Florida colleges a bargain, says Kiplinger

Though Florida’s in-state tuition costs more than double what it did only a decade ago, many of the state’s public universities are still a good value, according to the latest annual “Best Values in Public Colleges” list compiled by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. Florida schools have long fared well in the magazine’s rankings, with this year being no exception. Six of Florida’s...

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Disbarred Miami lawyer charged with selling guns stolen from Iraq’s Hussein family

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey have charged a disbarred Miami-area lawyer and three other people with hatching a scheme to sell a cache of stolen guns that once belonged to the family of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.Prosecutors say David Ryan, 48, a one-time personal injury lawyer from Pinecrest, obtained at least seven guns that had been smuggled out of Iraq...

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Ban on demanding Facebook passwords among new 2013 state laws

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Employers in California and Illinois will be prohibited from demanding access to workers’ password-protected social networking accounts and teachers in Oregon will be required to report suspected student bullies thanks to new laws taking effect in 2013.In all, more than 400 measures were enacted at the state level during 2012 and will become law in the new year, according to the...

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Somber farewell for man pushed to his death in subway

Friends of the hardworking, humble immigrant shoved to his death last week in front of the 7 train by a Muslim-hating madwoman today gathered for an emotional farewell in Queens at the Coppola-Migliore funeral home in Flushing.Sunando Sen, 36, was remember as a man of “quiet strength” by Lorcan Otway, a lawyer and longtime friend, who noted that Sen years...

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As 500th anniversary nears, cities vie for title of Ponce de Leon’s landing spot

ST. AUGUSTINE -- — Where did that most ambitious conquistador, Juan Ponce de Leon, wade ashore five centuries ago and name his prize "La Florida?" Inquiring minds all over our state would like to know, the sooner the better, for planning purposes.With the big day approaching — the anniversary arrives on April 3, 2013 — what east-coast beach city gets to shoot off the fireworks?...

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Week brings startup launches, social media advice for 2013

Jared Kleinert, a South Florida entrepreneur, plans to soon launch Synergist, a platform that allow social entrepreneurs to meet potential co-founders online, collaborate and crowdfund their new projects. He also just launched AliveNDead, a blog about risk-taking, and he interns for a Silicon Valley startup. And when he’s not doing all that, he’s going to class — he’s a...

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Purported photo of new BlackBerry phone with QWERTY keyboard leaks

Title Post: Purported photo of new BlackBerry phone with QWERTY keyboard leaksRating: 100%based on 99998 ratings.5 user reviews.Author: Fluser SeoLinkThanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comm...

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Skyfall Passes One Billion Mark at Box Office

Skyfall is not only the highest grossing Bond film of all-time, it has just become the 14th film ever to earn more than one billion dollars at the box office. RELATED - 12 Best Movies of 2012 The 23rd Bond film crossed this milestone on December 30, with Sony vice chairman Jeff Blake saying, "To see a film connect with audiences is always gratifying, but the success of this film is nothing short...

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MetroNorth train hits car, halting Connecticut service

REDDING, Conn. — Metro North train service has been suspended on the Danbury line following a train accident involving a car. A Metro North spokesman said the train struck a car in Redding on Sunday afternoon. The train had no passengers and there was no information about whether there were injuries involving the car. Bus service will ferry passengers between...

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Resources for South Florida small businesses

•  Florida Small Business Development Centers. Counseling and training at centers in South Florida and around the state, www.floridasbdc.org.•  SCORE Workshops, online training and free coaching at local branches, www.score.org, miamidade.score.org, browardscore.org, southbroward.score.org• Florida Women’s Business Center. Provides training, mentoring and...

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Judge orders state to pay attorney fees in drug test case

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida’s attempt to drug test employees will cost taxpayers $190,589.74 after a federal judge in Miami on Friday ordered the state to pay attorney fees in a case challenging an executive order issued by Gov. Rick Scott last year. U.S. District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro ordered the payment to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees...

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Matthew McConaughey Welcomes Baby No. 3

Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves have another reason to celebrate this holiday season -- they welcomed a new baby into the family!A source tells ET the Magic Mike star was present for the baby's birth Friday at a hospital in Austin, TX. Specific details were not immediately available. RELATED: Matthew McConaughey Wedding Details!McConaughey proposed to his 30-year-old Brazilian model/handbag...

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NYPD recruits sworn in at graduation ceremony

They came from all corners of the globe to join their brothers in blue.The NYPD recruits sworn in at a graduation ceremony in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center today were born in countries like Nigeria, South Korea, China, Albania, Pakistan, and Somalia — and speak 59 languages. Others came from less exotic locales like Brooklyn and Queens.The new class of 1,159...

