State CFO to car insurers: lower premiums

ORLANDO --
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater said Thursday that it’s time for insurance companies to stop complaining and to lower premiums to reflect changes to the no-fault car insurance laws.

“I am comfortable that if assaults on the courts are unsuccessful and the bill can stand there will be more than 25 percent savings,” Atwater said. “We don’t have to gnash about it, argue about it, whine about it or cry about it.”

Under the old system, the average personal injury protection insurance claim is $12,900, Atwater said during a presentation at the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Insurance Summit. That included $4,400 in acupuncture, $3,700 for massage therapy, $3,200 to chiropractors and $1,600 for emergency room costs.

The new law, HB 119, restricts acupuncturists and massage therapists from participating in PIP and requires people injured in a car accident to be diagnosed with an emergency medical condition before they are eligible for the full $10,000 benefit.

“We just eliminated 68 percent of that cost,” Atwater told the group.

In order to get a bill passed on the last day of session, legislators agreed to insert some cost protections.

Insurance companies were required to submit new rate filings by Oct. 1 that either reduced PIP premiums by 10 percent or explain why they cannot. They are also expected to lower PIP by 25 percent by 2014.

So far, the actual numbers from insurance companies are falling short of that initial goal.

Off the 44 rate filings that have been approved by the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation by mid-month, the average PIP savings is 2.5 percent. That reflects about a fourth of the 141 filings from companies selling all types of car insurances, with the rest still under review.

The numbers that insurers submitted vary wildly, said Sandra Starnes, the OIR’s director of property and casualty product review, during a separate presentation at the Insurance Summit. Some companies said they will reduce PIP by as much as 25 percent while the biggest requested increase is 41 percent. Although the 2.5 percent average is less than the Legislature’s target, it should be applauded, Starnes said.

“The straight average was provided to show that while the range of rate changes being approved varies significantly from company to company, the majority of the filings are resulting in overall statewide decreases in PIP premiums and all of the companies are recognizing the significant decreases in losses that are expected due to HB 119,” she later added via email.

Atwater told conference attendees that they shouldn’t have been taken by surprise that lawmakers built some cost-saving guarantees into the PIP law.

“After all the failures in the past, I think somebody would have to really be just a little naive to not think that the Legislature would want to put some aspirational numbers out there,” he said.

Contact Tia Mitchell at tmitchell@tampabay.com or (850) 224-7263.

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Convicted al-Qaida recruit Jose Padilla wins delay in resentencing in Miami

Jose Padilla, the convicted terrorist who once called the Fort Lauderdale-area home before joining the ranks of al-Qaida, won his bid Wednesday to delay his resentencing in Miami federal court.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke granted a defense request to postpone the resentencing from Monday until Jan. 29. His lawyer argued that would give Padilla time to improve his mental health by visiting with relatives in the meantime, at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami.

Padilla, 42, is serving a 17-year prison at the maximum security prison in Florence, Colo. He faces up to life in prison at his resentencing.

“Since his arrest in May of 2002, the government has systematically attempted to destroy Jose by psychologically torturing him and imprisoning him under the severest of conditions,” Federal Public Defender Michael Caruso, who represented Padilla at his 2007 trial, wrote in court papers.

“Not surprisingly, this psychological torture has taken a toll on Jose.”

Federal prosecutors voiced strong opposition to the delay. “Our position is, we should just get on with it,” Frazier said.

Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that the one-time “enemy combatant” — perhaps better known as the “dirty bomber” — should receive harsher punishment reflecting his extensive criminal record.

The appellate court found that Judge Cooke was too lenient when she “unreasonably discounted” his criminal history before lowering a potential 30-year-to-life sentence.

Padilla, born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, was a former Chicago gang member with 17 arrests and a murder conviction before becoming a recruit for al-Qaida, according to federal prosecutors.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the controversial case back to Cooke to resentence Padilla, who trained with al-Qaida the year before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to trial evidence.

Caruso appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying Cooke “imposed a fair and reasonable sentence.” But the high court declined to hear his petition.

The appeals court in Atlanta, in a 2-1 ruling, upheld the terrorism convictions of Padilla and two others: Adham Amin Hassoun, a Palestinian who had met him at a Broward mosque in the 1990s; and Hassoun’s colleague, Kifah Wael Jayyousi, a U.S. citizen of Jordanian descent. They were sentenced to 15 years and eight months, and 12 years and eight months, respectively.

