Attacks on Gov. Rick Scott’s Medicaid move reveal Adam Putnam’s big-spending record

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s headline-grabbing criticism of fellow Republican Rick Scott over expanding Medicaid highlighted just how much the governor flip-flopped on government spending and entitlement programs.

But Putnam has a more extensive record of supporting expensive entitlements and big-government spending.

As a member of Congress from 2001-2011, Putnam voted for budget-busting legislation — including the massive Medicare prescription-drug entitlement program estimated to cost nearly $1 trillion over a decade. Putnam also stuffed the federal budget with hometown-spending and helped override vetoes by President Bush on what the White House called a “fiscally irresponsible” Medicare bill and a $300 billion farm bill.

Years later, Putnam called Scott’s call to expand Medicaid as irresponsible, costly and “naive.”

“Throughout my career as a public servant, I have fought for issues important to Floridians based on my belief in conservative values and smaller government,” Putnam said in a written statement.

“I have a strong record of supporting economic growth and ensuring taxpayer dollars are used to support valuable public programs and services,” he said, implicitly drawing a distinction between the Medicare program he voted to expand in 2003 and Scott’s request to expand Medicaid under President Obama’s health plan, which Putnam opposed in Congress in 2009.

The fallout between Scott and Putnam stoked speculation that Putnam might challenge Scott in a GOP primary next year. Putnam’s office downplayed the talk.

The GOP discord —as well as the tensions between each man’s rhetoric and record — is also emblematic of Obama-era Republican struggles. Many Republicans spent big under Bush then became deficit hawks under Obama. They railed against Obama policies, only to tacitly support some of them in the end.

Putnam said his opposition to Obamacare has been consistent.

Scott’s hasn’t.

Scott’s Feb. 20 call to expand Medicaid was an abrupt about-face for a man who campaigned against Obamacare — first as a private citizen, then as a candidate for governor. With low and stagnant polls numbers, Scott’s move was widely seen in Tallahassee political circles as a political move to the center.

Putnam, voicing widespread GOP concerns over Scott, struck quickly in a speech, press interviews, web postings and even a Republican Party of Florida email.

“I think we all have an obligation to look beyond the window of our own time in public life and think about the long-term impact of these policies in Florida,” Putnam told The Tampa Bay Times days after Scott’s Medicaid announcement.

The criticisms — about thinking long-term and leaving politics behind — were said years ago, in 2003, by conservative leaders who practically begged Capitol Hill Republicans like Putnam not to expand Medicare under Bush for political gain.

The measure barely passed in the GOP-controlled House. Years later, when Republicans lost the House, the measure was held up as a defining moment when the party lost its way.

Many conservatives haven’t forgotten, though they’ve forgiven.

“A lot of politicians and the political class think there was a reset with Obama,” said Mark Cross, an early tea party leader in Central Florida. “But voters remember your record.”

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Buzzmakers: Oscar Fashion and Janet Jackson Marries Wissam Al Mana

What had ETonline readers buzzing this week?

1. The Best & Worst Oscar Gowns of 2013

They came, they soared and several forward-thinking fashionistas conquered The 2013 Oscars red carpet, leaping onto ETonline's list of Best Dressed thanks to a magical mix of classic cuts and edgy embellishments.

And while 10 women hit new highs, some of the biggest stars stumbled in the bright lights, landing on our Worst Dressed List.

Click here to see who was the top and who was a flop!

2. Exclusive: Janet Jackson Confirms Marriage!

Rumors that Janet Jackson is planning her wedding to Wissam Al Mana have been flying fast and furious for weeks now. There's only one problem: they're already married!

In their first joint statement as a couple, Janet Jackson and Wissam Al Mana confirmed the news exclusively to ET, saying, "The rumors regarding an extravagant wedding are simply not true. Last year we were married in a quiet, private, and beautiful ceremony."

"Our wedding gifts to one another were contributions to our respective favorite children's charities. We would appreciate that our privacy is respected and that we are allowed this time for celebration and joy. With love, Wissam and Janet"

Congratulations to the happy couple!

The newlyweds' official wedding photo was taken by world-renowned photographer, Marco Glaviano.

3. Joan Rivers Jokes About Adele's Weight

Despite winning an Oscar and a Golden Globe this awards season, Adele still can't escape her critics. Joan Rivers took numerous cheap shots at the 24-year-old new mom's size while on Tuesday night's Late Show with David Letterman, but it seems now Rivers is the one under fire following her not-nice remarks.

Making a joke in reference to Adele's song Rolling in the Deep, she said the singer should change the lyrics to "rolling in the deep fried chicken." Rivers, 79, added of meeting the acclaimed artist, "We got along." Letterman quickly changed the subject after the E! personality took yet another jab at Adele, causing the audience to gasp.

ET reached out to Adele's rep who had "no comment" about Rivers' jokes.

The comedian also came under fire regarding some quips she made about the holocaust in association with Heidi Klum's Oscars event dress on Monday's E!'s Fashion Police. Joking of Klum's skin-baring gown, she said, "The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens."

Rivers released a statement to ET on Thursday in defense of that comment, saying, "My husband lost the majority of his family at Auschwitz and I can assure you that I have always made it a point to remind people of the holocaust through humor."

4. Jennifer Lawrence Blames Oscar Stumble on Dress

First the SAG Awards and now the Oscars!? Jennifer Lawrence isn't having the best of luck with her gowns this awards season.

After suffering an unfortunate fall at Sunday night's ceremony while accepting her Best Actress statuette for Silver Linings Playbook, a mortified Lawrence explained to the Academy Awards press room that she had (once again) fallen victim to her elaborate dress.

"I tried to walk up stairs in this dress, that's what happened," the humiliated 22-year-old star said of her stumble moments before, laying the blame on her Dior gown's lengthy train. "I think I just stepped on the fabric and they waxed the stairs."

So what was Lawrence thinking when the embarrassing moment played out live to millions around the world?

"[I thought about] a bad word that I can't say [on TV]," she laughed, elaborating that it 'starts with an 'F.'"

5. Derek Hough Talks Maksim's 'DWTS' Exit

ET caught up with the brand-new cast of Dancing with the Stars season 16 after their big Good Morning America announcement Tuesday morning, where one looming question couldn't be ignored -- can the show survive without popular pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy?

"It's the nature of the show, you know. People aren't asked back certain seasons and come back later," pro dancer Derek Hough says. "It'll be a different dynamic but that's what it's about I suppose. I'm excited for the new pros."

However, he did share that the producers of the ABC hit are trying to bring back a more "positive" vibe to the show -- and it's no secret that Maksim was a controversial figure in seasons past.

"We had a meeting with the producers, and like, we really want to bring the innocence back to the show and the positivity and the fun and not -- [yes] be competitive -- but we don't want to make it a negative competitiveness," Derek shares.

Derek, already a three-time winner of the coveted mirror ball trophy, is paired up with country star Kellie Pickler this season, who just happens to be the first crossover contestant from American Idol!

"It's exciting to kind of get the whole 'pick Pickler' thing going again and I don't know, it's great to step outside your comfort zone and try something new and I think it's when you do things like that you grow," an excited Kellie tells ET.

Check out the video to hear thoughts from brand-new DWTS contestants like Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, D.L. Hughley, Andy Dick, NFL wide receiver Jacoby Jones, Wynonna Judd and Real Housewives' Lisa Vanderpump.

Dancing with the Stars premieres March 26 on ABC.

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Fla. sinkhole gets bigger amid concerns swallowed man dead, house could collapse

AP

Jeff Bush's family and friends hug outside of the house where a sinkhole swallowed Bush in his bedroom.

SEFFNER, Fla. — Engineers worked gingerly Saturday to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground.

Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy.

AP

Jeff Bush

On Saturday, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman Ronnie Rivera said one of the homes next door to the Bush house also was compromised by the sinkhole, as determined through testing. The family, which had evacuated Friday, would be allowed to go inside for about a half-hour to gather belongings, Rivera said. The family was outside, crying and organizing boxes.

PHOTOS: INCREDIBLE FLORIDA SINKHOLES

Engineers had been testing since 7 a.m. Saturday. By 10 a.m., officials moved media crews farther away from the Bush house so experts could perform tests on the home across the street.

It's unclear how large the sinkhole is or whether it leads to other caverns and chasms throughout the neighborhood. Experts say the underground of West Central Florida looks similar to Swiss cheese, with the geography lending itself to sinkholes.

Experts spent the previous day on the property, taking soil samples and running various tests — while acknowledging that the entire lot where Bush lay entombed was dangerous. No one was allowed in the home.

"I cannot tell you why it has not collapsed yet," Bill Bracken, the owner of an engineering company called to assess the sinkhole, said of the home. He described the earth below as a "very large, very fluid mass."

