Read the heartbreaking impact statement read by the Figoski girls

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Below is the impact statement read in Brooklyn Supreme Court today by the four daughters of NYPD Det. Peter Figoski at the sentencing of his killer, Lamont Pride. The one joint statement was read in court, with each daughter taking a portion.

CHRISTINE FIGOSKI, 21:

On the evening of Sunday, December 11, my sisters and I went to bed with the worries of your average teenage girl. We were worried about studying for upcoming college final exams, and high school tests, and looking forward to going home for the Christmas holiday and having the family together.

We all got our normal “Night, I love you” text from Daddy, and only a few hours after, my sisters and I were faced with the tragedy that would impact the rest of our lives. The next events that happened that morning are events that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.

We were awoken by my Mom in a panic after hearing that Daddy had been in an accident. We were startled and from that moment on everything seemed to get worse.

We all came to the hospital to “Hope” and “Pray” that our Dad would pull through. Our Father was shot in the face, and still breathing at that moment, and even though as bad as his condition was, we still thought just somehow he would survive. Nothing at that moment felt real and till this day, it still doesn’t.

Two of us arrived at the hospital to see the grim faces of family members and the sad faces of hundreds of police officers that were lined up throughout the hospital.

The next several hours were some of the hardest of our lives as we were told that our Father died as a result of a gunshot to the face. We spiraled into the confusion of having to deal with the hard reality of having to prepare with life without our Dad.

CORINNE FIGOSKI, 15:

Our dad was our world, our everything. He was our hero, protector, role model and our best friend. He always made everything better. And not at one moment would any of us realize what it would be like without a father, it’s more than anyone could ever imagine. Everything our Dad did was for us. He was always trying his hardest to make us the best people we could be.

Now a day's “Promise” is just a word. When people say, “I promise everything will get better, and it’s going to be OK,” it’s just a lie to us.Nothing will ever be the same again and we will never feel the way we used to.

We lay in bed for hours in the dark at night, thinking about every possible thing that has changed in our lives since December 12, 2011. Sometimes we want to believe that this world is hell and there is another peaceful world where our dad is now. I’m not sure if we are depressed, but we are constantly angry and sad, but we continue to put smiles on our faces and laugh and joke with one another like our Father would want. But inside we are numb, and broken. We find it so hard to be happy, sometimes we forget how to feel. The past is better than it is now, and the future is less resolved. When our father died, a part of us died inside. We realize that once you’re broken in certain ways, they couldn’t ever be fixed now, no matter how hard you try.

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Don’t get too personal on LinkedIn

Have you ever received a request to connect on LinkedIn from someone you didn’t know or couldn’t remember?

A few weeks ago, Josh Turner encountered this situation. The online request to connect came from a businessman on the opposite coast of the United States. It came with a short introduction that ended with “Let’s go Blues!” a reference to Turner’s favorite hockey team in St. Louis that he had mentioned in his profile. “It was a personal connection … that’s building rapport.”

LinkedIn is known for being the professional social network where members expect you to keep buttoned-down behavior and network online like you would at a business event. With more than 200 million registered users, the site facilitates interaction as a way to boost your stature, gain a potential customer or rub elbows with a future boss.

But unlike most other social networking sites, LinkedIn is all about business — and you need to take special care that you act accordingly. As in any workplace, the right amount of personal information sharing could be the foot in the door, say experts. The wrong amount could slam it closed.

“Anyone in business needs a professional online presence,’’ says Vanessa McGovern, the VP of Business Development for the Global Institute for Travel Entrepreneurs and a consultant to business owners on how to use LinkedIn. But they should also heed LinkedIn etiquette or risk sending the wrong messages.

One of the biggest mistakes, McGovern says is getting too personal — or not personal enough.

Sending a request to connect blindly equates to cold calling and likely will lead nowhere. Instead, it should come with a personal note, an explanation of who you are, where you met, or how the connection can benefit both parties, McGovern explains.

Your profile should get a little personal, too, she says. “Talk about yourself in the first person and add a personal flair — your goals, your passion … make yourself seem human.”

Beyond that, keep your LinkedIn posts, invitations, comments and photos professional, McGovern says.

If you had a hard day at the office or your child just won an award, you may want to share it with your personal network elsewhere — but not on LinkedIn.

“This is not Facebook. Only share what you would share at a professional networking event,” she says.

Another etiquette pitfall on LinkedIn is the hit and run — making a connection and not following up.