All three defendants, convicted of conspiring to support Islamic extremists overseas, sought a new federal trial based on claims of improper testimony by the lead FBI agent and a terrorism expert, along with insufficient evidence and other allegations.

Padilla also challenged Cooke’s decision to reject a motion to dismiss his indictment based on “outrageous government conduct” while the former enemy combatant was held in a Naval brig before his transfer to Miami to face terrorism charges in 2006.

Padilla was held without being charged in the South Carolina brig for 3 1/2 years — time that the Miami judge cut from his sentence.

The appellate court, in an opinion written by Chief Judge Joel F. Dubina and joined by Judge William H. Pryor, sided with the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami. Prosecutors, who were seeking life imprisonment for Padilla, appealed Cooke’s 17-year sentence. They argued the judge’s prison term was 13 years below the low end of sentencing guidelines: 30 years.

The appellate court wrote that Cooke’s punishment “reflects a clear error of judgment about the sentencing of this career offender.” The court noted that his codefendant, Hassoun, had no prior criminal history but received a sentence that was “only” 20 months less than Padilla’s.

Cooke “attached little weight to Padilla’s extensive criminal history, gave no weight to his future dangerousness, compared him to criminals who were not similarly situated, and gave unreasonable weight to the condition of his pre-trial detention,” Dubina wrote.

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An Unexpected Journey to the NZ 'Hobbit' Premiere

Buckle up, Dwarves, Hobbits and Wizards, and put your seats and tray tables in the upright position! ET was the only U.S. show invited aboard the Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300 "Hobbit Plane" to journey from Auckland to Wellington, NZ with the cast of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey right before the world premiere of the film.

Watch the video as ET's Debbie Matenopoulos tests out her flight attendant skills on the trip with J.R.R. Tolkien's great-great grandson Royd Tolkien alongside the new movie's Dwarf heroes Aidan Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Graham McTavish and John Callen.

Pics: 'The Hobbit' Photo Exclusive

On the tarmac, the travelers were met by the rest of the Hobbit cast, including Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood and director Peter Jackson, and then it was on to the mega-red-carpet premiere (all 600 meters of it, complete with an Air New Zealand Hobbit Plane flyover) to talk to Hobbit stars Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and more! Sir Ian McKellen was unable to make the event, but he did address fans in a big-screen video message.

The long-awaited big-screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy adventure, a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, follows the adventures of the diminutive Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) as he journeys with a group of 13 Dwarves to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. On the way, they must battle treacherous Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and sly Sorcerers. And when Bilbo gains possession of Gollum's (Serkis) "precious" ring, the fate of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.

Video: Precious Gollum Moments in New 'Hobbit' Trailer

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey rides into theaters in 3D and 2D in select theaters and IMAX on December 14. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be released Dec. 13, 2013; while the third installment in the series, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, will hit theaters July 18, 2014.

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Con Ed wins 'reliability' awards, even as thousands are still without power

Thousands of New Yorkers remain in the dark in Sandy’s wake, but Con Ed today touted two industry awards for “outstanding reliability.”

The utility won the awards from the PA Consulting Group for best reliability in the northeast and best overall system-wide reliability during 2011.

“With the hardships so many in our service area have faced with the onset and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, this affords us only a moment before we redouble our efforts to further strengthen our systems,” said Con Ed veep John Miksad.

Sandy-socked New Yorkers, however, were not impressed.

“People had no power for two weeks, three weeks, some people just got power back. It’s pretty funny I would say,” said Victoria Romanyuk, 28, of Brighton Beach, who lost power for five days.

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Gift ideas for the techie on your list

The holidays are coming fast, and if you’re like me, you’ve probably gotten very little of your gift shopping done.

Here are suggestions for a variety of gifts for the techie and the not-so-techie people on your list.

Some of these items can be found in stores and some are only available online, but you should be able to order them in time for Christmas or Hanukkah.

IOMEGA EZ MEDIA & BACKUP CENTER

What is it? A hard drive that lives on your home network so you can share files, store all your photos and music and back up your home computers. Works on Macintosh, Windows and Linux computers.