"This is not your typical sinkhole," said Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill. "This is a chasm. For that reason, we're being very deliberate."

Officials delicately addressed another sad reality: Bush was likely dead and the family wanted his body. Merrill, though, said they didn't want to jeopardize any more lives.

"They would like us to go in quickly and locate Mr. Bush," Merrill said. Officials added Saturday morning that a fund had been set up to help the families affected by the sinkhole.

On Saturday, Jeremy Bush — who tried to rescue his brother when the earth opened — lay flowers and a stuffed lamb near the house and wept.

Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ron Roger called the situation "very complex."

"It's continuing to evolve, and the ground is continuing to collapse," he said.

Sinkholes are so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. While some cars, homes and other buildings have been devoured, it's extremely rare for them to swallow a person.

Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.

"You can almost envision a piece of Swiss cheese," Taylor Yarkosky, a sinkhole expert from Brooksville, Fla., said while gesturing to the ground and the sky blue home where the earth opened in Seffner. "Any house in Florida could be in that same situation."

A sinkhole near Orlando grew to 400 feet across in 1981 and devoured five sports cars, most of two businesses, a three-bedroom house and the deep end of an Olympic-size swimming pool.

More than 500 sinkholes have been reported in Hillsborough County alone since the government started keeping track in 1954, according to the state's environmental agency.

The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep, caused the home's concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday as everyone in the Tampa-area house was turning in for the night. It gave way with a loud crash that sounded like a car hitting the house and brought Bush's brother running.

Jeremy Bush said he jumped into the hole but couldn't see his brother and had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy who reached out and pulled him to safety as the ground crumbled around him.

"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," Jeremy Bush said through tears Friday in a neighbor's yard. "But I just couldn't do nothing."

He added: "I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him."

A dresser and the TV set had vanished down the hole, along with most of Bush's bed.

A sheriff's deputy who was the first to respond to a frantic 911 call said when he arrived, he saw Jeremy Bush.

Deputy Douglas Duvall said he reached down as if he was "sticking his hand into the floor" to help Jeremy Bush. Duvall said he didn't see anyone else in the hole.

As he pulled Bush out, "everything was sinking," Duvall said.

Engineers said they may have to demolish the small house, even though from the outside there appeared to be nothing wrong with the four-bedroom, concrete-wall structure, built in 1974.

Jeremy Bush said someone came out to the home a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other things, apparently for insurance purposes.

"He said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing. And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said.

AP

Engineers talk in front of Jeff Bush's home, where a sinkhole opened up underneath his bedroom and swallowed him Thursday night.

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Tom Hudson: China’s new leaders plan quiet transition

If everything goes smoothly, you won’t hear much out of China in the new week. And that’s the way its new leaders want it. Even though the world’s second largest economy officially seats a new president and premier, the beginning of China’s parliamentary session on Tuesday comes without the usual pomp and circumstance. Instead, China’s new leaders hope to show their own version of austerity. For instance, there will be no booze at official meals.

The party leaders want a sober beginning to their terms as the hope for a more sober Chinese economy. They want to avoid any significant pronouncements that could threat China’s gentle economic recovery. The country’s biggest trading partner, Europe, continues to struggle, tensions with Japan have been rising and Chinese workers have been demanding (and in some cases getting) pay raises. Chinese home prices have heated up again as the Beijing government moved late last year to stimulate its economy.

It came after China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in 13 years. The new government knows that its political stability depends upon a steady economy. With choking air pollution, a horrendous record on food safety and sanctioned corruption, the new slate of leaders taking their seats this week would like to reduce China’s reliance on exports to fuel its economic expansion, reassure its trading partners it wants to play fair and stoke a steady and sustainable rise of living standards.

Since early December as the stimulus efforts began, the Shanghai Stock Exchange index has shot up 21 percent. Electricity production is rising and manufacturing has rebounded too. But the political volume has been muted.

Tom Hudson is a financial journalist based in Miami. He is the former co-anchor and managing editor of Nightly Business Report on public television.

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Near-record warm winter for South Florida

Winter won’t officially be over for a few weeks but it’s already been a near-record warm one in South Florida – not including the cold front rolling through this weekend.

From December through February, Miami recorded the third warmest winter on record, the National Weather Service’s Miami office reported Friday. The average temperature of 72.3 degrees was 2.7 degrees warmer than normal.

Fort Lauderdale and Naples recorded the fifth warmest winters and West Palm Beach the ninth.

In Miami and Fort Lauderdale, November 2012 actually wound up colder than any of the three following winter months, the Weather Service said – something that has happened only twice since 1910.

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Beyonce Isabel Marant Exotic Skins Sneakers

Well here's one organization not feeling all the post-Super Bowl Beyonce love -- PETA, who's calling out the superstar for her new Isabel Marant wedge sneakers. ET can confirm that the exclusive sneakers are made out of crocodile and anaconda skins along with stingray, ostrich and calf hair.

"These custom-made kicks come with a high price -- and it's paid by the various animals who were beaten and skinned alive or cruelly farmed and killed. Although most people aren't as familiar with the types of animals (snakes, stingrays, crocodiles, and ostriches) killed for this single pair of sneakers as they are with the cats and dogs we share our homes with, these animals are highly sensitive living beings who try hard to avoid capture and suffer enormously when trapped, netted, speared, and skinned alive," PETA says in a statement. "We hope that Beyoncé will choose to wear more clothes from her own clothing line -- which features faux fur -- and that one day, she'll go completely cruelty-free. She can always choose the cruelty-free and 'green' fashion favored by compassionate, chic celebrities such as Natalie Portman and Anne Hathaway and designers such as award-winning fashion queen Stella McCartney."

Pics: PETA Names Its Sexiest Vegetarians

The shoes in question are custom designed by PMK, which explains the conception behind the design of the "King Bey" sneakers on its website.

"Summoned by King Bee and given the task to create a custom design worthy of her approval, PMK takes the Isabel Marant sneaker wedge back to the beginning of time and gives it what they call the Eden treatment. A hybrid of land and sea skins are used to create this handcrafted creation. Stingray, Ostrich, calfs fur, Crocodile, and Anaconda give the already impeccable design attitude and the tones of white mixed with gold stitched details produces a feeling of elegance, mimicking the southern belle’s sweet and fierce persona."

Pics: Beyonce's Gets Candid & Personal

The original Isabel Marant wedge sneakers -- sans the exotic skins -- have been a celeb favorite, worn by the likes of Anne Hathaway, Kate Bosworth and Gisele Bundchen. Beyonce herself wore an all-black suede version in the music video for her hit single Love on Top. Isabel Marant wedge sneakers retail for approximately $660 a pair.

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Families at Long Beach elementary schools getting $1,000 each in Sandy aid from Cantor Fitzgerald

The Long Island town of Long Beach was hit hard by Superstorm Sandy. Now families at the town's five elementary schools are getting $1,000 each in storm relief from the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick announced in January that the firm would give a total of $10 million to families in 19 schools affected by Sandy.

As part of the effort, Lutnick and other Cantor officials were in Long Beach on Friday to distribute $1,000 debit cards to 1,350 families there.

Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 employees when the World Trade Center was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.

The firm set up a relief fund to help the surviving families of its employees. The fund now supports others in need.

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Florida class-action case takes aim at Citizens’ reinspection program

Thousands of Florida homeowners buffeted by higher windstorm premiums have sued state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to recover potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in “back-door” rate increases driven by “arbitrary” reinspections of their residences.

The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in Broward Circuit Wednesday, aims to halt Citizens’ reinspection program, claiming it has illegally stripped discounts from homeowners who had earned them under a 2007 inspection program approved by the Florida Legislature. Their original inspections were supposed to be valid for five years.

But in 2010, Citizens violated the due-process rights of homeowners, who had submitted official inspection forms, by arbitrarily reinspecting their properties to boost lost revenue that the agency could not generate lawfully through premium hikes, the suit said.

Lawyers who filed the suit, whose class representative is a Broward homeowner, said Citizens violated the due-process rights of its policyholders, costing each higher premiums averaging upwards of $1,000 — and possibly more — a year.

The collective cost to homeowners throughout Florida exceeds more than $100 million, said attorney Todd Stabinksi, whose Miami law firm, Stabinksi & Funt, filed the suit with Farmer, Jaffe of Fort Lauderdale and Kula & Samson of Aventura. They gathered Thursday for a press conference outside the West Broward County Courthouse in Plantation.

“Citizens got the benefit of lowering their risks, but Citizens’ policyholders did not get the benefit of lower premiums,” Stabinski said. “It should have been a mutually beneficial bargain.”

Consumer advocates have accused Citizens of using the reinspection program to impose “massive” rate hikes on homeowners. Citizens has denied the charge, saying that it is simply trying to get accurate information about the homes it insures.

