Majority of NY voters back Cuomo's gun bill: Siena poll

ALBANY - New Yorkers like Gov. Cuomo's new controversial gun bill - and most of the other proposals he unveiled in last week's State of the State speech, a new poll out today found.

Support for the gun bill Cuomo signed Tuesday — which made New York the first state in the nation to act after last month's Newtown elementary school massacre — was strongest (91-8 percent) for a provision toughening penalties for buying illegal guns or using guns on school grounds, the Siena College survey found.

That was followed by strengthening the state's ban on assault weapons and limiting magazines to seven bullets (73-26).

AP

Gov. Cuomo addresses an audience in Rochester Wednesday.

New York voters opposed the National Rifle Association's proposal — not in the Cuomo bill — to place armed guards in schools (52-46 percent) and more strongly opposed training and arming teachers (69-30).

The Jan. 10-15 telephone survey of 676 registered state voters found that while Cuomo's favorability (71-24) and job approval (60-38) ratings remained strong, his support among fellow Democrats edged up while fewer Republicans backed the governor in the wake of what was widely viewed as a solidly Democratic 2013 agenda.

Voters supported numerous elements of the agenda, including increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.75 an hour (83-15), providing taxpayer money for state campaigns while limiting the size of contributions (59-36), allowing for early voting (67-30), providing state aid for schools to lengthen the school day or year (62-35) and decriminalizing up to 15 grams of pot in public (62-35 percent).

But by 53-44, voters oppose removing restrictions for college financial aid for undocumented immigrants — the "Dream Act."

And they also backed a tough "bar exam" for teachers by 76-23 percent.

The poll also found New Yorkers narrowly turning against the controversial practice of fracking for natural gas upstate (44-40), a reversal from a Siena poll last month that found narrow support (42-36).

Support for legalizing casino gambling, another Cuomo priority, shrank a bit (52-43) from prior surveys — with city voters evenly divided and stronger support in the suburbs.

Voters continued to think the state is moving in the right direction by 57-33 percent, up slightly from last month.

But New Yorkers — after overwhelmingly voting to re-elect President Obama — said narrowly (49-46) that the nation is headed in the wrong direction.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

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Jackson Health System asks Kendall trauma center be shut down

Ratcheting up the stakes in Miami-Dade’s hospital wars, Jackson Health System has filed two petitions with the state demanding a hearing to consider its belief that the license for trauma operations at Kendall Regional Medical Center was granted illegally and should be revoked.

Jackson, which for years has had the county’s only trauma center, has been complaining loudly since the Scott administration decided the state needed more centers. Kendall Regional’s opened in November 2011.

Jackson executives estimate it has been losing about $28 million a year since then because, as one of its trauma doctors quipped, Jackson Memorial’s Ryder Trauma Center tends to get the inner-city gunshot victims who have no insurance while Kendall gets the suburban car accident victims with insurance.

State officials and the HCA hospital chain, which owns Kendall Regional, maintain that Miami-Dade’s size requires more than one trauma center.

Mark McKenney, medical director of the Kendall center, said Wednesday the center has treated 2,500 patients in its first year -- “with mortality rates significantly below the state and national averages.” He said Kendall treats anyone who comes through the door, including plenty of gunshot and stabbing victims who may or may not have insurance.

McKenney said the state decided Miami-Dade needed more trauma centers after a 2005 study showed that only 39 percent of the county’s trauma victims were treated in trauma centers. Those treated in ordinary emergency rooms showed a considerably higher mortality rate, McKenney said.

In Miami-Dade, HCA’s Mercy and Tenet’s Palmetto General have also applied for trauma licenses. Jackson countered by seeking trauma units at its two community hospitals, Jackson North and Jackson South.

In its filings to the Department of Health on Jan. 2, Jackson’s lawyers asked for formal administrative hearings, maintaining North and South were unfairly denied approval in a Dec. 13 Department of Health letter that stated the regulators were rethinking trauma rules on trauma centers after court rulings.

