Orange Bowl donates thousands of pairs of sneakers to kids in need

Playing youth sports requires having properly fitting shoes. The Orange Bowl organization recently distributed more than 2,300 pairs of new and used sneakers to disadvantaged children who want to participate in sports and exercise.

The shoes were collected through the “Kicks for Kids School Challenge” in Miami-Dade and Broward County Schools, and the top four collectors were each rewarded with a $2,500 grant from the Orange Bowl Committee.

The winning schools were North Dade Middle School, Eugenia B. Thomas K-8 Center, Sunset Lakes Elementary School and McArthur High School. North Dade Middle School students celebrated with a dance, and even Orange Bowl mascot “Obie” attended the “orange carpet” event. Students were admitted to the dance by donating a pair of athletic shoes to Kicks for Kids. For more visit www.community.orangebowl.org.

TOYS FOR SICK KIDS

Children in the hospital for the holidays were cheered by visits from veterans and volunteers with the Hearing Research Institute, who each year purchase gifts for hundreds of young patients at Miami Children’s Hospital and Holtz Children’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial. The giving tradition has continued for 25 years.

Some of the toys and stuffed animals donated were part of “Toys from Tots to Tots” at Temple Judea of Coral Gables. The sharing program was created by Dr. Robert Pickard, a South Miami ear, nose and throat specialist, and a retired Army colonel. Pickard is the medical director of the Hearing Research Institute.

“Healthy children from the school at Temple Judea donated a present meant for a sick child which became part of those gifts distributed by the veterans group,” he said. “This is a double blessing both for the healthy child who gives and the sick child who receives. Isn’t that what the Chanukah and Christmas season is all about?”

The various veterans groups that gave funds to buy the gifts included Lions Clubs, Anthony Abraham Enterprises, Viet Nam Veterans, Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA), Jewish War Veterans USA, the American Legion, and Korean War Veterans. Any extra toys were given to the Child Life departments at the hospitals for children who will be hospitalized over the holidays. The Fallen Police Officers Association and the Children’s Home Society also received extra toys.

Some of the volunteers who participated in the toy sharing included Pickard, his wife Susan and their daughter Beke Pickard, Remy Gordon, Roberto and Miriam Molledo, David Magidson, Luis LaLama and his daughter Susana, Wesley Mejia, Steve Jockers, Dan Fischer, Harris Hershkowitz, George Becker, Ike Heller, and Dana Rogozinski

NEW BIKES

Getting a new set of wheels is a dream come true at the holidays and the bicycle police officers with the city of Miami now get to live it. The city received 13 special new bikes from the Hampton Inn & Suites Miami Brickell-Downtown. The hotel underwrote the $8,500 purchase in support of the not-for-profit H.E.L.P. Fund (Help Equip Law-Enforcement Personnel).

Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff and the hotel’s developer, Bernard Wolfson of Hospitality Operations Inc, recently presented the bicycles at a dedication ceremony.

“I started the H.E.L.P. Fund to give our police and fire-rescue personnel the tools necessary to make our streets safer and give the business community, specifically, a way to directly invest in the well-being of our citizens,” Sarnoff said in a release. He is also chairman of the Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA).

“Introducing additional police protection on our Downtown Miami streets will enhance quality of life in our neighborhood, ensuring our guests from around the world enjoy a secure and positive experience,” Wolfson said. The donation nearly doubled the bike force that patrols the area.

Businesses and citizens can get involved by donating to the city of Miami’s H.E.L.P. Fund at www.miamifoundation.org.

TOY DRIVE

Santa Claus and other celebrities recently joined with helpers from the South Florida Council of Fire Fighters at the 22nd annual Amigos for Kids Holiday Toy Caravan. The group delivered joy and gifts at locations throughout South Florida and the event drew hundreds of volunteers.

The Amigos For Kids tradition, which began in 1991, helps make the holidays brighter for thousands of needy children each year. The Amigos effort is designed “to fulfill each child’s specific wishes from his/her very own wish list.” The gifts are purchased to fulfill at least two of each child’s requests.

Individual sponsors also participated in the toy drive that brings contributions from family members, co-workers, members of church congregations and other groups. A large number of corporate sponsors assist in the success of this respected toy drive. For more on how to get involved go to www.amigosforkids.org.

