Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones running for reelection

Eight years have passed since Michelle Spence-Jones was elected to the Miami City Commission.She isn’t willing to leave just yet.Spence-Jones — who was charged with bribery and grand theft in 2009, suspended from office, acquitted and reinstated to her post — is seeking reelection, she announced Friday. She represents District 5, which includes Overtown, Little Haiti and...

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Facebook Profile May Expose Mental Illness

A person’s Facebook profile may reveal signs of mental illness that might not necessarily emerge in a session with a psychiatrist, a new study suggests.“The beauty of social media activity as a tool in psychological diagnosis is that it removes some of the problems associated with patients’ self-reporting,” said study researcher Elizabeth Martin, a psychology doctoral student at the University of...

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Report: J.J. Abrams to Direct New 'Star Wars' Movie

Disney/ Andrew H. Walker/ Getty ImagesThe Force is with J.J. Abrams. The prolific producer/director has agreed to direct the next installment of the Star Wars franchise, confirms Walt Disney Studios.Pics: Must-See Movies of 2013"I've consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller," said George Lucas of Abrams in an official statement. "He's an ideal choice to direct the new...

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Henry Kravis and vineyard owner in art feud

It seemed like the perfect arrangement for a Manhattan billionaire and his fat-cat friend.They had admired a set of three abstract paintings depicting a skull and hairy testicles and decided to buy it — and share custody. For five years, billionaire Henry Kravis and Napa Valley vineyard owner Donald Bryant happily shuttled the Jasper Johns masterpieces...

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Fed aims for a 6.5% jobless rate

Six and a half percent unemployment in America would mean almost 2.1 million more people working than today. At the rate the country has been creating new jobs each month, it would take more than a year to find work for that many people.Keep 6.5 percent in mind this week when the Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to talk about its efforts to push interest rates...

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Broward contractor accused of accepting bribe for Florida Keys roadwork

A Pompano Beach contractor has been charged by federal authorities with bribery for accepting money to steer a state Department of Transportation contract to a subcontractor working on traffic signals in the Florida Keys, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.Ron Capobianco Jr., 40, is charged with committing bribery in connection with programs receiving federal funds. If convicted,...

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Nokia CEO closes the door on a potential Android smartphone

Nokia (NOK) CEO Stephen Elop on Thursday shot down rumors that his company might be interested in developing Android-based smartphones. During Nokia’s fourth-quarter earnings call, the executive reiterated his support for the company’s Asha phones and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows Phone platform, while shutting the door on earlier Android rumors. [More from BGR: Unlocking your smartphone will...

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Plastic Wives Clip

Reality TV has already gifted us with Real Housewives, Mob Wives and Sister Wives, and on January 27, TLC is introducing the world to another group of gals that are ready for their close-up: Plastic Wives. VIDEO - How Mama June Fell in LoveThe one-hour special features four women who are married to some of the most successful cosmetic doctors in Los Angeles, and ETonline has an exclusive sneak peek...

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Egyptians protest in Tahrir Square on second anniversary of revolution

CAIRO — Two years after Egypt's revolution began, the country's schism was on display Friday as the mainly liberal and secular opposition held giant rallies saying the goals of the pro-democracy uprising have not been met and denouncing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.Thousands of protesters filled Cairo's central Tahrir Square, where the January 2011...

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Lennar design accommodates multigenerational families

In some cases, it may be Grandma moving in with the family. Other times, it may be a recent college graduate returning to the nest. For all sorts of reasons — financial, medical, personal — a rising number of Americans are moving into extended family households.Spotting a niche in the growing trend, Lennar Corp. has launched a new concept tailor-made for multigenerational...

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Miami-Dade County Commission helps Miami Dolphins more than voters

If deceptive inconsistency were currency, the Miami-Dade County Commission could make a mint.And the Miami Dolphins would be happy for it. That way, the county commission could simply give the money away to help cover the football club’s $400 million stadium renovation plan.Unable to do that, the commission Wednesday urged the Legislature to give the county the authority...