The Jackson petitions, first reported on Tuesday by Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida, noted that an administrative law judge in November 2011 decided that the Department of Health’s trauma certification rule was invalid. After that, the department granted provisional licenses to Kendall Regional and three other hospitals.

On Nov. 30, 2012, the First District Court of Appeal upheld that decision. Seven days later, the department approved the application of Ocala Regional, another HCA facility, and allowed it to open the following day. Gov. Rick Scott is the former chief executive of HCA.

Jackson’s attorneys accused the department of giving these other hospitals a “selective benefit.” They said that a hearing would establish that “the ultimate facts” show that “all provisional licenses issued under the invalid trauma rule need rule should be revoked,” as well as all pending applications, until the department established a legally acceptable rule on trauma centers.

Steve Ecenia, an attorney for HCA, called Jackson’s petition “bizarre” because, instead of seeking approval for its own applications, it was trying to hit back at other hospitals, including Ocala, “hundreds of miles away.” He said the appeals court decision wasn’t final, because there are demands for a rehearing, and the Department of Health’s licensing has been fair.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said Wednesday that the department “had no additional information to provide.” A Jackson spokesman said executives couldn’t comment “because of pending litigation.”

Wayne Brackin, chief operating officer of Baptist Health South Florida, said Baptist is “very worried about this trauma issue,” because in the 1980s, the trauma system fell apart in Miami-Dade with many hospitals losing money on the service, and Baptist doesn’t want the Ryder Trauma Center weakened by competition that could again endanger trauma care in the county.

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Driver in Rickenbacker Causeway cyclist death to be sentenced

A motorist who killed cyclist Aaron Cohen in a hit-and-run crash on the Rickenbacker Causeway will learn his fate Wednesday.

A Miami-Dade judge on Wednesday afternoon will sentence Michele Traverso, 26, who earlier pleaded guilty for the crash that killed Cohen last February.

The fatality, and a similar hit-and-run wreck in 2010, has renewed calls for increased safety for cyclists and joggers on the popular causeway. Fellow cyclists staged a memorial ride and erected a billboard overlooking Interstate 95 in Cohen’s honor.

Members of Miami’s avid cycling community are expected to be on hand for the 1 p.m. sentencing.

Traverso, driving on a suspended license, struck Cohen and cycling partner Enda Walsh as the two rode in the northbound lanes near the crest of the bridge. Traverso surrendered to police 18 hours after the crash.

Though there were reports of Traverso drinking in Coconut Grove that night, investigators could not prove that his blood alcohol content level was above the legal limit because of the delay in turning himself in.

Traverso pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving a death, leaving the scene of an accident with great bodily harm, and driving with a suspended license. He also pleaded guilty to earlier cocaine possession charge.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas could sentence him to as little as 22.8 months in prison, and as much as 35 years behind bars.

In May, Thomas told Cohen’s widow, Patricia Cohen, that he would be unlikely to deliver the maximum sentence, although he could consider “20 or 25 years” after hearing from her and Traverso’s own family at a possible sentencing.

The Cohen family is suing Traverso and his father, who owned the car.

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Leaked BlackBerry 10 sales manual reveals new images and details

The buzz continues to mount leading up to the January 30th unveiling of Research In Motions’s (RIMM) next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform, but we’re not sure how much is left to learn. Many BlackBerry 10 features have already been announced, we’ve seen RIM’s first two next-generation handsets — the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry X10 — a number times, and now Rogers’ internal sales manual for BlackBerry 10 devices has leaked thanks to CrackBerry. The manual is packed full of images and it also confirms some specs reported a few months ago, and the full document is embedded at the source link below. RIM’s next-generation operating system and handsets will be unveiled during a press conference on January 30th, and BGR will be on hand reporting live.

[More from BGR: Dell’s bold plan to reinvent itself: A USB-sized PC that gives access to Windows, Mac OS, Chrome OS]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

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Jennifer Lopez Talks Age Difference with Boyfriend Casper Smart

Jennifer Lopez, 43, is definitely not shy when it comes to her boyfriend choreographer/dancer Casper Smart, 25, and acknowledges their 18-year age difference in a new interview with People.