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Oscars Flashback: Russell Crowe 2001

At the 2001 Academy Awards, Russell Crowe won his first Oscar for Gladiator, a film that created a significant appetite for epic dramas that still exists today. However, Crowe wasn't exactly on cloud nine after winning the award, as he is unyieldingly sarcastic and standoffish in his pressroom session.

Crowe, who had been nominated for an Oscar for The Insider prior to his portrayal of "Maximus," sets a bitter tone in the pressroom from the get-go, which makes the scene reminiscent of a press conference with the head coach of a losing sports team. Crowe is happy to speak about the beer he'll be celebrating with but nothing of substance.

PIC: First Look: Russell Crowe as 'Noah'

"The evolution of the moment? That's a really long answer and I'm only into short answers. Ask me questions that I can answer 'Yes' or 'No' [to] or shortly and then we'll all get on really well," he says, trying to contain his smile.

The sour Crowe proves that he isn't joking about his approach to the pressroom by then giving a sarcastic answer to the next question he receives about how he related to his character in the film. After turning a cold shoulder on the reporter, the standoffish Crowe says, "Whatever. Moving right along!"

Despite his irreverent brevity with the press, the then-37-year-old Australian is anything but brief when elaborating on how tough it was to film the physical parts of the film, which would have been a proper answer to the question he deflected about his similarities to his character.

RELATED: Russell Crowe Requires Coast Guard Assistance

"The most challenge aspect of the character was, in truth, the physicality. I got very heavily beaten up on this movie and we didn't have time to take things like breaks in production or anything to repair me, so I just had to keep going with it," he says with a smile."

Crowe was nominated for A Beautiful Mind the following year but hasn't been nominated since. However, he has been nominated for a SAG Award for his role in Les Miserables and may soon receive an Oscar nomination.

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Helicopter that crashed into East River was too heavy: report

AP

This photo provided by the National Transportation and Safety Board shows the helicopter that crashed into the East River last October.

A federal report says a helicopter that crashed into the East River off New York City on a sightseeing tour last year was carrying too much weight.

Thursday's report from the National Transportation Safety Board doesn't conclude what caused the crash. That will likely be determined in two months.

But the report says the Bell 206 chopper was carrying an estimated 3,228 pounds when it crashed shortly after takeoff in September 2011. The aircraft's capacity was 3,200 pounds.

The accident killed three people. The pilot and one passenger survived.

The NTSB report says 56-year-old pilot Paul Dudley told investigators he asked passengers' weights and calculated they wouldn't be too heavy. But the surviving passenger said Dudley didn't ask or calculate the total weight.

Dudley didn't immediately return a message Thursday.

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Carnival fourth-quarter profits tumble

MIAMI (AP) – Cruise operator Carnival Corp. said Thursday that its fiscal fourth-quarter net income tumbled 57 percent, hurt by lower ticket prices and higher fuel costs.

Despite the drop, the results beat Wall Street predictions. But the Miami-based company issued a lower-than-expected profit prediction for the full year, and its shares fell 6 percent in morning trading.

Cruise line operators entered 2012 thinking they could start charging passengers more again after offering widespread discounts following the 2007-2009 recession. But just two weeks into the year, 32 people died when Carnival’s Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Italy. Bookings slumped even as cruise companies lowered prices.

For the quarter ended Nov. 30, Carnival earned $93 million, or 12 cents per share, down from $217 million, or 28 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Excluding one-time items, the company, which operates Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines, said it posted an adjusted profit of 13 cents per share.

Revenue fell 3 percent to $3.58 billion from $3.7 billion.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 11 cents per share on $3.49 billion in revenue, according to a FactSet poll.

Carnival’s revenue yields, which measure the amount a cruise company makes from its passengers after removing expenses, fell 4.5 percent, but were better than the 5 to 6 percent drop the company projected in September. In addition, fuel prices rose 5.4 percent to $716 per metric ton, but weren’t as high as the $739 per metric ton the company expected.

Those factors helped offset an increase in operating costs, resulting in the better-than-expected quarterly results, the company said.

For the full year, Carnival earned $1.3 billion, or $1.67 per share, down from $1.91 billion, or $2.42 per share, in the previous fiscal year. Revenue fell to $15.38 billion from $15.79 billion.

