South Florida hotels finish year with strong December

Hotels in South Florida reported strong occupancy and rates in December, closing out a year of continued gains.

In Miami-Dade, hotels were about 75 percent full in December, an increase of nearly 6 percentage points compared to the previous year. Average daily rates jumped 12.5 percent to almost $198, and the key measure of revenue per available room soared 19 percent to almost $149.

For the full year, hotel occupancy in Miami-Dade increased just over a percentage point to 76.4 percent, while rates jumped 6.6 percent to $163.59. Per-room revenue increased almost 8 percent to nearly $125. March was the powerhouse of 2012, commanding occupancy of nearly 86 percent and average rates of about $206 a night.

Broward hotels reported nearly 75 percent occupancy in December, an increase of almost 4 percentage points. Rates jumped 5.6 percent to more than $116, and revenue per available room shot up nearly 10 percent to more than $87. Full-year occupancy reached nearly 73 percent, an increase of more than 3 percentage points, at average daily rates of more than $114. That’s a 3 percent jump from 2011. Per-room revenue increased nearly 7 percent to more than $83.

Unlike Miami-Dade, Broward’s top month was February, with hotels more than 86 percent full and rates of about $144.

In the Florida Keys, occupancy hit 69 percent in December, an increase of two percentage points, with average rates increasing almost 6 percent to nearly $236 a night. Revenue per available room jumped 8 percent to more than $162. Average occupancy for the full year was nearly 76 percent, an increase of 2 percentage points, and average rates increased nearly 7 percent to about $213. Per-room revenue for the full year jumped about 9 percent to $161.53.

With occupancy of more than 89 percent and rates higher than $271 a night, March was the top month for the Keys.

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Jury on Thursday to deliberate Rilya Wilson murder trial

Jurors will begin deliberating Thursday in the Rilya Wilson murder case, trying to decide whether her foster mother killed the 4-year-old, then told a slew of lies to cover-up the child’s demise.

Geralyn Graham, 67, is charged with aggravated child abuse, kidnapping and first degree murder. She faces life in prison.

Defense lawyer Michael Matters, in his final argument Wednesday, ripped the state’s key witness, Robin Lunceford, a convicted armed robber who testified that Graham confessed in jail to smothering the girl with a pillow.

“Every bit of the story she concocted about my client is absolutely unbelievable,” Matters told jurors. “She graduated from prison life with a master in manipulation and a doctorate in deceit.”

Lunceford, an eccentric con who was doing life in prison, testified in exchange for a 10-year plea deal on armed robbery case.

The body of Rilya, whose disappearance sparked turmoil at the Florida Department of Children and Families, has never been found.

Miami-Dade prosecutor Sally Weintraub said Lunceford learned intimate details known only to a few people. That included an episode — backed up by other witness testimony — in which Graham grew angry because Rilya wanted to dress as Cleopatra, not an angel, for Halloween.

“Robin Lunceford is big, loud, aggressive, obscene, in-your-face, unpleasant. The kind of person you might just write off,” Weintraub told jurors. “How you feel about her is not what you have to consider … what the testimony is, the defendant’s words, that’s what you must consider.”

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Racy Victorian divorces online at genealogy website

LONDON (Reuters) – The original Mrs Robinson’s diary and scandalous suggestions about a former heir to the British throne are all part of the latest ancestral revelations to go online.

British genealogical website Ancestry.co.uk said on Tuesday it has put the transcripts of thousands of Victorian divorce proceedings online, which reveal the racy details of an era that most modern Britons consider to have been dominated by imperial duty, a stiff upper lip and formal familial relations.

The UK Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1911 date from the year when the Matrimonial Causes Act removed the jurisdiction of divorce from the church and made it a civil matter.

Before this, a full divorce required intervention by Parliament, which had only granted around 300 since 1668. The records also include civil court records on separation, custody battles, legitimacy claims and nullification of marriages, according to the website.

Primarily due to their high cost, divorces were relatively rare in the 19th century, with around 1,200 applications made a year, compared to approximately 120,000 each year today, and not all requests were successful due to the strength of evidence required.

The rarity of such cases, combined with the fact that it was wealthy, often well-known nobility involved, made the divorce proceedings huge public scandals, played out in the press as real life soap operas.

Famously high-profile divorces included that of Henry and Isabella Robinson, the inspiration for the novel “Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace”, by Kate Summerscale.

Henry Robinson sued for divorce after reading his wife Isabella’s diary, which included in-depth details of her affair with a younger married man.

The diary was used as court evidence and when reported by the media became a huge scandal, partly because of the language used within the journal. Isabella, however, claimed the diary was a work of fiction, which led to her victory in court.

Conservative MP and baronet, Charles Mordaunt, filed for divorce in 1869 from his wife Harriet who stood accused of adultery with multiple men.

