Preservation board to decide on Herald building

The city of Miami’s historic preservation office has compiled a lengthy, detailed report that substantially bolsters the case for designation of The Miami Herald’s “monumental’’ bayfront building as a protected landmark based on both its architectural merits and its historic significance.

Somewhat unusually, the 40-page report by city preservation officer Megan McLaughlin, which is supplemented by 30 pages of bibliography, plans and photographs, carries no explicit recommendation to the city’s preservation board, which is scheduled to decide the matter on Monday.

But her analysis gathers extensive evidence that the building’s history, the influential executives and editors associated with it, and its fusion of Mid-Century Modern and tropical Miami Modern (MiMo) design meet several of the legal criteria for designation set out in the city’s preservation ordinance and federal guidelines. A building has to meet just one of eight criteria to merit designation.

A spokeswoman for the city’s historic preservation office said there is no obligation to make a recommendation and the city’s preservation board didn’t ask for one.

Supporters of designation, including officials at Dade Heritage Trust, the preservation group that has received sometimes withering criticism from business and civic leaders for requesting designation, said they felt vindicated by the report, even as they concede that persuading a board majority to support it remains an uphill battle.

“It’s important that an objective expert is saying basically the same thing we’ve been saying, particularly in an environment where there is so much pressure,’’ said DHT chief executive Becky Roper Matkov. “It’s very hard to refute. When you look at the building’s architecture and history, it’s so blatantly historic, what else can you say?’’

The report also rebuts key pieces of criticism of the designation effort leveled by opponents of designation, including architects and a prominent local preservation historian hired by Genting, the Malaysian casino operator that purchased the Herald property last year for $236 million with plans to build a massive destination resort on its 10 acres. The newspaper remains in the building rent-free until April, when it will move to suburban Doral.

Citing federal rules, McLaughlin concluded that the building dates to its construction in 1960 and 1961, and not to its formal dedication in 1963. That’s significant because it makes the building legally older than 50 years. Buildings newer than that must be “exceptionally significant’’ to merit designation under city regulations. Opponents of designation have claimed the building does not qualify because it’s several months short of 50 years if dated from its ’63 opening.

The property also has a “minimal’’ baywalk at the rear but there is room to expand it, the report indicates. The building is considerably set back from the edge of Biscayne Bay, between 68 feet at the widest point and 23 feet at its narrowest, the report says. That’s comparable to what many new buildings provide, thanks in part to variances granted by the city, and could blunt criticism that the Herald building “blocks’’ public access to the bay.

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Zynga seeks real-money gambling license in Nevada

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Social games maker Zynga Inc said on Wednesday it filed a preliminary application to run real-money gambling games in Nevada, a significant step in cracking a complex but potentially massive new market that could resuscitate its faltering business.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board will now examine whether Zynga is fit to hold a gaming license that would allow gamblers in the state to bet real money on the San Francisco-based company’s popular games like Zynga Poker, which currently involve only virtual chips with no monetary value.

Zynga is hoping that a lucrative real-money market could make up for a steep slide in revenue from its games like “FarmVille” and other fading titles that still generate the bulk of its sales.

“We anticipate that the process will take approximately 12 to 18 months to complete,” Zynga Chief Revenue Officer Barry Cottle said in a statement. “As we’ve said previously, the broader U.S. market is an opportunity that’s further out on the horizon based on legislative developments, but we are preparing for a regulated market.”

Zynga, along with many major gaming industry players, is hoping that a tide of proposed legislation to regulate gaming could sweep through states across the U.S. and open a massive new online market.

Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey are among the states that have moved or are moving toward interactive gaming after the U.S. Justice Department last year declared that only online betting on sporting contests was unlawful, presenting the opportunity for states to legalize some forms of online gambling, from lotteries to poker.

Although widespread legalization of online gaming in the United States appears years away at the minimum, obtaining a license in Nevada would be a meaningful foot in the door for Zynga’s nationwide aspirations.

Zynga has told investors in recent quarters that a concerted move into real-money gaming could represent a hefty – and badly needed – source of new revenue for the company, which has seen revenues sag and its stock plummet by more than three-quarters in the past year as gamers abandoned titles like “CityVille.”

In October, the company slashed its 2012 full-year earnings outlook for the second time and laid off employees to trim costs, while CEO Mark Pincus implored investors to give him time to turn around the company by pursuing initiatives like real-money gaming.

That month, Zynga struck a deal with bwin.party, a Gibraltar-based gaming company, to provide real money casino games like poker and slots in the United Kingdom beginning in the first half of 2013.

(Reporting By Gerry Shih; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Double Take! Celebrity Lookalikes

Stephen Rannazzisi and David Boreanaz

Even celebrities have celebrity doppelgangers. ET has found the lookalikes to the stars, and turns out, it's their Hollywood peers. Click the pics and let us know if you think these celebs bare a resemblance to one another.

