The faces of Florida’s Medicaid system




















The tea party governor now says he wants to expand Medicaid. The Republican Legislature isn’t as sure.

Hanging in the balance?

Access to health care for 1 million or more poor Floridians.





Billions of dollars in federal money.

The state budget, which — already — pumps $21 billion a year into care. Florida’s Medicaid system today serves more than 3 million people, about one in every six Floridians. The decision whether to expand the system by a full third will be made by men and women in suits in Tallahassee’s mural-filled chambers this spring.

But the impact is elsewhere, in children’s hospitals in Tampa and Miami, in doctors’ offices in New Port Richey and in the home of a woman who recently lost her full-time teaching job.

The Suddenly uninsured

This was not how she envisioned her 60s.

Jean Vincent dreamed of turning her five-bedroom home into a bed and breakfast. She painted murals on walls, created mosaics on floors and let her imagination guide the interior decorating. There is a “garden” room, a “bamboo” room and a “canopy” room.

In 2010, Vincent lost her full-time job teaching in Citra north of Ocala. Her mother became sick with cancer and needed around-the-clock care before dying in August. Then, doctors began prescribing Vincent costly medications to treat osteoporosis and early-onset diabetes.

“I started getting a little behind with my mortgage,” said Vincent, 61. “All of a sudden, I found out I had to have an emergency retina eye surgery.”

Today, Vincent is searching for roommates to move into her home and help pay the bills. She begs Gainesville’s Sante Fe Community College and City College to schedule her for as many classes as she can handle as an adjunct geography professor; this semester’s four is the most she’s ever had.

But her biggest worry? Not having comprehensive health care.

Vincent —who is too young for Medicare — is enrolled in CHOICES, a health services program the Alachua County government created for the uninsured. It covers preventative care like her flu shots and helps with her drug therapy. But if Vincent ever got so sick she needed to go to the hospital, she’d be on her own.

Under current Florida law, adults with no dependents are not eligible to participate in Medicaid no matter how little they make. Vincent’s four children are all grown, which means even as her income has dwindled she can’t become eligible for the health insurance program run jointly by the federal and state governments.

If Florida decides to expand the Medicaid system, people in Vincent’s position for the first time could be covered.

The expansion would allow any single adult making about $16,000 a year eligible for Medicaid.

On the matter, Vincent has become an activist. She joined with patient rights group Florida CHAIN and traveled to Tallahassee to lobby lawmakers.

“When I gave my testimony, that’s all I wanted them to do was see there were people out there that weren’t just trying to take advantage of the system,” she said.

This summer, she expects to only be assigned one class at Sante Fe. That will provide about $2,000 for her to live on for three months. Meanwhile, her retirement dreams are put on hold.





Read More..

Double Take Celebrity Lookalikes



Alice Eve and Brooklyn Decker







ETonline has found the lookalikes to the stars and, as it turns out,
it's their Hollywood peers. Click the pics and let us know if you think
these celebs bear a resemblance to one another.








Read More..

Bank moves to foreclose on Kiss guitarist

YORKTOWN — One of the founding members of the rock band Kiss is in danger of losing a New York home to foreclosure.

The Journal News newspaper reports that a bank initiated foreclosure proceedings on Feb. 15 on a Yorktown property owned by former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley.

The three-bedroom house is in a wooded area off the Taconic State Parkway north of New York City.

U.S. Bank National Association said in a court filing that Frehley stopped paying his mortgage in 2011. The Yorktown tax receiver's office also lists liens for thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes on the house.




Getty



Singing the blues: former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley could lose his New York home.



Frehley was with Kiss in its 1970s heyday, performing in heavy makeup as a character known as the "Spaceman."

Read More..

The faces of Florida’s Medicaid system




















The tea party governor now says he wants to expand Medicaid. The Republican Legislature isn’t as sure.

Hanging in the balance?

Access to health care for 1 million or more poor Floridians.





Billions of dollars in federal money.

The state budget, which — already — pumps $21 billion a year into care. Florida’s Medicaid system today serves more than 3 million people, about one in every six Floridians. The decision whether to expand the system by a full third will be made by men and women in suits in Tallahassee’s mural-filled chambers this spring.

But the impact is elsewhere, in children’s hospitals in Tampa and Miami, in doctors’ offices in New Port Richey and in the home of a woman who recently lost her full-time teaching job.

The Suddenly uninsured

This was not how she envisioned her 60s.

Jean Vincent dreamed of turning her five-bedroom home into a bed and breakfast. She painted murals on walls, created mosaics on floors and let her imagination guide the interior decorating. There is a “garden” room, a “bamboo” room and a “canopy” room.

In 2010, Vincent lost her full-time job teaching in Citra north of Ocala. Her mother became sick with cancer and needed around-the-clock care before dying in August. Then, doctors began prescribing Vincent costly medications to treat osteoporosis and early-onset diabetes.