The case became national news when the Prince of Wales was rumored to be among the men who had had an affair with her. This rumor was never proven and Lady Mordaunt was eventually declared mad and spent the rest of her life in an asylum.

“At the time, such tales often developed into national news stories, but now they’re more likely to tell us something about the double standards of the Victorian divorce system or help us learn more about the lives of our sometimes naughty ancestors,” Ancestry.co.uk UK Content Manager Miriam Silverman said in a statement on Tuesday.

When the divorce laws first came into effect, men could divorce for adultery alone, while women had to supplement evidence of cheating with solid proof of mistreatment, such as battery or desertion.

Despite this double standard, roughly half of the records are accounts of proceedings initiated by the wife. Many of the nullifications of marriages fall into this category, with failure to consummate the nuptials a common reason.

One such example in the records shows a Frances Smith filing for divorce in 1893 under such grounds.

In the court ledgers it is noted that the marriage was never consummated, with the husband incapable “by reason of the frigidity and impotency or other defect of the parts of generation” and “such incapacity is incurable by art or skill” following inspection.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; editing by Patricia Reaney)

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Aretha Franklin Beyonce Lip-Sync Inauguration

Following the fallout from Beyonce's alleged use of a pre-recording during the presidential inauguration, Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin discussed the situation with ABC News.

RELATED: Inauguration Pics

"When I heard [she lip-synched] I just really cracked up," said the Memphis native, who noted that the cold weather was not ideal for singing. "I thought it was really funny, but she did a beautiful job with the pre-record."

According the news source, it was around 40 degrees on the day of the performance.

As for her own inauguration performance in 2009, Franklin says she "wanted to give people the real thing and pre-recording never crossed [her] mind." She added that "next time" she probably would lip-sync.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps Band told London's The Times that "it was standard procedure to record a backing track and Beyonce decided shortly before her performance to rely on the studio version rather than risk singing it live on the Capitol."

VIDEO: Michelle on Beyonce's 'Lip-Sync'

The Marine Corps Band later released a second statement on the matter, saying, "The Presidential Inaugural Committee requested that the Marine Band accompany Beyonce Knowles-Carter in the performance of the Star-Spangled Banner at the 2013 Inaugural Ceremony. However, there was no opportunity for Ms. Knowles-Carter to rehearse with the Marine Band before the Inauguration so it was determined that a live performance by the band was ill-advised for such a high-profile event. Each piece of music scheduled for performance in the Inauguration is pre-recorded for use in case of freezing temperatures, equipment failure, or extenuating circumstances. Regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter's vocal performance, no one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded."

Beyonce's camp has yet to comment on the matter.

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Brooklyn's Long Island College Hospital facing closure

Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn faces closure -- just two years after the state approved a merger to save the financially ailing 155-year old facility, source told the Post.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center, which acquired LICH in 2011, has sent out word that its eying shutting down the Cobble Hill hospital — the only one that provides emergency room service in Brownstone Brooklyn.

A New York State Nurses Association rep visited the hospital to warn staffers that the hospital could close as soon as March 15.

“It’s disheartening,” said one nurse.

“We’ve seen it sort of get dismantled over the past two years.”

A recommendation to close LICH would have to be approved by SUNY’s Board of Trustees.

Talk of closure comes a week after state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli issued a scathing audit saying that SUNY Downstate was on the verge of insolvency. The report said SUNY Downstate had been mismanaged and called its decision to absorb LICH a colossal mistake — a marriage of two financially failing hospitals.

The state audit estimated that the LICH unit of SUNY Downstate would run a cash deficit of $72.5 million next year

“We’ve been talking all along with the new C.E.O. of SUNY Downstate, and it’s been made clear to us that the hospitals are not making money, they’re hemorrhaging,” said state Assemblywoman Joan Millman (D-Brooklyn)..

She claims that over 1000 people were serviced in the emergency room for flu-like symptoms from December 2012 to early January.

“What would we do if we didn’t have it?” she asked.

Elected officails plan a rally on Friday to save LICH .

“It looks really bad,” said one borough official.

SUNY Downstate is Brooklyn’s fourth largest employer.

LICH’s closure “would be a major health care blow for all of Brownstone Brooklyn,” said Roy Sloane, president of Cobble Hill Association.

A rep for SUNY Downstate-LICH declined comment.

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Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal

The Miami Dolphins ramped up their public campaign for a tax-funded stadium renovation this week, buying full-page ads against their top critic and trying to distance the plan from the unpopular Marlins deal.

The team bought an ad in Tuesday’s Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald knocking auto magnate Norman Braman’s criticism of the Sun Life Stadium deal, which would have Florida and Miami-Dade split the costs with owner Stephen Ross for a $400 million renovation. The Dolphins would pay at least $201 million, with taxpayers using state funds and a higher Miami-Dade hotel tax to pay $199 million.

