The freshman 15: South Florida’s newest lawmakers

TALLAHASSEE --
The youngest is 28, the oldest 66. They are teachers, real estate agents, attorneys, entrepreneurs and farmers. And in their spare time, they fly planes, play guitar, raise sheep, write screenplays and go to their kids’ ball games.

These are the faces of the 59 new members of the Florida Legislature (15 from South Florida), which begins its regular session on Tuesday.

The freshman House class of 44 members is tied for the second-largest ever since term limits took effect in 2000. (There were also 44 new members in 2010 and 2008, and the record is 63 in 2000.)

The freshman Senate class of 15 members, meanwhile, ranks in size behind only the freshmen classes of 2002 and 2010.

In total, the new group of legislators includes nearly the same number of Democrats and Republicans, though 10 of the 15 new senators are Republican.

“We’re a broad range of ages and backgrounds,” said Rep. Cary Pigman, R-Avon Park, who like the majority of new representatives is serving in elected office for the first time.

Pasco County businessman and egg farmer Wilton Simpson holds a special distinction: He was unchallenged in his first bid for Senate and was elected without a vote.

Rep. Mark Danish, D-Tampa, said his desire to serve derives from his role as a middle-school science teacher. “I want to extend that and make a difference. There’s a lengthy priority list,” he said, citing issues from creating a homeowner’s bill of rights to addressing local transportation issues.

Another new legislator, Rep. Richard Stark, D-Weston, notes that he, and likely other officials whose homes are hundreds of miles from Tallahassee, “feels a little like college freshmen on their first semester away from home.”

José Javier Rodríguez, D-Miami, who is serving in his first elected office, said chief issues for South Florida involve Citizens Property Insurance, healthcare and education.

“Property insurance, if not at the top, comes close to the top of the list that brings most of us together.”

He also said that he’s been surprised by the expectation of “conformity” in the Legislature. “Asking tough questions definitely rattles people,” said Rodríguez. “Often people expect you to play along, which I find shocking, especially for those of us who ran to shake things up a little bit.”

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High-flying executive Claudio Osorio pleads guilty to fraud, money-laundering conspiracies

Claudio Osorio, the former globe-trotting executive who had headed a Fortune 500 company, faces up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing millions of dollars from investors in his ill-fated venture to build low-cost housing in Haiti and other developing countries.

Osorio, a Venezuelan native who once held fund-raisers for Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and other political stars at his Star Island home, pleaded guilty Thursday to two conspiracy offenses: wire fraud and money laundering.

The fraud conviction carries up to 20 years and the laundering conviction up to 10 years. But Osorio is expected to be imprisoned for 12 or more years under federal sentencing guidelines at a hearing set for May 9.

FBI agents arrested Osorio, 54, in December after some of his investors accused the high-flying entrepreneur of using his Miami Beach-based company, Innovida Holdings, to fleece $50 million from them and the U.S. government. Among the fleeced investors: former Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning. Osorio stole the money to prop up his Star Island lifestyle, and maintain resort homes in Switzerland and Telluride, Colo., according to authorities.

Previously, Osorio had headed a computer distribution business in Miami that was listed on the Fortune 500 before it filed for bankruptcy in 2000. Despite the failure of CHS Electronics, several investors said they trusted Osorio with their money in his Innovida start-up because the charming executive sold them on its likely profitability.

Although Innovida had a manufacturing facility in North Miami-Dade, it never got off the ground.

Osorio, represented by attorney Humberto Dominguez, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas in Fort Lauderdale federal court. As part of his plea, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed to drop 20 other charges in the fraud indictment.

In court, Osorio admitted he “solicited and recruited investors by making materially false representations and concealing and omitting material facts regarding ... the profitability of the company, the rates of return on investment funds, the use of investors’ funds and the existence of a pending lucrative contract with a third-party entity,” according to a statement issued by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Dimitrouleas took over the case this week from U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga, who was supposed to hear Osorio’s change of plea in Miami on Friday. Altonaga recused herself from the case because her husband is an attorney in the same Miami law firm as the defense lawyer for Osorio’s co-defendant, Craig S. Toll, 64, of Pembroke Pines. Toll, who pleaded not guilty, was the chief financial officer for Innovida.

Held without bond, Osorio will remain at the Miami Federal Detention Center.

Osorio was convicted of using Innovida, which claimed to produce high-tech building panels for low-cost housing, to deceive investors and boost his lifestyle.

In 2011, a bankruptcy judge ordered Osorio to sell the one major asset that belonged to him and his wife, Amarilis. The couple auctioned their one-acre, two-story Star Island home with infinity pool for $12.7 million.

The sale of the heavily mortgaged property generated millions for banks and other lenders, and some money for his burned investors, including NBA star Carlos Boozer and Miami-Dade businessman Chris Korge.

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Driver gets 6 years for hit-run death of 11-year-old

A Miami-Dade County judge on Thursday sentenced a driver for the 2009 hit-and-run death of an 11-year-old girl to six years in prison, plus eight years of probation.

Harvey Abraham, 37, was convicted in November of fleeing the scene where he struck and killed Ashley Nicole Valdes as she crossed a West Kendall street on Jan. 8, 2009.

He was arrested after a citizen who had been following the case saw Abraham’s Ford F-150 outside a South Miami auto body shop. Abraham took the truck to the shop and filed an insurance claim after the crash, saying he was the victim.

On Thursday, Judge Thomas J. Rebull decried Abraham’s decision to flee the scene.

