An NYPD sergeant was arrested yesterday for watching child pornography online, cops said.
Alberto Randazzo, 36, of Queens, was charged with use of a child in a sexual performance, promoting sexual performance by a child and possessing a sexual performance by a child.
Cops wouldn’t say if the arrest came after an ongoing probe.
Back in 2008, Open English, a company run from Miami that uses online courses to teach English in Latin America, had just a handful of students in Venezuela and three employees. Today the company has more than 50,000 students in 22 Latin American countries and some 2,000 employees.
To fund this meteoric expansion, the founders of Open English — Venezuelans Andrés Moreno and Wilmer Sarmiento and Moreno’s American wife, Nicolette — began with $700. Over the last six years, the partners have raised more than $55 million, mostly from private investment and venture capital firms.
Their formula for success? The founders rejected traditional English teaching methods in physical classrooms and developed a system that allows students to tune into live classes every hour of the day from their computers at home, in the office or at school, and learn from native English-speaking teachers who may be based anywhere. Courses stress practical conversations online and the company guarantees fluency after a one-year course, offering six additional months free if students fail to become fluent.
“We wanted to change the way people learn English,” said Andrés Moreno, the 30-year-old co-founder and CEO, who halted his training as a mechanical engineer and worked full-time at developing the company with his partners. “And we want students to achieve fluency. Traditionally, students have to drive to an English academy, waste time in traffic, and try to learn from a teacher who is not an native English speaker in a class with 20 students.”
Using the Internet, Open English offers classes usually with two or three students and a teacher, interactive videos, other learning aids and personal attention from coaches who phone students regularly to see how they are progressing.
Courses cost an average of $750 per year and students can opt for monthly payments. This is about one-fifth to one-third of what traditional schools charge for small classes or individual instructors, Andrés noted.
“We work at building confidence with our students and encourage them to practice speaking English as much as possible during classes,” said Nicolette Moreno, co-founder and chief product officer, who met Andrés in Venezuela while she was working there on a service project. “Students are taught to actively participate in conversations like a job interview, traveling and talking on a conference call,” said Nicolette, who previously lived in Los Angles, worked with non-profits to create environmentally friendly products and fight poverty in emerging markets, and was head equity trader at an asset management firm. “Students need to speak English in our classes, even though it is sometimes difficult. They learn through immersion.”
Open English has successfully tapped into an enormous, underserved market. Millions of people in Latin America want to learn English to advance in their jobs, work at multinational companies, travel or work overseas and understand the popular music, movies and TV shows they constantly hear in English. Many of them take English courses at public and private schools and learn little if any useful conversational English. While students at private schools for the upper middle class and wealthy often learn foreign languages extremely well from native English-speaking teachers, most people can’t afford these schools or courses designed for one or two students.
WASHINGTON --
Sen. Marco Rubio is on a breathless rise, a testament to his political skill and demographic appeal that last week saw him delivering the Republican State of the Union response and appearing on the cover of Time as “The Republican Savior.”
But behind the scenes is a relentless, methodical effort to build the Rubio brand, aided by a team of strategists and media handlers positioning the 41-year-old Floridian for an expected presidential run.
They include members of Rubio’s Senate staff and presidential campaign veterans who work for the political committee Rubio formed ostensibly to help elect other conservatives.
Instead the Reclaim America PAC has focused on consultants and building a national fundraising network. Last year, his PAC spent more than $1.7 million, with the vast majority going toward staff and fundraising, and about $110,000 going to other candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
“It connotes a machine, someone who is grooming his image for a jump to higher position,” said the center’s executive director Sheila Krumholz.
Rubio’s team plots policy and publicity moves, including his recent foray into the immigration debate. He was among eight senators working on a proposal, but Rubio took them by surprise — and ensured he would be front and center — with a Wall Street Journal piece laying out the framework before the group announced it.
The Rubio machine cultivates the image of a new breed of Republican, youthful, and as at ease talking about Tupac and the Miami Dolphins as talking about budget deficits. At the same time, advisors dole out nuggets to the news media, they aggressively contest even the smallest points in articles.
The political fascination with Rubio has made it easier for his team to build helpful story lines. When he first took office in the U.S. Senate, it was Rubio the humble, political star keeping his head down. That followed with periodic “major” policy rollouts — foreign policy, job creation, the middle class. When Rubio gives a speech, it’s invariably a “major” address. A young assistant is always there to record it on video and take photographs.
