The edge of the fiscal cliff is in sight, but the White House and Congress are no closer to a deal to stop America from taking the plunge.
If there is no fiscal-cliff deal by New Year's and the Bush tax cuts are eliminated, this is how households paying federal income tax will be affected over various income levels:
Home prices in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties were up 8.5 percent in October from the same time last year, an increase that put them in fifth place for the highest annual gain on the Standard&Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
The index, released Wednesday morning, showed South Florida losing some ground in October from September, with prices dropping less than a percentage point. But index experts said price drops are typical during the fall months.
“Annual rates of change in home prices are a better indicator of the performance of the housing market than the month-over-month changes because home prices tend to be lower in the fall and winter than in spring and summer,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee. “Looking over this report, and considering other data on housing starts and sales, it is clear that the housing recovery is gathering strength.”
The 20-city index composite showed a gain of 4.3 percent from last year. The Tampa market was up 5.9 percent.
A memorial service for Bill McBride, the Florida Democrat who defeated Janet Reno for the party’s gubernatorial nomination in 2002 but lost to Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, will be held later this week in Tampa.
The service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at the Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church.
McBride suffered a fatal heart attack Saturday while visiting with family in Mount Airy, N.C. He was 67.
McBride defeated Reno, who was U.S. attorney general under President Bill Clinton, in the Democratic primary to run against Bush. Before entering politics, he was managing partner at the prestigious Holland & Knight law firm.
McBride’s wife, Alex Sink, was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2010, losing to now-Gov. Rick Scott. The couple lived outside of Tampa.
Last night, Michelle Obama prepared to read 'Twas The Night Before Christmas to the patients at Children's National Medical Center in Washington D.C. and The First Family's dog Bo wanted to get a good seat. The best seat, in fact.
PHOTOS - The Sweetest Moments Between Michelle and Barack!
As Michelle sat down beneath the ornate Christmas tree, Bo hopped up on her lap as if there weren't hundreds of people watching (and as if the four-year-old was still the size of a puppy)!
"This is exactly what he does at home," the First Lady laughed. "He tries to beat Malia and Sasha to my lap."
Michelle forged ahead with gusto and you can watch the adorable scene play out in the video below!
Two adorable dogs were stolen from their masters in separate incidents — with one still missing, leaving his 7-year-old owner heartbroken for Christmas.
Marley (pictured), little Mia Bendrat’s Cavalier King Charles spaniel, was stolen from in front of a Washington Heights grocery store yesterday morning.
“He’s the Grinch that stole Christmas,” Mia said of the coldhearted thief who swiped Marley, which was tied to a pole in front of La Rosa Fine Foods on Broadway.
“When my mom told me the dog was lost, I started to cry. He’s my only dog,” she said of the pet she got for Christmas two years ago from her grandmother.
Mia, and her mother, Angie Estrade, put up 150 fliers around their neighborhood in hopes of finding Marley.
“Who would do this on Christmas Eve?” Estrada fumed.
In an another puppy pilfering, thieves in a Williamsburg, Brooklyn, home invasion stole a 6-month-old Yorkshire terrier-Maltese, stuffed her in a bag and tossed it down a trash chute, sources said.
The dog was later rescued after the super heard her barking.
“Getting the dog back was a Christmas gift,’’ said her relieved owner, who asked that his name not be printed.
The 22-year-old man said two masked men, armed with pistols and a hammer, knocked on his door and forced their way into his home at around 3:10 a.m. Dec. 15.
Jennett Leandre, 23, was arrested and charged with assault, robbery, burglary and menacing.
Florida’s ports are steaming bow-to-bow in the race to be the world’s businest cruise ship port.
Though some publications have reported Port Canaveral in the lead with 3,761,056 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, PortMiami officials Monday said they had hosted 3,774,452 passengers during the same period, putting it slightly ahead. Fort Lauderdale’s PortEverglades reported 3,689,000 passengers for the period, putting it slightly behind the others in third place.
“We’re all very close,’’ said Paula Musto, PortMiami spokeswoman.
PortMiami has slipped below its previous high of 4 million plus passengers because of changing ship deployments, she said. That number is expected to again cruise past 4 million in 2013 as several new ships homeport in Miami.
Jane Wooldridge
Her clients know her as “the child support lady with the cool truck.”
Chantale Suttle thinks that’s a pretty good description of her and her months-old business, DADvocacy.
For almost 20 years, she’s dealt with child support issues. In law school at the University of Miami, she interned in the child support office, and she went on to handle child support issues as a prosecutor, defense attorney and magistrate judge.
These days, she helps dads navigate the child support system from her mobile office: a bulletproof truck, wrapped with a photo of a man’s muscular, crossed arms, complete with a soundproof consultation room, sports magazines, sodas — and free diapers.
“We do not want to be fancy, golf-playing, mahogany-office kind of lawyers. I’m just a lady you come talk to about child support,” said 42-year old Suttle.
And for teen dads, she does it for free.
“I feel that’s when I can help them the most, and I feel that’s where being part of the child support system can be the most damaging to his future because of the credit bureau reporting,” Suttle said.
Older dads can get help for a flat fee.
Suttle drives the converted 22-passenger van herself. When it’s not parked outside of the child support courthouse at in Downtown Miami, Suttle motors throughout the county to speak at community events.
