DNA no help in Turk slay

The mystery of the Staten Island woman murdered in Istanbul deepened yesterday as Turkish media reported that none of the DNA taken from 22 suspects matches the DNA found near her body.

Married mother-of-two Sarai Sierra, 33, an amateur photographer, was beaten to death and her body was found in a seedy area of Istanbul last Saturday.

Turkish media also revealed her family was aware she was cheating on her hubby.

The dead woman’s brother sent her a Facebook message referring to her husband that said, “If you are going to cheat on him, why don’t you just get out of his life,” Turkish newspaper Per Vatan reported.

The message was sent before Sierra went missing.

Sierra also had sex with a man in a bar bathroom on Jan. 20, local media reported this week.

Read More..

Sign up for Feb. 21 Miami Herald Small Business Forum

Prepare your best pitch for the Miami Herald’s Small Business Forum, Feb. 21 at the south campus of our sponsor, Florida International University.

In addition to how-to panels and inspirational stories from successful entrepreneurs, our annual small business forum will include interactive opportunities with experts to learn about financing options and polish your personal and business brands.

During our finance panel, audience volunteers will be invited to explain their financing needs to the group. During our box-lunch session, they will be invited to pitch their business or personal brand to our coaches.

Those who prefer just to listen will be treated to a keynote address by Alberto Perlman, co-founder of the global fitness craze Zumba. Panels include success stories from the local entrepreneurs who founded Sedano’s, Jennifer’s Homemade and ReStockIt.com; finance tips from experts in small business loans, venture capital, angel investments and traditional bank loans; and insiders in the burgeoning South Florida tech start-up scene.

Plus, it’s a real bargain. $25 includes the half-day seminar, continental breakfast and a box lunch.

Register here.

Program

8 a.m.

Registration and continental breakfast, provided by Bill Hansen Catering

8:30 a.m. Welcome

Host: David Suarez, president and CEO, Interactive Training Solutions, LLC

•  Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

•  Alice Horn, executive director, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE South Florida)

•  Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge Overview:

•  Nancy Dahlberg, Business Plan Challenge coordinator, The Miami Herald

8:45 a.m. Session I – Success Stories

Moderator: Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

Speakers:

•  Jennifer Behar, founder, Jennifer’s Homemade

•  Matt Kuttler, co-president of ReStockIt.com

•  Javier Herrán, chief marketing officer, Sedano’s Supermarkets

10 a.m. Session II – All about Tech

Moderator: Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Speakers

•  Susan Amat, founder, Launch Pad Tech

•  Nancy Borkowski, executive director, Health Management Programs, Chapman Graduate School of

Business, Florida International University

•  Mark Slaughter, CEO, Cohealo.com

•  Chris Fleck, vice president of mobility solutions at Citrix and a director of the South Florida Tech Alliance

11:15 a.m. Keynote

Speaker: Alberto Perlman, CEO and co-founder of Zumba® Fitness

Introduction: Jane Wooldridge, business editor, The Miami Herald

11:45 a.m. Session III – Show me the money: Financing your small business

An interactive session featuring audience volunteers who will be invited to make a short investment pitch before a panel, including experts in microlending, SBA loans, traditional bank loans, venture capital and angel investing. Audience volunteers should come prepared with a two-minute presentation that includes details about current backing, how much money they are seeking and a brief synosis of ow that money would be used.

Moderator: Melissa Krinzman, founder and managing director, Venture Architects

Panelists:

•  Marjorie Weber, chairman, SCORE of Miami-Dade

•  Cornell Crews, Jr., program director, Partners for Self Employment

•  Darius G. Nevin, co-founder, G3 Capital Partners, a mid-market and early-stage investment company

•  Boris Hirmas Said, chairman of the board, Tres Mares S.A. (Santiago, Chile) and entrepreneur in

residence at the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center

1 p.m. Lunch session - Polish your Pitch, Brighten Your Personal Brand

An interactive session featuring audience volunteers who will be invited to make short pitches about their businesses and themselves. Audience volunteers should come prepared with a two-minute presentation.

