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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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."

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"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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