"...expense accounts are essentially a thing of the past. One VV reporter paid out of his own pocket to fly to Ohio and rent a car and a hotel room last week to do a story on the election. Normal after-work events, like a going-away party for an intern at a bar, are being paid out of the editors' own pockets. And, we hear, Voice reporters have been buying their own pens and notebooks because the paper has no extra office supplies."
A 70-year-old Wauwatosa man has been arrested for disorderly conduct after he was seen stroking women's hair and arms at AMC Theater in Mayfair Mall.
A woman told a theater manager that an older man sat down in the seat behind her as she was watching a film at about 5 p.m. on Dec. 22 and soon felt him "caressing" her arms.
She thought it was strange he chose to sit there since there were only a few people in the theater and plenty of open seats with better views.
The McClatchy Company [Miami Herald's parent company] announced today that it has extended the closing date of its agreement to sell 10 acres of land adjacent to The Miami Herald in order to allow the buyer additional time to arrange financing in this difficult credit environment.
The purchase price remains unchanged at $190 million -- $10 million of which McClatchy has already received in the form of a nonrefundable deposit.
With the acquisition of Knight-Ridder, Inc. in 2006, McClatchy inherited an agreement to sell The Miami Herald's 10-acre parking lot with no expiration date on the deal. The contract had subsequently been amended to require closing by Dec. 31, 2008.
Formerly "hip" Miamians having fun AND saving money by partying at home!"We've been forced to look at different alternatives, but we found we can get creative," said [Manuel] Vacas, 28, who recently found a job doing accounting for a property management company. "It's more personal. It's more intimate. We're probably having more fun this way."Now there's some earth-shaking news you can use.
WEST PALM BEACH — Thirteen city employees accused of using office computers for sexual content or religious slurs have been axed or resigned in an ongoing investigation that cuts across department lines.
West Palm Beach spokesman Peter Robbins said today that more firings are likely in the probe by the Human Resources Division, as investigators follow a trail of e-mails sent and Web sites viewed. Since October three people have been fired and 10 resigned, with the most recent departure on Dec. 16, he said.
"Every investigated person "A" leads to person "B," Robbins said.
"It's not being done by department; it's being done by the record of the communications themselves."
Good news for all of you who are fans (and who isn't?) of the Herald's Ace Crime Reporter David Ovalle.METRO COURTS: The Metro Desk is happy to announce that David Ovalle will be moving from cops to courts, a natural progression from one premiere beat to another. David will walk through the courthouse doors already hooked in with the cops, lawyers and prosecutors whose stories he will so ably be telling.David's one the best reporters ever to pursue a story in this town. I can't wait to read what he digs up at the three-ring circus at 1351 NW 12th Street AKA the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building!
Heck, he'll even know some of the defendants whose [alleged] crimes he covered over the last three years -- everyone from the serial rapist who broke out of jail to sex-scandal cover-up participants at Northwestern to the killers of babies and police officers.
David hails from San Diego and joined the Herald in 2002 after graduating from the University of Southern California. After two years in Northeast Neighbors and one year as a Metro GA, David began on the cops beat in November 2005. He'll be starting his new duties after the New Year, when Susannah Nesmith [current court reporter] starts as our new multimedia liaison.
If you have 75 cents you can buy a share of stock in the Miami Herald's parent company McClatchy. That was the price at the close of business today. 
Yesterday Miami learned - thanks to the Herald's Joan Fleischman - that Carlos Alvarez Jr., son of Miami Dade mayor Carlos Alvarez, has been released from prison after doing 13 ½ years for kidnapping and a series of violent sexual assaults committed in 1994.POLICEMAN'S SON GETS 18 YEARS FOR SEX ASSAULTSJoan's story yesterday was only the tip of the iceberg and leaves many questions unanswered.
Miami Herald, The (FL) - Saturday, March 25, 1995
Author: MANNY GARCIA Herald Staff Writer
Carlos Alvarez Jr ., son of a high-ranking Metro-Dade police chief, pleaded guilty Friday to sexually assaulting three girls and terrorizing several others.
Judge Lauren Levy Miller gave Alvarez Jr . 18 years in prison followed by 10 years probation -- a sentence agreed to by the Dade state attorney's office and defense lawyers.
Margaret Bisignani, assistant chief prosecutor with the sexual battery unit, explained the deal: "The victims collectively had expressed a desire that they did not want to testify," she said. "Everyone just wanted an end."
Alvarez Jr . is the son of Carlos Alvarez Sr., Metro's assistant director for police services. He could have received up to 30 years under the plea agreement, life in prison if he had gone to trial and lost.