At least once a week, Ari Rollnick, a principal in kabookaboo, an integrated marketing agency in Coral Gables, gets a request to connect with someone on LinkedIn that he has never met or heard of before. The person will have no connections in common and share no information about why they want to build a rapport.

“I won’t accept. That’s a lost opportunity for them,” Rollnick says.

He approaches it differently. When Rollnick graduated from Emory with an MBA in 2001, he had a good idea that his classmates would excel in the business world. Now, Rollnick wanted to find out just where they went and reestablish a connection.

With a few clicks, he tracked down dozens of them on LinkedIn, requested a connection, and was back on their radar. Then came the follow-up — letting them know through emails, phone calls and posts that he was creating a two-way street for business exchange. “Rather than make that connection and disappearing , I let them know I wanted to open the door to conversation.”

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Cab drivers stage protest at Fort Lauderdale airport over safety cameras

A morning protest at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport by taxi drivers upset with technology installed into their cabs that monitors problem driving ended with two drivers being arrested, and several passengers looking for other modes of transportation.

“We have to stand up for our rights,” said Davincy Metayer, 50, who has been driving a cab for 15 years and works for Yellow Cab. “We can’t make a living like this.”

As news of the protest traveled, taxi drivers across Broward County gathered at the airport about 8 a.m., but refused to pick up fares from the dispatcher.

Although the protest was peaceful, police arrived after 10 a.m. when two taxi drivers blocked the entrance to the lot on Perimeter Road, said Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion. Tow trucks were called to move the vehicles, and when the trucks arrived, the drivers laid in front of the trucks blocking them from removing their cars.

“There is no problem with peaceful protests, but blocking the way of traffic for the cab drivers who don’t want to participate created a problem,” she said.

Those drivers were arrested, but their names and the charges they face are unknown.

John Camillo, president and CEO of B&L Service Inc., which operates Yellow Cab of Broward County, said the protests originated from two drivers who became unhappy after the company installed DriveCam technology in all 547 of its cars.

The DriveCam cameras are equipped with a GPS device, video recorder and cell modem that transmit information to DriveCam.com. They were installed in the Yellow Cab cars at the beginning of February after a test group used them in December.

They detect deceleration and braking, excessive acceleration, going around corners at high speeds, going quickly over speed bumps and other problematic “events.” Video of these events is transmitted to professionals at DriveCam, who analyze it and identify risky driving.

One of the upset drivers was involved in a rear-end accident and two more events that indicated he was not paying attention, Camillo said. Despite going through Yellow Cab’s free internal coaching sessions, he was not showing signs of improvement. That’s when Camillo suggested he attend a National Safety Council class, which costs $100, as an alternative to giving up his job at Yellow Cab.

But the driver became incensed, Camillo said.

The other unhappy driver also has a spotty driving history, including a time when he covered up his in-car camera and “threw his keys on the table,” Camillo said.

Camillo said the technology and services for DriveCam will cost his company almost half a million dollars each year. But it’s all in the name of public safety.

“I’m guilty of wanting them to be safe drivers, to go home to their families and not be hurt, and not having them hurt other people,” Camillo said. “I’m guilty of all those things.”

But drivers have a different account.

“We can’t even use our brakes,” said Wilson Charles, 38, who recently completed the 8-hour National Safety Council class.

Ithamar Matador, who took part in Wednesday’s protest, said he one of two cab drivers who were brought into the Yellow Cab office Tuesday after his red light activated. He said he was taking a fare from the airport when he slammed on his breaks after a car cut in front of him, avoiding an accident.

He was given two options; “They told me I can either pay $100 for the course or hand over my keys.”

“I handed over my keys,” said Matador, 38, who has been driving a cab since 2003, adding that with that kind of light system he, and other drivers, would be called in every week. “I can’t afford that.”

Some cab drivers pay as much as $585 a week to drive their cab, they said. They also have to pay $3.50 per fare from the airport, which is up from $2 last year, they said. They also have to pay $1 for every time someone pays with a credit card.

Most drivers say they work seven days a week and about 15 to 18 hours a day. After all the fees, they say there is little left for them to take care of their families.

Greg Meyer, the spokesman for the airport, said Wednesday’s protest did not have a huge impact on travelers.

Instead of the cabs being dispatched from the holding lot, they were sent directly to the airport Meyer said. He said normal service returned at about 1 p.m.

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Ex-con who shot parole officer was having 'a terrible month': lawyer

The Brooklyn ex-con who blasted his parole officer only attacked because he was “in the grips of extreme emotional distress,” his defense attorney said during the trial’s opening yesterday.