“I started getting a little behind with my mortgage,” said Vincent, 61. “All of a sudden, I found out I had to have an emergency retina eye surgery.”

Today, Vincent is searching for roommates to move into her home and help pay the bills. She begs Gainesville’s Sante Fe Community College and City College to schedule her for as many classes as she can handle as an adjunct geography professor; this semester’s four is the most she’s ever had.

But her biggest worry? Not having comprehensive health care.

Vincent —who is too young for Medicare — is enrolled in CHOICES, a health services program the Alachua County government created for the uninsured. It covers preventative care like her flu shots and helps with her drug therapy. But if Vincent ever got so sick she needed to go to the hospital, she’d be on her own.

Under current Florida law, adults with no dependents are not eligible to participate in Medicaid no matter how little they make. Vincent’s four children are all grown, which means even as her income has dwindled she can’t become eligible for the health insurance program run jointly by the federal and state governments.

If Florida decides to expand the Medicaid system, people in Vincent’s position for the first time could be covered.

The expansion would allow any single adult making about $16,000 a year eligible for Medicaid.

On the matter, Vincent has become an activist. She joined with patient rights group Florida CHAIN and traveled to Tallahassee to lobby lawmakers.

“When I gave my testimony, that’s all I wanted them to do was see there were people out there that weren’t just trying to take advantage of the system,” she said.

This summer, she expects to only be assigned one class at Sante Fe. That will provide about $2,000 for her to live on for three months. Meanwhile, her retirement dreams are put on hold.





Read More..

Former MIA hotel supervisor admits to overbilling county




















A lengthy investigation into alleged overbilling by the group that runs the Miami International Airport Hotel caught a big break this week, when the hotel’s chief engineer and maintenance supervisor turned himself in to law enforcement and promised to cooperate with authorities.

Nestor Aznar, 61, an employee of MIA hotel operator H.I. Development Corp., showed up at the State Attorney’s office on Thursday afternoon, and pleaded guilty to a single count of organized scheme to defraud.

The state attorney and Miami-Dade’s Office of Inspector General claim that Aznar — and possibly others — ran up bills with false overcharges and were later reimbursed for those amounts from the county.





“This is an ongoing probe,” said Miami-Dade Inspector General Christopher Mazzella.

Aznar, reached at his Cooper City home Friday afternoon, directed calls to his attorney, Ayuban Antonio Tomas. Tomas confirmed the charge and that his client had agreed to work with prosecutors, but wouldn’t comment further.

Law enforcement officials believe there are more arrests to come, and say the scheme used to steal at least $500,000 of county money was relatively simple.

According to the State Attorney’s Office and the OIG, workers with H.I. Development, which has operated the hotel since 1989, would bill the county when work was completed, then the county would reimburse the money. The hotel has recently undergone an extensive renovation.

Aznar is alleged to have overbilled the county for items that include wallpaper, tiles, and carpeting by as much as $500,000 over the past year. None of his coworkers — four who were removed from the airport and relieved of duty last year — have been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

Airport Director Jose Abreu said about a year ago his staff noticed “irregularities” in billing, so he turned the bills over the airport’s chief financial officer. When the CFO couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on, the information was passed along to law enforcement.

The county’s inspector general said investigators later determined “there was some false invoicing of supplies purchased.”

Mazzella said under the plea agreement Aznar will cooperate with investigators, and that any agreed-upon sentence will be delayed until the case is closed. Aznar also agreed to pay restitution to the airport and cover the cost of the OIG investigation, Mazzella said.

The investigation came to light in early January when Mazzella told Abreu in a public memo that he couldn’t go into detail about the investigation. The unusual memo was prompted by an earlier letter from H.I. Development defending the company from Abreu’s criticism.

In that letter, H.I. Development President Andre P. Callen defended the employees Abreu and staffers had let go, saying none have been charged with any wrongdoing. The letter also made reference to what airport officials thought were questionable bills on bathtub and bathroom mirror projects, calling them “fully completed and properly billed.”

The county is now considering new bids from operators to manage the hotel. Before the process began, Abreu said he preferred bypassing the bidding process in case H.I. Development once again entered the contest. County commissioners and administrators chose to open the bidding process.

“Right now it’s up for bid,” said Abreu. “And H.I. could be one of the bidders.”





Read More..

Denise Richards House Tour

Denise Richards recently gave ET's Nancy O'Dell a personal tour of her home for her upcoming appearance on HGTV's Celebrities At Home, letting our cameras in to her intricately designed, spacious pad.

Richards' home is indicative of her personal tastes, including her super-feminine approach to design. Plush leopard seats, constant bedazzling and corset-inspired chairs in her closet are just some of the items you'll find in her swanky house.

Video: Denise Richards Defends Skinny Photos

An example of her dedication to detail?

She even replaced all her couch's buttons with crystals to make it "more unique to [her] personality."

"I bedazzled everything," she laughs. "Like I said -- everywhere I could put it, I did."

