Time’s up for holiday shopping procrastinators

Last minute shoppers like Josette Tyne are in luck this year.

With a long weekend before Christmas, retailers want to make it easier for procrastinators to finish their gift buying. Macy’s for the first time is keeping all its stores open around the clock from Friday until Sunday at midnight. Toys “R” Us and Walmart Supercenters will be open non-stop until Christmas Eve.

Even those retailers skipping the all nighter still have added extended hours often as late as 11 pm or midnight. Coupled with a flurry of last minute promotions, they hope to lure shoppers, many of whom have been largely sitting on the sidelines since Black Friday.

Tyne, 33, just starting her shopping this week at Aventura Mall, armed with a list of about two dozen people and the presents they wanted. The list would have been longer if the Fort Lauderdale resident hadn’t limited it to the kids in her family.

“I’ll probably be shopping every day from now till Sunday,” said Tyne, as she wheeled the youngest of her three boys around H&M in a stroller before heading on to Game Stop, Urban Outfitters and BCBG. “Whatever catches my eye. Luckily the kids usually like everything I get. I’m the awesome Auntie.”

A Consumer Reports Poll released earlier this week found that with just five shopping days left until Christmas, a whopping 68 percent of shoppers — a projected 132 million Americans — have yet to finish their holiday shopping.

With an early Thanksgiving leaving an extra week until Christmas and a long weekend before Tuesday’s holiday, shoppers have felt little need to rush. They also haven’t found December deals to be quite as compelling as the November sales.

Based on disappointing sales trends earlier this month, ShopperTrak said Wednesday it was cutting its holiday sales forecast. The company, which counts foot traffic and its own proprietary sales numbers from 40,000 retail outlets across the country, now expects a 2.5 percent sales increase to $257.7 billion, down from the 3.3 percent growth it initially predicted. The National Retail Federation is sticking with its prediction of a 4.1 percent sales increase.

Online sales trends are more encouraging, up 13 percent to $35 billion from Nov. 1 through Dec. 16, according to comScore, an online research firm. But that pace is below the forecast of 17 percent for the season.

“It’s coming down to the wire,” said David Bassuk, managing director and co-head of the retail practice at AlixPartners, a global consulting firm. “It’s going to require retailers to be more aggressive with their promotions than they were hoping heading into the weekend.”

While the economy is certainly in a better position than it was during the recession, many consumers still feel uneasy this year about their financial future. Some are worried about the U.S. job market and others fear the stalemate between Congress and the White House over federal “fiscal cliff’’ that could lead to tax increases and less disposable income for shoppers.

That was the case for Latonya Jones, on the hunt for bargains at Aventura Mall, coupon-loaded iPad in hand.

“I wasn’t going to buy anything this year, because I wanted to save money,” said Jones, 39, of Miami Gardens, who was shopping with her daughter Richelle, 12, this week in Macy’s. “But then I changed my mind.”

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A Florida mom’s lonely fight for her disabled son

Tereza Pereira had cared for her woefully disabled son at home for most of his life. But she was in her 50s now, working two jobs to stay afloat, and state health administrators had repeatedly refused to pay for enough in-home nursing care to keep Bryan safe.

Pereira wanted her teenage son to live at a place called Baby House, a small group home for medically fragile children and young adults, with a long track record of treating children like Bryan as family. His care would have cost the state $300 per day there.

State health and disability administrators had a different plan: For $200 more each day, Bryan would live in a nursing home.

“I don’t want my son in this place,” Pereira wrote to disability administrators of the Florida Club Care nursing home in Miami Gardens. “If something happened with my son, [if] he died,” she wrote, “I will feel that this place killed” him.

Two years later, that is just how Pereira feels.

Disability administrators insisted that Bryan move in to the nursing home. And there he died, a year later, on July 29, 2010.

“The best place for Bryan was with me,” Pereira said. “I wanted my son to leave this world in peace — not the way he passed away.”

