FBI removes many redactions in Marilyn Monroe file

LOS ANGELES — FBI files on Marilyn Monroe that could not be located earlier this year have been found and re-issued, revealing the names of some of the movie star's acquaintances who drew concern from government officials and her own entourage.

The files had previously been heavily redacted, but more details are now public in a version of the file recently obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. The updated files reveal that some in Monroe's inner circle were concerned about her association with Frederick Vanderbilt Field, who was disinherited from his wealthy family over his leftist views.

AP

Marilyn Monroe

The FBI's files on Monroe show the extent the agency was monitoring the actress for ties to communism in the years before her death in August 1962. A trip to Mexico earlier that year to shop for furniture brought her in contact with Field, who was living in the country with his wife in self-imposed exile. Informants reported to the FBI that a "mutual infatuation" had developed between Field and Monroe, which caused concern among some in her inner circle, including her therapist, the files state.

"This situation caused considerable dismay among Miss Monroe's entourage and also among the (American Communist Group in Mexico)," the file states. It includes references to an interior decorator who worked with Monroe's analyst reporting her connection to Field to the doctor.

Field's autobiography devotes an entire chapter to Monroe's Mexico trip, "An Indian Summer Interlude." He mentions that he and his wife accompanied Monroe on shopping trips and meals and he only mentions politics once in a passage on their dinnertime conversations.

"She talked mostly about herself and some of the people who had been or still were important to her," Field wrote in "From Right to Left." ''She told us about her strong feelings for civil rights, for black equality, as well as her admiration for what was being done in China, her anger at red-baiting and McCarthyism and her hatred of (FBI director) J. Edgar Hoover."

Under Hoover's watch, the FBI kept tabs on the political and social lives of many celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Charlie Chaplin and Monroe's ex-husband Arthur Miller. The bureau has also been involved in numerous investigations about crimes against celebrities, including threats against Elizabeth Taylor, an extortion case involving Clark Gable and more recently, trying to solve who killed rapper Notorious B.I.G.

The AP had sought the removal of redactions from Monroe's FBI files earlier this year as part of a series of stories on the 50th anniversary of Monroe's death. The FBI had reported that it had transferred the files to a National Archives facility in Maryland, but archivists said the documents had not been received. A few months after requesting details on the transfer, the FBI released an updated version of the files that eliminate dozens of redactions.

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5 issues small business owners will face in 2013

In 2013, small business owners will contend with many of the same issues that made it hard to run their companies during the past 12 months.

They’re also heading into the new year with a lot of uncertainty. It’s unlikely that negotiations in Congress will resolve all of lawmakers’ disagreements over tax and budget issues that affect small businesses. And there are still many questions about the implications of the healthcare law for small companies.

That points to continued caution — and perhaps slow hiring — among the nation’s small companies.

“Uncertainty is the bane of every small business,” says Scott Shane, a professor of entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland. “Their only rational response is to pull in their horns and slow down.”

Small businesses aren’t likely to get much encouragement from the economy. It’s expected to grow by no more than 3 percent in 2013, according to the Federal Reserve. That’s a moderate pace, better than the 1.7 percent that the economy grew during the first three quarters of 2012. But it’s also far from robust.

Here’s a look at some of the issues facing small businesses in the coming year:

TAXES

Lawmakers are still haggling over what’s called the fiscal cliff, the combination of billions of dollars in tax increases and budget cuts. Even if Congress reaches an agreement, small business owners won’t have the certainty they need, according to Todd McCracken, president of the National Small Business Association, a group that lobbies on behalf of small companies.

“It almost surely won’t be comprehensive enough that we won’t be revisiting it next year,” McCracken says. He’s concerned that there’ll be another fiscal cliff in six months — which would mean more negotiations and more uncertainty.

Many small business owners are worried about their personal tax rates. Sole proprietors, partners and owners of what are called S corporations, all report the income from their businesses on their individual Form 1040 returns. That means their companies are in effect taxed at personal rates, which can be higher than corporate rates.

One of the most important tax provisions for small businesses, what’s known as the Section 179 deduction, will shrink to $25,000 next year from $125,000 in 2012. The deduction, which applies to equipment purchases, was $500,000 in 2011. Congress can increase the deduction at any time, even after 2013 has begun. But for the time being, business owners can’t count on getting a big break.

