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Tallahassee Lawmakers Tackle
AUTO INSURANCE
February 4, 2011
FRAUD
Florida’s automobile insurance rates are among the highest in the nation and experts say fraudulent claims drive up the price hurting everyone’s pocketbooks.
ALSO INSIDE
I-Team: Prison Tax Fraud Worse Than Initially Thought Federal Funds To Aid Struggling Homeowners New Diet Focuses On Boosting Serotonin Levels Miracle Mile Gets Million $ Makeover Drama Students Hit The Stage To Address School Bullying
CBS4 Newspaper February 4, 2011 Edition
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CBS4 Newspaper
February 4, 2011
5
Tallahassee Lawmakers Tackle Auto Insurance Fraud TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) – Florida’s automobile insurance rates are among the highest in the nation and experts say fraudulent claims drive up the price hurting everyone’s pocketbooks. The state legislature listened to experts including Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater on Wednesday who said F lorida’s no-fault ins urance law contributes to the large number of fraudulent personal injury claims brought on annually. The average driver pays $50 a year per car to help fund the state’s no-fault insurance system. It’s a syst em t hat has be en he lping fra udsters c ollect millions of dollars in false claims. “It’s more than unfair, it’s unconscionable,” Atwater told members of t he Hou se Ba nking a nd Insura nce Subcommittee. Tackling the issue means limiting who can collect Personal Injury Protection (PIP) funds and it’s likely to pit busi ness groups a gainst t rial a ttorneys ove r reimbursement regulations . Ins urance groups as ked lawmakers to tighten up the law to prevent the millions of dollars collected fraudulently.
Committee chairman Bryan Nelson, RApoka, said the committee will wait for a pe rsonal i njury fraud survey expected to be released in April by t he Office o f I nsurance Regulation. Nelson, an insurance agent, said a more immediate f ix t he problem i s t o have the legislature deal with laws aimed a t c racking do wn fraud and tightening clinic licensures. “This is the crisis today,” Ne lson sa id. “Hurricanes are a crisis for tomorrow. (Fraud) is an issue from the Panhandle to the Keys.” Florida’s n o-fault i nsurance sy stem d ates b ack t o 1 971 and its purpose was to allow accident victims to collect $10,000 to cover personal injury expens es in exchange
for not taking the case to court. The no-fault system pays any party of a n
accident regardless of who was at fault. (©2011 C BS L ocal Me dia, a d ivision o f CB S Ra dio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, b roadcast, re written, o r r edistributed. Ne ws Service Florida substantially contributed to this report.)
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I-Team: Prison Tax Fraud Worse Than Initially Thought MIAMI (CBS4) – Federa l Int ernal Revenue Service auditors now say pris on inmates are stealing up to four times more tax dollars than first thought. A recently released report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration shows potentially hundreds of millions of tax dollars are stolen every year by prison inmates filing tax returns for work they never did as king for tax refunds they aren’t due.
all used to work as special investigative agents in various IRS criminal divisions. Using his expertise Wise was able to uncover information within the IRS that showed the age ncy knew i t ha d m ade a mistake in sending the tax refund check to
Oz,” sa id Pl att. “ They’re be hind t his curtain that you can’t reach but I learned that the IRS is not infallible. They make mistakes.” Compare that, the IRS’s dogged pursuit of “Dee” Platt to the agency’s apparent
Inspector George has se rved a s Inspe ctor General since 2004 and leads hundreds of employees and inspectors out the TIGTA office in Washington, D.C. George even testified before Congress on this problem and released a report back in 2005 outlining the fraud. A follow-up report a year later found much the s ame thing.
“They st ole m y i dentity,” sai d Browa rd County resident Denise “Dee” Platt. At fi rst Pl att wa s c oncerned be cause she had had her identity stolen.
According to the latest (D ecember 29, 2010) TIGTA report the number of fraudulent tax returns claimed by prison inmates n early t ripled, f rom 1 8,103 t o 44,944 in the five years between 2004 and 2009 (the last year data is available.)
Then Platt became concerned because the IRS didn’t seem to understand what had happened to her and to the tax refund money the government was supposed to send her but sent t o the person who’d stolen her identity.
The report shows the amount of fraudulent money claimed by pris on inmates more than quadrupled (4.3 times) from $68.1 Mi llion i n 2004 t o $295.1 Million in 2009 (last year data available).
“(I was) very frustrated. Everything seemed hopeless,” said Platt.
“They had sent my refund to another person’s bank,” said Platt. So Platt sought the help of a former IRS criminal a gent, R on Wise, o f MR W Consulting of Fort Lauderdale. Wise had served as the Chief of Criminal investigations f or t he I RS o ut o f i ts Atlanta F raud unit and remains very connected with the agency. Wise and his partners at MRW Consulting
But an auditor’s report from the US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGT A) which oversees the IRS found the theft of tax dollars by prison inmates filing false tax returns was up to four times wors e than firs t estimated. “As the Inspector General, I am troubled,” said J. Russe ll Ge orge, t he Inspe ctor General for Tax Administration.
It’s a tax refund scam firs t uncovered by CBS4 I-Team Investigator Stephen Stock who now adds up the cost to every legitimate American taxpayer: nearly a quarter billion dollars stolen by prison inmates already doing time for other crimes.
