Woman’s Club member earns another well-deserved honor

Warm congratulations to my friend and Miami Woman’s Club sister Dolly MacIntyre, who will be honored as the club’s Historian of the Year for 2013 on Tuesday at the monthly luncheon meeting.

Dolly has been a resident of Miami for 56 years. She began her involvement with local history and historic preservation in 1966. She is a kind and unassuming woman who goes about doing good works without blowing her own horn and she is a highly acclaimed activist for historic preservation and the recipient of numerous awards for dedicated service.

In 2012, she received the Mary Call Darby Collins Award from the state of Florida for her preservation work. Early on, she became a charter member of the Villagers and founding president of the Dade Heritage Trust, and today she remains active in both organizations.

Dolly is a lonttime member and past officer of the MWC, the Woman’s Club of Coconut Grove, the Dade County Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Women’s History Coalition. In addition, she is a board and committee member of many community organizations.

The luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. with networking, with lunch and the program to follow at noon in the Ballroom of the Doubletree Grand Hotel, 1717 N. Bayshore Dr.

You can still make reservations and pre-order for vegetarian option by calling Nancy Smith at 305-891-3789. The cost is $25 for members and $35 for non members.

Retired FIU professor honored for book

There’s a lot to be happy about today. Howard B. Rock, Florida International University professor of history emeritus, recently was awarded the Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year at the 2012 National Jewish Book Awards. The award was announced Jan. 15 by the Jewish Book Council and was for the three-volume series City of Promises: A History of the Jews of New York of which Rock wrote the first volume, Haven of Liberty: New York Jews in the New world, 1654-1865.

Rock shared the top Jewish book award with Annie Polland and Daniel Soyer, who authored the second volume, "Emerging Metropolis: New York Jews in the Age of Immigration, 1840-1920", Jeffrey S. Gurock, who wrote the third volume, "Jews in Gotham: New York Jews in a Changing City, 1920-2010", and noted Jewish historian Deborah Dash Moore, who was the general editor of the project.

Rock, a Miami resident and member of Temple Israel of Greater Miami, also co-authored a history of New York Jewry. He taught American history for 36 years at FIU. His speciality is early American history to 1815, early American social history, the history of New York City, early American labor history and early American political history. In addition, he has published an/or edited five books, including Artisans of the New Republic, The New York Artisan, Keepers of the Revolution, The American Artisans, and A History of New York Images.

Guest composer at FIU

The Florida International School of Music will present a program, “East Meets West,” with guest composer Chinary Ung and the FIU Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center, 10910 SW 17th St.

Also featured on the program is the Amernet String Quartet and the NOBUS ensemble and the music of Ung, Garcia, Sudol, Jen and Colangelo.

The concert is free and open to the public.

MDC leader to speak in Homestead

You are invited to hear Jeanne Jacobs, president of the Miami Dade College Homestead campus at noon on Feb. 4, at the Homestead Community Center, 1601 N. Krome Ave. Jacobs is the Black History Month speaker at the Bea Peskoe Lunchtime Lecture series, presented free by the Homestead Center for the Arts.

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Facebook founder to host fundraiser for New Jersey Governor Christie

(Reuters) – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla, will host a fundraiser for New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie at their California home on February 13, the social networking site said on Thursday.

Zuckerberg and Christie, a potential presidential contender in 2016, have teamed up before, when the tech guru donated $ 100 million to the struggling public schools in Newark, New Jersey, in 2010.

“Mark and Priscilla … admire his leadership on education reform and other issues and look forward to continuing their important work together on behalf of Newark’s school children,” Facebook said in a statement.

The blunt-spoken Christie is seeking re-election in November to a second term as governor. He took office in 2010.

Right now, he doesn’t seem to need much help as his approval rating skyrocketed after Superstorm Sandy hit the state last October. A Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday found that three-quarters of New Jersey voters approved of Christie’s performance and nearly seven in 10 say he deserves to be re-elected.

New Jersey Democrats also have not rallied behind a single challenger. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney has said he is considering running, but the poll found that Christie would easily defeat Sweeney.

Christie would also trounce Barbara Buono – who has said she will run against the governor – and possible challenger Richard Codey, the poll found. Both are Democratic state senators.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco and Hilary Russ in New York; Editing by Eric Beech)

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Exclusive PIC: 2013 SAG Awards Seating Chart GigaPan Photo

Where the stars will be sitting at this year’s SAGs?

You don't have to wait until Sunday to see which celebs will be seated together! ET has your first look at the 2013 SAG Awards seating chart.

Pics: The 10 Best SAG Awards Dresses of All Time

Explore our exclusive interactive GigaPan below!  For the full-screen high-res panoramic photo, click here.