Bryan Louzada was one of five medically complex children to die at Florida nursing homes in the last six months of 2010 — and among 130 such children who have died in those homes since January 2006, records show. Though medically fragile children who live with their parents, or in a community setting, also die, state records show they die in far lower numbers.

State health administrators insist that the choices of parents like Tereza Pereira are the guiding force behind their decisions on where sick children live. But interviews and records show Pereira had fought for half Bryan’s life to find a home-like setting for him. And at every turn state health and disability chiefs steered him toward an institution or nursing home.

It is the dirty little secret of Florida’s health and social service system: Though institutional care can be dramatically more expensive than in-home care, state agencies push children toward institutions.

Here’s why: Medicaid, the state and federal insurance program for needy and disabled people, has become the insurer of last resort for virtually all children with catastrophic disabilities. Under federal law, a nursing home or facility bed is an entitlement, and that means Florida health administrators must provide such a bed to any family that asks. Sometimes-far-less-costly in-home nursing services are not an entitlement. Because they can, Florida lawmakers cap spending for such care, resulting in a waiting list of 25,000 for home- and community-based services.

Federal health polices “lead to irrational outcomes,” said Jim DeBeaugrine, who was director of the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities under former Gov. Charlie Crist. “People go into higher-cost facilities than what they need, and, quite frankly, what is best for them.”

“It’s referred to as the ‘institutional bias,’ and that’s what the system has, because that’s where the dollars have to go,” DeBeaugrine added. “It’s nonsensical.”

The irrational outcome in Bryan’s case was that a sickly teen was forced to live in a nursing home that is considered one of the state’s worst — Golden Glades, formerly known as Florida Club Care, is on the state “nursing home watch list” of homes that did not meet even minimum standards of care during a recent inspection.

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Buzzmakers: New X Factor and Miss Universe Winners

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. 'The X Factor' Crowns A Winner!

And the $5 million recording contract goes to…

Tate Stevens! The 37-year-old country crooner beat out runner-up 13-year-old Carly Rose Sonenclar for the top prize Thursday night. 35 million votes were cast Wednesday to determine victory for L.A. Reid's mentee.

Near tears, the Raymore, Missouri native thanked his fans for their overwhelming support.

"This is the best day of my life," said an emotional Stevens.

Girl group Fifth Harmony, mentored by Simon Cowell, placed third in the competition. Earlier in the night, the holiday themed finale saw performances by One Direction and Pitbull.

Auditions for an all-new season of The X Factor USA have already begun online. In-person auditions will start on March 6, 2013 in Los Angeles.

The celebrity judging panel has yet to be announced, but L.A. Reid has already taken himself out of the running. Spears has expressed interest in returning to the show for season three, but nothing has been confirmed.

2. Miss Universe 2012 Crowned

Beauties from 89 countries strutted their stuff Wednesday night in pursuit of the Miss Universe crown, but only one woman would earn the coveted title.

In the end a panel of ten celebrity judges, including Cee Lo Green and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, appointed Miss USA Olivia Culpo the winner.

The 20-year-old Rhode Island native beat out Miss Brazil (Gabriela Markus) Miss Philippines (Janine Tugonon), Miss Mexico (Irene Sofía Esser Quintero), and Miss Australia (Renae Ayris) for the distinction.

Culpo follows in the footsteps of Miss Angola, Leila Lopes, who earned the crown in 2011.

The two-hour show was broadcast live from Las Vegas with musical acts One Direction and Train lending their talents to the annual extravaganza.

3. Exclusive: Arsenio on His Late Night TV Return

Break out the Woof! Woof! fist pump: Arsenio Hall is coming back to late night TV in the Fall of 2013 after a 17-year break from the game, and only ET is behind the scenes with the timeless talk show host as he shoots his first-ever promo for The Arsenio Hall Show!

"[This is] the first time America will see anything on television about the show," says Arsenio. "Instead of a commercial where I do something like say, 'I'm baaaaack' -- and everybody's, 'Ugh' -- they've come up with a real, unique, creative angle that -- actually, I looked at dailies, and it scared me. I looked at the dailies and I frightened myself."