“It’s almost like he’s the Backstreet Boy of American politics, a Hollywood creation of what a model political candidate should be,” said Chris Ingram, a Republican communications consultant from Tampa who has been critical of Rubio. “He has to deliver on the hype but from a P.R. perspective, it’s textbook.”
And constant. Last week, Rubio issued 17 press releases. By comparison, former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, another potential 2016 candidate, released three.
Behind the scenes
Rubio’s political inner circle includes PAC employees Heath Thompson and Terry Sullivan, two operatives who made their names in South Carolina’s bare-knuckled political culture and are close with former Sen. Jim DeMint. The hyper-competitive Thompson is a college football fanatic more comfortable in a baseball cap than suit and tie.
For broad messaging strategy, there is the roguishly charming Todd Harris who knows practically everybody in the political media and is never shy about excoriating reporters.
The Senate staff includes Alberto Martinez, who goes back to Rubio’s days as speaker of the Florida House and can anticipate where critics might attack Rubio, and Alex Burgos, another Rubio campaign alum and true believer who pushes back at any hint of negativity in Rubio coverage.
Following news of Mindy McCready's tragic passing today, we're looking back at one of our last interviews with the country singer where she opened up about what may have triggered her suicidal thoughts.
PICS: Stars We Lost
At the time of our interview in 2010, McCready had already made three attempts at taking her own life. In the sitdown she claimed that she didn't start having suicidal thoughts until her relationship with ex Billy McKnight became abusive.
"I got caught up in this whirlwind of trying to save him from himself and lost me in the process," said McCready. "My self-esteem was gone. I was in love with this man and trying to do everything I could to save his life and nobody cared about mine."
McCready went on to explain that McKnight wasn't around when she gave birth to their son Zander, but admitted that she also was absent for a portion of her firstborn's life.
RELATED: Mindy McCready Dies of Apparent Suicide
"[Zander] was 15 months old when I went to jail. He was so little that he doesn't remember," said McCready, who was sentenced to a year in jail for probation violation in 2007. "All he remembers is that I was there one day and the next I wasn't for six and a half months straight. They did bring him to see me once and he didn't remember me, and that was really hard."
At the time of our interview, McCready seemed to be feeling better which she attributed to Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.
"A lot of people have said, 'Was that about TV for you ... or was it therapy?' And I can't speak for everyone, but for me it changed my life. It saved my life," she said. "Dr. Drew said so many amazing things to me that really made me think I really, truly want to know what was wrong with me, what was going on inside my head, why was I acting the way that I was?"
According to a police report, deputies responded to a report of gun shots fired on Sunday afternoon. Upon arriving, officers reportedly found Mindy McCready's body on the front porch and pronounced her dead at the scene from what appeared to be "a single self-inflicted gunshot wound." She was 37.
Troubled country-music star Mindy McCready was found dead on her porch yesterday from an apparent suicide, just one month after the death of her boyfriend, cops said.
The blond singer, who claimed to have bedded married pitcher Roger Clemens when she was just a teen, apparently shot herself around 3:30 p.m., according to the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office.
In addition to killing herself, the country star also shot her defenseless dog, according to TMZ.
McCready’s boyfriend, David Wilson, who is the father of their 10-month-old son, Zanye, was found dead on Jan. 13.
AP
Mindy McCready
His death, originally ruled a suicide, is currently being investigated by police.
The country crooner had a lengthy struggle with addiction and mental-health issues.
The singer had attempted suicide in 2008 when she took a number of pills and cut her wrists, cops said.
For years, Pablo Oliveira dreamed of buying a property to house his high-end linen and furniture rental company, Nuage Designs, which has created settings for such glamorous events as the weddings of Carrie Underwood and Chelsea Clinton.
A few months ago, that dream came true, when Oliveira purchased a warehouse across the street from his current Miami location. He is now renovating the loft-like space with the help of a $2.1 million, 25-year small business loan.
“It allows me to own my own space as opposed to renting, and that will decrease my costs for infrastructure and allow me to build equity with time,” said Oliveira, who secured a U.S. Small Business Administration-guaranteed loan from Wells Fargo.
For small businesses like Oliveira’s, a loan can be the critical key to growing a business, as well as the kindling to ignite an operation.
Take Harold Scott’s fledgling Great Scott Security, which manufactures window guards in Hollywood that can open quickly in case of need.
When he was 13, Scott’s stepfather perished in a Georgia house fire because he couldn’t escape through heavy window bars. Scott made it his mission to fix the problem.
