Newark mayor to headline Broward Democrats’ fundraiser

Rising Democratic star and Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker will be the keynote speaker at the Broward Democrats’ annual fundraiser March 23.“He is clearly part of next generation of Democratic leaders,” local party chairman Mitch Ceasar said.Booker, an African-American Rhodes scholar and Yale University law grad, became mayor at age 37 in 2006. He turned down a job offer from...

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Rovio has more monthly active users than Twitter

Rovio announced today it hit 263 million monthly active users in December 2012. This happened precisely three years after the first Angry Birds game debuted at the end of 2009. Incidentally, the somewhat better-known Twitter hit the 200 million monthly active user mark in December 2012. And since Twitter was launched in the summer of 2006, Rovio’s user growth has been notably brisker.[More from...

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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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Finally! City to tackle unwed-mom epidemic

Michael Goodwin It’s my favorite single-question pop quiz: What is the out-of-wedlock birth rate in The Bronx?The answers I get from New Yorkers who should know better usually top out at 50 percent. Only occasionally does anyone come close to the correct answer: 70 percent.You read it right — seven out of 10 babies born in The Bronx...

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After rough year, Carnival hopes for calmer waters

After boarding the latest addition to the Carnival Cruise Lines family, Josh Beaver sampled lasagna at the new onboard Italian restaurant, downed some drinks with his traveling companions and hit the water slides while the afternoon was still young.“So far, from what I’ve seen, there’s lots to do,” said Beaver, 33, of Holden Beach, N.C. The Carnival Breeze hadn’t even left...

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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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Why We Hate the Word ‘Phablet’ So Much

It appears we have reached Peak Phablet — and not just because sales are up and the big-screen cellphones were all over the Consumer Electronics Show this week. No, we have also reached Peak “Phablet” — the term for the popular (and quite awkward) devices has also this week been called ”horrible,” “stupid,” and ”worst word of the year” (to which we’re about two weeks in). The name itself...

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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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Oxygen turns toxic

Brent Bozell Television is getting a little unreal. First, the idea that Al Gore would sell out to Al-Jazeera sounded like an April Fools’ joke. Then the Oxygen network — that supposedly uplifting women’s channel founded in 2000 by Oprah Winfrey — announced it was producing a reality show called “All My Baby’s Mamas” starring an Atlanta...

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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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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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Three witnesses won’t be charged in Ohio football rape case: documents

(Reuters) – At least three members of a high school football team in Steubenville, Ohio, received word they would not be prosecuted just days before testifying against teammates accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, according to documents obtained by Reuters.In letters from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office addressed to each student’s lawyer, the state committed to not prosecuting Evan Westlake,...

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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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Twist in Net 'sex' drama

The stripper who claims she was sexually assaulted in a Brooklyn Net’s hotel suite said the hoopster watched the attack and did nothing to stop it.“He peeked in the room,” the alleged victim said of forward Andray Blatche. “He just didn’t . . . when he came in, he didn’t have intercourse with me.”The 21-year-old woman told Philadelphia’s ABC 6 that Blatche...

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Miami doctors, Walgreens join race for ACOs

With Walgreens joining insurers and hospitals in a race to reshape healthcare delivery in the country, a group of 75 doctors has become the first federally approved accountable care organization in Miami-Dade, Medicare officials announced Thursday.South Florida ACO and the drugstore chain were on a list of 106 groups receiving approval to offer integrated care that is intended...

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Wisdom from the mouths of babes

The other day, a friend of mine email me the following letter from a 7-year-old second-grader, Abigal Lily Alder, at Heron Heights Elementary in Broward County, and I want to share it with you, my dear Neighbors in Religion readers:The title: "AUTISM SPEAKS to Me!" "If I could help somebody it would be my brother, Grant, who has autism. People with autism like Grant sometimes...

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Three top U.S. wireless carriers to embrace BlackBerry 10

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Three of the top U.S. cellphone carriers signaled this week that they would support Research In Motion’s BlackBerry 10 products, the first of which are due to be unveiled Jan 30, offering a hopeful sign for RIM’s comeback effort.Executives at Verizon Communications , AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA all said they are looking forward to the devices, which will be crucial for RIM’s...

