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..

Speaker to discuss the Jews of Zimbabwe

You are invited to hear Modreck Zvakavapano Maeresera and Tudor Parfitt, as they lecture on "The Lamba Jews of Zimbabwe" at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Jewish Museum of Florida, 301 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach.

You will want to attend this event; Maeresera is a leader in the Lemba Jewish community in Zimbaabwe. He coordinates a program of Jewish cyber-learning, studying with volunteer rabbis and teachers via the Internet in Harare, where he teaches other students what he has heard and recorded. In the rural congregation of Mapakomhere, 150 miles from Harare, Maeresera leads Shabbat services and promotes Jewish education.

In a press release statement he said, "My vision is to have a vibrant Lemba community that is fully committed to observing Judaism, the religion of our forefathers, and to have the necessary infrastructure that a Jewish community would need, such as synagogues and schools and religious leaders." He said, in the near future he would like to see Lemba fully reintegrated into mainstream Judaism.

Parfitt is the President Navon Professor of Sephardi-Mizrahi Studies and Research Professor in Florida International University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and has studied emerging Jewish communities around the works. He has studied the Lemba Jews for decades.

It’s free and open to the public.

Kids’ art event continues through Monday

The Children’s Trust will present a "Kids Grove Arts Party," from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Monday in the kids zone at Peacock Park in Coconut Grove. The event is in conjunction with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Abrakadoodle Coconut Grove Arts Festival.

Each day the Abrakadoodle staff will present "Art in Our World Curriculum," one-hour sessions where children will draw, paint, sculpt, design mosaics and collages and well as create in the styles of multicultural master artists to include Picasso, Bearden, Matisse, Miro, Hokusai, Monet, Martinez and Kahlo.

Other highlights will include a 10 a.m. show each day, the musical "Party with Picasso and Friends," presented by Sugar and Spice Puppet Theater, and at 11 a.m., the musical "The Dean of Green, " an eco-children’s theater production that teaches children the importance of growing up green, healthy living and protecting the earth. The play is directed by Corky Dozier, event creator and founder and director of the Coconut Grove Children’s Theater. Dozier also celebrates she 50th year in children’s theater, this year.

Author to speak in Key Biscayne

Lunch with an Author will present award-winning author Mary Murray Bosrock, presenting her newest book, "Grandma Has Wings," at noon Thursday in the Island room of the Key Biscayne Community Center, 10 Village Green Way.

Bosrock, a part-time resident of Key Biscayne, is a popular radio and television guest and has appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox News and A&E Network. She said she got her "wings" when her two sons, Matt and Steve, gave her six granddaughters in eight years. It amazed her, she said, that her little girls noticed things like arm fat, brown spots, veins and dropping chins, and learned to love what she couldn’t change by turning it into a story. Her granddaughters loved the story so much, that Bosrock decided to share it with other grandmas.

She also is the author of the book series, "Put Your Best Food Forward," which sold worldwide and has been published in Polish, Chinese, Russian, Thai and India.

Read More..

Hugh Grant is a Dad Again

Hugh Grant confirmed Saturday that he is a dad again.

PICS: Celebs and Their Cute Kids

The 52-year-old British actor tweeted, "In answer to some journos. Am thrilled my daughter now has a brother. Adore them both to an uncool degree. They have a fab mum."

Hugh and actress Tinglan Hong welcomed a daughter named Tabitha in 2011. No word yet on what Tabitha's little brother is named.

Related: Hugh Grant Responds to Jon Stewart Diss

Hugh told The Guardian in 2012 of being a dad, "I like my daughter very much. Fantastic. Has she changed my life? I'm not sure. Not yet. Not massively, no. But I'm absolutely thrilled to have had her, I really am. And I feel a better person."

Read More..