Women’s History Month to kick off at Miami City Cemetery

Women’s History Month will kick off on March 1, with an invitation from the Women’s History Coalition of Miami-Dade County inviting the community to its observance at noon at the grave site of Julia Tuttle at the Miami City Cemetery, 1800 NE Second Ave.

The coalition begins the month-long celebration of women and their contributions to Miami and Dade County with this tribute to Tuttle, the founder of Miami. Penny Lambeth, chairwoman of the Cemetery Restoration committee, will portray Julia Tuttle, who was born in Cleveland and was an entrepreneur and businesswoman. As the founder of Miami, she is known as the only woman to found a major U.S. city. She and Mary Brickell owned the land the city was built on.

The coalition has a multi-ethnic board of directors elected by its membership annually. Its primary purpose is to coordinate and promote Women’s History Month, which is observed nationally each March.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the "Women of Impact" Award, also known as the "Julia." A luncheon celebrating the 2013 honorees and a Photographic Exhibition of the Women of Impact 1989-2013, will be from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on March 3, at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, 50 Alhambra Plaza in Coral Gables. The theme is "Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics." Tickets are $50 per person and $45 for members of The Coalition. Reservations are due by Tuesday. Call 305-255-4944 or email Margaret Slama at margaretmslama@aol.com.

The honorees are, Scherley Busch, Milagros R. Fornell, Michelle Dunaj Lucking, Rhonda Omega Shirley, Margaret M. Slama, Dorothy M. Wallace, and Carol F. Williamson.

Also, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday The coalition and the Miami-Dade County Commission for Women will have a lobby display at the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW First St. Lambeth will again do her portrayal of Julia Tuttle. The Women’s History Month exhibit will be on display in the lobby throughout March.

Jazz band is a finalist in national competition

Our hats are off to Mark Hart, Executive and Artistic Director of Miami’s Community Arts Program All-Star Jazz Ensemble.

Hart got the word Wednesday that the All-Star Jazz Band was named among the 15 finalists in the prestigious 18th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival. The jazz group was chosen from over 100 recordings submitted from bands across the United States and Canada. It is the only after-school jazz band chosen from throughout the competition’s Region Four, made up of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.

During the three-day Competition and Festival in New York City, May 10-12, the band will compete and participate in activities to include workshops and jam sessions. The three top placing bands will perform at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis Artistic Director of Jazz at the Center, as guest soloist.

Play highlights role of black churches

James Baldwin’s classic The Amen Corner, a three-act play addressing the themes of the role of a church in an African American family, and the effects of poverty born of racial prejudice on an African American community.

Directed by Teddy Harrell, Jr., the play stars Brandiss Seward, Janet Toni Mason, Sarah Gracel Anderson, Carolyn Johnson, Regina Hopkins Hodges, Larmar Hodges, Jeffery Cason Jr., André L. Gainey, Ajia Williams, Yvonne Strachan and Toddra Brunson-Solimon, and features Adrian Bell, Hasani Morey and Leondra Mitchell. The play is at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 6161 NW 22nd Ave. in Liberty City.

Read More..

Independent Spirit Award Winners 2013

The 2013 Film Independent Spirits Awards were handed out in Santa Monica, CA today and lots of Oscar frontrunners cemented their status by dominating in their categories once more.

Check out all the winners below:

Best Feature

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Bernie

Keep the Lights On

Moonrise Kingdom

Silver Linings Playbook

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Linda Cardellini, Return

Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

BEST MALE LEAD

Jack Black, Bernie

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

John Hawkes, The Sessions

Thure Lindhardt, Keep the Lights On

Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe

Wendell Pierce, Four

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister's Sister

Ann Dowd, Compliance

Helen Hunt, The Sessions

Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice

Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike

David Oyelowo, Middle of Nowhere

Michael Pena, End of Watch

Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths

Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom

Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST SCREENPLAY

Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom

Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks

Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

For the full list of winners, click here.

Read More..

The week's winners and losers

WINNERS

DAVID EINHORN

Hedgie seeking to return some of Apple’s $137 billion to investors wins big court ruling.

MICHAEL CORBAT

Citibank CEO rakes in $11.5M pay package. Not bad for 4 months’ work.

LARRY PAGE

More good news for Google CEO: Analysts project $1K share price.

LOSERS

JAMIE DIMON

JPM CEO/chairman fights move to split the 2 jobs in wake of London Whale mess.

CHARLIE ERGEN

Dish Network boss has disappointing Q4; shares plunge earthward nearly 7 percent for the week.

QUEEN ELIZABETH

Moody’s sees sun setting on the empire’s finances, downgrades UK a notch to Aa1.

Read More..

Restaurant royalty and SoBe style

For Miami restaurateurs, this is Showtime.

With dozens of top toques — Bobby Flay, Todd English, Daniel Boloud and Masaharu Morimoto among the list — in town for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, the pressure is on everywhere, from Michy’s to the new Catch Miami. The goal: Show everyone from around the country that Miami’s food scene has arrived on the national stage.

Chef Michelle Bernstein’s staff whipped up dishes designed to impress guests at Michy’s — like foie gras, oxtail and apple tarte tatin — while she juggled menus for multiple events. Bernstein kept her cellphone handy to make sure any chef friends could get a table, even though her namesake restaurant was sold out.

As always, Joe’s Stone Crab was a must-do stop for many, including Paula Deen and New York restaurateur Danny Meyer. Aussie Chef Curtis Stone attracted a string of admirers as he ate his way around town, with stops at Prime 112, Pubbelly Sushi and Puerto Sagua. Khong River House and Yardbird Southern Table & Bar hosted Meyer, The Food Network’s Anne Burrell and Chef Anita Lo.

Michael’s Genuine was another hot spot.

“This is kind of our coming out party for Khong and it’s our chance to knock it out of the park and wow people,” said John Kunkel, owner of Khong and Yardbird.

Prime 112 owner Myles Chefetz admits he’s a fanatic about checking plates when they come back from a chef’s table. And he’s always on the lookout for the table ordering 20 different items, because that’s usually a restaurateur doing research.

“If you have Jean-Gorges or Bobby Flay eating at your restaurant, you want to make sure he has a great experience,” Chefetz said. “You want to put your best foot forward because you know you’re going to get scrutinized.”

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is not just a forum for impressing the culinary elite. It’s among the top three tourist draws for Miami restaurants and hotels. In its 12th year, the festival draws more than 60,000 people to Miami Beach for a weekend of decadence, featuring more than 50 events spread over four days.

It is neck and neck with two of the area’s other most prominent weekends: Art Basel and Presidents’ Day (which coincides with the Miami International Boat Show).

There’s the immediate economic impact, of course, but the festival has made its mark in other ways: helping transform Miami’s food scene from a cultural wasteland to one of the country’s hot spots, one where top chefs all want to set up shop.

“Twelve years ago I don’t know if you could even name five really good restaurants. Now, you can’t think of where you want to eat because there are so many good restaurants,” said Lee Brian Schrager, festival founder and vice president of communications for Southern Wine & Spirits, its host. “What the festival can take credit for is introducing the culinary world to the great talent down here, and really highlighting South Florida as a great dining destination.”

