News

An all-star roster of politicians rallied in North Miami Beach Sunday night in support of Israel.

Those in attendance included Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Broward Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

The past couple of years have been difficult for the state's real estate market-- particularly in South Florida. However, real estate agents now say that Miami's market is finally booming after years of a lull.

According to Bloomberg News,

The proposal to build mega-casinos in South Florida never made it to a final vote in the last session of the Florida Legislature. Now it looks like the issue may not be coming up again for at least another year.

Senate President Don Gaetz is setting up a new committee to examine Florida gambling which he says is both over- and under-regulated. But Gaetz is considered an opponent of gambling and he's in no hurry to pass a casino gambling bill.

A small group of fans recently gathered at the Marlins' new half-billion dollar stadium in Miami's Little Havana to protest in both in Spanish and in English. They want new owners after the team's latest purge: the trade of All-Stars Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson to the Blue Jays in return for seven mostly unknown players.

The move, which came after the team finished in last place, will save the Marlins more than $160 million in future payroll obligations. It comes within a year of the Marlins' move into their new, mostly taxpayer-funded stadium.

Everyone knows that the some of the busiest shopping days of year are in full force. Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so much of South Florida will spend their next few days buying things.

For those who would prefer doing something other than shopping, fear not! 

Here are some things you can do this weekend:

One of Palm Beach County's oldest public schools is hoping to become one of Florida's greenest.

Pollsters call him "highly vulnerable" and his approvals remain in the cellar, but Gov. Rick Scott's reelection campaign treasury is beginning to fill up.

Hurricane Sandy might have dealt South Florida only a glancing blow, but the monster storm left its mark on the region's beaches.

From Miami Beach to northern Palm Beach County, widespread beach erosion can be seen in many coastal communities.   Palm Beach County environmental director Dan Bates says parts of the county unprotected by the natural buffer of the Bahamas got hit hard.

President Obama announced last week that his administration would back off on a part of the health care reform law (which is currently being rolled out in full force) that would have allowed insurers in  small group markets to charge smokers a 50-percent higher premium than nonsmokers.

The catch: smokers have to prove they are trying to quit.

Kaiser Health News reports,

Former Gov. Charlie Crist is taking fire from the Republican press release machine now that speculation is growing that he'll challenge Gov. Rick Scott as a Democrat in 2014.

The AP and Sarasota Herald-Tribune suggest there's an angry personal element to this that transcends ordinary politics, probably because Crist was once a Republican governor and the darling of his party. But now he's a cheating rat.

South Florida shoppers wiped the turkey gravy off their lips and got in line to shop last night as Black Friday morphed backward into Thursday to kick off an ever-earlier Christmas shopping season.

Lines for the early deals began forming before sundown on Thanksgiving and the scenes at the big boxes and malls grew more hectic and even chaotic overnight.

Now that the newly elected state lawmakers are sworn in, their agenda for the 2013 session will follow soon afterwards. We have a look at what's being proposed for veterans. 

WLRN-Miami Herald News has more.

Hitting the malls on Thanksgiving night is becoming more common in South Florida. Stores are offering more than sales to entice shoppers away from the dinner table. 

Details from WLRN-Miami Herald News. 

Long before there were TV cooking networks, there were cooking segments and Art Ginsberg as "Mr. Food" was arguably the most popular one in the country.

An internal investigation of Citizens Property Insurance in Florida, a government-run home insurer of last resort and the state's largest insurer, found that the company has a sordid history of sex scandals, cover-ups and big spending. 

Recently, Citizens has gotten a lot of scrutiny because it has been consistently hiking up premiums or removing coverage from large numbers of people in the state.

However, a recent investigation found that the problems with the 10 year-old not-for-profit insurer starts with the people running the show over there in Tallahassee.

UR1 Music & Arts Festival is following in line with the newest trend for South Florida music festivals.  

It goes like this: announce a huge show with a killer line up.  The people get hyped, and buy tickets.  Then, with the festival just a few days away, make a big announcement.

The show has been canceled.

Florida Senate President Don Gaetz was sworn in Tuesday along with his plans to move ethics reform forward in the  Legislature this year.

Gaetz has said in the past that he will make anti-corruption measures for state lawmakers a focus of his leadership in the Senate. In the past, bills aimed at passing ethics reform have failed in the Florida Senate.

Howevever, Gaetz has already made good on his promise to change ethics rules by changing some Florida Senate rules.

A non-profit investigative news site found an interesting link between whom a state voted for in this election and the rate of traffic deaths there.

According to FairWarning, a state that voted for President Obama in this past election (a blue state) is likely to have fewer deathly traffic accidents compared with  a state that went for Mitt Romney in November (a red state).

The news outlet also reports that there is really no concrete explanation as to why there is this red state-blue state divide when it comes to traffic deaths.

The shrieks of horror and howls of grief are dying away on Capitol Hill as defeated representatives and senators accept their fates and pack for the long ride home to find real jobs.

Fifteen-year-old Jordyn Alexander Howe boarded the school bus with a loaded gun in his backpack. He pulled it out, it went off and fatally wounded fellow student Lourdes Guzman-DeJesus, 13.

Miami-Dade police say the shooting on a charter school bus in Homestead was an accident. Howe was charged with manslaughter and carrying a concealed firearm. He spent the night at the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center.

There's more trouble for state-run Citizens Property Insurance.

Investigators look into lavish spending, misuse of resources and other ethical lapses.

Gov. Rick Scott has asked his Chief Inspector General to investigate Citizens after all four people in the company's ethics office were fired.

Miami-Dade police have charged a 15-year-old boy with manslaughter in the shooting death of a 13-year-old girl on a school bus.

Listen to the file above for details.

The Allen West - Patrick Murphy Congressional standoff is now over. The one-term congressman came close to winning the new District 18 that he had to move to run in, but not close enough, so he conceded today on Fox News. West maintains there were enough ballot irregularities to warrant a close look. And there is no disputing there were voting problems in St. Lucie County. The outgoing GOP Congressman gave no definitive plans for his future. Winner Patrick Murphy has already been through freshman orientation in Washington. 

Even though activists were sure earned sick pay would be an easy fight in Miami-Dade, a proposal that required employers to give earned sick pay to all workers died on first reading in a county commission meeting Tuesday.

The Miami Herald's Patricia Mazzei tweeted the vote count:

Earned sick time legislation at Miami-Dade commission failed 8-4. In favor: Edmonson, Jordan, Monestime, Suarez.

The Marlins latest fire sale is official: Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig approved the trade of 5 of the team’s top players.  

Good reading for your holiday plane ride: Businessweek's studious indictment of the Transportation Security Administration and the entire post-9/11 homeland security apparatus.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-FL, gave reporters some details about what the GOP version of the Dream Act might look like recently.

Many of the service workers at South Florida's busiest airport for Thanksgiving holiday travel say they can't afford a traditional Thanksgiving dinner this year.

About 60 members of a local airport workers' union held a rally Monday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to try to persuade airline contractors to pay them higher wages.

The Workers

The United States Southern Command has a new boss.