Defense attorneys Douglas Hartman and C. Michael Cornely argued against prison time, saying Alvarez Jr . needs long-term psychological care.
Hartman said Alvarez Jr . had been repeatedly hospitalized for behavioral and psychological problems just before his arrest.
Alvarez Jr ., who had no prior criminal record, went on a two-month sexual rampage last year in Kendall:
* On March 23, Alvarez Jr . asked a girl for directions on Southwest 108th Avenue and 88th Street. He said he had a gun, threatened to kill her and demanded she show him her breasts. The girl ran away.
* On April 25, Alvarez Jr . asked a girl for directions on Southwest 108th Avenue and 93rd Street. He said he had a gun, ordered the girl into his car and exposed himself. She ran off.
* On May 13, Alvarez Jr . accosted a 20-year-old woman while she skated on Southwest 123rd Avenue and 82nd Street. He threatened to run the woman over unless she climbed into his car. Once she did, Alvarez Jr . showed her a knife and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
* On May 26, Alvarez Jr . tried to kidnap a girl at knifepoint while she sat on a bus bench at Southwest 117th Avenue and 88th Street. The girl ran off.
* One hour and 15 minutes later, Alvarez Jr . lured two teenage girls into his car at the Town & Country Center in Kendall. He pulled a knife and sexually assaulted the girls, ages 14 and 16.
Alvarez Jr . will serve time in a youthful offender prison, where young inmates have more opportunity for schooling and psychological counseling. Both sides agreed to house him with younger inmates because he is the son of a police officer.
Hartman, the defense lawyer, complained that his client was harshly punished because he is the son of a cop.
"I really think because he was Carlos Alvarez Jr . he paid the price."
The case was a sensitive one for both prosecutors and Metro police, two agencies that have to work together to prosecute criminals.
Metro conducted an internal review after a photographic lineup could not be found in the property room. It turned out to have been temporarily misplaced.
Carlos Alvarez Jr. is an extremely violent and dangerous sexual predator. He didn't spend almost 14 years in prison for singing too loud in church or for having sex with an under aged girlfriend. He terrorized innocent young women. He needs to be watched closely.
Alvarez was released on Oct 1. Was there any warning given to the public that an extremely violent sex offender was being released into the community? According to the FDLE's website Alvarez is living at 6890 SW 44th Street in Miami. That places him very close to many different municipalities: Miami, West Miami, South Miami, Coral Gables, and Pinecrest. Has the Fla Dept. of Parole and Probation notified the law enforcement authorities in these cities? Have officials at neighboring schools been notified of this man's release into the community? Did anyone have to approve of Alvarez's move into this apartment complex and did anyone tell the complex management of Alvarez's violent past? Are there children living in his apartment complex? How often do parole and probation officials check on Alvarez's movements? What restrictions are placed on his travel? Does he have a car that allows him to move freely about the community? And last, will Alvarez be required to live under a bridge at night? And if not, why not?
A great big Random Pixels "atta girl" goes to Joan Fleischman for breaking the news in this morning's paper that Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Alvarez's son, Carlos A. Alvarez Jr., is free after doing a hard 13½ years in stir for rape, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and lewd and lascivious assault on a child under 16.
In a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, respondents were asked to volunteer their assessments of how Bush would be remembered after he leaves office.Only nine?
The most frequent response, from 56 people, was "incompetent," followed by "idiot," "arrogant," "ignorant," "stupid," and so on. Nine people volunteered a three-letter synonym for donkey.
For those of you participating in the Herald Death Pool (sadistic bastards!) we bring you this bit of depressing news: Miami Herald parent McClatchy's stock is down over 30% today from an open of $1.49 a share to 99 cents a share at about 3:30pm EST. By BREANNE GILPATRICK
The students say they didn't think they were doing anything special.
But a local animal organization says they're heroes and plans to honor them Thursday for saving a puppy shoved down a sewer grate earlier this year in Miami.
Humane Educators Reaching Out, a local humane education organization, is scheduled to present awards to seven Miami-Dade school students at ceremonies Thursday morning at Lenora Brayon Smith Elementary School and Allapattah Middle School.
The students -- Janika Viel, 10, and Jakara Viel, Paulemy Senat, Rantrell Johnson, Dominique Lowe, Ladena Parks and Julian Brown, all 13 -- were out playing when they saw someone stuffing Winnie, a German shepherd mix, down a sewer grate.
One of them ran to find the neighborhood's local ''dog lady,'' who crawled into the sewer and retrieved Winnie after another neighbor pried off a nearby manhole cover.
The incident severely broke one of the dog's rear legs, which had to be amputated, but those honoring the children say their efforts likely saved Winnie's life.