Carnival said that over the past six weeks, booking volumes for the first three quarters of this year were about the same as they were at the same time last year, with slightly lower prices. But overall advance bookings for 2013 continue to trail levels a year ago at slightly lower prices, the company said.

Carnival said it currently expects full year 2013 net revenue yields, excluding the effects of currency exchange rates, to rise between 1 and 2 percent. The yields are expected to decline 2 to 3 percent in the first quarter, but then improve sequentially during the rest of the year as ticket prices and occupancy for the North American brands and Costa recover.

Taking those expectations into account, Carnival projected an adjusted 2013 profit of $2.20 to $2.40 per share. Analysts had expected $2.47 per share.

The company also projected a fiscal first-quarter profit of 3 to 7 cents per share, while analysts expect a profit of 5 cents per share.

Carnival shares fell $2.15, or 6 percent, to $36.91 in morning trading.

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New poll: Many Florida voters say they wouldn’t re-elect Scott as governor

TALLAHASSEE --
Gov. Rick Scott continues to suffer from poor approval ratings despite an improving economy and lowering unemployment, and a majority of voters say they wouldn’t vote to re-elect him, a new poll shows.

The poll found, among other things, that many voters are crediting the Obama administration with an improving economy, rather than Scott.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed Florida voters disapprove by 45-36 percent of the job Scott is doing, and 52 percent said he doesn’t deserve a second term, compared to just 30 percent who told pollsters Scott should be re-elected.

The poll also found that 55 percent of voters — including 53 percent of Republicans — say they’d like another Republican to challenge Scott for the GOP nomination in 2014.

Republican voters do give Scott a positive 63-19 percent job approval rating, however, and GOP voters say by a 55-26 percent margin that he deserves a second term.

“Obviously, the governor has almost two years to go until the election and anything is possible, but he faces a herculean task in changing public opinion to his favor,” said Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown.

Scott, who has struggled with negative approval ratings since being elected in 2010, plans to seek re-election next year. The only declared candidate challenging him is Democratic former state Sen. Nan Rich. Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who is now a Democrat, is considering a run, and Democrat Alex Sink, who narrowly lost to Scott in 2010, is thought to be mulling a rematch.

Crist, who was governor as a Republican from 2007 to 2011 and lost a bid as an independent in 2010 for the U.S. Senate, has a 47 percent favorable rating and 33 percent unfavorable mark among all voters, according to the Quinnipiac poll. His favorability among Democrats is 65 percent and among independents is 48 percent, but only 28 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of Crist, compared to 56 percent who have an unfavorable view.

Crist on Wednesday said he has no timetable for deciding whether to run for governor. Of Scott’s poor rating he said, “I would attribute the downturn to this voting issue,” meaning the election law Scott signed that is still controversial.

Asked what factors he would use to decide, he said: “I love my state and my heart bleeds for the people of Florida right now. I think we can do better with education in our state, with the environment in our state. …”

Sink overall is viewed favorably by just 27 percent of voters and unfavorably by 14 percent, but 57 percent of respondents didn’t have an opinion.

Among four other possible Democratic challengers the poll asked about — Rich, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and South Florida businessman and former lawmaker Jack Seiler — none has a favorability score of more than 17 percent and the overwhelming number of respondents said they didn’t know enough about them to have an opinion.

The only other Republican the pollsters tested was Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, thought by many to be a likely candidate for governor in the future. But 80 percent of voters don’t have an opinion currently about Putnam, a longtime former Congressman and former state legislator.

Respondents said they dislike Scott’s policies by 52 percent to 32 percent, though nearly half of voters say they’re at least somewhat satisfied with the way things are going in Florida — the highest so far during Scott’s term. The poll didn’t ask specifically what policies voters don’t like.

Scott has staked his success on creating jobs, and has been able to boast about a falling unemployment rate for several months. Florida’s jobless rate fell in October to 8.5 percent, its lowest level since December 2008, and non-farm employment has grown for more than 27 straight months. When Scott got elected, unemployment in the state was at 12 percent, so he has made good to some degree on his main promise of getting people back to work.