In a fact sheet sent to media Tuesday morning, the Dolphins listed ways their deal differs from the 2009 Marlins deal. First: Ross, a billionaire real estate developer, would use private dollars to fund at least 51 percent of the Sun Life effort, compared to less than 25 percent from Marlins owner Jeff Loria. Second, Sun Life helps the economy more than the Marlins park does.

“Just because the Marlins did a bad deal doesn’t mean we should oppose a good deal where at least a majority of the cost is paid from private sources and more than 4,000 local jobs are created during construction alone,” the fact sheet states. And while the Dolphins’ Miami Gardens stadium has hosted two Super Bowls since 2007 and is in the running for the 2016 game, “Marlins Stadium does not generate the ability to attract world-class sports events -- other than a World Series from time to time depending on the success of the team.”

NFL teams play eight home games a year if they don’t make the playoffs, while baseball teams have 81.

Miami and Miami-Dade built the Marlins a $640 million stadium at the site of the Dolphins’ old home at the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Marlins contributed about $120 million and agreed to pay between $2.5 million and $4.9 million a year for 35 years to pay back $35 million of debt the county borrowed for the stadium. As a publicly owned stadium, the Marlins ballpark pays no property taxes. Most of the public money came from Miami-Dade hotel taxes, along with $50 million of debt tied to the county’s general fund.

Sun Life is privately owned and pays $3 million a year in property taxes to Miami-Dade. It currently receives $2 million a year from Florida’ s stadium program, a subsidy tied to converting the football venue to baseball in the 1990s when the Marlins played there. The Dolphins also paid for a second full-page ad with quotes from leading hoteliers in Miami-Dade endorsing the stadium plan. Among them: Donald Trump, whose company recently purchased the Doral golf resort. “Steve Ross’ commitment to modernize Sun Life Stadium -- while covering most of the construction costs -- is the right thing for Miami-Dade,’’ the ad quotes Trump as saying.

Also on Tuesday, Ross and team CEO Mike Dee sent a letter to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and county commissioners requesting negotiations over the stadium deal. The letter said the deal Ross unveiled last week is a “baseline for debate” and asked for talks. The letter also urged the commission to adopt a resolution proposed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan endorsing the state bill that would allow taxes for Sun Life. The resolution is on the agenda for Wednesday’s commission meeting.

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Recalled Mayor Carlos Alvarez wins — in bodybuilding contest

Former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez is back, in rare form, displaying bulging muscles from his pecs to his calves, bronzed from head to toe, dressed in the skimpiest of black briefs.

After almost two years of seclusion, Alvarez reemerged in November Hulk-like, taking home first prize in the National Physique Committee’s South Florida “Over 60s” Master’sbodybuilding competition at Miami’s James L. Knight Center.

Event promoter Sergio Pacheco said Alvarez’s victory over five other men qualified him for the more prestigious Junior National Master’s competition.

Pacheco, who owns Pacheco’s Physique Gym in Hialeah, said he had heard the former mayor competed in an event a few weeks earlier in West Palm Beach, but had no idea he had entered the Knight Center contest.

“When I saw him walk in, I said, ‘Wow, I know him,’ ” Pacheco said.

The former mayor and county police director was recalled from office in March 2011 by 88 percent of the electorate, after constituents had a hard time wrestling with a series of raises he awarded his inner circle and with his backing of the new, $634 million Miami Marlins ballpark in Little Havana.

Since the recall, Alvarez, 60, has rarely been seen in public. He has been spotted spending lots of time at a tony gym at Merrick Park in Coral Gables. Deanna Clevesy, a spokeswoman for Equinox Gym Coral Gables, confirmed Tuesday that Alvarez works out there, but refused to share details on his regimen.

Spotted on the field before the Marlins’ inaugural game at the new ballpark last April, it was apparent Alvarez had been hitting the barbells — muscles ripped from his short-sleeved shirt, various media reports noted.

Peter Potter, who judged Alvarez to victory at the Knight Center, said there was no mention of Alvarez’s mayoral past in his bio, just a mention that he was the former police director. Potter initially had no idea of Alvarez’s former life.

“One of the other judges who lives in Miami pointed out to me’’ that Alvarez was the former county mayor, Potter said. Alvarez “didn’t broadcast it.”

The mayor’s bodybuilding victory was first reported Tuesday by the Miami New Times.

Michael Sansevero photographed the event. He said Alvarez forked over $75 for pictures and video.

“I was kind of surprised when I saw him,” Sansevero said. “He must always have been in good shape, but he was in real good shape.”

Alvarez, whose current employment status is unknown, could not be reached for comment.

