in the Bronx being raised by her mother after the death of her father to becoming the first Hispanic on the highest judicial body in the country, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the story of her journey before a captivated audience at the University of Miami on Friday night.Sotomayor spoke with University of Miami President Donna...

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BlackBerry chooses more traditional route to drum up buzz over Super Bowl ad

TORONTO – After a week of massive hype for its new smartphones, BlackBerry has decided to remain secretive about its Super Bowl commercial in an effort to squeeze every bit of juice out of the pricey advertising campaign.The Waterloo, Ont.-based company, formerly known as Research In Motion (TSX:RIM), released a single frame of the 30-second TV spot on Friday, without any explanation of what it was,...

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Brandi Glanville Talks Plastic Surgery and Says She's Done Talking About Eddie Cibrian and LeAnn Rimes

Brandi Glanville's new tell-all, Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders, is chock-full of juicy stories about her ex husband Eddie Cibrian, but The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star says that after promotion wraps on the book, she will no longer speak out about the actor and his wife LeAnn Rimes.Pics: LeAnn Rimes Defends Self with Teeny Weeny Bikini Photos "As soon the book tour is over,...

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Google’s Schmidt warns on China hack attacks

China is the world’s “most sophisticated and prolific” hacker of foreign companies, says Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt in a book called “The New Digital Age,” which will be published in April. The book, co-written with Jared Cohen, a former State Dept. biggie who now runs Google’s think tank, brands China as the most dangerous superpower on the...

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Healthcare experts see bumpy road ahead: “Shift happens”

The healthcare industry in South Florida, like the rest of the country, faces huge challenges in the year ahead as major federal reforms kick in, experts told about 700 people at a University of Miami conference on Friday.“We are at a critical time in health policy,” said Mark McClellan, former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “There are going to be...

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Long before FBI raid, Sen. Menendez tried to help donor’s Dominican Republic business

Sen. Bob Menendez used his influence to advocate for a Dominican Republic business deal that helped a longtime friend and donor whose South Florida office was raided by federal agents this week.Menendez questioned Obama administration officials at a July hearing about what it was doing to help U.S. businesses that he felt were being unfairly treated by the government of the...

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Deion Sanders Talks Possible Destiny's Child Super Bowl Show

While die hard fans debate whether or not Destiny's Child will actually perform together at the Super Bowl, according to NFL Network's Deion Sanders, there's only one logical outcome.PICS: Inside Beyonce's Super Bowl Rehearsals! "You gotta think about her heart and her character," said the NFL hall of famer, who assumes that fans can expect some sort of reunion between the girls. "She would want to...

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The hammer falls

Russell Wasendorf Sr., who earned the nickname “Midwest Madoff” for running a 20-year fraud from his Iowa brokerage, was sentenced to a whopping 50-year prison term yesterday — the most the judge could impose.“I feel I fully deserve whatever sentence I am given,” a noticeably withered Wasendorf told federal Judge Linda Reade.Few showed up to support the...

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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”...

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Limo rides for kids with cancer

Sometimes, we really do entertain angels unaware. Michael Fischer is one. Several years ago he came up with a way to bring a little hope to cancer-stricken children by providing limo rides for those whose parents didn't have a car, when it was time for then to take their cancer treatments. The idea is called Drops of Hope.Fischer, who not only is the founder of the organization,...

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RIM rebrands as BlackBerry; launches nifty new devices

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Research In Motion Ltd on Wednesday unveiled the long-delayed line of smartphones it hopes will put it on the comeback trail, but it disappointed investors by saying U.S. sales of its all-new BlackBerry 10 devices will not start until March, sending its share price tumbling 12 percent.Chief Executive Thorsten Heins also announced that RIM was abandoning the name it has used since...

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Josh Groban Talks Dating Katy Perry, Being Madly in Love with January Jones

Josh Groban isn't one to open up much about his personal life, but in a rare moment, the singer breaks his silence on high-profile exes Katy Perry and January Jones."We were madly in love," Groban tells Details magazine of Jones, whom he began dating in 2003 for a period of two-and-a-half years. "It was definitely my longest relationship."Unfortunately, the twosome couldn't make it work, but Groban...