"I ask him, 'Why don't you go find a young girlfriend and get out of here? What do you want with me?' And you think, 'How long is this gonna be?'," she admits. "You think, 'Okay, in 10 years I'm going to be like this and you're going to be like that' and … men at that age are … I think all different things. The truth is we don't know what's going to happen. We're loving this moment right now. We make each other happy."

Video: Vogue's Andre Leon Talley One-on_one with J.Lo

She also credits her new beau with helping her heal after her 2011 divorce to Marc Anthony.

"I just got out of a big, heavy, devastating thing, and he's helped me heal," she says.

Video: J.Lo on Running Into Her Famous Exes at the Globes

As for her well-documented love life, which includes past relationships with superstars Ben Affleck and P Diddy, the seemingly ageless Lopez has "no regrets."

"I don't regret those things – that's who I am," she says. "But at least now I'm at a point where I have to recognize that these choices and things that happen are partly because of me and my decisions and I have to be more careful. So I am being more careful."

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Dunkin' Donuts to open shops in Southern California

CANTON, Mass. — Dunkin' Donuts is going to bring its munchkins, coffee and doughnuts to Southern California.

The chain, owned by Dunkin' Brands Group Inc., said Wednesday that it looking to open locations in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange counties by working with franchisees that run multiple locations.

Dunkin' Donuts anticipates shops will start opening in Southern California in 2015.

"Expansion to California has always been part of our plan to grow Dunkin' Donuts' presence in the US," Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin' Brands and president of Dunkin' Donuts US, said in a statement.

It is also hoping to team up with some food service operators that can help bring its food and drinks to places like colleges and universities, casinos, military bases, supermarkets, airports and travel centers.

The company said that it has been expanding in new markets across the US and will also continue to open new restaurants in existing markets. Its long-term goal is to have more than 15,000 Dunkin' Donuts locations in the US.

Dunkin' Donuts opened 291 new restaurants in the US last year. It plans to open 330 to 360 new locations in the US in 2013.

Dunkin' Brands, which also runs Baskin-Robbins, has more than 10,000 restaurants in 32 countries.

Shares of Dunkin' Brands, based in Canton, Mass., gained 9 cents to $34.11 in morning trading.

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Miami Dolphins bill would bring state money to aging stadiums

A bill drafted by the Miami Dolphins would give Florida sports teams $3 million a year in state money to improve older stadiums, provided the owner pays for at least half the cost of a major renovation.

Under the law, the stadium would need to be 20 years old and the team willing to put in at least $125 million for a $250 million renovation. That’s less than the $400 million redo of Sun Life Stadium that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross proposed this week, which he hopes will win state approval thanks to his offer to fund at least $200 million of the effort to modernize the 1987 facility.

Miami-Dade and Florida would fund the rest through a mix of county hotel taxes and state general funds set aside for stadiums. Sun Life currently receives $2 million a year through the program, and the Dolphins want to create a new category that would give them an additional $3 million.

While the Miami Marlins and Miami Heat both play in stadiums subsidized by county hotel taxes, the Dolphins receive no local dollars. The bill would change that by allowing Miami-Dade to increase the tax charged at mainland hotels to 7 percent from 6 percent, and eliminate the current rule that limits the money to publicly owned stadiums. Sun Life Stadium, in Miami Gardens, is privately owned but sits on county land.

The bill pits enthusiasm for one of Florida’s most popular sports teams against a lean budget climate and lingering backlash against the 2009 deal that had Miami and Miami-Dade borrow about $485 million to build a new ballpark for the Marlins. Ross also must navigate a Republican-led Legislature that has twice rebuffed his requests for public dollars.

“I would be surprised if that bill even got a hearing in committee,” said Mike Fasano, a Republican representative from the Tampa area and a critic of tax-funded sports deals. “I’m a big Dolphin fan, and have been for years. But with all due respect, we’ve got people who are struggling throughout this state right now . .. The last thing we should be doing is giving a professional sports team or facility additional tax dollars.”

While the bill would open up the $3 million subsidy to other the teams, the Dolphins see it as unlikely that another owner would be willing to put up as much money for renovations as Ross, a billionaire real estate developer.