Related: Pick The Winners with ET's SAG Awards Ballot!

Don't miss the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, airing Sunday, January 27 at 8pm on TNT and TBS.

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The week's winners and losers

WINNERS

REED HASTINGS

Netflix CEO finds himself leading the hottest company on the Street, gaining a jawdropping 67% last week.

MARY JOWHITE

Exprosecutor is nominated to be the new SEC chief.

HOWARD SCHULTZ

Mmm . . . Starbucks CEO savors toasty 13% rise in quarterly profit

LOSERS

TIM COOK

Cold week? Apple CEO saw stock lose roughly $70B in value in two trading days.

SEAN EGAN

SEC bars his EganJones service from rating government securities; the firm had downgraded US in July 2011.

RON JOHNSON

JCPenney boss has new pricing scheme showing savings, but it’s not a sale pricing.

REUTERS

Reed Hastings

REUTERS

Tim Cook

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Miami Lakes company growing its brand of skin care products

For decades, Vivant Skin Care has formulated creams, serums, cleansers and tonics to treat such dermatological conditions as acne, aging and hyperpigmentation.

Family owned and linked to Dr. James E. Fulton, who co-developed the anti-aging formula Retin-A, the company built its reputation with medically tested therapies aimed at improving skin.

Now, like a complexion that has undergone the metamorphosis of time, Vivant is altering its manufacturing and sales structure and adding products, emerging from the economic downturn with a new plan for the future.

“Now we’re stabilized and looking forward to growth,” said Fulton’s daughter, Chief Executive, Kelly Fulton-Kendrick.

Founded in 1990, Vivant produces a line of 30 skin care products, all formulated in-house, and priced from $15 to $100. The products target both females and males, ages 13 and up.

“Our target market is people who have serious skin care problems and need solutions,” Fulton-Kendrick said. “Vitamin A is the best for affecting change in the skin.”

The clinical skin care products, packaged simply in white bottles and amber glass containers, have remained the company’s mainstay, as the business has transformed.

In mid-2011, Vivant decided to adjust its sales structure, to sell, for the first time, to online retailers like DermStore.com, SkinCareRX.com and amazon.com, as well as to make its products available on its own website, vivantskincare.com. It was a major change in course after more than 20 years of having its products sold only at spas and doctors’ offices.

“So now, we’re a mix of wholesale to skin care professionals and Internet retailers, and we’re selling directly to consumers through our own website,” Fulton-Kendrick said.

Mike Nelson, marketing manager at SkinCareRx.com, said Vivant, which it has sold since November, has “done very well for a new brand to our site,” surpassing some brands that have been on its site for over a year. He declined to provide figures.

SkinCareRX took on only 5 percent of the brands that approached it last year, he said, and had undertaken a rigorous review of Vivant.

“They have a good loyalty base and get great reviews,” Nelson said.

Along with changes in its sales system, in January 2012, Vivant moved from Medley to Miami Lakes, doubling its space to 11,000 square feet to accommodate manufacturing, which it brought in house to reduce costs. It had outsourced manufacturing to a lab in Costa Mesa, Calif., that it had previously owned and later sold.

Inside its warehouse space in a commercial business complex, a small staff handles manufacturing, shipping and packaging. All orders are taken by customer service and fulfilled onsite. A room used as an educational center allows vendors and aestheticians to learn about the products.

Martina Echeveria, international trade specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Miami U.S. Export Assistance Center, who is helping Vivant get a distributor in the Dominican Republic, said she recently nominated the company for a South Florida Manufacturer of the Year award. The awards are given by the South Florida Manufacturers Association.

“Their products are good and 100 percent U.S. made,” she said.

At Vivant’s offices, a lab area is used by Dr. Fulton for research and development. He also maintains a practice at Flores Dermatology in South Miami.

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Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones running for reelection

Eight years have passed since Michelle Spence-Jones was elected to the Miami City Commission.

She isn’t willing to leave just yet.

Spence-Jones — who was charged with bribery and grand theft in 2009, suspended from office, acquitted and reinstated to her post — is seeking reelection, she announced Friday. She represents District 5, which includes Overtown, Little Haiti and Liberty City.

Whether Spence-Jones could run again has been the subject of much debate. The Miami city charter limits commissioners to two terms and Spence-Jones has twice won election. But City Attorney Julie O. Bru opined that Spence-Jones could run again because her second term was interrupted by the suspension.

“Our charter prohibits a commissioner or the mayor for running for reelection after that commissioner or mayor has served two consecutive terms,” Bru reaffirmed to Spence-Jones at a City Commission meeting Thursday. “You are eligible to seek reelection because you did not serve two full consecutive terms.”