Coaches: Melissa Krinzman of Venture Architects and Michelle Villalobos of Mivista Consulting

advise audience volunteers on how to best pitch themselves and their products.

Box lunch provided by Bill Hansen Catering

All speakers confirmed unless otherwise noted. Agenda is subject to change without notice .

Read More..

Stranded python hunters rescued from Broward Everglades

Two python hunters were rescued Thursday afternoon by Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue after they became stranded and disoriented in the Everglades.

According to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles, a call came in shortly before 4 p.m. that the hunters, 22 and 25 years old and from Tennessee, were stranded 15 miles west of U.S. 27 near the Broward-Palm Beach County line.

“It doesn’t seem like they were familiar with the area,” Jachles said. “They underestimated the conditions. We had temperature in the 80s. “

The men, suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, complained of lightheadedness and weakness when air rescue located them. They were taken two miles from where they were found and treated by firefighters and paramedics.

“Fortunately our helicopter and rescue crews got to them before it would have gotten much worse,” Jachles said.

The victims, thought to be staying in their car, refused to be taken to a hospital for further treatment.

Jachles could not confirm that they were taking part in the ongoing “Python Challenge,” which began last month and offers cash prizes to hunters who kill the most, and longest, Burmese pythons, which have infested the Everglades in recent years.

Read More..

Psycho cop loves Tebow

A crazed former LA cop with a grudge against his fellow officers has gone on a killing spree after writing a bizarre Facebook manifesto in which he denounced his enemies — but also proclaimed his love of Tim Tebow, “The Hangover” and “Shark Week.”

Christopher Dorner, 33, is believed to have shot three cops yesterday, killing one, days after he allegedly shot and killed the daughter of a fellow cop and her fiancé over the weekend.

Dorner was still at large last night after his pickup truck was found burnt out in Big Bear, Calif., about 80 miles east of where the rampage started in Irvine.

Reuters/Getty Images

SNAPPED: Police inspect an LAPD cruiser shot yesterday during a gunfight with a man believed to have been ex-cop Christopher Dorner (left), who was at large last night after allegedly going on a killing spree.

He began his spree after posting a screed online in which he named targets for execution and bragged about how tough he is.

“The Violence of action will be HIGH . . . Whatever pre-planned responses you have established for a scenario like me, shelve it,” the rant reads.

The maniacal manifesto also had some encouraging words for Jets quarterback Tim Tebow.

“Tebow, I really wanted to see you take charge of an offense again and the game. You are not a good QB by today’s standards, but you are a great football player who knows how to lead a team and WIN,” he wrote. “You will be ‘Tebowing’ when you reach your next team. I have faith in you. Get out of that circus they call the Jets.”

He also made some pop-culture critiques.

“It’s kind of sad I won’t be around to view and enjoy The Hangover III. What an awesome trilogy,” he mused.

He added, “Damn, gonna miss shark week.”

Ironically, he also ripped the head of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, calling him a “vile and inhumane piece of s--t.”

The madman also sent a note to CNN journalist Anderson Cooper referring to former NYPD and LAPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

Cooper said last night that the note came with a bullet-hole-ridden coin. It arrived at his office earlier this month. The packaging read, “Thanks, but no thanks Will Bratton.”

Bratton oversaw the LAPD during Dorner’s tenure.

Dorner is wanted for slaying Monica Quan and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence, on Sunday in Irvine, authorities said.

Quan was the daughter of a former police captain who represented Dorner in a disciplinary hearing, cops said. Dorner was axed from the force in 2008 for making false statements.

And yesterday, cops guarding one of his targets chased a car they believed was being driven by Dorner. One cop was grazed in an exchange of gunfire.

Later, a driver, again thought to be Dorner, ambushed two Riverside cops in a car. One was shot dead, another wounded.

During the manhunt, cops reportedly shot two bystanders.

In his Web rant, Dorner said the rampage was a “necessary evil” to “reclaim my name.”

