Miami Beach builder Robert Turchin looks back — and ahead

If former Miami Beach vice mayor Robert Turchin had been a Miami decision maker during the recent vote that decided the fate of The Miami Herald building, he would probably have voted with the ‘nays’ allowing its demolition. “There’s nothing special about it,” says the 90-year-old Turchin as he cruises Collins Avenue between 63rd and 48th streets, a strip dense with buildings...

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Miami International Airport hotel operator under criminal investigation

The company that runs the hotel at Miami International Airport is under criminal investigation by the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office and the Office of the Inspector General for allegedly fraudulently billing the county.In a Jan. 2 memo outlining the joint investigation to Jose Abreu, director of the county’s aviation department, Inspector General Christopher Mazzella...

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Microsoft taps Krikorian to help run its Xbox business

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it hired technology entrepreneur Blake Krikorian to help run its Interactive Entertainment Business as the world’s largest software company plans bigger things for its Xbox gaming console.Krikorian will be corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business, reporting to Marc Whitten, chief product officer for the division,...

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Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis Engaged

Olivia Wilde, 28, and Saturday Night Live star Jason Sudeikis, 38, are engaged, ET can confirm.The pair, who went public in December of 2011, moved in together last year and have been seemingly inseparable since.Related: Olivia Wilde Divorces Italian RoyalAccording to People, Sudeikis proposed to the Tron: Legacy star shortly after the holidays."They are so excited," says a source. "And very, very...

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Required reading

MastermindHow to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova (Viking)In the BBC show “Sherlock,” the camera follows Holmes’ observations by filming exactly where his eyes go. Author Konnikova (a fan of the show) takes this one step further in her first book, a treatise on how the Watsons of the world can smarten up. The how-to guide gives us “brain attics,”...

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What the week’s big mortgage moves mean for consumers

This week brought three big developments to the nation’s beleaguered mortgage landscape. For consumers, the complex moves have been mostly mystifying, but experts say they all aim at turning the page.“There is a strong desire to put behind us all this period of time — the aftermath of the darkest period in American finance. All these things [announced this week] are intended...

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Jurors hear secret tape recording in Miami police corruption trial as feds rest their case

As rain began to fall on a June evening, Miami Police Sgt. Raul Iglesias told an undercover detective in his drug-fighting squad to turn off his cell phone and take out the battery as both officers stood outside the boss’s home.Iglesias, already relieved of duty on suspicions of being a dirty cop, feared Roberto Asanza’s phone could be recording him. And his instincts were...

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A sense of dread shrouds Nintendo’s Wii U

The latest Wii U sales numbers are out from Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom — and unease is deepening. In Japan, Famitsu Magazine reported Wii U weekly sales slipping to 70,000 units from 76,000 units during the important period ending in January 6. This is the week many Japanese teenagers spend their New Year’s money and sales of consoles tend to bounce. During the week, the portable...

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Britney Spears Split with Jason Trawick

After more than three years together, Britney Spears and her fiance Jason Trawick have split, her rep confirmed to People. RELATED - Britney "Working Hard" on New Music"Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement," Spears says in the statement. "I'll always adore him and we will remain great friends." Trawick adds, "As this chapter ends for us a new one begins. I love and cherish her and her...

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No charges for NBC host David Gregory over ammunition magazine

APWASHINGTON — NBC journalist David Gregory won't face charges for displaying a high-capacity ammunition magazine on his "Meet the Press" news program last month, District of Columbia prosecutors announced Friday.The city's Office of the Attorney General, which handles low-level crimes, said criminal charges wouldn't serve the public's best interests even...

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DOJ proposes overhaul of Florida’s program for disabled children

TALLAHASSEE -- In a new and even harsher indictment of Florida’s treatment of severely disabled children, federal civil rights lawyers have issued a comprehensive blueprint for overhauling the state’s system of care for frail youngsters.The 17-page “settlement proposal” by the U.S. Justice Department demands the state stop slicing in-home nursing services for frail youngsters,...

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Baby Bones Found Scattered in Ancient Italian Village

SEATTLE — The death of an infant may not have been an occasion for mourning in ancient Italy, according to archaeologists who have found baby bones scattered on the floor of a workshop dating to the seventh century B.C.The grisly finds consist of bone fragments uncovered over years of excavation at Poggio Civitate, a settlement about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the city of Siena in what is now Tuscany....

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They Dated Golden Globes Edition Part 2

Remember them?Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal have a tendency to mix it up as far as dates go at the Golden Globes. With the 70th annual ceremony almost upon us, we're looking back at these celebs and their various plus-ones as they arrived to the star-studded event over the years.Related: They Dated?! Golden Globes Edition - Part 1 Jolie has had the privilege of walking the Golden...

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Oscar’s sad snubs

John Podhoretz The Oscar nominations are in, and the message is clear: Make a movie in which Americans act heroically against Islamic enemies of the United States, and you lose. Even if your film is careful not to wave the flag and offers a deeply ambiguous portrait of US foreign policy, you get the thumbs-down.There are two astonishing...

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Florida company provides electrical power for the world

More than 4,000 miles from its home base in Doral, Energy International is helping keep the lights on and the power grid humming in Gibraltar, the British territory on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.Energy International, a global provider of power plants and energy solutions, sent a temporary plant that will provide power for at least the next two years while a...

