Carnival cruise ship in Gulf of Mexico to be towed after engine fire

A Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico with 3,000 passengers onboard will be towed to port after an engine fire Sunday morning left it drifting, a cruise line official said,

The fire occurs in the engine room of the Carnival Triumph, which is owned by the Miami-based company.

The fire left the ship with no propulsion, the cruise line says, CNN is reporting.

There were no injuries reported. Passengers and crew have food, water and electricity from generators. Another Carnival ship, the Elation, is transferring more food and drinks onto the Triumph

The cruise ship was in waters off the Yucatan Peninsula, heading back to Galveston, Tx., when the fire occurred, said Astevia Gonzalez from the Carnival Cruises family support team.

The ship's automatic fire extinguishing system kicked in and soon contained the blaze.

The fire still left the ship passengers and 1,000 crew members drifting about 150 miles off the Mexican coast, the cruise line said in a statement.

"The ship's technical crew has determined the vessel will need to be towed to port," Carnival said around 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday, CNN said. "A tugboat is en route to the ship's location and will tow the vessel to Progreso, Mexico, which is the closest port."

According to Gonzalez, the ship is expected to arrive in port Wednesday.

After they are towed to Progreso, those aboard the Carnival Triumph will be flown back to the United States at no cost to them, the cruise line said.

They will also get a full refund, credit that can be used toward a future trip and reimbursement for all expenses — except casino and gift shop purchases — for their current trip.

The vessel's next two departures, scheduled for Monday and Saturday, have been canceled. Those slated to be on those trips will get full refunds and discounts toward future cruises, the cruise line said.

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Miami-Dade mayor disappointed at Major League Baseball over All-Star Game

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez was swept into office in part because of his opposition to the public financing for the Marlins’ new baseball stadium.

But that doesn’t mean he was happy when Major League Baseball awarded the 2015 All-Star Game to Cincinnati. Marlins President David Samson said last year he hoped to host the game, continuing a streak of All-Star games at new ballparks. That was before the team decimated its roster and chopped its payroll after last season.

After MLB Commissioner Bud Selig made the Cincinnati announcement last month, Gimenez sent him a letter expressing his disappointment. And the mayor phoned Selig last week, according to Gimenez’s calendar.

“[N]ow that the facility is built and operating, it is my responsibility to ensure its greatest benefit to our residents,” Gimenez wrote.

“Public sentiment regarding the Stadium is at an all-time low, and now we are further disappointed by the recent announcement...[I]t is clear that Miami has been benched once again, this time by Major League Baseball.”

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In South Florida, canceled flights leave Northeasteners stranded

Northeasterners taking cold weather respite in South Florida right before the storm scrambled when they faced flight cancellations and couldn’t get home.

At Miami International Airport, 30 to 40 flights had been canceled as of Friday night. At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, 69 flights were canceled and 31 were delayed.

Despite the cancellations, Greg Chin, a spokesman for Miami International Airport, said it looked like a normal day.

“I think the word got out about the storm early enough for people to make other plans,” he said. “It wasn’t a surprise to anybody.”

Several South Florida hotels had lobbies bustling with travelers who needed to extend their stays.

The Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale was busier than usual, with guests staying longer to avoid the storms, while The Delano Hotel in Miami Beach was sold out and had to turn away guests needing a room for a few more days.

South Florida events continued as planned, with a few exceptions. A jazz show featuring band 3 Cohens in the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center had to cancel for Feb. 9 because of the storm.

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Stranded python hunters rescued from Broward Everglades

Two python hunters were rescued Thursday afternoon by Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue after they became stranded and disoriented in the Everglades.

According to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles, a call came in shortly before 4 p.m. that the hunters, 22 and 25 years old and from Tennessee, were stranded 15 miles west of U.S. 27 near the Broward-Palm Beach County line.

“It doesn’t seem like they were familiar with the area,” Jachles said. “They underestimated the conditions. We had temperature in the 80s. “

The men, suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, complained of lightheadedness and weakness when air rescue located them. They were taken two miles from where they were found and treated by firefighters and paramedics.

“Fortunately our helicopter and rescue crews got to them before it would have gotten much worse,” Jachles said.

The victims, thought to be staying in their car, refused to be taken to a hospital for further treatment.

Jachles could not confirm that they were taking part in the ongoing “Python Challenge,” which began last month and offers cash prizes to hunters who kill the most, and longest, Burmese pythons, which have infested the Everglades in recent years.

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Judge angered after learning mentally ill Miami man was placed in assisted living facility, and escaped

After Cristobal Abreu was arrested for stabbing a Hialeah SWAT officer with a large BBQ fork in December 2009, doctors deemed his mind too ravaged by mental illness to stand trial.

For years, he bounced around mental health facilities.

Then a stay at a Miami Gardens assisted living facility, where funds for his medications ran out and his mental state deteriorated, ended last month when the 72-year-old Abreu was shipped without a judge’s permission to Jackson North Medical Center.

