A crazy, hazy tomato battle at Tobacco Road

Here at Miami’s birthplace for blues and booze, there was a battle. A melee of Corona-soaked revelry to rid a farm of its winter excess of tomatoes.The crowd of university students, kickball leagues and business consultants stood around some 20,000 pounds of the vegetable-fruit behind the bar Tobacco Road on Saturday. The concept, simple: launch as many...

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Independent Spirit Award Winners 2013

The 2013 Film Independent Spirits Awards were handed out in Santa Monica, CA today and lots of Oscar frontrunners cemented their status by dominating in their categories once more.Check out all the winners below: Best Feature Beasts of the Southern Wild Bernie Keep the Lights On Moonrise Kingdom Silver Linings Playbook BEST FEMALE LEAD Linda Cardellini, Return Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere Jennifer...

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Third arrest in video where little girls are forced to fight

YoutubeStills from the sick YouTube hit, which has since been taken down.Another teen was busted for forcing a fight between two grade-school girls in the Bronx that was captured on YouTube video, authorities said.The 14-year-old was charged as a juvenile with endangering the welfare of a child, cops said.Sources said she may be the sister of the 6-year-old...

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The faces of Florida’s Medicaid system

The tea party governor now says he wants to expand Medicaid. The Republican Legislature isn’t as sure. Hanging in the balance? Access to health care for 1 million or more poor Floridians. Billions of dollars in federal money.The state budget, which — already — pumps $21 billion a year into care. Florida’s Medicaid system today serves more than 3 million...

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Parents of missing Hallandale Beach baby formally charged

The parents of an infant who disappeared more than a year and a half ago were formally charged Friday in Broward County Circuit Court.Brittney Sierra, 21, faces two counts of felony child neglect.Calvin Melvin, 27, was charged with three felony counts of providing false information to police. Each could face more charges if a Texas lab confirms that DNA...

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Joan Rivers and Melissa Rivers Oscar Fashion Police Preview

The Academy Awards red carpet represents the ultimate in Hollywood fashion, but just because stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain will wear the best of the best, that doesn't mean that Joan and Melissa Rivers aren't sharpening their claws…. Meow!Pics: The 15 Oscars Dresses of All Time Joan and Melissa are all fired up for their E! Oscar Fashion Police special on Monday, and from Jennifer...

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Crime ring chief gets 7 years for illegal guns, motorcycle thefts

The kingpin in a massive ring that sold at least 13 illegal guns and stole scores of motorcycles off city streets is going to prison for at least 7 1/2 years.Tiwane Paul, 31, had asked for less time, arguing through his lawyer that he'd had a tough childhood in his native Dominica. But prosecutor Diana Florence countered that Paul "was a very, very smart...

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Ian Schrager joins forces with chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten for new Edition Hotel

Two of the best-known names in their respective fields — hotelier Ian Schrager and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten — have teamed up for the Edition Hotel in Miami Beach, they told The Miami Herald Friday.The partnership had not previously been officially announced, but the two were set to host a cocktail party Friday night at the site of the old Seville Beach hotel, 2901 Collins...

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‘Dangerous dog’ ordinance passed in Pembroke Pines

An ordinance in Pembroke Pines aimed at constraining the behavior of dogs who brutally assault other dogs and humans passed unanimously late Wednesday, in response to two dog attacks that occurred in the city last December.The nuanced regulations would require a dog owner to pay a fine and up to $750 in “dangerous dog” registration fees if a dog was determined to be “dangerous”...

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Developers want to raise proposed Brooklyn Bridge Park complex three feet to avoid massive flood damage

These guys want to put their Brooklyn Bridge Park plans on a pedestal.The developers tapped to bring a hotel and residential complex to Pier 1 near Old Fulton St are planning for a future Hurricane Sandy by raising both buildings up at least three feet to avoid the massive flood damage that devastated the surrounding DUMBO neighborhood during last...

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National Hotel nears end of long renovation

A panel of frosted glass puts everything in perspective for Delphine Dray as she oversees a years-long, multi-million dollar renovation project at the National Hotel on Miami Beach.“Chez Claude and Simone,” says the piece of glass stationed between the lobby and restaurant, a reference to Dray’s parents, who bought the hotel in 2007. “Every time I am exhausted and I pass...

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Miami imam testifies that he lied when he professed support for the Taliban

In testimony that was at turns deadly serious and comical, a Miami imam accused of aiding terrorists testified Wednesday that he lied about his ostensible support for the Pakistani Taliban because he wanted to obtain $1 million from a purported Taliban sympathizer — who was actually an FBI informant.Hafiz Khan, 77, the one-time leader of a Miami mosque, said he repeatedly...

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Renny Harlin Talks Cliffhanger and Sylvester Stallone

Cliffhanger and Die Hard 2 director Renny Harlin's first-ever U.S. film, the supernaturally charged Prison, is out this week for the first time on a special-edition Blu-ray, and while talking about the project and his career he revealed to ETonline that before he shot a frame of film on Cliffhanger, Sylvester Stallone told him, "I have a fear of heights."Pics: 13 Must-See Movies for 2013 "When he...