Spence-Jones’s opponent isn’t buying it.

“The bottom line is, Michelle is term limited,” said the Rev. Richard P. Dunn II, who held the commission seat in Spence-Jones’s absence. “She received financial compensation for the time she was away and she was fully vested in the pension. Are the citizens of Miami going to pay her twice?”

Dunn plans to file a legal challenge “immediately,” he said.

Spence-Jones wants the additional term, she said, “to finish what I started.”

She pointed to the improvements she’s spearheaded along Northeast Second Avenue in Little Haiti. “We cleaned the place up, repainted many of the buildings and recreated a Caribbean feel by adding steeples,” she said.

The ultimate goal, Spence-Jones said, is to make Little Haiti a destination for tourists akin to Little Havana’s Calle Ocho. She has a similar vision for Overtown, which was once the cultural hub of Miami’s black community. To that end, Spence-Jones pushed for improvements to Northwest Third Avenue and provided grant money for local businesses.

“Now we’re going to move forward with a marketing campaign and build relationships with cruise lines and tour operators,” Spence-Jones said. “But these sorts of things take time.”

Other big projects are in the works.

Earlier this year, Spence-Jones pushed through a $50 million bond issue for improvements in Overtown — the largest investment the blighted community has seen in decades. The money will go toward affordable housing and some retail projects.

But Spence-Jones takes an equal amount of pride in some of her smaller initiatives, including a project that brought Hollywood director Robert Townsend to Overtown to film an independent movie. Students from the University of Miami and several local high schools had the opportunity to serve as interns. The film will debut this summer.

She plans to focus future efforts on Liberty City. She is already laying the groundwork for a program that will train residents to become laboratory technicians. A second program will help people with criminal records pursue careers in the automotive industry.

Spence-Jones’s tenure has been somewhat of a rollercoaster. After being elected to her second term, she was charged with bribery and grand theft in two separate cases and removed from office by then-Gov. Charlie Crist. Jurors later acquitted her of bribery, and prosecutors dropped the grand-theft charges.

A vindicated Spence-Jones returned to City Hall in August with newfound political heft.

Spence-Jones is now suing Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle and Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, accusing them of conspiring to destroy her political career via the prosecutions. She declined to talk about the suit, saying only: “I’m going to let my lawyers fight that battle.”

She may have another legal fight ahead.

Dunn believes the city attorney’s opinion giving Spence-Jones the go-ahead to run again won’t withstand a legal challenge. He says Spence-Jones has served two consecutive terms because she was paid for two consecutive terms.

Dunn also criticized the city attorney, saying she likely felt pressured to give that opinion because Spence-Jones is her boss.

“If it stands up in a court of law, I will respect that,” said Dunn, who attended Thursday’s commission meeting and took notes on a legal pad. “But I’m not going to be whitewashed by a city attorney’s opinion that’s biased by her boss’s posturing position.”

Dunn, who also sat on the commission in the mid-‘90s after Commissioner Miller Dawkins was removed from office, pointed to his own accomplishments as a commissioner. He said he helped secure funding for Gibson Park,and quelled racial tensions after Miami police officers shot and killed seven black men in 2010 and 2011.

“Michelle Spence-Jones does not own that seat,” he said. “It’s owned by the people of District 5.”

No other candidates have announced they are running for the post.

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How Facebook Passive-Aggressively Dismissed Twitter’s New Vine App

Facebook has now clarified why it blocked Twitter’s new video-sharing app Vine, suggesting on its developer blog Friday afternoon that Facebook didn’t think much of Vine’s integration — or lack thereof — with the social network. Basically, Twitter’s pseudo GIF-maker thing connected with Facebook, but only so you could “find Friends” — presumably because Twitter wants people to use the app on Twitter. But for the privilege of its people, Facebook wants apps to give back to the network.

RELATED: Facebook Is Already Trying to Break Twitter’s New Toy

Without mentioning Twitter or Vine explicitly, Facebook’s Justin Osofsky explained in the blog post that some apps “are using Facebook to either replicate our functionality or bootstrap their growth in a way that creates little value for people on Facebook, such as not providing users an easy way to share back to Facebook.” How’s that for passive aggression?

RELATED: Uganda Threatens to Shut Down Social Networking

Osofsky points developers to a policy page updated today, which reflects that sentiment by stating: 

Reciprocity and Replicating core functionality: (a) Reciprocity: Facebook Platform enables developers to build personalized, social experiences via the Graph API and related APIs. If you use any Facebook APIs to build personalized or social experiences, you must also enable people to easily share their experiences back with people on Facebook. (b) Replicating core functionality: You may not use Facebook Platform to promote, or to export user data to, a product or service that replicates a core Facebook product or service without our permission.