“It’s a huge change for companies planning on making investments,” McCracken says.

It’s not known if Congress will extend the 2 percentage point payroll tax cut that workers have had for two years. If it doesn’t, consumers will have less money in their paychecks to spend, and that is likely to affect retailers and any other small businesses that sell directly to the public.

HEALTHCARE

Healthcare has been another source of uncertainty for small business owners. The new year will bring some, but probably not all, of the answers to questions about how the new healthcare law will affect them. Many will have to devote some time to understanding the law — or hire someone to help them do it.

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Police still have no clue why man was set on fire on Christmas night

A Miami-Dade man who was set on fire at a gas station Christmas night remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital Thursday morning, hospital spokesman Edwin O’Dell told The Miami Herald.

Miami-Dade police did not have any new updates into the investigation of why Darrell Brackett, 44, was set on fire at the U-Gas station at 4700 NW 27th Ave.

Brackett’s mother Bridgett Brackett said that relatives hope to distribute flyers this afternoon at the gas station to help police search for tips. She had not received any updates from the hospital or police early Thursday morning.

Police “are out there canvassing the neighborhood -- going door to door trying to see if anybody saw anything,” Brackett said.

On Christmas night, Brackett and his girlfriend had a cookout at their home in Miami-Dade county, his mother said. Then, they took their guests home and after dropping them off, Brackett and his girlfriend ran out of gas near Northwest 49th Street and 23rd Avenue. Brackett walked to the U-Gas where he paid for gas and walked over to the pump.

The events that then unfolded were not clear to police Wednesday except that they got calls about a man on fire running in the street. Bridgett Brackett said a woman who spotted her son rushed to help him and got him to roll on the ground in the dirt of the median, which extinguished the flames. Brackett’s mother said her son told her he had asked some men a question and said to his rescuer repeatedly “They didn’t have to do this to me.”

Bridgett said that when she saw her son the first night he was admitted to the hospital “he was moving around, moving his head, he was trying to open his eyes. I told him I was there.” On Wednesday he was in “excruciating pain” so the doctors put him in a medically-induced coma so they could change his bandages.

“I talked to him yesterday,” she said Thursday. “He could hear but didn’t respond.”

He has third-degree burns over 75 percent of his body and no skin on much of his body -- he was wearing cut-off jeans which saved the skin on his thighs, she said.

Bridgett said that a doctor told her it will be a long recovery.

“He is going to have to have a lot of surgeries,” she said. “He has no skin left on his body to do a skin graph. They are going to have to find an alternative way of doing a skin graph. ... The first three days is a critical time for him right now. .... After three days or so we will see what the prognosis is going to be long term and short term.”

Darrell Brackett works for his girlfriend’s uncle’s lawn service as the uncle’s “right hand man” as a gardener and driver, his mother said. A fun-loving man, he grew up in Liberty City and graduated from Miami Northwestern High School.

On the surface, Bridgett appears calm though she says she is grieving on the inside.

“God has spoken to me and told me to leave it in his hands,” she said. “I have a certain peace about me now. When I am by myself I cry. I have to be strong. There were times last night I cried and I prayed. ... I know God can work miracles.”

Detectives ask anyone with information to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS4 contributed to this report.

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Temple Run was downloaded more than 2.5 million times on Christmas Day

Title Post: Temple Run was downloaded more than 2.5 million times on Christmas Day
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Teen Wolf Season Three Video

It's been a tumultuous off-season for the cast and crew of MTV's Teen Wolf as Colton Haynes unexpectedly left the series after his character, Jackson, was gifted an 11th hour resurrection in the season two finale.

"These past few yrs have been the best of my life," Haynes wrote on his Twitter account. "I'm sad that this chapter has ended, but excited for a new one to begin. Thx for the love."

But the remaining cast is forging ahead on season three, and MTV just released this video from the first day of shooting that opens with Tyler Posey, Dylan O'Brien and Tyler Hoechlin displaying the off-screen chemistry that translates into on-screen magic!