“Mr. Abraham, if you had just stopped, even if there was nothing you could do to help Ashley Valdez, I can’t imagine you would be facing what you are facing,” he said.

Abraham received six years in prison plus four years of reporting probation for leaving the scene of an accident involving death. For tampering with evidence by attempting to have his truck repaired, he received an additional four years of probation.

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Crime Watch: Monitor your kids’ credit reports to catch fraud early

Several of you have emailed me with some horrific stories regarding your child having their Social Security number taken by identity thieves. The crooks then open up credit card accounts, which they don’t pay, thereby trashing the youngster’s credit score.

Therefore I am going to share the information again with you.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, child identity theft is a growing problem.

As we all know, parents apply for a Social Security number after a baby is born because nowadays you need it for filing your income tax. Well, criminals are making good use of those numbers. Children are the new target for identity thieves. They make a great target because it can be years before it will be detected, when the victim finally gets old enough to apply for credit.

This is a huge issue, and we need to start with checking to make sure that our children’s Social Security numbers have not been stolen. Parents really need to start taking action now, even if you just have a newborn. Identity theft could affect your child’s future credit and employment history if the thieves (who sometimes turn out to be family members according to the TransUnion credit agency) obtain credit accounts or event get jobs with your child’s identity.

How do you know if your child’s identity has been stolen? This is where you need to start paying attention:

First, you need to check with the Social Security Administration once a year to make sure no one is using your child’s number. Secondly, you need to check your child’s credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228. By law you are entitled to free report once a year from each of the three major credit -reporting companies.

Third, if your child starts getting suspicious mail, like pre-approved credit cards and other financial offers normally sent only to adults, pay attention.

Not to fret if you get started now and work with the different credit agencies, because many of them have programs to flag your child’s information, just visit their sites or email me and I will send you the information.

Now here is something you can help with by asking your legislators to do what Maryland did by passing a Child Identity Lock bill that allows parents to take step of freezing their child’s credit at any time. The legislative session starts this week in Tallahassee, so make those calls.

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Handcuffed suspect eludes Hollywood cops

Hollywood Police are looking for a man who escaped policy custody Tuesday afternoon in front of a doctor’s office.

The man, identified as Marc Vega, was placed under arrest for a domestic dispute in front of Pediatric Associates at 4500 Sheridan St. about 2 p.m., said Sgt. Lester Cochenour.

The female victim suffered injuries to her face and other areas of her body including her legs, Cochenour said.

Cochenour said Vega, donning handcuffs, managed to pry open the back door of the police car.

The man, who was covering his handcuffs with a green shirt and wearing a white or gray T-shirt, was heading south through several Hollywood neighborhoods, police said.

According to police, Vega is 6-feet-2, 220 pounds and is sporting tattoos throughout his body.

Cochenour said unmarked and marked police cars, K-9 units and a helicopter were searching for the man.

Anyone who spots Vega is asked to call 9-1-1.

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Poll: 7 in 10 back FL medical-marijuana plan, could affect governor’s race

As many as seven in 10 Florida voters support a state constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana – more than enough to ensure passage and possibly affect the governor’s race — according to a new poll from a group trying to put the measure on the 2104 ballot.

Medical pot’s sky-high approval cuts across party and demographic lines, with Republican support the lowest at a still-strong 56 percent, the poll conducted for People United for Medical Marijuana, or PUFMM, shows.

The outsized support of Democrats and independents brings overall backing of the amendment to 70 percent; with only 24 percent opposed, according to the poll obtained by The Miami Herald.

Regionally, voters from the Miami and Orlando areas, among the most socially liberal in the state, want medical marijuana the most.

Non-Hispanic white women, blacks and Hispanics — all Democratic leaning — are the most-likely to back the measure and could be more likely to turn out to vote in two years if the medical marijuana makes the ballot.

“Supporters of the proposed amendment are less certain to cast ballots in the 2014 governor’s race,” David Beattie, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson’s pollster, wrote in an analysis of the poll of 600 registered voters taken Jan. 30-Feb. 3 by his firm, Hamilton Campaigns.

If it made the ballot, the measure would draw even more attention to Florida’s nationally watched 2014 election in which Gov. Rick Scott will fight for his political life.

“The proposal to allow the medical use of marijuana could provide a message contrast in the Governor’s race,” Beattie wrote, “heightening its effectiveness as a turnout mechanism.”

But, Beattie warns PUFMM in a memo, “don’t frame turnout efforts on the passage of the ballot initiative in a partisan way.”

To that end, former-Republican-operative-turned-Libertarian Roger Stone is planning to join PUFMM’s efforts to give it a bipartisan feel.

A longtime backer of marijuana legalization, Stone, a Miami Beach resident, is seriously considering a run for governor, where he’ll likely advocate for the initiative called “Right to Marijuana for Treatment Purposes.”

On the Democratic side, former Nelson and Hillary Clinton fundraiser Ben Pollara, of Coral Gables, is signing up as the group’s treasurer. Pollara said they’ve had discussions with Eric Sedler, managing partner at Chicago-based ASGK Public Strategies, which he started in 2002 with former White House advisor David Axelrod, still a President Obama advisor.

“The poll numbers were very encouraging,” Pollara said. “But it’s still a Herculean effort.”

That’s because Florida’s Legislature and voters have made it tougher than ever to get measures on the ballot by citizen petition. PUFMM needs to collect the valid signatures of 683,149 Florida voters. That could cost up to $3.5 million.

Right now, PUFMM has raised just $41,000 and has collected only 100,000 signatures, not all of which are valid. Some might be too old because they were collected as far back as 2009.