The EZ Media & Backup Center is available in 1-, 2- and 3-terabyte capacities. It is simple to set up. It lives next to your home router and plugs into the network via Ethernet.

Major features include a built-in iTunes server so your music is available to all connected computers, Time Machine support for easy Macintosh backups and Iomega’s Personal Cloud to access your data from any Internet connection.

It can also stream your video files to your TV if you’ve got a compatible streaming box or an Internet-connected TV.

Software for backing up Windows PCs is also included.

Who’s it for? Any family that wants central storage for their digital lives. This is a great home for your digital photo, music or video library.

What does it cost? One terabyte for $169.99, two terabytes for $209.99, three terabytes for $279.99.

Where can you get it? Online at www.iomega.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Apple store, Fry’s.

NETATMO URBAN WEATHER STATION

What is it? A wireless indoor/outdoor weather station that displays through an application on your Apple or Android mobile device.

There are two parts, one that lives in your house and one you place outside.

The indoor component plugs into the wall and monitors the temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, carbon dioxide level and even the sound level in decibels.

The outdoor module is battery-powered and measures temperature and humidity.

Once you connect the Netatmo to your home Wi-Fi network, you can download the free app and see your weather stats from anywhere.

Setup was easy enough, and you can set the app to notify you when carbon dioxide rises to levels that you should be warned about — which is great.

Who’s it for? Weather geeks and people who like to know what the temperature is without having to fire up a browser.

What does it cost? $179

Where can you get it? www.netatmo.com

3M LED ADVANCED LIGHT

What is it? 3M’s first foray into the home light bulb market is with the LED Advanced Light, which uses light-emitting diodes (LED) to produce 800 lumens (the light of a 60-watt bulb).

The Advanced Light has a life span of 25 years and costs just $1.63 per year if it’s turned on for three hours per day.

The bulb lights instantly and is dimmable.

It’s a little intimidating to start buying light bulbs that might outlive me, but my wallet approves.

Who’s it for? Anyone who wants to save money or wants a bulb that might not have to be changed until 2035.

What does it cost? $25

Where can you get it? Select Wal-Mart stores. For more information, go to www.3mlighting.com/LED.

STEM IZON 2.0 WI-FI VIDEO MONITOR

What is it? A small, wireless video camera that you can monitor remotely with an iOS device.

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Miccosukee Indian disputes lawyers’ account about source of legal payments in fatal car-crash case

A Miccosukee Tribe member testified he did not pay millions of dollars to his former defense attorneys in a fatal car-crash lawsuit, putting him at odds with the position they have taken in the long-running case.

Jimmie Bert also denied obtaining advances or loans from the tribe to pay his legal fees — contradicting the assertions of his former attorneys, who collected more than $3 million defending him and his daughter.

Bert, who admitted fault at trial along with his daughter, says he never saw the bills from Miami attorneys Guy Lewis and Michael Tein and paid only a small fraction of their legal fees years ago.

Bert’s testimony, delivered in a deposition on Friday, reversed his own earlier account and appears to undermine the lawyers’ position that they were paid the high fees by their clients — not the Miccosukee Tribe.

Lewis, a former U.S. attorney, and Tein, also an ex-federal prosecutor, are facing potential perjury sanctions for allegedly lying about who paid them. The lawyers maintain the tribe advanced money or made loans to Bert and his daughter, Tammy Gwen Billie, so the defendants could pay their legal bills.

The source of the legal payments to the lawyers carries significant weight. If the funds came from the tribe as opposed to the father and daughter, it means there indeed was more than enough money available to pay an outstanding civil judgment of nearly $3.2 million. The pair has refused to pay, insisting they cannot afford it.

Billie, who served time in prison as a result of the car-crash case, has failed to show up for a deposition and to turn over key documents to the attorney for the victim’s family. This month, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ronald Dresnick found Billie in contempt of court, triggering a warrant to bring her to his court.

The victim’s attorney, Ramon M. Rodriguez, is still trying to obtain important evidence from Lewis and Tein, including their retainer agreement with their Miccosukee clients.

In his deposition, Bert said he signed the retainer agreement with their law firm, but it was not translated for him. Lewis and Tein said they cannot find the 2005 contract.

