When the latest layoff story is about you




















It’s an odd feeling reading in the newspaper about losing your job. I didn’t learn about being fired in the newspaper but the story of losing my position was there. Why I lost my job (along with more than a dozen of my colleagues) was the lead story in the business section of The Miami Herald on Feb. 22. It even had a picture of me right next to the paragraph describing how we lost our jobs with the public television program Nightly Business Report.

What’s nice about sharing your employment woes with the entire community is the outpouring of support you get. I received dozens of emails from friends, fans and colleagues across the country, expressing sympathy and pledging to help any way they could. It is humbling to hear how you have impacted people’s lives, especially those you don’t know directly. The range of emotions you feel when you face a job loss can be overwhelming, but a short email or voicemail from an associate can lift your spirits, giving you the strength to press on. The medium of the messages does not matter. A tweet of support, LinkedIn endorsement or text message of sympathy fuels the encouragement to face the anxiety of joblessness.

After news of my job elimination was in the newspaper and blogosphere, there were compassionate glances from fellow parents on the sidelines of the kids’ weekend soccer games. I didn’t have to break the news — most had already read about it. A pedestrian on the sidewalk stopped me in mid-stride to express his disappointment. The inevitable questions came: What are you going to do? Will you stay? Do you have anything you’re working on?





I am lucky my employment status was on the business front page. Thousands of other people are treated as statistics. As a business journalist, I have been guilty of that. Company layoffs numbering in the dozens as ours did rarely demand attention. The cuts have to be in the thousands to have any hope of getting much media attention. Even then, it’s only a number. The names of those losing their jobs are known only to their HR departments, in order to fill out the paperwork. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the nature of job loss. Each job cut is a story that begins en masse in boardrooms and offices but plays out individually in kitchens and living rooms across America.

In January, there were more than 1,300 mass layoffs of U.S. workers. A mass layoff impacts at least 50 people from a single company. More than 134,000 individuals were involved in such action, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. My job loss and that of my colleagues won’t show up in February’s report. There were too few of us. Some of us will appear in other employment data, but we will be just statistics. Each of those statistics has groceries to buy, bills to pay and hope for a new opportunity.

In a $16 trillion economy, it’s understandable that we become statistics. The stakes are just too big to pick up the noise from any of our individual unemployment stories. The weekly and government reports I have spent my career reporting on don’t ask why. They don’t ask who. They only ask how many. It’s our friends and family and colleagues who ask, “How can I help?”





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UCF suspends socials for fraternities, sororities




















It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when the University of Central Florida decided that the behavior of its Greek student organizations was out of control — after all, UCF fraternities and sororities have been caught breaking the rules on dozens of occasions in only the last couple of years.

A recent Sigma Chi photo posted on Facebook, however, sticks out as one of the tipping points. The picture showed a new frat member, or “pledge,” consuming alcohol as part of an alleged hazing incident, and included the caption, “Forcing a pledge to chug while two others puke in misery.” The two vomiting students were also pictured, with one holding his head above a trash can.

UCF administrators last month suspended that fraternity, and soon after made national headlines by suspending most Greek activities altogether. Under the suspension, Greek organizations’ charitable events can continue, but just about all else (socials, new member education efforts, and initiation ceremonies) is banned for now.





“We’re asking some hard questions,” said Maribeth Ehasz, vice president of student development and enrollment services. “We are very concerned about alcohol being central to many activities, especially new member activities.”

The university’s growing footprint is one reason its action is so significant: UCF now boasts nearly 60,000 students, making it the largest state university in Florida and the second-largest in the United States. More than 6,300 of its students come from Miami-Dade or Broward counties.

Other schools across the country have also moved to rein in Greek organizations. At Cornell (where a student died of alcohol poisoning), fraternities have been ordered to have live-in advisers. Yale strengthened its alcohol misuse penalties (and overhauled school sexual assault reporting policies) after a video surfaced on YouTube of fraternity brothers jokingly chanting “No means yes! and other crudities.

Of course, Greek student groups aren’t the only realm where hazing can occur. Florida A&M University is still recovering from the widely publicized hazing death of drum major Robert Champion in 2011. Champion’s bandmates in the prestigious Marching 100 took turns punching and striking the 26-year-old student as part of a hazing ritual.

A coroner determined that Champion died from medical complications associated with “blunt force trauma.” FAMU’s president and band director lost their jobs as a result of the tragedy, and other state institutions (including UCF) took notice.

Hazing expert Hank Nuwer, who has written four books on the issue, maintains a “Hazing Deaths” website that lists all the fatal cases occurring at U.S. colleges from year to year. Each year — for more than four decades — at least one student has died.

Hazing typically happens in Greek organizations or on college athletic teams, Nuwer said, with Greek student groups representing the majority of cases. Within Greek life, fraternities are more likely to haze than sororities.

In recent years, Nuwer said progress has been made in educating students on the risks of hazing, but there is still no easy way to stop it. Nuwer was skeptical of UCF’s strategy, which he said is vulnerable to a student lawsuit, and may simply drive Greek activities underground.





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Modern Family Stars Get Stuck in Crowded Elevator

No good deed goes unpunished.


PICS: Candid Celeb Sightings

While on their way to a fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City on Friday night, three stars of ABC's hit sitcom Modern Family were trapped in a crowded elevator for almost an hour, ABC News reports.

Julie Bowen, Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson took pictures together during the ordeal, which Ferguson posted to his Twitter account.

"This is us right now. 45 minutes stuck in this elevator," Ferguson wrote, captioning the snapshot from the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel's third floor.

The actors were an hour late to the event after the Kansas City Fire Department rescued them, but they maintained a good sense of humor about their plight, reportedly joking about the ordeal on stage.

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No likes for Facebook fiascos









headshot

John Crudele










Dear John: I am writing to you because I need help exposing a chat room called openchat on Facebook.

This app allows access to all ages 13 and up. There is hate chat, racism, bullying, sexually explicit [content], nudity, pornography and also perverts and pedophiles.

There is a webcam room too, which is disgusting. Men go on and masturbate in front of whomever, even kids. I witnessed a 7-year-old girl on there with no shirt on.

These perverts do not respect females and do not obey the law, either.

Some of these kids are unaware of the intentions of these pedophile/pervs and have their Facebook accounts wide open for anyone to go in.




I have contacted my police department and half a dozen others, but I need more agencies on this. Please help me to help the kids! These kids are accessing openchat via Facebook and YouTube. I am on a mission to close this app. Thank you! P.C.

Dear P.C.: Mission accomplished.

I contacted Facebook on your behalf and forwarded your e-mail. And the site was taken down quickly by Facebook.

Sadly, Facebook said this was a popular site, with 20,000 “likes.”

Incidentally, a Facebook spokesman told me, “We have absolutely no tolerance for apps that would violate our terms and permit the sharing of sexually explicit content with minors. We react quickly to remove all reported apps that violate our terms, and we encourage people to report questionable content using links located throughout the site.”

Dear John: My son has a Facebook page in conjunction with his small business, Make It Legal.

It is a site advocating the legalization of medical marijuana.