“Since at least 2010, Citizens has used a wind mitigation reinspection program to systemtically deprive policy holders of legitimate wind mitigation credits,” said a nonprofit group, Florida Association for Insurance Reform, which praised the legal action.

A spokesperson for Citizens said the company has been operating under the law, and that the reinspections came after regulators changed the mitigation criteria. “Our position is Citizens’ reinspections were conducted under statutory authority afforded any insurer to verify, at the insurer’s expense, the accuracy of inspection reports submitted for a mitigation discount,” said spokesman Michael Peltier.

Discontent has been widespread among Citizens’ policyholders, who spent large sums of money on roof, window and other upgrades to earn windstorm mitigation discounts while protecting their homes against potential hurricane damage. In response, Citizens unveiled major changes to its home reinspection program last August, after consumers expressed outrage over media reports about a staggering $137 million in premium increases generated by the unpopular program.

Under its new plans, homeowners who lose insurance discounts because of a reinspection can receive a second inspection free of charge. They will have new tools to dispute the findings of the first reinspection. That decision could impact more than 200,000 property owners, who have already seen their premiums go up by an average of about $800 after the initial reinspection.

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Would-be convention center developers make pitches to Miami Beach residents

Developers on Wednesday presented Miami Beach residents with competing ideas for what the city’s Convention Center could look like after an overhaul.

It was the public’s first glimpse of what could become of the 52-acre site. Two heavy-hitting teams are competing for the project, which could cost up to $1 billion.

Both teams – Portman-CMC and South Beach ACE – stressed that the concepts presented Wednesday were only preliminary ideas.

Both teams’ proposals focus on creating lush greenscapes and ways to connect the enormous convention center with abutting neighborhoods – things that residents at a prior public meeting asked of the developers.

To do that, Portman-CMC, the team led by Portman Holdings, proposed several scenarios. In one, a diagonal plaza would grace the corner of the current convention center property, creating a string of parks to connect the center to the existing Miami Beach Botanical Garden and SoundScape Park.

The design focused on creating shade through both the buildings and landscaping, which is basically nonexistent now.

“This place is a black hole in terms of green, in terms of trees. We aim to change that," said Jamie Maslyn Larson, a Partner of West 8, the company partnering with Portman to landscape the project.

West 8 also worked on Miami Beach’s SoundScape Park, which features free outdoor movies and audio and video feeds of performances at the adjoining New World Symphony.

South Beach ACE, the team led by Tishman Hotel and Realty, proposed an underground parking area to hide idling trucks and buses – an issue that residents have complained about. Above the parking lot would be a rolling greenspace, and views of the now-ignored Collins Canal would be incorporated.

World-renowned architect Rem Koolhaas, part of the South Beach ACE team, called the current convention center a "serious problem" in the middle of the "idyllic" Miami Beach. His team’s design aims to correct that.

Tishman’s proposal also preserves the current Jackie Gleason Theater. Residents have debated whether the theater, which is not deemed historic, deserves to be preserved. The Tishman proposal would essentially remove a back wall of the theater to create a two-stage amphitheater.

Portman-CMC has not made a decision about whether the theater itself would stay, but spoke to preserving the legacy of Gleason himself. The team launched a website to get more resident feedback about its proposal: www.portmancmcmiamibeach.com.

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Behind the Scenes Jennifer Lawrence Dior Campaign

Nobody doubts Hollywood golden girl Jennifer Lawrence's award-winning acting chops, but in case you forgot, she's quite the fashionista too -- Jennifer's first ads for Miss Dior were related earlier this week to universal critical acclaim, and now this behind-the-scenes video gives us a look at how the beautiful photos came about.

Pics: Sexy & Sultry -- Jennifer Lawrence is Miss Dior

"Dior represents beauty and strength and women -- and that's how I feel when I'm wearing his clothes," Jennifer says as she artfully poses for photographer Willy Vanderperre. "It just makes you feel so confident."

....No doubt she was thinking that during her surprisingly graceful fall on Oscar night.

Video: In Depth -- Jennifer Lawrence's Road to Oscar

Click the video for a glimpse at J. Law's modeling skills, and how she feels about being part of such an iconic brand, which has been represented by the likes of Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis.

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Violent homeless crowd attacking patrons at Think Coffee shop

A violent homeless crowd is plaguing a popular Chelsea coffee shop — repeatedly attacking customers and each other with chairs and tables, the store’s management said.

Think Coffee manager Matt Fury told cops yesterday that he’s concerned with a lack of police response to his company’s 8th Avenue location, near 14h Street, where 911 calls are constant.

“One [homeless person] has thrown a chair once, one has hit someone, one has thrown a table,” Fury, 40, told NYPD brass yesterday at a Sixth Precinct community meeting.

“It always ends in violence.”

Christian Johnston

Think Coffee.

The manager said sometimes, when he called police, NYPD either didn’t respond or officers at the scene didn’t “take the matter seriously.”

“We opened a year ago and the problems started immediately, where different people who hang out on the corner started asking for ice, asking for cups,” Fury said.

“But as we became less tolerant they became more aggressive about not wanting to leave,” he added. “We are really surprised at how often the [911] calls were just not answered. I went to the precinct and the cop at the desk showed me the list of 19 unanswered calls.”

Several patrons and homeless people have been taken away in ambulances, according to Fury.

“One time the police officer said he would arrest me if I didn’t stop bothering him,” he charged.

The precinct’s commander, Deputy Inspector Brandon Delpozo, acknowledged the homeless community near Think Coffee has been problematic.

He added his officers are working to control the situation.

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Don’t get too personal on LinkedIn

Have you ever received a request to connect on LinkedIn from someone you didn’t know or couldn’t remember?

A few weeks ago, Josh Turner encountered this situation. The online request to connect came from a businessman on the opposite coast of the United States. It came with a short introduction that ended with “Let’s go Blues!” a reference to Turner’s favorite hockey team in St. Louis that he had mentioned in his profile. “It was a personal connection … that’s building rapport.”

LinkedIn is known for being the professional social network where members expect you to keep buttoned-down behavior and network online like you would at a business event. With more than 200 million registered users, the site facilitates interaction as a way to boost your stature, gain a potential customer or rub elbows with a future boss.

But unlike most other social networking sites, LinkedIn is all about business — and you need to take special care that you act accordingly. As in any workplace, the right amount of personal information sharing could be the foot in the door, say experts. The wrong amount could slam it closed.

“Anyone in business needs a professional online presence,’’ says Vanessa McGovern, the VP of Business Development for the Global Institute for Travel Entrepreneurs and a consultant to business owners on how to use LinkedIn. But they should also heed LinkedIn etiquette or risk sending the wrong messages.

One of the biggest mistakes, McGovern says is getting too personal — or not personal enough.

Sending a request to connect blindly equates to cold calling and likely will lead nowhere. Instead, it should come with a personal note, an explanation of who you are, where you met, or how the connection can benefit both parties, McGovern explains.

Your profile should get a little personal, too, she says. “Talk about yourself in the first person and add a personal flair — your goals, your passion … make yourself seem human.”

Beyond that, keep your LinkedIn posts, invitations, comments and photos professional, McGovern says.

If you had a hard day at the office or your child just won an award, you may want to share it with your personal network elsewhere — but not on LinkedIn.

“This is not Facebook. Only share what you would share at a professional networking event,” she says.

Another etiquette pitfall on LinkedIn is the hit and run — making a connection and not following up.

At least once a week, Ari Rollnick, a principal in kabookaboo, an integrated marketing agency in Coral Gables, gets a request to connect with someone on LinkedIn that he has never met or heard of before. The person will have no connections in common and share no information about why they want to build a rapport.

“I won’t accept. That’s a lost opportunity for them,” Rollnick says.

He approaches it differently. When Rollnick graduated from Emory with an MBA in 2001, he had a good idea that his classmates would excel in the business world. Now, Rollnick wanted to find out just where they went and reestablish a connection.

With a few clicks, he tracked down dozens of them on LinkedIn, requested a connection, and was back on their radar. Then came the follow-up — letting them know through emails, phone calls and posts that he was creating a two-way street for business exchange. “Rather than make that connection and disappearing , I let them know I wanted to open the door to conversation.”

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Owner of Keys island sick of trespassers

Many Keys visitors and locals know Money Key as a perfect spot to anchor up and spend a sunny day in the Keys, maybe even start a fire and camp overnight.

The problem is the small island about 800 feet off the Seven Mile Bridge oceanside near mile marker 42 is privately owned, and its visitors are apparently anything but conscientious.

"The problem is these formerly pristine islands turn into trash cans. We have squatters and it's just a nuisance," said Lance Kyle, whose family has owned the island since the 1970s.