Bert also testified that he was unaware that Lewis and Tein collected about $950,000 in legal fees after a Miami-Dade jury returned a verdict against him and his daughter in July 2009 — money that could have gone toward paying the judgment.

In their defense, Lewis and Tein’s lawyer, Paul Calli, recently deposed the tribe’s assistant chairman, Jasper Nelson. Nelson testified this month that the tribe approved a loan for Billie and Bert to pay their legal expenses. Asked by Calli if he had “any reason to believe [the] Lewis Tein [firm] ever did anything wrong to the Miccosukee Tribe,” Nelson replied: “No.”

Bert’s testimony comes more than three years after he and his daughter were ordered by a Miami-Dade jury to pay the financial award to the survivors of a woman who was killed in a head-on collision more than a decade ago.

At the 2009 trial, Lewis and Tein represented Billie, the driver who killed Liliana Bermudez, 30, on the Tamiami Trail, and Bert, who owned her uninsured Acura Legend. The defendants admitted fault at trial, so the jury only decided damages. Ever since, the victim’s husband, Carlos Bermudez, a local truck driver, and their teen-age son, Mathew, have futilely tried to collect the judgment.

Both Bert and his daughter have insisted they have no money of their own to pay the award. Each collects $160,000 a year — like hundreds of other Miccosukees — from the tribe’s profitable gambling operation at the west Miami-Dade casino.

The perjury allegations surfaced last year after the Bermudez family’s lawyer, Rodriguez, accused both attorneys and their clients of lying when they asserted the Miccosukee Tribe did not foot their huge legal bill. Rodriguez had obtained 61 checks totaling $3.1 million — made out by the tribe to the Lewis Tein law firm — to back up his allegations.

During a prior sanctions hearing in August 2011, Tein swore to Dresnick, the judge, that their two tribal clients, Billie and Bert, paid their legal bills.

Early last year, both clients submitted court affidavits asserting they had paid Lewis and Tein’s legal fees — a claim now denied by Bert in his deposition under oath and in a new sworn statement.

His daughter also signed an affidavit in October 2011 to back up Lewis’s and Tein’s claim that she and her father borrowed money from the Miccosukees to pay their legal bills.

The fallout from the Bermudez wrongful-death case has not only led to the perjury complaint, but also to state malpractice and federal racketeering suits filed by the Miccosukees against Lewis, Tein, former tribe chairman Billy Cypress and others.

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Backstreet Boy AJ McLean Welcomes Baby Girl

Backstreet Boy AJ McLean and wife, makeup artist Rochelle Deanna Karidis, had their first child together on Tuesday, In Touch reports.

PICS: Celebs & Their Cute Kids

According to the news source, the couple welcomed a baby girl named Ava Jaymes.

"We are all doing well and are thrilled to welcome Ava to the world," said the singer, 34.

Ava was born weighing 7 lbs. and 7 oz., according to In Touch.

VIDEO: A.J. McLean & Wife Expecting a Baby

AJ and Rochelle made their pregnancy announcement just four months after their Beverly Hills wedding.

AJ announced the baby's gender and name via Twitter in July.

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Bronx man convicted in 2008 rape

It took less than two hours for a Manhattan jury today to convict a Bronx man who'd been linked by DNA to 19-year-old' college student's violent rape on Prince Street in 2008.

"He may have gotten away that day," prosecutor Shannon Lucey had told jurors of Andres Suarez, 30. "But he left his mark."

Suarez had indeed skated for more than three years, only getting tied to the attack after his DNA was swabbed for the state database after a recent assault arrest and it matched DNA left at the rape scene.

Jurors had heard the woman describe the attack on the witness stand. Suarez had stalked her by subway from Brooklyn, following her home to her Prince Street apartment building and then pushing his way inside behind her.

"I just shut off," she testified tearfully of how she braved the attack on the concrete floor of her building's courtyard, Suarez's box-cutter at her throat.

"I kind of went somewhere else," she said.

Suarez had alluded that his DNA wound up at the scene because of consensual sex.

Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance credited the fast conviction to his office's Sex Crimes unit -- and to the courage of the victim, who now lives in Germany.

Suarez gets sentenced on predatory sex assault, rape, burglary and sex abuse by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro on Dec. 12.

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Artistic animals head to the Freedom Tower

Hundreds of colorful animals are taking over the Miami Dade College Freedom Tower Friday night at the opening of the ForEverglades exhibit, coinciding with Art Basel.