The trailer-length promo from CBS Television Distribution pays homage to horror movies and begins airing today on all Arsenio Hall Show affiliate stations, kicking off the campaign for the new late night syndicated talk show that will be seen all across the country next year.

"I'm real excited about this; so many things have changed in pop culture since I left the air," says Arsenio about his return to late night. "I can't wait."

The Arsenio Hall Show premieres on 9/9/13. Look for much more with Arsenio between now and then, only on ET!

4. Claire Danes Gives Birth

It's a boy!

Homeland star Claire Danes and her husband Hugh Dancy welcomed their very first child together on Monday, December 17, her rep confirms to People Magazine.

The proud parents named their bouncing baby boy Cyrus Michael Christopher Dancy.

Danes, 33, wed Dancy, 37, in 2009 after two years of dating.

5. President Obama is Time's Person of the Year

For 2012, Time Magazine has selected President Barack Obama as their Person of the Year.

"For finding and forging a new majority, for turning weakness into opportunity and for seeking, amid great adversity, to create a more perfect union, Barack Obama is Time's 2012 Person of the Year," Time's Managing Editor Richzard Stengel explained.

He also cited both of the president's re-elections, snagging over 50 percent of the popular vote, as one reason he received this honor.

This is the second year Time has tapped Obama as their Person of the Year -- he previously was selected in 2008 for becoming the first black president of the United States.

Time previously named the eight finalists for 2012's Person of the Year. They included: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Malala Yousafzai (the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for her crusade for better girls' education), Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the three scientists who discovered the Higgs Boson particle.

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Staten Island man killed in early-morning house fire

A Staten Island man was killed when an early-morning fire swept through his home, police and relatives said.

Jameek Champagne, 23, died in the third-floor attic of the home on Osgood Avenue in Clifton. His brother and grandfather escaped the blaze uninjured.

A neighbor reported the blaze after seeing flames erupt from the house at about 5:40 a.m. He banged on the door in a frantic effort to awaken its residents.

The fire was extinguished about an hour after it started, according to an FDNY spokesman. Fire marshals are investigating what caused it.

About ten cars full of grief-stricken relatives and friends came to the scene to mourn Champagne. His devastated girlfriend said that the two had a newborn girl and a 1-year-old boy.

G.N.Miller/New York Post

The Staten Island house after it was damaged by the fire

“We’re just trying to find out how this happened,” Champagne's uncle said, weeping.

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Investors shuffling assets ahead of fiscal cliff

Some citizens aren’t waiting to find out if the White House and Republicans in Congress will be able to reach a last-minute deal to pull the country away from the “fiscal cliff.”

They are selling securities while capital gains tax rates are still low or transferring millions into trusts for the benefit of children and grandchildren before estate tax laws become more stringent. Others are getting out of the markets and parking money in less risky accounts.

Miami financial planner Cathy Pareta has been counseling her upper middle class clients — “the Johnsons, not the Rockefellers” — on whether to adjust investment portfolios, accelerate income or realize capital gains sooner than planned.

“Some people are going to get hit hard,” said John Bacci, a financial planner in Linthicum, Md., who has gone down his client list and run projections on what higher taxes would look like for them. He’s looking at tax-friendly alternatives for some clients, such as annuities or rental property.

At year’s end, the country will leap off the “fiscal cliff” unless politicians reach a compromise on mandated spending cuts and the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts.

For most investors, the expiring cuts will mean that the tax rate for long-term capital gains will rise from 15 percent to 20 percent. Dividends also will no longer be taxed at 15 percent but treated as ordinary income, which could mean a tax rate as high as 39.6 percent. And individuals with multimillion-dollar estates will find much more of their money subject to the federal estate tax.

Estate planning lawyers say the demand is so intense that they are putting in grueling hours to set up trusts.

“It’s very stressful. We are working day and night,” said Diana Zeydel, an estate planning lawyer with Greenberg Traurig in Miami. “Were doing three times what we normally do for end-of-the-year planning.”

Zeydel said many of her clients waited until after the elections in November to gauge how the political tide would affect their future finances. This gave them little more than a month to make major decisions about their wealth.