On a recent evening, the DADvocacy van was parked outside of the Girl Power community center, on Seventh Avenue just off I-95 in Miami. There, Fatherz in the Hood — an organization that provides training and resources for dads — organized an information session for parents frustrated with the child support system.
Suttle stood in front of a semi-circle of seated dads, both young and old, and schooled them about the child support system so that they, hopefully, would not have to see her for services.
Florida’s child support court is different from family court, where parents sort out divorce and domestic violence issues, she explained. Child support court deals only with issues related to collecting child support, which goes often goes directly to the state for social programs — not the mother.
Child support is based on “time-sharing” between parents, and fathers who spend more time with their kids may pay less child support.
“This system is supposed to reward good dads who spend time with their kids,” she told the Fatherz in the Hood group. “On this, we are light-years away from any other state.”
The dads at Fatherz in the Hood chuckled when, using an online calculator, Suttle showed them a huge drop in the amount of child support a dad would have to pay just by spending more overnight time with his kids. In one scenario, the mother actually ended up owing the father child support.
“Any of you know moms paying child support?” an amazed participant asked.
The dads shook their heads, “No.”
Another eye-opening bit of information that Suttle shares with all of her clients — whether they hire her or not — is how to use the Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts online filing system to check on their own cases’ status and any upcoming hearings. Her truck has a hotspot with internet access to check this information on the road, and she also checks to make sure she doesn’t have a conflict in the case — such as having ruled on any issues involving the mother while she served in her other legal roles.
It's no secret that country star Blake Shelton has had an incredibly successful year, from having six number one hits in a row, being named male vocalist of the year at the CMA Awards to his win with Cassadee Pope on The Voice. And now Blake's getting candid with ET's Nancy O'Dell about a very personal aspect of his relationship with wife Miranda Lambert.
Blake is game for a ping-pong challenge with Nancy at the Langham Huntington hotel in Pasadena, California, where he reveals the craziest place he and Miranda have "made whoopee."
Video: Blake Stresses Over Miranda's XMas Gift
"Probably just like, in the truck, back at home -- back in the woods," he surprisingly answers. "We're kinky -- we like to know that wild animals are watching us."
He also admits to appreciating his fellow Voice coach Christina Aguilera's racy getups on the show.
"As much as I enjoy breathing air," he jokes about just how much he enjoys Christina's low-cut tops. "I am a normal guy after all."
Video: Christina & Blake Bring Down the House With New Duet
Check out the video to hear Blake turn the tables on Nancy, when he starts asking her the hard questions!
Reuters
A fire burns on Lake Road after a suspect shot four firefighters responding to the blaze in Webster.
A crazed gunman killed at least two firefighters and wounded two more plus a local cop, responding to a blaze near Rochester early this morning, authorities said.
The gunman has been confirmed killed, the local police chief said today at a news conference.
Authorities in the western New York town of Webster evacuated the neighborhood as flames engulfed three homes on Lake Road, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Firefighters had to fall back after shots were fired, and flames eventually spread to five more houses, WHAM reported.
Two of Webster's Bravest, shot and wounded, are in guarded condition at Strong Memorial Hospital, officials said. One was reportedly shot through the hip and in surgery this morning. He's expected to survive.
One of the fallen firefighters was a volunteer -- his day job as a local police officer, WHAM reported.
“The words are truly unspeakable,” Monroe County clerk Cheryl Dinolfo told WHAM-AM “It’s hard to imagine such a tragedy happening here.”
The fire, near the Lake Ontario shore just east of Rochester, broke out at 191 Lake Road around 6 a.m., before spreading to two more houses and a car, officials said.
Dinolfo urged parents to speak gently to their kids about this tragedy in Webster and the recent school massacre in Newtown, Conn.
“It’s a raw emotion for these young people to have in their hearts and their heads,” she said.
“We can’t let evil overtake us. We have to get out there and fight and combat evil.”
“When we’re confronted with these horrific events,” she added, “we have to sit back and provide balance [to fearful children].”
Local cops, joined by New York state police, swarmed the neighborhood looking for the shooter.
Webster officials can’t remember another time when firefighters came under gunfire.
“I’m not aware of anything like this happening in Webster, obviously not a firefighter being fired upon,” Webster Fire Marshal Rob Boutillier said.
“The whole strip’s been evacuated,” Webster resident Michael Damico told the Democrat and Chronicle. “They’re evacuating all of the houses and going through them.”
Damico woke up at 8 a.m. to see flames down the street and a SWAT team going on a frantic, door-to-door search for a cold-blooded killer.
“We looked out the window and we saw the SWAT team and everyone around,” Damico said.
Residents near the fire were evacuated on Regional Transit Service buses, even as flames threatened their homes.
“Some people on this bus already watched their houses burn,” added Damico. “They’re not happy.”
Gov. Cuomo asked New Yorkers to pray for the firefighters' families, victimized in this "senseless act of violence."
“New York's first responders are true heroes as they time and again selflessly rush toward danger in order to keep our families and communities safe, " Cuomo said in a prepared statement.
“One behalf of my family and all New Yorkers, I offer my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed today and pray for the recovery of the injured.”
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