Douglas, my son, told me that the page was deleted because someone complained about a copyright infringement.

Now Douglas cannot get in touch with anyone at Facebook.

Facebook gave him the e-mail [address] of the person complaining, but [he] will not get back to Douglas. And Facebook will not answer Douglas’s e-mails.

How did you get in contact with someone “live” when you were fighting Facebook over a pedophile page in your columns?

Any light that you can shine on what I or my son can do would be hugely appreciated. M.K.

Dear M.K. I sent your e-mail to my contact at Facebook, and he immediately got in touch with you and your son. And as your son was originally told, someone else claims the copyright to “Make It Legal.”

Your son provided what he says is documentation that he copyrighted the name first. Facebook says it doesn’t deal with issues like this.

“Thank you so much for reaching out,” said Facebook. “Unfortunately, we are not able to adjudicate third-party trademark disputes and abide by the records kept by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

“We encourage you to reach out to the USPTO or others to reach proper resolution, as we won’t be able to assist you without a valid USPTO record,” Facebook told you.

You should contact the USPTO in Washington to see what your options are. If your page is profitable enough, you might want to hire a lawyer to handle this. And if you win, and the other guy’s page is making him a ton of money, he might have an incentive to buy you out.

At the very least, I would insist that Facebook pull the other guy’s page as well as Douglas’s, so that your opponent won’t be able to say that you abandoned the copyright.

But I’m just saying that as a guy who covers all options; I’m not a lawyer.

Good luck.

Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.










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Jackson Health System -- in “the calm before the storm”




















With the latest audit offering a new perspective, Jackson Health System’s long-troubled finances are looking better in some basic areas, but underlying problems linger and a precarious future lies ahead.

After losing $419 million over three years, Jackson eked out an $8.2 million surplus in its fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to the audit released earlier this month, and its most recent monthly report, for January, showed a $5.5 million surplus.

“What a difference a year makes,” Chief Executive Carlos Migoya gloated to Jackson’s board on Monday . “We made the tough decisions,” which included laying off a thousand employees and collecting payments more quickly.





But he didn’t try to sugarcoat the future. “We have a clear picture of our challenges.”

Those challenges include finding new ways of attracting paying patients, attempting to repair Jackson’s strained relationship with the University of Miami, finding hundreds of millions of dollars to fix up its aging facilities and adjusting to state and federal healthcare reforms that could cause Jackson’s poor and uninsured patients go to other facilities.

“We’re literally in the calm before the storm,” said Marcos Lapciuc, Jackson’s board chairman.

Up to this point, Jackson’s turn-around has been funded by cost-cutting. That has resulted in “positive results,” said Sal Barbera, a veteran hospital administrator who now teaches at Florida International University, but it’s “unsustainable, as expense cutting has a limit and will not bring prosperity to the organization. Revenue growth will not be easy.”

Even the present remains tenuous. At the end of January, Jackson’s cash on hand — a basic measurement of money in the bank — remains a low 14.5 days, far below the 175 days of cash that executives want to have to ensure smooth operations. “We’re not going to solve that cash problem in one or two years,” Migoya said.

What’s more, the recently announced audit revealed a profound weakness in one often-ignored sets of figures: In fiscal 2012, Jackson’s current assets were $450 million, while its liabilities were $495 million. In accounting terms, Jackson doesn’t have enough money to pay its bills.

That’s why Joshua Nemzoff, a Philadelphia hospital consultant who used to live in Miami, says, “They continue to be in very serious trouble. My opinion is they’re insolvent. Anyone else who had financials look like this would have declared bankruptcy a long time ago.”

Lapciuc acknowledges that the discrepancy between assets and liabilities is a problem, but the $45 million shortfall in 2012 is considerably better than the $112 million assets discrepancy in fiscal 2011. “Although we’re not in a healthy status, we seem to be on the mend,” he said.

Part of that mending has come with improvements in the economy. Duane Fitch, a Chicago hospital consultant who advises Jackson’s unions, points out that the increase in local tax revenue last year was $8.6 million — more than the audited surplus.

Fitch wonders how much longer that local tax revenue — in property taxes and a half-penny sales tax — will be available for Jackson. It amounted to $335 million last year, while Jackson provides services to fewer patients: In the past four years, in-patient admissions have dropped 21 percent.





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Harry Sargeant, Florida Republican money man, is a highly controversial figure




















Former Gov. Charlie Crist calls him "a great patriot.’’

Congressional investigators call him "a war profiteer" who walked away with an extra $200 million while providing fuel to American troops in Iraq.

At Florida State University, he is something of a hero — contributing more than a million dollars to athletic programs, the business school and his old fraternity.





Who is Harry Sargeant III?

A plaque at the Pi Kappa Alpha House on campus calls him "the most powerful man no one knows.’’ The moniker comes from a 2008 Miami Herald story that noted his friendship with Crist and his wide-ranging business interests.

Sargeant, 55, is a billionaire former Marine fighter pilot, the owner of an oil and asphalt shipping company with global businesses including aviation companies and an oil refinery.

And in the tangled world of Florida politics, Sargeant is a Republican financial powerhouse.

HELPED GREER

He has long supported Crist while also helping former party chairman Jim Greer, despite the animosity between Greer and Crist since Greer was charged with stealing money from the GOP in 2010. Crist, now a Democrat considering an attempt to return to the Governor’s Mansion, says Sargeant remains a close friend.

Campaign finance records show Sargeant has donated more than $1.5 million to Florida politicians and the state Republican Party since 2000, the year Crist ran for education commissioner.

In recent years, Sargeant has made headlines over fuel he supplied to U.S. forces in Iraq. The brother-in-law of the king of Jordan sued Sargeant in Palm Beach and won a $28.8 million verdict for being cut out of a $1.4 billion defense contract that allowed Sargeant to transport fuel through Jordan. (Sargeant is appealing.) A congressional oversight committee called for an investigation of payments to Sargeant’s company, and last year auditors for the Department of Defense accused the company of overcharging the Pentagon by hundreds of millions. A federal investigation is ongoing.

Chris Kise, a Tallahassee lawyer who represents Sargeant, says the overcharging accusations came from Democrats who were angry at Sargeant’s fundraising for Republicans.

ALPHA MALE

St. Petersburg developer Brent Sembler was a fraternity brother with Sargeant and Crist at FSU. They and other Pikes have bonded over golf, shooting expeditions, ski trips, Las Vegas and FSU football over the 35 years since most of them graduated. "He’s the toughest competitor I know. If there was a poster child for alpha males, it’s Harry,’’ Sembler said. "He’s a close friend and a good guy, I trust him with my life.’’

The Florida Republican Party and Crist are among those who have benefited from a close friendship with Sargeant. During campaigns Crist has frequently used Sargeant’s fleet of airplanes to criss-cross the state for events.

As governor in 2007, Crist concluded a trip to Israel with a stop in Jordan and a meeting with King Abdullah II. Sargeant was waiting on the helipad at the king’s home to make the introduction when Crist arrived.