Then last week, a Jackson case worker — again, without permission from the court — sent him to an ALF in Little Havana. He promptly escaped.

“I’m free! I’m free,” Abreu yelled as he shuffled away from the San Martin de Porras facility Tuesday, according to lawyers and court personnel who aired the episode over two days in court this week.

Abreu’s ping-ponging treatment has drawn the ire of Circuit Judge Ellen Sue Venzer, who has now ordered hospital and state-contracted mental health administrators to court Friday to explain what happened.

“The system is broken,” Venzer said angrily in court this week, adding: “What would have happened if Mr. Abreu had decompensated and gone out and hurt somebody else in our community?”

Abreu’s escape was short-lived: police quickly detained him, committing him back to Jackson Memorial Hospital for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation.

The unusual episode underscores what mental health advocates in Miami-Dade’s criminal justice system say has been a reoccurring problem: “incompetent” defendants are often shuffled between facilities without the knowledge of the court tasked with supervising them.

ALFs mostly house the elderly and others with mental health issues or disabilities. It is not unusual for incompetent defendants, usually non-violent ones, to be placed at an ALF in a residential neighborhood.

“The people in the social services arena have to recognize that a court-order is sacrosanct,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Wednesday. “I really understand the judge’s ire. She has the absolute right to be livid with everyone in the system.”

Subpoenaed to appear before the judge on Friday: Representatives from Jackson, the South Florida Behavioral Network, which contracts with the state to manage cases of the mentally ill defendants, and New Horizons Community Mental Health Center, which monitored Abreu’s case.

A lawyer for the Florida Department of Children and Families will also appear.

“It sounds like all these different agencies are treating these individuals like hot potatoes,” Venzer said in court Wednesday.

Abreu was initially arrested in December 2009 for attempted murder and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer. The attempted charge was later dropped; the SWAT officer was not hurt because the knife pierced his shield.

During a jailhouse interview with a psychologist, the incoherent Abreu admitted that he sometimes hears voices and see visions of “flowers [and] gold diamonds.”

The court determined that Abreu was “incompetent” to proceed to trial, meaning he could not assist his lawyer in defending the accusations.

After stays in several other facilities, Abreu wound up at the Graceful Gardens ALF, 18101 NW 47th Ct., in November.

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Miami Heat has scholarships for graduation high school seniors

The Miami Heat is offering South Florida high school seniors college scholarships for the 2013-2014 school year.

Four scholarships of $2,500 each will go to seniors who excel in academics and community service.

One of the four scholarships is reserved for a student who plays sports.

Applicants must have at least a 3.2 grade point average by their final semester in high school, attend school in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties, be accepted to an accredited four-year college or university and demonstrate financial need.

Applications are available at nba.com/heat/community/community_education_scholarships.html and must be submitted by April 6.

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With Scholl donation, museum’s collection grows by hundreds

It was love at first sight for Debra and Dennis Scholl and the giant pair of birdhouses-as-art.

The longtime Miami art collectors saw the 400-square-foot piece by Simon Starling in a New York gallery, complete with two live finches, and reacted this way: “We know we can’t live with this,” Dennis Scholl recalled. “But we can’t live without it.”

Now, nearly 10 years later, the couple has decided to part with that and hundreds of other works collected over the last 30-plus years. The Miami Art Museum will announce Tuesday the donation of about 300 pieces from the Scholls’ collection worth millions of dollars.

“This is a huge, important and really I think catalytic gift, and I expect that we’ll have more announcements to make over the course of the next few months along these lines, in part because of Dennis and Debra’s generosity,” said museum director Thom Collins. “They are the leading edge of the wedge, as it were.”

Collins said an annual artist and curator lecture series will be named in honor of the gift, the total value of which is still being appraised. Scholl and Collins both estimated it would be worth millions, though Scholl added “probably not tens of millions.”

Dennis Scholl, vice president/arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, said he and his wife reached the decision as they pondered the December grand opening of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, as the new bayside venue will be called. Longtime residents of Miami-Dade who met on their first day of law school at the University of Miami, the couple said the community has treated them well — and they were honored to give back.

“It’s a wonderful time for the museum and we felt like it was a time when we could make a difference,” said Scholl, 57, who has worked as a lawyer and entrepreneur in ventures ranging from wine to real estate.

The $220 million project will be finished nearly three years after breaking ground at the 29-acre Museum Park overlooking Biscayne Bay and two years after developer Jorge M. Pérez gave $35 million in a naming gift of cash and art from his collection.

Dennis Scholl said he and Debra were inspired by the gift from Pérez as well as other large donations, including $35 million from Phillip and Patricia Frost for the under-construction science museum and $30 million from Adrienne Arsht to the county’s performing arts center. The Scholls hope their gift will motivate other collectors.