He also weighed in on his favorite personalities:

* To “Curb Your Enthusiasm” creator Larry David: “I agree. 72-82 degrees is way too hot in a residence. 68 degrees is perfect.”

* “Gov. Chris Christie. What can I say? You’re the only person I would like to see in the White House in 2016 other than Hillary.”

* “Charlie Sheen, you’re effin awesome.”

Read More..

Miami startup that turns text to video receives $1 million in seed funding

Guide, a new technology startup based in Miami, announced Tuesday it has closed a $1 million round of seed funding from investors including the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Sapient Corp., MTV founder Bob Pitman, actor and producer Omar Epps, and early Google employee Steve Schimmel. The Knight Foundation is supporting Guide through its new early-stage venture fund, the Knight Enterprise Fund.

Led by CEO and founder Freddie Laker and COO Leslie Bradshaw, Guide’s team of seven is focused on turning online news, social streams and blogs into video for users who may be cooking, exercising, commuting or getting ready in the morning. The free application offers consumers a selection of about 20 “anchors” — including a dog, a robot and an anime character — that will read the article and present the accompanying photos, pull-out information and video clips in its video presentation. Revenue drivers for Guide could include in-app purchases, advertising-based anchors and customizations from publishers, said Laker, a former vice president at SapientNitro.

Laker and his team plan to launch a public beta next month, which they plan to do with a splash at the huge technology conference South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas.

Read more about Guide here on the Starting Gate blog. Follow Nancy Dahlberg on Twitter @ndahlberg

Read More..

Judge angered after learning mentally ill Miami man was placed in assisted living facility, and escaped

After Cristobal Abreu was arrested when he allegedly stabbed a Hialeah SWAT officer with a large barbecue fork in December 2009, doctors deemed his mind too ravaged by mental illness to stand trial.

For years, he bounced around mental-health facilities.

Then a stay at a Miami Gardens assisted-living facility, where funds for his medications ran out and his mental state deteriorated, ended last month when the 72-year-old Abreu was shipped without a judge’s permission to Jackson North Medical Center.

Then last week, a Jackson caseworker — again, without permission from the court — sent him to an ALF in Little Havana.

Abreu promptly escaped.

“I’m free! I’m free,” he yelled as he shuffled away from the San Martin de Porras facility on Tuesday, according to lawyers and court personnel who described the episode over two days in court this week.

Abreu’s ping-ponging treatment drew the ire of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ellen Sue Venzer, who has now ordered hospital and state-contracted mental-health administrators to court Friday to explain what happened.

“The system is broken,” Venzer said angrily in court this week, adding: “What would have happened if Mr. Abreu had decompensated and gone out and hurt somebody else in our community?”

Abreu’s escape was short-lived: Police quickly detained him, committing him back to Jackson Memorial Hospital for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation.

The unusual episode underscores what mental-health advocates in Miami-Dade’s criminal-justice system say has been a recurring problem: “incompetent” defendants are often shuffled between facilities without the knowledge of the court tasked with supervising them.

ALFs mostly house the elderly and other people with mental-health issues or disabilities. It is not unusual for incompetent defendants, usually nonviolent ones, to be placed at an ALF in a residential neighborhood.

“The people in the social services arena have to recognize that a court order is sacrosanct,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle said Wednesday. “I really understand the judge’s ire. She has the absolute right to be livid with everyone in the system.”

Subpoenaed to appear before the judge on Friday: representatives from Jackson, the South Florida Behavioral Network, which contracts with the state to manage cases of the mentally ill defendants, and the New Horizons Community Mental Health Center, which monitored Abreu’s case.

A lawyer for the Florida Department of Children & Families will also appear.

“It sounds like all these different agencies are treating these individuals like hot potatoes,” Venzer said in court Wednesday.

Abreu was initially arrested in December 2009 on charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer. The attempted murder charge was later dropped; the SWAT officer was not hurt because the knife pierced his shield.

During a jailhouse interview with a psychologist, the incoherent Abreu admitted that he sometimes hears voices and sees visions of “flowers [and] gold diamonds.”

