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Obama Seeks To Show Commitment To Jobs

The Labor Dept today reported the economy lost 85,000 payroll jobs in December. The national jobless rate remains unchanged and still in double digits at 10 percent.

In the president’s view, his administration has succeeded in ending the hemorrhaging of 700,000 jobs per month, which was the job loss number when he took office nearly a year ago.

He credits his stimulus policies, including the $787billion Recovery Act. Today, he’s announcing new funding from the program to support tens of thousands of clean energy jobs and promote the manufacture of advanced clean energy technologies including solar and wind.

“Even though we’ve stopped the rapid job losses that

Hollywood PD Intends To Fire Cops Over DUI Report 3 Officers And 2 Employees Are Expected To Be Fired

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ Poll: 3 In 4 Support Airport Body Scans

WASHINGTON (CBS News) — With polls telling the White House that the economy and unemployment are the leading concerns of the American people, President Obama wants to be seen pivoting to those issues.

By no means is he abandoning other items on his domestic agenda, especially not efforts to restructure health care in America, but he will be going to greater lengths to address economic concerns in this midterm election year.

January 15, 2010

CBS News Poll Also Finds Majority Support For President Obama’s Handling Of Christmas Day Bomb Plot.

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ Who Will Be 75 in 2010?

There Will Be Birthday Celebrations for Woody Allen, Richard Chamberlain, Donald Sutherland and Judd Hirsch

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ Cell Phones May Ward Off Alzheimer’s we were seeing just a few months ago, more than seven million Americans have lost their jobs in the two years since this recession began,” said the president in a speech last month.

“Unemployment still stands at 10 percent. So we’re not finished with our task - far from it. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “And I promise you, in the White House we’re hard at work every single day, until every single person who wants a job can find a job.”

And Mr. Obama will be seen staging several more economic events next week. And later in the month, he is to visit Lorain County, Ohio as part of his “White House to Main Street” tour to spotlight efforts to promote job creation.

The White House also embraces congressional calls for another round of stimulus spending – perhaps as much continued on page 19

The electromagnetic waves that many of us have tried to avoid may actually protect us from Alzheimer’s disease, reports CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago.

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ Freddie Mac Eases Condo Loan Restrictions Our troubled housing market may finally begin to show a little positive movement in the coming months.

˚˚˚˚˚˚˚ More Miami Super Bowls Call For Super renovations The Miami Dolphins and the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee would like to see Dolphin Stadium get a facelift.

Next Edition: FEBRUARY 6, 2010

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January 15, 2010

5

I-Team: The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten Part II “They poisoned me. I want the answer. I want the truth,” those words told to Gillen by Mike Partain. He too was born at Camp Lejeune. He says his pregnant mother drank the tainted water. He just discovered he has breast cancer and needs a mastecomy. Partain has since located more than 53 other men who lived or served on the base and are now suffering from breast cancer, and other rare cancers, disease and birth defects.

Reporting Michele Gillen CAMP LEJUNE, N.C. (CBS4) —With a slight tremble, Jody MacPherson held up her ring finger, “I am not wearing a wedding ring. The month before he died we pawned it. That’s it.

That’s all I had left of him.”

MacPherson was married to Marine Corporal Ian Colin MacPherson for 22 years. The proud son of a Marine, he was born at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, just steps from where the government now admits a toxic plume of chemicals contaminated base drinking wells.

Wells that supplied the very water his mother drank while she was pregnant, water he played in as a child.

“When he would sweat his forehead would get blisters. When he would shower off he said it felt like it was acid in the shower,” his widow told Chief I-Team Investigator Michele Gillen as she recalled her beloved husband. She explained he was plagued throughout his life by mysterious rashes, lumps, and tumors. At 39 years old, prostate and other rare cancers had invaded his body and killed him.

“The doctor pointed to the tip of his toe to the top of his head, every single organ in his body, every lymph node, every muscle, every bone, in his blood, everywhere. He said he had never seen anything that aggressive,” she said.

When he died, neither the Corporal nor his widow had been informed by the military what documents show the I-Team has been known for a very long time - that tap water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated during the time he and his family and hundreds of thousands of others, lived there.