Finally Platt lost patience after the IRS kept sending tax refund checks to the person who posed as her , the person who stole her identity. The IRS sent the refund checks to the thief’s addres s even after “Dee” formally notified the IRS exactly what was going on by filing of ficial paperwork with the government.
fraud.
the wrong person and ha d not not ified Dee Platt that it had done so. As if pouring salt into an open wound, the IRS then sent Platt a 1099-INT form showing that the IRS was taxing her on the interest of the refund it, the government, had sent to the wrong person, the person who st ole her identity. This despite the fact that an official admitted to Ron Wise tha t t he IRS “ had made a mistake” and sent the check to the wrong person, the person who scammed “Dee’s” identity. This di d no t e ndear t he IR S t o “ Dee” Platt. “It’s an agency that’s like the
Wizard of
ignoring a m uch la rger and m uch m ore costly scam for taxpayers: the tax refund scam being run by i nmates out of pri sons across the country . These are scams that have been going on for decades and are getting worse every year. The CBS 4 I-T eam has learned pris on inmates continue to file false tax returns for work they never do, often listing employing companies that don’t exist, then get refunds they aren’t due. This, despite the fact that Congress even enacted a law in 2008 (Inmate Tax Fraud Prevention Act of 2008) to help plug holes that allow this prison tax scam while requiring the IRS to be more proactive in addressing and stopping this
And the latest audit reports shows that amount the IRS actually acknowledges was stolen by inmates tripled (2.9 times) from $13.4 Mi llion i n 2004 t o $39.1 Million i n 2009 (t he l ast ye ar for whi ch data is available). “My charge is to ensure that no dollars are wasted, t hat no dol lars a re sc ammed,” said Inspector General Geor ge. “And I won’t rest until the IRS does what it is supposed to do.” But so far , the IRS seems to be ignoring Congress’ mandate to fix things or even to take steps to fix things. continued
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February 4, 2011
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I-Team: Prison Tax Fraud Worse Than Initially Thought continued
According to the same TIGTA audit report even though “The Inmate Tax Fraud Prevention Act o f 2 008… … provides t he IRS with the authority to disclose information on pri soners…the IRS ha s not completed the necessary agreements to share prisoner information.” And therefore the audit report s hows that inmate tax fraud continues to grow in s ize and is not slowing down. According to an internal IRS breakdown of known fra udulent t ax form s obt ained by CBS4? s I -Team, Fl orida l eads t he c ountry in false tax returns filed by inmates, 8,777 fraudulent returns or 20 percent of the fraudulent prison t ax returns filed in the entire country. “It wa s a huge sc am goi ng on i n our facility,” said Monroe County sheriff Robert “Bob” Peryam. The scam went on for years at the Monroe County jail in Key West despite the fact Sheriff Peryam said his investigators caught on pre tty qui ckly a nd ha nded ove r t o U.S. prosecutors a nd i nvestigators wha t t he
sheriff c alls evidence for ope n a nd shut criminal cases. Finally, on January 14, 201 1, an inmate, 49 year-old Danilo Suarez, formerly of Key West, was sentenced by a U.S. District Court Judge to five years in prison after Suarez and two m embers o f hi s fa mily we re c onvicted of running the tax refund scam out of the Key West jail.
It’s a question that baf fles Dee Platt who wishes the IRS would leave her and others like her alone and concentrate on stopping all that prison fraud. Platt says by saving those dollars lost in prison tax scams that tax money could go to people currently unemployed or struggling to pay their mortgages.
“It took over three years in fact almost four years before finally something was done,” said Sheriff Peryam. Sheriff Peryam says he has evidence of up to fifty more inmates running the same scam. “We had inmates admitting to it,” said Sheriff Peryam. But so far , only one other inmate has even been charged by the feds. “It (the IRS’s inaction in these scam cases ) angers you. It absolutely angers you,” said Sheriff Peryam. So why isn’t the IRS doing more to stop these scams of taxpayer dollars?
“ T h a t money could be going to help th ese p eople instead they’re paying off t hese f raudulent returns a nd t hey d o nothing about it. I don’t understand that,” said Platt. “It’s mind boggling.” Not only w as Danilo Suarez sentenced to five years in prison his 25 year-old daughter, Sandra Suarez, and 54 year-old sister, Belkis
Mendez, both got a si x months sentence i n federal prison by a judge back last November for helping run the tax scam from jail. Three United States Senators, including Florida’s Bill Nelson, are now demanding action from the IRS and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The senators, lead by US Senator Charles Schumer of New York said “it’s outrageous” that both the IRS and the Federal Bureau of Pri sons continue to fail to comply with a law passed and put into place almost t h r e e years ago (Inmate Tax Fraud Prevention Act of 2008).
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February 4, 2011
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I-Team: Robaina Loans Investigated Robaina said. “W e were victims o f a f riend wh o took advantage of us, but we are not under investigation.” Robaina said the reason he believes he is not be ing investigated is simply that “we have never been notified of any investigation against us.”