November was no month for thanksgiving at The McClatchy Co., with The Miami Herald parent reporting Monday that total revenue for the month dropped 19.4% compared to a year ago on advertising revenue that plunged 22.4%.McClatchy's stock price was $1.80 shortly before 1pm today.
"Just 18% say they are going to miss him [Bush] when he is gone, half the number Mr. Clinton recorded on his way out of office."No surprise there. But my question to those 18 per centers is why on earth would you even admit to something like that? And please tell me what you are going miss most about him. I'd love to know!
"...he wouldn’t have a comment. On his way out, BusinessWeek’s Jon Fine asked, “Not even a wink on Miami Herald?” Pruitt responded, “Not even a twinkle.”Not a very rosy picture. Does this mean more staff cuts at the Herald early next year? Rumors persist. Stay tuned.
Pruitt also said that McClatchy's total ad revenues through October are down 17.4 percent and a large portion of that is not coming back. Looking ahead, Pruitt didn’t sugarcoat it, "Our current results are lousy and the economy is worsening. 2009 will start ugly, but we expect it to improve." And with over $2 billion in debt—Pruitt insisted that it is steadily being reduced.
In Brookfield, Wis., no restaurant has triggered more calls to the police department since last year than Chuck E. Cheese's.
Officers have been called to break up 12 fights, some of them physical, at the child-oriented pizza parlor since January 2007. The biggest melee broke out in April, when an uninvited adult disrupted a child's birthday party. Seven officers arrived and found as many as 40 people knocking over chairs and yelling in front of the restaurant's music stage, where a robotic singing chicken and the chain's namesake mouse perform.
[...]
"The biggest problem is you have a bunch of adults acting like juveniles," says Town of Brookfield Police Capt. Timothy Imler. "There's a biker bar down the street, and we rarely get calls there."
"The people briefed on the company’s plans say The Herald generates a very slim operating margin and that the most attractive part of any deal could be its prime waterfront real estate. But the Florida real estate market is in deep recession — one of the reasons for the struggles of the paper, which used to benefit from heavy real estate advertising."The Times posted this story Friday evening but as of Saturday at 1pm there appeared to be nothing regarding "the sale" on the Herald's website.
I wonder if [Palin] knows the true measure of the man she is eagerly helping.Palin's not alone in supporting this clown. Her running mate John McCain stumped for Chambliss in Georgia a week after his defeat.
Chambliss was elected to the Senate in 2002 by running one of the most reprehensible campaigns of modern times. He was up against incumbent Democrat Sen. Max Cleland, a Vietnam War veteran who lost both legs and his right arm to a grenade during that conflict.
Chambliss avoided serving in Vietnam. He got four student draft deferments, and when his number finally came up, he was medically disqualified with knee troubles.
In the best Karl Rove fashion, Chambliss the draft-evader attacked Cleland the war hero for being soft on terrorism. Distorting Cleland’s votes about workplace rules for the new Homeland Security Department employees, Chambliss portrayed him as a tool of terrorists like Osama bin Laden.
[...]
So there you have the fine American that Palin is trying to re-elect to the U.S. Senate.
Gov. Palin’s eldest joined the Army and has been deployed to Iraq. As a justifiably proud military mom, she might ask herself why she is using her conservative star power to support such a reprehensible Republican chicken hawk.
By TAMARA LUSHLet me see if I have this straight...he's moving people who can't afford housing into homes that don't belong to him, but that once had owners who couldn't afford them either. Brilliant business model!
MIAMI - Max Rameau delivers his sales pitch like a pro. "All tile floor!" he says during a recent showing. "And the living room, wow! It has great blinds."
But in nearly every other respect, he is unlike any real estate agent you've ever met. He is unshaven, drives a beat-up car and wears grungy cut-off sweat pants. He also breaks into the homes he shows. And his clients don't have a dime for a down payment.
Rameau is an activist who has been executing a bailout plan of his own around Miami's empty streets: He is helping homeless people illegally move into foreclosed homes.
...outside the Victoria's Secret store
Lincoln Road and Meridian Ave.
Scratch and sniff...
"Bill, we’re not closing…the café is staying right where it is…but, the store will be moving within the building right next to Design Within Reach, where Base Annex was…We’ll be relocating after the 1st…Thanks for your concern, but we’re in good shape…Mitchell."See how easy that was .....SuperBee?