Crist asked Sargeant to become finance chair at the state party after he was elected governor in 2006. Sargeant resigned in 2009 shortly before one of his employees was indicted for making illegal campaign contributions to Crist and U.S. Sen. John McCain. The employee, Ala’a al-Ali, was listed as sales coordinator for Sargeant Marine. He remains a fugitive from charges pending in federal court in Los Angeles.





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Ellen DeGeneres Pens Open Letter to Supreme Court to Pass Prop 8 for Gay Marriage

With a touch of her trademark humor, Ellen DeGeneres tackles a very serious topic close to the talk show host's heart: gay marriage.

In an open letter posted to her website, Ellen reaches out to members of the Supreme Court, who will soon decide the fate of same-sex couples who wish to wed.

Pics: 'Amazing Race' Stars Cheer Up Bullied Gay Fan

"Portia and I have been married for 4 years and they have been the happiest of my life," she blogs of her longtime partner Portia De Rossi. "And in those 4 years, I don't think we hurt anyone else's marriage. I asked all of my neighbors and they say they're fine."

Ellen, who tied the knot in 2008 during a brief period when gay marriage was legal in California, now urges the powers that be to open their heart and extend the privilege to every gay couple.

"I hope the Supreme Court will do the right thing, and let everyone enjoy the same rights," Ellen writes. "It's going to help keep families together. It's going to make kids feel better about who they are. And it is time."

Related: Neil Patrick Harris: I Knew I was Gay at 6

In closing the comedian writes, "In the words of Benjamin Franklin, 'We're here, we're queer, get over it.'"

Read Ellen's entire plea to the supreme court here.

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The ex-Pope








‘You are confusing a modern man with an American liberal.”

These words were spoken years ago by a French cardinal responding to a question about modernity and Christianity. They come back to us now as we watch a pope who has just left the chair of St. Peter — where the eyes of the world were upon him — for a life of prayer and obscurity.

Since he announced his decision to resign, the media have obsessed over who the next pope will be and especially what he might change within Catholicism. Will he be open to gay marriage? Women priests? Married priests? Birth control? And so on.





AP



Pope Benedict XVI





We don’t pretend to have answers. But as we watch the extraordinary outpouring of love, affection and tears for this humble, 85-year-old priest from Bavaria, we are left wondering whether the American media have the best take on Pope Benedict’s impact on either the world or his flock.

Maybe, as that French cardinal suggested, people are not looking for a pope whose idea of modernity conforms to the world’s latest fashion. Just maybe their idea of a leader for the modern age is someone willing on occasion to stand up to it.



Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!










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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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’Les Mis’ touring company works out to stay in shape at Wilton Manors gym




















Even if you’re a Broadway dancer in top shape, it’s not easy looking good and staying fit when you’re on the road with a show like Les Misérables.

"Touring is a difficult life because you’re constantly moving," said Trinity Wheeler, production stage manager for the Les Mis touring company, playing through Sunday at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami.

"It’s not like you can go to a grocery store and have a kitchen and cook the foods that you want and have a consistent workout schedule. We created something that is consistent for the cast," said Wheeler, who is also a certified trainer. "Eating out every meal and stuff can be challenging to stay healthy. Being healthy and on tour is a goal we all try to accomplish."





Thursday morning, Wheeler held a “Guns of the Barricade” boot camp at Steel Gym in Wilton Manors. The workout session allows cast members and others to stay in shape while they’re on the road, Wheeler said.

The Les Mis touring company has 89 people who travel with the show: cast members, crew and musicians, according to Wheeler.

"It’s a large group of people that have this nomadic lifestyle," he said. "Having fitness incorporated into it, you feel better, you wake up, have more energy. It’s been really great for us as individuals, but also for the show."

Among the touring cast members: Wheeler’s partner, Alan Shaw, who plays Joly. The couple own a house in Fort Lauderdale’s Poinsettia Heights neighborhood.

" Les Mis is three hours long and we do eight shows a week. I realized early on because I’ve been with the show over two years now that if I don’t take care of my body and if I don’t eat right and if I don’t really stay on top of it, I can’t do eight shows a week," Shaw said. "We’re onstage in front of 2,000 people on average every night. You have to look your best. It’s part of our job."





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The CW Says Goodbye to 90210

The CW's remake of the '90s hit show 90210 will reportedly end its five-year run in May.

PICS: The High School Hotties of 90210

According to Us Weekly, the show (starring AnnaLynne McCord, Shenae Grimes, Matt Lanter, Jessica Stroup and Jessica Lowndes) has been canceled due to meager ratings.

The show has reportedly averaged 1.23 million viewers this season, being overshadowed by new hits The Vampire Diaries and Arrow.

"The CW has had five great seasons with America's favorite zip code, 90210," CW network president Mark Pedowitz announced in a statement. "I'd like to thank the talented cast, producers, and crew for all their hard work and dedication to the series. We are very proud of the West Beverly High alumni."

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Read the heartbreaking impact statement read by the Figoski girls








Pool Photo


Below is the impact statement read in Brooklyn Supreme Court today by the four daughters of NYPD Det. Peter Figoski at the sentencing of his killer, Lamont Pride. The one joint statement was read in court, with each daughter taking a portion.

CHRISTINE FIGOSKI, 21:

On the evening of Sunday, December 11, my sisters and I went to bed with the worries of your average teenage girl. We were worried about studying for upcoming college final exams, and high school tests, and looking forward to going home for the Christmas holiday and having the family together.




We all got our normal “Night, I love you” text from Daddy, and only a few hours after, my sisters and I were faced with the tragedy that would impact the rest of our lives. The next events that happened that morning are events that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.

We were awoken by my Mom in a panic after hearing that Daddy had been in an accident. We were startled and from that moment on everything seemed to get worse.

We all came to the hospital to “Hope” and “Pray” that our Dad would pull through. Our Father was shot in the face, and still breathing at that moment, and even though as bad as his condition was, we still thought just somehow he would survive. Nothing at that moment felt real and till this day, it still doesn’t.

Two of us arrived at the hospital to see the grim faces of family members and the sad faces of hundreds of police officers that were lined up throughout the hospital.

The next several hours were some of the hardest of our lives as we were told that our Father died as a result of a gunshot to the face. We spiraled into the confusion of having to deal with the hard reality of having to prepare with life without our Dad.

CORINNE FIGOSKI, 15:

Our dad was our world, our everything. He was our hero, protector, role model and our best friend. He always made everything better. And not at one moment would any of us realize what it would be like without a father, it’s more than anyone could ever imagine. Everything our Dad did was for us. He was always trying his hardest to make us the best people we could be.

Now a day's “Promise” is just a word. When people say, “I promise everything will get better, and it’s going to be OK,” it’s just a lie to us.Nothing will ever be the same again and we will never feel the way we used to.

We lay in bed for hours in the dark at night, thinking about every possible thing that has changed in our lives since December 12, 2011. Sometimes we want to believe that this world is hell and there is another peaceful world where our dad is now. I’m not sure if we are depressed, but we are constantly angry and sad, but we continue to put smiles on our faces and laugh and joke with one another like our Father would want. But inside we are numb, and broken. We find it so hard to be happy, sometimes we forget how to feel. The past is better than it is now, and the future is less resolved. When our father died, a part of us died inside. We realize that once you’re broken in certain ways, they couldn’t ever be fixed now, no matter how hard you try.