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Chirping mad over A ‘Sac’ed $1M nest egg

Ronald Weiland realized he’d made a bad bet in 2008, when he lost his $1 million nest egg trading shares of drug company Elan. What he didn’t know then was that the cards were stacked against him.Weiland now believes that he and other investors were played by Steve Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors when the hedge fund giant — acting on information from a former...

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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”...

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FBI raids West Palm Beach office of doctor tied to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez

FBI agents late Tuesday night raided the West Palm Beach business of an eye doctor suspected of providing free trips and even underage Dominican Republic prostitutes to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. — who has denied what he calls the “fallacious allegations.”Agents gathered at the medical-office complex of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a contributor to Menendez and other prominent...

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New BlackBerry to Be ‘Most Comprehensive in Mobile History’

RIM is finally ready with its answer to Apple’s iPhone and the many Android smartphones. After months of delays, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins, along with others from the company, will take the stage Wednesday in New York to unveil the final version of BlackBerry 10, the next version of RIM’s phone software, and the phones that will run it.“We expect tomorrow to really be the kickoff for the introduction...

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Dance Off! Rocsi Challenges Ray Lewis

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is gearing up for what is believed to be his final NFL game, but ET's Rocsi Diaz gave him the challenge of a lifetime during Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday.Pics: Inside Beyonce's Super Bowl Rehearsals! The hall-of-fame-bound defensive captain is known for his intense pre-game dance used to energize teammates. After a quick tutorial from Lewis' teammate Damien...

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Ground Zero’s new face: No substitute for the twins

The Issue: The almost complete 1 World Trade Center at Ground Zero and its affect on the skyline.***If Steve Cuozzo thinks that freedom is singing at Ground Zero, he is seriously tone-deaf (“Freedom Sings,” PostScript, Jan. 27). If Cuozzo were really a part of the common rabble, he would never have written a column that tried to build the Freedom Tower...

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In later life, many Americans turn to ‘encore careers’

Don Causey was beginning to plan his retirement, selling off his profitable sporting newsletters when his life took a horrific turn. While on a safari on a long anticipated trip to Africa, a tree tumbled onto him, breaking his back. The process of getting a medical transport to take him from a remote village back to Miami proved arduous and costly. Today Causey’s back is...

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Lauderhill police investigating homicide; searching for suspect

Lauderhill police Monday night were investigating an apparent homicide.Details were sketchy, but police said just before 9 p.m. a woman was shot and killed on the 2800 block of Northwest 55th Avenue.The victim was dead at the scene. K-9 units were in the area searching for a possible suspect and a public information officer is now at the scene. This story...

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His cat, his lunch and a high five: Harper’s day chronicled on Twitter

OTTAWA – One of the cardinal rules of social media: no one cares what you had for lunch. Unless, perhaps, you’re the prime minister.The people behind Stephen Harper‘s Twitter account are using the first day of Parliament’s winter sitting to provide an intimate look at how the prime minister spends his day.The posts include a video of Harper’s ride to work, photos of breakfast with his cat Stanley...

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The Bachelor Recap: Sean Lowe Eliminates Leslie H and Amanda

The competition for Bachelor Sean Lowe's heart is heating up! Thirteen girls are left to vie for Sean's affections this week, and it's no surprise announcements of the coveted one-on-ones are making everyone a bit antsy. To the dismay of the other women (especially Leslie H., who breaks out in tears from frustration), Selma is chosen for the first whirlwind date.Despite Selma's distaste for athletics...

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Weak tax laws give NYC potheads a high

John Crudele Take an unlit cigar, point it top down and roll it between your thumb and forefinger until tobacco starts falling out. There’s now space in the wrapper for your favorite illicit substance.I’m not suggesting you smoke anything illegal. But you should know about one of the hottest trends in New York City — so hot that it...

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Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge opens for entries

Entrepreneurs, please don’t let the name of our contest scare you.As we launch our 15th annual Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge today, we are putting out our annual call for entries. But we aren’t looking for long, laboriously detailed business plans. Quite the contrary.More and more, today’s investors in very early stage companies want to see a succinct presentation...

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