A year in, a space for sharks and stars is taking form at Miami’s new Museum of Science

Standing in the busy construction site that will become the $275 million Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science by 2015, it’s hard to imagine that sharks will one day swim in a space now filled with cranes, rebar and dust.

Slightly easier to visualize is the 70-foot-tall planetarium dome, just starting to emerge as a circle of steel jutting diagonally from the ground.

“It takes a lot of time on the foundation,” said Gillian Thomas, the museum’s president and CEO. “But then it pops out of the ground and goes fast.”

A year after breaking ground at 1075 Biscayne Blvd., the underground parking garage is finished and the main entrance is rising. In addition to the planetarium and Gulf Stream-inspired aquarium, the 250,000-square-foot complex will include a rooftop garden, outdoor energy playground, exhibition space and an eyeful of Biscayne Bay.

“We’ve oriented the whole thing for the views,” said Thomas during a tour of the site earlier this month. “You’re never far away from content, but you’re never far way from a great view and fresh air.”

Science museums of the past were erected as seemingly impenetrable temples of knowledge with imposing columns and great staircases, Thomas said. The new five-story building, designed by the firm of British architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw adjacent to the construction site of a the county’s new art museum, is going for an open, inviting feel.

“We asked the architect to make a friendly building where you can see what’s going on inside,” said Thomas, wearing a silver construction helmet bearing the words “The Future Begins Here.”

The next chapter of the museum’s future begins in 2015, though exactly when is still unknown. Thomas said she wants to make it through one more (hopefully uneventful) hurricane season before locking in a date.

So far, the museum has raised $70 million in addition to $165 million from Miami-Dade County bonds, bringing it close to the immediate goal of $275 million needed for the project’s completion. The museum would like to raise an addition $25 million for transitional costs.

One of its fundraising events, the annual Galaxy Gala — with individual tickets priced at $500 — and $100-a-person Big Bang after-party, will be held March 9 at the JW Marriott Marquis.

Thomas said the museum’s progress has added momentum to the efforts.

“As we get more visits going, that will help us to finalize a number of supporters that we have out there,” she said. “It’s definitely making it easier to attract attention.”

The neighboring Miami Art Museum, to be called the Pérez Art Museum Miami when it opens in December, has noticed the same thing.

With construction about 80 percent finished, the art museum has raised $175.5 million of its $220 million goal, including $100 million from county bonds.

Earlier this month, Miami art collectors Debra and Dennis Scholl announced the donation of about 300 artworks to the museum. That gift followed the December announcement of a $5 million commitment from Miguel “Mike” Fernandez, chairman of private equity firm MBF Healthcare Partners.

“I think things have been significantly different in the last six months even,” said Leann Standish, the art museum’s deputy director for external affairs. At least once a month, the staff gives a tour to potential contributors to the museum’s capital campaign. “Certainly the donor conversations are much more exciting.”

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Stars Without Makeup!

Katie Holmes

February 25, 2013

A bare-faced Katie Holmes is snapped chatting on her cell phone while on a stroll in New York City on February 25.

ALSO IN THIS GALLERY:

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Chinatown hubby accused of attacking wife with meat clever kept at Bellevue -- same hosp as wife

The Chinatown husband who allegedly tried to end his marriage with a meat cleaver is being kept under observation at the psychiatric prison of Bellevue hospital -- the same hospital where his wife is also recovering.

Ming Duang Huang, 28, allegedly repeatedly hacked at his 24-year-old wife, Jinyia You, outside Fong's Trading at 74 Canal Street on Sunday.

The attack was halted by two heroic firefighters from nearby Engine Co. 9, Ladder Co. 6, who pulled Huang off of the cowering wife and threw him against a fence.

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Miami medicine goes digital

About 10 years ago, Dr. Fleur Sack quit her practice as a family physician to become a hospital department head. Spurring her decision was the need to switch from paper records to electronic ones to keep her private practice profitable. “At that time, it would have cost about $50,000,” Dr. Sack recalled. “It was too expensive and it was too overwhelming.”