"We don't encourage camping or visitation, but people feel entitled and that it's a government property and should be accessible," he said.

Kyle says he or a couple he pays to maintain the island has removed at least two makeshift toilets from the island the past couple of years.

"There's evidence of campfires and drums with a toilet seat on top. We had 10 coconut palms out there, but people have been chopping them down and using them for firewood," he said.

Kyle added that visitors apparently did not take kindly to recent attempts to curtail nuisance visitors to the island.

"I hired a local person to go out there and they went out and put up no-trespass signs on 4-by-4 pieces of wood with concrete footers. “About two weeks ago, somebody went in there and knocked them all down. They're all smashed up," he said.

Kyle, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area and said he visits the Keys several times yearly, said he was told by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office to file a police report.

"I think everything has been just too laissez faire over the years. It's getting to the point where people are just totally disrespectful. People have just stepped up the bad-behavior aspect," he said.

Kyle met with Sheriff's Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff, who agreed to monitor the island as part of normal patrols.

But it doesn't appear that authorities are able to go out of their way to police the island. Chad Scibilia, captain at the Marathon Sheriff's Office substation, said he has limited resources.

"I have one guy and one boat.” Deputy Willy Guerra” is going to do what he can to help him out," he said.

FWC spokesman Bobby Dube said if there is "proper signage in the right place ... we'd be able to enforce it" during normal patrols.

"If we do see someone there, we can address it," he said. "We can always ask them to leave because it is private property. Nine times out of 10, they'll leave."

Kyle said he pays caretakers "$300 or $400" annually to clean the island.

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Bobby Brown Sentenced to Jail for DUI

Bobby Brown has been sentenced to 55 days in jail for his second DUI conviction in a year.

The 44-year-old singer received the sentence Tuesday after his lawyer entered a plea of no contest on his behalf to charges that Brown was under the influence and driving on a suspended license when he was arrested in October 2012.

PICS: Star Sightings

He was ordered to report to jail beginning on March 20 and was also placed on four years of informal probation and will be required to complete an 18-month alcohol treatment program.

Brown also pleaded no contest last year to another charge of driving under the influence in connection with an arrest last April.

VIDEO: Bobby Brown on Anniversary of Whitney's Death

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Subway push gal fires family attorney, found fit for trial again

REUTERS

Erika Menendez in police custody.

Now taxpayers are footing the bill for the self-proclaimed Muslim hater who pushed an innocent man to his death in front of a subway train.

Erika Menendez, 31, was found fit for trial today for a second time.

And she also fired her family-retained attorneys because she distrusts them and chose court-appointed attorney Joseph DeFelice to represent her, booting private attorney Thomas A. Kenniff.

"She indicated she doesn't want our representation because of distrust with her family," said Kenniff who attempted to convince Queens Justice Gregory Lasak to allow his firm to stay on the case and "not use tax payer's money when the family can afford [an attorney]."

"Though she was found fit to stand trial she does suffer from severe psychiatric issues," charged Kenniff who later offered to work alongside DeFelice.

"Part of the paranoia, psychiatrist say she suffers from, has to do with family," he continued.

"I just want Joseph DeFelice," said Menendez in a relaxed tone.

Menendez was collared in December for purposely shoving Sunando Sen, 46, in front of a No. 7 train in Sunnyside because she "knows what Muslims look like," according to court records.

Sen was not Muslim.

Menendez's mother and sister uncomfortably sat in the courtroom with their arms folded and legs crossed and shook their heads in disagreement when their help was denied.

The judge thanked Kenniff for his services and continued with indicting Menendez with second-degree murder as a hate crime.

"I hate my family, I don't care, I don't want your medicine, I know what I am doing," said Assistant District Attorney Peter Lomp as he read from additional statements allegedly from Menendez while she was held at the 112th Precinct.

"I'm prejudice...I pushed him in front of the train because I thought it was cool," she allegedly said to detectives and sarcastically ordered "Halal lamb, white rice with white sauce — a dash of white sauce" for lunch.

DeFelice entered a "not guilty" for Menendez and will submit a bail application at the next court hearing on April 18.

Ellis Kaplan

Sister, left, and mother of alleged subway pusher Erika Menendez'.

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Drivers line up for $2.27 gas at the Finish Line in Sweetwater

Hundreds of cars were backed up for more than four blocks waiting for gas Wednesday at the Finish Line in Sweetwater.

Drawing the crowd: a special promotion at the gas station and convenience store on 109th Avenue and West Flagler Street.

Drivers started lining up at 5 a.m. to pay a cash price of $2.27 per gallon, close to a 50 percent savings.

The promotion was part of the “14 Days of Neighborly Love,” an event hosted by Miami-Dade Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz. It started on Valentine’s Day and ended Wednesday.

Miami-Dade residents were able to take advantage of other services and goods at a discount or for free, such as tax preparation, marriage counseling, car washes, and free SunPass transponders.

Finish Line owner Tony Cuevas and Roly Ramirez, owner of Doral Collision Center and Exclusive motoring, sponsored the $2.27 gas on the event’s opening and closing day.

“We’re very grateful for the success that we have,” Ramirez said. “I always give back in some way or another.”

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Jurors to decide fate of Miami imam accused of aiding Pakistani Taliban

For two months, federal prosecutors portrayed Miami imam Hafiz Khan in the worst possible light: terrorist sympathizer, Taliban supporter and pathological liar.

“His whole defense is a lie,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley told 12 jurors Tuesday during closing arguments.

The 77-year-old Khan, with his hunched shoulders and flowing white beard, testified that he sent about $50,000 to Pakistan to help a religious school, the poor and his extended family overseas — not to arm Taliban militants bent on killing Americans and Pakistanis.

“This is America, folks,” his attorney, Khurrum Wahid, said during closings. “You don’t have to accept what the government tells you.”

Now, the jurors must decide the fate of Khan, the former Muslim cleric at the Flagler Mosque in Miami. Khan, who was arrested along other family members in May 2011, has stood trial on four counts of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and to a foreign terrorist organization, as well as providing actual support in both conspiracies.

Each count — built upon evidence of FBI-recorded phone conversations, a wired informant and bank transactions between 2008 and 2010 — carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The prosecution’s case has had its share of setbacks. U.S. District Judge Robert Scola found that the evidence against Khan appeared “overwhelming” when he rejected the defendant’s bid for an acquittal at the end of trial. But the judge had also ruled midway through the trial that the government’s case against Khan’s son, Izhar Khan, a Broward imam, lacked evidence and threw it out.

Moreover, last summer prosecutors dropped the charges against another of Khan’s sons, Irfan, a Miami cab driver, without explanation.

Both brothers, along with another sibling, Ikram Khan, attended the closing arguments Tuesday with other supporters from the elderly imam’s mosque.

The case ultimately may come down to whether jurors believed Hafiz Khan, who was often evasive, unresponsive and rambling on the witness stand during four days of testimony last week.

Khan testified that he lied about his ostensible support for the Pakistani Taliban because he wanted to obtain $1 million from a purported Taliban sympathizer — who was actually an FBI informant — to help innocent victims of war in the Swat Valley region of Pakistan near the Afghanistan border.

Khan, who was unaware his conversations were being recorded, said he wished Americans would die in pursuit of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and that terrorists would destroy the Pakistan government. He was also recorded praising the attempted 2010 Times Square bomb plot in New York City.

But on the witness stand, Khan testified his recorded statements were “all lies,” meant to curry favor with the FBI informant, known as Mahmood Siddiqui, who was paid $126,000 by the federal government for his undercover work. Siddiqui had promised Khan the money to help poor victims of the war between the Taliban and Pakistan.

“There are many times I am agreeing with him, but that does not mean that I mean it,” Khan testified.

Khan, a naturalized U.S. citizen who came to this country in 1994, sparred during cross-examination with Shipley, who grew frustrated as the frail yet feisty imam dodged his questions about his true beliefs about terrorism.

Shipley, however, pointed out that Khan made similar comments in other telephone conversations with friends and relatives that also were intercepted by the FBI.

Shipley’s colleague, prosecutor Sivashree Sundaram, said during closing arguments that the case was “straight forward.”

“This defendant convicted himself with his own words and actions,” Sundaram told jurors. “These are not the words of a peace-loving man.”

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Stars Without Makeup!

Nicole Richie

February 26, 2013

She's 31?! Nicole Richie's makeup-free face emphasized her youthful features while out and about in Sydney, Australia.

ALSO IN THIS GALLERY:

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Apple to hand out iTunes credits in settlement

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Apple has agreed to give more than $100 million in iTunes store credits to settle a lawsuit alleging that the iPhone and iPad maker improperly charged kids for playing games on their mobile devices.