There has been plenty of indulgence to go around. Flay finally broke his losing streak and took home top honors at the Burger Bash with his award-winning crunchified green chili burger. At the Q, barbecue lovers had their choice of Al Roker’s lamb ribs with baked beans or Geoffrey Zakarian’s smoked tagarashi crusted tuna, among other offerings.

Read More..

Miami police union challenges officer’s firing for fatal shooting

The Fraternal Order of Police filed a lawsuit against the city of Miami on Friday, asserting that an officer who fatally shot an unarmed motorist in 2011 was improperly fired from the police department.

Officer Reynaldo Goyos shot and killed Travis McNeil as he sat in a car at a Little Haiti intersection. It was one of a string of seven deadly shootings of black men in the inner city by Miami police officers in 2010 and 2011.

Goyos was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by prosecutors in 2012. But he was terminated last month after the department’s Firearms Review Board concluded that the shooting was unjustified.

The police union lawsuit claims that the board violated state open-government laws by failing to open its meetings to the public.

Goyos “was improperly terminated by the city of Miami Police Department by a review board that violates the law,” union President Javier Ortiz wrote in a statement.

The lawsuit contends that Goyos should be reinstated.

City Attorney Julie O. Bru declined to discuss the specifics of the case. “We reviewed the allegations, and the city maintains that the board has operated consistent with the requirements of law,” she said.

Read More..

Diogo Morgado as Jesus in 'The Bible'

Producer Mark Burnett and his wife Roma Downey are bringing The Bible to television with an epic, 10-hour, five-part miniseries, and ET's Nancy O'Dell is with the man who portrays Jesus, Diogo Morgado, and the actor who embodies St. Peter, Darwin Shaw.

Pics: Adorable Tots: Celebs and Their Cute Kids!

"Jesus is definitely the most complete and complex figure of mankind; he's just someone who belongs to millions and billions of families all around the world," says Portuguese star Morgado, a religious man himself. "Just [given] the chance [to play him], I'm like, 'Okay, I'm going to try to just give an example of my Jesus.'"

Premiering Sunday, March 3 at 8 p.m. on History, The Bible brings to life some of the more well-known tales from the ancient tome from Genesis through Revelation, including David and Goliath, Noah's Ark, the Exodus, Daniel in the Lion's Den and the crucifixion/resurrection of Jesus. Shot in Morocco, the series is narrated by Emmy winner Keith David with a musical score by Oscar winner Hans Zimmer, also stars Downey as Mother Mary and includes Paul Brightwell, Greg Hicks, Sebastian Knapp, Amber Rose Revah, Greg Hicks and Simon Kunz.

Related: First Look at Russell Crowe as 'Noah' 

Watch the video for the actors' take on tackling such iconic figures – and see the amusing moment after Nancy sneezes in front of Morgado!

Read More..

Suisse M&A big cheese

Swiss financial giant Credit Suisse and relative newcomer LionTree Advisors are putting up some surprisingly strong numbers early in Wall Street’s investment banking leagues.

LionTree, run by former UBS rainmaker Aryeh Bourkoff, is ranked seventh on the coveted merger and acquisition rankings in the US, with some $18.2 billion in transactions, including Liberty Global’s $23 billion bid to acquire Virgin Media, according to Thomson Reuters.

The investment boutique is in its first year of operation, after Bourkoff hung out his own shingle in July.

By comparison, Bourkoff’s former firm, UBS, which has been slashing staff in droves, ranks 18th in the overall M&A tables through Feb. 22.

Meanwhile, leading the technology “league tables” is Credit Suisse, which has bagged some choice deals, including advising private-equity firm Silver Lake on its bid to purchase PC-maker Dell.

This time last year, Credit Suisse was an also-ran, languishing at No. 25 in US tech M&A, according to Thomson Reuters.

Insiders, however, say that the bank’s telecom media and technology unit, led by David Wah and Mark Simonian, has made some key hires, pushing the bank into the upper echelon.

Credit Suisse, anticipating that the tech space would be a big driver for M&A activity, hired tech banker Chris Gaertner away from Bank of America less than a year ago.

The Swiss bank also relocated a key member of its M&A team, Anthony Armstrong, closer to Silicon Valley so the firm can rub elbows with brainy tech CEOs.

One major factor benefiting all banks is a decidedly more upbeat economic outlook shared by corporate bosses, which has driven a recent deal-making resurgence.

To be sure, it’s too early to declare any winners.

A smaller firm like LionTree is likely to lose ground to perennial leaders JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.

mark.decambre@nypost.com

Read More..

Ian Schrager joins forces with chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten for new Edition Hotel

Two of the best-known names in their respective fields — hotelier Ian Schrager and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten — have teamed up for the Edition Hotel in Miami Beach, they told The Miami Herald Friday.

The partnership had not previously been officially announced, but the two were set to host a cocktail party Friday night at the site of the old Seville Beach hotel, 2901 Collins Ave.

On Friday at the sales pavilion for the Residences at the Miami Beach Edition, the duo chatted nonstop as they examined an elaborate model of the hotel and grounds.

“We just have a good time together,” Vongerichten said. “He’s excited, I’m excited.”

Vongerichten pointed out a lower-level area on the model building that he described as a grab-and-go food court with a deli, bakery, hot kitchen and raw bar. Schrager referred to it as an “updated Wolfie’s,” referring to the deli eight blocks south on Collins Avenue that closed in 2002.

“It’s not just for the people at the hotel, it’s for everybody,” said Schrager, whose launch of the Delano in 1995 helped bring new life to South Beach.

Plans at the Edition also call for a beach eatery and upscale-but-modern restaurant that Vongerichten said would be “chic and glamorous” and focused on local ingredients. He referred to that restaurant as the Matador Room, a nod to the hotel’s previous life.

Vongerichten said Schrager approached him about the project nearly six months ago; they have worked together since he opened the Pump Room restaurant at Schrager’s Public Chicago in late 2011.

Vongerichten is also behind the lauded J&G Grill at the St. Regis Bal Harbour, which opened in January 2012, but the Edition will be his first foray into Miami Beach.

“You always have to wait for the right project,” Vongerichten said.

A partnership between Schrager and Marriott International, the Edition brand includes one hotel in Istanbul. A site in London is set to debut in August, followed by Miami Beach in early 2014, possibly late in the first quarter. Other locations in New York and Bangkok are scheduled to come online in 2015.

Already years in the making, the Miami Beach project has been closely watched since Marriott bought the property in July 2010. Now, construction at the massive site is well underway, with cranes towering over the gutted existing buildings and a new tower. The finished product will include a hotel with about 250 rooms as well as 26 residences, nearly half of which are already sold. The property also features an ice skating rink, a bowling alley and historic outdoor details including a sundial and diving board.