But times and technologies changed, and last year, Dr. Sack left her hospital job to restart her medical practice with an affordable system for managing electronic patient records. She agreed to a $5,000 setup fee and a subscription fee of $500 per month for the system. Her investment also qualified her for subsidy money, which the federal government pays in installments, and to date, her subsidy income has paid for the setup fee and about two years of monthly fees. “So far, I’ve got my check for $18,000,” she said. “There’s a total of $44,000 that I can get.”

That kind of cash flow is one reason why so-called EHR software systems for electronic health records have been among the hottest-selling commercial products in the world of information technology. EHR system development is a growth industry in South Florida, too. Life sciences and biotechnology are among the high growth-potential sectors identified by the Beacon Council-led One Community One Goal economic development initiative unveiled in 2012; already, the University of Miami has opened a Health Science Technology Park while Florida International University has launched a healthcare informatics and management systems program in its graduate school of business.

For many young businesses in the area’s IT industry, government incentives are paving the way. The federal government is pushing doctors and hospitals to use electronic health records to cut wasteful spending and improve patient care while protecting patient privacy — sending digital information via encrypted systems, for example, rather than regular email.

Under a 2009 federal law known as the HITECH Act, maximum incentive payments for buying such systems range up to $44,000 for doctors with Medicare patients and up to $63,750 for doctors with Medicaid patients. Hospitals are eligible for larger incentive payments for becoming more paperless. The subsidy program isn’t permanent; eligible professionals must begin receiving payments by 2016. But by then, the federal government will be penalizing doctors and hospitals that take Medicare or Medicaid money without making meaningful use of electronic health records.

“What the government did is, they incentivized, and now they’re going to penalize,” said Andrew Carricarte, president and CEO of IOS Health Systems in Miami, one of the largest South Florida-based vendors of online software service for physician practices. He said insurance companies also may start penalizing physicians for failing to adopt electronic health records because “the commercial payers always follow Medicare and Medicaid.”

It’s all part of the growth story at IOS Health Systems, which has more than 2,000 physicians across the nation using its online EHR system. Carricarte said many of the company’s customers buy their second EHR system from IOS after their first one flopped. “Almost 40 percent of our sales come from customers who had systems and are now switching over to something else,” he said.

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Why Mr Smith ... er ... Mr. Sternad didn’t go to Washington

L amar Will Take Us Far.

The catchy slogan of the congressional candidate who called himself Lamar Sternad was the earliest indication of a campaign of deception. His first name isn’t Lamar.

But Justin Lamar Sternad’s slogan was spot-on in one regard.

Of the hundreds of no-name political neophytes who mount quixotic bids for office in Miami, Sternad went further than them all: The 10th floor of a federal justice building.

There in open court Friday, Sternad was formally accused of violating three federal laws stemming from his suspicious campaign finances, which were uncovered in an investigation by The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald.

Sternad earned the distinction of running a truly far-out campaign, one of the most-cynical, scandalous and strange South Florida has ever seen.

His campaign involved false federal campaign finance reports, at least $81,486 in secret checks and cash (much of it in $100 bills stuffed in envelopes), a bad boy of Miami politics, and a femme fatale of a campaign consultant, Ana Alliegro.

Alliegro’s whereabouts are unclear to the public. She skipped out on talking with the FBI in September.

Her close friend, former U.S. Rep. David Rivera, is the feds’ ultimate target.

The Miami Republican, who denies wrongdoing, is suspected by investigators and accused by campaign vendors of helping secretly back Sternad to undermine a rival, Joe Garcia, in the Democratic primary for the 26th Congressional District, 26, which stretches from West Miami-Dade to Key West.

Garcia’s now a congressman.

Sternad’s now a defendant. He’s cooperating with the feds.

Alliegro and Rivera aren’t named in Sternad’s federal charging document, which lists nameless “co-conspirators.”

But without Alliegro, it could be a challenge to prosecute Rivera.