Related: Richards Says Working with Sheen Was 'Awkward'

Check out the video to see Richards' "sexy" entertainment room, wine room and closet, and to see why she might even be getting into a little trouble with Nancy regarding where she placed Nancy's Christmas gift to her!

Celebrities At Home airs Thursdays at 8.p.m./7 c on HGTV.

Read More..

Teens arrested over grade-school girls fight posted on YouTube








YouTube



Two teens were arrested today for orchestrating a fight between two grade-school girls in The Bronx that was videotaped and posted on YouTube, police said.

The girls, 14 and 15, were charged as juveniles with child endangerment, police said.

The twisted viral video shows the two youngsters, 6 and 7, pulling each other’s hair and hitting one another at Poe Park on Jan. 3.

Older girls can be heard laughing and egging children on.

The fight allegedly stemmed from an early fight between two older girls over candy, police source said.

Police are still determining whether anyone else was behind the video. The video has since been taken off YouTube.











Read More..

Jorge Perez: Large upfront payments for condos only works in Miami




















Financing condo towers with large upfront payments in the United States basically only works in Miami, thanks to foreign buyers who don't expect to borrow heavily for real estate, Related CEO Jorge Perez said Friday.

"It's a very local market," he told the University of Miami Real Estate Impact Conference. "It's for people who are used to paying cash for most of their second homes."

When condo loans dried up during the housing crisis, Perez and other developers turned to a financing model popular in Latin America where builders demand significant payments throughout the construction process. That's a big change from the boom, when buyers could secure condo contracts for only 10 percent down or less.





Perez said the new model does not work well with U.S. buyers or others who are used to small down payments. "We see resistance to that (Latin American) model in even the Canadian market," he said.

DOUGLAS HANKS





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Jackson Health System earns $5.5 million in January




















Jackson Health System reported strong financial results in January, with a surplus of $5.5 million due to an influx of patients, rigid cost controls and good cash collections, Chief Financial Officer Mark Knight told the board on Thursday.

Days of cash on hand remained at a low 14.5 days, far below the benchmark of 175 days of cash that financially successful hospitals are supposed to have.

While the system has been struggling for more than a year with a steady decline in patient volume, January reversed the trend -- with $87.2 million in net patient revenue, compared to $82.6 million in January 2012.





Because the audit for fiscal 2011-2012 showed a surplus of $8.2 million, Knight said that Chief Executive Carlos Migoya earned a bonus of $219,000 on top of his $590,000 salary.

Migoya negotiated a bonus possibility with the board when he started in 2011, in return for accepting a considerably lower salary than the maximum of the $975,000 that the board could have offered. Last March, union fliers accused him of laying off 1,000 workers so that he could earn a hefty bonus. Migoya responded that he would donate any bonus received to the Jackson Memorial Foundation.

On Thursday, Migoya reiterated his intention to donate the bonus.





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Store Manager Offers Weed to Undercover Boss

Toby Bost, CEO of O'Neill Clothing, likes to keep loose reigns on his company, but one store manager takes this creedo a little too far on the next Undercover Boss.

PICS: Candid Celeb Sightings

While going undercover as a clerk at one of O'Neill's retail stores, Toby gets acquainted with manager Jesus -- a stoner who is a firm non-believer in the brand.

"Jesus had a ton of attitude and he had a lot to say," said Toby.

"You will never see me wearing an O'Neill shirt," promised Jesus, which breaks Toby's cardinal (and only) rule. "I'm just straight up lazy, man," Jesus later confessed. "[I] come in, smoke a bowl before work just to calm down."

Watch the clip to see how Toby reacts. Check out an all-new Undercover Boss Friday at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.

Read More..

Crook who fatally shot cab driver refuses to apologize to family, gets 30 years








A defiant career criminal was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for the 2009 shooting death of a Bronx livery cab driver who refused to hand over his hard earned cash.

Benny Delgado, 35, stood emotionless during the sentencing and refused to apologize to the family of Jose Pena-Segura, a father of four daughters, who died shortly after he was shot in the head with a .25-caliber revolver handgun near St. Mary’s Park in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.

Delgado faced life in prison if convicted of murder but he agreed to plea to first degree manslaughter and gun possession in exchange for 30 years.



“It’s over for him (Delgado)” said Sugura’s wife, Natalia Espinosa, who clutched one of the cabbie’s daughters. “But it’s not over for us --- we have to live the rest of our lives without the person we love.”










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Experts offer advice to entrepreneurs




















Do your research, be sure to network, pick partners who have complementary skills and make sure your product is amazing.

Starting or growing a business can be daunting for an entrepreneur. So have a plan, give only a sliver of your business away to investors, know how much money you need and how you will spend it, and demonstrate your passion when searching for capital.

Experts doled out that advice and more at The Miami Herald’s Small Business Forum on Thursday at Florida International University.





About 100 attendees — budding entrepreneurs, small-business owners and others — gleaned tips and inspiration during a series of panel discussions.