PUFMM’s Florida director, Kimberly Russell, said the group hopes that this poll and the top-notch campaign minds could turn things around.

“If we get this on the ballot, we have a great chance of getting this passed,” Russell said. “The more these pass in other states, the more people support it everywhere else.”

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Cessna crashes into Biscayne Bay; four people rescued near Homestead

A Cessna carrying four people crashed into the waters of Biscayne Bay Sunday afternoon within Bayfront Park in Homestead.

The crash occurred at around noon. Four people onboard were rescued from the water by Miami-Dade fire rescue workers,” said U. S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios.

The plane was headed to the Florida Keys at the time of the accident.

“We understand the crash happened at the water entrance to the park,” Rios said.

The four onboard suffered minor injuries but were transported to local hospital for treatment.

It’s unknown if the plane was attempting an emergency landing in the water or crashed. The incident is under investigation

At this time, the Cessna remains submerged in the bay.

“We have sent out a Coast Guard vessel to determine if its a hazard to navigation,” Rios said.

An earlier version of this story implied the crash was near Miami’s Bayfront Park.

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Wish Book donations brighten the lives of more than 800 people

Payton Petty, a vivacious 4-year-old boy who lives in Fort Lauderdale with his father, a disabled block mason, and grandmother, was born with the rare condition keratitis, a disorder that scars the corneas. Sometimes he can make out shapes and colors. But his eyes can be so inflamed, he often keeps them closed to ward off the pain that arrives with even the tiniest bit of light.

The Miami Herald told Payton’s story in January as part of The Herald’s 2012 Wish Book campaign. The Pettys received home repairs, including a bedroom makeover and window treatment to deflect light and minimize the pain from WorldCause Foundation, a Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit humanitarian organization. The Foundation arranged a visit to Rooms to Go in Oakland Park, where Payton gravitated to a retro, red-and- white butterfly chair, among other pieces.

Readers kicked in money for an iPad, vision devices and Braille story books. One donor particularly wanted to help because he, too, is blind.

“The generosity of the readers was exceptional, especially in light of economic uncertainties that loomed toward the end of 2012,” said Wish Book coordinator Roberta DiPietro. The December tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were slain in a mass shooting, diverted attention.

And yet Wish Book, managed by Miami Herald Charities, still raised $325,000 and received more than $140,000 in good and services, on par with previous years, DiPietro reported. More than 800 people had some or all of their needs met due to the generosity of Miami Herald readers.

“Many items could not be valued, including a donation of a kidney,” she said.

When Zelanda Larragoity was nominated for Wish Book, which has run in the newspaper for 31 years, readers learned the 46-year-old hadn’t been able to work since 2010 after doctors discovered her kidneys had stopped functioning properly.

So, three readers offered to donate a kidney — t o a complete stranger.

Jackson Memorial Hospital, where Larragoity has been on a waiting list since July 2011, screened the candidates. One kidney passed the first test. The potential donor is now undergoing other tests to determine compatibility with Larragoity.

Whatever the outcome, Larragoity was touched. She told The Herald in January that she felt victorious “just knowing that people care like that.”

People do care.

Maria and Fred Foyo opened their hearts to the Wong family of Cutler Bay after they read how the family had adopted seven special needs children. Readers met one of them, Daniel, 19, who was born with cerebral palsy and quadriplegia. He needed a vehicle with a power lift so the Wongs could transport him to his doctors’ appointments.

The Foyos donated their handicap-accessible family van to the Wongs. About two months before Daniel’s story ran in January, the Foyos lost their little boy, Joey, who was 12.

Joey’s ailment stymied the experts who couldn’t quite call it cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis. They were just able to offer a vague term. “Muscular disorder,” neurologists told the Foyos.

“Joey was one of the most special kids alive,” Maria and Fred Foyo shared with Wish Book staff. “He was smart, witty, friendly, and most of all, always happy. At school, he was top of his class and very popular among his peers. Thanks to this van, Joey’s last two years were memorable. We were able to take him everywhere including a long trip to Pennsylvania to watch one of his brothers play football. We know that Joey would want someone else to have the opportunity to have the freedom he had thanks to this van. He loved riding it, and listening to music on the radio. We hope that it brings as much happiness to the Wong family as it did to us and our little boy.”

Joey died in October from unexpected complications.

“We wish to keep Joey’s legacy alive by being of help to others in his same predicament,” the Foyos said. The family wanted people to know of Joey and their gift — to inspire others to grant wishes.

And don’t forget Moises Brutus, 22, who lost his lower legs and left hand in a 2010 motorcycle accident. An anonymous donor gave him a 2013 Suzuki Kizashi so he could attend school at Miami Dade College, where he’s pursuing a degree in chemistry. The vehicle was outfitted with special controls so Brutus can operate the car with his artificial limbs.

Mack Cycle in South Miami donated an expensive training bicycle and heart monitor, among other goods, so that Brutus can follow his dream to compete in the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil.

“The things that stick out are that people are so giving,” said DiPietro.

Follow @HowardCohen on Twitter.

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New witness comes forward in South Beach ‘party princess’ hit-and-run case

About a week after self-described “party princess” Karlie Tomica, 20, was charged with DUI manslaughter in a hit-and-run that killed a South Beach chef, another witness has come forward to offer gruesome details about what happened on them morning of the tragedy. And he encourages the other witnesses who were there — and there were others, he said — to do the same.

Security guard Roosevelt Johnson Jr., 24, was working at the Shelborne Hotel in South Beach on the night shift.