Pollsters found, however, that many voters are crediting the Obama administration with the improving economy. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said the president deserves “a lot” of the credit for the improving economy, to just 16 percent who think Scott deserves “a lot” of the credit. Similarly, though, those voters who believe the economy is getting worse, overwhelmingly blame Obama rather than Scott.

The poll also found a 52-30 percent approval rating for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and a 51-31 percent approval rating for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat. The Legislature, generically, is seen negatively by 44 percent of respondents with just 35 percent approving of lawmakers on the whole.

The poll included 1,261 registered voters and was taken Dec. 11-17. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

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ET Flashback: Defending 'The Dark Crystal'

Thirty years ago Jim Henson and Frank Oz debuted The Dark Crystal, a groundbreaking, live-action sci-fi fantasy populated completely by imaginative, highly detailed puppets. Back in 1982, ET sat down with the visionary family filmmakers to preview the film, its myriad creatures -- and differentiate it from the inevitable comparisons of the time to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Star Wars.

Video: Cee Lo and The Muppets Get in The Xmas Spirit

"What we're trying to do here is a film that's totally different," Henson told ET. "You can tell just by the look of these things that it's not related at all to The Muppets, and we don't want the audience going in expecting to see Kermit and Piggy, because what they'll get is very, very different."

"If you describe it in the terms of Yoda or E.T., it is a movie entirely of Yodas and E.T.'s," said Oz, who had recently provided the voice of the diminutive Jedi master in The Empire Strikes Back. "There's not one human in it. There's no animation whatsoever. It's really that kind of movie with all these creatures."

Related: Mark Hamill Tells New Stories from 'Star Wars'

The story of a Gelfling's quest to find the missing shard of a magical crystal to restore order to his magical world, The Dark Crystal was a moderate box office success despite having to overcome mixed reviews, wary parents who thought the tone was too dark for their little ones, and the distraction of E.T. and the Star Wars franchise, which had become cinematic phenomenons.

Part of the absolute charm of this particular flashback video is listening to the voices of the late, great Henson and his good friend Oz. It's impossible, when you close your eyes and listen to their voices, not envision Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear (and a dozen other Muppet characters) discussing the merits of The Dark Crystal.

Video Flashback: 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial'

Although Henson himself said that no sequel to the movie was planned, a follow-up film in 3D called Power of The Dark Crystal has been in the works at The Jim Henson Company for quite some time and, although currently in hiatus due to budgetary concerns, is still a possibility more than 30 years after the original film debuted.

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Robin Hood starts distributing $50M from Superstorm Sandy concert

The Robin Hood Foundation says it is beginning to distribute $50 million in proceeds from last week's benefit concert to organizations helping victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Madison Square Garden spokeswoman Michelle Isaacs said Wednesday the money was raised through ticket sales, merchandising and charitable auctions at the Dec. 12 show, which featured Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones. More revenue is expected to come in.

Robin Hood says it is distributing roughly 40 percent of the money to organizations based in New Jersey, with the rest in New York and Connecticut.

Getty Images for Clear Channel

Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi perform at "12-12-12" the concert to benefit victims of Superstorn Sandy.

The devastating storm tour into the New York metropolitan region on Oct. 29.

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Stone-crab season suffers in the Keys

Despite rocketing prices for stone-crab claws, many Florida Keys commercial fishermen have nearly given up on the season only 2 months old.

"We may see record prices but also record pain," said Gary Graves, general manager of Keys Fisheries in Marathon. "Prices don't mean anything if you can't catch anything."

Harvests since shortly after the season opening Oct. 15 have been "as bad as I can remember during my 45 years in the business," Graves said. "It's just bleak."

Keys Fisheries, one of the state's leading wholesalers for stone crabs, has laid off half of its production staff, maybe 20 people, Graves said.

"We hate to do it to our people but we're probably not finished," he said. "Right now, a big day for us is 1,000 pounds [of claws]. It should be around 15,000 pounds. We're doing nothing."

Keys Fisheries has raised its dockside prices paid to fishermen several times to encourage fishermen to keep their traps in the water.

Graves said it costs a fisherman about $1,200 in fuel, labor and other expenses to make a day's trip. The fish house's current prices are $9 per pound for medium-size claws and $17 per pound for the coveted jumbos.