“It’s a little bit like a bamboo shoot that sits there for 100 years, then all of a sudden it shoots up 50 feet in weeks,” Schrager said. “It’s coming to life.”

Read More..

Bill to ban smoking on some public land advances

Cities and counties could bar smokers from beaches, parks, and other publicly owned outdoor areas under a proposal that passed an early Florida Senate test Thursday, despite concerns from restaurateurs.

By unanimous vote, the Senate Regulated Industries Committee approved the measure (SB 258), which expands the state’s clear indoor air restrictions to more outdoor venues.

Voters approved the Florida Indoor Clean Air Act a decade ago.

The proposal would allow local governments to create smoke-free areas on publicly owned land as long as smoking sections are also available.

A similar bill stalled last year after concerns over smoking on sidewalks.

The current version of the bill prohibits smoking only on sidewalks in public parks, on public beaches, or in recreations areas while continuing to allow smoking on regular street-side sidewalks.

The bill would also allow cities and counties to extend smoke-free zones from public buildings to 75 feet from the entrance, or the same distance from a ventilation system or windows.

Law-enforcement officials would be required to first alert violators of the no-smoking restrictions and ask them to leave before they can issue a citation.

“Nobody wants to put anyone in jail for doing these things but it does send a signal,” said Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine.

“This state wants to be smoke free, eventually. . . . This is just one incremental step toward getting there.”

Rep. Bill Hager, R-Delray Beach, filed a House version of the bill this week.

In December, Sarasota County Judge Maryann Boehm ruled that Sarasota’s ordinance banning smoking in public parks was unenforceable, arguing that regulating smoking was a task left to the Legislature.

Thursday’s vote came after representatives of the state’s restaurant industry expressed concerns about the potential of unintended consequences but said they hoped to work with the sponsors to work out problems as the bills progress.

“When the smoking ban was passed, many businesses spent hundreds of millions of dollars to reconfigure their properties to accommodate both the new law and our customers,” said Richard Turner, of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

“At the moment, we are concerned that some of these ordinances could impact the investments that have been made.”

Some panelists also expressed concerns, saying they want assurances that beaches and public parks will not be totally off limits to smokers.

“The beach belongs to everybody,” said Rep Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville. “And people are different.”

Read More..

2013 Oscar Preps

The Academy Awards are just three days away, and we're behind the scenes with celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck and other taste makers to see just how the pros are preparing for Hollywood's biggest night, from the delicious food to the Green Room "oasis," décor and more. Roll out the Oscar red carpet!

Pics: 2013 Oscar Presenters

CLICK HERE to see this year's Official Governors Ball Menu.

In addition to Sunday's Oscar preps, lots of people are talking about their Oscar faves on social media. According to Facebook, mentions of "Oscars" are more than three times higher than last year. Could that be because Seth MacFarlane is hosting this year, appealing to a younger demographic? Or perhaps the Best Picture nominees category is more interesting this year, as Facebook says that talk related to those movies is 20 times higher than last year.

In terms of fan base, Les Misérables is tops with 1.2 million "likes," while Django Unchained has 723 thousand likes and Life of Pi places third with 531 thousand likes. When it comes to general chatter, however, Django is getting the most mentions on Facebook even though Les Mis is the most-liked, and Argo and Lincoln are also much talked-about Oscar movies.

Video: Tops & Flops: The Best & Worst of the Oscars

Stay tuned to ET for complete coverage of the 85th Annual Academy Awards, held this Sunday, February 24 in Hollywood, live on ABC.

Read More..

Closing in on catsup culprits

The Securities and Exchange Commission was informed that a trader who conducted allegedly suspicious transactions of Heinz was a “private wealth client” of Goldman Sachs, according to court documents.

Goldman Sachs informed the SEC that it does not have “direct access” to information about the owner of the account, which is based in Zurich, according to filings.

SEC Senior Counsel Megan Bergstrom said that “the account holder is a private wealth client of Zurich.” She went on: “Goldman informed me that it does not have direct access to information about the beneficial owner of owners behind any particular transaction or position in the GS account.”

Read More..

National Hotel nears end of long renovation

A panel of frosted glass puts everything in perspective for Delphine Dray as she oversees a years-long, multi-million dollar renovation project at the National Hotel on Miami Beach.

“Chez Claude and Simone,” says the piece of glass stationed between the lobby and restaurant, a reference to Dray’s parents, who bought the hotel in 2007.

“Every time I am exhausted and I pass that glass, I remember why,” said Delphine Dray, who joined her father — a billionaire hotel developer and well-known art collector in France — to restore the hotel after the purchase.

After working with him for years, she is finishing the project alone. Claude Dray, 76, was killed in his Paris home in October of 2011, a shooting that remains under investigation.

In a recent interview and tour of the hotel’s renovations, which are nearly finished, Dray did not discuss her father’s death, which drew extensive media coverage in Europe. But she spoke about the evolution of the father-daughter working relationship, the family’s Art Deco obsession and the inspiration for the hotel’s new old-fashioned touches.

The National is hosting a cocktail party Friday night to give attendees a peek at the progress.

Dray grew up in a home surrounded by Art Deco detail; her parents constantly brought home finds from the flea market. By 2006, they had amassed a fortune in art and furniture, which they sold for $75 million at a Paris auction in 2006.

That sale funded the purchase of the National Hotel at 1677 Collins Ave., which the Drays discovered during a visit to Miami Beach.

After having lunch at the Delano next door, Dray said, “My dad came inside the hotel and fell in love.” The owner was not interested in selling, but Claude Dray persisted, closing the deal in early 2007. Her family also owns the Hôtel de Paris in Saint-Tropez, which reopened Thursday after a complete overhaul overseen by Dray’s mother and older sister.

Delphine Dray said she thought it would be exciting to work on the 1939 hotel with her father, so she moved with her family to South Florida. She quickly discovered challenges, including stringent historic preservation rules and frequent disagreements with her father.

“We did not have at all the same vision,” she said.

For example, she said: “I was preparing mojitos for the Winter Music Conference.” Her father, on the other hand, famously once unplugged a speaker during a party at the hotel because the loud music was disturbing his work.

“We were fighting because that is the way it is supposed to be,” she said. “Now, I understand that he was totally right.”

She described a vision, now her own, of a classic, cozy property that brings guests back to the 1940s.

Joined by her 10-year-old twin girls, Pearl and Swan, and 13-year-old son Chad, Dray pointed out a new telephone meant to look antique mounted on the wall near the elevators on a guest floor. She showed off the entertainment units she designed to resemble furniture that her parents collected. And she highlighted Art Deco flourishes around doorknobs and handles.

“It’s very important for us to have the details,” she said.

With those priorities in mind, she is overseeing the final phase of the renovation, an investment that general manager Jacques Roy said will top $10 million. In addition to the small details, the renovation includes heavier, less obvious work: new drywall in guest rooms, for example, and new windows to replace leaky ones.

Painting of the building’s exterior should be finished in the next two to three weeks, Roy said. Dray compared its earlier unfinished state to resembling “a horror movie — the family Addams.”