He had just finished giving a guest directions to a nearby restaurant when he heard and saw the accident that killed chef Stefano Riccioletti, 49, who worked at the Shore Club.

His account helps answer questions after the tragedy: Was Riccioletti standing in the street? Did he walk into Tomica’s lane?

“No,” Johnson said to both.

“He was not jaywalking,” Johnson said. “He was not standing in the street, or in the car’s path.”

Tomica has pleaded not guilty and is under house arrest. The part-time bartender has moved back to her parents’ home in Port St. Lucie. Her next hearing in Miami-Dade court is Wednesday.

Before the sun rose on Jan. 28, Riccioletti was walking at the edge of road construction on Collins Avenue and 18th Street. That’s when Tomica, driving north on Collins and appearing to lose control of her car, swerved and hit him, Johnson said.

Riccioletti was dragged up Collins Avenue and landed in the Shelborne hotel’s driveway. That’s where Johnson, who also is a security guard for The Miami Herald, was standing.

Riccioletti’s body bounced three times hard and rolled “like a test dummy,” Johnson said.

At that point, Tomica screeched the brakes and slowed down significantly, but never completely stopped, Johnson said. She zoomed off again, and began to be followed by “Good Samaritan” witness Jairo Fuentes.

Johnson ran inside to call 911. He was on the phone with a dispatcher for about a minute, then went back outside to where a police officer had already come to Riccioletti’s side.

The officer administered CPR but stopped when he realized it was too late.

“He’s gone,” Johnson recalls the officer saying.

Paramedics arrived and attempted to revive Riccioletti.

Johnson remembers the event clearly, down to what Riccioletti was wearing (a gray hooded sweater, red short, shorts and tennis shoes), because the event flashes in his mind so often, he said.

“Half the time, I close my eyes, and it replays,” he said.

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Jackson Health System earns $5.5 million in January

Jackson Health System reported strong financial results in January, with a surplus of $5.5 million due to an influx of patients, rigid cost controls and good cash collections, Chief Financial Officer Mark Knight told the board on Thursday.

Days of cash on hand remained at a low 14.5 days, far below the benchmark of 175 days of cash that financially successful hospitals are supposed to have.

While the system has been struggling for more than a year with a steady decline in patient volume, January reversed the trend -- with $87.2 million in net patient revenue, compared to $82.6 million in January 2012.

Because the audit for fiscal 2011-2012 showed a surplus of $8.2 million, Knight said that Chief Executive Carlos Migoya earned a bonus of $219,000 on top of his $590,000 salary.

Migoya negotiated a bonus possibility with the board when he started in 2011, in return for accepting a considerably lower salary than the maximum of the $975,000 that the board could have offered. Last March, union fliers accused him of laying off 1,000 workers so that he could earn a hefty bonus. Migoya responded that he would donate any bonus received to the Jackson Memorial Foundation.

On Thursday, Migoya reiterated his intention to donate the bonus.

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No mistrial after surprise evidence surfaces in trial of Miami cop-killing suspect

A judge won’t grant a mistrial, for now, in the case of cop-killing suspect Dennis Escobar after a startling police audiotape surfaced that could taint the man’s confession.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leon Firtel made the decision against the backdrop of history: In 1997, the Florida Supreme Court threw out Escobar’s original conviction and death sentence. It took until last week for Escobar to finally begin his new trial.

“I don’t want to deny the defendant his rights but this judge has an obligation to the State of Florida to get this case to trial after 15 years,” a frustrated Firtel told prosecutors and defense lawyers, who had agreed to ask for a mistrial.

Firtel on Monday will reconsider granting a mistrial after lawyers hash out more legal issues. Jurors, for now, are on standby.

Escobar, 52, is accused of shooting Miami Officer Victor Estefan to death after the veteran officer pulled him and his brother, Douglas Escobar, over in a stolen Mazda in Little Havana in March 1988.

The brothers fled to California, where they were wounded in a shootout with highway patrol troopers about 180 miles north of Los Angeles.

Police have long maintained that Escobar, while in a California prison hospital room, agreed to waive his right to remain silent and talk to Miami homicide detectives. Three days later, he confessed to killing Estefan.

But on Sunday, an unmarked, undated cassette tape was found in an evidence box that depicted Escobar refusing to speak, instead telling Detective Jorge Morin to talk to his lawyer.

Morin himself discovered the tape and alerted prosecutor Reid Rubin, who immediately turned it over to Escobar’s defense team.

With the case significantly weakened, prosecutors floated an offer to the brothers: no death penalty if they plead guilty and agreed to life in prison.

Escobar has yet to decide whether to accept the deal. The brothers are already serving a life prison term in California for the attack on the troopers.

Defense attorney Phillip Reizenstein may also ask the judge to throw out the confession. That would deliver a major blow to the prosecution’s case in this trial — or a future one.

As Escobar mulled the plea offer Tuesday night, prosecutors found a second audiotape, this one of Escobar’s interview with California detectives investigating the attack on the highway patrol troopers.

The second tape wasn’t wholly a surprise: Lawyers on each side long had a transcript of that interview.

But the additional discovery was enough that Judge Firtel ordered lawyers to listen to and document every tape left in evidence, about 15 or so, to make sure none others could impact the trial. Firtel gave them until Monday to finish.

Escobar’s defense team has also asked the judge to conduct a hearing to find out why the state attorney’s office, years ago, never turned over the tape to Escobar’s previous lawyer.

Reizenstein said the current prosecution team “did their job honorably” in immediately turning over the tape. Rubin has also told the defense, many months ago, that the evidence box of cassette tapes was available for examination.