Matt Kuttler, co-president of ReStockIt.com, started three businesses with his business partner, who started as his high school friend.

“The background is trust,” he said, advising entrepreneurs to choose someone with similar values, and to ask themselves: “Can I work with this person? Can I respect them?” In that way, though they have had disagreements, “Ultimately, the mutual respect brings us back,” Kuttler said

Before founding ReStockIt.com, which the partners sold four months ago to a Baltimore company, Kuttler did lots of research and networked with everyone he could, asking questions.

Know what you want and what you don’t want when searching for a venture, he counseled. For example, if you don’t want to work nights and weekends, don’t start a restaurant. And be aware that even though you can have a thriving personal life, you will always be thinking of your business.

Alberto Perlman, chief executive and co-founder of Zumba Fitness, energized attendees with his tale of starting and growing the Miami business, which combines exercise with entertainment. Zumba classes are now found in 140,000 locations in 186 countries, and the company has sold 12 million DVDs.

“One of the biggest business lessons of Zumba,” said Perlman, the keynote speaker, “is that the product has to be magical. It has to be amazing.”

Other lessons he offered: only give investors or licensees “a sliver of the business” —only what they need. Always “give people more value than what they are paying for.” And spend the money to hire “A” players.

To find financing for a small business or start-up, get help putting together a business plan and a loan application from organizations like SCORE and Partners for Self Employment, their executives said.

Marjorie Weber, Miami-Dade chapter chair of SCORE, advised being careful not to borrow short term if your needs are long term.

And when you are asked, “ ‘How much do you need,’ never answer with ‘How much can you give me,’ ” said Cornell Crews Jr., program director at Partners for Self Employment. “Always know how much you need and how you are going to spend it.”

When pitching to potential investors, do your homework to see what they are interested in, and make a good first impression, said Darius G. Nash, co-founder of G3 Capital Partners, a mid-market and early-state investment company.

“Image matters,” he said.

To present your business, frame it in terms of a problem and a solution, said Melissa Krinzman, founder and managing director of Venture Architects.

“If you don’t have a problem you are solving for your customer, you don’t really have a business,” she said.

What’s more, show your passion and commitment, said Boris Hirmas Said, chairman of Tres Mares.

“I love clever ideas; I love clever people,” he said.

And find someone who believes in you, because the road ahead may be bumpy, he said. “You don’t want people to pull the plug on you.”

Finally, expert coaches critiqued entrepreneurs’ pitches so they could shine.

Among the tips: begin with a provocative sentence to explain why your business solves a problem. Go from ‘why’ to ‘what’ to ‘how,’ to ‘who,’ and always ask for something — like an investment or advice. Also, offer what experience you and your team have in your field.

Speak directly into the microphone and take your hands out of your pocket.

“Showing your hands shows you have nothing to hide,” said Michelle Villalobos of Mivista Consulting.

And share your passion, said David Suarez of Interactive Training Solutions.

“If you can make your audience feel what you are feeling,” he said, “you have done most of your job.”





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County shelter won’t accept pets the last Friday of the month




















Miami-Dade County Animal Services Department will be closed for receiving pets — both strays and owned dogs and cats — the last Friday of every month starting immediately.

Cats in the TNG program (trap, neuter and give back) will be accepted based on space and surgery available.

All other services will be administered on regular days and hours.





The shelter is open 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends. It is located at 7401 NW 74th St., Medley.

The reason for closing the shelter the last Friday of the month is to allow Animal Services employees to carry out special projects, said spokeswoman Xiomara Mordcovich.

For more information on specific services or programs, call 305-884-1101 or visit www.miamidade.gov/animals.





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Miranda Lambert Guest Stars on Project Runway

Miranda Lambert is flaunting her curves and looking all-around fabulous in this exclusive clip from Project Runway's brand-new episode Thursday, in which the remaining designers will be creating an outfit especially for the country cutie.

"I don't know if the fabric on me will be super-forgiving. Doesn't look like I can squeeze a Spank underneath that very easily," she laughs, giving her honest opinion on a contestant's tight-fitting creation.

Video: Bette Midler Nails Her 'Project Runway' Appearance

Though judge Nina Garcia begs to differ.

"With your curves, you're gonna rock this dress," she insists.

Video: Watch Susan Sarandon Have a Ball on 'Project Runway'

Check out the video to judge for yourself!

Project Runway featuring guest star Miranda Lambert airs on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 at 9 p.m. ET on Lifetime.

Read More..

MTA veteran in $11K brass heist








An MTA worker with 31 years on the job was caught stealing $11,000 in brass subway parts, which he resold for scrap, officials said today.

Keith Barton, 62, was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. He faces up to seven years in jail if convicted.

A supervisor who worked with him at the Coney Island rail yard noticed that several brass axel rings — which connect the axel to the wheels on subways — were missing.