“I promised myself I would dedicate all my time to working on a solution,” said Scott, 60.
Now retired from a 23-year career in the U.S. Justice Department, Scott recently secured a $7,500 microloan from Partners for Self Employment. He used it to buy a computer and pay for marketing and other business expenses for his quick-release window guards, which have met national, state and Miami-Dade County fire safety codes.
During the depths of the recession, business owners often griped that gaining access to capital was their biggest hurdle. Saddled with bad loans, many banks were wary of making new ones. At the same time, both the value of collateral and the creditworthiness of many borrowers tumbled.
Now, at last, banks are starting to open their pocketbooks again, experts say, though lending is still not on par with pre-recession levels.
“There is no question that small business borrowing declined as a result of the recession and has yet to recover to pre-crisis levels,” said Richard Brown, chief economist for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., via email. “According to the Federal Reserve, total loans to noncorporate businesses and farms stood at just under $3.8 trillion in September, which remains below the peak of about $4.1 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2008.”
Signs of Growth
In South Florida, more businesses are applying for loans and getting approvals from banks, according to lenders, officials at government agencies and leaders of organizations that help small business owners secure loans.
“Lenders are expressing a greater interest than they have in the past few years in terms of meeting the needs of the small business community,” said Marjorie Weber, Miami-Dade Chapter Chair of SCORE, which helps business owners put loan packages together and refers them to bankers.
Loan figures are indeed rising. During the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012, SBA-guaranteed loans were up in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to the SBA. In fiscal 2012, 449 loans were approved in Miami-Dade, totaling $213.3 million, up from 426 loans for $154.4 million in 2011. In Broward, 262 loans for $91.4 million were approved in fiscal 2012, compared to 257 loans for $102.4 million in 2011.
You are invited to hear Modreck Zvakavapano Maeresera and Tudor Parfitt, as they lecture on "The Lamba Jews of Zimbabwe" at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Jewish Museum of Florida, 301 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach.
You will want to attend this event; Maeresera is a leader in the Lemba Jewish community in Zimbaabwe. He coordinates a program of Jewish cyber-learning, studying with volunteer rabbis and teachers via the Internet in Harare, where he teaches other students what he has heard and recorded. In the rural congregation of Mapakomhere, 150 miles from Harare, Maeresera leads Shabbat services and promotes Jewish education.
In a press release statement he said, "My vision is to have a vibrant Lemba community that is fully committed to observing Judaism, the religion of our forefathers, and to have the necessary infrastructure that a Jewish community would need, such as synagogues and schools and religious leaders." He said, in the near future he would like to see Lemba fully reintegrated into mainstream Judaism.
Parfitt is the President Navon Professor of Sephardi-Mizrahi Studies and Research Professor in Florida International University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and has studied emerging Jewish communities around the works. He has studied the Lemba Jews for decades.
It’s free and open to the public.
Kids’ art event continues through Monday
The Children’s Trust will present a "Kids Grove Arts Party," from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Monday in the kids zone at Peacock Park in Coconut Grove. The event is in conjunction with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Abrakadoodle Coconut Grove Arts Festival.
Each day the Abrakadoodle staff will present "Art in Our World Curriculum," one-hour sessions where children will draw, paint, sculpt, design mosaics and collages and well as create in the styles of multicultural master artists to include Picasso, Bearden, Matisse, Miro, Hokusai, Monet, Martinez and Kahlo.
Other highlights will include a 10 a.m. show each day, the musical "Party with Picasso and Friends," presented by Sugar and Spice Puppet Theater, and at 11 a.m., the musical "The Dean of Green, " an eco-children’s theater production that teaches children the importance of growing up green, healthy living and protecting the earth. The play is directed by Corky Dozier, event creator and founder and director of the Coconut Grove Children’s Theater. Dozier also celebrates she 50th year in children’s theater, this year.
Author to speak in Key Biscayne
Lunch with an Author will present award-winning author Mary Murray Bosrock, presenting her newest book, "Grandma Has Wings," at noon Thursday in the Island room of the Key Biscayne Community Center, 10 Village Green Way.
Bosrock, a part-time resident of Key Biscayne, is a popular radio and television guest and has appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox News and A&E Network. She said she got her "wings" when her two sons, Matt and Steve, gave her six granddaughters in eight years. It amazed her, she said, that her little girls noticed things like arm fat, brown spots, veins and dropping chins, and learned to love what she couldn’t change by turning it into a story. Her granddaughters loved the story so much, that Bosrock decided to share it with other grandmas.