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Go forth and Tweet! Pope sees web networks as “portals of truth”

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict urged Catholics on Thursday to use social networks like Twitter and Facebook to win converts, as he launched his own smartphone app streaming live footage of his speeches.The websites – often associated with endless postings of idle gossip and baby photos – could be used as “portals of truth and faith” in an increasingly secular age, the pontiff said in his 2013...

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Robin Roberts Makes First Return to 'GMA' Studio Since Taking Leave of Absence

Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts returned to the show's studio on Thursday for the first time since taking a leave of absence last September to undergo a bone marrow transplant. The 52-year-old Roberts was on the show's New York set for a behind-the-scenes test run this morning, ABC News announced. "What a thrill to be back at GMA's Times Square Studio this morning and see the best...

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100 live, more than 60 dead cats found in upstate NY home

WRIGHT — Authorities say they've seized about 100 live cats from a rural upstate New York home where more than 60 felines were found dead.Local media outlets report that a raid by police and animal welfare organizations found cats living in deplorable conditions at a home in the Schoharie County town of Wright, 20 miles west of Albany.Workers at the Animal...

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Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal

The Miami Dolphins ramped up their public campaign for a tax-funded stadium renovation this week, buying full-page ads against their top critic and trying to distance the plan from the unpopular Marlins deal.The team bought an ad in Tuesday’s Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald knocking auto magnate Norman Braman’s criticism of the Sun Life Stadium deal, which would have Florida...

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Judge to rule on Miami-Dade absentee ballot ordinance

A judge will rule Wednesday whether Miami-Dade County’s ordinance governing the collection of absentee ballots is constitutional.The ruling will come in the criminal case against Sergio Robaina, who prosecutors say illegally collected ballots, and filled out two against the wishes of two voters, one of them a woman with dementia. Robaina insists he was just helping elderly...

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First “Firefox OS” Phones Previewed, to Launch in February

Mozilla, the non-profit organization behind the popular Firefox web browser, has been promoting its Firefox OS project (once known as “Boot to Gecko”) for some time now. A hardware partnership with Telefonica, the international telecom giant, had been announced, but no phones had yet been unveiled.But in an announcement today on its blog, Mozilla announced the impending launch of its first “developer...

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Is Kate Uptons 2013 Super Bowl Ad Too Sexy

.Kate Upton is no stranger to controversy -- her Carl's Jr. commercial was banned from airing during the 2012 Super Bowl, and a few months later, Terry Richardson's video of Upton dancing in a bikini was temporarily pulled from YouTube after it was deemed indecent. PHOTOS - Hollywood's Hottest Bikini BodiesNow, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model is starring in a new Super Bowl ad that is once again...

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Te'o tells Couric he briefly lied about girlfriend

REUTERSABC's Katie Couric interviews Note Dame football star Manti Te'o and his parents, Brian and Ottilia Te'o during an exclusive taped interview in New York.Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o has told Katie Couric that he briefly lied about his online girlfriend after discovering she didn't exist, while maintaining that he had no part in creating the hoax.Pressed...

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Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal

The Miami Dolphins ramped up their public campaign for a tax-funded stadium renovation this week, buying full-page ads against their top critic and trying to distance the plan from the unpopular Marlins deal.The team bought an ad in Tuesday’s Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald knocking auto magnate Norman Braman’s criticism of the Sun Life Stadium deal, which would have Florida...

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Appeals court throws out Miami judge’s controversial fingerprint ruling

An appeals court has thrown out a Miami-Dade criminal court judge’s controversial ruling restricting long-accepted fingerprint evidence.The Third District Court of Appeals this week ruled that Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch should have removed himself from the case before issuing his ruling.The reason: Hirsch had earlier told two prosecutors that he would remove himself from...

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I Might Be Too Old for Facebook Graph Search

On Sunday, I turned 30.That’s not too old, I tell myself, yet the signs of aging are creeping in. Teenagers listen to music that I either haven’t heard of or believe to be mostly terrible. They use slang I don’t recognize, and I imagine my slang would sound to them like “groovy” or “far out” sound to me.But for the purposes of our tech blog, the most notable sign is how much more active teens...