That supervisor alerted the MTA, who launched an investigation.

Barton was caught loading the rings into his car on Saturday at 4:30 am.




He’d come in to steal the rings even though he wasn’t working, said MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger.

“The supervisor deserves the credit for catching him,” said Kluger.

Brass sells for about $4 or $5 a pound.

It’s unclear how much Barton made reselling the rings, which weigh 18 pounds each.

Barton declined comment.

Fifteen Long Island Rail Road employees were arrested last month for stealing copper wire from the MTA and reselling it for scrap.

The men stole more than $250,000 worth of copper, according to authorities.

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com










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Heico Corp. says sales, profits increased in first fiscal quarter




















Technology company Heico Corp. on Wednesday reported modest growth in sales and profits for the first fiscal quarter, though operating income decreased compared to a year ago.

The company, with headquarters in Miami and Hollywood, reported that net sales increased 2 percent to $216.5 million for the quarter that ended Jan. 31.

Net income increased 4 percent to $20 million. The company said net income for the quarter includes a benefit of two cents per diluted share from the retroactive extension of the research and development income tax credit.





Operating income dropped from $37.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 to $34.9 million.

“As expected, global economic uncertainty and domestic governmental spending reductions were principal contributing factors to the nominal sales growth and lower operating income reported in the first quarter of fiscal 2013,” the company said in a press release. But optimism remains for the rest of the year, Heico said in the release, noting that growth in airline capacity and maintenance spending is expected in the later part of the fiscal year.

The company, which makes components for the space, defense, communications, medical and computer industries as well as replacement parts for airplanes, raised estimates for the full fiscal year. Heico now expects 6-8 percent year-over-year growth in net sales and 9-11 percent growth in net income, compared to previous estimates of 5-7 percent growth.





Read More..

Famed Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez coming to Freedom Tower in April




















Famed Cuban dissident and blogger Yoani Sanchez, who was allowed to leave the island this week, will visit Miami on April 1.

She will speak at the historic Freedom Tower, Miami-Dade College announced on Tuesday.

Sanchez is currently on tour in Brazil.








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Pick The Winners with ET's Oscars Ballot!

Frazer Harrison/ Fredrick M. Brown/ Getty Images

The Academy Awards air live this Sunday on ABC, and ET wants you to pick the winners!

Sign up with your Facebook account to use our interactive ballot, and vote for who you think should win on awards night. You can even share your ballot on Facebook to see how your choices stack up against your friends.

From our Ballots Hub Page, you can see the trending favorites in each category, and even ballots from industry professionals including Nancy O'Dell, Rob Marciano, Rocsi Diaz, and Brooke Anderson!


PICS: 2013 Oscar Presenters

Then, come back during the ceremony on February 24, 2013 to view the results and see how your ballot scored in real time. ET will also be live-tweeting the results as they air.


Click here to fill out your ballot now and make your Oscar picks known!

Read More..

Ex-cop & killer Christopher Dorner 'did his homework' cops say








Rogue former cop Christopher Jordan Dorner “did his homework,” stalking potential targets, before he was named a murder suspect and went on the run, police said today.

Dorner killed four people during a 12-day terror spree that ended when who blew his brains out last week as cops cornered him in a burning mountain cabin.

The disgraced former officer killed the daughter of a former cop and her fiance on Feb. 3, before he was named a suspect on Feb. 6. But before Dorner’s name went public, he apparently checked out homes and neighborhoods of potential victims.




“We believe based on our investigation, Dorner did his homework," LAPD chief Charlie Beck said.

The LAPD fired Dorner in 2008 after concluding that he made up brutality allegations against a supervisor.

The termination sent Dorner into a tailspin. He wrote a lengthy manifesto, railing on racism within the LAPD and naming enemies.

Dorner was headed to one of his potential targets in the early hours of of Feb. 7 in Corona, Calif., where he was met by cops guarding the would-be victims.

Dorner survived a shootout before killing a defenseless Riverside city cop, who was stopped at a traffic light, moments later.

Before committing suicide on Thursday, Dorner killed a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy during his last stand.

"We hear threats all the time, but rarely so specifically, and that someone has already carried out in the most cowardly way," said LAPD Capt. Phil Tingirides, who along with his cop wife were under armed protection during Dorner’s bloody spree.

Capt. Tingirides was on the internal review board that fired Dorner.

Dorner’s first victim, Cal State Fullerton assistant women’s basketball coach Monica Quan, is the daughter of a cop-turned-lawyer who represented him during that review.

Sgt. Emada Tingirides said her family struggled to keep the threat off their minds as, cops stood constant guard in the family’s backyard during Dorner’s time on the lam.

"We shut the TV off after the first day," said Sgt. Tingirides, who is black. Capt. Tingirides is white.

Dorner died five days after the city of Los Angeles offered a $1 million reward for any tips that led to his capture and conviction.

Since Dorner was never captured or convicted, it wasn’t clear if anyone would get the money.