Coincidentally, Sternad launched his masquerade of a campaign on the holiday that celebrates disguises: Halloween. In a letter dated Oct. 31, 2011, he notified the state of his intention to run.

Was he a plant, a ringer for Rivera, from the get-go? Or was he like so many other folks with no political experience who decide to run for office in the hope of making a Mr.-Smith-Goes-to-Washington difference?

“I’m running for Congress because right now there’s a high discontent with the recycling of establishment politicians,” Sternad said in a May interview with CBS4’s Elliot Rodriguez.

Days later, he started receiving the unreported cash that would be his downfall, federal records show.

During the CBS4 interview, the Democratic Sternad pointedly avoided criticizing the Republican congressman, saying it would be “pretty pretentious or arrogant of me to start going after David Rivera’s jugular like one of the other candidates, Joe Garcia’s doing. He’s mud-slinging.”

Sternad went on to call Garcia a “three-time loser.”

On Friday, it was clear Sternad lost big.

Wearing a gray polo shirt, Sternad was the only of the defendants not dressed in a tan jail jumper. He never said a word.

It’s unclear when Sternad first wound up on a crash-course with the justice system — that is, when he first came into contact with Alliegro, his de facto campaign manager.

Under one version of events (and there are a few) she happened to wander into the Wyndham Garden South Beach hotel where she (unintentionally?) ran into Sternad, who worked at the hotel. They got to talking.

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Jenna Dewan-Tatum Reveals Baby News on the Oscars Red Carpet!

Some of the most revealing celebrity news comes from the red carpet and ET's Nancy O'Dell got breaking baby Sunday night from one of this year's most glamorous Oscars couples, Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum!

While walking the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Jenna told Nancy that although she and her husband Channing are planning to be surprised regarding the sex of their unborn baby, she is hoping for a girl!

PICS: Stars Tweet on Oscar Day

During an interview with the couple, Dewan-Tatum referred to the baby as a "she" and then playfully admitted that she is hoping for a girl. Tatum chimes in stating, "she's willing it to be a girl."

Channing and Jenna -- who married in 2009 in Malibu -- met on the set of their hit
film Step Up in 2006. In November, the recently crowned "Sexiest Man Alive" told
People magazine that he wanted at least three kids with his dancer/actress wife.

RELATED: Channing and Jenna Expecting First Child!

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Death of ex-Post employee 'suspicious'

The death of a former New York Post employee whose body was found in her Cobble Hill apartment Friday is being investigated as suspicious, sources said.

Elizabeth Borst, 55, was found on her kitchen floor after her husband, Gaetano Lisco, called neighbors and asked them to check on the victim because he couldn't reach her.

Although Borst's death has not been ruled a homicide, the autopsy on her was inconclusive, and the victim had several unexplained injuries, sources said.

Borst suffered broken ribs, a broken wrist, a ruptured spleen and a gash to her head, sources said. Toxicology reports have not been completed.

The victim called cops on her husband for a domestic dispute March 4, 2010 but no one was injured, records show. He was grilled by detectives after she was found dead but released.

kconley@nypost.com

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South Beach Wine & Food Festival changes Miami's culinary scene, impacts economy

For Miami restaurateurs, this is Showtime.

With dozens of top chefs — Bobby Flay, Todd English, Daniel Boloud and Masaharu Morimoto among the list — in town for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, the pressure is on everywhere, from Michy’s to the new Catch Miami. The goal: Show everyone from around the country that Miami’s food scene has arrived on the national stage.

Chef Michelle Bernstein’s staff whipped up dishes designed to impress guests at Michy’s — like foie gras, oxtail and apple tarte tatin — while she juggled menus for multiple events. Bernstein kept her cellphone handy to make sure any chef friends could get a table, even though her namesake restaurant was sold out.

As always, Joe’s Stone Crab was a must-do stop for many, including Paula Deen and New York restaurateur Danny Meyer. Aussie Chef Curtis Stone attracted a string of admirers as he ate his way around town, with stops at Prime 112, Pubbelly Sushi and Puerto Sagua. Khong River House and Yardbird Southern Table & Bar hosted Meyer, The Food Network’s Anne Burrell and Chef Anita Lo.

