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Florida coalition targets pending federal pollution rules

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Curtis Morgan - Nov. 23 (News Report) - The target: A settlement a federal judge in Tallahassee approved last week in a lawsuit brought by five environmental groups against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It requires that federal regulators, for the first time, step in and set a state's water quality standards for nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that flow into waterways from fertilized lawns, sewage plants, farms fields, cattle pastures and a host of other sources.

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Love, honor ... and blog: Musings on marriage are surprise hit - Love & Relationships

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By Ana Veciano-Suarez - Oct. 14 (News) - Couple in Miami is finding surprise success in blogging about happiness.

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Women getting short end of health coverage

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By David Lightman - Oct. 07 (Special Report) - Women of child-bearing age routinely pay more for healthcare because they're women. If they're pregnant, they can be legally denied coverage. Women face other problems in today's insurance market: They tend to need more preventive care and therefore are subject to more co-pays and deductibles, and single heads of households are often women, meaning they're responsible for the family's healthcare bills. Legislation now being considered by Congress to overhaul America's healthcare system would dramatically change the rules, and there's general agreement that this is a problem that needs fixing.

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A nuclear Iran: The world was warned

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By Uri Dromi - Oct. 02 (Opinion) - A uranium enrichment facility nobody knew of suddenly emerges in the sacred city of Qom, Iran launches missiles that can threaten not only U.S. targets in the Persian gulf, but also Israel and southern Europe, and now the world panics. Surprised? Not if you're an Israeli. For years we have been sounding the alarm, only to be told to stop crying wolf. Now we are asked to lie low and let the responsible leaders of the world take care of the situation.

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Fear was no excuse to condone torture

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By Charles C. Krulak, Joseph P. Hoar - Sep. 15 (Opinion) - In the fear that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Americans were told that defeating Al Qaeda would require us to ``take off the gloves.'' As a former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps and a retired commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command, we knew that was a recipe for disaster. But we never imagined that we would feel duty-bound to publicly denounce a vice president of the United States, a man who has served our country for many years. In light of the irresponsible statements recently made by former Vice President Dick Cheney, however, we feel we must repudiate his dangerous ideas -- and his scare tactics.

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Cutting arts funding a bad investment

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By Lorenzo Lebrija - Sep. 06 (Opinion) - Tough work began this week. When Miami-Dade County commissioners met for the first budget hearing Thursday, they needed to find a way to bridge a budget gap of more than $400 million. It won't be easy, and every expense should be evaluated. Among the cuts proposed by Mayor Carlos Alvarez in his budget is a slashing of $11 million to the arts in Miami-Dade. The argument being that when compared with basic social services, the arts just don't measure up. Of course they don't -- this is akin to comparing a grand piano to a house cat.

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Medicaid-fraud informants to be rewarded with Pfizer settlement - Business

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By Nirvi Shah - Sep. 06 (News) - State authorities will use Pfizer settlement money to reward Medicaid fraud informants. The rest will go to Medicaid and the general fund.

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In Chile, the birds are dying, and no one knows why

Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By Gideon Long - May. 19 (Special Report) - Chilean scientists are investigating three mysterious ecological disasters that have caused the deaths of hundreds of penguins, millions of sardines and about 2,000 baby flamingos in the past few months.

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Job figures not as bad as feared

Sat, 09 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By Kevin G. Hall - May. 09 (News Report) - Even as those numbers were seen as trending positive, they were offset by the uptick of the unemployment rate to 8.9 percent, the highest level since 1983, from 8.5 percent in March. State unemployment figures lag the national numbers, and Florida's April unemployment statistics will be released May 22.

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Invest in education, reform loan program - Editorials

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - May. 08 (Editorial) - With the cost of a college education soaring all over the country, including in Florida, reforming college-loan plans is taking on a new urgency. Fortunately, there is a proposal on the table that won't be a burden on taxpayers and could ease the staggering debt load for young people entering the workplace. This should be a no-brainer for Congress. When it comes to legislation, though, nothing is ever easy.

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Three households learn to stretch a buck

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By James H. Burnett III - Apr. 20 (Special Report) - Three families agreed to track their spending for one month and share their budgets -- and savings tips -- with us. What we found with each household were four common denominators: simple lifestyles, a knack for bargain shopping, restraint, and use of credit cards only for the most extreme emergencies.