“We can’t speak for other collectors in the community; we think that people with collections ought to be able to decide what to do with them,” said Scholl, the Knight Foundation’s representative on the board of trustees. “We feel that this is a wonderful place to support with our collection.”

The Scholls collect works from the 1960s “to last Tuesday,” Dennis said, with an emphasis on cutting-edge pieces — especially photography — from emerging artists. They have founded initiatives devoted to building contemporary art collections at London’s Tate Modern and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York as well as MAM, and work from the couple’s collection have been featured in eight museum exhibititions, including at the Nevada Museum of Art and Baltimore’s Contemporary Museum.

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Super Bowl party turns violent; one dead in Miami Gardens drive-by shooting

One man was killed and two others wounded Sunday night when gunfire erupted outside a Super Bowl party in Miami Gardens.

Witnesses told police up to 30 shots rang out when suspects drove by the home on the 2300 block of Northwest 204th Street and opened fire on the victims, who were standing outside home, NBC6 reported.

Scores of football fans had gathered at the neighborhood party to watch the Baltimore Ravens battle the San Francisco 49ers.

The victim was identified as a 25-year-old father of two. Two others were also wounded, the station said.

Police said the men hit appeared to have been targeted by the drive-by shooters.

This article will be updated as more details become available.

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‘Unsung Heroes’ to be honored Feb. 10

There are many reasons I like writing this column. One is because I get to tell you the good news.

And some of the good news today is that I get to announce the 2013 BTW Unsung Heroes. Not all the honorees are graduates of Booker T. Washington High School. They come from all the formerly all-black high schools in Miami-Dade County.

One of the heroes is Thomas Leo Albury Jr., a graduate of the old Dorsey High School in Liberty City. Leo, as he is affectionately known, was my surrogate brother and dear friend during my growing-up years.

The heroes also include: Madeline Hepburn Atwell, Booker T. Washington High; Otis Collier, Mays High; Johnnie Fields, Booker T. Washington High; Frank G. Hall, Booker T. Washington High; Anne Turner Herriott, Northwestern High; Eddie L Redding, Booker T. Washington High; Dr. Richard J. Strachan (I call him Mr. Music), Dorsey High; Girlean "Gigi" Tinsley, Booker T. Washington; Lee Waters, Mays High; and Freddie G. Young, Carver High.

The honorees will be recognized a at special event called the "Orange, Black and White Tea" at 4 p.m. on Feb. 10 in the auditorium of Booker T. Washington High School, 1200 NW Sixth Ave. in Overtown.

The event is in conjunction with Black History Month and the celebration of the history of the six original black high schools — Booker T. Washington, Dorsey, Mays, Carver, Northwestern, and North Dade.

According to Cecillia Hunter, chairwoman of the event, the honorees from the schools are being recognized because "others have risen on their shoulders. These elevations have served us well and made room at the top for many."

Hunter said she hopes the celebration will serve as a history education in the county and "help to reunite us as a community."

Each honoree will present a short history of their high school and the part it played in the education of blacks in Miami Dade County.

The event is free and open to the community.

Women writers group to meet

A Writing Critique Group for Women will meet from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. each Wednesday, starting Feb. 6, at Arts at St. Johns, 4760 Pinetree Dr. in Miami Beach.

All types of writing will be accepted, from fiction and nonfiction, to short stories and novels, and poetry and memoirs. It’s free and open to all women. If you go, take along your writing or just an idea. The group will be led by Carol Hoffman-Guzman. Call 305-613-2325 for more information.

Find your new Valentine at pub crawl

The Coral Gables Museum’s Young Associates will host the Second Annual Gables Heart Crawl at 3 p.m. on Feb. 9. The Young Associates have asked participants of the love-themed pub crawl, to wear colors matching their relationship status. For example: the color green means one is single and "ready to mingle," yellow lets other crawlers know "it’s complicated," and red is for those who already have Valentines.

The donation is $25 in advance and $30 at the door. The event will begin at 3 p.m. at Tarpon Bend on Miracle Mile and will continue to The Local, Fritz and Franz, John Martin’s and The Bar.

According to Cristina Mas, "The Young Associates has become one of Coral Gables’ best organizations for young professionals to learn about art, network, and even to find romance." Mas is president of the organization.

For tickets or more information, go to: www.coralgablesmuseum.org/youngassociates.php.

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At University of Miami, Justice Sonia Sotomayor gets real

From her days as a young girl in the Bronx being raised by her mother after the death of her father to becoming the first Hispanic on the highest judicial body in the country, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the story of her journey before a captivated audience at the University of Miami on Friday night.

Sotomayor spoke with University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala at the BankUnited Center to University of Miami students, Coral Gables residents and perhaps a future Supreme Court justice about the inspiration behind her recently published memoir My Beloved World.

“Love and passion, that is the only way you do something well,” Sotomayor said. “Do a few things, but do them well.”