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Royal Caribbean orders third Oasis-Class vessel

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced Thursday that it has contracted with STX France to build a third Oasis-class vessel for delivery in mid-2016. In October, the cruise line announced it planned another sister ship to the successful Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.The contract, subject to financing and other conditions, includes the transfer of Pullmantur’s Atlantic...

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Keys charter school principal shoots herself

The principal at a Florida’s Keys charter school died after she shot herself at a Pembroke Park gun range, authorities said Thursday. Adri Anna Stewart’s death has been ruled a suicide, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Stewart, 30, had been the principal at Key West Collegiate Academy, which is on Stock Island and managed by Academica. She took over last summer....

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Crawling All Over Pattinson's Face in 'Cosmopolis'

Twilight vamp Robert Pattinson plays a bloodsucker of an altogether different kind – the Wall Street kind – in his new movie Cosmopolis, on Blu-ray and DVD New Year's Day, and the film's director David Cronenberg tells ETonline that he was actually quite impressed with what Rob brought to the table, and that after the baggage of casting -- once you get to that point when you're on set and cameras...

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TSA has taken more than 1,500 guns from airline passengers

Security screeners have taken more than 1,500 guns from airline passengers so far this year, far ahead of last year’s tally, the Transportation Security Administration said today.If the trend holds through Dec. 31, the number of TSA gun seizures will be more than 15 percent ahead of last year’s tally of 1,320 guns.During the week that ended Dec. 21 — the...

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40 years later, survivors of Eastern Flight 401 want memorial

Forty years have passed since Eastern Flight 401 slammed down in the Florida Everglades, yet no memorial has been raised to remember the 101 people who perished that night. It's time to change that, say survivors and families of the victims, who hope to raise $15,000 for a granite block containing the names of those who died. “We want to get something that's permanent, because...

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90-year-old real estate baron, philanthropist Jay Kislak is forever young

Real estate baron Jay I. Kislak discovered a Fountain of Youth of sorts that springs from an inquisitive and acquisitive mind.At 90, Kislak is wheeling and dealing in real estate, and he’s exploring history and art with the fervor of a man generations younger.The patriarch of The Kislak Organization marked 74 years in real estate this year, 59 spent in Miami. ...

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Ex-President George H.W. Bush in ICU

Former President George H.W. Bush has been transferred to the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital as he continues to recover from a fever and a persistent cough. A spokesman for the 88-year-old Bush told ET that the former president has been in the ICU of Methodist Hospital since Sunday.RELATED: Jenna Bush Hager: I'm Pregnant"Following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever, President...

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Repairs underway for collapsed wall in Chelsea building

Repairs are underway on a landmarked Chelsea building that was evacuated when part of a structural wall fell to the sidewalk.The seven-story building at 655 Sixth Avenue was emptied on Tuesday night when the wall failed on the building’s West 20th Street side.Workers began constructing a sidewalk bridge around the collapsed area today. They don’t expect...

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Miami: We’re still busiest cruise port

Florida’s ports are steaming bow-to-bow in the race to be the world’s businest cruise ship port. Though some publications have reported Port Canaveral in the lead with 3,761,056 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, PortMiami officials Monday said they had hosted 3,774,452 passengers during the same period, putting it slightly ahead. Fort Lauderdale’s PortEverglades...

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Causeway victim Ronald Poppo finds peace but not healing

When Ronald Poppo was a kid in the 1950s and ’60s, a family Christmas in Brooklyn meant wind-up model trains circling the tree, Italian dinners of lasagna and stuffed squid, and, because Dec. 25 was also his father’s birthday, ricotta-filled cassata cake.There was always music, because the Poppos have musical talent. Ronnie, as his older sister and two older brothers called...

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Tajikistan blocks scores of websites as election looms

DUSHANBE (Reuters) – Tajikistan blocked access to more than 100 websites on Tuesday, in what a government source said was a dress rehearsal for a crackdown on online dissent before next year’s election when President Imomali Rakhmon will again run for office.Rakhmon, a 60-year-old former head of a Soviet cotton farm, has ruled the impoverished Central Asian nation of 7.5 million for 20 years. He has...

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Lady Gaga Documentary Announced

The nearly 33 million Little Monsters who follow Lady Gaga on Twitter got a massive Christmas present this morning as the singer revealed she'll soon be coming to a theater near you! VIDEO - Lady Gaga Hosts Fame Picnic in Paris"Merry Christmas little monsters," Gaga wrote. "Terry Richardson is making a #LadyGagaMOVIE documenting my life, the creation of ARTPOP + you!""Thank you for being so patient...