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School janitor gets 20 years for raping 12yo student

A Brooklyn school janitor convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in his middle school was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison today as his family sobbed in the back of the courtroom.Ambiorix Rodriguez, 34, had sex with the girl in the basement and stairwell of the East Flatbush school but was busted when she told school officials.Rodriguez did not force...

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Barbie Dreamhouse coming to Sawgrass Mills

Barbie fans will get to step into a real-life Malibu Mansion starting next month at Sawgrass Mills.The Sunrise mall will be the only place in the United States to feature the first life-sized replica of the Barbie Dreamhouse. Located in the Oasis section at Sawgrass, the Dreamhouse will feature pink elevators, an endless closet, a walk-in “glitterizer” and a dazzling “diamond”...

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Shooting incident underway in west Miami-Dade; public warned to stay out of area

Miami-Dade police are working an incident in west Miami-Dade of a report of shots being fired by a suspect, who may have set his home on fire.Details were sketchy at 8 p.m., but police said there is a person shooting in the area along Southwest 154th Avenue and 57th Street, near Miller Road.There were also reports of a hopuse fire at 15415 SW 57th St. ...

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Heidi Klum Re-Creates Anne Bancroft The Graduate Carl's Jr Commercial

Heidi Klum reenacts Anne Bancroft's famous Mrs. Robinson character from The Graduate in a new Carl's Jr. commercial, and she did a good job of staying in character through her interview with ET's Rob Marciano.PICS: Candid Celeb Sightings For the TV ad, Heidi's advances are directed towards a hamburger, but Rob also got an opportunity to step in for Dustin Hoffman once the cameras stopped rolling."Have...

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Judge blocks city from Ken Burns film footage

Famed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns today beat back an effort by the city to obtain raw footage and outtakes from his recent movie on the infamous "Central Park jogger" rape case.A judge granted the PBS icon's request to quash a subpoena for the unused material on grounds that his production company, Florentine Films, is covered by the "reporter's privilege."Manhattan...

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Best photo apps for Android devices

Whether you want to slap a simple filter on your photo or get granular and change attributes like color levels and saturation, we’ve got a list of the Android apps you’ll want to use. Snapseed The good: With its unique gesture-based interface, this offers an incredible level of control over its effects and filters. The bad: The tools and interface aren’t...

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Pension reform plan put on hold

TALLAHASSEE -- House Speaker Will Weatherford’s push to close the state’s $136 billion pension system to new state employees is on hold.A report released Friday was supposed to provide an estimate of how much the change would cost to pay out benefits to the employees currently in the system while switching new state employees into 401(k)-style retirement plans.Instead, the...

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Dr. Drew: Mindy McCready Won't Be the Last Celebrity Rehab Patient to Die

In the wake of troubled country singer Mindy McCready's apparent suicide, Dr. Drew Pinsky is tackling criticism in regards to his Celebrity Rehab series, where McCready appeared as a patient, and urging more diligent care for those with addiction issues.McCready, 37, was one of nine stars who sought help from Pinsky in season three and ultimately the third to die from their demons (as well as the...

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Newtown massacre gunman wanted to exceed Norway shooter's death toll

The gunman who carried out the Newtown school massacre was inspired by violent video games — and was trying to outdo a Norwegian mass murderer who killed 77 people, it was reported today.Adam Lanza believed he was in ghoulish competition with Anders Breivik, who carried out a bloodbath at two locations in July 2011, law enforcement sources told CBS News.Breivik,...

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Open English expands across Latin America

Back in 2008, Open English, a company run from Miami that uses online courses to teach English in Latin America, had just a handful of students in Venezuela and three employees. Today the company has more than 50,000 students in 22 Latin American countries and some 2,000 employees.To fund this meteoric expansion, the founders of Open English — Venezuelans Andrés Moreno and...

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Marc Caputo: A swig of water isn’t going to sideline Marco Rubio

It’s official: Marco Rubio is a national punch line.After the Florida senator’s weird decision to interrupt his Tuesday rebuttal of the president’s State of the Union speech by taking a swig from a bottle of water, he was quickly mocked on The Daily Show, Colbert Report, Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Late Show with David Letterman. Four days later, Saturday Night...

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A Good Day to Die Hard Bruce Willis Takes Over Box Office

Audiences agreed that it was a good weekend to die hard, as the fifth installment of the Die Hard franchise opened strong.RELATED: New Blu-ray & DVD Releases A Good Day to Die Hard is expected to pull in $28.2 million over the four-day holiday, beating out last weekend's winner, Identity Thief ($27.6 million), and Safe Haven ($25.4 million.This weekend is on pace to be the biggest international...

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7 hurt when cab crashes into food cart crowd

Seven people were injured on West 34 Street and Eleventh Avenue when a cabbie plowed into a vehicle, jumped a curb and hit a small crowd of people near a food cart on the sidewalk, cops and witnesses said. A witness said the cabby was stopped behind another vehicle in the eastbound lane at a light on 34th Street at around 5 p.m. when he suddenly “took off,"...

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Small business lending rebounds in South Florida

For years, Pablo Oliveira dreamed of buying a property to house his high-end linen and furniture rental company, Nuage Designs, which has created settings for such glamorous events as the weddings of Carrie Underwood and Chelsea Clinton.A few months ago, that dream came true, when Oliveira purchased a warehouse across the street from his current Miami location. He is now...

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