Palmetto reopens to traffic after crane crash shuts down roadway

A crane on top of a semi struck an overpass on the busy Palmetto Expressway Friday evening, creating a messy parking lot on one of South Florida’s busiest thoroughfares.Traffic had to be diverted away in both directions on State Road 826 and Northwest 27th Avenue, causing major delays and detours during rush hour traffic.The bobcat crane was sitting atop the tractor trailer...

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Average wireless bill increased 7% in 2012 , 70% of subscribers now own smartphones

We all love our smartphones, but they are a costly addiction to support. According to Consumer Reports, American wireless subscribers saw their wireless bills increase by 7% between 2011 and 2012, and the big culprit is the continued proliferation of smartphones. Overall, 70% of wireless subscribers who took part in Consumer Reports’ survey owned smartphones this year, up from 50% in 2011. As the...

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Boat Show may block Miami’s 2016 Super Bowl bid

This winter, the biggest NFL match-up in South Florida might be Super Bowl versus Boat Show. As South Florida readies a bid for the 2016 Super Bowl, it must contend with a major potential conflict on the tourism calendar. The National Football League may move the Super Bowl to Presidents’ Day weekend, already home to the five-day Miami International Boat Show since the 1940s....

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$1 mil or bust

He took a $1 million roll of the dice — and wound up rolling in Benjamins.The German man who returned cheapskate rapper Ryan Leslie’s laptop said yesterday he knew there was a good chance the jury in his suit against the hip-hopper might rule against him — but settling the case was not an option.“I understood the risk,” said Armin Augstein, 54. “One never...

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Artwork of young Miami-Dade artist will be showcased during Art Basel week

A week into his 18th birthday, Rey “Rson” Jaffet is already a promising local artist - and he’s still attending high school in the Miami-Dade public school system. And this period in his life is what his art tries to capture, said the Miami Palmetto High senior. “It’s that point when you’re a teen but are maturing into adulthood,’’ he said. Fittingly, many of his artwork...

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California Pizza Kitchen brings prototype to Sawgrass Mills

The restaurant chain that took barbecued chicken pizza mainstream is ready to push the culinary envelope again. How about a pizza topped with roasted Brussels sprouts and applewood smoked bacon or a Korean barbecue pizza with pork loin and spicy kimchee salad?Innovative menu items are just one piece of what’s unique about California Pizza Kitchen’s new flagship restaurant...

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Phoning in homework

When your kids say they’re doing homework on the phone, they may be telling the truth. More than a third of US tweens and young teens are using smartphones to do homework, with Hispanic students using them at a higher rate than African-Americans or whites, according to a survey released yesterday by the research firm TRU. Smartphones were used for homework...

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Miami-Dade ethics board rebukes two city of Miami commissioners

The county ethics commission dinged Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo this week for phoning the police chief after Carollo was pulled over for a traffic stop.Separately, Miami Commission Vice Chairman Marc Sarnoff was reprimanded for not filing a gift disclosure when the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau paid his way to Brazil.Sarnoff said his travels did not...

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Facebook exec says company is reducing spam despite clogging your feed with brands you don’t like

Recent changes to Facebook’s (FB) Edgerank, the algorithm that’s responsible for displaying items on a user’s Newsfeed, have angered privacy groups who say the new policy will actually produce more spam than reducing it. According to Forbes’ Jeff Bercovici, Facebook’s VP of global marketing solutions Carol Everson said on Tuesday that the social network is reducing spam...

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City National Bank of Florida and its Spanish parent have four years to evaluate the Miami bank’s future ownership

City National Bank of Florida, the Miami bank purchased by Bankia (formerly Caja Madrid) of Spain in November 2008, said Wednesday that its parent has a “four-year window to evaluate alternatives” for the bank’s future ownership and will work closely with management in Miami during the process.The Spanish government has reached and agreement with the European Union related...

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‘Half Men’ teen apologizes to co-stars

The teen star of “Two and a Half Men” spoke out for the first time last night since a video of his religious rant against the show went viral. Angus T. Jones, 19, released a statement apologizing “if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been...

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Weatherman conned by SoBe “Bar Girls” now has Twitter account hijacked by Playboy fiancée

A former TV weatherman who testified 12 days ago in a Miami federal courtroom that Latvian “Bar Girls” swindled him out of $43,000 on Miami Beach was back in the spotlight Tuesday over suggestive photos and tweets sent from his Twitter account. John Bolaris, who was suspended from his job as a weather anchor for Fox affiliate WTXF in Philadelphia last year amid his allegations...

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Nintendo: more than 400,000 Wii Us sold in US

NEW YORK (AP) — Nintendo says it has sold more than 400,000 of its new video game console, the Wii U, in its first week on sale in the U.S.The Wii U launched on Nov. 18 in the U.S. at a starting price of $ 300. Nintendo says the sales figure, based on internal estimates, is through Nov. 24.Six years ago, Nintendo Co. sold 475,000 of the original Wii in that console’s first seven days in stores. The...

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The Complete List: 'Dancing with the Stars' Winners

The Complete List: 'Dancing with the Stars' Winners On Tuesday night, TV personality and former Bachelor contestant Melissa Rycroft became the latest Dancing with the Stars victor! Click through the gallery for a look back at all the previous mirror ball winners. ...