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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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2006 report detailed problems with Havana Palms condos in Little Havana




















In January 2006, executives at Montara Land V, LLC, hired a firm to do an analysis of the roof, structure, plumbing, and other conditions of an apartment complex in Little Havana that they wanted to convert to condominiums.

This report, submitted to the state department that regulates conversions, concluded that the buildings, constructed in 1946, barely had five more years of “useful life.” The cost for repairs would be about $700,000, according to the analysis by architect James Chastanet.

“My report was based on the age of the building and on a visual inspection,” said Chastanet, who did not see structural damage. “It’s an old building and that had to be clearly highlighted in the report, which serves as disclosure for potential buyers.”





Montara Land’s executives presented this information to the 19 buyers, most of them low-income people who relied on government help to buy their condominiums between December 2006 and July 2010. Yet many of them never read this information, which was included as part of a large package of documents from the Havana Palms condominium association.

Last month, seven years after the analysis, the living-room floor of one of the condominiums collapsed and the owner had to move. The floors in other units also do not appear to be firm.

Aníbal Duarte-Viera, one of the partners of Montara Land, said Monday that he would have never knowingly bought a property with structural damage.

“As an investor, why would I do that?” asked Duarte-Viera. “I bought that property because it was pretty and it was a moment when everybody was making these conversions to condominiums.”

Public records show that Duarte-Viera and business partner Gabriel De la Campa bought the complex in 2005 for $2.5 million and invested about $120,000 in repairs to the electrical system and water pipes besides installing a central air conditioning system, according to city permits. They also installed tiles on the floors, though they did not get a city permit for that.

Duarte-Viera, a lawyer, said he had little involvement in managing the complex and therefore could not answer questions about repairs or the conversion, even though his signature appears on various documents. De la Campa has not responded to multiple calls from el Nuevo Herald in recent weeks.

The documents that Montara Land submitted to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Tallahassee indicate that the company deposited $62,000 in special accounts for roof and plumbing repairs as required by state laws.

Apparently, they were not obliged to open a reserve account for other structural repairs, although they had to make monthly payments to the association for each of the 32 condominiums for the general maintenance of the complex. As soon as they sold the condominiums, the responsibility for those payments — between $162 and $222 per month — passed to the new owners.

The Havana Palms unit owners began to notice in 2009 that the floors in some condominiums were sinking. Montara Land began some repairs. Records indicate the work was never completed.

By 2011, after the real estate market plunged, Montara sold the remaining 13 condominiums to investor Constantino Cicchelli for $475,000.

For now, a group of Havana Palms owners is talking to an attorney who has agreed to take their case pro bono. Meanwhile, city officials have asked the owners to present a repair plan for the floors to avoid a mass eviction.

Duarte-Viera said Wednesday that the condo owners should determine the extent of the structural damage and how it started. He added that he is willing to pay for a detailed evaluation.





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Christina Applegate's Gorgeous Wedding Ring

Christina Applegate and longtime boyfriend Martyn Noble said 'I do' on Saturday and now we have a look at the actress' stunning sparkler.

PICS: Most Memorable Celeb Weddings of All-Time

The dazzling diamond ring by Neil Lane completed Applegate's wedding attire along with a gown by Maria Lucia Hohan.

The event took place during a private ceremony at the couple's Los Angeles home. This marks Applegate's second marriage, as she divorced former husband Johnathon Schaech in 2007.

RELATED: Christina Applegate Ties the Knot!

Applegate and Noble share one child together, two-year-old daughter Sadie.

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Hospitals’ handicaps








Comments in the editorial “A Surgical Strike” (Feb. 27) are a gross oversimplification and show a remarkable lack of insight.

Surgical centers provide little or no charity care. They are not required to take care of everyone that comes to their door regardless of ability to pay. In fact, no one arrives at their door uninvited.

They do not provide emergency services. They do not have to stay open nights and weekends. They are subjected to a fraction of the regulatory burden imposed on hospitals.

Patients do not go to these centers because they are better, but because they are directed to them by physicians who also happen to own them. These same physicians direct the uninsured and under-insured to a hospital.




So the surgical center profits enough to run a fancy, clean facility with no bums or drunks in the waiting room. If they have a complication at the center, they transfer the patient to a hospital and go home for the night.

If they don’t make money, they can close without the approval of the state, city, courts, community activists and unions. And you call that competition?

William J. McHugh

Medical Director and

Chief Medical Officer

Trinitas Regional

Medical Center

Elizabeth, NJ









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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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Little Havana condo owners get little help as units collapse




















When a group of Little Havana condominium owners realized in 2009 that there were serious structural problems in the properties they had just bought, they sought help from several local officials.

They called Miami building inspectors. They wrote letters to the directors of the city and county programs that helped finance their purchases with nearly $1 million in public funds. And they contacted their elected officials to complain about the developers who had sold them the condos.

In November 2010, County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, whose district the complex is in, offered to try to help convert the zero-to-low-interest loans that eight of the condo owners had received as first-time homebuyers into grants.





But they rejected the offer because it would have required them to stay in their homes for 30 years and they didn’t think they would last that long.

A month ago, the floor in one of the units collapsed. Other owners are having similar problems. The owners want somebody to take responsibility for what happened.

“Who could the county go after? The engineering firms? All the appraisers sent by the banks?” asked Barreiro.

It’s unclear when the floors in the five buildings that make up the Havana Palms complex, 960 SW Second St., began to deteriorate.

Public records show that Montara Land V, LLC — owned by Anibal Duarte-Viera and Gabriel de la Campa — bought the 1946 apartment complex for $2.5 million in 2005. The developers converted the units into condominiums the following year, investing about $120,000 to repair the electric and plumbing systems, as well as installing central air conditioning, according to city permits.

Between December 2006 and March 2009, Montara Land sold 18 of the units to buyers, 14 of whom qualified for government aid for low- to moderate-income first-time homebuyers. The prices of the condominiums dropped as Miami’s real estate bubble burst, but the sales varied from $119,000 for a one-bedroom to $184,000 for two. By 2010, when the real estate market had collapsed, they sold one last condo for $44,000.

Unable to sell the remaining 13 units, Montara Land began to rent some of them out, according to the residents. The developers finally sold the remaining stock to investor Constantino Cicchelli in March 2011 for $475,000, or less than $37,000 per unit. Duarte-Viera and De la Campa shut down their company that September.

The condo owners say that the floors showed signs of deterioration shortly after they moved in. After a 2009 city inspection confirmed problems with the floor joists, Montaramade some repairs, but the work was never completed, according to city records.

Duarte-Viera told El Nuevo Herald said that he remembers that some repairs were made in the complex but said he was unfamiliar with the details.

The owners say they asked the developers to take responsibility for repairing structural damages. When the work didn’t take place, they reached out to government officials for help.

In October 2011, the county offered another solution: It gave the condo owners the option to sell or rent their units before the loans expired. “This waiver has been approved due to the unsafe structural condition of the property and the developer’s non compliance with the city of Miami building codes,” wrote Rubén Arias, the county’s public affairs director.