Robert Morales, 52, shot his parole officer Sam Salters in the shoulder in 2010 because he said his new parole officer’s demands were ruining his life.

“It was a terrible, terrible month,” defense attorney John Stella said in Brooklyn Supreme Court, referring to the time Morales reported to Salters.

“It was the worst month in the life of a guy who has been in more correctional facilities than you can count on two hands.”

Gregory P. Mango

Robert Morales is being re-tried for shooting Samuel Salters, his parole officer.

This is Morales’ retrial after his first trial ended in a mistrial last year.

Stella even laid some blame on Salters, who spent months in the hospital after the attack.

“Sam Salters treated him in a manner that he had never been treated by anyone in the correctional system.”

Stella argued that Morales is guilty only of aggravated assault of an officer, while prosecutors made the case for attempted aggravated murder.

“He shot him at point-blank range with full intent to kill him,” said Brooklyn assistant district attorney Lew Lieberman. “There is no extreme emotional distress defense here.”

In 1979 Morales was sentenced to 25 years to life for setting a fire that killed an 8-year-old boy.

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Economic development chief faces bruising fight

An organization charged with reviving Miami-Dade’s battered economy finds itself with some bruises, too.

The Beacon Council, a non-profit that relies on tax dollars, is contending with a threat to its public funding, lukewarm support from County Hall and a rift within its own leadership. CEO Frank Nero faces a revolt from some board members, and the full board this month opted not to pass a motion expressing confidence in the Beacon Council’s management, according to several participants.

“Not everybody loves Frank,’’ said Joseph Pallot, the group’s volunteer chairman and general counsel at Heico Corp. But Pallot said Nero has performed well as the head of an organization that receives about $4 million a year in Miami-Dade taxes. “Frank’s economic-development skills are second to none.”

Nero, a former New Jersey municipal leader who earns about $400,000 a year, declined to comment. He has tussled with board members and elected officials in the past. But he now faces pressure on multiple fronts, with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez wanting to revamp the county’s economic-development strategy, commissioners wanting to take away $1 million in tax funding and give it to local businesses, and some Beacon board members pushing for a change at the top.

“We have issues with the Beacon Council,” Gimenez said this week in an interview. “The commission also apparently has issues with the Beacon Council. We’re trying to work with them as best that we can.”

In his comments, Gimenez also said his concern was with the county’s “disjointed” approach to economic development, saying, “I’d like to kind of bring that all together.”

The Beacon Council’s primary mission is to recruit companies to Miami-Dade, serving as a go-between among corporate relocation firms and local agencies and helping line-up incentives and subsidies from county and state pools of money. It also pursues various economic efforts and promotions, including a year-long “One Community One Goal” study of how to grow the economy, and next month’s awards fundraising lunch aboard a cruise ship at Port Miami.

In the budget year that ended in September 2011, the Beacon Council received about $1.6 million from businesses paying dues, events and other private-sector sources, according to the most recent fianancial statement available.

Last year, the Beacon Council said it helped 27 businesses either expand in or move to Miami-Dade, accounting for about 2,000 new jobs. Among the big companies it helped land incentives was the new cable network Univision is forming with the ABC national network in Doral.

But the Beacon Council’s public dollars have proved a ripe target, with commissioners complaining the money goes to recruit large companies to town that then compete with constituents’ smaller businesses.

Combined, the Beacon Council’s top eight executives make about $1.5 million a year, and during the recession the group spent about $1.5 million on a 2009 renovation of its rented Brickell Avenue office, according to tax filings and financial statement.

“When you’re trying to bring a CEO to Miami, you have to play the part that you’re a cosmopolitan, global city,’’ said Ana Acle-Mendez, head of communications for the Beacon Council. “That was the idea behind the renovation.”

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Temporary ban on Fla. welfare drug testing upheld

TALLAHASSEE --
A federal appeals court upheld the temporary ban on Florida’s drug-testing for welfare recipients Tuesday, saying that a lawsuit challenging the program had a good chance of succeeding.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta sided with a lower court decision, stating that Florida failed to show that the drug testing plan was so critical that the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches by the government, should be suspended.

The decision — which did not weigh in on the case’s ultimate constitutionality question — is the latest setback in Gov. Rick Scott’s controversial drug testing push. In 2011,Scott and the Florida Legislature instituted a program for drug-testing all recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Luis Lebron, a single-father and TANF applicant who refused to take the test on constitutional grounds, filed a lawsuit with help from the American Civil Liberties Union.