The federal case centers on allegations that Apple didn't create adequate parental controls to prevent children from buying extra features while playing free games on iPhones and iPads in 2010 and 2011.

Apple Inc. has agreed to award an iTunes credit of $5 to each of the estimated 23 million accountholders who may have been affected. Parents could receive more if they can show their bills exceeded $5. If the charges exceeded $30, cash refunds will be offered.

A hearing on the proposed settlement is scheduled Friday in San Jose, Calf.

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Hialeah sugar firm Banah files for bankruptcy

A sugar processing company that brought hype to Hialeah after it moved into a 300,000-square-foot space last July — promising to hire up to 300 workers — has filed for bankruptcy protection.

The company’s move to its new headquarters even prompted Miami-Dade County to rename a stretch of Southeast 10th Avenue “Banah Sweet Way” in honor of the company. Several local leaders, including county Mayor Carlos Giménez, attended the naming ceremony.

But late last week, the company, which is owned by a convicted drug trafficker and which had sought taxpayer benefits from a government program promoting investments, left behind a line of outraged creditors. The company had only 15 employees.

Banah Sugar International Group Inc. reported that it owed between $1 million and $10 million to a list of 232 people and companies, according to public records.

The company’s administrative director, Luis Estrada, told El Nuevo Herald on Monday that the company’s owner, Alex Pérez, was meeting with company officials and added that he was not authorized to comment on the issue.

The bankruptcy was filed under Chapter 11, which allows for an attempt to reorganize the company. It allows the company’s management to continue day-to-day operations, but the bankruptcy court must make all the company’s important decisions.

On Monday, several creditors criticized Banah’s owner for failing to make payments.

“I feel frustrated and deceived,” said Alexander A. Pérez, owner of Florida Patrol Investigators (FPI), a Hialeah company that provided security services to the company. “They sent me checks that bounced, and we sued them.”

FPI’s owner said that the company owes him close to $70,000 for security services at Banah his company at 215 SE 10th Ave.

Hialeah’s mayor, Carlos Hernández, declined to comment on the sugar company’s bankruptcy filing, but he defended renaming Southeast 10th Avenue after the company, saying that Banah had promised to make significant investments in the area.

County spokesperson Fernando Figueredo said that Giménez had attended the ceremony “in good faith,” since its intention was to highlight an investment made in a 10-acre plant where 200,000 bottles of liquid sugar were supposed to be processed every day.

“The mayor knew nothing about the company’s background,” Figueredo said. “He attended because the company was creating jobs and was being recommended to be recognized in Hialeah.”

Hiram Mendoza, an aide to County Commission Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa, said that in 2012 Banah requested to be included in a program to receive county and state financial incentives. He added, however, that Banah did not meet the goal of creating 300 jobs it had promised. “They have not received any financial aid from the state or the county,” Mendoza said. “It’s true that they asked for it, but they did not meet the goals.”

Last year, Banah executives announced it would hold a job fair.

On Monday, Estrada said the company never had a job fair. Currently it has 15 employees, he said.

In October, Francisco Alvarado, a New Times reporter, revealed that in 2001 the federal government had indicted Banah’s owner on felony charges of conspiracy of cocaine possession and possession with intent to sell. Two years before, DEA agents had arrested two men with six kilograms of cocaine hidden in a vehicle. The men declared under oath that Pérez, Banah’s owner, had handed them the drugs.

In 2003, Pérez pleaded guilty of one of the charges and served four years in a federal prison.

Diego Leiva, Banah’s former executive director, said he was surprised by the bankruptcy. “I left the company when Pérez’s past came to light,” said Leiva, who is among the company’s creditors. “I didn’t know anything about that.”

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Citizens Property Insurance strains to pull in belt on spending

The Maryland insurance executive charged with cleaning house at Citizens Property Insurance has had trouble sticking to the tighter travel expense policy he put in place.

Since Barry Gilway became Citizens CEO in June, he has stayed in a hotel at nearly twice Citizens’ room rate cap, charged liquor to a corporate credit card in violation of company rules, submitted expense forms late and had to be reminded to include itemized receipts.

A review of travel costs shows that Citizens has taken some steps toward frugality since the Herald/Times revealed in August that executives were enjoying lavish meals and five-star hotel stays at the same time the state-run insurer was aggressively trying to raise rates.

But even with a new policy designed to rein in costs, old habits die hard.

Some executives, including Gilway, have failed to file expense reports within the required 15 days of a trip. They’re still spending hundreds of dollars to change airplane tickets. Co-workers are still dining with each other at company expense at high-end restaurants like Tampa’s Capital Grille and Orlando’s Ocean Prime.

Recent expense reports also indicate that Citizens could have done more in the past to hold down costs at Florida hotels.

For a board meeting in February, 2012, Citizens paid $179 a night for employees to stay at the Peabody in Orlando.

But after Citizens imposed a $150 cap on in-state lodging, the Peabody agreed to reduce its rate to $149 a night for a December meeting.

"We had to work very diligently to get the rate down and it was a one-time thing they were able to get done for us since we had done business with them previously,’’ said Christine Ashburn, a Citizens spokesperson. "Due to their rates we will no longer be working with them going forward.’’

Expense reports filed since the travel policy changed in October also show that good hotels in out-of-state cities were available at much lower rates than what Citizens executives customarily spent. Before last fall, Sharon Binnun, the chief financial officer, typically stayed in New York City hotels costing $350 a night and up. But for a recent trip, she booked a room at the swank Marriott Marquis in Times Square at a nightly rate of just $204.

Under the new travel policy, Citizens executives are allowed to charge the company up to $60 a day for meals, still far higher than the $36-a-day limit set by other state agencies. On numerous occasions in the past few months, executives sought only partial reimbursement for expensive meals to avoid exceeding the cap.

More changes may be in the works.

"We currently are reviewing our expense procedures to develop and implement policies that more closely align with state policies and expect to have the revised policy in place in early March,’’ Ashburn said.

Last year, Gov. Rick Scott called on his inspector general to investigate Citizens after the Herald/Times reported on extravagant spending and allegations of corporate misconduct and waste, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in severance packages paid to executives who resigned amid scandal.

Scott weighed in again last week after the Herald/Times reported that Binnun and other top executives had received raises between 12 and 24 percent. Scott called the raises "foolish" and urged the executives to return them. Gilway and Citizens board chairman Carlos Lacasa have repeatedly said high salaries and travel expenses are justified as the cost of doing business in the competitive insurance world.

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Janet Jackson Married Wissam Al Mana

Rumors that Janet Jackson is planning her wedding to Wissam Al Mana have been flying fast and furious for weeks now. There's only one problem: they're already married!

PHOTOS - The Most Glamorous Oscar Gowns

In their first joint statement as a couple, Janet Jackson and Wissam Al Mana confirm the news exclusively to ET, saying, "The rumours regarding an extravagant wedding are simply not true. Last year we were married in a quiet, private, and beautiful ceremony."

VIDEO - Prince Michael Jackson is ET's Newest Correspondant

"Our wedding gifts to one another were contributions to our respective favourite children’s charities. We would appreciate that our privacy is respected and that we are allowed this time for celebration and joy. With love, Wissam and Janet"

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Photo by world-renowned photographer, Marco Glaviano.

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Jury hears openings in 'cannibal cop' case

AP

Gilberto Valle is seen in federal court today.

Gilberto Valle's mind is full of sick thoughts — and he wants a jury to know it.

His own lawyer has shown prospective jurors a kinky staged photo of a woman trussed up in a roasting pan to test their tolerance for the officer's "weird proclivities."

Prosecutors say an NYPD officer wanted to kidnap, torture and devour women in a twisted plot of cannibalism.

The accusations were made Monday during opening statements at the federal trial of Gilberto Valle.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan plan to use e-mails and other evidence to show that the 28-year-old was a would-be killer. They say he even drew up a list of targets using a law enforcement database.

Gilberto Valle

Defense witnesses are expected to describe how he lived in a secret, online fantasy world. The defense says participants role-play as cannibals, but never act on it.

Valle's wife is expected to testify against him later Monday.

The baby-faced tabloid sensation known as the "cannibal cop" is even expected to take the stand to make the case that it was all fantasy, that his online chats were so offensive, so over-the-top that they couldn't possibly be taken seriously.

If jurors were to believe that the countless people who visit fetish chat rooms were real cannibals, then where's the horrific feeding frenzy?

Valle, a 28-year-old college grad and father, was just another NYPD patrolman until late last year, when he was charged with conspiring to kidnap a woman and unauthorized use of a law enforcement database.

Beyond the tabloid headlines that blared "Finest Young Cannibal" and "Cook 'em Danno," the accusations were startling and serious: The FBI, following a tip from Valle's estranged wife, unearthed an alleged plot to cook and eat dozens of women, all graphically detailed in a trail of emails, computer files and instant messages. A conviction on the kidnapping count carries a possible life sentence.