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The boys aren't the only ones getting in on the BTS action as Crystal Reed (sporting a drastically different 'do for Allison) and Holland Roden film a scene, while Teen Wolf newbies Charlie & Max Carver flaunt the bodies the show's talented trainers have built.

Dylan and Tyler then answer some fan letters, so check out their adorable answers and gear up for season three, premiering in 2013!

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Florida-bound jet veers off runway at LI airport

A Southwest Airlines jet bound for Tampa, Fla., has veered off the runway and gotten stuck in mud at an airport on New York's Long Island.

Officials say there were no injuries to the 135 people on board Flight 4695 during the mishap Thursday morning at MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma.

The plane's front nose got stuck in the mud after it went off the runway around 7 a.m.

Passengers were taken off the plane. It isn't immediately clear whether they were put on another flight.

Dallas-based Southwest hasn't immediately responded to phone and email requests for comment.

Victor Alcorn

Southwest Flight 4695 veered off the runway this morning and into the mud.

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Deadline to apply for free foreclosure case reviews is Monday

Florida residents who believe they suffered from shoddy foreclosure practices have through Monday to apply for a free case review that could net them up to $125,000 if wrongdoing is found.

The program, which is overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, began in November 2011 with an estimated 4 million eligibility letters mailed nationwide.

As of late September, just 3.8 percent of Floridians who were sent letters about their eligibility for the review have applied.

Cases are eligible for review if the foreclosure was on a primary residence in some stage of foreclosure during 2009 and 2010. The foreclosure had to have been handled by one of 24 banks or mortgage servicers named in consent orders crafted in response to findings of foreclosure deficiencies. The affected servicers can be found at independentforeclosurereview.com.

Problems contacting borrowers who may have been evicted from foreclosed homes, as well as borrower fatigue in applying for aid programs probably contributed to the limited response, some foreclosure defense attorneys said.

“A lot of these homeowners have been promised a lot of things in the past that were never fulfilled,” said attorney Ron Kaniuk, of Sachs Sax Caplan in Boca Raton. “It’s the law of diminishing returns. Once you are disappointed a few times, you stop filling stuff out.”

The Independent Foreclosure Review is separate from the $25 billion attorneys general settlement reached in February.

Nationwide, the return rate of borrowers responding to eligibility letters was about 5.3 percent through Sept. 27. Since then, an additional 121,677 borrowers have applied nationwide, said Bryan Hubbard, a spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The original deadline to apply for the review was April 30. It was pushed back to July 31 and then Dec. 31.

Reviewers are looking for several problems including failure to put a homeowner on a permanent loan modification after he or she successfully completed a trial period, foreclosing on a borrower while he or she was current on payments under a loan modification, and not providing a borrower with proper notification during a foreclosure.

Remediation to borrowers can include credit fixes, reimbursement of improperly charged fees, and lump-sum payments of between $500 and $125,000.

For more information about the Independent Foreclosure Review, call 1-888-952-9105.

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Outdoorsy fun for the New Year’s holiday

So, as Miss Ella once sang, What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

Many of you, of course, will ring in 2013 with champagne and dancing at one of the clubs in Miami Beach or downtown Miami — and many of these same people will wake up with a hangover Tuesday only to wonder why they spent $2,000 to be in the same space as R&B/hip-hop act Drake and a DJ at the Fontainebleau or depressed that they spent $1,500 for a VIP table at the Catalina’s Studio 54 party to hear ’70s disco when they could have played Donna, Gloria and the Village People at any old time on iTunes for a few houseguests.

Clubbing not your thing? Good thing you live in South Florida, where going outside generally makes sense at this time of year. Here are some suggestions for activities, with an accent on the great outdoors and even a little fitness thrown in for good measure.

King Mango Strut

The annual spoof of the Orange Bowl Parade — or whatever some politician wants to call it now, as in ‘La Gran Naranja’ — has been “putting the ‘nut’ back in ‘Coconut Grove’ since 1981,” its ads tout. This time around, being an election year should provide plenty of fodder, and not just the silliness going on in West Kendall and Brickell, where some people are still waiting to cast a vote in the presidential race. (Obama won, go home.) The snarky parade pokes good-natured fun at the people and things behind the events that made the news snap during the year. This year’s grand marshal will be Clint Eastwood’s chair, fresh from the Republican National Convention.