HIALEAH (CBS4) — Hi aleah Ma yor Julio Robaina, who earlier this month announced he was running for mayor of Miami-Dade County, is being investigated for a lleged a cts of l oan sharking, mortgage fraud and tax evasion, CBS4 News has learned. The investigation, confirmed by three law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the ongoing federal probe, stems from allegations made against Robaina by Luis Felipe Perez, who pled guilty last year to operating a $ 45 million Ponzi scheme. Perez, known by the nickname Felipito, has been cooperating with federal prosecutors for months in an attempt to reduce his ten-year prison term. Robaina denies he has done anything wrong a nd ha s r epeatedly d enied he i s being i nvestigated. R obaina c laims he i s nothing more than a victim of Perez, who tricked middle-class and wealthy individuals in Hialeah into investing in his jewelry business and a string on nonexistent pawn shops in New York City. “We were investing in his business, which he b ought a nd so ld p recious g ems, o r a t least t hat’s wha t he re presented t o us,”
But investigators have subpoenaed records from both Robaina and his wife. And agents and prosecutors interviewed Robaina at length sometime around July of last year . His wife was interviewed approximately three months ago. Both voluntarily a greed t o m eet with agents and prosecutors, although they each did bring an attorney with them. The Robaina investigation centers on a series of loans the couple made to Perez over an 18-month period starting in 2006 or 2007. The total amount of money Perez borrowed from the Robainas was $750,000. Perez needed the money to keep his Ponzi scheme afloat. The l oans, so me o f whi ch we re m ade i n the form of mortgages on P erez properties, stipulated on paper an interest rate of 18 percent. But Perez has reportedly told pros ecutors that the actual interest rate was 36 percent – a usury rate that would be illegal. Perez claims the mortgage documents and promissory not es we re de liberately falsified to cover the illegal transaction. He has also claimed that the illegal portion of the payments were made in cash to Robaina. “Completely false, completely false,” Robaina said. “The notes are there, they are registered notes and the interest rates are on those notes and that is what he was obligated to pay.” Robaina said he has provided, through his
attorney, d ocuments t o i nvestigators showing what the interes t payments were and what he did with whatever money Perez repaid.
subjects and tar gets of governmental interest out there. My client has provided some very useful information and I think the government is proceeding on it.”
“We have provided our paperwork to let them know t his exactly where the dollars came from, this is how they were reported to the IRS, t his is h ow the i ncome was reported to the IRS,” Robaina said.
Asked i f Robaina was one of the individuals Perez was providing information against, Entin said: “I’m afraid I can’t comment on that.”
Robaina a rgues t hat onc e i nvestigators have a chance to see everything there will be no doubts in their mind. “I be lieve t hat’s where we a re he ading,” he said. “I believe that’s where it is going. Obviously this is a big investigation there are a lot of people who are being looked at, people who did commit a crime. In our case we were victims.” But Perez’s attorney, Alvin Entin, s ays many of the people who claim to be victims o f Pe rez r eally a ren’t vi ctims a t all. “Luis Perez is a nice young man,” Entin said. “ He ha d a jewelry busi ness and borrowed money from people who were loan sharks to get the business moving, couldn’t keep up with the payments to the loan sharks, started borrowing more money a nd be fore he kne w i t he wa s i n the middle of a Ponzi.” One reas on federal authorities are s o interested in Perez’s allegations is that it takes them into the world of Hialeah loan sharking. Unlike typical loan shark activities involving or ganized crime figures, the loan sh arking b usiness i n Hi aleah i s allegedly d ominated b y so -called “ pillars of the community .” They center around prominent and politically influential Cuban-American families who become the community’s private bank of las t resort. Interest rates range anywhere from 36 percent to 50 percent. But unlike the stereo-typical mobster who would threaten to break a person’s legs if they fa il t o re pay t he l oan, i n Hi aleah force is applied through threats of being ostracized both socially and professionally. “I can tell you that my client is still cooperating,” Entin said. “There are other
Robaina sa id he i s not worri ed a bout t he stories Perez might make up. Robaina said he did nothing wrong. “Luis Felipe is someone who is facing ten years in jail,” Robaina s aid. “I’m not s ure what he’s telling them. I can tell you what the facts are and what all of the corresponding paperwork shows.” But Perez’s attorney maintained prosecutors will not have to simply rely on Perez’s word. “Things that Luis did he didn’t do in a vacuum,” Entin s aid. “There were people around him who were privy to it. There were books, there were records, there were documents you can track and trace. There is a lot of corroboration out there.”
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I-Team: Rundle Removes Rivera Prosecutor MIAMI (CBS4) – Miami Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle is dramatically scaling back the resources her of fice is dedicating to the investigation of Congressman David Rivera, CBS4 News has learned. Late last week, Rundle ordered Assistant State Attorney Richard Scruggs removed from the cas e, even though Scruggs is the most experienced public corruption prosecutor in the of fice. She also sidelined Robert Fielder, a highly-respected investigator , and Christine Zahralban, a prosecutor who s pecializes in res earching and litigating complex criminal issues.
It is an amazing turn of events in a case that has been building for weeks. As CBS4 News first reported, prosecutors have been investigating more than half a million dollars in secret payments from the owners of Flagler Dog Track to a company owned by Congre ssman David Rivera’s mother and godmother.
Rundle ha s al so dec ided t hat he r of fice wil l no longe r take the lead role in investigating the case – opting instead to turn the politically sensitive matter over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Her office would support FDLE’s efforts.