If the bill were enacted today, any stadium opened before 1993 would be eligible for the money, provided it could show the proposed renovation would generate an additional $3 million in sales taxes.

Ross and his backers are pitching the renovation as a boon to tourism, with Sun Life a magnet for the Super Bowl, national college football games and other major events. The National Football League is considering South Florida and San Francisco for the 2016 Super Bowl, and the Dolphins say approval of renovation funding is crucial to winning the bid.

Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, who sponsored the Senate bill, said the funding makes sense because when Sun Life hosts a Super Bowl, the entire state benefits from both tourism dollars and publicity.

“It’s a small price to pay for economic development, and for all the shine we get from major sporting events,” said Braynon, whose district includes Sun Life. Rep. Eduardo “Eddy” Gonzalez, R-Hialeah, is the sponsor on the House side.

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Wedgie-spree at Florida theater lands prankster in jail

Authorities say that Charles Ross is known to go around Manatee County and create situations in order to harass and annoy people while filming their reaction for You Tube.

Last weekend, Ross, 18, of Bradenton, ended up in jail after police say he went on a wedgie spree at a theater.

Deputies say Ross was at Royal Palm Theater Sunday night with a friend and began grabbing people by their pants and pulling them up hard, causing discomfort.

A victim told deputies that Ross pulled up his pants, wedgie-style, and then asked the victim if he wanted to hit him, all while his friend was filming, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

One victim decided to press charges but others were too embarrassed, deputies said.

The deputy took the camera as evidence and both Ross and his friend were removed from the theater and told they would be arrested if they come back, according to the report.

Ross was booked into the Manatee County Jail on battery charges and was released Monday on a $750 bond.

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Tata Consultancy says demand in U.S. strong across segments

MUMBAI/BANGALORE (Reuters) – India’s top software services provider Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) said demand in the key U.S. market is strong across its business segments, with regional banks stepping up spending on technology.

The Mumbai-based company said on Monday that profit jumped 23 percent in the quarter ended December, beating analysts‘ expectations. TCS also gave an upbeat growth outlook, sending its shares up the most in more than eight months and prompting analyst upgrades on the stock.

Economic uncertainty in the United States had fuelled investor worry that clients may keep their IT budgets tight and postpone decision-making on technology spending.

“The U.S. is still a growth market,” Chief Financial Officer S Mahalingam told Reuters in an interview at his Mumbai office on Tuesday. “If it sneezes then we have got a big problem. (But) the demand is very good across all segments.”

The United States accounts for about half of TCS’ revenue, compared with more than 60 percent overall for India’s $ 100 billion outsourcing industry.

Banks, insurers and other financial services clients usually account for more than a third of the revenue at companies such as TCS’ rival Infosys Ltd , where better-than-expected results on Friday and an increased revenue outlook powered a 20 percent rise in its shares over two sessions.

“(The) U.S. economy has regional banks as well, and they are starting to spend. So there is growth,” Mahalingam said.

While Monday’s results prompted analysts from HSBC and CLSA to increase their ratings on TCS stock, some analysts said volume growth was not especially impressive.

Volumes, or billable hours, rose 1.25 percent on a sequential basis, while revenue in dollar terms increased 3.3 percent over the September quarter.

“The key disappointment was soft volume growth of 1.25 percent quarter-on-quarter. However, we remain assured by management’s optimistic outlook on FY14 growth,” Nomura analysts wrote in a note to clients.

(Editing by Tony Munroe and Ryan Woo)

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Revenge Cast ELLE Magazine Spread

Emily VanCamp

The cast of Revenge set aside their on-screen differences for a lavish photo shoot with ELLE magazine. From lead Emily VanCamp (playing the "Disgraced Daughter Out for Revenge") in an artsy ensemble to her on and off-screen beau Joshua Bowman playing in a fountain, these fun, sexy shots remind us why we can't get enough of ABC's nighttime soap. The ELLE shoot also includes a must-watch video where the cast plays the classic camp game, "F***, Marry, Kill."

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