And the final couple of guest room floors, as well as the restoration of the original Martini Room, should be done by the end of April.

“At the end, I will be very proud,” Dray said.

The National’s renovation wraps up as nearby properties such as the SLS Hotel South Beach and Gale South Beach & Regent Hotel have been given new life. Jeff Lehman, general manager of The Betsy Hotel and chair of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, said the National has always been true to its roots. He managed the hotel for 10 years, including for a few months after Dray bought the property.

“I think historic preservation and the restoration of the hotels as they were built 70, 80 years ago is such a huge piece of our DNA,” he said. “It’s a lot of what sets us apart from any other destination on the planet.”

Read More..

Sleek pizza cafe brightens tech park

Thea Goldman, no stranger to culinary pioneering, has put down roots in a neighborhood on the edge of Overtown dubbed the Health District thanks to an ambitious building project around the University of Miami’s Life Science & Technology Park.

Thea’s Pizzeria and Café is modeled on Joey’s Café, the business she and now ex-husband Joey Goldman opened in Wynwood in 2008. Their bold move spurred a cascade of interest and investment in an area that five years later is a hipster haven.

Here, the willowy, British-accented dynamo has taken a similar approach to an area with few eating options. That is part of the plan, says Goldman who opened in the fall for breakfast and lunch and is testing the dinner waters with Friday night openings.

Though only 15 minutes from South Beach, this tiny and stunning eatery, situated almost under I-95, is worlds away. It’s surrounded by office buildings, warehouses, car repair shops, a technical school and, most importantly, plans for a large hotel and retail space.

Dressed causally in black jeans and T-shirts and hailing from as far away as Naples, Italy, and as close as the surrounding Allapattah neighborhood, wait staff takes its cue from the upbeat boss with sunny smiles and quick service.

A dramatic, 30-foot-wide mural of peonies, roses, daffodils and daisies shimmers with 210,000 pieces of Italian glass pieced together by designer Carlo dal Bianco of Bisazza Mosaico. It’s set against a black backdrop with simple wooden tables set with vases of white hydrangea. Buffed, eggshell-colored concrete floors and soaring ceilings lend an industrial edge, while golden globes of light cast an elegant sheen.

The food is equal parts rustic and refined. Simple starters include pristine salads of baby arugula, mint, escarole and nicely roasted beets and a tiny greenhouse arrangement, all farmed locally.

A nice array of pizzas is cooked in a gas-fueled stone oven. The crust could be a bit saltier and chewier, but it makes a fine vehicle for generous and deftly handle toppings such as sausage-ricotta and anchovy-caper. My favorite is artichoke hearts with arugula, or maybe Gorgonzola with toasty walnuts and truffle oil.

A slightly stiff and too-thin focaccia loaded with shredded pecorino cheese and black pepper could use more loft.

Daily fish specials such as a silken cod fillet over mashed potatoes and a puree of briny black olives are always a good bet, as is the perfectly grilled salmon with lemony caper sauce over white bean and red onion salad. Chicken paillard, pounded thin and served with roasted potatoes and green beans, is simple and satisfying.

Like the menu, the wine list is modest but well done. Most of the two dozen or so labels are available by the glass, including a robust sangiovese from Emiglia Romana coincidentally named Thea.

With the exception of imported ravioli, pastas are of the boxed variety but well handled. We sampled the indulgent rigatoni with nicely browned coins of sausage and Italian ricotta.

Desserts are as simple and elegant as the place itself. Icy frozen espresso, granita topped with whipped cream and salted caramel ice cream are fine choices, as is a light but deeply flavored chocolate cake with a simple dusting of powdered sugar and a handful of plump raspberries.

Thea’s is a bustling hive of activity at breakfast and lunch, and dinner is growing more popular. Like a bright patch in a weed-strewn lot, this burgeoning eatery is full of promise.

Read More..

Inside Robin Roberts First Day Back at Good Morning America

After 174 days away for treatment of a rare blood and marrow disorder, Robin Roberts made her triumphant return to Good Morning America on Wednesday, and only ET was invited behind the scenes of the emotional taping.

ET cameras rolled as Roberts took her first steps back inside GMA's Times Square studio where, after a successful morning back, Rob Marciano sat down for a chat with the recovering host.

Related: Robin Roberts Returns to 'Good Morning America'

Roberts, who hit the air sporting a nearly bald head (due to chemo treatments undergone in previous months), revealed that she almost wore a wig Wednesday, but ultimately decided against it fearing inevitable comparisons to a certain other public figure.

"[It makes me look] like Mrs. Obama," laughed Roberts of the retired hairpiece she insists was purchased long before the First Lady debuted her fringe. "I didn't want people thinking that I was copying her...I had mine first!"

Despite a few perceived blips, Roberts was overall proud of her first live spot in six months.

Related: Robin Roberts: I Felt I Was Dying

"The first quarter was a little rough there," reflected Roberts of the broadcast, telling Rob that she and co-anchor Josh Elliott devised a code to secretly communicate that her nerves were getting the best of her.

"[Elliot] said lets come up with a code word if it gets to be a little too intense," she revealed, divulging that "froggy slippers" became her safe words for the day.

Read More..

Secret’s out

Jennifer Gould Keil

GIMME SHELTER

Want to live like a Victoria’s Secret supermodel? It’s not as expensive as you might think.

Runway-strutting Angel Lindsay Ellingson, who’s also modeled for Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana, has put her one-bedroom co-op on the market for $589,000. The 650-square-foot unit is in Gramercy Park Towers at 205 Third Ave. and comes with a renovated chef’s kitchen and ample storage, perhaps for the Victoria’s Secret perfumes and bras that Ellingson is the face of.

The full-service building has a landscaped roof deck, garden and gym. Listing brokers Eyal Amir and Rachel Alexander (a former model herself), of the new brokerage firm I & I Real Estate, declined to comment.

Getty Images for SWAROVSKI ELEME

Victoria's Secret Angel Lindsay Ellingson

The Aldyn residences

Ellingson — who studied biology at UC San Diego before she was discovered on the street — has, we hear, bought an 1,100-plus-square-foot duplex loft on West 19th Street for $1.67 million.

Saget full house

Lara Saget, the artist daughter of actor-comedian Bob Saget, is hosting an art installation today to celebrate the Chinese New Year at the Aldyn condo development on Riverside Boulevard (pictured). Saget will display her work — along with art by her friend Jing Chen, a Corcoran Group broker who has sold multiple units in the building to Chinese buyers — in a $13.9 million, 17th-floor corner duplex designed by Roman and Williams. The 6,000-square-foot, six-bedroom, 7 1/2-bathroom home, which comes with a terrace, features double-height ceilings and dramatic Hudson River views.

The Aldyn, which includes 40,000 square feet of amenities like an indoor pool, basketball/squash court, climbing wall and bowling alley, is where Knicks guard Jason Kidd paid more than $4 million for a four-bedroom.

