Weather alert: Weekend will be cool and breezy




















Cool weather will continue Saturday in South Florida with breezy conditions and low temperatures dipping below 70. Highs will be in the mid-70s.

On Sunday, forecasters expect the start of a warming trend, with highs near 80 and a low of about 70.

Monday will bring more breezes and partly sunny skies, with a high of 79 degrees and a 20 percent chance of rain after 8 a.m.





For up-to-date forecasts and maps, click here.





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First Person: Unfriending a Facebook Friend to Save a Friendship
















Yahoo News asked voters to share stories about relationships gone sour during the election — and how they’re working to mend fences. Here’s one person’s story.


FIRST PERSON | Because of the election,I had to ignore one of my oldest friends.













My name is Kathy Foust from Knox, Ind., and I am in my late 30s. If there is one thing I have learned during my time on this Earth, it is the value of relationships that span the decades and embrace even the worst personality flaws.


I met Matt when we were teens. We had both gotten into trouble and as a result, we each were sent to live in a residential placement for wayward teens. There, we experienced some travesties that can only serve to bring a group of people closer. Attempted suicides, attempted arson, violence, tears, broken hearts, friends with self-made wounds from the war in their hearts, and pretty much every other teenage dilemma that could possibly manifest itself in physical form were all part of our daily lives.


We lost touch, but found it again on Facebook. A small group of us reconnected and care as much for each other as we ever did.


I almost let politics change all that with Matt. What teenage years and the trauma of all that we went through could not tear apart, the 2012 presidential election had the potential to annihilate.


There was no one single argument. There were no words of separation. A simple click of a button took my friend from someone who was on a select list to someone who no longer existed in my virtual world. In truth, we never actually said a harsh word to each other. We did say plenty about politics though.


He used terms like “lazy,” “stupid,” “welfare,” and “socialist,” while I threw out terms like “compassion,” “opportunity,” and “equality.”


We debated political topics in Facebook, sometimes in such a harsh manner that friends outside of our personal little circle would voice questions as to how we ever became friends in the first place. That’s when I knew I had to unfriend a political adversary in order to keep a friend.


On the night of the election, we made the choice to resume our friendship in the morning, no matter who won.


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News



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17 Turkish soldiers killed in helicopter crash








ANKARA, Turkey — A Turkish military helicopter carrying soldiers on a mission against Kurdish rebels crashed in heavy fog on Saturday, killing 17 people, Turkish media reported.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the crash in a mountainous part of Pervari district in Siirt province, where the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party is active.

The provincial governor, Ahmet Aydin, said 13 soldiers and four crewmembers were killed, according to Anadolu news agency.

State-run TRT television said the troops were conducting an operation against Kurdish rebels who have escalated attacks in recent months. The guerrillas have been fighting since the 1980s, and they seek more rights for Kurds, including autonomy in the mostly Kurdish southeast of the country. Turkey and the West categorize the rebels, known by the acronym PKK, as a terrorist group.




Several days ago, Turkish media reported that Turkish soldiers were airlifted into northern Iraq for a brief operation against suspected rebels, who have bases there. There were no reports of casualties on that mission. Turkey periodically carries out artillery and air strikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq, but reports of cross-border incursions by troops are rare.










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Take the challenge: Can you launch a company on $100




















Can you launch a company for $100?

Books & Books, the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, Florida International University and The LAB Miami have teamed up to host The $100 Startup Competition. Inspired by the bestselling book by Chris Guillebeau, the contest challenges South Florida entrepreneurs to enter their ideas for businesses that can be launched with just $100.

To enter, applicants must complete a short questionnaire; be ready to produce your mission statement in 140 characters or less. Finalists will be invited to pitch their $100 startup ideas in a public event on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 24, at Books & Books in Coral Gables. A panel of judges will fund the most promising ventures and additional prizes will be awarded.