Sotomayor, 58, spoke of the many things that inspired her to share her story with the world, one of which was in responses to questions she hadn’t expected during her confirmation process, such as how children cope when a parent dies, especially if they don’t have a mother like hers.

“I began to understand that I couldn’t talk to every child in the country,” Sotomayor said. “I could give them the answers in a book.”

One child she did embrace and speak with on Friday evening was a young girl in the audience named Madeline. Madeline, who was introduced by Shalala, and Sotomayor turned out to have one thing in common: a love for Nancy Drew.

Sotomayor credits the lessons she learned from the fictional tales of a young girl detective as one of the motivations for her successful career.

“When she [Nancy Drew] was trying to solve people’s problems,” Sotomayor told Madeline, “she was trying to help people.”

“I think too many young lawyers forget that the law is the noblest profession you can enter,” Sotomayor said. “What you do is helping people.”

When asked what other profession she would have ever considered going into, Sotomayor said there was not one. “This fish found her pond, and she ain’t changing it,” Sotomayor said.

Shalala questioned Sotomayor about her life as a diabetic, which her memoir speaks of at great length.

“If you have diabetes and want to live a full life, you figure out how to have both things,” Sotomayor said.

She was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at 8 and she credits living with the chronic illness with teaching her discipline. “Every moment of every day I am self-monitoring inside,” Sotomayor said.

That constant discipline, she said, teaches you to do things like monitoring diet, something she feels everybody should do.

With many students in the audience, she was asked about her scariest experience in law school.

“Being there,” Sotomayor chuckled. “If you think you are smart in college, you realize how dumb you are.”

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Long before FBI raid, Sen. Menendez tried to help donor’s Dominican Republic business

Sen. Bob Menendez used his influence to advocate for a Dominican Republic business deal that helped a longtime friend and donor whose South Florida office was raided by federal agents this week.

Menendez questioned Obama administration officials at a July hearing about what it was doing to help U.S. businesses that he felt were being unfairly treated by the government of the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries.

One company Menendez was apparently referring to: ICSSI, acquired the year before by Dr. Salomon Melgen, a Palm Beach County eye doctor and friend. The firm was seeking to enforce a contract it had won to X-ray Dominican Republic port cargo, that could be worth $500 million to $1 billion over two decades.

“You have another company that has American investors that ... has a contract actually given to it by the — ratified by the Dominican Congress — to do X-ray of all of the cargo that goes through the ports,” Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, said at the July 31 hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. “And they don’t want to live by that contract either.”

Menendez didn’t mention ICSSI by name in talking to Francisco J. Sánchez, the Commerce Department’s undersecretary for international trade and Matthew Rooney, the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs for the State Department.

Menendez’s office said the senator did nothing improper. Senators, especially on the Foreign Relations Committee that Menendez will soon chair, frequently advocate for U.S. business abroad.

In addition to trade, the senator’s office said he was concerned about fighting drugs.

“Senator Menendez has over the last few years advocated for more attention to the spread of narco-trafficking throughout Central America and the Caribbean,” chief of staff Danny O’Brien said. “It is an issue of protecting our national security, and these drugs end up on our streets and in our communities, fueling crime and addiction.”

Still, Menendez’s close ties to Melgen have been under a white-hot spotlight ever since federal agents raided the eye doctor’s West Palm Beach office on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The raid included agents from the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which are investigating the doctor for alleged Medicare fraud.

At the same time, the FBI is conducting a separate corruption probe of the doctor and his relationship with Menendez, including trips they took to the Dominican Republic.

The FBI began examining the two last year after the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington forwarded a batch of emails from a shadowy tipster who claimed Menendez and Melgen had hired underage prostitutes at the ophthalmologist’s Dominican home — charges both deny.

An FBI agent tried, but failed to meet with the tipster, who refused to even phone the agent.

As the conservative press began circulating the reports about the two, the New Jersey Republican Party filed a complaint against Menendez for flying on Melgen’s private plane to the Dominican Republic but failing to disclose the gifts.

Menendez’s office checked his schedule and realized the senator had flown twice on Melgen’s plane without paying for it in 2010. On Jan. 4, Menendez cut a check for $58,500 — the air-charter rate for the pricey flights —to fully settle the matter.

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Limo rides for kids with cancer

Sometimes, we really do entertain angels unaware. Michael Fischer is one. Several years ago he came up with a way to bring a little hope to cancer-stricken children by providing limo rides for those whose parents didn't have a car, when it was time for then to take their cancer treatments. The idea is called Drops of Hope.

Fischer, who not only is the founder of the organization, but is head chauffeur, told me the idea for Drops of Hope came to him after he remembered that as a child, he had a friend who died of cancer.

"I also had relatives who died of cancer," he said. "Giving these kids a ride to the hospital in a kid-friendly limo — with games and snacks — is like a fantasy for them. Some of the children we transport would have to take public transportation if we didn't help out," he said. "And they can't afford to miss a treatment."