Zoom with a view

Celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz, who’s worked with Kim Kardashian, Kirsten Dunst and Nicki Minaj, his put his stylish condo on West 24th Street up for rent at $8,900 a month. “I’m moving to horse country in New Jersey. I’ll be on 4 acres in a four-bedroom home with lots of space to possibly give my dog, Oliver, a sibling,” Ruiz says.

The 1,127-square-foot two-bedroom unit he wants to rent out in the Chelsea Stratus features lots of B&B Italia furniture — including a suspended wall unit that hides the TV. The building features an indoor basketball court and a lounge. Brokers Ralph Modica and Vickey Barron of Core have the listing.

DeLooking

Celebrity chef-restaurateur John DeLucie, of the Lion, Crown and the new Bill’s in the old Bill’s Gay Nineties space, is on the prowl for a new home.

He recently checked out a four-story townhouse at 115 E. 35th St., which Nest Seekers International broker Ryan Serhant had on the market for $3.99 million before another buyer signed a contract for it.

While DeLucie wasn’t able to snag that 3,664-square-foot, four-bedroom townhouse, it looks like he got some TV time out of his home search. Serhant is on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing New York,” and there were cameras present during DeLucie’s visit — filming for an episode that’s slated to air in May during the reality show’s second season.

We hear . . .

That real estate photographer Evan Joseph is signing copies of his latest book, “New York Then And Now” at 183 E. 73rd St., a stunning $22.8 million townhouse listed by Douglas Elliman broker Corinne Pulitzer. The five-story townhouse, built in 1866 and renovated by William Lawrence Bottomley in 1922, features a garden and brick patios. Currently a multifamily home, it is in prime shape to be “easily converted” into a single-family mansion, according to the listing . . . That the broker stars of two rival reality shows, Michele Kleier and daughters Samantha
Kleier-Forbes and Sabrina Kleier-Morgenstern of HGTV’s “Selling New York” and Fredrik Eklund and Ryan Serhant of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing New York” were well behaved in front of one another at an Eleven Madison Park shindig to launch Douglas Elliman brokers’ Melanie Lazenby and Dina Lewis’ new project, the Whitman. Douglas Elliman’s Howard Lorber and Dottie Herman were also at the launch party for the new boutique building on East 26th Street, where full-floor condos start at $10 million and the penthouse duplex is $22.5 million. The landmarked 1924 building was originally the headquarters for a textile company, Clarence Whitman & Sons.

Read More..

Caribbean cell phone company asks South Florida relatives to buy minutes for family back home

An Irish billionaire’s telecommunications company, which has revolutionized cell phone usage in some of the world’s poorest countries, is bringing it’s latest marketing pitch to South Florida.

Digicel is tapping into South Florida’s close ties to Haiti and Jamaica in a campaign that asks families stateside to send minutes home.

Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien has staked a claim in the telecommunication industry by building his cell phone company in developing countries in the Caribbean and South America The South Florida Digicel campaign includes bus bench ads, billboards and television spots. The message is simple: “Send minutes home.”

Customers stateside can pay to send airtime minutes to family and friends’ pre-paid cell phones in the Caribbean. The concept is not new, but Digicel is seeking to broaden it’s reach.

It is a nod to South Florida’s ties to the Caribbean and the financial influence of the region’s diaspora. Families in Haiti and Jamaica rely heavily on remittances from abroad.

Haiti received $2.1 billion in remittances in 2011, which represents more than one quarter of the national income, according to the Inter-American Development Bank . In 2011, Jamaica received nearly $2 billion in remittances.

“We understand the value of the diaspora,” said Valerie Estimé, CEO of Digicel’s diaspora division. “They are our lifeline.”

Typically the company relies on ethnic media outlets like radio programs and niche publications for advertising, but there was a gap in reaching second- and third- generation Caribbean Americans, who are more plugged in to mainstream media, said Andreina Gonzalez, head of marketing in Digicel’s diaspora division.

“There was an opportunity to step up and go a little further,” Gonzalez said.

The campaign comes at a time when the company is facing some public relations backlash in Haiti and Jamaica. Customers from both islands have taken to social media to decry shoddy connections and poor customer service.

In Haiti, the problems were so acute that Digicel released an apology letter to its customers in December. When the company tried to integrate Voilà, a competitor Digicel acquired, into its network, the integration caused system failures.

“Quite simply, we did not deliver what we promised and we did not communicate effectively with customers through the problem times,” Damian Blackburn, Digicel’s Haiti CEO wrote in the apology.. “We apologize for letting our customers down and want to thank them for their patience and understanding.”

In South Florida, the marketing pitch is family-centered and draws on the diaspora’s need to stay connected. Digicel representatives say airtime minutes are as valuable as the cash remittances families send to the Caribbean.

The advertising features members of a culturally ambiguous animated family smiling and talking on cell phones.

The ads that appear in Little Haiti, North Miami and North Miami Beach are largely targeting the Haitian community. In South Broward, the focus shifts to the Jamaican population.

A similar campaign has also been launched in New York.

Prices range for $7 to $60 to add minutes to a relative’s Digicel account. Transactions can be made online or at participating stores in South Florida.

“You’re able to make a very big difference with a very small amount of your disposable income,” said Estimé. “We know how important it is to be able to get in touch with a mother, a sister or a brother.”

The company recognizes that some of its older customer base prefer the retail model, while younger and more savvy consumers would rather send pay for minutes directly from their computers or cell phones.

“It was really impressive to see Digicel online,” said Geralda Pierre, a Miami Gardens resident who sends minute to Haiti. “It’s so convenient to add minutes for my dad in Haiti who is sick. It makes it easier for me to get in touch with him.”

For now, Digicel says it will continue to mix the old and new. The Creole-language advertisements on Haitian radio and Island TV, a Creole language cable network, are here to stay.

“We are bringing first world convenience in some cases to third world countries,” Estimé said. “Digicel has in a way improved the lives of our loved ones back home.”

Follow @nadegegreen on Twitter

Read More..

Gartenfeld named to Miami MOCA curatorial post

The Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami has snared a trailblazing young New York critic and curator with a keen eye for fresh talent to fill a new curatorial job, cementing its growing prominence as a nurturer of significant artistic careers.

Alex Gartenfeld, 26, who rapidly established himself as a go-to exponent of cutting-edge art after graduating from Columbia University, will work under MOCA founding director and chief curator Bonnie Clearwater to organize exhibitions, prepare publications and oversee the museum’s public programs, which include lectures and art education for youths and adults.

The Tuesday announcement of his hiring was also hailed as confirmation of the maturation of Miami’s burgeoning art scene.

“When a rising young curator chooses Miami for his next major position, it says everything about the quality of the contemporary art world in our community, and everything about MOCA,’’said Miami art collector Dennis Scholl, vice president/arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has supported the museum financially. “He is certainly right in the middle of the zeitgeist when it comes to contemporary art.’’

