Schools Fix Is In

Bob McManus So now it’s up to state Education Commissioner John King and his band of Albany bureaucrats to chum up an effective New York City teacher-evaluation system?With all due respect to the commissioner: Not bloody likely.And Gov. Cuomo, the architect of this latest scheme to coerce the United Federation of Teachers into doing...

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National Hotel nears end of long renovation

A panel of frosted glass puts everything in perspective for Delphine Dray as she oversees a years-long, multi-million dollar renovation project at the National Hotel on Miami Beach.“Chez Claude and Simone,” says the piece of glass stationed between the lobby and restaurant, a reference to Dray’s parents, who bought the hotel in 2007. “Every time I am exhausted and I pass...

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Police: Multiple people shot in Miami

Multiple people were shot Wednesday night in Miami near Southwest 24th Street and 26th Avenue, according to Miami police. The victims were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital.Police could not confirm how many people were shot or the extent of the injuries. This story will be updated as more information becomes available. ...

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Inside Robin Roberts First Day Back at Good Morning America

After 174 days away for treatment of a rare blood and marrow disorder, Robin Roberts made her triumphant return to Good Morning America on Wednesday, and only ET was invited behind the scenes of the emotional taping.ET cameras rolled as Roberts took her first steps back inside GMA's Times Square studio where, after a successful morning back, Rob Marciano sat down for a chat with the recovering host.Related:...

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Doling out dollars for downton

The Issue: The success of “Downton Abbey,” and whether it’s cause to end public funding of PBS. ***The editorial “Downton Abbey’s Welfare” (Feb. 16) is rather misleading.The American taxpayer in no way resembles Cora’s family, bailing out the Granthams and Downton Abbey. On the contrary, taxpayer dollars to public television amount to $1.35 per American,...

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Caribbean cell phone company asks South Florida relatives to buy minutes for family back home

An Irish billionaire’s telecommunications company, which has revolutionized cell phone usage in some of the world’s poorest countries, is bringing it’s latest marketing pitch to South Florida.Digicel is tapping into South Florida’s close ties to Haiti and Jamaica in a campaign that asks families stateside to send minutes home.Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien has staked a claim...

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Cops, robbers and cameras

Hialeah deploys license-tag-reading cameras in its fight on crimeThe Hialeah Police Department is installing cameras at eight key intersections and equipping an undercover patrol with four high-definition cameras to snap photos of the license plates of thousands of vehicles a day — not to catch red-light runners but in a controversial attempt to stem the wave of robberies...

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Empire State of decline

Bob McManus Did Gov. Cuomo’s $2 billion millionaires’ tax hike of 15 months ago pinch off the public purse as a cash source for election-year spending sprees?So it would seem. Certainly nobody’s talking direct tax increases as New York’s two-year municipal/state election cycle proceeds.But that leaves the indirect route, a well-traveled...

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Best photo apps for Android devices

Whether you want to slap a simple filter on your photo or get granular and change attributes like color levels and saturation, we’ve got a list of the Android apps you’ll want to use. Snapseed The good: With its unique gesture-based interface, this offers an incredible level of control over its effects and filters. The bad: The tools and interface aren’t...

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Inauguration poet Richard Blanco back in Miami for reading

The South Miami engineer who became the youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration – and the first openly gay, as well as the first Hispanic to do so – is glad to be back home where his historic journey began.“I really, really missed Miami,” said Richard Blanco, 44, during a phone interview on Monday from his mother’s Miami home. He is visiting from his home in...

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