“I’m extremely angry. I feel like they killed him,” contended MacPherson. “They knew he was drinking this water. They knew all along that he was drinking this water.”

Mrs. MacPherson is not alone in what she calls a search for truth.

“When we find these people most of the people never knew. They are like me. The Government and the Marine Corps knew I had been exposed. They did not tell me,” says Partain, “I had no idea about this.”

But one man did know. His name is Michael Hargett. “The moms there were pregnant and drinking the water, they were drinking contaminated water?” Gillen asked Hargett, meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“They were exposed to these industrial solvents. They were exposed to a contaminate, a man made contaminate, that was present in their water. The effects of that were understood at that time.”

Micheal Hargett was the co-owner of Granger Lab, which was hired by the Marine Corps in 1982 to test the water on the base. In his first television interview, he talks about the environmental nightmare he and his chemists discovered in the drinking water at Camp LeJeune.

“This was contaminated with dry cleaning solvent a lot of dry cleaning solvent,” Hargett explained to Gillen.

“To have a man made chemical present, this was obviously a tremendous red flag to say there is a looming problem that must be addressed,” said the man who was so worried about the findings, that he wrote and called the base and went in person.

“I made three trips down to Camp Lejeune to discuss this with the base chemist and other base personal. It was that important. That we wanted to say you have a problem you need to address it. I was frustrated because we went to a meeting with the Lt. Colonel and had less than five minutes on this vital subject. We were blown off,” Hargett tells Gillen. She asked about his intention once evidence of contamination was discovered.

“Did you feel that that the tap water wells should have been shut down?” asked Gillen.

“That was a specific recommendation that we provided the base chemist. When we went to the wells. We pointed out the wells with the

highest contamination. We suggested they avoid using those wells. Shut those wells down,” Hargett insists.

Documents show that didn’t happen. The highly contaminated wells stayed open for three more years, until they were shut down in 1985.

“There was no foot dragging by the Marine Corps once we knew,” that according to Marine General Eugene Payne, who is now in charge of installations across the country and joined Gillen for an interview via satellite from Washington, D.C. “The wells were closed within 30 days of finding the source of contamination,” he claimed.

But General Payne was talking about an originating source of contamination which included the dry cleaners across from the base.

While that reportedly took years to confirm, Hargett doesn’t understand why the tap water wasn’t immediately shut off once it was confirmed the water was contaminated.

What were families drinking during the time?

Hargett says water tainted with a chemical solvent named trichlorethelyne, TCE. “That was an abomination,” according to Hargett.

“I think what we have seen is a lot of deny and delay,” North Carolina Senator Richard Burr tells Gillen. Burr said there is a crying need for answers and attention to what really went wrong at Camp Lejeune. Gillen reviewed with him Marine Corps records documenting concerns over red flags raised in the early 1980s.

“It is recommended that the information be “de-emphasized throughout this report.” It looks like red flags were raised and then?”

Gillen asks.

“Not just ignored but manipulated and I think that is the concern,” says Burr.

A recent report written by The National Research Council, which the Marine Corps calls an independent panel of scientists, although they have been contracted to consult for the Marine Corps, claims there is no proven link between the contaminated water of Camp Lejeune and illnesses.

But Hargett says it was known long ago that health risks were linked to the type of contaminants found in the tap water. In fact, Hargett says the Marine base chemist admitted

it.

“She actually writes up trichlorethelyne at high levels, has been reported to produce liver and kidney damage and central nervous system disturbances in humans. That was is in 1982 and yet the military position today is that there is not even a potential link,” says Gillen.

“Obviously, there is a smoking gun here.

Someone knew, someone communicated it with an official memo within the base. But someone chose to ignore it. Or did not understand how significant it was,” Hargett tells Gillen who asked about his reaction to reports of the health status of babies born at Camp Lejeune. Men with breast cancer, others fighting neurological disease and rare cancers; what impact did this have on him when he learned of his?