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Affleck won't run for Kerry's Senate seat

BOSTON -- Ben Affleck is taking his name off the list of possible candidates for U.S. Sen. John Kerry's seat, which would be open if the Democratic senator from Massachusetts is confirmed as secretary of state.Affleck says in a Monday posting on his Facebook page that while he loves the political process, he will not be running for public office.Speculation about the Cambridge, Mass., native rose...

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Miami: We’re still busiest cruise port

Florida’s ports are steaming bow-to-bow in the race to be the world’s businest cruise ship port. Though some publications have reported Port Canaveral in the lead with 3,761,056 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, PortMiami officials Monday said they had hosted 3,774,452 passengers during the same period, putting it slightly ahead. Fort Lauderdale’s PortEverglades...

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New generation of judges serving on federal bench in South Florida

For a fleeting moment this fall, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. declared in jest that he wished he were “king of the world.” If he had such power, Scola said from the bench, he would deny a defense lawyer’s request to travel to Pakistan to question a group of defendants charged in a Miami terrorism case along with two Muslim clerics. Since the missing defendants...

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ET Exclusive: Jamie Foxx Opens His Home & Heart

Jamie Foxx may be the most eligible bachelor in Hollywood, and our own Nancy O'Dell is exclusively with the Oscar winner at his Santa Monica, CA home to talk about his career, his family and how he handles the media when there's a woman in his life.The star of the upcoming Django Unchained says the worst thing that can happen in a relationship is to go public with it: "I like to stay quiet with anyone...

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Jack Klugman dies at 90

LOS ANGELES — Jack Klugman, the prolific, craggy-faced character actor and regular guy who was loved by millions as the messy one in TV's "The Odd Couple" and the crime-fighting coroner in "Quincy, M.E.," died Monday, a son said. He was 90.Klugman, who lost his voice to throat cancer in the 1980s and trained himself to speak again, died with his wife at...

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Time’s up for holiday shopping procrastinators

Last minute shoppers like Josette Tyne are in luck this year.With a long weekend before Christmas, retailers want to make it easier for procrastinators to finish their gift buying. Macy’s for the first time is keeping all its stores open around the clock from Friday until Sunday at midnight. Toys “R” Us and Walmart Supercenters will be open non-stop until Christmas Eve.Even...

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Former local Marine released from Mexican jail now in hospital

The Marine veteran from Palmetto Bay detained for months in a Mexican border prison for bringing his great-grandfather’s shotgun into the country was forced to take a detour on his way home.Jon Hammar, 27, and his father were driving back to the Miami-area when Hammar had to be taken to an emergency room in Louisiana, his mother told Miami Herald news partner CBS4. The two...

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Buzzmakers: New X Factor and Miss Universe Winners

What had ET readers buzzing this week?1. 'The X Factor' Crowns A Winner!And the $5 million recording contract goes to…Tate Stevens! The 37-year-old country crooner beat out runner-up 13-year-old Carly Rose Sonenclar for the top prize Thursday night. 35 million votes were cast Wednesday to determine victory for L.A. Reid's mentee.Near tears, the Raymore, Missouri native thanked his fans for their overwhelming...

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Obama joins mourners at memorial service for late Sen. Inouye in Hawaii

AFP/Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama stand in respect as the casket carrying the late Senator Daniel Inouye is carried past at the National Memorial Cremetary of the Pacific in Honolulu.HONOLULU — President Barack Obama, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and other dignitaries attended a memorial service for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye...

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In Miami Beach, homes face teardown frenzy or preservationist zeal

In South Florida’s suddenly resurrected real estate market, Miami Beach has plenty to offer buyers in search of a dream home.Stocked with miles of bayfront land and picturesque waterways, the Million Dollar Sandbar boasts scores of pricey waterfront properties. And, for better or worse, many lots come standard with pre-WWII homes designed by some of Miami’s most famous early...

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Time’s up for holiday shopping procrastinators

Last minute shoppers like Josette Tyne are in luck this year.With a long weekend before Christmas, retailers want to make it easier for procrastinators to finish their gift buying. Macy’s for the first time is keeping all its stores open around the clock from Friday until Sunday at midnight. Toys “R” Us and Walmart Supercenters will be open non-stop until Christmas Eve.Even...

Read More..

Buzzmakers: New X Factor and Miss Universe Winners

What had ET readers buzzing this week?1. 'The X Factor' Crowns A Winner!And the $5 million recording contract goes to…Tate Stevens! The 37-year-old country crooner beat out runner-up 13-year-old Carly Rose Sonenclar for the top prize Thursday night. 35 million votes were cast Wednesday to determine victory for L.A. Reid's mentee.Near tears, the Raymore, Missouri native thanked his fans for their overwhelming...

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