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Dems at odds over future Florida Democratic Party chair

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has the ear and the loyalty of President Barack Obama, and loads of influence among Democrats in Washington and across the country. Democratic activists in her home state of Florida, however, are poised to deliver an embarrassing snub to Wasserman Schultz later this month with the heated race to lead the state...

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‘Liquipod’ takes smartphone waterproofing on the road

Amid a sea of Ultra-HD TVs, smart washing machines and various other gadgets, waterproofing expert Liquipel took to CES 2013 to make two announcements. The firm, which adds an interior and exterior waterproof nanocoating to cell phones, revealed a new and improved waterproofing material that is even more effective than its first-generation solution. Liquipel also unveiled its new “Liquipod,”...

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Forgotten Couples of Golden Globes Past

From Angelina Jolie with her then-hubbies Jonny Lee Miller/ Billy Bob Thorton to Jim Carrey with his lady love Renée Zellweger, ET looks back at the star couples of Globes past!Related: They Dated?! Golden Globes Edition Also Thursday, a sneak peek at PSY's super-sized Super Bowl commercial. Plus, the stars of 2 Broke Girls take you inside the show's sexy pajama party.Check your local listin...

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Unidentified 9/11 remains will be safe: city

The remains of unidentified victims of 9/11 to be interred at the World Trade Center memorial site will be safe from flooding and other disasters, city attorneys argued today in state appellate court in Manhattan.“There’s no evidence in the record that there is a problem with flooding,” argued Ellen Ravitch, of the city’s Law Department.But a group of families...

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Magic Jack ends suit against Net Talk

A suit between Magic Jack and a Miami-based rival has ended.Net Talk, with headquarters in suburban Miami-Dade, announced Tuesday that Magic Jack had dropped its patent-infringement suit against Net Talk over the company’s Internet phone service. Magic Jack is one of the best-known providers of VOIP (voice over Internet protocol), and sued Net Talk in April over the competitor’s...

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Miami police to buyback guns — no questions asked

In efforts to reduce gun violence, Miami police will hold its first 2013 gun buyback operation of the year. Beginning on Jan. 19, anyone can drop off any firearm at designated locations and receive a gift certificate with no questions asked. “We are urging the public to join us in the efforts to reduce gun violence and make a difference,” the police department said in a news...

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AP Exclusive: Richardson pressing NKorean test ban

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Wednesday that his delegation is pressing North Korea to put a moratorium on missile launches and nuclear tests and to allow more cell phones and an open Internet for its citizens.Richardson told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview in Pyongyang that the group is also asking for fair and humane treatment for an American...

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Behind the Scenes of PSY's 2013 Super Bowl Commercial

ET has your exclusive sneak peek at PSY's next big project!Video: Stars Party Gangnam Style Backstage at AMAs The Korean superstar will launch an out-of-this-world Super Bowl commercial Sunday, January 3, and we have your first look behind the scenes of the top-secret shoot this Wednesday.Also tomorrow, inside Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey's American Idol feud! Plus, the deleted scene deemed too sexy...

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Best & the brightest

‘i felt very fortunate in the educational opportunities I got,” says Matthew Lenaghan, the son of two college professors. Graduating from Yale, he wanted to do something “meaningful” — so he joined Teach for America and went to teach ninth-grade social studies in a poor Houston neighborhood. He stayed for three years (TFA only requires a two-year commitment),...

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Florida company provides electrical power for the world

More than 4,000 miles from its home base in Doral, Energy International is helping keep the lights on and the power grid humming in Gibraltar, the British territory on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.Energy International, a global provider of power plants and energy solutions, sent a temporary plant that will provide power for at least the next two years while a...

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Parents of disabled kids blast Florida care

Twice in the past year, state health administrators cut the number of hours caregivers assisted Alex Perez’s severely disabled son at his Westchester home. Both times, the child’s pediatrician was left wondering why the state had reduced the care he had prescribed for the boy.On Monday, state Rep. Katie Edwards asked Perez if she had been “misled or misinformed” when state...

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Intel bets big on thin PCs and phones at Las Vegas show

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Top chipmaker Intel Corp on Monday announced shipments of a new low-power chip and showed off next-generation ultra thin laptops and convertible tablets in its latest bid to prove that the struggling PC industry still has a bright future.At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas , Intel said new energy-efficient processors for tablets and laptops are available now, and...

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The Bachelor Premiere Recap Sean Lowe

Chaos ensued as ABC's newest Bachelor Sean Lowe decided to bend the rules tonight on the series' season 17 premiere. About a dozen girls walked into the first rose ceremony clutching a coveted stem after the Dallas native threw tradition to the wind, handing out his sign of approval with abandon on night one.Video: Sean Lowe's Steamy 'Bachelor' Debut As expected, the ladies left rose-less were thrown...

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A tax even Chuck Schumer hates

Among the five new ObamaCare tax hikes that kicked in Jan. 1, one in particular is attracting opposition from both Republicans and Democrats: the tax on medical devices.Last month, 18 Democratic senators and senators-elect (including New York’s own Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand) wrote Majority Leader Harry Reid, asking him to delay implementation...

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Billionaire Phillip Frost an ‘entrepreneur’s entrepreneur’

For that blind first date, a half-century ago, the young doctor, Phillip Frost, showed up at Patricia Orr’s family house in suburban New York, with an unusual gift: a miniature mushroom garden.In the 50 years since, Frost, the son of a shoe store owner, has gone on to amass a fortune of $2.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine, becoming the 188th wealthiest man in the United...

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