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Woman jumps out of third-floor window to escape 'rapist'

A sexual assault victim hurled herself out of a Brooklyn building’s third-floor window to escape her attacker early this morning and miraculously survived, sources said.

She landed in the backyard of a building on Putnam Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant and loudly screamed for help, a witness said.

“She cried out for an ambulance and the police,” a neighbor told The Post. “She cried that someone had been trying to rape her.”

Her desperate pleas woke everyone in the building at 5:53 a.m.

“The crash sounded crazy. She must have fallen into some trash cans or something because her landing was so loud. Then she kept screaming, ‘Help, help,’ over and over,” said Tiffany Sweeten, 25.

Theodore Parisienne

The building in Brooklyn where a potential sex-assault victim jumped out of a third-floor window to escape her attacker

Neighbors did not recognize the victim as someone who resided in their building, they said.

“I think she might have been visiting someone. I didn’t recognize her voice,” said Truman Sales, 55, who woke at the sound of hollering.

“It sounded like she was in a lot of pain,” he added.

A super in a neighboring building answered her entreaties, witnesses said, and called authorities for help.

She was taken to Kings County Hospital.

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Events showcase Miami’s growth as tech center

One by one, representatives from six startup companies walked onto the wooden stage and presented their products or services to a full house of about 200 investors, mentors, and other supporters Thursday at Incubate Miami’s DemoDay in the loft-like Grand Central in downtown Miami. With a large screen behind them projecting their graphs and charts, they set out to persuade the funders in the room to part with some of their green and support the tech community.

Just 24 hours later, from an elaborate “dojo stage,” a drummer warmed up the crowd of several hundred before a “Council of Elders” entered the ring to share wisdom as the all-day free event opened. Called TekFight, part education, part inspiration, and part entertainment, the tournament-style program challenged entrepreneurs to earn points to “belt up” throughout the day to meet with the “masters” of the tech community.

The two events, which kicked off Innovate MIA week, couldn’t be more different. But in their own ways, like a one-two punch, they exuded the spirit and energy growing in the startup community.

One of the goals of the TekFight event was to introduce young entrepreneurs and students to the tech community, because not everyone has found it yet and it’s hard to know where to start, said Saif Ishoof, the executive director of City Year Miami who co-founded TekFight as a personal project. And throughout the event, he and co-founder Jose Antonio Hernandez-Solaun, as well as Binsen J. Gonzalez and Jeff Goudie, wanted to find creative, engaging ways to offer participants access to some of the community’s most successful leaders.

That would include Alberto Dosal, chairman of CompuQuip Technologies; Albert Santalo, founder and CEO of CareCloud; Jorge Plasencia, chairman and CEO of Republica; Jaret Davis, co-managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig; and more than two dozen other business and community leaders who shared their war stories and offered advice. Throughout the day, the event was live-streamed on the Web, a TekFight app created by local entrepreneur and UM student Tyler McIntyre kept everyone involved in the tournament and tweets were flying — with #TekFight trending No. 1 in the Miami area for parts of the day. “Next time Art Basel will know not to try to compete with TekFight,” Ishoof quipped.

‘Miami is a hotbed’

After a pair of Chinese dragons danced through the audience, Andre J. Gudger, director for the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs, entered the ring. “I’ve never experienced an event like this,” Gudger remarked. “Miami is a hotbed for technology but nobody knew it.”

Gudger shared humorous stories and practical advice on ways to get technology ideas heard at the highest levels of the federal government. “Every federal agency has a director over small business — find out who they are,” he said. He has had plenty of experience in the private sector: Gudger, who wrote his first computer program on his neighbor’s computer at the age of 12, took one of his former companies from one to 1,300 employees.

There were several rounds that pitted an entrepreneur against an investor, such as Richard Grundy, of the tech startup Flomio, vs. Jonathan Kislak, of Antares Capital, who asked Grundy, “why should I give you money?”

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Police search for man who exposed himself to young girls in Southwest Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade Police are looking for a man wanted for lewd and lascivious exposure, investigators said Thursday.

“We’re working a couple of cases in the area where a gentleman seen in the sketch is exposing himself to children,” one detective told a concerned parent.

Yanitza Delgado was driving in the area of Southwest 80th St. and 154th Ave. Thursday when police approached her car.

“I think it’s very disgusting,” Delgado said. “I have a 12-year-old daughter. and then I have a 7-year-old. And I really think this is disgusting.”

Cops handed out a sketch and description of the man they said has been exposing himself to young girls in the vicinity of Southwest 72nd and 80th Streets from Southwest 142nd to 154th Avenues.