The deadline to apply is Sunday, Nov. 18 at 11:59 p.m. Apply at http://100dollarstartup.co/





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Miami-Dade’s election count comes to an end, finally




















After a doozy of an Election Day, Miami-Dade County officials finished their vote tally Thursday, following an around-the-clock tabulation of tens of thousands of absentee ballots and a few thousand provisional ballots.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez also pledged to uncover what went wrong Tuesday, by asking four Miami-Dade commissioners to join a task force that will examine the long lines and frustrating delays that plagued polling places in different parts of the county.

“We need to put it in context,” Gimenez told The Miami Herald. “I believe that there are different operational issues at those precincts.”





Gimenez sent letters to Commissioners Lynda Bell, Sally Heyman, Dennis Moss and Rebeca Sosa, asking them to form part of the group and identify other community leaders who could participate. The mayor chose them for their ethnic and political diversity, and because lines in some of their areas were excessively long.

The group will conduct a precinct-by-precinct review of what happened and make recommendations to the county — including some to relay to Gov. Rick Scott and state lawmakers regarding early voting.

Gimenez said he hopes to convene the group a week from Monday, after the supervisor of elections has completed a traditional post-election briefing. The group will first learn about election laws and what wiggle room the county has to propose changes.

The advisory group, which the mayor said won’t be too large, will dig into why there were lengthy lines during early voting — despite fewer people voting early than in 2008 — and at many precincts on Election Day, despite turnout being only 8 percent higher.

Commissioners welcomed the challenge.

“We could always stand for improvement, and we will,” Heyman said at a commission meeting Thursday.

Another commissioner not taking part, Javier Souto, also chimed in.

“Democracy is alive and well, and it worked — it worked very well,” he said. “The system got a little bit, uh, difficult at times.’’

As commissioners met at County Hall, Miami-Dade’s absentee ballot count came to a merciful end.

Elections workers counted a final batch of 500 absentees Thursday morning after pulling their second all-nighter. They finished about 40 hours after the polls closed.

Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Penelope Townsley fended off criticism that the county’s election was less than perfect.

“Generally, I think Miami-Dade County conducted a very good election,” Townsley told reporters at the elections office in Doral, as she deflected questions about long lines and delays at the polls. “Am I embarrassed or disappointed by some of the things that happened? Absolutely. But I have to focus on simply getting it right.”

The last-minute surge of some 54,000 absentees cast up until the closing of the polls on Election Day caused an extraordinary delay in tabulating the final results. Elections workers counted about 31,750 absentee votes on Wednesday and Thursday alone.

In total, Miami-Dade voters cast more than 242,000 absentee ballots. Officials said Thursday they could not provide information on the number of rejected absentees.

Townsley made note of the fact that Miami-Dade, the state’s largest county, finished ahead of three other big Florida counties — Broward, Palm Beach and Duval. They were still tabulating their absentees Thursday afternoon.





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Icahn says has mulled Netflix takeover, no decision made
















(Reuters) – Activist investor Carl Icahn, who holds an almost 10 percent stake in Netflix, said on Thursday he has considered a hostile takeover bid for Netflix, but it was uncertain he stood a chance of acquiring the Internet streaming service.


Asked by TV network CNBC whether he would “go hostile” on Netflix, Icahn said, “The thought had certainly entered my mind. I have to admit I think about it, but we haven’t made that decision.”













While Icahn said a hostile takeover was “certainly an alternative,” he downplayed the possibility several times. He added that he would not be able to pay as much for Netflix as a “synergistic buyer” looking to acquire an Internet movie and TV subscription service.


Netflix has been the subject of periodic acquisition speculation, with potential names tossed around from Microsoft Corp to Amazon.com Inc.


Icahn last month disclosed he had amassed control of 9.98 percent of Netflix shares. Most of his purchases were in the form of call options that expire in September 2014. The billionaire, who is known for shaking up corporate management, has said Netflix was undervalued and an attractive acquisition target for a number of companies.


Netflix has since adopted a poison pill defense to prevent a hostile takeover, a move that Icahn on Thursday called “reprehensible.”


A Netflix spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Icahn’s remarks.