But Detective Morin, or the original prosecutors, should have to explain why the tape was never disclosed years ago, and if prosecutors knew that Morin lied under oath at previous hearings, Reizenstein told the judge.

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Tough gals: Roller derby players enjoy contact sport

For Danielle Shaffner, 33, raising three children with another on the way and having her husband patrol the streets on his police vehicle could be stressful.

That’s why she counts on a sport on wheels for relief: women’s roller derby.

“I let loose and become a little maniac on the rink,” said Shaffner, who is four month pregnant and goes by the name of Pree-T-Manik.

Shaffner, who lives near Palmetto Bay, is one of many professional women competing in Miami’s Vice City Rollers roller derby team. The team was formed back in 2011 and practices at the Palmetto Golf Course hockey rink, 9300 SW 152nd St. in South Miami-Dade.

“It just comes a little naturally,” said Shaffner, who works as a dental assistant and has skated since she was a child. “I love the adrenaline rush. I use it as anger management. It is a great way to make friends and socialize.”

Her pregnancy doesn’t allow her to have contact, so for now, she is taking advantage of the exercising the sport provides.

The team has started their second season on a high note defeating their fist opponent in January.

The game is played on a rink wearing quad roller skates. There are five players to a team. Games consist of a series of short match-ups where a designated player known as a jammer scores points by lapping members of the opposing team, who in turn try to stop the jammer from scoring.

Team president and skater Kristen De La Rua, 30, was instrumental in putting together the team. She and other teammates practiced for Broward’s team, the Gold Coast Derby Grrls. They felt it was only appropriate Miami had a roller derby team.

“Miami needed it’s own team,” she said. “We got a huge response.”

At first, she worried playing because her profession is of a massage therapist, so an injury to the wrist or hands could be costly.

“I was always getting scared because of my career, but I got over it,” she said. “Once I started playing it, it was not that bad.”

Players were recruited using Facebook. Each player pays $40 a month to cover the team’s cost such as paying for the practice location and travel fees.

USA Roller Sports sanctions the games and they play under the Women's Flat Track Derby Association rule set.

Currently, they are playing Florida teams, but plans are to travel and play teams outside of the state and overseas. There are about 30 members. Each player has a nickname that fits their character, but names are earned. The team is still considered amateur.

Edley Duclos is one of few males who practice with the girls. He is a referee and acknowledges the women’s hard work.

“I do it for the exercise, “he said. “Keeping up with these girls is hard.”

Wearing a pink helmet, elbow and knee pads, Marcy Mock skated around with teammates at the outdoor hockey rink, at Coral Reef Drive and U.S. 1.

She goes by the name of Pinky Gomez, 41. She is a graphic designer who travels from North Miami to practice. She says the game could lead to injuries, but the sport’s rush keeps her motivated. She suffered two broken ribs during a game and still came back to finish.

“You get this adrenaline rush that you don’t feel anything,” said Mock, who also teaches spinning classes.

Aside from the competition, Mock said their bond built between teammates and opponents is a great feeling.

“It doesn’t matter who wins,” she said. “You are playing this game and it’s a women’s driven game.”

Their next game is scheduled for March 2. All of their home games are held at the Palmetto Golf Course hockey rink.

For information visit facebook.com/miamirollerderby.

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Hawkins withdraws his name from Jackson Health System board post

In a kerfuffle with echoes from political battles almost two decades ago, former Miami-Dade commissioner and state legislator Larry Hawkins announced Monday he was withdrawing his name from nomination to the Jackson Health System board.

Hawkins, 68, who had been nominated to be the unions’ representative on the seven-member board, sent a letter to the clerk of courts saying he was “deeply honored” by the nomination but “after considering the time commitment and the physical demands associated with fulfilling the responsibilities of this position, I have decided to decline this opportunity to serve.”

In a telephone interview, Hawkins said his decision “had nothing to do with Katy Sorenson,” who defeated him in the 1994 election for his commission seat and had been calling journalists and union leaders objecting to his nomination.

Sorenson, now president the Good Government Initiative at the University of Miami, gave The Herald a statement on Friday: “It’s disturbing that the union, which represents so many hard-working women, would appoint a person with such disdain for women and a record of ethics violations.”

In 1995, the state ethics commission fined Hawkins $5,000 after finding that he had sexually harassed three aides while county commissioner. Hawkins, a disabled Vietnam vet who uses a wheelchair, said he had never made lewd comments and his actions had been misunderstood.

Hawkins also has strong supporters. On Monday, before Hawkins withdrew, Phillis Oeters, a South Florida civic leader, praised him as a “brilliant choice” for Jackson’s board because he knows a lot about healthcare and had a long reputation of government service.

Oeters decried dredging up charges from two decades ago. “As a society, can’t we forgive and forget, if forgiveness is even necessary in this case? ... We need the best and the brightest in the county to serve.”

Oeters, chairman of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and a vice president of Baptist Health South Florida, said her remarks reflected her personal views, not those of the organizations.

In his letter to the clerk’s office, Hawkins said he decided to withdraw because “over the past few days, I have had numerous conversations with current board members ... and have spoken with CEO Carlos Migoya regarding the meeting schedules and operations,” which include monthly committee days that start about 7 a.m. and end sometimes past 5 p.m.

Hawkins said his mother is in hospice care and his life was too busy to add Jackson to his schedule. He said that Sorenson, as commissioner, had approved him for volunteer board posts and he was mystified why she would object now based on old allegations. Jackson board members get no salary for their service.