Everything was working well with Drops of Hope until last Christmas, when his only limo was stolen. Fischer said he had taken the 14-year-old limo in for repairs and the place he took it went out of business. He later found the limo, stripped, in an alley.

"Now," he said, "I pay limo companies to pick up the kids who need transportation to their treatment. But it's so expensive. It's like $100 for a few hours. And if a child goes for treatment in the morning, sometimes he doesn't finish until the afternoon. We have to wait for them. Many of these sick and terminally ill children, from low- to no-income families, take the bus by themselves to chemotherapy appointments. Drops of Hope provide this free service to and from the treatment sessions for children, who otherwise would miss immediate medical care because of a lack of transportation. We nicknamed our service, 'Hope on the Go,' because when the limo pulls up and you see the smile on the kids' faces, you know these kids really need a day of royal treatment."

Until he can get another limo, Fischer, who does litigation inspections for homeowners, pays the tab to rent limos from other companies. He is looking for a decent, used limo that he can fix up and get it "street safe."

The limo rides are not the only thing that Drops of Hope does for terminally ill children. They also do room makeovers, to help brighten the children's day.

If you know of someone who would like to help Fischer and his volunteers (nobody gets paid; the organization is operated solely by volunteers), you may call him at 954-428-4552.

Rabbi to talk about happiness

The community is invited to hear Rabbi Lazer Brody speak On "Sustenance, Health, Marriage and Children: It's Possible to Have it All," at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 10, at Syklake Synagogue, 1850 NE 183rd St. in North Miami Beach.

The Rabbi also will speak at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 11, at Young Israel of Kendall, 7880 SW 112th St. His topic will be "The Garden of Gratitude: A Life Changing Approach to Happiness."

According to a press release, Brody is the "English voice of Israeli rabbi Rav Shalom Arush, and the English translator of the book, The Garden of Emuna and numerous other Rav Arush's works. Brody is also the host of his own radio show, Lazer Beams aired on Israel National Radio. He is known worldwide as a lecturer and author who travels the globe enlightening others about the life-changing benefits of Emuna.

Both events are free. To make reservations for the Skylake lecture, email: skylakes613@gmail.com. For more information on the lecture at Young Israel, call 305-244-6880 or email: zdevorah@yahoo.com .

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FBI raids West Palm Beach office of doctor tied to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez

FBI agents late Tuesday night raided the West Palm Beach business of an eye doctor suspected of providing free trips and even underage Dominican Republic prostitutes to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. — who has denied what he calls the “fallacious allegations.”

Agents gathered at the medical-office complex of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a contributor to Menendez and other prominent politicians, to start hauling away potential evidence in several vans.

The investigation is believed to be focusing on Melgen’s finances and the allegations about Menendez’s trips and contact with prostitutes. A spokesman for Menendez could not be reached for comment, nor could Melgen.

Melgen has an outstanding IRS lien of $11.1 million for taxes owed from 2006 to 2009, according to records filed with the Palm Beach County recorder’s office. A previous IRS lien for $6.2 million was released in 2011.

Despite those financial problems, Melgen and his family have contributed at least $357,000 to candidates and committees since 1998, according to Florida and federal campaign records. Of that, the Melgens have contributed about 9 percent to Menendez’s federal campaigns.

Melgen also owns a private CL-600 Challenger plane through one of his West Palm Beach-based companies, and frequently flies between South Florida and Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, where he is from.

Menendez has flown on the plane at least once, his office has said, when he was chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 2009 to 2011, when the Melgens contributed about $60,400 to the group. A spokeswoman had previously said that Menendez and Melgen are longtime friends and said the senator did nothing improper.

Melgen was first linked to Menendez just before the November elections, when the conservative Daily Caller website interviewed two alleged prostitutes who said they had relations with the New Jersey Democrat at Melgen’s Dominican Republic mansion in Casa de Campo.

After the election, the news died down.

But then, days before Menendez was about to start leading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as chairman, reporters started receiving a 58-page dossier of emails between a Miami FBI agent and a tipster who claimed that some of the prostitutes had been underage.

“I’m not going to respond to the fallacious allegations of your story,” Menendez told the Daily Caller on Monday when a reporter caught up with him on a train in Washington.

At the time, Menendez had just stepped into the national spotlight along with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and six other senators who are hammering out a highly watched immigration plan that is the talk of Washington.

Rubio is one of the few big-name Florida politicians who has not received campaign money from the Melgens, who have contributed to Sen. Bill Nelson and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Joe Garcia, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, among others.

The FBI would not comment on the emails, and the agent, Regino Chavez, did not return calls or emails. But sources familiar with the investigation told The Miami Herald that the emails are real.

The emails from agent Chavez show that he tried to find out what happened. But the tipster, who went by the name “Peter Williams,” refused to talk to him by telephone or meet him face to face.