“Oh, I had a pang of guilt, because I knew I had not been as diligent as I needed to be to bring this attention to the right authorities. Or someone had dropped the ball. My heart went out to those people because they had been injured by a problem that we had recognized early,” Hargett shared with tears welling up in his eyes. Does the reality of what some families who once lived at the camp make him emotional?”

“Oh, it absolutely does. There are some people who are responsible for either not being diligent or not being appropriately informed to make the right decisions and the right operation changes.”

For Jodi MacPherson it’s simple. “I feel like they are spitting in our face.” MacPherson got a call from the military two years after her husband died inquiring about his birth at Camp Lejeune and his health. A year later she got a letter alerting them there may have been a problem with the water.

“Our inability to communicate to all of these families has been a pitiful example of what the power of the federal government is, “says Senator Burr.

It’s the future that Hargett says the nation now needs to be focused on, determined he says that something has to come from this chapter of suffering.

“At least a lesson and certainly some accountability,” Hargett insists.” Right now I am not sure we have either.” (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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January 15, 2010

7

I-Team: School Board Member Being Investigated And not just any registered Republican - Republicans who had voted in four of the last four elections -- what political consultants call Super Voters.

Candidates can spend thousands of dollars hiring consultants to create such lists. But here that valuable information was gathered and paid for with public money.

Reporting Jim DeFede MIAMI (CBS4) — In June, Miami Dade School Board member Renier Diaz de la Portilla sent a three page newsletter touting his accomplishments to voters. The mailing also included a survey that would allow Diaz de la Portilla to gather information from those filling out the survey, including their email address and the issues they felt were most important to them.

Cost to taxpayers: $23,400.

“It’s a very common place practice for elected officials to do newsletters. I have no idea why this has become controversial,” Diaz de la Portilla said during a recent interview.

The controversy is over who received the newsletter.

Renier admits that the vast majority upwards of 90 percent of the mailing went to households in state Senate District 36 - even though most of it sits outside of his actual school board district.

Senate District 36 is, however, the district where Renier’s brother Miguel Diaz de la Portilla - is running for a senate seat.

“My job as a school board member is to reach out to the entire community and district 36 is part of that community,” he said.

But the mailing did not reach out to the entire community. It specifically targeted registered Republicans in that senate district.

Diaz de la Portilla admits that “ultimately” the mailer could benefit his brother’s political campaign, but he added “that is not the primary purpose of the mailer, that’s a byproduct, a secondary effect.”

The Miami Dade Inspector General’s Office and the Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office are now investigating the newsletter and whether Diaz de la Portilla deliberately circumvented school district policies to get it done.

The mailer was put together by Public Concepts - a political consulting firm based in West Palm Beach. Public Concepts helped design the newsletter and developed the mailing list.

Diaz de la Portilla said he had no idea how much they were paid, even though he is the one who brought them into the project. He said they were paid by the printer.

An obvious question is: Will Public Concepts be working on Miguel Diaz de la Portilla’s senate race and was this a way to give them an early advance on that race?

Miguel Diaz de la Portilla told CBS4 News that he was not planning on using Public Concepts. He also said he knew nothing about the mailer before it went out and said the investigation into his brother is being orchestrated by one of Miguel Diaz de la Portilla’s political opponents in the upcoming state senate race.

Renier also stressed that his brother had nothing to do with the newsletter and that this investigation was prompted from a complaint by state Rep. Julio Robaina, who is running for the state senate in District 36.

The one area where Renier did contradict his brother is when it came to Public Concepts. Renier Diaz de la Portilla suggested they may be involved behind the scenes.

“I’m not sure if they are consulting, actively consulting in my brother’s race,” he said. “Do they give advice from time to time? Yes. Do we have a relationship with them? Yes. We have a relationship with a lot of folks.”

Nevertheless, Renier’s school board staff appears to have gone to great lengths to hide Public Concepts involvement.

If school board members want to spend more than $6,000 on a project, they have to gather bids from various vendors or have the request reviewed by a committee of administrators.

And since the total cost of this newsletter was $23,400 it should have gone through that screening process.

But invoices obtained by CBS4 News show that Diaz de la Portilla’s staff made it seem as if it was not one job but four different jobs. Each invoice is dated a week apart. And each for just under the $6,000.

