Cops, robbers and cameras

Hialeah deploys license-tag-reading cameras in its fight on crimeThe Hialeah Police Department is installing cameras at eight key intersections and equipping an undercover patrol with four high-definition cameras to snap photos of the license plates of thousands of vehicles a day — not to catch red-light runners but in a controversial attempt to stem the wave of robberies...

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Empire State of decline

Bob McManus Did Gov. Cuomo’s $2 billion millionaires’ tax hike of 15 months ago pinch off the public purse as a cash source for election-year spending sprees?So it would seem. Certainly nobody’s talking direct tax increases as New York’s two-year municipal/state election cycle proceeds.But that leaves the indirect route, a well-traveled...

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Open English expands across Latin America

Back in 2008, Open English, a company run from Miami that uses online courses to teach English in Latin America, had just a handful of students in Venezuela and three employees. Today the company has more than 50,000 students in 22 Latin American countries and some 2,000 employees.To fund this meteoric expansion, the founders of Open English — Venezuelans Andrés Moreno and...

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Inauguration poet Richard Blanco back in Miami for reading

The South Miami engineer who became the youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration – and the first openly gay, as well as the first Hispanic to do so – is glad to be back home where his historic journey began.“I really, really missed Miami,” said Richard Blanco, 44, during a phone interview on Monday from his mother’s Miami home. He is visiting from his home in...

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Rihanna Unveils Her First Fashion Line

The Rihanna for River Island collection made its catwalk debut in London on Saturday, where the vibe felt more like a fun party than a fashion show.PICS: Hit or Miss?! "River Island is London-based and we had to do it here," Rihanna said over the thumping bass of hip-hop music. "It's home to the brand and this is where my opportunity was birthed and my relationship started with River Island right...

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Newtown massacre gunman wanted to exceed Norway shooter's death toll

The gunman who carried out the Newtown school massacre was inspired by violent video games — and was trying to outdo a Norwegian mass murderer who killed 77 people, it was reported today.Adam Lanza believed he was in ghoulish competition with Anders Breivik, who carried out a bloodbath at two locations in July 2011, law enforcement sources told CBS News.Breivik,...

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Small business lending rebounds in South Florida

For years, Pablo Oliveira dreamed of buying a property to house his high-end linen and furniture rental company, Nuage Designs, which has created settings for such glamorous events as the weddings of Carrie Underwood and Chelsea Clinton.A few months ago, that dream came true, when Oliveira purchased a warehouse across the street from his current Miami location. He is now...

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The builders of the Sen. Marco Rubio brand

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Marco Rubio is on a breathless rise, a testament to his political skill and demographic appeal that last week saw him delivering the Republican State of the Union response and appearing on the cover of Time as “The Republican Savior.”But behind the scenes is a relentless, methodical effort to build the Rubio brand, aided by a team of strategists and media...

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Mindy McCready Dies of Apparent Suicide

Sources confirm to ET that country music singer Mindy McCready has died. She was 37 years old.RELATED: Stars We LostAccording to a police report from the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office in Arkansas, deputies responded to a report of gun shots fired on Sunday afternoon. Upon arriving, officers reportedly found Mindy McCready's body on the front porch and pronounced her dead at the scene from what...

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A Mayor unplugged from reality

Mayor Bloomberg wants to double down on electric vehicles, but it’s a bad bet for New York.In his State of the City speech last week, Bloomberg said he wants to add 10,000 new electric-vehicle charging stations over the next seven years. To that end, he wants the City Council to amend building codes so that 20 percent of all new parking spaces must be “wired...

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