Chavez contacted the tipster Aug.1, 2012, after the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington referred the case to the FBI. The tipster would not meet or speak by phone to CREW or to an investigative reporter, either.

“As far as the information you have provided, we have been unable to confirm most of it,” Chavez wrote on Sept. 12. “We know that you are providing accurate information.”

But it is not clear what that specific information is because Chavez was unable to interview the alleged prostitutes. Over the months, Chavez tried to meet or speak with the tipster, but had no luck.

Then, on Nov. 1, the agent wrote the tipster again and drew attention to the Daily Caller interview with the alleged prostitutes.

“I think we are at the point where you and I need to communicate over the phone so that we can move faster,” he wrote.

No luck.

Amid the suspicious circumstances of the complaints, Democrats have tried to characterize the reports about Menendez and Melgen as a right-wing smear job.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid refused to comment on the possibility of an FBI investigation when he was asked Tuesday about the case.

Said Reid: “Always consider the source. All anyone here has to look at is the source where this comes from.”

Tuesday night’s raid, however, shows that there is at least an investigation tied to Menendez’s longtime friend and ally.

Miami Herald Staff Writer Luisa Yanez contributed to this report.

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Lauderhill police investigating homicide; searching for suspect

Lauderhill police Monday night were investigating an apparent homicide.

Details were sketchy, but police said just before 9 p.m. a woman was shot and killed on the 2800 block of Northwest 55th Avenue.

The victim was dead at the scene.

K-9 units were in the area searching for a possible suspect and a public information officer is now at the scene.

This story will be updated as more details are available.

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Free-market conservative leads Gov. Rick Scott’s jobs agency

TALLAHASSEE --
The Department of Economic Opportunity is one of the most critical agencies in Gov. Rick Scott’s administration, and it has run through four directors — two permanent, two interim — since it launched 16 months ago.

After the fleeting tenures of three bureaucrats and a banker, Scott’s handpicked director, Jesse Panuccio, began his term as the agency’s fifth director three weeks ago.

Panuccio, a 32-year-old attorney, is an outside-the-box choice for jobs chief. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2006 and has been on Scott’s legal team since 2011, becoming the governor’s chief litigant last year.

After defending some of Scott’s most controversial laws in the courtroom, Panuccio faces the crucial task of executing the governor’s job-creation strategy from the state’s official boardroom.

“I chose Jesse for three reasons,” Scott said in a statement. “He is a problem solver, he is a skilled manager of people and he is experienced at holding people and organizations accountable.”

After graduating from Harvard Law, Panuccio clerked for a federal judge and then joined a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. The New Jersey native said he took the Florida Bar Exam after spending much of his childhood vacationing in the Sunshine State, and was drawn to Scott’s campaign message in 2010. He left Washington and joined the governor’s transition team as deputy general counsel in January 2011.

Throughout Panuccio’s brief professional career, he has fought legal battles in support of conservative causes ranging from gun rights to traditional marriage to state’s rights. His new position will require a full embrace of Scott’s conservative job-creation agenda: less regulation, taxation and litigation.

“My overall view is that the economy, the free market flourishes when government gets out of the way,” he said.

The Department of Economic Opportunity, or DEO, is 1,600-person agency responsible for overseeing many of the state’s economic development initiatives. Created by Scott in 2011, DEO runs Florida’s unemployment compensation system, collaborates job training efforts with regional workforce boards and oversees business incentives programs. As the $140,000-a-year director, Panuccio leads efforts to coordinate local and regional job-creation efforts, and implement an overarching economic development vision for the future.

He shares Scott’s small-government approach to creating jobs, and embraces using taxpayer incentives to draw companies to Florida.

“I do think incentives, especially in a recessionary period like this, are a targeted way of reducing taxation and enhancing the business climate for competitive projects,” he said. “It is a reality right now that we’re competing with other states and other countries for these companies.”

So far, Scott’s approach on jobs has had mixed results. Florida’s economy has improved in the last two years with a rapid decline in unemployment, but job growth is considerably slower than the national pace and wages continue to lag.

Meanwhile, DEO has come under fire — and a federal probe — for restricting access to unemployment compensation benefits, making Florida one of the least generous states in the nation for those who are eligible for aid.

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Woman’s Club member earns another well-deserved honor

Warm congratulations to my friend and Miami Woman’s Club sister Dolly MacIntyre, who will be honored as the club’s Historian of the Year for 2013 on Tuesday at the monthly luncheon meeting.

Dolly has been a resident of Miami for 56 years. She began her involvement with local history and historic preservation in 1966. She is a kind and unassuming woman who goes about doing good works without blowing her own horn and she is a highly acclaimed activist for historic preservation and the recipient of numerous awards for dedicated service.

In 2012, she received the Mary Call Darby Collins Award from the state of Florida for her preservation work. Early on, she became a charter member of the Villagers and founding president of the Dade Heritage Trust, and today she remains active in both organizations.