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Dallas Killing off JR Ewing

Larry Hagman's tragic passing on November 24 served a double blow to the cast and crew of TNT's Dallas. Not only had they just lost a dear friend, but they also had to come up with a way to write J.R. Ewing off the show without derailing their planned storylines. VIDEO - Larry Hagman Charms in Final ET InterviewToday, TV Guide Magazine reports that the 2012 redux will take a page from the seminal...

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Accused family killing NM teen was suicidal and homicidal, annoyed with mother: statement

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — The New Mexico teenager accused of fatally shooting his parents and three younger siblings told authorities he was annoyed with his mother and had been having homicidal and suicidal thoughts, according to a probable cause statement.Nehemiah Griego, 15, was arrested following the shootings Saturday at a home in a rural area southwest of...

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Series for Miami’s emerging art collectors begins Thursday

For art enthusiasts interested in bring their interest home, Miami’s Bakehouse Art Complex is hosting a lecture series for emerging collectors. The first panel, slated for Thursday at 6 p.m., features arists and curators who will talk about fine tuning your taste and learning to make informed decisions. The second session, Feb. 7, is oriented to the mechanics of purchasing....

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Cuban exile mother of inaugural poet laureate Richard Blanco now in spotlight as his inspiration

At first, Geysa Blanco thought her son was kidding. "He said, ‘Mom, I have news for you,’ " Blanco said, recalling the telephone call from her son a few weeks ago. "Between English and Spanish, he told me that they had chosen him to write and read a poem at the presidential inauguration,” she said. But Richard Blanco, a child of exiles who was raised in...

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Why Google Isn’t Scared of Facebook’s Graph Search

Facebook may have just released a major search product that many are saying “declares war” on Google or may at least put the social network “on a collision course” with the search giant, but Google CEO Larry Page doesn’t sound all that worried about the new competition. Because who said Facebook and Google couldn’t get along someday? In an interview for the new issue of Wired published...

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The Wanted Give Final Tease of I Found You Video

The countdown is almost over, but in the meantime ET has one last tease of The Wanted's I Found You music video.PICS: Who Would You Date?In the clip, guitarist Tom Parker and the boys are cracking jokes after one wild night."That was metal," says Parker. "Remember that girl that ripped me tie off?!"The group's latest single is off their upcoming album Third Strike, out later this year. ET will premiere...

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NY vets head to DC for inaugural parade

New York veterans, from every military campaign since Korea, boarded a bus for Washington this morning to march in President Obama’s Inauguration Day Parade.Jeff Swansen, production manager for the United War Veterans Council which organized the trip, called today's journey an "incredible honor." "We're very excited. It's the first time we've done this....

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Three-generation family businesses share their secrets of success

In 2009, when Larry Zinn took over as sales manager for the Infiniti dealership that his father owned, he had a great idea: retrain the sales staff in a team approach and offer customers complimentary add-on services for the first year.Some salesmen who were used to selling the same way for decades up and quit. But that didn’t deter Larry from insisting a new sales culture...

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Ex-Mayor Diaz to talk about new book at alma mater

Congratulations to my friend and former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who has will be presenting his new book at 9:45 a.m. in the Roca Theater at his alma mater, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, 500 SW 127th Ave. in West Miami-Dade.His book is titled Miami Transformed: Rebuilding America, One Neighborhood, One City at a Time.Born in Cuba, Diaz really is a Miami success story....

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Why does Michelle Obama need two Twitter accounts?

Michelle Obama is on Twitter! That was big news on Thursday, the first lady’s birthday. The White House announced that Mrs. Obama had launched a new Twitter account, @FLOTUS, and lots of folks chimed in with messages welcoming her to the world of micro-blogging social media.But hold it – wasn’t she already on Twitter? We’ve been following @MichelleObama since the beginning of the 2012 presidential...

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