Most observing the political jousting in Washington expect taxes will go up even if the political leaders reach a deal — they’re just not sure how much. Many aren’t taking any chances.

Jim Ludwick, a financial planner in Odenton, Md., said one client in his late 50s cashed out stock and bond funds totaling $1.7 million not long after the election and stashed the proceeds in a money market fund.

The client, anticipating a market plunge due to the “fiscal cliff” and other issues, said he spent his entire working life building up a nest egg and wouldn’t have time to wait for his portfolio to recover, according to Ludwick. The client fears it won’t be safe to re-enter the stock market for another year.

“We have a number of clients who are taking capital gains this year, expecting that if they wait until next year, they will have to pay higher taxes on those same gains,” said Daniel McHugh, president of Lombard Securities in Baltimore. Some of those clients are realizing six-figure gains but are still willing to take the tax hit now, he said.

Of course, the downside is that the stock market could take off, and these investors will miss out on even higher gains, McHugh said. But, he added: “Given the state the economy is in, that’s a very small risk.”

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Great-grandmother leads annual Miami-Dade, Monroe toy drive

Beginning in August, Bunchy Gertner puts aside her social life, her needs and even her great-grandchildren to head over to the “North Pole,” the place where she stores, wraps and distributes thousands of toys destined for foster care children in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

“This is top banana,” said Gertner referring to the nonstop volunteer work she has done for the past 16 years. “Every kid will get a gift and — even if it’s just for a moment — they will know that someone cares.”

It’s Gertner who dedicates her time to planning and execution of the toy drive that will distribute 3,400 gifts to the children under Our Kids, a non-profit agency that provides foster care and related services in Miami and the Florida Keys.

“She focuses solely on the toy drive and lives to match the right toy with the right child,” said Fran Alegra, Our Kids CEO. “I don’t have staff that would be able to dedicate the time that she gives to this.”

Over the years, 78-year-old Gertner has not only given every foster child a gift, but she has made sure that everyone receives a good quality, age appropriate present.

“I think I have 3,400 children,” said Gertner. “Thank God I didn’t give birth to all of them and they’ve all left the house. But I feel like they’re all mine.”

Gertner has even made it her mission to look after the children who are aging out of foster care and are considered independent living. For these teens, she prepared a gift that includes a comforter, sheets, pillow cases, hand towels, bath towels, glass wear, pillows, dishes, pots and pans.

“They have no money when they leave foster care,” said Gertner. “I give them what a mom and dad would give a child who was going off to college or going off on their own.”

In order to raise money and collect presents, Gertner has relied on about 50 sponsors, who are responsible for collecting gifts. She distributes the first names of children with their age, gender and ethnicity to provide each child with an appropriate gift.

“I became a beggar. I got down on my hands and knees and begged everyone that I met,” said Gertner. “I write letters, I make phone calls and ask if they would want to help or if they know anyone who would want to do it.”

Once she receives the gifts from the sponsors, they are taken to her North Pole, which this year is an empty store donated by Gulfstream Park.

There, she sorts the presents that come with a specific child’s name by agency and begins wrapping the gifts that she receives with no specific name.

“I couldn’t do it alone,’’ said Gertner, who refers to her helpers as elves. “If it weren’t for the people helping me wrap and the sponsors, I wouldn’t have a toy drive.’’

On any given 10-hour work day, the volunteers, which range in numbers from a handful to two dozen, show up to wrap and sing holiday songs.

“This is better than staying at home in bed all day,” said Rivly Breus, a student at Florida Atlantic University. With a little experience under her belt from wrapping at Macy’s, Breus decided to Google a way she could volunteer her talents.

“It was hard for me growing up so it’s good to be able to shine a light on others,” Breus said.

Some come with no experience, like Gonzo Gonzalez, who often has to patch the spaces where he didn’t use sufficient paper.

“I didn’t have it easy growing up, but at least I had my parents,” said Gonzalez, who wrapped about 30 footballs on a recent Sunday. “It’s good to be able to give back. The kids who don’t have parents are not expecting anything.”