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Oscar Moments: Best & Supporting Actress Wins

The 85th Annual Academy Awards is just six weeks away, and we're taking a look back at four great moments from the last two years: When Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Melissa Leo and Octavia Spencer picked up their coveted statuettes.ET's Complete Academy Awards Coverage In a bit of an upset, Streep won her third Oscar at the 84th Academy Awards for her spot-on portrayal of British Prime Minister...

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Yacht owner says lenders are trying to take ship in 'fire sale'

He won’t surrender the ship. The owner of an iconic presidential yacht is suing his lenders claiming they’re trying to commandeer the ship in a “fire sale,” according to documents filed in New York Supreme Court. The lenders “developed and then instituted a dastardly plan to wrest control of the Sequoia from,” its owner, the complaint states. Sequoia owner...

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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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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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The next CIA’s director’s challenges

qWhat John Brennan faces after confirmationI see no reason why the Senate won’t confirm John Brennan, President Obama‘s chief counter-terrorism adviser, to be the next director of the CIA. There will be pro forma inquiries into his past entanglements with the NSA’s domestic surveillance program and his knowledge and approval of the CIA’s “Greystone” torture protocols, but he will have ready answers...

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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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Business briefs

Sac bonusesSAC Capital is raising bonuses for portfolio managers by 3 percentage points to help retain employees as the feds’ insider-trading probe moves closer to Stevie Cohen’s $14 billion hedge fund.Watch it!Broker Cantor Fitzgerald faces a possible credit downgrade from its BBB rating, Fitch Ratings said.Curran caughtMary Curran, an ex- UBS client,...

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4 smartphones with standout features

These days, smartphones are almost all drawing from the same bag of tricks, and it can be hard to tell one from the next. If the average smartphone will do all the basic things you want it to, what does it take to be special? Here are four smartphones with unusual features that really make them stand out. Nokia Lumia 920 Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent) ...

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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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181,354 People on Twitter Think They’re Experts at Twitter

Do you tweet a lot? Do you post everything on Facebook? Do you #hashtag #complete #sentences #like #this? Do you describe yourself, variously, as a social media “maven”, “master”, “guru”, “freak”, “warrior”, “evangelist” or “veteran”? (Yes, a social media veteran. As if Tumblr were a deadly war you narrowly survived.) Well: you’ve got company! There are more than 181,000 such individuals...

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Huell Howser Reports For Entertainment Tonight at 1982 Grammys

Long before Huell Howser, who passed Sunday at the age of 67, would go on to find his passion shining a spotlight on small towns, landmarks, and places of interest in California, the KCET legend made quite the impression on us at Entertainment Tonight.Related: Huell Howser Dead at 67 In 1982, the TV icon was a young, dapper reporter excited to cover music's biggest night for ET.Watch the video for...

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Venezuela crisis: weekend at Hugo’s?

Benny Avni Whether Venezuela’s power crisis materializes by Thursday or later on, it’s coming. America will have a role to play, and better choose the right side this time.President Hugo Chavez won re-election in October; he’s due to be sworn in the day after tomorrow. But he’s too sick to show up.Chavez, 58, has ruled the oil-rich country...

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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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Scott Israel talks about BSO’s future

On Tuesday, Broward Sheriff-elect Scott Israel will take over the most powerful elected post in the county, overseeing about 5,500 employees and a $670 million budget.Past Broward sheriffs have generated colorful and political headlines. Nick Navarro, elected in 1984, ordered deputies to cook crack cocaine to use in drug stings, and ordered the arrest of the rap group 2...

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“Ubuntu for Phones” Turns Smartphones into Desktop PCs

Millions of people have tried out Ubuntu, a free operating system for desktop and notebook PCs. Like Android, Ubuntu is open-source and based on Linux, and while it’s mostly seen as an OS for hobbyists here in the U.S., hardware manufacturers like Dell and HP make Ubuntu PCs for markets like mainland China.Now Canonical, the startup which drives Ubuntu’s partly community-based development, has announced...

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