Rundle’s aides also maintained the Miami-Dade Police Department’s publ ic corrupti on unit, which ha d been working on the Rivera case with Scruggs, would phase out of the case “in the next few weeks” and that they were turning over all of their materials to FDLE. But sources within the Miami Dade Police Department said that even though Rundle was trying to push them of f of the Rivera investigation they were going to continue to work the case with FDLE.
A spokesman for Rundle maintained that Assistant State Attorney J oe Centorino, w ho remains on the Rivera investigation, is more than capable to handle the case. Centorino is the head of the Miami Dade State Attorney Office’s public corruption unit and has been with the office for more than 20 years . He was responsible f or t he p rosecutions o f Mi ami Da de County Commissioners Bruce Kaplan and Miriam Alonso. Centorino late Wednesday said he found it “insulting” that anyone would think his approach would be anything less than aggressive.
“It’s very disappointing,” said one s enior law enforcement of ficial. Another law enforcement source described Rundle’s actions as “disgraceful.” Rundle did not return calls seeking her comment. A spokesman for Rundle said she decided to let FDLE take the lead because FDLE had opened its own file on Rivera a couple of weeks before Scruggs started his investigation at the State Attorney’s Office.
corruption cases than anyone else in Rundle’s office. A former head of the U.S. Attorney’s public corruption unit he i s re sponsible for som e of t he bi ggest c ases i n Sout h Florida including the prosecution of Yahweh Ben Yahweh, Art Teele and Michelle Spence-Jones.
Scruggs could not be reached for comment.
And this pas t S unday, CBS 4 new s partner The M iami Herald reported prosecutors were widening their investigation to include Rivera’s campaign expenditures , including thousands of dollars that went to his mother’s firm and another $75,000 went to the daughter of one of legislative aides. And yet just when it seemed that the Rivera investigation was heating up, Rundle has dramatically cut both manpower and resources. Late last week, Rundle ordered Scruggs, Zahralban, and Fielder off the case. Scruggs has more
e xperience prosec uting publ ic
When Scruggs joined the Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office in 2003, Rundle hired him in part to quiet her critics who complained she was weak on public corruption cases. “My critics can say what they want, but I’ll match my record on corruption against any prosecutor,” Rundle told the Miami Herald in 2003. “I brought Richard Scruggs in to join the team because I am tough on public corruption, and I have been and will continue to be tough on public corruption.” But now Rundle will have to ans wer thos e ques tions all over again after removing S cruggs from w hat could have been her office’s most important public corruption case in more than a decade.
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February 4, 2011
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More Women Setting Up Prenuptial Agreements
MIAMI (C BS4) — When y ou t hink of a prenuptial a greement, a n o lder m an protecting hi s a ssets fr om a t rophy wi fe might come to mind. That profile is changing with the times, however. Britney Spears is glad she had a prenuptial agreement. It saved her millions of dollars.
Nicole Kidma n is anot her cele brity who wouldn’t get married without t his legal document to protect her assets.
Christine Perkins. She is glad she had prenuptial agreements after two marriages didn’t work out.
Forget something borrowed and something blue, more women want legal protection before they’ll walk down the aisle.
“You wa nt t o m ake su re wh en y ou l eave i t that you are at least similar to where you started off, not worse off,” she said.
Judy Wayne, an attorney, is seeing her business c hange, p articularly a s p eople a re marrying later in life.
Divorce is very costly . Wayne added, “My favorite adage is while love is grand, divorce is a thousand grand.”
“More and more women are initiating the prenups. M any are w ealthy in their ow n right, h aving a cquired i t i n t heir b usinesses or professions, and they want to insure that the property is not subject to a division in the event of a divorce,” she explained.
Many women don’t want to be burdened by bad investments or old obligations. Wayne says, “A prenup is a great way to basically dissolve the other party of any liability of a student loan for instance or a prior bad debt.”
This trend doesn’t surprise business owner
Another priority i s protecting a ssets for children and grandchildren, often from a
previous marriage. Wayne says the assets of greatest interest are real estate, pensions, 401Ks, and businesses. Some women understand the motives for a prenup, but still don’t like them. A national poll of attorneys who specialize in family found that more of them are seeing an increasing n umber o f wo men i nterested i n prenuptial agreements. There are do-it-yours elf kits for prenups but Wayne cautions against them because they might not adequately address the specifics of Florida law.
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Federal Funds To Aid Struggling Homeowners TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) – Homeowners struggling t o make their mortgage payments may be able to get a helping hand from Uncle Sam. For the first time, more than one billion dollars in federal aid will be made available to Florida to help homeowners who have lost their jobs or who can no longer afford their mortgage payments. The money can be used to make loan pa yments for up t o a ye ar a nd a ha lf a nd bri ng delinquent loans current, according to The P alm Beach Post. The maximum amount available under the Hardest Hit program is $35 thousand per request. If the hom eowner re ceives t he assist ance but se lls t he property within five years or goe s into foreclosure, they will have to pay the money back to the state. The Florida Housing Finance Corporation, which will be overseeing the distribution of the funds, believes it will help approximately 20 thousand homeowners. Florida’s Hardest Hit Program: www.flhardesthithelp.org Last October, Lee County took part in a test program. Of
the 963 homeowners who applied for assistance, 64 were approved and 479 applications are either in the process of receiving assistance or still under review. More than 400 homeowners’ claims were rejected because they either owed more than $40 thousand on their loan, owned more than one property or were more than six months behind on their payments. The application process will be opened to everyone in the state beginning next month. Nationwide, $7.6 bi llion i s be ing m ade available to 18 states and the District of Columbia which ha ve be en hi t ha rd by hi gh une mployment a nd a depressed real estate market.