Although, Gertner does not give the presents directly to the children for privacy reasons, she is satisfied with knowing that there is a child at the end of every present. She said she will continue to do it until she can’t anymore.

“I know in my heart that what I do is enough,” said Gertner. “When I go to bed I know that I have fulfilled my mission and done my job well.”

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Instagram diverts attention from botched policy change with another new filter

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Who Were Hollywood's Winners & Losers in 2012?

Some Hollywood celebs soared to new heights in 2012, while others sank to embarrassing lows. We've compile our own list of last year's winners and losers.

One of 2012's biggest winners -- Britney Spears. The pop princess star earned about $58 million according to Forbes magazine,  mainly from her platinum album Femme Fatale and her decision to join FOX's music competition show The X Factor.

RELATED: The 12 Most Amazing News Stories of 2012

Topping our losers list was another pop star -- Madonna! Her rude rants at a smoker during a performance got a big thumbs-down from us. Hidden under a hooded jacket at an outdoor arena in Chile, Madge went on her rant and then threatened to cancel the show if the smoking fan did not comply.

Another winner was the year's female heroine on the rise -- Jennifer Lawrence! The Hunger Games star also appeared in the Oscar-buzzed Silver Lining's Playbook, in which the 22-year-old actress also proves her comedy acting chops.

RELATED: 2012's 12 Most Amazing Couples 

On the losing side, Lindsay Lohan. The Liz & Dick star encountered money woes -- from back taxes to reported big loans -- putting Lindsay in danger of tumbling off her own "fiscal cliff."

Another big winner -- British boy band sensation One Direction! Jonas Brothers who? This new Direction infection moved across the pond to take over pop radio and win over the United States with two #1 albums in just eight months!

Watch the video for more on who was up and who was down in 2012!

RELATED: 2012's Top 12 Amazing Gowns

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Watch and remember some of the memorable stories of 2012

2012 is on its last hoorah as the New Year approaches.

To commemorate the changing of the guards, The New York Post took a look back at some of the most memorable moments we caught on video.

Actress Lindsay Lohan kept Page Six busy this year as she became a a frequent visitor of the NYPD. On one occasion, she allegedly clipped a pedestrian with her SUV on her way to a club. A couple of months later, a woman claimed the actress punched her at a Manhattan lounge.

But, it wasn’t all bad news for Lohan. She gained a sister when her father, Michael, officially discovered he was the father of 17-year-old Ashley Horn.

Lilo wasn’t the only celebrity allegedly behaving badly in New York. Witnesses say Hip-Hop stars Chris Brown and Drake were involved in a bottle-throwing melee at the club W.I.P. that led to some injuries.

In more somber news, Superstorm Sandy destroyed thousands of homes in the Northeast and killed dozens of people.

It was also a feel-good sports year in New York. The Giants won the Super Bowl, New Yorkers helped represent Team USA at the Olympics and, in a short NBA season, Linsanity rushed through the city. Then, just as fast, Jeremy Lin blew out of town.

The year also saw, the end of Twinkies, a man with the tallest Mohawk in history, the end of MTV’s Jersey Shore, nude body paint arrests, fights over a anti-Jihad subway poster and more.

Goodbye 2012. Hello 2013.

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John Fumagalli succeeds Sheldon Anderson at Northern Trust Florida

Northern Trust has named John Fumagalli President of Northern Trust in Florida. Fumagalli succeeds well-known banker Sheldon Anderson, who announced his retirement earlier this year.

A Northern Trust veteran, Fumagalli joined Northern Trust in Chicago in 1989. In the years since he was served as President and CEO of Northern Trust in Missouri, President and CEO for the Southwest Florida region and regional head of West Florida. In his new position, he oversees Northern Trust’s 22 offices across the state.

Anderson, who has served as Chairman and CEO of Northern Trust’s Southeast Region since 2009, will retire on December 31, 2012. He will continue in a new capacity as Chairman of Northern Trust’s Florida Advisory Board.

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