She also is the author of the book series, "Put Your Best Food Forward," which sold worldwide and has been published in Polish, Chinese, Russian, Thai and India.
Hugh Grant confirmed Saturday that he is a dad again.
PICS: Celebs and Their Cute Kids
The 52-year-old British actor tweeted, "In answer to some journos. Am thrilled my daughter now has a brother. Adore them both to an uncool degree. They have a fab mum."
Hugh and actress Tinglan Hong welcomed a daughter named Tabitha in 2011. No word yet on what Tabitha's little brother is named.
Related: Hugh Grant Responds to Jon Stewart Diss
Hugh told The Guardian in 2012 of being a dad, "I like my daughter very much. Fantastic. Has she changed my life? I'm not sure. Not yet. Not massively, no. But I'm absolutely thrilled to have had her, I really am. And I feel a better person."
A Manhattan man whose mother helped launch “World Gratitude Day” claims his siblings have cut him out of the family business.
Michael Lemle claims his sisters and brother failed to re-elect him as an officer of 132 West 31st Street Realty Corp., costing him the $50,000 annual salary he has collected since the 1980s, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
Meanwhile, his siblings, Florence Lemle, Douglas Lemle and Deanne Bosnak, rake in a cumulative $565,000 annually but “have no meaningful duties and do little or no work,” he alleges.
kboniello@nypost.com
HOUSTON --
When LeBron James walks onto the court for Houston’s NBA All-Star Game Sunday, he’ll do so as the undisputed king of his sport.
Named the league’s most valuable player three times in the past four years, James is once again dominating the NBA and most likely headed for his fourth MVP award — two fewer than Michael Jordan — with presumably a long career still ahead.
But while James is the most valuable player in the NBA, he’s nowhere close to being the league’s highest paid. Of the 10 players voted into the starting lineup of Sunday’s All-Star Game, five earn more than James, whose salary for this season ranks 13th in the NBA.
James’ decision a while back to “take my talents to South Beach” was a case of trading dollars for victories. The league caps what teams can spend on salaries.
The bimonthly checks cut by team owner Micky Arison this year will equal a bargain come season’s end: $17,545,000.
Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, the league’s highest-paid player, will earn about $10 million more than that this season.
James understands he’s underpaid in the purest sense, but he also understands reality: He makes obscene amounts of money playing a game. Super-rich athletes who gripe about money seldom get much sympathy — witness the outpouring of scorn when golfer Phil Mickelson recently complained that increased taxes on high earners, coupled with California’s high tax rates, might force him to make “drastic changes” in his playing schedule.
James also makes a fortune in endorsements, from companies ranging from Nike to Sprite to Samsung to Dunkin’ Donuts.
Still, the obvious question remains: Considering not only James’ impact on the Heat, but also his overall contribution to the entire NBA, how much money could James command on the open market if there were no league-imposed economic constraints?
“Per year, if there were no salary-cap restrictions, I think he’s worth well over $100 million, easy,” said Shane Battier, the Heat’s heady forward and former Duke University schoolmate of Heat CEO Nick Arison.
That’s $100 million per year.
It’s an audacious and historic number, but considering James’ recent run of play, it’s not complete fantasy. James is performing at a historic level of excellence. After thoroughly wiping the court in Oklahoma City on Thursday, scoring 39 points, pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out seven assists, James has scored at least 30 points in seven straight games.
The last player to accomplish that feat going into the All-Star break was Wilt Chamberlain back in 1963.
“This guy, LeBron James, he’s doing stuff that I’ve never seen,” said Hall of Famer Charles Barkley on Thursday night during TNT’s Inside the NBA. “He’s on another planet.”
Considering Barkley’s sharp criticism of James in the past, not to mention his history of going head-to-head with Michael Jordan during both men’s prime, that’s high praise.
But a market value of $100 million?
“Really, it boils down to the ego of an owner,” Battier said. “A lot of owners would pay just to have LeBron James on their team. I can think of a couple that would pay him, easily, nine figures per year.”
According to one numbers cruncher — John Vrooman, an economics professor at Vanderbilt University — Battier’s figure is an overestimation of James’ worth by about $60 million. Here is how his math works: Vrooman used an advanced metric known in the sports world as “win-share,” which assigns a number to each player on a team based on his contributions, both offensively and defensively, for a season. Last season, when James led the Heat to the championship, he had a win-share value of 14.5, which translates to 31.5 percent of the 2011-12 Heat’s 46 regular-season wins.
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