Needle reaches the inner groove for Spec’s

In the end, even the almighty Adele and Taylor Swift could not hold back the inevitable.Spec’s, one of the last great record stores, will close its flagship location in Coral Gables on U.S.1, thus joining once-favored chains like Virgin, Tower and Peaches, locally and abroad, that have withered from Internet shopping. With the closing, sometime in January after the merchandise...

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Opening statements to start in Miami terrorism trial of local Muslim clerics

Opening statements are set to begin Friday in the Miami federal trial of an elderly Muslim cleric and his son on charges they funneled tens of thousands of dollars from South Florida to the Pakistani Taliban terrorist organization to carry out violent attacks against U.S. interests overseas.A jury of 12 people was selected Thursday after they filled out four-page questionnaires...

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Huawei launches the Ascend P1 in the U.S. for $450 through Amazon

Despite its attempts to attract new customers with high-end phones, Huawei (002502) remains relatively unknown to U.S. consumers. The company is looking to change that and on Thursday announced the availability of the Ascend P1 smartphone. The Android-powered device is equipped with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and an 8-megapixel rear camera. The handset...

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Bloomberg says his 'instinct' is against publishing names of gun permit holders

He's one of the nation's leading advocates for stricter gun laws, but Mayor Bloomberg today refused to support a newspaper's decision to publish the names and addresses of weapons permit holders.It wasn't an easy call."My instincts would be no, but I can't give you a good argument," the mayor said on his weekly WOR radio show. He noted that the information...

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The return of the cranes: Miami-Dade construction projects on the horizon in 2013

The cranes are coming back to Miami. The battered construction industry is going higher in the new year after showing strong signs of life in 2012. Will Miami feel more like Manhattan in a few years? It just might.So far, there has been more talk than action, fewer shovels in the ground than grand announcements. Even so, construction is underway on a dozen new condominiums...

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New Year is a good time to count your blessings

The new year is a great time to look back and consider how blessed you are. I try to do that every day, but often in my life I am overwhelmed at the enormous blessings the Lord has bestowed on me. No, I didn’t get a great big financial windfall last year. And I walk with a cane, because of painful arthritis in one of my knees. Still, I am blessed. I can still walk.A few years...

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Fake John le Carré Twitter Account Fakes J.K. Rowling’s Fake Twitter Death

We’ve seen “Cormac McCarthy” Tweet apocalyptic non sequiturs. “Philip Roth” promised us a bite-sized short story. Now a fake Twitter account for British spy novelist John le Carré is spreading bizarre death rumors about J.K. Rowling. After a few days of Tweeting harmless missives, the week-old handle @JLecarre dropped this would-be bombshell on its nearly 2,500 followers Wednesday...

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Golden Globes Flashback: Claire Danes 1995

Predominantly a film and stage actress, Claire Danes has been a regular on two television series: her current show Homeland and the show that bolstered her career, My So-Called Life. While the show only lasted one season, the then-15-year-old rising actress won her first Golden Globe for her performance on the teen drama. My So-Called Life has attracted a substantial cult following in the years since...

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Senate panel to examine CIA contacts with 'Zero Dark Thirty' filmmakers

After the Senate Intelligence Committee's chairwoman expressed outrage over scenes that imply "enhanced interrogations" of CIA detainees produced a breakthrough in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the panel has begun a review of contacts between the makers of the film "Zero Dark Thirty" and CIA officials.In the latest controversy surrounding the film, Reuters...

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Portion of Macy’s Flagler Street property in downtown Miami sold

A New York firm bought part of the Macy’s building in downtown Miami and is expected to acquire the rest. The next priority is negotiating a new lease to keep Macy’s as a tenant.In a deal that could have implications for the future of downtown Miami’s anchor retail tenant, a New York real estate investment firm paid $15.55 million to acquire more than half the property that...

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