County bylaws allow the unions to name one person to Jackson’s board. Last week, Andy Madtes, president of the South Florida AFL-CIO, announced Hawkins’ selection, which was scheduled to go to the County Commission Wednesday for approval.

On Monday, union leaders issued a statement accepting Hawkins’ decision to withdraw.

In a statement, Martha Baker, president of SEIU Local 1991, said: “Providing our patients and community with cutting edge, fully accessible patient care is our primary goal. We will be putting forward a new appointee as soon as possible...” She said a new nominee will be selected before the next commission meeting on March 5.

The SEIU local represents nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals at Jackson.

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President Obama, Tiger Woods play golf in Florida

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — That was a big-time ringer in President Barack Obama's golfing group Sunday in Florida.

Famous pro golfer Tiger Woods joined the president at the Floridian, a secluded yacht and golf club on the state's Treasure Coast.

The White House says the group also included Jim Crane, the Houston businessman who owns the resort and baseball's Houston Astros and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

Obama is spending the long President's Day weekend at the Floridian and is expected to return to Washington on Monday.

First lady Michelle Obama and daughters, Malia and Sasha, are on an annual ski vacation out West.

On Saturday, Obama received some instruction and played a few holes with Butch Harmon, Woods' former swing coach.

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1,600 hunters net 68 pythons in month-long hunt

Bolstered by a harrowing tale of wrestling with a 14-footer, three Fort Myers buddies have won the top general categories in the heavily publicized Python Challenge.

Dubbing their team “Is That a Snake In Your Pants?,” Paul Shannon, Jake Carner and Brian Barrows spent six days on the challenge, going to Conservation Area 3A west of Weston — a four-hour round drive from their Fort Myers homes.

On Saturday, at a news conference at Zoo Miami announcing the results of the challenge, Shannon, Carner and Barrows told about their greatest catch:

They were walking along the shore line of a tree island about 2 o’clock one afternoon. Shannon looked back to see that a foot of mud had fallen off a long python that was slithering through the slime.

Shannon drew a Judge pistol that uses .410 shotgun shells and shot, apparently grazing it. As he stopped to reload, Carner grabbed the python to pull it out of the mud. The snake’s head swung around and lunged at him. Carner fell back into the bushes.

The python coiled again, getting ready to strike. “This was seriously intense,” said Shannon. “Its girth must have been at last two feet.”

Shannon then shot it twice in the head.

The team won $1,000 for their 14-foot, 3-inch python and Barrows was awarded $1,500 for catching the most pythons — 6 — in the general category.

They were among the 1,600 registered competitors from 38 states and Canada to take part in the hunt. Organized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the competition was intended to raise awareness about the dangers of outside species invading the state, and it certainly did that. More than 10 news video cameras were on hand to record the winners of this first-of-its-kind event that has drawn national attention. Even Sen. Bill Nelson took time out for some python hunting.

It wasn’t an easy task. The final count was 68 pythons caught during the month-long contest — meaning that more than 95 percent of contestants trekked through the Everglades without bagging anything.

Ruben Ramirez of Miami, a veteran hunter, won the python permit holders competition by “harvesting” — the phrase used by the organizers — 18 pythons. He also led permit holders with the longest python — 10 feet, 6.8 inches.

Ramirez, 40, said he worked with a team, Florida Python Hunters, which has its own website. They hunted for 27 of the 31 days of the competition, logging more than 500 miles and spending $2,500 on fuel and food, in order to nab their 18 pythons, he said.

His team won $1,500 for the permit holders’ most catches and another $1,000 for the longest — the same amounts won by the Fort Myers group in the general categories.

Ramirez’ colleague, George Brana, said they found the best hunting was early or late on cool days, when the pythons come out to sun themselves. “We have years of experience,” Brana said. “We know where to look.”

Coming in second in the most snakes competition were Bill Booth, who caught five in the general category, and Blake Russ, who caught five in the permit holders group. Each received $750.

Second place for longest caught went to Rigoberto Figueroa, who caught a 14-foot, 2.3-incher in the general category, and Ramirez, who harvested a 10-foot, 3.6-incher in the permit category. Each received $750.

The Zoo Miami event included tents set up by more than a dozen organizations to publicize the dangers of invasive species and the values of nature in Florida.

The exhibit area, open for six hours Saturday for zoo and other visitors, discussed dangers such as the lionfish, which preys on native fish by Florida reefs.

A University of Florida exhibit had a live Argentine black and white tegu, a large lizard-like creature that, like many exotics, is purchased as a pet and then released in the wild, where it threatens wading birds and crocodile eggs.

Python Challenge T-shirts sold for $15, caps for $10 and $20.

The Fort Myers team had plenty of fun with its victories. Shannon gave a mock Oscar-style acceptance speech, attributing his success to being a “retired junior naturalist” from Sanibel Elementary.

His father teased him that he better enjoy his 15 minutes of fame, but by that time, he’d already been talking to journalists for 30 minutes.

Asked if he was going party with the winnings, Shannon, a home health aide, said, “Hey we party every night. We live in Florida. Life is a party.”

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Opa-locka’s Sherbondy seniors have fun ‘on the move’

With Valentine’s Day approaching, Commissioner Luis B. Santiago bestowed ‘lots of love’ to over 150 of Opa-locka’s most valued residents when he hosted the ‘Seniors on the Move’ Extravaganza on Saturday, Feb. 9, at Sherbondy Village, 215 Perviz Ave. in Opa-locka, sponsored by the mayor and commission in partnership with the Parks and Recreations Department. The guests of honor, representing six to nine decades of history, celebrated their youth and razor-sharp skills by line-dancing, responding with quick wit and competitively vying for prizes during multiple rounds of Bingo. Among the prizes were gift cards, toasters, crock pots, coffee makers, china, flatware and other gifts.