CBS4 News obtained a copy of an email from a member of Diaz de la Portilla’s staff - Viviana Jordan written to Anthony Pedicini at Public Concepts.

“Just spoke to [Diaz de la Portilla staffer] Mary about the invoices,” Jordan wrote. “She says she needs to have the invoices dated at least a week apart from each other so that we can justify it to purchasing department.”

When CBS4 News showed the email to Diaz de la Portilla he said he knew nothing about the email until we requested it.

“I was not aware of that email until I turned it over to you,” he said. “I had never seen that email prior to that.

Like I said I was not involved in the procurement process.”

In June the Inspector General’s Office launched their own investigation,

sending a letter to school superintendent Alberto Carvalho instructs him not to pay the invoices for the newsletter.

The entire matter is now under criminal investigation. In recent weeks, the Inspector General has requested hundreds of documents, cell phone records and other material from Diaz de la Portilla. Diaz de la Portilla said he has been cooperating fully and he has hired two criminal defense attorneys -- Michael Band and Richard Sharpstein -- to deal with whatever questions the IG may have.

“Nothing improper was done,” Diaz de la Portilla said. “I’m very confident that once the Inspector General finishes his inquiry he will see that and he will come to that conclusion. This is a tempest in a tea cup.”

After the story aired Renier Diaz de la Portilla issued the following statement: “Jim Defede’s story is a baseless political hatchet job. My office followed School District procedures and, in this case, took the extraordinary step of seeking a legal opinion from the School Board Attorney, Luis Garcia, before mailing the education survey. In a democracy, elected officials seek input from those they represent. The surveys are commonplace among elected officials at all levels of government. I made myself available to CBS4 and provided them with all the facts. It is sad when CBS4 allows itself to be used by a demagogue like State Rep. Julio Robaina. I will continue in my efforts serve the public in the manner for which I have always been known, with integrity and honesty. I will take appropriate legal action against all those who libel and slander me.” (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

9

I-Team: Golden Beach Town Manager Arrested For DUI Juan Sanchez, told CBS4 News that Diaz repeatedly told the investigating officer that he was the manager of Golden Beach. The police report quotes Diaz as saying, “You don’t know who I am? I’m the city manager, Bitch!”

Reporting Gary Nelson GOLDEN BEACH, Fla. (CBS4) — Golden Beach town manager Alexander Diaz had a blue Christmas.

Miami Beach charged the 31-year-old early Christmas morning with DUI when they say he attempted to drive away, drunk, after the car he was riding in was pulled over on Alton Road. Diaz was a passenger in the car that had been stopped for suspicion of DUI.

Sanchez said Diaz “attempted to enter the driver’s side of the vehicle, repeatedly, and was ignoring the officer’s commands not to enter the vehicle.” According to the police report, Diaz asked the officer, “What’s your f---ing problem?”

Police say Diaz got behind the wheel of the car, keys in hand, and was apparently about to drive away.

As an officer administered a road-side sobriety test to the car’s driver, police say Diaz came out of the passenger side of the car, cursing and smelling of booze. The arrest report says Diaz had “slurred speech, a staggered gait, bloodshot eyes…and extreme odor of alcohol.”

“Nobody who is impaired is going to be allowed to drive a vehicle, and the officer is not going to let a parked vehicle take off with someone who is impaired at the wheel,” Sanchez said.

Diaz was arrested and charged with DUI, Sanchez said, because he was in the driver’s seat of the car, had possession of the keys and was “in control” of the vehicle. The arrest report says Diaz blew readings of .179 and .177 on a breathalyzer test.

That is more than double the legal limit of .08 alcohol level.

Miami Beach police spokesman, Det.

Janet Mondshein, executive director

of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, told CBS4 News she found it outrageous that Diaz allegedly tried to play on his public office in dealing the police officer.

“He’s really lucky that someone stopped him, because he could have killed somebody,” Mondshein said.

“The police need to get drunk drivers off the road. We don’t care if they’re political figures or ditch diggers, we want them off the road.”