Gartenfeld, who will officially assume the job on May 10, has been referred to as a “wunderkind’’ by The New York Times and was included on Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” list of people to watch in the arts. He is senior editor for online at Interview and Art in America magazines, whose web presence he helped launch. He also co-founded an alternative exhibition space in his Manhattan apartment called West Street Gallery that showed work by up-and-coming artists and became a must-see art world destination.

As an independent curator, Gartenfeld has helped organize 25 exhibitions around the globe, including the forthcoming Empire State with curator Sir Norman Rosenthal at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, which features site-specific work by established artists like Dan Graham and Joyce Pensato.

At MOCA, Gartenfeld will help with administrative duties and extend the museum’s reach by boosting its website and organizing traveling exhibitions from its permanent collection of about 700 works.

Clearwater said MOCA, which opened in 2006 and has a full-time staff of 18, has grown to the point where she needed a second permanent curator. She said she immediately thought of Gartenfeld, and was amazed when his name kept coming up as she solicited recommendations.

“He is the brightest of the young and the brightest,’’ Clearwater said. “He understands the history of making art, and also how to approach new work no one has written about and even the artist maybe can’t explain.”

That track record for meshing rigorous scholarship and new art from the established and the virtually unknown makes Gartenfeld a perfect match for MOCA, Clearwater and Scholl said.

“They both are looking for what’s next. Bonnie has succeeded at that for 15 years,” Scholl said. “If what he brings to MOCA is anything like the Rome show, he’s going to have a great run here.”

Read More..

Poupon’s ‘pardon,’ part deux

Grey Poupon’s famous “Pardon Me” TV commercial is returning for a moment of Oscar glory.

After a 16-year hiatus, the mustard that mocked its own stuffy image in one of TV’s most famous commercials will once again take to the airwaves during the Feb. 24 Academy Awards show.

The spot comes as Kraft Foods looks to boost sagging sales of the Dijon mustard, which is facing competition from a growing variety of high-end condiments on supermarket shelves.

The new ad begins in the same way as the original — an aristocratic English gentleman is being chauffeured in the countryside, when another car pulls up alongside them at a stop. The back window rolls down and a second man asks in an over-the-top snooty accent, “Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?”

MUSTARD COLONELS


Ad homage video still.

The first man courteously responds, “But of course” and hands him a jar out the window.

In the new version, however, the scene continues with the second car speeding off without returning the mustard.

Jokes aside, there’s a seed of truth to that higher-end image; Grey Poupon customers tend to be skewed toward household incomes of $70,000 or more.

Read More..

Best photo apps for Android devices

Whether you want to slap a simple filter on your photo or get granular and change attributes like color levels and saturation, we’ve got a list of the Android apps you’ll want to use.

Snapseed

The good: With its unique gesture-based interface, this offers an incredible level of control over its effects and filters.

The bad: The tools and interface aren’t intuitive, so it could take a while to get familiarized. Also, the lack of a zoom function makes it difficult to see finer adjustments.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: If you’re a serious mobile photographer looking for an app with which to fine-tune your photos, Snapseed is your best choice.

Pixlr Express

The good: Offers more than 600 effects that all work well and are easy to use. Auto Fix and Focal Blur (tilt-shift) are particularly effective.

The bad: The app doesn’t warn you before backing out, which can result in lost work. A Recent Files picker upon launch would be nice.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: One of the most powerful Android apps in its category. Despite its minor flaws, it should be your go-to mobile photo editor.

Instagram

The good: An excellent way to turn mundane images into cool-looking photos you can share with friends. Mapping features mean people can easily browse all your geotagged shots.

The bad: Photo Map features default to showing all your geotagged shots, which could be dangerous under some circumstances.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: If you like taking retro-looking shots and sharing them, Instagram is tough to beat. Mapping features and frequent updates to the app mean your pictures will have a longer browsing life span.

Photo Grid

The good: Offers a huge menu of grid templates and a dead-simple interface for combining photos into framed collages.

The bad: The app unfortunately doesn’t let you customize the thickness of collage borders or the level of curvature on rounded panels.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: Even though it’s missing a couple of nifty customization tools other collage apps have, Photo Grid’s simple interface and outstanding menu of predesigned grids make it the best collage app on the market.

Read More..

North Miami police investigating fatal hit-and-run

Police were investigating a fatal hit-and-run in North Miami Monday night that left an elderly man dead.

The accident occurred around 7 p.m. when the victim was apparently crossing at the intersection of North Miami Avenue and Northwest 123rd Street and was struck and killed, said police spokesman Maj. Neal Cuevas.

The driver failed to stop. Police said there appeared to be no witnesses to the accident.

The body of the black male was discovered in the middle of North Miami Avenue, Cuevas said.

Police said the fleeing driver only left behind a hubcap and pieces of shattered glass.

The victim’s name has not been released awaiting notification of next of kin.

Earlier Monday, the Florida Highway Patrol sponsored a Hit-and-Run Awareness event. They revealed that last year there were 20,000 hit-and-run accidents in Miami-Dade and Broward.

Read More..

Bachelor Sean Lowe Embarks on Hometown Dates

It's time to meet the parents!

AshLee, Catherine, Lindsay and Desiree are set to embark on the coveted hometown dates this week with Sean, but for some, the Bachelor bubble is about to burst.

First up is AshLee, who Sean admits has always been a frontrunner. After flying down to Houston, Texas to spend a romantic afternoon in an idyllic meadow with the 32-year-old personal organizer and her tiny pup, Sean tackles the dreaded meet-and-greet with his date's adoptive parents. Despite AshLee's father's initial wariness of his daughter's new boyfriend, the evening goes off without a hitch and Sean is even able to charm a marriage blessing from the previously distrusting dad.

Pics: 'The Bachelor' Scorecard (Did the Relationships Sizzle or Fizzle?)

The next hometown date goes to Catherine and the twosome spend an fun, affection-filled day at Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. Although the carefree afternoon had Sean sure he could spend an eternity with the bubbly 26-year-old graphic designer, a nearly disastrous dinner with Catherine's mother, grandmother and disapproving sisters cast shades of doubt on their happy future. The family seemed skeptical of Catherine's devotion for the man she met on TV, Sean leaves without permission to wed his girlfriend and words of caution from Catherine's doubtful sisters who allege she's a bit of a flake in the realm of romantic love.

Lindsay is third to receive a visit from Sean, who meets the Army brat in Fort Leonard Wood, MO for some small-town shopping before meeting the 26-year-old graphic designer's intimidating General of a father. Dad turns out to be nothing more than a big softie who wants nothing but the best for his little girl. After falling prey to Sean's Southern charm, Lindsay's father gives his blessing.

Related: 'Bachelor' Sean's Sister Brings Perspective

Lastly, Sean meets Desiree in sunny California for the final round of hometown dates and the happy couple enjoys a hike before venturing off to her cozy home for dinner. While preparing a meal for Desiree's family, who are on their way, a seemingly crazy ex-boyfriend interrupts the peace and begs for a second chance with Des. Just when Sean is ready to step in and forcefully remove the belligerent ex, it is revealed that the whole scene is a charade and, basically, payback for the prank Sean pulled on Desiree in one of their very first dates. Unfortunately, the evening is all downhill here as Desiree's brother refuses to accept Sean as an option for his sister and ruins the mood by accusing him of being a playboy with bad intentions.