"I'm planning on getting me some girl meat," he allegedly wrote in one chat room. "It's this November, for Thanksgiving. ... She's not a volunteer. She has to be abducted."

Another purported target was an 18-year-old high school student who Valle wrote was "the most desirable piece of meat I've ever met" and was small enough to fit in his oven.

A criminal complaint claimed that Valle had created a computer file cataloging at least 100 women with their names, addresses and photos. And it accused him of illegally culling some of the information from the restricted law enforcement database, and doing surveillance on some of his potential victims.

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Miami medicine goes digital

About 10 years ago, Dr. Fleur Sack quit her practice as a family physician to become a hospital department head. Spurring her decision was the need to switch from paper records to electronic ones to keep her private practice profitable. “At that time, it would have cost about $50,000,” Dr. Sack recalled. “It was too expensive and it was too overwhelming.”

But times and technologies changed, and last year, Dr. Sack left her hospital job to restart her medical practice with an affordable system for managing electronic patient records. She agreed to a $5,000 setup fee and a subscription fee of $500 per month for the system. Her investment also qualified her for subsidy money, which the federal government pays in installments, and to date, her subsidy income has paid for the setup fee and about two years of monthly fees. “So far, I’ve got my check for $18,000,” she said. “There’s a total of $44,000 that I can get.”

That kind of cash flow is one reason why so-called EHR software systems for electronic health records have been among the hottest-selling commercial products in the world of information technology. EHR system development is a growth industry in South Florida, too. Life sciences and biotechnology are among the high growth-potential sectors identified by the Beacon Council-led One Community One Goal economic development initiative unveiled in 2012; already, the University of Miami has opened a Health Science Technology Park while Florida International University has launched a program in its graduate school of business oriented toward biotechnology businesses.

For many young businesses in the area’s IT industry, government incentives are paving the way. The federal government is pushing doctors and hospitals to use electronic health records to cut wasteful spending and improve patient care while protecting patient privacy — sending digital information via encrypted systems, for example, rather than regular email.

Under a 2009 federal law known as the HITECH Act, maximum incentive payments for buying such systems range up to $44,000 for doctors with Medicare patients and up to $63,750 for doctors with Medicaid patients. Hospitals are eligible for larger incentive payments for becoming more paperless. The subsidy program isn’t permanent; eligible professionals must begin receiving payments by 2016. But by then, the federal government will be penalizing doctors and hospitals that take Medicare or Medicaid money without making meaningful use of electronic health records.

“What the government did is, they incentivized, and now they’re going to penalize,” said Andrew Carricarte, president and CEO of IOS Health Systems in Miami, one of the largest South Florida-based vendors of online software service for physician practices. He said insurance companies also may start penalizing physicians for failing to adopt electronic health records because “the commercial payers always follow Medicare and Medicaid.”

It’s all part of the growth story at IOS Health Systems, which has more than 2,000 physicians across the nation using its online EHR system. Carricarte said many of the company’s customers buy their second EHR system from IOS after their first one flopped. “Almost 40 percent of our sales come from customers who had systems and are now switching over to something else,” he said.

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Opinion: Salute to the Brothers to the Rescue fliers shot down on this day by Cuba

I was 5 years old and strapped to a tall pole across from my 3-year-old sister. The pole, a mast for a sail that was never very useful, was in the center of a raft being thrown about the Florida Straits.

I don’t remember the nights, but I’m told they were so dark my mother, sitting between us, could not see us, but only feel us. I don’t remember being wet or cold, but my parents tell me the waves rolling over us were about 20 feet high. I don’t remember the sun, but after four days at sea, my skin was two shades darker than what most women would pay for at a tanning salon.

If there were a soundtrack to my life, Willy Chirino’s Nuestro Día (Our Day) would be one of the first songs on the album. The first two verses always bring tears to my eyes and remind me of the danger my family was in when Brothers to the Rescue saved our lives. Brothers to the Rescue is the organization whose pilots kept a watchful, protective eye for rafters making the perilous journey from Cuba to freedom. It was 17 years ago today that four of them were ambushed in the sky and killed by Cuban MiGs.

Tired of living in a country where he was persecuted for uttering disapproval of the government’s hateful policies and tactics, my father, then 25 years old, decided it was time to leave. My mother refused to stay behind with two young girls and no future. So after hiding in a military neighborhood for most of the summer of 1992 — and six days after Hurricane Andrew had destroyed Homestead — my family left Cuba.

We left just before dawn through the middle of Varadero, a popular, and hence heavily patrolled, beach. We left on a raft engineered and built by my father with the help of a few other men who left with us.

There were nine of us — although it nearly became 10. My parents tell me that a drunk who was walking the beach helped push the raft away from the shore, then begged to come with us. But our food and water supplies were carefully rationed for nine. Our vessel, if you could call it that, was full.

I remember only snippets of that night. Mostly, I recall darkness, tall grass, running on the sand, and my little sister crying while my mother tried desperately to keep her quiet.

Though it was four days and two more nights before we were spotted by Brothers to the Rescue, the next thing I remember is eating delicious pastelitos. A creative humanitarian in that plane fashioned a parachute, out of a cardboard box filled with Cuban pastries from Miami, and tied it to an actual message in a bottle. The sweet parachute fell to the water and bobbed around just close enough for someone in our party to reach.

My mother recalls it was the first food in almost a week that my sister and I were able to keep down.

The “bottle,” a clear plastic jar with a white sticker and bold red letters that read: “Hermanos Al Rescate” — Brothers to the Rescue — held a message that had my sister and I standing and waving excitedly up at the sky: “Don’t despair. God is with you and the U.S. Coast Guard is on its way from Key West.”

I am now 26, and that plastic jar has had a place of honor in our family’s kitchen for over 20 years.

Today it is filled with coffee beans my aunt sent from Cuba when she heard we were alive and safe.

Since Feb. 24, 1996, these memories are tinged by sadness. That is the day I heard that two Brothers to the Rescue planes had been shot out of the sky by Cuban military planes.

As a 9-year-old child, I don’t think I understood what was going on. All I knew then of Brothers to the Rescue was that we had one of their bottles in our kitchen, and that they had sent us delicious pastries when we couldn’t keep down the tinned spam my mother had tried feeding us on that raft.

Today I am a young Cuban-American about to graduate from law school. When I see the plastic jar, I think of those men who died in the shootdown and wonder if they could have been the same pilots involved in my own family’s rescue.

I may not have known them personally, but they have my eternal respect: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.

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Independent Spirit Award Winners 2013

The 2013 Film Independent Spirits Awards were handed out in Santa Monica, CA today and lots of Oscar frontrunners cemented their status by dominating in their categories once more.

Check out all the winners below:

Best Feature

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Bernie

Keep the Lights On

Moonrise Kingdom

Silver Linings Playbook

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Linda Cardellini, Return

Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

BEST MALE LEAD

Jack Black, Bernie

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

John Hawkes, The Sessions

Thure Lindhardt, Keep the Lights On

Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe

Wendell Pierce, Four

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister's Sister

Ann Dowd, Compliance

Helen Hunt, The Sessions

Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice

Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike

David Oyelowo, Middle of Nowhere

Michael Pena, End of Watch

Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths

Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom

Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST SCREENPLAY

Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom

Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks

Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

For the full list of winners, click here.

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Man nearly hacks wife to death with meat cleaver

Gregory P. Mango

Crime tape at the scene of today's fight

A meat cleaver-wielding maniac attacked his wife in front of two New York firefighters, who had been trying to break up their fight, officials said.

The man and woman were loudly arguing in front of Fong’s Trading at 74 Canal St. at 10:24 a.m. when two of New York’s Bravest—stationed across the street at Engine Company 9, Ladder Company 6—saw the dispute and tried to intervene, according to FDNY spokesman Jim Long.

That’s when the man allegedly pulled out a meat cleaver and began hacking at his wife.

“He got a couple of good hits in,” Long said. “He hit her several times.”

Both firefighters tackled the cleaver-wielding man and held him for cops, Long said. The man was booked into custody at the 5th Precinct station house in Chinatown.

As the man was tackled, the woman took off running, leaving her thick, wedge shoes and clumps of bloody hair behind, witnesses said.

A third Bravest and two neighborhood cops on patrol chased the injured woman and finally caught up with her at Division and Eldridge Streets, witnesses said.

They calmed her down and called paramedics, witnesses said. She’s listed in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital but is expected to survive her wounds, officials said.

"She was running down the street screaming, `Help!’ ” said witness Jose Mendez, 56, superintendent of Eldridge Street Synagogue and other neighborhood buildings.