A 16-year-old girl walking in the neighborhood where cops were handing out flyers said she was a victim.

“I was walking, with my friend over here, and then he passes by, and he’s like ‘Oh, come here.’ And we’re like, ‘what?’ And he’s like, ‘you know where 152nd is?’ We’re like, ‘no.’ But we’re very distant. And when I look down, I see he has his pants down,” the girl said. She did not wish to be identified. “He just drove away laughing. We were very scared.”

Police provided two different sketched to the media, but only one sketch was used on the flyer.

Because they’re dealing with multiple victims, descriptions of the man vary, police said.

Police believe they’re looking for a Hispanic male between 20 and 30 years old.

They said he has short, black hair, brown eyes, and may or may not have a goatee.

It’s a vague description, but they’re hoping handing out fliers will generate some leads.

“I’m so worried,” parent Ana Escobar said. “You know, because, my two daughters they train in that tennis courts right there.”

Investigators said they started receiving reports of lewd and lascivious exposure back in March.

The victim who spoke to CBS 4 News said she saw the man last year but never reported it to cops.

Thursday, she told them her story. She said she hopes it leads to an arrest.

“I’m very glad ’cause at least we can get justice with this man,” the girl said.

Police said the man may be driving a Silver Toyota Corolla sedan or a similar vehicle.

If you think you recognize the suspect, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477) or visit  www.crimestoppers.com and select “Give a Tip.” You can also send a text message to 274637. Enter CSMD followed by the tip information and press send.

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Nurse Who Took Hoax Call at Kate's Hospital Dies

A nurse who accepted a prank phone call during Kate Middleton's stay in the hospital this week has been found dead.

The nurse -- identified by King Edward VII's Hospital in London as Jacintha Saldanha -- was found unconscious Friday morning and could not be revived by emergency personnel. Saldanha was pronounced dead at a residence building or nurses near the hospital and police were treating the death as unexplained, but not suspicious.

RELATED: Prince Charles 'Thrilled' About Kate's Pregnancy

Multiple British media reports said Saldanha was a nurse who initially accepted the call from two Australian DJs who were pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, but not the nurse who later provided details to the radio personalities about Kate Middleton's condition.

A statement on Saldanha's death was issued on behalf of Prince William and Kate. "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha. Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha's family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time."

RELATED: Kate Middleton's Hospital Apologizes for Prank

The hospital -- which had apologized earlier this week for being duped by the hoax phone call -- also expressed "deep sadness" at the news and called Saldanha "an excellent and well-respected nurse" who was popular with her colleagues.

"We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to
the hospital. The hospital had been supporting her throughout this
difficult time," the statement said. "This is a tragic event. Jacintha
was a first class nurse who cared diligently for hundreds of patients
during her time with us. She will be greatly missed."

The royal palace announced on Monday that Kate Middleton was pregnant and was being treated in the hospital for hyperemesis gravidarum, a more severe form of the nausea and vomiting that normally accompanies the early stages of pregnancy. She was released from the hospital on Thursday.

PICS: Kate Middleton, Style Icon!

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City blames Hurricane Sandy for latest bike share program delay

Now they’re blaming Sandy.

The city announced today that its long-delayed bike share program — which was initially supposed to open over the summer — is being pushed back yet again, this time because of storm-damage to equipment.

The Department of Transportation said that 5,500 bikes will be implemented in 293 stations will be launched in May.

Eventually, the system will include 10,000 bikes, although officials remain mum about when that will be.

The privately-funded public program — which will not use any tax paper dollars — had been scheduled to begin in March after software problems delayed its summer kick-off.

Dan Brinzac

Bikes that will eventually be part of the city's new program are seen during the press conference where Mayor Bloomberg announced it.

The latest set-back came after Hurricane Sandy caused flooding at the bike share’s facility at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where two-thirds of the equipment was stored.

Although the bikes mostly made it through unscathed, the flooding damaged some electrical components, which must be replaced.

“DOT has worked around the clock to restore vital transportation links following the storm and that includes putting Citi Bike on the road to recovery,” said DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

“Despite the damage, New York will have the nation’s largest bike share system up and running this spring.”

Transportation Alternatives — a mass transit advocacy group that strongly supports the program — said it’s better late that never.

“Every day, a new cost is added to the toll of [Sandy’s] destruction, and the damage to the bike share equipment is merely the latest,” it said in a statement.

“We’re thankful the storm spared so much of the equipment and grateful to see the program will still launch in the spring.”

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com

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There’s lots of brand buzz during Art Basel

Cartier, Bugatti, and Perrier-Jouët are iconic luxury brands that you expect to find showcasing their products during Art Basel and the related art events.

AriZona Beverages and Sears don’t have the same aura.