Miami Beach’s Detective Sanchez said Diaz wasted his breath trying to play the power card with the police officer. “What you do for a living doesn’t count as to whether you’re going to be arrested,” Sanchez said.

“If you meet the standards for a DUI, you will be arrested.”

Diaz did not respond to CBS4’s request to comment for this story, nor did Golden Beach Mayor Glenn Singer. Members of the Golden Beach town council also did not reply to messages from CBS4 News.

The arrest of Golden Beach’s town manager comes on the heels of a CBS4 News investigation last month that revealed police Lieutenant Robert Barrio has been allowed to

continue working, despite felony domestic violence charges pending against him.

Barrio is accused of kidnapping, false imprisonment and battery in an attack on his wife last year in Alachua County. Diaz and Golden Beach police chief Jim Skinner came under criticism from some town residents, and from experts on domestic violence, for not suspending the cop. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

11

I-Team: Secrets In The Soil-Residents Get Bad News

Reporting Michele Gillen Residents Get Report Of Contaminants In The Soil News Comes In Light Of Gale Martin’s Death FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) — In light of the death of neighborhood crusader Gale Martin, neighbors are mourning her death with renewed concern over a report of contaminants found in their area.

“You are strong, you are sick, but you are strong,” whispered Mickey Hinton as he and his wife hugged the childhood friend of their daughter Gale Martin, who just lost her fight against cancer. Her friend, Brenda Hankerson, who is battling brain tumors, visited the Hinton home today to express her condolences.

“I have an angel now, my angel is

Gale,”said a tearful Hankerson.

children getting sick.

The scene unfolded hour after hour, while untold hearts are broken in Fort Lauderdale as news spread that 51year-old Martin--a woman who used her voice and illness to bring attention to the soil contamination of her childhood neighborhood--died Monday morning.

“My thoughts today are still on my daughter,the vision of her lying there, taking her last breath,” said Hinton.

“I will always love her and never forget her. Man may be responsible for what happened to her, but God took her.”

Reaction was emotional, from her childhood friends to City Hall.

“It’s a tragic death and tragic loss.

My heart goes out to the family,” said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler.

Martin’s death comes on the heels of a state released final report confirming contamination in residential areas in the Durrs community, and calls for more evaluation and action.

“We are not going to put it in a desk and have it disappear at city hall,” Seiler told CBS4 Chief Investigative Reporter Michele Gillen.

If Martin was the face of this environmental fight, she waged the battle on the shoulders of one man: her father. For years he suspected something was wrong with the soil of this neighborhood--and who long worried about neighbors and their

In these last months she kept repeating her wishes to her mother.

“I want you to keep fighting for the cause, don’t give up, do that for me,” Joan Hinton expressed to Gillen.

“With this contamination in my community, I will never leave, I will die here fighting for this neighborhood for my daughter, those are her wishes.”

“I was devastated, my heart hurt,” said Lousie Caro, who recalled learning of the news of Martin’s death.

Even though it was considered inevitable, according to the doctors, Martin lived many more months as she battled to live and get a message across to help others.

“Everybody is mad, it is like a renewed sense of outrage,” said Caro, an environmental lawyer suing the city in behalf of residents for

negligence and a health monitoring study.

“She is one example,as Gale would say. If you went house to house, in certain areas, you would find, death by cancer in almost every single home. Asked if she had a message for Gale what would it be?

“We are not going to forget. We are going to continue to fight and this would not have been in vain,” says Caro.” I am sure she is watching.” (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

13

I-Team: Jackson Board Member “Suggests” His Firm auditors.

Arrizurierta’s involvement with Jackson’s powerful governing board – the Public Health Trust – and his willingness to use that position to benefit his private business interests, offers a glimpse into how business is sometimes conducted within the public hospital.

Reporting Jim DeFede MIAMI (CBS4) — Jorge Arrizurierta serves on the governing boards of Jackson Memorial Hospital and Jackson International, the hospital’s foreign marketing arm.

“I think the work that Foundation Health Services has done speaks for itself,” said Arrizurierta, referring to Jackson International by its formal name. “I think its mission to help the hospital bring in international paying patients has been well done.”