Even the headline writers at the NY Post - not normally known for their restraint when it comes to tasteless headlines - took a day off. The editors documented the occasion with all the solemnity they could muster by running an extremely powerful photograph of an extraordinary moment without resorting to a snarky headline. Sarah Palin tells Matt Lauer: "You know, questions about, well, you know, 'What do you read up there in Alaska?' To me that was a little bit annoying. Because I'm like, what do you mean, what do I read in Alaska? I read the same things that you guys read in New York. And there in LA and in Washington state. What do you mean what I read up there?" But Couric didn't ask what Palin read up there in Alaska. She asked: "What newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?"If this is who the Republicans are pinning their hopes on in 2012 who am I to argue? Let's get it on!
To me, one of the most distinct and glaring differences between Barack Obama and John McCain was how each candidate used technology in their campaign.ROME — Italians never quite know whether to laugh or cry at Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But many of the most seasoned reacted with incredulity and outrage after the prime minister, visiting Moscow on Thursday, amiably called the first African-American president-elect in history “young, handsome and suntanned.”"....never fails to live up to our worst expectations." Hmmm, who does that remind you of?
[...]
Many Italian newspapers gave the comment nearly as much front-page attention as Mr. Obama’s victory itself, with the journalist Curzio Maltese writing in the center-left La Repubblica that “bookmakers wouldn’t even take bets” on how long it would take for Mr. Berlusconi to let slip another of his famous gaffes. “Mr. Berlusconi never fails to live up to our worst expectations,” he wrote.
Barack Obama lightened things up a bit today at his first post-election press conference when he was asked about getting a puppy for his daughters. He opined that most shelter dogs are "mutts like me."
More on the Republican's biggest nightmare AKA Sarah (Caribou Barbie) Palin from the Australian:But there is a some good news in all of this for the rest of us! "Seth Meyers, the head writer for Saturday Night Live, said he anticipated Ms Palin would not stray far from the national conversation. For comedians, he said, 'she is a gift that will keep on giving.'"McCain's aides coined a term for Palin and her family: Alaskan "hillbillies." Ms. Palin had been told by McCain spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace to buy three suits and hire a stylist for her debut at the Republican convention at an expected cost of about $20,000.
Instead, the self-described blue-collar "hockey mom" went on a profligate shopping spree at exclusive department stores, including bills of $75,062 at Neiman Marcus and $49,425 at Saks Fifth Avenue.
"Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," was how a McCain aide characterised the spending spree to Newsweek magazine.The merciless attack on Ms. Palin -- who aides said was also given to frequent "temper tantrums" -- comes in retaliation for what McCain's staff considered a treasonous act by Ms Palin's team in the final weeks of the campaign.
McCain aides believe Ms. Palin decided to look after her own political image -- she has her eyes set on the 2012 presidential campaign -- by leaking to the media that she had been "mishandled" by McCain's campaign.
"Palin [was not] aware that Africa is a continent. (Perhaps she was hamstrung by the fact that no part of that land mass can be viewed from her homestate.)"I'd like to think that most Americans (63,875,893 to be precise) saw early on that Palin was supremely unqualified.
From the Associated Press:"WASHINGTON (AP) — That smiling guy walking down the street? Odds are he's a Barack Obama backer. The grouchy looking one? Don't ask, and don't necessarily count on him to vote on Tuesday, either.
"Ken Duberstein, former Republican chief of staff to President Reagan, told MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell today that the pick of Palin has undermined John McCain's credibility.Duberstein is voting for Obama.
"What most Americans I think realize is that you don't offer a job, let alone the vice presidency, to a person after one job interview," Duberstein said. "Even at McDonalds you're interviewed three times before you're given a job."
As I predicted last month, circulation figures released today for the latest reporting period show the Herald's readership continuing its sharp decline."...daily circ [at the Herald] was down 11.8% to 210,884. Sunday was down 9% to 279,484."The Herald once boasted the largest circulation of any paper in Florida. The St. Petersburg Times now has a larger daily and Sunday circulation than the Herald.
By comparison "The Orlando Sentinel lost 3.3% of its daily circ to 206,363 and about the same on Sunday (-3.2%) to 307,976 copies" which means the Orlando Sentinel now has a larger Sunday circulation than the Herald.
"One big reason the numbers are declining is the product itself. In the last year, we've seen unprecedented cuts in the product -- and the customers are noticing. It looks like the amount of newsprint is down about 10-15%; some in stories, some in ads. Trusted bylines have disappeared overnight. Readers notice, and talk to their friends, and they're saying: it's not the newspaper it used to be. When the subscription notices come, they're a little less likely to be acted upon."I couldn't agree more, especially when it comes to the Herald.
The Herald's Ace Crime Reporter David Ovalle breaking a story late this afternoon that's sure to set tongues wagging at the courthouse tomorrow. 