Red alligators, almost 20 feet long, will guard the entrance to the Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Blvd., with nine alligators scaling the Freedom Tower.

ForEverglades is an installation created by artist William Sweetlove of Belgium and the Cracking Art Group of Italy.

“The underlying mission is to change art history through both a strong social and environmental commitment and the revolutionary and innovative use of different plastic materials that evoke a strict relationship between natural life and artificial reality,” said Lara Gallardo, public relations manager.

Sweetlove uses recycled aluminum on the animal figures he made and painted them in colors that include gold, pink, tortoise and purple.

The alligators, frogs and turtles are armed with backpacks, Evian water bottles and shoes, prepared for the day their environment may be wiped out. Sweetlove and the Cracking Art Group depict fisherman wearing beanies as a negative symbol, killing off the animals.

“The fisherman is the only negative figure, because they are the hunters,” said curator Gloria Porcella. “In fact they are very ugly.”

With 2013 the year of Italian culture for the United States, ForEverglades will be the debut exhibition for Italy. The opening reception is 7 p.m. Friday and a symposium on art and environmental activism is available from 10 a.m. to noon Friday.

A preview opens on Thursday at Saks Fifth Avenue at Dadeland Mall, including the snails that slithered into Miami in 2010. Turtles, rabbits and other animals will be joining them as well.

The exhibit will be open until Jan. 26.

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Man who died during roach-eating contest choked on bug parts, autopsy says

The South Florida man who died after winning a roach eating contest choked on “anthropod body parts” and his vomit, according to a report released Monday by the Broward medical examiner.

More than 30 people participated in the Oct. 6 contest to win rare snakes at Ben Siegel Reptiles in Deerfield Beach, but Eddie Archbold, 32, was the only one who got sick. From the qualifying round to the grand prize ivory ball python contest, Archbold ate nearly 2 ounces of meal worms, 35 horn worms and a bucketful of discoid roaches.

A video shows Archbold forcing handfuls of the live bugs down his throat, covering his mouth with his hands to keep them from crawling out. He appears to be half-chewing as he swallows, finally pounding on his chest and raising his arms in triumph with bug parts poking out of his mouth.

Bill Kern, a University of Florida entomologist who has eaten his share of insects, speculated that it could have been a physical or psychological reaction that made Archbold throw up soon after the contest.

“If he was eating discoids, that’s a big insect,” Kern said, describing the psychological effect. “When you bite into it you’re going to get a gush of fat bodies, the gut content and the hemolymph – essentially insect blood. As you bite down, that’s going to put pressure on the exoskeleton, so when it’s ruptured, it’s going to squirt.”

Kern also described the legs of discoids as “covered with pretty stout spines” that could irritate the esophagus and stomach, in addition to the “crunchy, leathery, paper-like wings you have to chew up.”

That disagreeable experience was echoed by Matthew Karwacki, a 26-year-old student at Florida Career College who downed worms and crickets in the same contest that killed Archbold. He tapped out after one roach because he “didn’t have his mind in the right place.”

“If you look at it in a real sense, they’re just invertebrates — no different than shrimp or crabs,” he said, speaking admirably of Archbold’s mental control. “If you caught them in baskets in Maryland, people would put Old Bay on them and gobble them down.”

Karwacki said he spoke with Archbold after the contest and he appeared to be fine.

“When he was done, he was pretty stoked about it,” Karwacki said. “I congratulated him and told him, ‘You’re a better man than I.’”

After Archbold won the contest and the $850 ivory ball python, the West Palm Beach man started vomiting outside of the reptile store. He collapsed a few doors down and was taken to Broward Health North, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

No one from the reptile store, 3314 W. Hillsboro Blvd., was available for comment on Monday. Owner Ben Seigel told The Miami Herald last month that all contestants had signed a waiver. This was the first bug-eating contest, but Seigel said it’s not unusual for employees and customers to dare each other to each the insects sold in the store as pet feed.

Kern, the entomologist, said insects were “probably only a peripheral cause” of Archbold’s death. Consuming such large volumes of any food so quickly could cause someone to choke or start vomiting.

“Eating bugs is something that a fourth of the world’s population does,” he said. “But usually we cook them first.”

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