Not everyone would agree with that assessment. As CBS4 News previously reported, the former vice president for business development and marketing at Jackson International, Nancy Valenzuela, claims the program to recruit foreign patients is poorly managed.

“We were very much influenced in picking certain vendors because they had relationships with certain board members,” she said.

Valenzuela said she was fired in October for trying to bring her concerns about Jackson International to light. She has filed a whistleblower lawsuit.

Because of Valenzuela’s claims, the Inspector General’s office notified Jackson International last week that they would be sending in a team of

In addition to serving on Jackson’s governing board, Arrizurierta works for a communications and PR firm called Newlink, which lists Arrizurierta on its website as a senior advisor.

For the past few months, Arrizurierta has been recommending that Jackson Memorial Hospital and Jackson International hire his firm.

“He just made a suggestion,” said Rolando Rodriguez, the president and CEO of Jackson Memorial Foundation, which oversees Jackson International. “He told me he had a relationship, a business relationship so he wanted to make sure not to be any further – not to be involved. He just was suggesting it.”

But in addition to suggesting it, Arrizurierta set up a meeting in which Newlink officials could make a full presentation to Rodriguez and Valenzuela. Arrizurierta personally attended the three hour meeting.

Rodriguez said he saw nothing wrong or unusual with Arrizurierta sitting in on the meeting. “It certainly wouldn’t influence me any, it certainly wouldn’t influence my employees,” he claimed.

Rodriguez said no decision has been made about whether to hire Newlink.

CBS4 News has learned this wasn’t the only meeting Arrizurierta set up to help Newlink. In October, he also introduced the firm to the president of Jackson Memorial Hospital, hoping the hospital would hire Newlink as well.

Arrizurierta said if either Jackson or Jackson International decides to hire Newlink, he would recuse himself from any board vote to approve the contract.

Arrizurierta’s role in advocating for a company he works for isn’t the only management issue now raising concerns.

Arrizurierta and the other board members and they said it was okay.

Jackson International officials maintain they award contracts only based on the qualifications of the company and not on their relationship to board members and executives.

The process by which Jackson International awards contracts is expected to be one of the areas the Inspector General will examine in the weeks to come. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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I-Team: Broward Man Allegedly Ran ID Theft Scheme “Sears is actually gonna be out the money because they broke some type of protocol when it came to the credit cards,” Detective Joo explained. “So Sears will ultimately pay back the credit card companies who will pay back the victims in this case.”

Reporting Carey Codd

CBS4 News tried to contact Sears for comment but could not reach them.

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4 ITEAM) — Broward Sheriff’s Officials say Aaron Porter, 27, used the identities of at least ten people to shop at automotive businesses throughout Broward County.

One point that remains a mystery to Harris is how his credit card information wound up in someone else’s hands. Harris says his credit card has always been in his possession.

In one case, BSO claims Porter opened a business account with a Sears Auto Center in Plantation and purchased more than $65-thousand dollars worth of tires in a four week span.

Detective Joo is working to unravel that and find at least 5 other victims that he believes remain unidentified.

“Obviously if he’s getting the tires for free it’s easy to sell the tires at a discount rate-- especially brand new ones,” Detective Michael Joo told CBS 4’s Carey Codd. “So there’s a chance he was just selling the tires for cash out on on the streets.”

According to BSO, one of the people whose identity was used is 90-yearold Harold Harris. Authorities believe Porter charged about $19,000 worth of tires on Harris’ credit card.

“He has my whole identity,” Harris told CBS4. “He knows everything about me.”

According to BSO, Sears filled orders for Porter by taking the credit card information over the phone without ever seeing a credit card.

Porter denied the allegations. He told CBS4 News he believes he will be exonerated. Porter said he was simply a delivery man for a company and did not have any knowledge of how the tires were purchased.

However, according to a BSO report, when a detective arrested Porter on November 16, Porter claimed to be someone else. After the November arrest on grand theft and unlawful use of a credit card charges, Porter bonded out of jail.