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How we betrayed the rule of law for the fool's gold of security

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - By Leonard Pitts Jr. - Apr. 03 (Opinion) - People came out of the McCarthy era marveling at how easily fear and paranoia had stampeded us into surrendering principles that are supposed to define us. Mark my words: We will look back on this era the same way.

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Florida Marlins stadium financing needs a tourism rally

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Douglas Hanks - Mar. 04 (News Report) - The Miami Herald analysis found that the next two years are crucial for the stadium financing plan, with modest revenue dips causing shortfalls a decade later -- even if the county's future growth forecasts are correct. For example, should hotel taxes defy the plan's prediction of a flat 2010 and instead drop another 3 percent next year, the lost revenue would leave Miami-Dade needing an extra $17 million for the ballpark bonds two decades from now.

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`Liberty City' comes alive in one-woman show

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Christine Dolen - Feb. 26 (Review) - After a New York Theatre Workshop premiere a year ago, April Yvette Thompson and her solo show Liberty City have come home to share a rollicking, sobering look at life in her old Miami neighborhood in the late '70s. The script, which Thompson crafted with director/coauthor Jessica Blank, blends fact and imagination in its depiction of her extended family and friends, an only-in-Miami blend of African-Americans, folks from the Bahamas and people with Cuban roots.

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Miami courthouse plaque offers apology for racial injustice

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By David Ovalle - Feb. 25 (News Report) - At a ceremony Tuesday, the Dade County Bar Association formally apologized for the two fountains -- stark reminders that the courthouse was once segregated, and that racism was woven into Miami-Dade's legal roots. ''One fountain was restricted to whites. One fountain was restricted to African Americans,'' said lawyer Joseph Serota, who helped lead a courthouse renovation that focused fresh attention on the water fountains.

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GOP seethes over Charlie Crist's stimulus-plan support

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Adam C. Smith - Feb. 13 (News Report) - As Democrats lavish praise on Florida's Republican governor for enthusiastically supporting their economic stimulus package, Republicans are questioning whether Crist damaged his future. ''I don't think he's helped any national Republican ambitions he may have by stepping up to the plate and batting for the other team. . . . There's a difference between working in a bipartisan way for the common good and switching sides and putting on the other team's jersey,'' said veteran Republican consultant Alex Castellanos. ``At the one moment when we've finally found our voice and remember who we are as Republicans, Charlie Crist forgets. It's stunning.''

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Miami-Dade schools can yank book on Cuba

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Kathleen McGrory, Jay Weaver, Jennifer Lebovich - Feb. 06 (News Report) - A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Miami-Dade School Board did not violate the Constitution in 2006 when it removed a controversial children's book about Cuba from the public schools' library system. In a 2-1 decision, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said the board did not breach the First Amendment, and ordered a Miami federal judge to lift a preliminary injunction that had allowed Vamos a Cuba to be checked out from school libraries. The majority opinion supported the School Board's authority to set educational standards in Miami-Dade, saying the bilingual book, part of a library series on 24 nations, presented an ''inaccurate'' view of life in Cuba under its former leader, Fidel Castro.

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Miami-Dade schools chief unveils budget plans

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Kathleen McGrory - Feb. 05 (News Report) - Miami-Dade Schools Chief Alberto Carvalho on Wednesday unveiled a plan to save the district $56 million -- and balance the budget -- before the fiscal year ends in June. The proposal, discussed at a meeting with The Miami Herald's editorial board, includes $21 million in cuts to nonschool spending and $8 million in cuts to schools. Carvalho also said he would ask employees to defer payment for an unspecified number of work days until the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. The overall savings to this year's budget from the deferred payments would be $27 million. ''We believe we've found a solution that protects educational programs and the workforce and provides financial viability for the school system,'' Carvalho said. But the plan may meet resistance from the teachers union, United Teachers of Dade President Karen Aronowitz said.

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Coral Springs school accused of fraud over vouchers

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Nirvi Shah, Hannah Sampson - Jan. 31 (News Report) - More than 300 disabled students who attend a Coral Springs private school using public money can no longer use those vouchers to pay their tuition because the state said Friday the school has committed fraud. The Florida Department of Education filed a complaint against Academy High School on Friday, claiming the school forged parents' signatures to claim state money, sent one student fake report cards and even withheld some students' diplomas to keep them on the attendance list. Academy High's access to state money has been cut off. The school has about 460 students, and 337 of them use state vouchers, known as McKay Scholarships, to pay their tuition. Academy High President Nina Kaufman did not return phone messages seeking comment Friday.