But the owners also turned down that offer. By then their properties had lost so much value that, even if someone wanted to buy them, the money from the sales would not have been enough to pay off their mortgages. The condos currently have assessed values of between $41,770 and $48,450, according to the county’s property appraiser.

At the city level, the deputy director of Miami’s Community Development Department told the condo owners in November 2011 that he would recommend total or partial pardon of the debts to a committee with authority on such matters. Nine owners received aid from the city government. However, the city could not allow the property owners to participate once again in the first-buyers program as they had requested.

For now, many of the condo owners at Havana Palms say their only recourse is a civil suit. They are unsure who to sue because Montara Land no longer exists. They are considering a suit against the private appraisers sent by the banks or the private engineering firm that conducted a 40-year certified inspection of the complex in 2009 that found the complex structurally sound.

Juana Blandón, one of the few owners who did not receive government aid to buy her condo, is among those in talks with a pro bono attorney. Blandón’s bathroom floor has broken in two and the floors in the rest of the unit feel spongy.

“Maybe we will have to sue the banks, the inspector and all those responsible in order for this to get resolved,” Blandón said. “We have no other choice.”





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Rihanna Obtains Restraining Order From Obsessed Fan

Fearing for her life, Rihanna has filed for and been granted a restraining order from an obsessed fan.

Pics: 10 of Rihanna's Sexiest & Most Scandalous Shots

The singer obtained a temporary order against Steveland Barrow, 31, on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. According to paperwork acquired by ET, Barrow broke into a residence adjacent to Rihanna's (believing it was hers) where he "removed various items from the home and slept in a bed."

When arrested, Barrow told officers that the songstress had invited him to her home where he had intended to distribute his poetry.

Video: Rihanna & Kate's Sexy V Shoot In Action

A judge is set to determine whether or not the order, which currently prohibits Barrow from coming within 100 yards of Rihanna, should be made permanent during a March 21 hearing.

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Bloomberg’s thirst








Confronted with revelations that his ban on jumbo-size soda is far more extensive than New Yorkers have realized, Mayor Bloomberg showed that his thirst for control remains unquenched: If he can’t impose his preferences on everyone, then the state should do it for him.

His remarks come as restaurants and other food establishments prepare for the day, less than two weeks hence, when they’re banned from serving sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces. But as The Post’s Brad Hamilton and Susan Edelman report this week, Bloomberg’s ban extends to more than just individual drinks.





Reuters



Michael Bloomberg





Take the two-liter soda bottles people often have delivered with their pizzas. Or the large pitchers of soda served at bowling alleys. Or the carafes of mixers served in city bars and nightclubs.

If you buy any of these, Bloomberg’s ban will affect more than your sweet tooth. That two-liter bottle of Coke for your daughter’s birthday you used to pay $3 for? An equal amount of soda will now set you back $7.50.

So what was Mayor Mike’s reaction when The Post asked him about all this? Any objections, he said, are “just made up because somebody on Sunday wants to write a column and they can’t find any news that day.”

And the gaping hole in his plan — the fact that grocery stores and supermarkets will be unaffected by his ban because they’re regulated by the state and not the city? “The state should do exactly the same thing in stores,” said Bloomberg.

In other words, the answer to problems caused by big government is even bigger government.



Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!










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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 healthcare informatics and management systems program in its graduate school of business.





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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Is this really the end of Cuba’s Castro brothers? Exiles say not so fast




















On the streets of Miami, the announcement of a possible end to the Castro brothers’ rule was met with uncharacteristic silence Monday — no clanging of pots and pans in Little Havana and Hialeah.

No loud pronouncements on Spanish-language radio, either, about the news that President Raúl Castro planned to retire in 2018 and had named an heir apparent.

“There’s like, a little burnout about this subject with us,” said Alex Fumero, 30, a co-creator, editor and contributor of the poetry group Hialeah Haikus.





But the emotions were as strong as ever for Cuban-born U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who believes this is just another sinister ploy by the Castro brothers.

“The fact that this possible retirement won’t take effect for years is just another in a long line of false propaganda tactics used by the regime to trick the masses and international community,” said Ros-Lehtinen, whose political career has been dedicated to opposing Castro.

“U.S. law states that no Castro may be in power, so this may be a ploy by the Cuban regime to attempt to normalize relations prematurely with the U.S.,’’ she said.

Miami radio commentator Ninoska Perez Castellon said five more years of any Castro is a long time. "This is just more of the same, and a cruel joke on a people enduring a 54-year-old dictatorship," she said.

Many like the idea of an end to the Castros, but they say it should have happened years ago.

“They’re giving up power too late and five years is too long to wait for them to actually do it,” said Francisco “Pepe” Hernandez, president of the Cuban-American National Foundation, a group that has long lobbied in Washington against the Castros.

“‘They’ve already done so much harm to the Cuban people. And the nerve to think they can name a successor, as if Cuba was their personal farm. The successor they named better be careful; those guys sometimes just disappear,” he said.

Cuban-born Marta Olchyk, a Surfside commissioner, said she was “glad that Raúl Castro said he is leaving in five years” although it would have happened anyway because of his age, she said.

“Cuba is slowly but surely moving away from communism,” said Olchyk, who left the island in 1960. “So, this is not earth-shattering news.”

Battle-weary Jose Basulto met the news with a cynical laugh.

“I have to laugh because this is so disrespectful, such an insult,” said Basulto, who took part in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and founded the Brothers to the Rescue, a group that helped rafters fleeing Cuba find their way to U.S. shores.

Juan Clark, a professor emeritus at Miami Dade College and Bay of Pigs veteran, does not believe Raúl Castro actually will leave on his own in five years.

“I think many people were eager to see the end of the system and unfortunately that hasn’t happened,’’ said Clark, who has studied the exile community for many years.

Some “historic exiles” who came to the United States in the early days of the revolution have sworn they will never return as long as a Castro is in power.

Others, mainly those who have arrived after the Mariel boatlift in 1980, still have family on the island and travel there to help fledgling family businesses and might not even consider themselves exiles, Clark said.

Cuban-Americans offered a variety of opinions through The Miami Herald’s Public Insight Network.

It was ho-hum news for some younger Cuban-Americans, known as the ABCs — American-born Cubans who learned to hate the Castros from older family members.

Lazaro Castillo of Orlando, who was born the year of the revolution, gave little credence to the announcement.

“Any change in the island has a meaning, and this particular change is another manipulation, and in order to maintain the dynasty,’’ he said.

Miramar resident Olga Perez-Cormier, an American-born Cuban, also felt it was no more than a ploy.

“I listen to this with my usual skepticism,’’ she said. “I wish both Castro brothers would hurry up and die, but apparently, it will never be that easy.”

Miami Herald staff writer Mimi Whitefield contributed to this report. It also includes comments from the Public Insight Network, an online community of people who have agreed to share their opinions with The Miami Herald. Sign up by going to MiamiHerald.com

/Insight.