In short, if apps want access to Facebook’s massive user base of 1 billion-plus friends, they better bring people back to Facebook. And the war raged on.

Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Burt Reynolds Hospitalized with Flu

Burt Reynolds is recuperating in a Florida intensive care unit after being hospitalized for dehydration and severe symptoms relating to the flu.

A representative for the 76-year-old actor tells CNN that, as of Friday afternoon, Reynolds is "doing better" after being admitted to the ICU.

Related: Burt Reynolds Undergoes Open Heart Surgery

"We expect, as soon as he gets more fluids, he will be back in a regular room," says rep Erik Kritzer.

When asked, Kritzer declined to say which hospital facility Reynolds is currently recovering in.

The actor has suffered other bouts of ill health in recent years. In 2010, Reynolds underwent a quintuple heart bypass one year after entering rehab to end a reliance on prescription drug habit acquired after back surgery.

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Mayor: Bus-stop it!

Mayor Bloomberg brokered a sit-down between striking bus drivers and their bosses — but the factions say it’s pointless unless the city joins them at the table.

Union reps and bus owners are planning to meet at Gracie Mansion Monday, but they said the city should be there, since its new contracts are the main sticking point.

“The best way for this strike to end is with Local 1181, Mayor Bloomberg and the city’s bus companies in one room, talking candidly and in good faith,” said union boss Michael Cordiello. “Until that happens, the strike goes on.”

STRIKE OUT: A dwindling turnout of striking school-bus workers braves the cold yesterday in Red Hook —as Mayor Bloomberg rejected calls for the city to intervene in negotiations with job-security promises.

But the mayor — who has maintained that the issue is between private companies and their employees — will not have a rep there to help hammer out an agreement, a spokeswoman said. “The union is striking over the issue of employee protections. That is not something that the city can include in the contracts, and they and the bus companies must negotiate over that matter,” she said.

Bloomberg reiterated his stance yesterday on his weekly radio show. “It’s a private company that employs private-sector workers. They’ve got to negotiate something,” Bloomberg said.

“I’m sorry the people are out on strike. But they have a right to do it . . . I can’t take sides in this.”

The union is striking because it wants the city to reinstate a provision it stripped from a bid request for new contracts that ensures its workers keep their jobs regardless of which company gets the gig.

“We have been negotiating regularly with the unions over the last two weeks. But the dispute isn’t between us and the union. The dispute is between the union and the city over job protection,” said a spokeswoman for the companies.

The union claims it wanted to meet yesterday but the bus owners put it off until Monday.

One bus company, Pioneer Transportation Corp., sent a letter to union employees yesterday asking them to take pay cuts so it could submit lower bids for future contracts — in the event that the employee protections aren’t reinstated by the city.

Companies with unionized workers fear they’ll be undercut in the bidding by new companies whose employees aren’t paid union wages.

Striking workers in Brooklyn agreed the mayor needs to step up and get involved.

“Tell the mayor to fix it. He shouldn’t stay out of it,” said Marlyn Rose, 27, a bus matron for seven years.

The strike began on Jan. 16 and is the first one since 1979.

Only 2,689 routes were running in the city yesterday, out of about 7,700, the Department of Education said.

Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts

david.seifman@nypost.com

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Fed aims for a 6.5% jobless rate

Six and a half percent unemployment in America would mean almost 2.1 million more people working than today. At the rate the country has been creating new jobs each month, it would take more than a year to find work for that many people.

Keep 6.5 percent in mind this week when the Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to talk about its efforts to push interest rates down. The hope is that the cheap cash will spur on investment leading to job creation. After all, the central bank has promised to keep its target interest rate near zero as long as more than 6.5 percent of Americans in the workforce are without work. The Fed has put other conditions on maintaining its historically low interest rate such as low inflation, but official measures remain tame. So its job growth the Fed is looking for.

It won’t have to wait long for the latest update. On Friday the first jobs report of 2013 will be released. Hiring has been a slow grind but it has been positive.

Finding work in January, though, can be tricky. Winter weather, a hangover from the holidays and seasonal work ending can slow down hiring.

It will be months, maybe even a couple of years before the U.S. unemployment rate hits 6.5 percent. There is nothing magical about that number, but as long as the Federal Reserve has it in its sights, so should we.

Tom Hudson is anchor and managing editor of Nightly Business Report, produced by NBR Worldwide and distributed nationally by American Public Television. In South Florida, the show is broadcast at 7 p.m. weekdays on Channel 2. Follow him on Twitter, @HudsonNBR.

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