February 4, 2011
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February 4, 2011
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iPhones May Put Personal Information At Risk MIAMI (CBS4)The iP revolutionized modern technology. But som e say it’s an open door for d ark forces to do their worst.
hone has
The
and their own heart rate. Most owners can’t live without it. But all that personal information doesn’t j ust d isappear wh en y ou disconnect, and that puts consumers in danger. Maria Avila said she upgraded he r ph one a t t he Apple store but ended up with another w oman’s information. Avila essentially received a copy of Marlene Hepner’s cell phone. Avila contacted Hepner and informed her of the incident.
iPhone is essentially a little computer in our hand. iPhones let us ers talk, w atch, read, broadcast live, even measure the air pollution
“Maria’s nice,” He pner said. “She called me and said there’s a problem. But what if it had been someone else? What if there is someone else out there?” asked Hepner. The p hone c ontained p hotos o f He pner’s husband in Vegas. “We went on a trip,” Hepner said. “That’s
my niece at Christmas time.” CNET E ditor Bri an Cool ey sa id use rs ha ve to be careful with their information. “Internet-connected technology in particular is moving so fa st, we don’t know wha t t he baseline is yet,” Cooley s aid. “W e don’t know where information created and stored today is going to be used or exposed tomorrow. He said what makes iPhones so ef ficient is what leaves consumers exposed. For exam ple, tha t aut o c orrect keystroke mechanism that finishes words may not be the best function for consumers. That’s because the phone is actually capturing information, typing in a credit card number. That number is a series of keystrokes now saved e ven i f y ou d elete t he Web p age o r email. The phone even saves the images of maps users recently looked up. “So the photos you take with it are often geotagged for location and with other identifying information attached to them. The downside
is yes, lots of your fingerprints, if you will, lots of the traces of your life and behavior are going i nto e very de vice yo u t ouch t hat i s connected in any way to the Internet. It’s just part of the DNA of connective technology today,” added Cooley. So how easy is this for criminals to get a hold of? “Each and every day as technology advances so do criminals,” said Steve Bullet, a special agent with the Secret Service. He said their high-tech investigators have to stay on top of the newest technologies to stay ahead of the criminals. “Law enforcement always has to play catch up,” Bullet said. “Remember these criminals are t rying 24-hours a day to sabota ge your information. So as technology advances so do they.” Nevertheless, researchers expect sales of the smart phone, including the iPhone, to exceed personal computer sales in 2012.
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February 4, 2011
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Citizens Reverses Courses Again On Chinese Drywall insurer of l ast resort, Citizens Property Insurance, has reversed course again for p r o p e r t y owners whose homes contain toxic Chinese drywall.
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) –
The st ate’s
Hundreds of homeowners across the state said they received letters from Citizens stating t hat t heir p olicies wou ld n ot b e
renewed if their properties contained the defective drywall. After attorney David Durkee, who represents 300 Chinese drywall victims, called a ttention t o t his a ction i n t he m edia, on Wednesday Citizens announced that the non-renewal notices were “erroneously generated by a computer” and sent out. Christine Ashburn, Citizen’s Director of Legislative and External Affairs, said as soon as they heard about the letters through the media they rescinded them and sent out renewal notices. “We are glad Citizens acknowledged its mistake and we hope it was an isolated incident t hat wi ll n ot b e r epeated,” Du rkee
said. “After several unsuccessful attempts to reach Citizens, we decided to call a news conference because time was critical before the March 2011 non-renewal came into effect.” Thousands of homeowners nationwide who bought houses built with the defective materials are finding their lives in limbo as hundreds o f l awsuits wo rk t hrough t he courts. Insurers are in a quandary over the drywall issue. Some say they can’t continue providing insurance until the problem is fixed, something some say could cost homeowners more than they paid for their homes.