The court determined that Abreu was incompetent to proceed to trial, meaning he could not assist his lawyer in defending the accusations.

After stays in several other facilities, Abreu wound up in November at the Graceful Gardens ALF, 18101 NW 47th Ct.

Read More..

Justin Timberlake Reveals New Album Cover for 20 20 Experience

We're one step closer to The 20/20 Experience!

Justin Timberlake just dropped a major treat for his fans on Twitter, revealing the cover art and tracklisting to his upcoming solo album, The 20/20 Experience.

"I wanted you guys to see this first!!!," wrote Timberlake with a link to the cover (featuring the singer dressed to the nines behind a phoropter) and song titles.

Pics: Justin & Jessica's Long Road to the Altar

Check out the full tracklisting below:

-Pusher Love Girl

-Suit & Tie

-Don't Hold The Wall

-Strawberry Bubblegum

-Tunnel Vision

-Spaceship Coupe

-That Girl
Let The Groove Get In

-Mirrors

-Blue Ocean Floor

The 20/20 Experience hits stores on March 19.

Read More..

Monopoly ‘token’ interest

PAWTUCKET, RI — Scottie dog has a new nemesis in Monopoly after fans voted in an online contest to add a cat token to the game, replacing the iron, toymaker Hasbro Inc. announced yesterday.

The results were revealed after the shoe, wheelbarrow and iron were neck and neck for elimination in the final hours of voting.

The vote on Facebook closed just before midnight on Tuesday. Other pieces contending for a spot included a robot, diamond ring, helicopter and guitar.

“We put five new tokens out for our fans to vote on, and there were a lot of fans of the many different tokens, but I think there were a lot of cat lovers in the world that reached out and voted,” said Jonathan Berkowitz, vice president for Hasbro gaming marketing.

CAT’S MEOW: Game piece that’s replacing the iron.

Read More..

Greenberg Traurig shuffles leadership

Law firm Greenberg Traurig on Tuesday announced a new management lineup that includes naming Hilarie Bass as the first female president in the firm’s history.

Bass, one of the firm’s Miami shareholders, most recently had been global operating shareholder. She will share the presidency with Brian L. Duffy, a Denver shareholder who has been global litigation chair, a position previously held by Bass.

As part of the shuffle, Miami shareholders Cesar L. Alvarez and Matt Gorson move to co-chairs and Larry Hoffman becomes founding chair. Alvarez previously served as executive chair, Gorson as president and Hoffman as chair.

These were just some of the new leadership changes announced by Greenberg’s Chief Executive Richard A. Rosenbaum. The firm began a leadership transition plan in 2010 when Rosenbaum took over the helm of the firm that today includes about 1,750 attorneys in 35 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

“We are pleased to have so many talented leaders and performers, not just those with titles,” Rosenbaum said in a statement. “We have never been about titles or politics, and titles do not create leaders. We and others already in place in our regions, offices and practices form a seamless team focused on respecting and serving our clients and lawyers.”

Rosenbaum, who will remain in his post, also announced four new vice presidents:

• Ernest Greer, Managing Shareholder of the firm’s Atlanta office.

• Brad Kaufman, Co-Chair of the National Securities Litigation Practice, leader of the firm’s Associate Development Program and a Palm Beach County shareholder.

• Patricia Menendez-Cambo, Chair of the Global Practice, Co-Chair of the Infrastructure and Project Finance Practice and a Miami shareholder.

• Keith Shapiro, Chair of the Chicago office and Co-Chair of the Business Reorganization Practice.

Read More..

Miami Heat has scholarships for graduation high school seniors

The Miami Heat is offering South Florida high school seniors college scholarships for the 2013-2014 school year.

Four scholarships of $2,500 each will go to seniors who excel in academics and community service.

One of the four scholarships is reserved for a student who plays sports.

Applicants must have at least a 3.2 grade point average by their final semester in high school, attend school in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties, be accepted to an accredited four-year college or university and demonstrate financial need.

Applications are available at nba.com/heat/community/community_education_scholarships.html and must be submitted by April 6.

Read More..