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PICS: What Happened in Vegas This Weekend


Let Them Eat Cake


Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville celebrated the release of her book Drinking and Tweeting and Other Brandi Blunders with co-author Leslie Bruce and two girlfriends during a raucous party at Lavo in Las Vegas over the weekend.


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Old McDonald had a donor








Mayoral candidate George McDonald scored a small win in court yesterday: For the time being, he can collect campaign donations that are legal under state law but exceed the $4,950-per-donor limit imposed by the city.

That’s great news for New Yorkers who are fed up with the city’s current class of politicians. For this case is about more than money in politics: It’s about laws that favor the established political class at the expense of credible challengers.

Because McDonald has opted out of the city’s matching-funds program, he argues he should be governed by the state’s finance laws. These laws allow campaign donations of up to $19,700 in the primaries and $41,100 in general elections.







George McDonald





Without access to these donations, McDonald simply can’t compete. An advocate for the homeless, he doesn’t have the money to self-finance. He isn’t bankrolled by a union, and, unlike lifelong politicians, he has no donor base built up by years of dishing out political favors.

It’s telling that a brief filed in court against McDonald came from state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who obviously has no personal objection to big donations. In his most recent six-month filing, we found more than 60 contributions that would exceed the city limits.

Indeed, Schneiderman has amassed a $2.8 million war chest, which suggests that his agenda here has little to do with keeping money out of New York elections.

Like so many others who want to extend the city’s narrower campaign-donation limits to the state, Schneiderman knows that it’s a good way of keeping first-time candidates like McDonald out of the running — and keeping entrenched pols in power.

As McDonald told The Post: “I’m planning on financing my campaign exactly as the attorney general does now. It hasn’t seemed to invite corruption as far as he’s concerned. It certainly won’t for me.”

We agree. Shouldn’t McDonald be allowed to run his campaign under the same rules as Schneiderman?



Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!










Read More..

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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Analysis: When it comes to Citizens, property insurance costs, Gov. Rick Scott keeps mum




















He says he is protective of Florida families, but Gov. Rick Scott can’t get a grip on one of the big pocketbook issues for many of them: the rising cost of homeowner insurance.

Scott has ordered internal investigations into spending practices at the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance, Florida’s largest insurer, and when he was blindsided by big raises to top executives, he told them to return the money.

But tackling the price of insurance is a different story.





When it comes to the cost of living, Scott talks about taxes and tuition, but insurance seems rarely part of the conversation.

“I’m for Florida families,” Scott said in an exclusive Times/Herald interview in his office. “My goal is to get more competition.”

While Floridians have dodged a hurricane for seven years, the rising cost of property insurance looms as a potential major issue in the upcoming race for governor — the political equivalent of a large, dangerous weather disturbance.

Nearly half of all Florida homeowners rate property insurance costs as a top financial concern, according to some polls. But it has never made the top of Scott’s agenda and is missing from his priority list for 2013, which is topped by a $2,500 pay raise for teachers.

Scott’s predecessor and possible future opponent, Charlie Crist, bashed insurance companies to promote his populist image. Shortly after taking office in 2007, Crist called a special legislative session to freeze Citizens’ rates, and he demonized insurers as greedy.

That’s not Scott’s nature. A conservative supporter of free markets, he wants to shrink Citizens and lure more private companies into the Florida market, on the premise that more competition will lower costs, but critics say that won’t help.

“Gov. Scott just doesn’t get it,” said Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, who hears daily from constituents fed up with Citizens. “Homeowners are absolutely disgusted with what Citizens is doing to them, and they definitely will blame a governor who allowed it to happen.”

In places such as Miami-Dade County, Citizens policyholders pay an average of $3,300 a year for standard coverage, eating up nearly 5 percent of a typical family’s budget. Rate hikes of 10 percent a year apparently are straining household budgets in Tampa Bay and South Florida, where Citizens dominates the market — and where more than a third of Florida voters live.

Scott says his control over Citizens is limited: He appoints two of its eight board members.

The governor’s most vocal stance on Citizens occurred at a Cabinet meeting in late 2011. Informed that the insurer was growing rapidly and struggling to control risk, Scott told then-president Scott Wallace to fix the problem within six months.

“This is something we cannot continue to do,” Scott said, harking back to a campaign promise to shrink risk at Citizens.

ONLY GETTING WORSE

By some measures, the problem has gotten worse since that Cabinet meeting. A month later, Wallace resigned, and was replaced by Tom Grady, Scott’s Naples neighbor and political ally, who soon fell out of favor with Citizens board members. He was replaced by Barry Gilway.

In the months following, property insurance has receded from Scott’s policy priority list, just as Citizens has become more aggressive than ever about remaking the company.





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Christoph Waltz Shocked in Oscar Press Room

Christoph Waltz took home his second career Oscar statue at tonight's 85th Annual Academy Awards and no one was more surprised about the win than the actor himself.

The 56-year-old performer entered the Oscar press room clutching his prize for best supporting actor in the slavery western Django Unchained looking visibly flustered.

Pics: The Biggest Oscar Fashion Trends

"I still am [in shock]," stammered Waltz. "Literally. That's why my answers are somewhat incoherent but I don't care."

Beating out Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), and Alan Arkin (Argo), the star said he could barely comprehend the honor.

"I was on a list with the greatest actors around," said an awestruck Waltz when asked about hearing his name called just moments earlier. "How do you think someone feels when all of a sudden, his name is called in that context? I can't tell you."

Related: The Complete Oscars 2013 Winners List

In Quentin Tarantino's bloody revenge western Django Unchained, Waltz plays a dentist-turned-bounty-hunter who helps a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) rescue his wife (Kerry Washington) from a ruthless plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Waltz's Sunday win gives the star two victories for two nominations in just three years.

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Chill factor








Most popular songs

1. Thrift Shop, Macklemore, Ryan Lewis

2. Stay, Rihanna

3. Ho Hey, The Lumineers

4. Harlem Shake, Baauer

5. Suit & Tie, Justin Timberlake

6. Gangnam Style, PSY

7. When I Was Your Man, Bruno Mars

8. Scream And Shout, Will.i.am

9. I Will Wait, Mumford & Sons

10. Started from the Bottom, Drake

Tivo favorites

1. The Big Bang Theory

2. Modern Family

3. NCIS

4. The Amazing Race

5. Two and a Half Men

Top video downloads

1. Terrible Valentine’s

2. Day gift

3. Obama sends Kid President a message

4. Cheerleader half-court trick shot

5. How it feels through glass





Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP



Rihanna




Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP



Jennifer Lawrence





6. Burning my hair off

Google trends

1. NASCAR

2. Ronda Rousey

3. Argo

4. National Margarita Day

5. Kenny Clutch

NY Post hot topics

1. Mayor’s soda ban

2.Oscar romance goes ‘Dark’

3. Lumenick’s Oscar picks

4. CBS anchor cheated

6. I Dream of Jenny










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Restaurant royalty and SoBe style




















For Miami restaurateurs, this is Showtime.

With dozens of top toques — 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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The case of the phantom ballots: an electoral whodunit




















The first phantom absentee ballot request hit the Miami-Dade elections website at 9:11 p.m. Saturday, July 7.