(Reporting By Liana B. Baker in New York; Additional reporting by Katya Wachtel and Sam Forgione in New York and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie Adler)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News



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Justin Bieber Lives Every Teen Boy's Dream at VS Show

"[It's] definitely a good night for me," beamed Justin Bieber on the red carpet of this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in NYC.

"It's an 18-year-old's dream …to be able to see all these models," said the teen phenom who, along with Rihanna and Bruno Mars, took to the stage November 7 to serenade VS Angels as they strut their stuff on the catwalk.

Video: Inside Victoria's Secret's Fashion Show Casting

The annual show, which airs December 4 at 10 p.m. on CBS, was the first major event in New York City since superstorm Sandy.

World-famous Victoria's Secret Angels Miranda Kerr, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Doutzen Kroes, Candice Swanepoel, Erin Heatherton, Lily Aldridge, and Lindsay Ellingson will take center stage at the sexy event.

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Alliance for Coney Island launching with focus on cleanup efforts








Hurricane Sandy has left Coney Island looking like a Cyclone hit it – devastating its seaside amusement district, officials say, with tens of millions of dollars in damage alone.

And now a new nonprofit entity created to continue the steady sanitizing of America’s Playground in recent years has inherited a real cleanup job.

The Alliance for Coney Island – a partnership between the city and the heaviest hitters in Coney Island’s business community – is officially launching its organization today.

But instead of focusing on pumping up Coney Island’s popularity through marketing and other means as originally planned, the Alliance will instead oversee early recovery efforts for businesses and residents still without power and reeling from Hurricane Sandy.




“We have a lot of work on our hands,” said Dennis Vourderis, the Alliance chairman and owner of Deno’s Wonderwheel Park.

The Alliance has already set up a new website -- http://coneyrecovers.org/ -- for gathering donations and volunteers to assist neighborhood relief efforts, and it'll direct people who live in the area on places to get assistance.

Meanwhile, the business leaders heading the Alliance have their own Sandy woes to deal with.

All of Coney Island’s seaside rides need to have their electrical and motor systems overhauled. Deno’s suffered roughly $3 million in damages, while Zamperla USA, which oversees Luna Park and the Scream Zone, faces about $8 million or so in repairs, according to sources.

MCU Park – home of the Brooklyn Cyclones – was also badly damaged. Its field was covered in water during the storm, and the locker rooms and souvenir shop were badly damaged.

The New York Aquarium also suffered extensive damage. It is trying to partly reopen by Memorial Day.

Vourderis said the amusement district hopes to have its rides and attractions ready for the spring.

Neighborhood staples like Nathan’s Famous and Gargiulo's Restaurant were also among the area businesses hardest hit. Nino Russo, an Alliance board member and Gargiulo’s owner, said his business suffered more than $1 million damages and is "working hard to re-open" by Christmas.

The Alliance replaces the former Coney Island Development Corp. and will inherit $630,000 earmarked for CIDC over the next two years. The new organization’s role will be similar to that of the public-private Downtown Brooklyn Partnership that Mayor Bloomberg created in 2004. Business owners will also fund the group's new budget.

rcalder@nypost.com










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Zillow: Foreclosure discounts shrinking




















Buying a foreclosed home is no longer the big bargain it used to be.

In South Florida, the discount for foreclosures narrowed to 2.9 percent below a comparable non-distressed home in September from 6.8 percent a year earlier, according to Zillow.

The foreclosure discount for the tri-county area of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties peaked in August 2008, when bank-owned homes fetched 22.7 percent less than non-distressed homes, the Seattle-based real-estate information firm said.





Nationwide, the foreclosure discount was 7.7 percent in September, down from 9.1 percent a year earlier, Zillow said. The widest gap nationally between foreclosed and non-distressed sales was 23.7 percent in September 2009.

“The smallest foreclosure discount is found in places where competition for homes is so high, people there are willing to pay the same amount for a foreclosure re-sale that they would for a non-distressed home simply to take advantage of historic affordability,” said Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist.





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