But this week they’re all on the same playing field at Art Basel, Design Miami, and all the related art fairs. With thousands of people converging for this week’s art events, everyone wants to get their brands in front of consumers.

If you’re in Miami this week, chances are you’ll encounter AriZona’s new Lemon Fizz, a joint collaboration with artist Richard Prince. The sparkling lemon soda comes in pop art-inspired cans featuring representations of Prince’s Nurse and Jokes paintings. Prince’s art has been showcased at the fair, so Miami seemed like a logical place to launch the new product.

This week a couple thousand cases of Lemon Fizz will be consumed in Miami. You’ll find the drink at more than 50 locations, including VIP parties, hotels, art galleries, restaurants, and bars. HaVen Gastro-Lounge is even offering a free “Fresh Prince” cocktail for Happy Hour.

“Basel is an international event that brings a culturally significant audience with a lot of influencers and fashion mavens,” said Jackie Harrigan, global communications director for AriZona. “You want to get your brand in front of as many eyeballs as you can and hope that brand recognition is going to last. A lot of people can’t afford a Richard Prince piece of art and this allows them to have a part of it.”

Sears is much more of a stretch. There’s no artist connection. The retailer hopes to take advantage of fashion influencers in town for Basel and reach out to them through a blogger conference Friday dubbed “searsStyle Presents: Art of Fashion.”

“We believe the event will help us increase consideration and awareness for the great portfolio of fashion brands we have created at Sears,” Sheila Field, chief marketing officer of Sears Apparel said in a statement.

The way brands choose to connect with consumers can take many forms. For some — such as Swiss banking giant UBS, Absolut Vodka, and Davidoff — it’s a formal sponsorship of Art Basel.

For brands where art is a part of their heritage, many take the opportunity to bring their involvement with Art Basel and the related events to life through sponsorship of an artist or a specialty piece.

In the Art Collector Lounge at Art Basel you’ll find an oversized version of the Miroir ice bucket, a piece created by French designer Hervé Van der Straeten in a partnership with Ruinart Champagne. The piece is part of the artist’s desire to turn ordinary objects into works of art. A few limited-edition versions are available at the Christofle store in Bal Harbour.

“The people that come to Basel are spot-on our target audience,” said Nicolas Ricroque, U.S. brand director for Ruinart, an Art Basel sponsor. “They are extremely sophisticated and knowledgeable in wine and art. They are people who appreciate beautiful things.”

Hermes invited visitors to their new Miami Design District store to view COULEURS DE L’OMBRE by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. This is only the third time that a contemporary artist has been invited to re-image the silk square of the traditional Hermes scarf.

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State lawmakers cautious about projected $437 million budget surplus

TALLAHASSEE --
Initial, positive indications about Florida’s budget for the coming fiscal year could be overtaken by events if the Florida Supreme Court strikes down changes to state employees or the nation plunges over the fiscal cliff, the state’s top economist warned Wednesday.

Speaking to the first meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Amy Baker — coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research — told lawmakers that the current projection of a $436.8 million budget surplus could still change.

"I think the message is that this is not a large cushion," Baker said. "It could evaporate on you if economic circumstances turn against us."

Lawmakers have long watched a decision in the case challenging a 2011 law that required employees to contribute 3 percent of their income to their retirement funds, along with other changes. It could cost the state around $2 billion if the Supreme Court strikes down the law.

A Leon County circuit court judge voided the changes for employees hired before July 1, 2011; justices seemed hesitant about upholding that ruling at oral arguments earlier this year.

But Baker said the so-called "fiscal cliff," a package of federal spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect on Jan. 1 unless Congress and President Barack Obama can reach agreement, also looms large.

If there is a long delay in reaching a deal — one that stretches past January and into March — it could cost the state as much as $375 million, Baker said, comparing it to the debt-ceiling fight in August 2011 that dragged down the state economy.

Even if there is an agreement, it is likely to include some measures that will reduce estimated state income by hundreds of millions of dollars, Baker said.

"There is no likelihood that Florida will escape from the final decision with no changes to our budget," Baker said.

The uncertainty has pushed lawmakers who are optimistic about the numbers to nonetheless urge caution. Senate Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, told the committee that he wanted to boost the budget stabilization fund, one of the state’s reserves, to $1.5 billion. That’s at least $500 million over where the fund is projected to be, Negron said.

After the meeting, Negron told reporters that might be as much as the Legislature can do.

"You can never have too much in a reserve, but realistically I think $1.5 billion is a reasonable target to shoot for," he said.

Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said the situation should send a message to advocates for various state agencies in the audience.

"They need to be on notice that there is a lot of uncertainty out there and that this budget if these two things come to fruition is going to be very, very difficult to put together," Thrasher said. "And I think either one of them could devastating to us."

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