The next one came at 9:14. Then 9:17. 9:22. 9:24. 9:25.

Within 2½ weeks, 2,552 online requests arrived from voters who had not applied for absentee ballots. They streamed in much too quickly for real people to be filling them out. They originated from only a handful of Internet Protocol addresses. And they were not random.





It had all the appearances of a political dirty trick, a high-tech effort by an unknown hacker to sway three key Aug. 14 primary elections, a Miami Herald investigation has found.

The plot failed. The elections department’s software flagged the requests as suspicious. The ballots weren’t sent out.

But who was behind it? And next time, would a more skilled hacker be able to rig an election?

Six months and a grand-jury probe later, there still are few answers about the phantom requests, which targeted Democratic voters in a congressional district and Republican voters in two Florida House districts.

The foreman of that grand jury, whose report made public the existence of the phantom requests, said jurors were eager to learn if a candidate or political consultant had succeeded in manipulating the voting system. But they didn’t get any answers.

“We were like, ‘Why didn’t anyone do something about it?’ ” foreman Jeffrey Pankey said.

The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office could not find the hacker because most of his or her actions were masked by foreign IP addresses. But at least some of the ballot requests originated in Miami and could have been further traced, The Herald found.

Prosecutors did not obtain that information as part of their initial inquiry, due to a miscommunication with the elections department.

On Friday, a day after The Miami Herald brought the domestic IP addresses to its attention, the office of State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle said it is reviewing them.

Under state election laws, only voters, their immediate family members or their legal guardians can submit absentee-ballot requests. Violations may be considered felony fraud.

The thwarted attempt targeted voters in three districts: Democrats in Congressional District 26, where four candidates — including a suspected ringer criminally charged Friday with federal elections violations — were vying to take on vulnerable Republican Rep. David Rivera; and Republicans in Florida House districts 103 and 112, two competitive seats.

Nine candidates were involved in the campaigns: Joe Garcia, Gustavo Marin, Gloria Romero Roses and Justin Lamar Sternad in District 26; Manny Diaz Jr., Renier Diaz de la Portilla and Alfredo Naredo-Acosta in District 103; and Gus Barreiro and Alex Diaz de la Portilla in District 112.

Garcia, Diaz and Alex Diaz de la Portilla won their primary races, all by comfortable margins. In the end, the phantom absentee ballots would not have changed the results.

But there was no way to know that at the time. And the ballots would have brought more voters into the light-turnout election. The phantom requests targeted infrequent voters who had not applied for absentees, most of whom wound up not voting in the primary at all.

Only candidates, political parties and committees have access during an election to lists updated daily showing which voters have already requested and returned absentee ballots.





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Creep teach keeps his job








A lovesick Brooklyn teacher who stalked, assaulted and threatened another teacher for refusing to date him can keep his city job, The Post has learned.

Salvatore Sparacino, 46, a gym teacher at It Takes a Village Academy HS in East Flatbush, vented his fury at a colleague when she spurned his romantic advances, according to testimony.

“I’ll show you, you f--king bitch. You’ll pay for this,” he yelled.

Despite finding that Sparacino had terrorized the woman both in and out of school, Joshua Javits, a hearing officer who decides cases against tenured teachers, barred the city Department of Education from firing him.





Salvatore Sparacino

J.C. Rice



Salvatore Sparacino





Instead, Javits slapped the crazed coach with a transfer and a $20,000 fine.

The trouble started when Sparacino and the colleague “became friends” in the 2010-11 school year. They went out to lunch and dinner, but the woman told him she wasn’t interested in a physical relationship, she said.

Undeterred, Sparacino showered her with favors and gifts. He gave Regents study aids and tennis lessons to her teenage daughter. While helping the woman move books in her classroom, he tried to touch her hand, she said. She told him not to.

After Sparacino paid $800 for tickets to Cirque du Soleil, the woman refused to go. He then bombarded her with angry phone and text messages, one day calling 18 times, she testified.

“I was crazy for you,” one said. “I was the jackpot because I would have done anything for you.”

The colleague tossed his letters without opening them, including one containing the circus tickets. Sparacino barged into her classroom, screaming. “It’s the end. You think you can throw me away,” she testified.

Sparacino then chased her around the desks. When she tried to get him to leave, he shoved a door that struck and bruised her forehead. Shouting “F--k you” and waving his fists, he followed her outside, slammed his body against her car and blocked her from leaving.

He then tailed the woman home and parked next to her car, so she could not leave with her daughter, according to testimony.

“I will kill you, bitch. I’ll sue you,” she quoted him as saying.

She called 911. Sparacino was arrested for second-degree harassment but pleaded guilty to a non-criminal violation. Under the deal, he had to do three days of community service, take an anger-management class and obey an order of protection to stay away from the woman.

He denied ever harassing or hitting the colleague, claiming he only wanted his money back for the circus tickets.

Hearing officer Javits called that excuse “absurd,” citing Sparacino’s “romantic desires.”

But Javits took pity on Sparacino, refusing to allow his firing after 15 years on the job.

“His stalking conduct and harassing behavior, while completely unacceptable, do not automatically render him completely unfit to return to his teaching career,” Javits wrote.

Sparacino, who makes $82,100 a year, is now assigned to a pool of substitutes who go to different schools each week, the DOE said.

susan.edelman@nypost.com










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Ian Schrager joins forces with chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten for new Edition Hotel




















Two of the best-known names in their respective fields — hotelier Ian Schrager and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten — have teamed up for the Edition Hotel in Miami Beach, they told The Miami Herald Friday.

The partnership had not previously been officially announced, but the two were set to host a cocktail party Friday night at the site of the old Seville Beach hotel, 2901 Collins Ave.

On Friday at the sales pavilion for the Residences at the Miami Beach Edition, the duo chatted nonstop as they examined an elaborate model of the hotel and grounds.





“We just have a good time together,” Vongerichten said. “He’s excited, I’m excited.”

Vongerichten pointed out a lower-level area on the model building that he described as a grab-and-go food court with a deli, bakery, hot kitchen and raw bar. Schrager referred to it as an “updated Wolfie’s,” referring to the deli eight blocks south on Collins Avenue that closed in 2002.

“It’s not just for the people at the hotel, it’s for everybody,” said Schrager, whose launch of the Delano in 1995 helped bring new life to South Beach.

Plans at the Edition also call for a beach eatery and upscale-but-modern restaurant that Vongerichten said would be “chic and glamorous” and focused on local ingredients. He referred to that restaurant as the Matador Room, a nod to the hotel’s previous life.

Vongerichten said Schrager approached him about the project nearly six months ago; they have worked together since he opened the Pump Room restaurant at Schrager’s Public Chicago in late 2011.

Vongerichten is also behind the lauded J&G Grill at the St. Regis Bal Harbour, which opened in January 2012, but the Edition will be his first foray into Miami Beach.

“You always have to wait for the right project,” Vongerichten said.

A partnership between Schrager and Marriott International, the Edition brand includes one hotel in Istanbul. A site in London is set to debut in August, followed by Miami Beach in early 2014, possibly late in the first quarter. Other locations in New York and Bangkok are scheduled to come online in 2015.