In authoring the court’s opinion, Judge Rosemary Barkett said that Florida had not proven that its drug-testing program serves a “special” or “immediate” need, or that it even protected children in families with substance abuse.

“There is nothing so special or immediate about the government’s interest in ensuring that TANF recipients are drug free so as to warrant suspension of the Fourth Amendment,” Barkett wrote. “The only known and shared characteristic of the individuals who would be subjected to Florida’s mandatory drug testing program is that they are financially needy families with children.”

Scott immediately vowed to appeal the decision and take his fight to the Supreme Court.

“The court’s ruling today is disturbing," he said in a statement. "Welfare is 100 percent about helping children. Welfare is taxpayer money to help people looking for jobs who have children. Drug use by anyone with children looking for a job is totally destructive. This is fundamentally about protecting the well-being of Florida families.”

The appeals court relied on a similar case in Georgia, which struck down a program requiring political candidates to take drug tests. That case found that Georgia did not show that there was a drug problem among elected officials, and the law was mostly “symbolic.”

In rejecting Florida’s appeal to the lower court’s preliminary injunction, a trio of federal judges took a similar position.

“The state has presented no evidence that simply because an applicant for TANF benefits is having financial problems, he is also drug addicted or prone to fraudulent and neglectful behavior,” Barkett wrote on behalf of the court.

The ACLU’s associate legal director Maria Kayanan said the ruling was a vindication for struggling families who apply for government assistance.

"The state of Florida can’t treat an entire segment of our community like suspected criminals simply because they are poor and are trying to get temporary assistance from the government to support their families,” said Kayanan, who was lead counsel on the case.

Florida also passed a law last year requiring drug testing for all state workers, but that issue is also tangled in constitutional challenges and litigation. A district court found the state worker testing plan unconstitutional, and Scott appealed. The appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments on that case next month.

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Stars Stay Peppy Through Wee Hours of Oscar Night

For those fortunate enough to be invited, Oscar Sunday is an all-day, non-stop event. ET caught up with the stars to get their tips on making it through the madness while maintaining their energy.

PICS: Awards Season Fashion

"This is just fun," said Academy Award winner Halle Berry. "I see all my friends and peers."

"You just gotta enjoy it and then have a good dinner at the Governor's Ball, because you probably haven't eaten today," said Oscar nominee Queen Latifah. "And then we hit the after parties."

John Leguizamo named caffeine as a primary source for his energy.

"It's a long night," the actor admitted. "But you get jacked up meeting all your heroes."

From the People's Choice Awards to the 85th Academy Awards, this awards season, ET's red carpet runs on Dunkin'.

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'Tanning mom' won't face charges

AP

'Tanning mom' Patricia Krentcil

TRENTON, N.J. — A grand jury in New Jersey has decided to let a woman who became an overnight sensation as "the tanning mom" bronze away in peace.

Prosecutors in Newark said Tuesday a grand jury refused to indict Patricia Krentcil on a charge she took her young daughter into a tanning booth with her. New Jersey state law bans children under 14 from using tanning salons.

The 44-year-old Nutley woman was arrested last April and charged with child endangerment for allegedly bringing her then-5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth.

Police became involved after school officials noticed burns on Krentcil's daughter's legs. Krentcil said that her daughter's burn came from the sun on an unusually warm day and that she would never take the girl into a tanning booth.

The arrest generated wide publicity partly because of Krentcil's deep tan and professed love of tanning salons. Her instant fame even extended to a toy company making a "tanoerexic" action figure based on her.

The arrest and subsequent media frenzy also brought unwanted attention to the northern New Jersey tanning salon that Krentcil had frequented, and the salon incurred fines unrelated to the allegation against Krentcil.

A message left Tuesday for Krentcil's attorney was not immediately returned.

Prosecutors said the case is over.

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EEOC files discrimination suit against transportation firm

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Tuesday that it filed a lawsuit against Prestige Transportation Service for hiring discrimination.

According to the suit, Prestige refused to hire black applicants for employment, discriminated against a black employee and retaliated against three employees for opposing race discrimination and/or filing a discrimination charge with the EEOC.

The lawsuit also says that Prestige unlawfully destroyed or failed to keep records and documents related to employment applications, personnel records, and documents regarding rates of pay and other terms of compensation.

Prestige, based in Miami, primarily transports crew members of airlines between airports and their hotels. Executives could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

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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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