The question Ovalle leaves unanswered in his otherwise excellent story is why Republicans seem to be fascinated with bathroom stalls!
"...my American Dream was to have a house, a dog, a couple rifles, a bass boat. I believe in living life easy and simple. I don’t have grand designs. I don’t want much."Yeah, but who's he voting for? He told the AP: "That's for me and a button to know."
A source at the Herald tells me that despite two rounds of buyouts in the space of three months, some staffers are bracing for more bad news.
Executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal has already told his staff that more cuts in the newsroom may be necessary - as early as January. As many as 10 more staffers may lose their jobs.
The newsroom buzz is that with the previous round of cuts taking a toll on reporters, photographers and support staff, some senior editors may now find their heads on the chopping block.
My source tells me that some of them [editors] are sitting at their desks with "thousand-yard stares. They're shell-shocked."Some Herald staffers are complaining about the Herald's new website re-design. "While it may look like it's new and improved, all they did was put lipstick on a pig," said one newsroom insider. "They did it on the cheap." Another staffer tells me that the design was mandated by the Herald's parent company McClatchy. The source says that all McClatchy papers will soon have similar looking sites. Another Herald source tells me that the Herald's Broward bureau in Pembroke Pines has become a ghost town. He reports that many days he's the only person in the once-busy building. "It gives me a creepy feeling," says the staffer. And here's something that Herald executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal is no doubt paying attention to:
While newspapers will never get back subscribers who have migrated to the web, they're trying desperate measures to hold on to subscribers they still have.
One of those measures is re-design. The Sun-Sentinel and Orlando Sentinel have recently launched re-designed papers.
Tampa Tribune executive editor Janet Coats thought she'd come up with a sure fire way to re-invent her paper. Coats decided that what her readers wanted was a more compact and condensed version of the Tribune. The problem is she never asked the readers what they wanted.
The Tribune rolled out a one section paper back on Oct. 6.
Readers hated it.
Less than a week after launching the slimmed down version of the paper, Coats had to apologize to readers and announce that the Tribune will it resume publishing a multi-section paper.
The Tribune is in a no-win situation. It competes with the St. Petersburg Times for readers. The St. Petersburg Times, which is considered one of the best newspapers in the country, outclasses the inferior Tribune in circulation and and quality. The only way the Tribune can beat the St. Pete Times is to give away a $20 bill with every paper they sell. Giving readers less of a newspaper is not the answer, as editor Coats has painfully learned.
The incident just proves that some people who run newspapers have no idea what readers want.
The McCain campaign’s recent angry tone and sharply personal attacks on Senator Barack Obama appear to have backfired and tarnished Senator John McCain more than their intended target, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll has found.Ol' Cranky certainly isn't helping himself with performances like this either. Perhaps after the election is over, whomever was responsible for allowing John McCain to make these sorts of appearances before video cameras can explain why they thought it was a good idea! But by all means, let's have more like these!
[...]
.... the poll found that more voters see Mr. McCain as waging a negative campaign than Mr. Obama. Six in 10 voters surveyed said that Mr. McCain had spent more time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president; by about the same number, voters said Mr. Obama was spending more of his time explaining than attacking.
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."
"It is not truth that matters, but victory."
One of the cruelest examples of this maneuver involved former State Senator Tom Turnipseed, a South Carolina Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1980. As a youth, Mr. Turnipseed had shock therapy for depression, which he talked about on occasion.Atwater died in 1991, but as we've seen in recent days, the Atwater style of politics is very much alive.
Mr. Atwater, who was working for the Republican, was not sympathetic. He went around the state telling people that the Democratic candidate had once “been hooked up to jumper cables.” No matter how much Mr. Turnipseed talked about education or crime or dirty tricks after that, voters only saw the jumper cables.
For the 1988 campaign to elect then-Vice President Bush, the indelible image that helped defeat Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts was a black man named Willie Horton. Willie Horton committed rape while on furlough from a Massachusetts prison under a program that was actually started by another governor, a Republican.
Despite his public denials that he had anything to do with an anti-Dukakis commercial featuring Mr. Horton, this film has Mr. Atwater encouraging an outside group to spread the word. The tactic worked. Mr. Atwater and friends managed to turn Willie Horton’s face into the only thing some voters could remember about the Democratic nominee.
“This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America. We see America as the greatest force for good in this world. If we can be that beacon of light and hope for others who seek freedom and democracy and can live in a country that would allow intolerance in the equal rights that again our military men and women fight for and die for for all of us. Our opponent though, is someone who sees America it seems as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country?”What better way to distract your followers from the real issues and your own shortcomings as a candidate, than by telling a lie and then repeating it over and over again until they start believing it?