Already years in the making, the Miami Beach project has been closely watched since Marriott bought the property in July 2010. Now, construction at the massive site is well underway, with cranes towering over the gutted existing buildings and a new tower. The finished product will include a hotel with about 250 rooms as well as 26 residences, nearly half of which are already sold. The property also features an ice skating rink, a bowling alley and historic outdoor details including a sundial and diving board.

“It’s a little bit like a bamboo shoot that sits there for 100 years, then all of a sudden it shoots up 50 feet in weeks,” Schrager said. “It’s coming to life.”





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Shots fired as Hialeah police attempt to stop a stolen vehicle, perimeter set up in search of suspects




















A perimeter has been set up in Hialeah as police search for car thieves after shots were fired in an attempt to stop the vehicle.

According to Hialeah police Sergeant Eddie Rodriguez, shots were fired as police approached a stolen blue mini-van in an attempt to make a stop. The occupants then fled and crashed into an occupied vehicle around the corner at East 6th Avenue. and East 27th Street. before abandoning the van.

A perimeter has been set up from East Seventh Avenue. to East Fourth Avenue and from East 21st Street. to East 27th Street. as police search for the thieves.





Police have recovered a firearm from inside the stolen mini-van.

It is still unclear who fired the shots.

This story will be updated as more details become available.





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2013 Oscars Preview

Security is airtight at the Dolby Theater in the days leading up to Oscar Sunday, but ET has your ticket inside the heavily guarded streets of Hollywood as the Academy preps for the big day!

Our Brooke Anderson even snagged a moment aside with host Seth MacFarlane where the funnyman revealed that nine-time emcee Billy Crystal was kind enough to give the newbie a few pointers. Despite the pep talk, MacFarlane fears Crystal's words won't be enough.

Pics: The 15 Best Oscar Dresses of All Time

"He gave me a lot of really, really useful pointers that will still not save me," the host said with a chuckle.

Not only will ET be front and center for all the red carpet action come Sunday, we are the only entertainment television crew allowed inside the prestigious Vanity Fair after party!

Related: 'Les Mis' Director Addresses Oscar Musical Number

Stay tuned to ETonline for complete Oscar night coverage when the 85th Annual Academy Awards hosted by Seth MacFarlane airs live on Oscar Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.

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Pickup truck horror in Brooklyn: pedestrian crushed on cookie run








William C Lopez/New York Post


Scene of the deadly accident in Brooklyn tonight.



A Brooklyn woman was crushed to death by an out-of-control pickup tonight just seconds after she left a Brooklyn Heights cafe with a bag of cookies, cops and witnesses said.

Martha Atwater, 48, had just paid for five horseshoe-shaped cookies and exited Bagel Cafe when the driver of a black Honda Ridgeline jumped the curb and pinned her against the Clinton Street building at about 5:40 p.m., cops said.

“She just came in to buy cookies. She looked happy, she was smiling,” said cafe manager Alauddin Shipun.




“She walked out. I heard a big bang and she was gone. Someone was trying to lift her head up and asking her, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?”

The 53-year-old driver may have lost consciousness because of his diabetes, a police source said.

He remained at the scene and has not been charged.

Atwater was pronounced dead at Long Island College Hospital.Her husband identified her there, a police source said.

Atwater graduated from Princeton University, had been an executive at education company Scholastic, and was on the board of the Brooklyn Heights Association.

“She was very active in the community,” said a neighbor near Atwater’s Remsen Street home.










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National Hotel nears end of long renovation




















A panel of frosted glass puts everything in perspective for Delphine Dray as she oversees a years-long, multi-million dollar renovation project at the National Hotel on Miami Beach.

“Chez Claude and Simone,” says the piece of glass stationed between the lobby and restaurant, a reference to Dray’s parents, who bought the hotel in 2007.

“Every time I am exhausted and I pass that glass, I remember why,” said Delphine Dray, who joined her father — a billionaire hotel developer and well-known art collector in France — to restore the hotel after the purchase.





After working with him for years, she is finishing the project alone. Claude Dray, 76, was killed in his Paris home in October of 2011, a shooting that remains under investigation.

In a recent interview and tour of the hotel’s renovations, which are nearly finished, Dray did not discuss her father’s death, which drew extensive media coverage in Europe. But she spoke about the evolution of the father-daughter working relationship, the family’s Art Deco obsession and the inspiration for the hotel’s new old-fashioned touches.

The National is hosting a cocktail party Friday night to give attendees a peek at the progress.

Dray grew up in a home surrounded by Art Deco detail; her parents constantly brought home finds from the flea market. By 2006, they had amassed a fortune in art and furniture, which they sold for $75 million at a Paris auction in 2006.

That sale funded the purchase of the National Hotel at 1677 Collins Ave., which the Drays discovered during a visit to Miami Beach.

After having lunch at the Delano next door, Dray said, “My dad came inside the hotel and fell in love.” The owner was not interested in selling, but Claude Dray persisted, closing the deal in early 2007. Her family also owns the Hôtel de Paris in Saint-Tropez, which reopened Thursday after a complete overhaul overseen by Dray’s mother and older sister.

Delphine Dray said she thought it would be exciting to work on the 1939 hotel with her father, so she moved with her family to South Florida. She quickly discovered challenges, including stringent historic preservation rules and frequent disagreements with her father.

“We did not have at all the same vision,” she said.

For example, she said: “I was preparing mojitos for the Winter Music Conference.” Her father, on the other hand, famously once unplugged a speaker during a party at the hotel because the loud music was disturbing his work.

“We were fighting because that is the way it is supposed to be,” she said. “Now, I understand that he was totally right.”

She described a vision, now her own, of a classic, cozy property that brings guests back to the 1940s.

Joined by her 10-year-old twin girls, Pearl and Swan, and 13-year-old son Chad, Dray pointed out a new telephone meant to look antique mounted on the wall near the elevators on a guest floor. She showed off the entertainment units she designed to resemble furniture that her parents collected. And she highlighted Art Deco flourishes around doorknobs and handles.

“It’s very important for us to have the details,” she said.

With those priorities in mind, she is overseeing the final phase of the renovation, an investment that general manager Jacques Roy said will top $10 million. In addition to the small details, the renovation includes heavier, less obvious work: new drywall in guest rooms, for example, and new windows to replace leaky ones.

Painting of the building’s exterior should be finished in the next two to three weeks, Roy said. Dray compared its earlier unfinished state to resembling “a horror movie — the family Addams.”

And the final couple of guest room floors, as well as the restoration of the original Martini Room, should be done by the end of April.

“At the end, I will be very proud,” Dray said.

The National’s renovation wraps up as nearby properties such as the SLS Hotel South Beach and Gale South Beach & Regent Hotel have been given new life. Jeff Lehman, general manager of The Betsy Hotel and chair of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, said the National has always been true to its roots. He managed the hotel for 10 years, including for a few months after Dray bought the property.

“I think historic preservation and the restoration of the hotels as they were built 70, 80 years ago is such a huge piece of our DNA,” he said. “It’s a lot of what sets us apart from any other destination on the planet.”





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