Chief Beck said donors -- including the city of LA, police support groups, private contributors and other local government agencies -- are huddling come up with a fair solution.

“It is my desire that the reward money be used," Beck said. "It isn't as easy as me coming out with a big check two days later.”

Several people could be in line for at least a cut of the seven-digit award.

Dorner was holed up inside a Big Bear Lake cabin when its owners walked in on him. He tied them up and stole their car, but they freed themselves to call police.

Moments before his last stand, Dorner carjacked a 61-year-old camp caretaker, who also called cops and directed them to the gunman’s direction.










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Best photo apps for Android devices




















Whether you want to slap a simple filter on your photo or get granular and change attributes like color levels and saturation, we’ve got a list of the Android apps you’ll want to use.

Snapseed

The good: With its unique gesture-based interface, this offers an incredible level of control over its effects and filters.





The bad: The tools and interface aren’t intuitive, so it could take a while to get familiarized. Also, the lack of a zoom function makes it difficult to see finer adjustments.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: If you’re a serious mobile photographer looking for an app with which to fine-tune your photos, Snapseed is your best choice.

Pixlr Express

The good: Offers more than 600 effects that all work well and are easy to use. Auto Fix and Focal Blur (tilt-shift) are particularly effective.

The bad: The app doesn’t warn you before backing out, which can result in lost work. A Recent Files picker upon launch would be nice.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: One of the most powerful Android apps in its category. Despite its minor flaws, it should be your go-to mobile photo editor.

Instagram

The good: An excellent way to turn mundane images into cool-looking photos you can share with friends. Mapping features mean people can easily browse all your geotagged shots.

The bad: Photo Map features default to showing all your geotagged shots, which could be dangerous under some circumstances.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: If you like taking retro-looking shots and sharing them, Instagram is tough to beat. Mapping features and frequent updates to the app mean your pictures will have a longer browsing life span.

Photo Grid

The good: Offers a huge menu of grid templates and a dead-simple interface for combining photos into framed collages.

The bad: The app unfortunately doesn’t let you customize the thickness of collage borders or the level of curvature on rounded panels.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: Even though it’s missing a couple of nifty customization tools other collage apps have, Photo Grid’s simple interface and outstanding menu of predesigned grids make it the best collage app on the market.





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At Miami Children’s Hospital, a heartwarming reunion: cardiac surgeons and patients




















After several hours operating on the smallest of hearts, Dr. Redmond Burke threw on a blue suit coat over his green scrubs and hustled out to the courtyard at Miami Children’s Hospital. He and his comrade-in-sutures, Dr. Robert Hannan, had important guests to attend to: dozens of kids whose lives they saved over the years.

It was an, ahem, heartwarming scene as, amid handshakes, handslaps and hugs, Burke and Hannan posed for photos and videos with former patients and their forever-grateful parents. They came together under a tent for the hospital’s annual President’s Day reunion of cardiac patients and their surgeons, nurses and ICU docs.

“This doctor is the best and he’s a great human being, also,’’ said Janet Cuervo, who choked back tears as she embraced Burke and recalled the delicate operation eight years ago in which he closed a hole in her daughter Camila’s heart.





Now 14, Camila is a cheerleader and eighth-grader at Mater Gardens Academy in Miami Gardens and leads a fully normal teenage life. Like many of the now older kids at the reunion, she said she barely recalls the life-saving but traumatic surgery, probably not a bad thing.

For every one of the parents, though, it was something they cannot forget.

“This man is going to hold your child’s heart in his hands,’’ said Nancy Lasater, who said she researched Burke thoroughly before concluding he was the best for the job of repairing her daughter Kelsey’s congenital heart defect a decade ago — not just because of his expertise, but because he was warm and approachable and, as a windsurfer and father of three girls, personally well-rounded. “You could tell he was special. He put you at ease. He’s saved so many children’s lives, it’s incredible.’’

After driving down from home in Palm Beach Gardens, Lasater, Kelsey and her two brothers joined a long line of people waiting happily to spend a few minutes with Burke, who eagerly knelt down to greet kids and pose for pictures. Kelsey, now 15, gave Burke an envelope with a thank-you note inside.

“Isn’t this nice?’’ Burke, the hospital’s director of pediatric cardiovascular surgery, said to another young one-time patient. “Everybody’s smiling. There’s no stress.’’

Burke, well known in the field for minimizing trauma to children by devising instruments and procedures that allow complex operations with minimal invasiveness, said the reunion is part of the hospital’s continuum of care.

“Once the parents trust their kids to us, we feel responsible for the duration of their lifetimes,’’ Burke said. “It’s a real touchstone in their lives. We want to reduce that lifelong trauma, and not just for the patients but for their parents and their brothers and sisters. We want them to know we will be here for them.’’

In fact, some young cardiac patients will require lifelong follow-up, including those with artificial heart valves, which must be replaced as the child grows, and last only 10 years. The hospital has opened an adult cardiac surgical unit to follow those patients for life.