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Financial 'missionaries' preach smart money

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By James H. Burnett III - Jan. 28 (Special Report) - These days, the need is apparently growing in the continental United States, where a steadily increasing number of churches and religious groups are ordaining ''financial missionaries'' and ''stewardship pastors,'' whose job is not the spreading of gospel. Rather, their mission is to preach and teach money management and financial salvation in tough economic times.

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Broward teachers learn a lesson from an 11-year-old

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Kathleen McGrory - Jan. 27 (News Report) - Adora teaches class through the Web practically every day. She is enrolled in an online public school so she can spend her mornings instructing others. She delivers her online lessons from a professional-quality studio her parents built in the basement of their home. Adora commands between $250 and $300 per 50-minute lesson, her mother, Joyce Svitak, said. But she often gives discounts or offers free lessons for schools that can't afford to pay her fee. Adora first began working with the Broward school district two months ago. School officials asked her to speak to students at Fort Lauderdale's Sunland Park Elementary, one of the district's chronically failing schools. ''It started out as an experiment with Sunland Park Elementary, just to see if she could motivate the students in reading or writing,'' said Joy Veasy, who heads the district's distance learning programs. ''It was so successful that I brought her back on again to give a workshop for our elementary school teachers,'' Veasy said.

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Doctor gets 30 years in Medicare fraud case

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Jay Weaver - Dec. 18 (News Report) - Insisting she was not guilty of Medicare fraud, a convicted Miami physician sobbed Wednesday as she begged a federal judge for mercy. Instead, she got a 30-year prison sentence. U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno hammered Dr. Ana Alvarez-Jacinto, 54, with one of the stiffest punishments ever for a Medicare fraud offender. She was convicted in October of writing phony prescriptions at a clinic for HIV patients in an $11 million scam against the nation's health insurance program. Moreno said his stiff sentence was meant in part as a ''deterrent'' to Medicare fraud perpetrators in Miami-Dade County, recognized as the nation's capital of healthcare corruption. Alvarez-Jacinto's 30-year sentence dwarfs the average sentence -- 2 ½ years, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Miami. She likely will spend the rest of her life in prison because there's no parole in the federal system.

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Cuba's revolution at 50: gains fade, despair endures

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Frances Robles - Dec. 15 (Special Report) - As the Jan. 1 anniversary of the revolution's triumph approaches, many of the social welfare achievements that were the trophies of the communist regime have rusted. Years of failed economic policy, waves of mass exodus, and Cuba's inability to recover from the collapse of its patron, the Soviet Union, have dulled Castro's touted crown jewels -- the advances in health and education.

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Is Barack Obama's idea-gathering website just for show?

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - By Frank Greve - Dec. 11 (News Report) - Want to join a policy debate? Your e-mail will appear on change.gov. Readers then rate your submission using icons whose thumbs are up or down. Submissions that are deemed the best rise to the top of the screen. To proponents, these efforts by Obama's team to build a Web-based network of support can democratize the government anew. To skeptics, however, change.gov is little more than a clever public-relations device, a way to keep Obama's fans revved up about him and give them the illusion of influence. ''Change.gov is obviously fantastic,'' said tech-prognosticator Clay Shirky, the author of the book Here Comes Everybody, an upbeat prediction of what networked people can accomplish.

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Turning reality, truth inside out

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Miami Herald - Dec. 09 (Editorial) - In a speech last week, Mr. Bush said the Middle East is a freer, more hopeful place today than when he took office in 2001. He said the threat from terrorist groups like al Qaeda has been curtailed and that Iran faces greater pressure from the international community than ever before. Mr. Bush described his Mideast policies as ``ambitious in vision, bold in action and firm in purpose.''... Mr. Bush's vision may have been ambitious and his plan bold, but history will record that he utterly failed to meet those objectives. His administration emboldened America's enemies, put Israel's security at greater risk, mired the U.S. military in an endless occupation and diminished America's prestige around the globe. No pixie dust can change that reality.

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