Dolly is a lonttime member and past officer of the MWC, the Woman’s Club of Coconut Grove, the Dade County Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Women’s History Coalition. In addition, she is a board and committee member of many community organizations.

The luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. with networking, with lunch and the program to follow at noon in the Ballroom of the Doubletree Grand Hotel, 1717 N. Bayshore Dr.

You can still make reservations and pre-order for vegetarian option by calling Nancy Smith at 305-891-3789. The cost is $25 for members and $35 for non members.

Retired FIU professor honored for book

There’s a lot to be happy about today. Howard B. Rock, Florida International University professor of history emeritus, recently was awarded the Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year at the 2012 National Jewish Book Awards. The award was announced Jan. 15 by the Jewish Book Council and was for the three-volume series City of Promises: A History of the Jews of New York of which Rock wrote the first volume, Haven of Liberty: New York Jews in the New world, 1654-1865.

Rock shared the top Jewish book award with Annie Polland and Daniel Soyer, who authored the second volume, "Emerging Metropolis: New York Jews in the Age of Immigration, 1840-1920", Jeffrey S. Gurock, who wrote the third volume, "Jews in Gotham: New York Jews in a Changing City, 1920-2010", and noted Jewish historian Deborah Dash Moore, who was the general editor of the project.

Rock, a Miami resident and member of Temple Israel of Greater Miami, also co-authored a history of New York Jewry. He taught American history for 36 years at FIU. His speciality is early American history to 1815, early American social history, the history of New York City, early American labor history and early American political history. In addition, he has published an/or edited five books, including Artisans of the New Republic, The New York Artisan, Keepers of the Revolution, The American Artisans, and A History of New York Images.

Guest composer at FIU

The Florida International School of Music will present a program, “East Meets West,” with guest composer Chinary Ung and the FIU Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center, 10910 SW 17th St.

Also featured on the program is the Amernet String Quartet and the NOBUS ensemble and the music of Ung, Garcia, Sudol, Jen and Colangelo.

The concert is free and open to the public.

MDC leader to speak in Homestead

You are invited to hear Jeanne Jacobs, president of the Miami Dade College Homestead campus at noon on Feb. 4, at the Homestead Community Center, 1601 N. Krome Ave. Jacobs is the Black History Month speaker at the Bea Peskoe Lunchtime Lecture series, presented free by the Homestead Center for the Arts.

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Appeals court again upholds power of Miami’s Civilian Investigative Panel

An appeals court has struck down a police officer’s challenge to the validity of Miami’s Civilian Investigative Panel — the second time the panel has withstood a legal challenge from police officers in the past five years.

Police Lt. Freddy D’Agastino and the Fraternal Order of Police filed a lawsuit arguing that the civilian panel, which reviews citizen complaints against officers and makes recommendations to the police chief, had no legal authority to investigate officers.

But in a ruling on Wednesday, the Third District Court of Appeal found that the panel neither conflicts with state or local law, nor intrudes on the police department’s power to discipline its officers. The CIP does not have the authority to discipline officers, though it does have the power to subpoena records and witnesses in its own investigations.

The appeals court also upheld the panel’s authority in 2008, when then-Police Chief John Timoney sought to prevent the panel from investigating him.

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Florida Legislature now rethinking mental health spending

In light of the tragic shootings in Connecticut and Colorado, Florida legislators are taking a hard look at the state’s mental health system, which ranks 49th among states and the District of Columbia when it comes to funding.

“That’s $39 per person per year,” said Bob Sharpe, president and CEO of the Florida Council for Community Mental Health, one of 10 panelists addressing the House Healthy Families Subcommittee Thursday as an “ongoing conversation” to address the system’s woes. That figure, experts said, was lower than per capita funding for mental health in the 1950s.

The violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School is just one reason for action, said the subcommittee’s chair, state Rep. Gayle Harrell, R.-Stuart. “Any time you have a tragedy it certainly focuses public attention on an issue,” Harrell said. “We want to make sure that we don’t just do this however when there’s a tragedy.”

Legislators need to look at the continuum of care “from prevention to identification to intervention to treatment,” Harrell said, if any improvements can occur in a system where issues range from school safety to finding places for mentally impaired nursing home patients.

The lack of funding for prevention in the community, particularly in schools, has been a key issue both at Thursday’s subcommittee meeting and at a Senate meeting Wednesday chaired by Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood.

That’s because the bulk of the state’s $723 million mental health budget is used for treatment, said Rob Siedlecki, assistant secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

Harrell’s committee asked each panelist to come up with policy rather than funding solutions for mental health issues in the state.

“If we can set up a system in place and look at our system and really change it so that it is much more responsive to prevention, to the needs of the community then you can avoid some of those tragedies perhaps,” Harrell said. “When a tragedy fades and the memory of it fades, you don’t want to let this issue fade. “

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81-year-old reader is thankful for health, chance to serve

Dear Neighbors, thanks for your response to my "reasons to be thankful" request. I am amazed at how much we can find in our daily life to be thankful for.