A few feet away, Litzandra Hernandez waited with her grandparents, Lydia and Tomas Cabrera, for Dr. Hannan to come out of surgery. Though she’s 20, Hernandez is a very recent Hannan patient.

She was a “blue baby,’’ born in Cuba with a rare confluence of heart malformations — a ventricular hole, a blocked valve and transposed arteries — that interfered with blood circulation, kept her blood oxygen levels low and gave her skin a tell-tale purple tinge. But she went untreated, severely limited in what she could do and at constant risk of heart failure, until she left Cuba in August to join her mother in Miami. Doctors in Cuba said she would live only a few more years without surgery they could not perform, the Cabreras said.

Because hers was a birth defect and she is medically and legally still a child, her adult cardiologist at Aventura Hospital, Robert Cubeddu, referred her to Hannan. In January, she had a risky surgery that’s usually performed on infants to create a bypass that allows blood to flow normally.

On Monday, an ebullient Hernandez, her skin a healthy hue, along with her grandparents, surrounded a smiling Hannan.

“He said he would treat me like his daughter, and he did,’’ she said. “And now I am super well.’’





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Spartacus War of the Damned Exclusive clip

It's hard not to look at every episode of Spartacus: War of the Damned as one step closer to the series finale, but when every installment leaves you breathless, it's hard to think about anything other than the insanity that just unfolded in front of your eyes.


RELATED - TV's Saddest Deaths

That will inevitably be the case this Friday as the fourth episode, titled Decimation, is unleashed upon the world -- and you can get an early sneak peek, only with ETonline!


RELATED - Manu Bennett: From Spartacus to Arrow

In this exclusive clip, Crassus tries to school his son in the art of war but quickly gleams that he's taught Tiberius well ... perhaps too well.


Spartacus: War of the Damned
airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on Starz.

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NFL lineman busted with loaded pistol at JFK








A muscle-bound NFL lineman was busted at LaGuardia Airport today for packing a loaded .40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol.

Da’Quan Bowers - a second-year defensive end for the Tampa bay Buccaneers - was arrested at 11 a.m. at a US Air ticket counter as he was about to board a plane for North Carolina.

Sources believe Bowers arrived in New York with the gun on Friday, and was carrying the piece and a clip with eight rounds in a carry-on bag.

“The two of them were in the same bag, under the law it’s considered a loaded gun,” the source said.

Bowers, a Tampa resident, was boarding a flight to North Carolina, with his unidentified girlfriend, who lives in Raleigh.





ASSOCIATED PRESS



Da'Quan Bowers at practice for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.





The former Clemson All-American was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and was awaiting arraignment.

Bowers, 22, a South Carolina native, just completed his second NFL season in 2012.

For his career he has 38 tackles and 4.5 quarterback sacks.










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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 Wilmer Sarmiento and Moreno’s American wife, Nicolette — began with $700. Over the last six years, the partners have raised more than $55 million, mostly from private investment and venture capital firms.

Their formula for success? The founders rejected traditional English teaching methods in physical classrooms and developed a system that allows students to tune into live classes every hour of the day from their computers at home, in the office or at school, and learn from native English-speaking teachers who may be based anywhere. Courses stress practical conversations online and the company guarantees fluency after a one-year course, offering six additional months free if students fail to become fluent.





“We wanted to change the way people learn English,” said Andrés Moreno, the 30-year-old co-founder and CEO, who halted his training as a mechanical engineer and worked full-time at developing the company with his partners. “And we want students to achieve fluency. Traditionally, students have to drive to an English academy, waste time in traffic, and try to learn from a teacher who is not an native English speaker in a class with 20 students.”

Using the Internet, Open English offers classes usually with two or three students and a teacher, interactive videos, other learning aids and personal attention from coaches who phone students regularly to see how they are progressing.

Courses cost an average of $750 per year and students can opt for monthly payments. This is about one-fifth to one-third of what traditional schools charge for small classes or individual instructors, Andrés noted.

“We work at building confidence with our students and encourage them to practice speaking English as much as possible during classes,” said Nicolette Moreno, co-founder and chief product officer, who met Andrés in Venezuela while she was working there on a service project. “Students are taught to actively participate in conversations like a job interview, traveling and talking on a conference call,” said Nicolette, who previously lived in Los Angles, worked with non-profits to create environmentally friendly products and fight poverty in emerging markets, and was head equity trader at an asset management firm. “Students need to speak English in our classes, even though it is sometimes difficult. They learn through immersion.”

Open English has successfully tapped into an enormous, underserved market. Millions of people in Latin America want to learn English to advance in their jobs, work at multinational companies, travel or work overseas and understand the popular music, movies and TV shows they constantly hear in English. Many of them take English courses at public and private schools and learn little if any useful conversational English. While students at private schools for the upper middle class and wealthy often learn foreign languages extremely well from native English-speaking teachers, most people can’t afford these schools or courses designed for one or two students.