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Cooking classes at Miami Beach temple nourish the body and soul

Enjoying a meal without counting calories and doing diets has been a source of tension for most of Wendy Shanker’s life.

It was always that extra 10 to 20 pounds that consumed her.

Her wake up-call came after she spent $10,000 to stay a month in a spa and lost only two pounds.

“For my whole life food was an enemy, and it was a problem. Now I understand that food is nourishment for the body, but it’s also nourishment for the soul,” said Shanker, who has a 2-year-old daughter, Sunny, whom she hopes to guide in a different direction.

Shanker, a free-lance writer, her daughter and her mother, Myrna, a property manager, recently attended Our Family Table, a series of cooking classes at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach. The classes, conducted by The Open Tent, teach cooking techniques and bring Judaism into the lives of unaffiliated Jews. The next class is Friday.

“We are really all about trying to build community. We’re trying to create connections for this group of unaffiliated Jews,” said Vanessa Ressler, one of the original board members who started The Open Tent in 2008.

Rabbi Gary Glickstein of Temple Beth Sholom was one of the people behind The Open Tent, which is loosely affiliated with the temple.

“It was meant not as a way to bring people to the synagogue, but help them in their journey to become part of the Jewish community,’’ he said.

Open Tent uses the temple’s space to host its events, which include a six-week program for expectant parents, called Shalom Baby; an initiative, called The Tribe, to engage young adults with Judaism; and Shalom Tots, a monthly program for new parents and their children.

Our Family Table’s cooking classes evolved from Shalom Tots. The classes are hands-on with the toddlers, with adult supervision.

“An event like that one is really one of the first steps that we can take in [Sunny’s] early life to get her on the road to understanding that food is more than just calories,” said Shanker, 41. “It’s family, it’s sweetness, it’s nourishment and it’s being part of a community.”

Chef Joy Prevor leads the cooking lessons, coaching the parents and their children through the ingredients, seasoning, and the right pots and pans to use. The food is prepared kosher style, but the recipes are not strictly Jewish.

“We wanted to be very practical and help these families learn how to cook and how to feed their families in a way that’s healthy, and simultaneously reflect on what role food is playing in their family life,” said Prevor.

Prevor, 40, who holds a master’s degree in Jewish studies, organizes the classes toward Jewish traditions, bringing in Jewish text from The Talmud for discussion. She teaches cooking techniques rather than just recipes.

“Once they learn certain techniques they can make their own recipes at home and feed their families in a healthy way, but it also allows them to engage their children in the process of cooking,” Prevor said.

During the first class, the children assisted their parents, played with cooking toys and colored in images on a storyboard with the steps of making the meal.

The parents learned how to make a banana smoothie, Greek salad with a vinaigrette dressing and moussaka, the Greek lasagna-type dish. Prevor’s idea is to teach one recipe for babies, a second one for parents on the run and a third one to store for the week.

The last class will focus on Shabbat, a religious celebration that happens every Friday after sundown and signifies the start of the Sabbath. It’s when families gather around the table to say prayers, reflect about their lives, spend time with each other and eat.

“So we are taking the essence of this tradition and providing people a very accessible way to incorporate it into their lifestyle,” said Rebecca Dinar, director of the Open Tent. “And from our perspective, it’s really about making Judaism relevant.”

Shanker enjoyed watching her daughter separate the parsley leaves and playing with other children. “I thought it was good for Sunny, as little as she is, to start feeling that there’s our family, but there’s also a bigger community that she is part of.”

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Mystery shrouds failure of Internet video link between Pakistani hotel, Miami terrorism trial

The mystery of who pulled the plug on the Internet connection linking witnesses testifying in Pakistan to a Miami terrorism trial remained unsolved Wednesday, stalling the high-profile proceeding until next Tuesday as the defense scrambles for an alternate solution.

A defense attorney for Miami imam Hafiz Khan, standing trial on charges of financially supporting the Pakistani Taliban, told a federal judge by phone that the Pakistan government’s foreign and interior ministries did not even know that the live video feed was cut off to Miami Tuesday morning.

A federal prosecutor said his office contacted an FBI legal attache in Islamabad, and the official checked in with several Pakistani government agencies and the staff at the hotel where the testimony was taken earlier this week. No one had a clue about the mysterious shutdown -- whether it was a technical glitch or the secret work of the Pakistan government.

Prosecutor John Shipley accused defense attorney Khurrum Wahid of trying to orchestrate the live testimony at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad “under the radar screen” of the Pakistan government -- an accusation strongly denied by Wahid.

U.S. District Judge Robert Scola, clearly exasperated by the high-tech failure 8,000 miles away, gave Wahid an ultimatum that must be met by Friday. Wahid could take the testimony of 10 remaining witnesses in a third country, such as a United Arab Emirate, as long as he could obtain travel visas for them and resume the depositions by next Tuesday. If not, the judge said, Wahid must abandon his alternate plan and return home over the holiday weekend to resume his defense in Miami.

“One way or the other, that’s the last accommodation I’m making,” Scola told Wahid by phone Wednesday morning.

A moment later, the judge told the 12 jurors: “We still don’t have any transmission from Pakistan. We are trying to make alternate arrangements.”