When it's time for the rose ceremony, Sean admits he is torn between his least successful hometown dates, Catherine and Desiree. Sensing Sean's anguish, Desiree interrupts the service, before it even begins, apologizing in private for her brother's bad behavior. Although he assures her that her sibling's actions don't reflect badly on her, Desiree is unconvinced she will leave with a rose.

After awarding AshLee and Lindsay with a stem, Sean brings the ceremony to a halt before delivering the final flower. After lengthy reflection in private, he ultimately bids farewell to Desiree and opts to keep Catherine.

Des has a hard time letting go (literally) as she hugs Sean goodbye, telling him repeatedly that he's making a "huge mistake" that he'll regret forever.

Pics: Meet 'Bachelor' Sean Lowe's Lucky Ladies!

Tomorrow, Sean will sit down with host Chris Harrison for a special episode where he reflects on the girls he's cut loose including Tierra, with whom he has a few choice words for after watching her antics from the comfort of his home.

And next week, Sean embarks on overnight dates in Thailand! The Bachelor airs Monday nights on ABC.

Read More..

Times talks: Tesla test tellingly tainted

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is still fast — but far less furious.

After his dust-up with the New York Times, the paper’s public editor, Margaret Sullivan, offered her take on the now infamous Tesla test drive and found that the reviewer came up short.

In a blog posting yesterday, Sullivan said the reporter, John Broder, didn’t always use “good judgment” and that he took “casual and imprecise notes” during his cold-weather trip in the Model S sedan.

While Sullivan rejected Musk’s claims that Broder “faked” the story and set out to sabotage the test drive, saying he acted in “good faith,” her take bolstered Musk’s argument that the review was flawed.

AP

Tesla’s Elon Musk took a victory lap after the New York Times public editor dented the paper’s testdrive report on the Model S sedan.

“A little red notebook in the front seat is no match for digitally recorded driving logs, which Mr. Musk has used, in the most damaging (and sometimes quite misleading) ways possible, as he defended his vehicle’s reputation,” she wrote.

Her conclusions were enough to mollify Musk, who tweeted, “Faith in @nytimes restored,” shortly after Sullivan’s piece came out.

In a harsh review that ran Feb. 8, Broder reported trouble keeping the electric car’s battery charged during a drive between Washington, DC, and Connecticut in the freezing cold. Broder said the car’s power was significantly diminished after a night out in the cold, resulting in an emergency tow.

Musk fiercely attacked the article and published a blog post — complete with charts and graphs using data collected during the drive — to defend the car.

Sullivan was vague about what errors she found with Broder’s judgment, mentioning only the point in the trip when Broder stopped for an emergency recharge in Norwich, Conn., after the battery power was depleted from sitting out overnight.

kwhitehouse@nypost.com

Read More..

Open English expands across Latin America

Back in 2008, Open English, a company run from Miami that uses online courses to teach English in Latin America, had just a handful of students in Venezuela and three employees. Today the company has more than 50,000 students in 22 Latin American countries and some 2,000 employees.

To fund this meteoric expansion, the founders of Open English — Venezuelans Andrés Moreno and Wilmer Sarmiento and Moreno’s American wife, Nicolette — began with $700. Over the last six years, the partners have raised more than $55 million, mostly from private investment and venture capital firms.

Their formula for success? The founders rejected traditional English teaching methods in physical classrooms and developed a system that allows students to tune into live classes every hour of the day from their computers at home, in the office or at school, and learn from native English-speaking teachers who may be based anywhere. Courses stress practical conversations online and the company guarantees fluency after a one-year course, offering six additional months free if students fail to become fluent.

“We wanted to change the way people learn English,” said Andrés Moreno, the 30-year-old co-founder and CEO, who halted his training as a mechanical engineer and worked full-time at developing the company with his partners. “And we want students to achieve fluency. Traditionally, students have to drive to an English academy, waste time in traffic, and try to learn from a teacher who is not an native English speaker in a class with 20 students.”

Using the Internet, Open English offers classes usually with two or three students and a teacher, interactive videos, other learning aids and personal attention from coaches who phone students regularly to see how they are progressing.

Courses cost an average of $750 per year and students can opt for monthly payments. This is about one-fifth to one-third of what traditional schools charge for small classes or individual instructors, Andrés noted.

“We work at building confidence with our students and encourage them to practice speaking English as much as possible during classes,” said Nicolette Moreno, co-founder and chief product officer, who met Andrés in Venezuela while she was working there on a service project. “Students are taught to actively participate in conversations like a job interview, traveling and talking on a conference call,” said Nicolette, who previously lived in Los Angles, worked with non-profits to create environmentally friendly products and fight poverty in emerging markets, and was head equity trader at an asset management firm. “Students need to speak English in our classes, even though it is sometimes difficult. They learn through immersion.”

Open English has successfully tapped into an enormous, underserved market. Millions of people in Latin America want to learn English to advance in their jobs, work at multinational companies, travel or work overseas and understand the popular music, movies and TV shows they constantly hear in English. Many of them take English courses at public and private schools and learn little if any useful conversational English. While students at private schools for the upper middle class and wealthy often learn foreign languages extremely well from native English-speaking teachers, most people can’t afford these schools or courses designed for one or two students.

Read More..

FIU turns to partnership firm for international online degrees

With its state funding shrinking — and online college classes rising in popularity — Florida International University is banking on students from abroad to boost its finances and expand its academic reach.

In that endeavor, the college is turning to Academic Partnerships, an experienced, successful (and politically connected) player in the fast-growing Internet education industry.

FIU first teamed up with the Dallas-based company in 2009 — creating an online-only Corporate MBA program in which tuition revenue is split between the two parties. Now, FIU is poised to ink another deal: Known as “FIU Global,” the proposed new contract would create an online jointly operated degree program targeting students in Latin America and, eventually, maybe China.

The university’s international reputation could rise or fall based upon the program’s success, and if it’s a significant moneymaker for FIU, it will help shore up a school budget that has been battered by years of state funding cuts.

But the involvement of Academic Partnerships is drawing scrutiny. The company’s close ties to former Gov. Jeb Bush have raised questions of political influence, and FIU signed its first contract in 2009 without notifying faculty.

“I’m very concerned with FIU Global and our relationship with Academic Partnerships,” history Associate Professor Brian Peterson told FIU President Mark Rosenberg at a recent faculty meeting. “It seems like political pressure is being put on FIU to do this thing.”

Tuition revenues

Since 2009, FIU has made more than $18 million in tuition revenues from the Corporate MBA program — in which tuition costs $37,500. Academic Partnerships collected close to $20 million, initially taking about 70 percent of tuition revenues, though FIU later renegotiated that to about 45 percent. All state universities are allowed to charge higher “market rate” tuition for some graduate degree programs, with the goal of reinvesting the extra money into the university’s budget.