Before cops and the firefighter could reach the woman, she ducked into a small noodle shop at 13B Eldridge St., came out and ran another half block.

“She was barefoot and went into the restaurant and then ran back out,” Mendez said. “There was blood on the window. They cleaned it up right away. It was pretty weird."

Additional reporting by Wilson Dizard and David K. Li

Gregory P. Mango

Another shot of the near-fatal scene

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South Beach Wine & Food Festival changes Miami's culinary scene, impacts economy

For Miami restaurateurs, this is Showtime.

With dozens of top chefs — Bobby Flay, Todd English, Daniel Boloud and Masaharu Morimoto among the list — in town for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, the pressure is on everywhere, from Michy’s to the new Catch Miami. The goal: Show everyone from around the country that Miami’s food scene has arrived on the national stage.

Chef Michelle Bernstein’s staff whipped up dishes designed to impress guests at Michy’s — like foie gras, oxtail and apple tarte tatin — while she juggled menus for multiple events. Bernstein kept her cellphone handy to make sure any chef friends could get a table, even though her namesake restaurant was sold out.

As always, Joe’s Stone Crab was a must-do stop for many, including Paula Deen and New York restaurateur Danny Meyer. Aussie Chef Curtis Stone attracted a string of admirers as he ate his way around town, with stops at Prime 112, Pubbelly Sushi and Puerto Sagua. Khong River House and Yardbird Southern Table & Bar hosted Meyer, The Food Network’s Anne Burrell and Chef Anita Lo.

Michael’s Genuine was another hot spot.

“This is kind of our coming out party for Khong and it’s our chance to knock it out of the park and wow people,” said John Kunkel, owner of Khong and Yardbird.

Prime 112 owner Myles Chefetz admits he’s a fanatic about checking plates when they come back from a chef’s table. And he’s always on the lookout for the table ordering 20 different items, because that’s usually a restaurateur doing research.

“If you have Jean-Gorges or Bobby Flay eating at your restaurant, you want to make sure he has a great experience,” Chefetz said. “You want to put your best foot forward because you know you’re going to get scrutinized.”

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is not just a forum for impressing the culinary elite. It’s among the top three tourist draws for Miami restaurants and hotels. In its 12th year, the festival draws more than 60,000 people to Miami Beach for a weekend of decadence, featuring more than 50 events spread over four days.

It is neck and neck with two of the area’s other most prominent weekends: Art Basel and Presidents’ Day (which coincides with the Miami International Boat Show).

There’s the immediate economic impact, of course, but the festival has made its mark in other ways: helping transform Miami’s food scene from a cultural wasteland to one of the country’s hot spots, one where top chefs all want to set up shop.

“Twelve years ago I don’t know if you could even name five really good restaurants. Now, you can’t think of where you want to eat because there are so many good restaurants,” said Lee Brian Schrager, festival founder and vice president of communications for Southern Wine & Spirits, its host. “What the festival can take credit for is introducing the culinary world to the great talent down here, and really highlighting South Florida as a great dining destination.”

There has been plenty of indulgence to go around. Flay finally broke his losing streak and took home top honors at the Burger Bash with his award-winning crunchified green chili burger. At the Q, barbecue lovers had their choice of Al Roker’s lamb ribs with baked beans or Geoffrey Zakarian’s smoked tagarashi crusted tuna, among other offerings.

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Miami police union challenges officer’s firing for fatal shooting

The Fraternal Order of Police filed a lawsuit against the city of Miami on Friday, asserting that an officer who fatally shot an unarmed motorist in 2011 was improperly fired from the police department.

Officer Reynaldo Goyos shot and killed Travis McNeil as he sat in a car at a Little Haiti intersection. It was one of a string of seven deadly shootings of black men in the inner city by Miami police officers in 2010 and 2011.

Goyos was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by prosecutors in 2012. But he was terminated last month after the department’s Firearms Review Board concluded that the shooting was unjustified.

The police union lawsuit claims that the board violated state open-government laws by failing to open its meetings to the public.

Goyos “was improperly terminated by the city of Miami Police Department by a review board that violates the law,” union President Javier Ortiz wrote in a statement.

The lawsuit contends that Goyos should be reinstated.

City Attorney Julie O. Bru declined to discuss the specifics of the case. “We reviewed the allegations, and the city maintains that the board has operated consistent with the requirements of law,” she said.

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Buzzmakers: Prince Michael Reports for ET and Mindy McCready Dies

What had ETOnline readers buzzing this week?

1. Prince Michael Jackson is New ET Correspondent

Having grown up in show business, Prince Michael proved to be a gifted interviewer as he conducted his first sit-down as an ET correspondent.

Michael Jackson's 16-year-old son impressed Oz the Great and Powerful stars James Franco and Zach Braff as well as director Sam Raimi with his confidence and competence on his first assignment.

"You're doing awesome," Braff gushed. "You're a natural."

Prince Michael returned the compliment, praising their work in the fantasy flick and getting Franco to shed some light on how he approached playing the lead role of Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics.

"I saw that his particular transformation would allow for comedy," Franco explained. "Because he's a conman -- that would get him into a lot of awkward situations that could be played for comedy."

The movie imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum's beloved character from The Wizard of Oz. After Oscar Diggs (Franco) is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he first thinks he's hit the jackpot -- until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting.

2. Country Music Stars Mourn Mindy McCready's Death

The country music community is mourning the loss of one of their own. Country crooner Mindy McCready was found dead of apparent suicide on Sunday, Feb. 17, at her Arkansas home. She was 37. Needless to say, this has caused an outpouring of sympathetic tweets from McCready's musician peers.

Here are some of the stars' reactions to the tragic news:

LeAnn Rimes: "Mindy and I both started our careers around the same time. We worked with a lot of the same people, so we ended up spending lots of time around one another. She was always so kind and very protective of me, like a big sis. My heart is broken that she's gone."

Carrie Underwood: "I grew up listening to Mindy McCready...so sad for her family tonight. Many prayers are going out to them..."

Clay Aiken: "I listened admiringly to Mindy McCready growing up. May she finally be at peace and lend her beautiful voice to heaven's."

Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott: "My heart is breaking hearing of the loss of Mindy McCready. Pray for her 2 precious little boys...may God's peace & protection be on them!"

Jason Aldean: "Just heard about Mindy McCready. My thoughts and prayers are with her 2 boys and her family."

Big and Rich's John Rich: "Very sad to hear about Mindy McCready. When I was in Lonestar she was our label mate and we were friends. A tragic end to a talented life."

Wynona Judd: "Oh my! Mindy. Dear sweet girl. This is so sad. It just breaks my heart what addiction continues to take from this life. Addiction is a dis EASE and not a character flaw. When the pain becomes too much, it causes people to want that pain to stop. This is just so Unbelievable and so sad. God be with the family and those babies. Surround them with your grace & mercy. Sleep in Heavenly peace Mindy."

Martina McBride: "So sad."

Chely Wright: "Really really sad to learn the news about Mindy McCready. I will pray for her children and I hope that people are gentle with her memory."

Gretchen Peters: "So sad to hear about Mindy McCready. I met her in the first flush of her early career. This is a hard business. Sometimes success is poison."

3. Mark Hamill Reveals He's in Talks to Appear in New 'Star Wars'

Mark Hamill's new movie Sushi Girl hits DVD and Blu-ray this week, and while talking about the project, the Star Wars legend was more than happy to provide ETonline with an update on his involvement with the in-development Star Wars VII – and what he thinks of those planned spinoff movies…

"It's all very, very exciting and so unexpected," says Hamill. "I think that's the quality I like about it most – it's like getting a pair of pants out of the closet you haven't worn in three years and finding a $20 bill in the pocket. It's just so unexpected."

First off, will he appear in Star Wars VII? "They're talking to us," he reveals. "George [Lucas] wanted to know whether we'd be interested. He did say that if we didn't want to do it, they wouldn't cast another actor in our parts – they would write us out. … I can tell you right away that we haven't signed any contracts. We're in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed -- on their end, not mine. They're more busy than I am."

Hamill, 61, says he's intrigued about where the new trilogy could go but says he knows nothing about the storyline: "I probably learn more from Entertainment Tonight than I do directly from Lucasfilm – like for instance, when George told us he wanted to do the next trilogy, he didn't tell us it was going to be done for Disney. He saved that little nugget, and I read it online like anybody else."

As for his thoughts about the next trilogy's tone, "I said to George that I wanted to go back to the way it was, in the sense that ours was much more carefree and lighthearted and humorous – in my opinion, anyway. And another thing I'd want to make sure of is are we going to have the whole gang back? Is Carrie and Harrison and Billy Dee and Tony Daniels, everybody that's around from the original [returning]? I want to make sure that everybody's on board here, rather than just one. I guess I'll have to tune into your show to figure out who's on board."