"Our wholesale sales prices are higher than that and retail is through the roof," Graves said. "But we can't fill the orders we have."

A Marathon community group recently canceled the organization's annual stone crab feast for members because no claws were to be found.

The season runs until May 15.

Last season, Monroe County produced about 1.1 million pounds of legal-size claws, accounting for a large portion of Florida's total 2.67 million-pound harvest worth an estimated $23.6 million to the commercial fleet.

About 1,000 people statewide are licensed to fish traps for stone crabs. Only the claws are kept. Historically, stone-crab harvests have topped three million pounds of claws.

"The last two years were good and the recruitment looked normal," Graves said. "The first round of trap pulling was fine but it went downhill from there — like falling off a cliff."

Fishermen and researchers are baffled.

"Blame it on global warming, blame it on BP [Deepwater Horizon oil spill], blame it on Mother Nature," Graves said. "Everybody's got an idea but nobody can say why. It's probably a combination of a bunch of things."

News reports from stone-crab fleets farther up the Florida Gulf Coast suggest an octopus population explosion. Crabs are a favorite food of octopus, which are smart enough to get into traps.

"We've seen more octopus in the 6- to 8-pound range, which is abnormal," Graves said. State experts have suggested warm winters may have triggered the octopus boom.

"Things could turn around," Graves said, "but realistically the chances of it happening this season are slim."

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Florida unveils new license tag — and yes, there’s an orange

TALLAHASSEE --
Florida voters have selected their next license tag.

The green-rimmed, leafed-orange winner in a poll of about 50,000 online voters could be released as soon as 2014. It is scheduled to be phased in over two years on Florida’s 15 million vehicles.

“Sunshine State” is at the plate’s bottom edge, and the center is stamped with seven characters instead of the traditional six, to keep Florida from running out of character combinations.

“The online poll represents one part of the process to select the new plate design,” says a news release from the Department of Highway and Motor Vehicles. “Before the design is manufactured, the public’s vote will be factored in with input from the Governor, Cabinet and policy makers.”

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles created four designs in-house with input from about 20 people, from Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials to tax collectors.

But Highway Safety Chief Julie Jones faced push-back from the moment she announced the $31 million makeover, with manufacturing groups threatening to take the state to court and critics trashing the tags as dull.

Among other upgrades, Jones wanted to give the plates a flat — rather than raised — surface, and increase state revenue by making the tags more legible for red-light cameras and toll booths. Currently, one in six digital images is declared unreadable at tollbooths by the Florida Turnpike Enterprise.

But Jones backed off asking for flat tags after PRIDE, the St. Petersburg-based nonprofit that uses prisoners to make tags, filed a legal protest against the state. PRIDE lacks the equipment to make flat plates.

The plate redesigns got scathing reviews from Miami Herald columnist Fred Grimm, who shredded the tags as “remarkably bland” and “nondescript.”

“The four choices are so spectacularly insipid that it’s no easy decision,” Grimm wrote of the online poll. “It would be easier picking a favorite from Rick Scott’s most electrifying speeches.”

Kevin Cate, who owns a Tallahassee public relations firm, found the plates so distasteful he offered his own design, which the highway safety department rejected. The new tag should send people to VisitFlorida.com, he argued, which promotes state tourism, restaurants and businesses.

“There’s no winner of the choices the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles have provided to the people of Florida,” he said. “Nobody wins with the new tags.”

Contact Brittany Alana Davis at bdavis@tampabay.com or 850-323-0353.

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Advocate: Soldiers got 'wrist slap' in Chen hazing case

The family and friends of an Army private who committed suicide after being hazed by fellow soldiers say their punishment is only "a slap on the wrist."

That's what attorney Elizabeth OuYang told a news conference in Chinatown on Tuesday.

Military officials say Danny Chen killed himself last year in Afghanistan after being harassed by other soldiers.

On Monday, officials said the last soldier accused in the case faced dismissal from the service. Five other soldiers received prison sentences. Two received demotions.

OuYang heads the nonprofit Organization of Chinese Americans that is pushing for the dismissal from the Army of all eight of the soldiers in the case.

AP

Danny Chen

She was joined by Chen's parents. His father, Yan Dao Chen, wore his dead son's camouflage military cap.

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