Perhaps the most befuddled in the bunch: Khan, 77, who is standing trial on charges of sending thousands of dollars to the Taliban terrorist organization, sworn enemies of the U.S. and Pakistan governments. Khan was the leader of the Flagler Mosque, 7350 NW Third St.

Despite safety concerns, the judge had allowed Khan’s defense attorney to travel to Pakistan to take live testimony from 11 witnesses so the defendant could receive a fair trial. Prosecutors opposed allowing the testimony, and refused to make the trip.

Everything seemed to be going well until about 11:20 a.m., or 9:20 p.m. Tuesday in Islamabad. The flat-screen televisions and video monitors in front of the judge, lawyers and jurors in Miami suddenly lost the signal and flashed “disconnected.”

Wahid explained to the judge by phone Tuesday that there was “absolutely no problem” until a prosecutor in Miami mentioned the name of the Serena Hotel, where the testimony was being taken, during cross-examination. He noted the hotel staff said “there were some intelligence operatives in the business center here, and they were taking pictures of us and our witnesses.”

Added Wahid: “I’ve been told by the hotel staff that it’s from outside the building and that ... the IP [Internet] address has been blacklisted by the Interior Ministry, I’m sorry, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.”

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Gov. Rick Scott needs Democrats to pass business tax cut

TALLAHASSEE For the first time in his brief and turbulent political career, Gov. Rick Scott needs a little help from Florida’s Democrats to turn one of his wishes into law.

Scott’s top legislative priority this year — a $141 million tax cut for manufacturers — comes with an asterisk: It has to garner ‘Yes’ votes from two-thirds of the Legislature to pass.

That means Democrats — whose gains in November breached the Republican supermajorities in Tallahassee — suddenly find themselves in an unfamiliar power position as they try to defeat Scott in 2014.

“I doubt that’ll be able to get a supermajority,” said Rep. Perry Thurston, a Plantation Democrat and minority leader in the Florida House. “It’s just another [business] incentive. We don’t know if it works.”

The bill seeks to eliminate sales taxes on all manufacturing equipment and machinery.

Scott has already put considerable political capital behind the tax cut, stating on numerous occasions that this was his top priority for 2013, along with a $1.2 billion boost in education funding.

“We need to build up manufacturing jobs in the great state of Florida,” he said in unveiling a $74.2 billion budget plan last month. Scott said the tax cut would create jobs and increase exports.

A failure on the measure would be politically embarrassing for Scott, who has staked his governorship on job creation and CEO-like efficacy.

It’s not clear if the entire Democratic caucus agrees with Thurston in opposing the tax break, which faces a higher vote threshold because it would hit local governments. Many Democrats have voted in favor of Scott’s tax cuts for businesses in the past. But as 2014 nears and Scott’s poll numbers sag, the party has begun to take a more aggressive stance against such cuts. Democrats recently slammed Scott for supporting “tax giveaways to special interest cronies.”

If Democrats decide to take a united stand against the manufacturing tax cut, it could be the first time the minority party leverages its strengthened numbers to torpedo a Scott-backed initiative. The party has been mostly marginalized for the last two years, as Scott and a Republican supermajority pushed through conservative legislation.

“Politics always come into play,” said Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel-Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, acknowledging her party’s newfound power to buck Scott’s tax cut. “There’s the political piece as well. And yes, that political piece will be in play. As it should be.”

Rehwinkel-Vasilinda, the top Democrat on the Finance and Tax committee, said she has not decided how she will vote on the measure. She said the bill’s supporters would have to convince her that it would create jobs and not overburden local governments, who stand to lose tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue. Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, called the proposal “ridiculous” and “trickle-down, voodoo economics.”

Scott’s team said the governor fully expects to get bipartisan support for the measure.

“Gov. Scott is confident that those who support job creation will support this,” said Jackie Schutz, a spokesperson for the governor. “This is about job creation. It’s about bringing more manufacturers to Florida.”

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Carnival ship fire quickly extinguished as ship wallows in Gulf awaiting tug

The Carnival Triumph, a Galveston, Texas-based passenger cruise ship with the theme “Great Cities Around the World,” might have been better off sitting at port, as a court initially ordered.

As of Monday morning the 14-year old ship was going nowhere, operating on emergency generator power after a fire Sunday in one of the diesel generators killed its propulsion. The fire was quickly put out by an automatic fire extinguishing system, and none of the 4,229 passengers or crew are said to be in any danger

All were waiting patiently as a giant tug boat trudged toward the Triumph, now operating under generator power, with the intention of hauling the 100,000 ton, 893-foot vessel to the nearest port in Progreso, Mexico. It is expected in port some time Wednesday afternoon. Carnival Cruise Lines headquarters are in Miami-Dade.

“The cause of the fire is still to be determined,” said Carnival spokesman Vance Guliksen. In a brief news release, Guliksen said “there were no casualties to guests or crew.”

He said all passengers will be flown back to the United States and will be fully refunded.. Carnival said it will cover any additional transportation expenses. Passengers will also receive a free future cruise.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday another Carnival ship, the Carnival Elation, was on the scene transferring food and beverages.

According to Carnival, some basic auxiliary power has been restored, cabin toilets are working on part of the ship and some elevators are operational. The dining areas are serving hot coffee and limited hot food.

The $420 million Triumph made news early last year after the family of a German tourist killed in the Costa Concordia disaster in the Mediterranean filed a $10 million lawsuit against Carnival. A judge found the family had standing, and ordered the ship held at port in Galveston. The court later allowed the ship to move between ports until a hearing takes place.

The lawsuit contends that Carnival Cruise Lines is the corporate parent of the Costa Concordia.

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