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Gift ideas for the techie on your list

The holidays are coming fast, and if you’re like me, you’ve probably gotten very little of your gift shopping done. Here are suggestions for a variety of gifts for the techie and the not-so-techie people on your list. Some of these items can be found in stores and some are only available online, but you should be able to order them in time for Christmas or Hanukkah. ...

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Schools make grade strides

The city’s public high schools earned higher marks from the Department of Education compared with last year — with 7 percent more earning “A’s” or “B’s” and 4 percent fewer earning “D” or “F” grades, officials said yesterday.This includes prestigious Stuyvesant HS in Battery Park City — which held onto its “A” despite widespread test cheating uncovered...

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Survivor of flea-market police shooting is charged

Two Miami men shot Sunday by Miami-Dade police outside a flea market were identified Monday, and the survivor was charged with battery.Michael Nathaniel Parks, 21, faces charges of battery on a law-enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence. The second man, who had been driving the van the pair had been in, and who died at the scene, was identified as LeBron...

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Exclusive: Egyptian investor seeks to put stamp on Telecom Italia

DUBAI (Reuters) – Egyptian entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris aims to shake up debt-laden Telecom Italia and steer it towards expansion in Brazil if shareholders warm up to his proposal for a 3 billion euro ($ 3.9 billion) cash infusion.The billionaire tycoon, who got to know Italy well when he owned the third-biggest mobile operator Wind, has put on the table a capital increase that could make him one of...

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How Zero Dark Thirty Copied Bin Laden's Compound

Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow reteams with her Hurt Locker screenwriter Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty, a chronicling of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, and the two opened up to Nightline about how they recreated bin Laden's compound.VIDEO: Zero Dark Thirty TrailerThe filmmakers built a full-scale version of the compound in Jordan, and Bigelow says that everything from the carpet to the marks...

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Shoppers welcome holiday sales by buying early, often — and online

Shoppers swooped into stores in droves on Thanksgiving weekend, topping last year’s sales, as more retailers opened their doors earlier than ever on Thursday, luring bargain hunters away from eating another plate of turkey.And now Cyber Monday is expected to set a record for online shopping this year, for those who prefer the Internet to the mall.Spending per shopper nationwide...

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Cyber Monday likely to be the year's busiest online sales day

APCyber Monday is likely to be the year's busiest online sales day.Bye-bye Black Friday. So long Small Business Saturday. Now, it's Cyber Monday's turn.Cyber Monday, coined in 2005 by a shopping trade group that noticed online sales spiked on the Monday following Thanksgiving, is the next in a series of days that stores are counting on to jumpstart the...

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Flurry of new bills filed in Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida lawmakers have filed their first bills of the season.Most are familiar: a ban on texting while driving, a requirement that parasailing operators carry insurance and a “foreign law” bill criticized by opponents as anti-Islamic.Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, says she will keep sponsoring the texting while driving measure until it passes. It nearly survived...

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Justin Bieber Defends Meeting Prime Minister in Overalls

After catching a bit of flack for meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister in a decidedly casual pair of overalls, Justin Bieber took to Instagram Sunday to explain himself.Related: Justin Bieber on Selena, His Favorite Things "The pic of me and the Prime Minister was taken in a room in the arena where I was performing at that day," Bieber wrote in response to a journalist who criticized the move...

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Shifting tides of Panama real estate echo Miami trends

PANAMA CITY, Panama — As a real estate agent shows off a model apartment — white leather sectional, stainless steel appliances, open concept, ocean views — in the 59-story Yacht Club Tower, and touts its fitness center and pool deck designed to mimic a ship floating on the sea, he makes a telling statement:“We tried to emulate the Miami style in this building.”Approaching...

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Con Ed soaking customers with estimated post-storm bills

Con Ed customers who lost power during Sandy and were expecting to see lower bills won’t get a break this month.The utility is sending out 1.5 million estimated bills to customers in New York City and Westchester County because it was not able to read meters in the aftermath of the storm. A Con Ed spokesman said meter readers in most areas were reassigned...

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Never mind shopping; Messiah concert marks start of holiday season

Participating in the annual Messiah sing-in, always made me feel like the Season had begun. I was a member of the community chorus for many years, under the late Dr. Lee Kjelson. It was a wonderful feeling, singing the words from the Bible that foretold the coming of Jesus. Now, decades later, the Messiah sing-in tradition is still going strong.At 2:30 p. m. on Dec. 9,...

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Larry Hagman Dies

Larry Hagman, best known for playing Dallas villain J.R. Ewing, died Friday morning from complications stemming from his recent battle with cancer.He was 81 years old.Video: Larry Hagman Talks 'Dallas', Cancer and Veganism "Larry was back in his beloved Dallas, re-enacting the iconic role he loved most," his family said in a statement via The Dallas Morning News. "When he passed, he was surrounded...

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Is the electric car dying again?

A second administration of President Barack Obama will be forced to revisit the issue of subsidies for renewable energy and, with it, those for electric vehicles. Despite the millions of dollars spent on government incentives, marketing and promotion, sales of fully electric cars are well below projected targets. Investment in vehicle charging infrastructure also has fallen...

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