The FIU Global contract is in preliminary discussions, school leaders say. The questions of what degrees it will include (and how the tuition dollars will be split) have not been negotiated.

Some faculty are asking why FIU handpicked Academic Partnerships for both contracts, as opposed to using a competitive process.

Academic Partnerships’ founder and chairman is Randy Best, a close friend of Bush’s. Bush serves on the advisory board for another of Best’s companies, Whitney University System, and in 2011, the former governor co-hosted a “Future of State Universities” conference that was sponsored by Academic Partnerships.

‘Great opportunity’

On the company website, Bush and Best appear jointly in a promotional video in which Bush speaks of the “exponential growth” of demand for online degrees, particularly abroad.

“This is a time of incredible change,” Bush says. “Great opportunity, but also great peril for universities that don’t want to change.”

Bush and Best declined to comment for this report.

Rosenberg insists the contracts are not political. For the first contract, FIU leaders said they did informally consider at least one competitor, and they argue that Academic Partnerships has done a good job with the MBA program and deserves additional work. FIU administrators say they aren’t obligated to use a competitive process, and the state does indeed exempt various education-related purchases from that requirement.

Read More..

Mindy McCready Dies of Apparent Suicide

Sources confirm to ET that country music singer Mindy McCready has died. She was 37 years old.

RELATED: Stars We Lost

According to a police report from the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office in Arkansas, deputies responded to a report of gun shots fired on Sunday afternoon. Upon arriving, officers reportedly found Mindy McCready's body on the front porch and pronounced her dead at the scene from what appeared to be "a single self-inflicted gunshot wound."

McCready's body will undergo an autopsy as the matter is being fully investigated, the report continues.

RELATED: Mindy McCready Admitted to In-Patient Facility

McCready had attempted suicide before, having been hospitalized in 2008 after she cut her wrists and took several pills. Her passing follows the shooting death of boyfriend David Wilson on January 13.

Wilson, a record producer, was initially rushed to the hospital after suffering a reported self-inflicted gunshot wound that did not immediately kill him. McCready recalled how she discovered him after the shooting in an interview on NBC's Today. "I just started screaming, calling 911. I laid down next to him and just pleaded with him not to die." The singer said Wilson "was responding" after the shooting, but only making sounds, not words. McCready was admitted to an in-patient facility weeks later.

After she was admitted, a rep for the star gave ET this statement: "While taking appropriate, much needed and deserved time to grieve, [McCready's] sons have been placed in foster homes where they are comfortable and cared for. We have no further statement at this time."

RELATED: Mindy McCready Denies Killing Boyfriend

McCready had several successful country albums in the '90s, but her career was later overshadowed by domestic abuse issues and drug and DUI arrests.

In 2011, McCready was reported to have gone missing with her oldest child, who was under the custody of McCready's mother at the time. During the episode, McCready posted a Facebook message, writing, "FB Friends I know it has been a long time since you have heard from me... I have been fighting the Florida court system to protect my son, and bring him home. Wink TV has once again reported nothing but lies and they are most likely being supported by the attorney for DCF child services. There is NO AMBER ALERT and my son is not missing! Detectives from the Cape Coral Police department established that this afternoon via Skype. Please do not worry or support anything they continue to lie about!! Thanks Always.... Mindy"

McCready is survived by her two sons: 6-year-old Zander (fathered by ex Billy McKnight) and 9-month-old Zayne (who she had with now-deceased boyfriend David Wilson).

Read More..

Business briefs

Fb pulls a GE

Facebook, which turned a $1.1 billion profit in 2012, took a page out of GE’s playbook when it did not pay a dime in federal and state income taxes, according to Citizens for Tax Justice. Facebook will get a $429 million refund.

Headwinds

US stocks could struggle to extend their seven-week winning streak as the quarterly earnings period draws to a close and the market hits technical resistance.

Coach

Coach has promoted Victor Luis, its CEO-in-waiting, to president and chief commercial officer, with an annual salary of $1.1 million and a bonus of up to twice that amount.

Boeing’s fix

Boeing may suggest a temporary fix to improve the 787’s ability to withstand overheating of its lithium-ion batteries as soon as this week.

Housing cools

New residential construction cooled in January and US existing-home sales slowed after the strongest year since 2007, economists said ahead of reports this week.

Read More..

Small business lending rebounds in South Florida

For years, Pablo Oliveira dreamed of buying a property to house his high-end linen and furniture rental company, Nuage Designs, which has created settings for such glamorous events as the weddings of Carrie Underwood and Chelsea Clinton.

A few months ago, that dream came true, when Oliveira purchased a warehouse across the street from his current Miami location. He is now renovating the loft-like space with the help of a $2.1 million, 25-year small business loan.

“It allows me to own my own space as opposed to renting, and that will decrease my costs for infrastructure and allow me to build equity with time,” said Oliveira, who secured a U.S. Small Business Administration-guaranteed loan from Wells Fargo.

For small businesses like Oliveira’s, a loan can be the critical key to growing a business, as well as the kindling to ignite an operation.

Take Harold Scott’s fledgling Great Scott Security, which manufactures window guards in Hollywood that can open quickly in case of need.

When he was 13, Scott’s stepfather perished in a Georgia house fire because he couldn’t escape through heavy window bars. Scott made it his mission to fix the problem.

“I promised myself I would dedicate all my time to working on a solution,” said Scott, 60.

Now retired from a 23-year career in the U.S. Justice Department, Scott recently secured a $7,500 microloan from Partners for Self Employment. He used it to buy a computer and pay for marketing and other business expenses for his quick-release window guards, which have met national, state and Miami-Dade County fire safety codes.

During the depths of the recession, business owners often griped that gaining access to capital was their biggest hurdle. Saddled with bad loans, many banks were wary of making new ones. At the same time, both the value of collateral and the creditworthiness of many borrowers tumbled.

Now, at last, banks are starting to open their pocketbooks again, experts say, though lending is still not on par with pre-recession levels.

“There is no question that small business borrowing declined as a result of the recession and has yet to recover to pre-crisis levels,” said Richard Brown, chief economist for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., via email. “According to the Federal Reserve, total loans to noncorporate businesses and farms stood at just under $3.8 trillion in September, which remains below the peak of about $4.1 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2008.”

Signs of Growth

In South Florida, more businesses are applying for loans and getting approvals from banks, according to lenders, officials at government agencies and leaders of organizations that help small business owners secure loans.

“Lenders are expressing a greater interest than they have in the past few years in terms of meeting the needs of the small business community,” said Marjorie Weber, Miami-Dade Chapter Chair of SCORE, which helps business owners put loan packages together and refers them to bankers.

Loan figures are indeed rising. During the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012, SBA-guaranteed loans were up in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to the SBA. In fiscal 2012, 449 loans were approved in Miami-Dade, totaling $213.3 million, up from 426 loans for $154.4 million in 2011. In Broward, 262 loans for $91.4 million were approved in fiscal 2012, compared to 257 loans for $102.4 million in 2011.

Read More..