For information call: 305-477-1699
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February 4, 2011
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New Diet Focuses On Boosting Serotonin Levels MIAMI (CBS4)– Low-carb diets are so p opular t hey c an se em l ike t he only way to go to drop the pounds. But two women are trying to show there’s a better way to lose
weight that includes carbs and improves your mood at the same time. It’s all outlined in the book “The Serotonin Power Diet. One of the authors, Dr . Nina Frusztajer, explained that serotonin is a naturally-occurring brain chemical. Her co-author, Dr. Judy Wurtman, discovered in her research at MIT that not only can serotonin make you feel good, it can shut off your appetite and stop cravings. “The w eight los s program is bas ed on
harnessing the power of serotonin so you can eat less and lose weight,” said Frusztajer. The key to doing that is to eat carbohydrates. “Carbs set of f a series of chemical re actions i n your body that tell the brain to make more serotonin,” Frusztajer explained. In their book, “The Serotonin Power Di et”, Frusz tajer a nd Wurtman explain in detail which carbs to eat and
when. For example, eat more protein in the morning and more carbs at night when serotonin levels are naturally lower. And you should eat low fat,
non-fruit carbohydrate snacks between meals and after dinner. The c o-authors sa y sn acks a re ke y. “Snacking is the unique thing about this diet that people really like,” said Frusztajer. “It can be nutritional foods, but the purpose of the snack is really to boost serotonin, just a n a mount t o t ake t he e dge o ff y our appetite,” Frusztajer said. She said the carb should be low-fat and not fruit, like pretzels or popcorn. “The serotonin diet really debunks the myth that eating carbs leads to weight gain. What we find is that carbohydrates enable weight loss because they result in a good mood and also shut off the appetite.” Some dieticians are skeptical of how it works. Dr. Christine Mackey, an internist, said no matter what the diet, research s hows they
all result in similar weight loss. “The people who maintain that weight loss are the people who actually adhere to the diet, so it does n’t really seem to matter what diet you’re on, as long as you st ick with it and incorporate other healthful behaviors such as exercise,” Mackey said. Frusztajer says for their clients who follow the right portions and the right carbs at the right ti mes, the serotonin power di et works. “We have clients who say can sit down and eat entire bag of l arge size of Doritos, or walk in from work and can’t stop eating for hours,” Frusztajer says. “On t his di et, they say for the first time, they are able to have a dinner and throughout the evening, they don’t have the cravings anymore.”
For information call: 305-477-1699
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February 4, 2011
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Tips To Make Your Possessions Last Longer MIAMI (CBS4) – If you want to make food and clothing last as long as you can, there are a few t ricks e xperts say wi ll save you time, and money, throughout the year.
necessarily have to abide by their “best by” date. Milk, for example, can last up to a week past its sell by date when stored properly in the back of the refrigerator. Same goes for eggs. They can have a much longer shelf life when stored with the milk, and if they are housed in the same carton they are sold in. In your produce drawer , try to keep fruits that emit gasses away from other fruits and vegetables. Apples, for example, give off a type of gas that can spoil other food, like broccoli, so make sure they stay apart.
When it comes to food, there are items that don’t
To keep the tires on your car in tip-top shape, always make sure they are inflated properly. According to reports, Americans
throw away 280 million tires every year due to excess wear and tear or blowout. Keeping them a t opti mal pre ssure c an dramatically extend their life. When i t c omes t o your a pparel, stop washing your jeans. No, re ally. Levi, t he company t hat’s been making jeans for m ore t han 150 years says if you buy a new pai r of j eans a void washing them for the first 6 months. After that, onl y wash them
once every two weeks and hang them t o a ir dry upside-down. T he company says infrequent washing ensures the jeans preserve their length, shape and color.
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How Your Teeth Could Possibly Save Your Life according to CBS4 news Miami Herald.
partner The
Here’s how it works: dentists extract healthy teeth and immediately ship them in a temperature-controlled steel container to a lab in Massachusetts. In the lab, the teeth are spun out and frozen to more than 100 degrees below zero. They are then stored for future use. “These are t eeth we ’ve be en di scarding as dental waste,” said Miami Beach oral surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Blum, “We might as well get some use out of them.”
MIAMI (CBS4) – In a move that would put the Tooth Fairy in the unemployment line, doctors now say they can extract stem cells from teeth. In South Florida and around the country, dentists are pulling baby teeth, wisdom teeth and even normal adult teeth and
sending them to labs to have the stem cells spun out of them. Doctors say those stem cells can be used to regrow lost teeth and someday even repair damaged bones, hearts, pancreases, muscles and brains,
Not all teeth qualify for the stem cell preservation. The teeth must be pulled before they fall out naturally so that the blood supply is preserved, allowing them to stay healthy. The cost may also be a big deterrent. It is $590 up front, wi th a $100 annual fee to keep the s tem cells from up to four teeth
in storage for up to 20 years. But for m others, l ike Hi aleah re sident Naidelys Montoya, the cost is equivalent to a necessary insurance policy for her 6 year-old son Raul Estrada. “I believe in this,” Montoya said. “I did as a precaution against things that could happen in the future.”
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Toning Clothing: Can You Wear Your Workout? Some Swear By It, While Others Say Don’t Believe The Hype MIAMI (CBS4) — What if your clothes could give you a w ork out? Some athletic companies are marketing new apparel that promise to give your body the burn. So can you really wear your workout? The toning trend started with footwear , like sneakers and flip flops that promise to shape and sculpt. Now , there’s hosiery that claims to burn calories, even toe sox to give your feet a workout. “You can actuall y feel the fabric exert ing some force against your muscle. So if you’re walking in them you have to move your leg a little bit harder in order to move it forward,” said Jennifer Estabrook of Fila. Estabrook says their clothing line increases muscle e xercise b y a s m uch a s 5 0 p ercent. And you don’t have to be a tri-athlete to reap the benefits. “The effect is that whatever you’re doing in the pant you expend a little bit more ener gy and a little bit more workout while you’re
wearing them,” Estabrook said. Reebok’s new Easy Tone clothing has builtin resistance bands that target problem areas. “It smoothes your back — no more ugly bra bulge. The resistance bands are built right in so y ou a re burni ng m ore c alories a s you work out,” Meghan Murphy said. Andrea Jackson-Williams, 34, said wearing Fila’s toning pants helped her finish the New York City Marathon recently. “I feel my thighs, my inner thighs and my glutes, compressing when I wear them and I’m held in. So I don’t feel my thighs moving around. I have pretty thick thighs but I don’t feel them moving around. And when I wear the top as well everything is held in the same spot,” Jackson-Williams said. Physical therapist Sonja Mains said you need resistance t o m ake m uscles wo rk, bu t sh e’s not convinced about t he benefits of we aring toning clothing. “If you j ust have tightened clothing it might make you look and feel better , but I haven’t
seen any research that actually makes the muscle work harder when there’s just restrictive or tight clothing around it,” Mains said. But she said these clothes may give you a psychological edge. “If you we ar something that makes you l ook and feel better you might be more apt to work out a little harder,” Mains said. The key is to get moving. “This shirt isn’t going to do bicep curls. These pants aren’t going to do s quats for you,” Murphy said. “If you just put them on and sit on the couch you’re not going to get a workout. If you put
on t hese pa nts, wha tever you’re doi ng t hey make it more efficient. They make you work harder,” Estabrook added. This spring, a sleek new swimwear line will be launched to help women look great in the pool.