Michael’s Genuine was another hot spot.

“This is kind of our coming out party for Khong and it’s our chance to knock it out of the park and wow people,” said John Kunkel, owner of Khong and Yardbird.

Prime 112 owner Myles Chefetz admits he’s a fanatic about checking plates when they come back from a chef’s table. And he’s always on the lookout for the table ordering 20 different items, because that’s usually a restaurateur doing research.

“If you have Jean-Gorges or Bobby Flay eating at your restaurant, you want to make sure he has a great experience,” Chefetz said. “You want to put your best foot forward because you know you’re going to get scrutinized.”

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is not just a forum for impressing the culinary elite. It’s among the top three tourist draws for Miami restaurants and hotels. In its 12th year, the festival draws more than 60,000 people to Miami Beach for a weekend of decadence, featuring more than 50 events spread over four days.

It is neck and neck with two of the area’s other most prominent weekends: Art Basel and Presidents’ Day (which coincides with the Miami International Boat Show).

There’s the immediate economic impact, of course, but the festival has made its mark in other ways: helping transform Miami’s food scene from a cultural wasteland to one of the country’s hot spots, one where top chefs all want to set up shop.

“Twelve years ago I don’t know if you could even name five really good restaurants. Now, you can’t think of where you want to eat because there are so many good restaurants,” said Lee Brian Schrager, festival founder and vice president of communications for Southern Wine & Spirits, its host. “What the festival can take credit for is introducing the culinary world to the great talent down here, and really highlighting South Florida as a great dining destination.”

There has been plenty of indulgence to go around. Flay finally broke his losing streak and took home top honors at the Burger Bash with his award-winning crunchified green chili burger. At the Q, barbecue lovers had their choice of Al Roker’s lamb ribs with baked beans or Geoffrey Zakarian’s smoked tagarashi crusted tuna, among other offerings.

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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 tomatoes as your arms can wield. Wash it off at the nearby shower. Wash it down with more beer.

As South Florida shtick goes, this was the gold standard.

“You guys put your hands in position,” James Goll, who markets the festival, said through a megaphone. “Let’s fire it up.”

The throng responded with the jest of 20-year-olds, cheering, camera phones raised skyward. Two girls crouched beneath a table that doubled as a barricade.

“Get back,” Goll said. “Get back.”

As the fire truck unleashed its siren, he gave them the cue to go.

They launched toward the red dunes. The stench of fermenting tomatoes wafted in the air.

Among them was couple Chris Gunn and Ginny Cannon, both lasted a few minutes until they ambled back out.

“Mayhem,” Gunn said of the first few minutes.

He kissed Cannon on the face and they both walked back into the multitude.

The red haze was at least 20-feet deep. They threw tomatoes until it turned into slush and it stuck like paste on bodies and faces.

TV crews had their fill of the camera-ready goodness.

A man who only identified himself as Jack, survived all of 30 seconds until the fun turned against him.

“I got nailed with a tomato,” he said. holding an ice pack on his swollen eye.

Injuries do occur, Goll said. Since the festival began last year, there has not been anything serious.

“A lot of people just want to take out some aggression,” he said.

The free-for-all endured about 45 minutes until a fire truck washed away the mashed up mess.

They hosed down the asphalt until it formed a river of red out into the parking lot and onto SW 7th Street.

A day’s worth of fun gone down the drain.

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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 Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

BEST MALE LEAD

Jack Black, Bernie

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

John Hawkes, The Sessions

Thure Lindhardt, Keep the Lights On

Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe

Wendell Pierce, Four

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister's Sister

Ann Dowd, Compliance

Helen Hunt, The Sessions

Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice

Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike

David Oyelowo, Middle of Nowhere

Michael Pena, End of Watch

Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths

Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom

Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST SCREENPLAY

Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom

Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks

Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

For the full list of winners, click here.

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