In terms of where we'll pick up with Luke Skywalker in Star Wars VII, "I'm assuming, because I haven't talked to the writers, that these movies would be about our offspring -- like my character would be sort of in the Obi-Wan range [as] an influential character. … When I found out [while making the original trilogy] that ultimate good news/bad news joke – the good news is there's a real attractive, hot girl in the universe; the bad news is she's your sister – I thought, 'Well, I'm going to wind up like Sir Alec [Guinness]. I'm going to be a lonely old hermit living out in some kind of desert igloo with a couple of robots.'"

Hamill concludes of the next movie, "I hope they find the right balance of CGI with practical effects. I love props, I love models, miniatures, matte paintings -- I'm sort of old school. I think if you go too far in the direction of CGI it winds up looking like just a giant a video game, and that's unfortunate. … If they listen to me at all, it'll be, 'Lighten up and go retro with the way it looks.'"

As for those confirmed stand-alone Star Wars films, which may follow the adventures of a young Han Solo, Boba Fett and Yoda, Hamill observes, "That's really smart. Then you're more like James Bond pictures, where they come out and it's not an investment of a three-movie arc. … It's so rich, that [Star Wars] universe, in terms of quirkiness and oddball [nature]. We would talk about that [on the original film's set]. We'd go like, 'That little band that's playing in the Cantina, what's their story?! I mean, are they a traveling band? Are they the house band? Who's their manager?' They didn't have names when we first were talking about them. Now they're called, like, Sy Snootles – they come up with names down the road when they have to name toys."

So what spinoff movie would Mark Hamill like to see? "Oh, I don't know, set it on the Wookiee planet -- although that might be prohibitively expensive with that many Wookiees," he says with some resignation. After a little more thought, he muses, "That's what I would love. You pick the most insignificant little [character] – there's this little hawk-beaked character that's somewhere in Jabba's palace, I can't even remember what function he served -- but that's what I would think. You pick something that almost nobody remembers or knows about -- and then have a movie about him! You could probably put about 500 different character's names on a big, giant dart board, throw a dart, and say, 'Okay, wherever it lands we've got to make him the central character.'"
After a hearty laugh, Hamill adds, "I hope we don't overstay our welcome."

4. Nina Dobrev Reflects on Shocking 'Vampire Diaries' Death

Death has loomed large over Elena Gilbert since The Vampire Diaries pilot, but absolutely nothing will compare with the pain she's forced to endure now that her brother, Jeremy, has fallen victim to vampires.

The shocking death not only devastated fans, but the actors -- Steven McQueen included -- as well. And anyone assuming TVD finds a way to make the best of a bad situation is wrong. Dead wrong. According to Nina Dobrev things are about to get real dark for Elena, whose grief will make her unrecognizable to fans in the coming weeks.

ETonline: This season has been a thrill from the start. What's your feeling about season four?

Nina Dobrev: It's been really cool, especially because you always hear actors say doing a TV show for X amount of years can be boring and repetitive, but over the last four years, Elena has been changing and evolving and growing so much. Julie [Plec, executive producer] has done such an incredible job of keeping it fresh and exciting and making me excited to come to work every day. Especially this season -- and especially with the death of Jeremy. Between last week's episode and this week's, it's been very challenging for me as an actress, but very fulfilling. It's an emotional rollercoaster and I had to go to some dark places.

ETonline: What was your reaction to finding out Jeremy would be killed?

Dobrev: I think we were all shocked and surprised, but that's the show -- it's a vampire show, people have to die all the time. And for Elena, it was very important that she lose Jeremy for what she's about to go through. It becomes a big part of her journey. I know Steven was very bummed, but also excited because he had a lot to do leading up to it -- his character grew and became so strong. It's bittersweet but made for some amazing television.

ETonline: In many ways, Jeremy was the person who really kept Elena tethered to her humanity. Will this loss threaten to make Elena embrace the less desirable sides of vampirism?

Dobrev: Jeremy was the last person she had left, so it's very likely that Elena could go off the deep end now that she doesn't have the one thing that kept her human. Elena wants to protect the people she loves and saw this new-found strength as a way to protect everyone. But, in this case, she couldn't protect Jeremy and lost the only family member she had left. She won't take it lightly. It's going to destroy her.

ETonline: Jeremy was also one of the only remaining characters who touched everyone in Mystic Falls. Will his death, in some ways, reinforce the group?

Dobrev: They do come together, but everyone is sort of walking on pins and needles around Elena so they don't trigger something and send her into a psychotic break. They live in a mystical world, so just because Jeremy's dead, it doesn't mean he's really dead in her mind. So she's looking for any solution she can to bring him back -- Elena is basically mentally unstable, going a little crazy and everyone is trying to help.

ETonline: Obviously Elena still misses Jenna and Alaric, but I would imagine losing Jeremy has a much more profound and prolonged effect on her. True?

Dobrev: Losing Jeremy really, really, really changes Elena. Sometimes people recover from tragedy and sometimes they don't -- but it's a long journey for her. Elena's mourning peroid is much different than any I've ever seen depicted on TV before. She goes off the deep end and spirals downwards into a black hole of death and sadness and misery. I mean, your instinct is right when you asked if we'll see an Elena who embraces her vampire side to a different degree. It's an Elena we haven't seen before, and you'll be shocked, quite frankly. I was very surprised where the episodes take her because it's almost like she's a completely different person that you won't recognize to some degree.

5. Fergie Reveals: I'm Pregnant!

Congratulations are in order for Fergie and Josh Duhamel, as the couple announced this week that they're expecting their first child!

"Josh & Me & BABY makes three," she Tweeted, along with the hashtag #MyLovelyBabyBump

Fergie and Duhamel married on January 10, 2009, after five years of dating.

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Off-duty transit worker busted for drunk driving

An off-duty transit worker was busted for drunk driving in Brooklyn early today, authorities said

Cops spotted MTA employee Rosario Luis, 49, sleeping in a black 2010 Acura in Bedford Stuyvesant shortly before 1:30 a.m. today.

Half of his car was on the sidewalk at the corner of Nostrand Avenue and Vernon Avenue, police sources said.

The vehicle was still running, and sources said there was a strong alcohol odor on Luis.

He was taken into police custody, and a Breathalyzer test found his blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, sources said.

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South Florida hospitals could lose $368 million from sequestration

A detailed survey shows that South Florida hospitals could lose $368 million over 10 years in federal budget cuts starting next Friday, if the sequestration program kicks in as scheduled.

The Florida Hospital Association, using data from the American Hospital Association, estimates that over the next decade, sequestration would cause Miami-Dade hospitals to lose $223.9 million and Broward facilities $144.4 million under the Congress-mandated budget cuts that hit virtually all federal programs unless Republicans and Democrats can work out a compromise.

The New York Times and other national news organizations are reporting that sequestration, unlike the New Year’s fiscal cliff, seems virtually certain to take place.

The law requires across-the-board spending cuts in domestic and defense programs, with certain exceptions. Because healthcare represents more than one in five dollars of the federal budget, it will be a huge target for cuts.

For hospitals and doctors, the major impact will be felt in Medicare cuts, which according to the budget law are limited to 2 percent of Medicare payments. Medicaid, food stamps and Social Security are exempted from cuts, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The FHA study calculates that over 10 years, Jackson Memorial Hospital stands to lose $30.6 million, Mount Sinai Medical Center on Miami Beach $27.3 million, Holy Cross in Fort Lauderdale $23.8 million and Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood $21.4 million.

“The problem with sequestration is that it just makes broad cuts across the board,” said Linda Quick, president of the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association. “The Affordable Care Act is looking at all sorts of intelligent ways to reduce costs,” including coordinated care that will stop duplicated tests and reduce hospital readmissions. “But sequestration takes an ax, and that doesn’t make any sense.”

FierceHealthcare, which produces trade publications, says sequestration cuts over the next decade will include $591 million from prescription drug benefits for seniors, $318 million from the Food and Drug Administration, $2.5 billion from the National Institutes of Health, $490 million from the Centers for Disease Control and $365 million from Indian Health Services.

The National Association of Community Health Centers estimates that 900,000 of its patients nationwide could lose care because of the cuts. The group said the cuts were “penny wise and pound foolish” because they would mean less preventive care while more and sicker patients would end up in emergency rooms.

Like the fiscal cliff, Republicans and Democrats agreed on a sequestration strategy, with the idea that the drastic measure would force the two sides to reach agreement on more deliberative budget adjustments. That hasn’t happened.

The White House reports that the law will mean that nondefense programs will be cut by 5 percent, defense programs by 8 percent. But since the first year’s cuts must be done over seven months, that means in 2013, nondefense programs need to be cut by 9 percent, defense programs by 13 percent.

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