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February 4, 2011
27
Miracle Mile Gets Million $ Makeover deserves a b e a u t i f u l downtown,” City Commissioner Maria Anderson said Friday. “ If we don’t put money into our downtown, we’re actually going to lose money b e c a u s e businesses are going to go away.” MIAMI (CBS4) – The m ain drag in Cora l Gables, Miracle Mile, is poised to undergo a major makeover. City Com missioners ha ve un animously approved a swe eping p lan d esigned t o modernize and re-energize the downtown to boost business and tourism. “We are going to put the “miracle” back in Miracle Mile with this opportunity,” an enthusiastic Brad Rosenblatt, President of the city’s Business Improvement District said Friday. “I think this is really going to help make our city a premiere destination for people to come dine, shop and live.” Business and city leaders say a facelift of the downtown is needed because sidewalks are cracked and patched and too narrow, parking is a pain, and facades are outdated. “It’s been neglected for well over thirty years, and a great city like Coral Gables
The ne w Mi racle Mile, and nearby Restaurant Row on Giralda Avenue a re sl ated t o b e r enovated wi th widened sidewalks, street-side cafes, gardens, fount ains, a n out door c oncert venue, colorful awnings, and streets constructed of pavers instead of asphalt. I t will come at an estima ted cost of m ore than $16 million. Some see the project as an extravagance at a time when the Gables and other cities are struggling to make ends meet. “I’m i n t otal shock,” sa id Don Ingra ham, owner of Le Provencal restaurant on Miracle Mile. “This is ‘the city beautiful,’ but pretty soon it’s going to be ‘the city empty’ because there are a lot of us that are going to decide it’s just too expensive to live here.” The cost of the Miracle Mile project would be split 50/50 between business owners in the dis trict – who will pay a special
assessment – a nd t axpayers i n g eneral. Ingraham i s b oth a b usiness o wner a nd homeowner and says he will be hit with a double whammy. Maria Elena Cruz, owner of Creative Weddings on Miracle Mile also criticized the project. “It’s rea lly bad,” sa id Cruz. “ It’s ba d for everyone a nd I ’m t otally a gainst i t a t t his point” Some t axpayers, t hough, h ave b ought i n t o the remodel. “I’ve been paying taxes for forty years here, and if it’s going to improve people coming here I’m all for it,” said Barbara Lapsley a homeowner and civic activist. Supporters say the facelift will bring more people and businesses to the city, create jobs and expand the property tax base. “I believe that this investment in our community wi ll pa y for i tself,” sa id Commissioner Anderson, a dding t hat t he city manager has assured the commission a tax increase won’t be necessary to bankroll the makeover. While the project has been green-lighted by the city commission, much remains to be decided, including whether to expand the effort beyond Miracle Mile and Giralda or – as some have argued – scale it back. “I still have a lot of questions,” said Commissioner Ralph Cabrera Friday . “I voted for t he initial approval, but I have not
completely drunk the Kool-Aid.” Details of de sign, cost and financing for the downtown makeover are expected to be hammered out in a series of meetings over the next 12 months.
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Drama Students Hit The Stage To Address School Bullying “Each one of us put something real that we’ve been through in our lives,” L yseca said. “It relates to others in so many ways.”
DAVIE (CBS4) – An acting class at Nova High Sc hool i s usi ng t he powe r of performance to take on bullying.
Students said they built the show around thei r own expe riences but one look at news stories from the past few months reveals the dangers of s chool violence and bullying. Specifically, two violent incidents in Deerfield Be ach — t he b urning of 15-year-old Michael Brewer and the beating of 15-year -old Josie Ratley — show how prevalent these incidents can be. There have been numerous school shootings nationwide in recent years where bullying played a lar ge role in a student acting out violently.
Thirty acting students wrote and choreographed a half hour musical, The Weight of Words. The show takes on tough topics — l ike se xual o rientation, ra ce a nd suicide.
Carrie Gilchrist, Associate Artistic Director of the Lovewell Institute, said students worked on t he produ ction for se veral months and put together a final product they can be proud of.