The other day, I heard from Nancy Perez, and member of Palm Springs United Methodist Church in Hialeah. Over the years, Nancy has sent me information from her church that I use in this column. I always welcome her input.

Recently, though, she sent a beautiful card to me and in it she said she smiles "every Thursday when I pick up the Neighbors section and read your column. ...for all you do and always have done to keep us informed of what's going on in our religious community. [I] really enjoy your articles on the years past, old times in Dade County and your blessings."

But this is the part I liked best: "I count my blessings every day, for He's been so good to me. Born here 81 years ago — excellent health that keeps me active in my church and serving my Lord every day."

In a post script, Nancy said, "This is a special card for you — not necessarily for your column." And she added a smiley face.

Nancy, I just couldn't resist sharing this with our Neighbors in Religion friends. Thank you, so much.

‘My Happy Place’

This is from Zach Grossman, 24, who lives in Miami. Grossman, a budding young entrepreneur, wrote: "I just read your column on "Reasons to be thankful," and really enjoyed it. The first thing I thought of when I read it was how it tied into an iPhone app that I recently created. When you first open my app each day, it prompts you to say something that you are grateful for in order to open the app and use its other features. (You can turn this feature off if you'd like.)

"My app is called My Happy Place and it basically allows users to store anything that makes them happy all in one place (music, photos, quotes, videos, journal entries). The idea is that if you're having a rough or stressful day you can just go to your very own Happy Place to unwind and turn your mood around."

Grossman, who has a degree in entrepreneurship and marketing from Northeastern University in Boston, said his app costs 99 cents and that there is an Android version available, too. If you are interested in checking out Grossman's app, he said you can Google it or visit the iTunes Store.

‘Unsung Heroes’

Congratulations to Helen Viviand, a member of Unity on the Bay, and who was recognized recently as an "Unsung Hero" by Miami-Dade County Commission Vice Chairwoman Audrey M. Edmonson. Viviand was honored for her involvement in community service. Viviand has been a long-time volunteer at Unity on the Bay in Edgewater and is founder and leader of the organization "Angels Everywhere," which distributes toys and backpacks to needy children.

Also honored at the Dec. 18 meeting in the County Commission Chambers, 11 NW First St., were Susana Baker, founder of the Wynwood-Design District and Midtown Experience, for her efforts to promote businesses and artists in Wynwood, and Cuthbert Harewood, a resident and businessman who is helping to revitalize Northwest 18th Avenue in Liberty City, and feeds the homeless and senior citizens.

Musical for ‘Jewish Earth Day’

Bet Shira Congregation at 7500 SW 120th St., will celebrate its 22nd Annual Tu Bishevat (Jewish Earth Day) Musical event at 8 p.m. Saturday at the synagogue.

According to Cantor Mark H. Kula, the program is called, "Broadway Comes to Pinecrest," and will feature the music of Jewish Broadway composers.

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Miami police: Fight over child ends in fatal crash

A fatal car crash in Allapattah began, Miami police said Tuesday, as a fight between two women over a child, with one woman grabbing the child and jumping into the speeding vehicle that might have caused the collision.

The night began with a 15-month-old girl, who was living with her father and his girlfriend, neither of whom police identified.

The mother of the child, Mylife Rivera-Vasquez, 20, of Homestead, persuaded the girlfriend on Monday to meet her at Northwest 17th Avenue and 28th Street so she could see her daughter, Miami police said.

As the girlfriend waited in that area with the girl about 8 p.m., Rivera-Vasquez and several other people arrived, police said, and punched the girlfriend several times.

During the melee, Rivera-Vasquez grabbed her daughter and got into a Lincoln Town Car that drove away.

The Town Car sped south on Northwest 21st Avenue, police said, and the girlfriend appeared to have followed in another car.

But as it approached Northwest 20th Street, the Town Car crashed into a Chevrolet Tahoe.

The Tahoe had been westbound on Northwest 20th Street. Police said the Town Car failed to yield the right of way.

Two of the three people in the Town Car — the driver and the 15-month-old — were thrown from the vehicle, police said. All three were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

The driver, Kristofer Daniel Astorga, 22, died shortly after arriving at the hospital, police said.

Rivera-Vasquez and her child, Juliet Rivera, were both in critical condition, police said.

Lt. Ignatius Carroll, spokesman for Miami Fire-Rescue, told Miami Herald news partner WFOR CBS 4 that the little girl hadn’t been secured in a child car seat.

The Tahoe’s driver was in good condition at Jackson, and a passenger in that car was treated at the scene for minor injuries. Neither was identified Tuesday.

On Tuesday, police said Rivera-Vasquez had been charged with two counts of simple battery.

El Nuevo Herald Staff Writer Melissa Sanchez contributed to this report.

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