This year’s parade takes place at 2 p.m. Sunday in downtown Coconut Grove on the corner of Commodore Plaza and Main Highway. The wacky participants turn left onto Main Highway and then left onto Grand Avenue at CocoWalk. Get comfy along the street and prepare to giggle. Call the Mango Hotline at 305-582-0955 for information.

The orange rises

You can go traditional and watch the ball rise in downtown Miami at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater New Year’s shindig, La Gran Naranja. The free event features music and the midnight countdown for the climb of the Big Orange along the side of the Hotel InterContinental, followed by fireworks. Be there at 301 N. Biscayne Blvd. Call 305-358-7550.

Just want the fireworks part? Miami Beach’s New Year’s Eve Party offers a free fireworks celebration at midnight on the beach near Ocean Drive and Eighth Street, if you can tear yourself away from Carl Cox at Mansion and Calvin Harris at Liv. Call 305-673-7400.

Bike It

Shark Valley, on the Tamiami Trail about 35 miles into the Everglades, is a real South Florida experience. Cycle amid gators — and we’re not talking the University of Florida variety. Alligators, wading birds and turtles frolic freely in the greenery along the 15-mile round-trip bike path. A multilevel observation at the midpoint offers a nice break spot for a boxed lunch or photo ops. There are no shortcuts, but you can opt for a tram tour. Call 305-221-8776.

Other leisurely bike rides around town include the shaded 13 or so miles of the Old Cutler Trail in South Miami, and you can pop over to Pinecrest Gardens for the Sunday Green Market, one of South Florida’s best farmers markets. North Dade residents aren’t too far from the restored Hollywood Beach Broadwalk for some nice ocean views while cycling or strolling.

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Dan Stevens Leaves Downton Abbey

SPOILER ALERT - We'll be discussing the Downton Abbey Season Three Christmas Special, which aired in England last night, but has yet to begin airing in America, so if you want to stay spoiler free, click here!

Rumors of a major cast member exiting Downton Abbey during its third season have been swirling for months; although much of the early speculation was aimed at Dame Maggie Smith. Last night, the world learned that The Grimm Reaper was in fact coming to Downton and which fan favorite it was taking too soon.

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Sadly, Matthew Crawley (played by Dan Stevens) died behind the wheel of his car in the closing moments of last night's Downton Abbey Christmas Special, capping off a particularly tumultuous season for the honorable chap.

Speaking with The Telegraph's Sarah Crompton, Stevens called the entire situation "very odd," but it turns out Stevens was the one who asked Downton creator Julian Fellowes to kill off this much-beloved character.

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"We were always optioned for three years," he explains. "And when that came up it was a very difficult decision. But it felt like a good time to take stock, to take a moment. From a personal point of view, I wanted a chance to do other things. It is a very monopolizing job. So there is a strange sense of liberation at the same time as great sadness because I am very, very fond of the show and always will be."

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Luckily Americans still have 8 episodes to spend with Mr. Crawley, and Mr. Stevens, as Downton Abbey kicks off its third season on PBS Masterpiece on January 6. And if you want to read the rest of The Telegraph's interview with Dan Stevens, click here.

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He just couldn't wait! Baby born in Holland Tunnel

REUTERS

It was a morning commute miracle.

A New Jersey woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy in the Holland Tunnel this morning, authorities said.

The couple, from Lodi, NJ, were almost through the tunnel around 7 a.m. when they realized the baby wasn’t going to wait.

The frantic father pulled the car over and ran out to get help.

Veteran Port Authority officer George McCann and his partner Jean Bernard rushed to the car and found that the baby's head was already coming out, said a spokesman for the Port Authority.

McCann helped guide the baby’s shoulders out and delivered the boy.

“He tapped the baby on the arm and he opened his eyes,” the spokesman said.

McCann then created an “oxygen tent” around the baby to protect him from the dangerous car fumes, the spokesman said.

Both mom and baby were taken to New York Downtown Hospital in stable condition, said a spokesman for the FDNY.

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