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President Obama, Tiger Woods play golf in Florida




















PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — That was a big-time ringer in President Barack Obama's golfing group Sunday in Florida.

Famous pro golfer Tiger Woods joined the president at the Floridian, a secluded yacht and golf club on the state's Treasure Coast.

The White House says the group also included Jim Crane, the Houston businessman who owns the resort and baseball's Houston Astros and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.





Obama is spending the long President's Day weekend at the Floridian and is expected to return to Washington on Monday.

First lady Michelle Obama and daughters, Malia and Sasha, are on an annual ski vacation out West.

On Saturday, Obama received some instruction and played a few holes with Butch Harmon, Woods' former swing coach.





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A Good Day to Die Hard Bruce Willis Takes Over Box Office

Audiences agreed that it was a good weekend to die hard, as the fifth installment of the Die Hard franchise opened strong.

RELATED: New Blu-ray & DVD Releases

A Good Day to Die Hard is expected to pull in $28.2 million over the four-day holiday, beating out last weekend's winner, Identity Thief ($27.6 million), and Safe Haven ($25.4 million.

This weekend is on pace to be the biggest international opening in the history of the 25-year-old Die Hard franchise, as it held the top box office spot in many of the 63 markets where it's been released.

Escape from Planet Earth had a harder time getting off the ground, garnering $20.5 million. Warm Bodies dropped to fifth place with $10.9 million.

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Club cad bloodies Rihanna in bottle attack, after yelling something about Chris Brown: report








Startraksphotos / Splash


Rihanna leaves a London nightclub worse for wear after bottle attack.



Bloody hell: Some lout in London crashed Rihanna's party.

The sultry singer was bloodied after a man threw a bottle at her during a night out at nightclub The Box, apparently enraged because of her decision to get back together with abusive ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, MediaTakeOut.com reported.

Rihanna stumbled and fell into a grate, slicing open her leg. Her assailant yelled something about Brown before hurling the bottle of soft drink Lucozade at the star, the site reported.




Brown infamously beat up Rihanna in 2009, and fans have never forgiven him. Apparently some of that anger has spilled over to Rihanna, after her decision to get back together with the hothead last month.

Brown and Rihanna raised eyebrows at last Sunday's Grammys when they smiled and snuggled throughout the ceremony, four years and a day after he sent her to the hospital on Feb. 8, 2009.

Earlier this month, Brown was accused of faking his way through the community service he got for the attack.










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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 renovating the loft-like space with the help of a $2.1 million, 25-year small business loan.

“It allows me to own my own space as opposed to renting, and that will decrease my costs for infrastructure and allow me to build equity with time,” said Oliveira, who secured a U.S. Small Business Administration-guaranteed loan from Wells Fargo.





For small businesses like Oliveira’s, a loan can be the critical key to growing a business, as well as the kindling to ignite an operation.

Take Harold Scott’s fledgling Great Scott Security, which manufactures window guards in Hollywood that can open quickly in case of need.

When he was 13, Scott’s stepfather perished in a Georgia house fire because he couldn’t escape through heavy window bars. Scott made it his mission to fix the problem.

“I promised myself I would dedicate all my time to working on a solution,” said Scott, 60.

Now retired from a 23-year career in the U.S. Justice Department, Scott recently secured a $7,500 microloan from Partners for Self Employment. He used it to buy a computer and pay for marketing and other business expenses for his quick-release window guards, which have met national, state and Miami-Dade County fire safety codes.

During the depths of the recession, business owners often griped that gaining access to capital was their biggest hurdle. Saddled with bad loans, many banks were wary of making new ones. At the same time, both the value of collateral and the creditworthiness of many borrowers tumbled.

Now, at last, banks are starting to open their pocketbooks again, experts say, though lending is still not on par with pre-recession levels.

“There is no question that small business borrowing declined as a result of the recession and has yet to recover to pre-crisis levels,” said Richard Brown, chief economist for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., via email. “According to the Federal Reserve, total loans to noncorporate businesses and farms stood at just under $3.8 trillion in September, which remains below the peak of about $4.1 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2008.”

Signs of Growth

In South Florida, more businesses are applying for loans and getting approvals from banks, according to lenders, officials at government agencies and leaders of organizations that help small business owners secure loans.

“Lenders are expressing a greater interest than they have in the past few years in terms of meeting the needs of the small business community,” said Marjorie Weber, Miami-Dade Chapter Chair of SCORE, which helps business owners put loan packages together and refers them to bankers.

Loan figures are indeed rising. During the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012, SBA-guaranteed loans were up in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to the SBA. In fiscal 2012, 449 loans were approved in Miami-Dade, totaling $213.3 million, up from 426 loans for $154.4 million in 2011. In Broward, 262 loans for $91.4 million were approved in fiscal 2012, compared to 257 loans for $102.4 million in 2011.





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