Alvarez spent 35 years with Miami-Dade County, the first 28 in the police department, where he worked his way up to the top job.

When the former mayor left office, he was earning salary and benefits worth $325,309, county records show. His last financial disclosure put his net worth at $1.74 million.

Alvarez’s annual police pension pays him $180,216, and he received a one-time payout of $287,879 for entering an early retirement plan.

Alvarez also participated in a retirement investment plan during his seven years as mayor, during which the state matched his contributions. Numbers weren’t immediately available for that plan Tuesday.

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BlackBerry Z10 Looks Like iPhone 5, Takes on Siri

RIM is set to announce the first devices running its new BlackBerry 10 operating system at an event on January 30. A lucky few, however, have already gotten their hands on what looks to be the new hardware, including German site TelekomPresse.

[More from Mashable: Watch These iPhone Knockoffs Get Bulldozed]

The site has the BlackBerry Z10, a touchscreen device with a similar look to some of the other popular smartphones out there — especially the iPhone 5.

Curious to see how the two compared, they put them side-by-side in the video above, running through both the physical design of both devices as well as some of their features.

[More from Mashable: RIM May License BlackBerry 10 to Other Manufacturers]

Notably, the video shows a Siri-like voice control functionality in BlackBerry 10, that we haven’t seen previously. As you can see in the test above, it beats Siri for speed.

SEE ALSO: RIM Adds 15,000 BlackBerry 10 Apps in a Weekend

While similar at first glance, design-wise the two phones do have some differences. The Z10 has a 4.2-inch screen, slightly larger than the iPhone 5’s 4-inch display. Both phones have a power button on top, however, the button on the BlackBerry is in the center of the top of the phone, while the iPhone’s is on the right on the device.

The volume controls are on the right side of the Z10, and left side of the iPhone 5. When it comes to power, the connection for the iPhone 5 is on the bottom of the device with the headphone jack, while the HDMI and USB connections on the Z10 are located on the left.

Check out the video above for a look at the full comparison of the two devices. Are you looking forward to BlackBerry 10? Can the new OS save RIM? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

BlackBerry 10 Lock Screen

You unlock a BlackBerry 10 device by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.

Click here to view this gallery.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Benedict Cumberbatch WikiLeaks Movie The Fifth Exhibit

Think of it as kind of like The Social Network meets All the President's Men… Production is underway on the true story behind the controversial WikiLeaks website, and we have a first look at Sherlock and Star Trek Into Darkness star Benedict Cumberbatch sporting blonde locks as activist and organization founder Julian Assange and Inglourious Basterds star Daniel Bruhl as his Wikileaks co-founder Daniel Domscheit-Berg.

Pics: 13 Must-See Movies of 2013

In theaters November 15, The Fifth Estate traces the early days of the brains behind WikiLeaks.org, the whistleblowing website that found overnight success – and infamy – with the release of a series of controversial, history-changing and classified information leaks.

Video: Meet the New 'Trek' Villain, Benedict Cumberbatch

Also starring Laura Linney, Anthony Mackie, David Thewlis, Peter Capaldi, Dan Stevens, Alicia Vikander and Carice van Houten, The Fifth Estate is directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn) and is based on Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website and WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy.

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Colombian nationalist flips on pal for lighter sentence in fatal stabbing

A Colombian nationalist ratted out his buddy today in exchange for a lighter prison sentence for senselessly stabbed an innocent man to death and seriously injured another.

Francisco Uribe, 48, was moments away from going to trial in Queens Supreme court when he plead guilty for knifing Robinson Lopez outside of the Blue Lounge in Jackson Heights on Feb 4, 2007.

Uribe was facing up to 50 years in prison for murder, attempted murder and other charges, but instead he plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter and will be sentenced to 18 years in prison on Feb 5.

"Carlos and I went to a bar to drink, we stabbed two people, I stabbed one and Carlos stabbed the other, Carlos used one knife and I used another one," said Uribe through a Spanish interpreter as Assistant District Attorney Debra Pomodore asked the fugitive several questions to satisfy the plea bargain.

"What's Carlos' last name?" asked Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth C. Holder.

"Sanchez," he replied.

The co-horts fled the bloody scene on Roosevelt Avenue and 82nd Street in a BMW.

Sanchez, 34, was arrested later that day while Uribe jumped the boarder to Columbia and was returned to Queens in June 2010.

Uribe also admitted that he didn't know his victim.

Lopez, 34 of Rego Park, was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital were he was pronounced dead.

The other victim survived the attack.

"If this case went to trial, we would have called the Medical Examiner who did the autopsy of Robinson Lopez which concluded that he died from two stab wounds to the chest...which resulted in his death," said Pomodore.

Sanchez's case is still pending.

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