Students crafted the dia logue, m usic and lyrics f rom t heir o wn e xperiences. Instructors with the Lovewell Institute for Creative Arts helped shape their thoughts into a distinctive show.
“I hope they take away their own authentic experience,” Gilchrist said. “That they learn t o u se t heir c reativity t o c hange t he world and change their own lives. This show is the perfect example of that.”
Francesca Rousseau, a junior , said she has been on both sides of bullying.
The show , which is part of an ongoing effort by Project Bridge and Broward School’s Office of Prevention Programs to educate the public, was funded through a state grant and Theatre Director Nina Zakrzewski said students plan to tour the production through middle and high schools in Broward County.
“The truth is you really do not know what people go through at home or at school so you h ave t o b e r eally c areful i n wh at y ou say and your actions to others,” Rous seau told CBS 4? s Carey Codd. The s how focuses on two main characters whose st ories o f b eing “ different” d efine the production. In t he p erformance, st udents h ung wo rds like “Outcast” and “Stupid” on the characters, allowing the audience to see the damage to their lives through hurtful words and actions. Richard Lyseca said the most powerful part of the show is that it’s real.
During the performance, the actors asked their audience if they knew the “weight of their words.” One student, A lexandra Pola, believes the show will make other students think twice before bullying someone. “It does show the viewpoi nt of the students and that’s why it will be ef fective because we can directly relate to it,” she said.
February 4, 2011
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CBS4 Newspaper February 4, 2011 Edition
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Horoscopes provided by www.starlightastrology.com
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
Taurus (Apr. 21-May 21)
Gemini (May 22-June 21)
1 2 3 9 6 5 4 7 8
5 8 7 4 1 2 3 9 6
N
4 9 6 7 8 3 1 2 5
8 4 1 2 3 9 5 6 7
L O C A L .
2 3 9 5 7 6 8 4 1
Leo (July 23-Aug. 23)
Aquarius (Jan. 21-Feb. 18) Listen to the advice given by those with experience. Catch up on overdue phone calls and correspondence. Abstain from getting involved with married individuals. New relationships will surface through work relate events. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.
9 1 2 3 5 7 6 8 4
3 5 8 6 2 4 7 1 9
7 6 4 8 9 1 2 5 3
Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 22)
Sagitarius (Nov. 23-Dec. 21)
Do a little extra work Do not get into uncertain at home. Female financial deals. Joint colleagues may be ventures might prove able to help you get to be unfavorable. You the job done. You may will have excellent find travel to be most ideas and you should be rewarding. Try to bend able to help your partner but by no means get ahead. Be prepared to should you give in make compensations and adjustments. Your completely. Your luckiest luckiest events this month will occur on a events this month will occur on a Monday. Saturday.
SUDOKU
2 7
INSTRUCTIONS: Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.
8 1 8 1 9 9 5 7 3 6
3
1
1 4 3 7 6 2 1 2 8 1 4 8 7
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E W S P A P E R
R E A L .
6 7 5 1 4 8 9 3 2
Cancer (June 22-July 22)
You can make money if You may find that Disharmony in your you are careful not to depression is causing relationship may let it trickle through you to feel lonely and cause minor your fingers. Keep an insecure. You will do ailments. Talk to your eye on your weight. extremely well if you get mate about a Don’t let your mate stop involved in competitive vacation and discuss you from attending an activities this month. the expectations of event that could be most Expect to pay more than your relationship. important. You can pick anticipated for entertainment or Misunderstandings could cause confusion and up valuable information if you listen to those other purchases. Put your efforts into being upset. You will be misinterpreted if you get creative. Your luckiest events this month will involved in other people’s problems. Your luckiest with more experience. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday. occur on a Tuesday. events this month will occur on a Thursday.
Virgo (Aug. 24-Sept. 22) You can dazzle members of the opposite sex with your quick wit and aggressive charm. Empty promises and a lack of cash may put a damper on your plans. Look out for yourself this month. It may be a disappointing day emotionally. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Monday.
Aries (Mar. 21-Apr. 20)
Sudoku provided by www.puzzles.about.com
You have been going through a period of change that has caused problems for you with your loved ones. Camping, swimming, and biking expeditions should all be considered. Abrupt changes concerning your professional position are evident. Recognition will be yours if you meet your deadline. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Monday.
Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar. 20)
Use discrimination and Don’t let your health suffer Don’t give up what you play hard to get. You may because of abuse. If you have until you can be want to take a look at can’t get away, make certain just what it is courses offered at a plans to do something you’re getting. Be honest local institute. Listen and special with friends or with yourself before formulate your course of relatives. You must try getting involved with action. You will be to include your mate in someone who is likely to indecisive. Your emotions your activities this lead you on. Set aside any may be hard to control if your month. Don’t turn down an decisions regarding your mate is forcing you to undergo drastic alterations invitation or a challenge that could enhance your personal life this month. Make sure that you get in your relationship. Your luckiest events this chances of meeting someone special. Your luckiest legal matters checked out thoroughly. Your month will occur on a Wednesday. events this month will occur on a Thursday. luckiest events this month will occur on a Tuesday.
January 21st Solution
Attempt to face key issues with lovers or problems could escalate. Be careful that you don’t spend too much time with a person belonging to someone else. Help elders get their personal papers in order. You will profit from home improvement projects and real estate deals. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23)
N E W S .