Four weeks later, on December 21, Porter was arrested again by Davie Police. Davie Police accused Porter of trying to purchase more than $3,400 worth of tires using someone else’s credit card information at Martino Tire.

In addition to Sears, BSO charged Porter with similar crimes at tire store Rent N’Go in Tamarac and car dealership BH Cars in North Lauderdale.

After the arrest, Porter bonded out of jail again.

Jim Taylor is Vice President of Rent N’Go. He told CBS 4 News that the company had to reimburse American Express $1,850.

“I think it’s disgusting how he got out time after time,” Harris said.

“When the police had him in jail, it’s like a revolving door. He keeps on getting out.”

“It’s one of those things in business.

You expect to incur some loss somewhere but that’s like handing it to somebody,” he said.

Detective Joo said Ft. Lauderdale Police are investigating to see if Porter used stolen credit card information to stay in hotels in the area.

“It looks like he was staying from hotel to hotel, using people’s identity to get a free room,” he said.

Harold Harris cannot understand how that can happen.

Detective Joo agreed.

“Hopefully at a certain point the justice system would say enough is enough and not grant this person bond anymore and just keep him in until trial,” he said. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

17

First Decade Of 2000 Brings Economic Stagnation Just to put in perspective how bad the job market collapse of the 2000’s was, the Post reported that no decade dating back to the 1940’s had job growth of less than 20 percent. In addition, economic output rose at its slowest rate of any decade since the 1930’s.

Reporting Tim Kephart MIAMI (CBS4) —As the nation turns the page on another year, the 2000’s will be remembered for everything from terrorist attacks to Twitter. But the decade will also be remembered for being one of the worst economic decades in modern American history.

According to the Washington Post, there was zero net job creation between December 1999 and December 2009, and that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the economic collapse of the 2000’s.

When it came to household income, middle-income households made less in 2008 than they did in 1999, even when adjusted for inflation, according to the Post. Adding to the misery was the fact that the first decade of 2000were the first decade of falling median income since the 1960’s, when the data began to be analyzed.

And as any American who has taken a look at their home value or 401k can attest, the net worth of American households declined for the first time since data on net worth began to be collected in the 1950’s, the Post reported.

Economists said the long-term economic stagnation was partly due to a distortion of economic activity based upon trillions of dollars being poured into housing investment and consumer spending, despite large debt being built up. The unsustainable debt combined with funneling capital into so-called McMansions rather than toward business investment that might generate economic output all contributed to the current state of the economy.

around 10.2 percent, and another massive foreclosure wave set to hit the country, economists still see reason to hope in the upcoming year.

The stock market has jumped over 60 percent from a low in March of 2009.

And as businesses begin to enjoy more profits, there is hope the extra money will be used to hire more employees which in turn would put more spendable income into the pockets of the consumers that drive the economy.

Americans began to believe they could buy anything and everything beyond their fiscal means and continue to make minimum payments indefinitely. Businesses and financial firms did as well, which as the Post succinctly said, “relying heavily on borrowed money makes the good times better, but the bad times far worse.

All of it will make the second decade of the 2000’s one that will likely be driven by economic recovery both on the macro and micro economic level. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Still, even with unemployment sitting

4 Your Money: Cutting Down On Bill Costs MIAMI (CBS4) — Saving money in the New Year is something many people have resolved to do. So here are some tips to help you save money by cutting down on your bills.

Your cell phone is a big expense. The cost of an average plan is $65 a month and chances are you’re overpaying.

According to Consumer Reports, about two thirds of people have more minutes than they actually use.

Switching to a more cost-effective plan could save you $300 a year.

Billshrink.com and Myvalidas.com are two Web sites that analyze your bill for errors, help you recover money from overcharges and

compare your current plan with other plans that may help save you money depending on your usage.

Another huge drain on your wallet may be car insurance. The average premium is about $1800 a year. But there are ways you can whittle down that bill.

If you drive less than 10,000 miles a year, you may be eligible for a low mileage discount. If you have a student driver who makes good grades, you may be able to get a good student discount. Raising your deductible could save you $200-$400 a year. And if you shop around for insurance before your current policy runs out, you could save up to $250 a year.

What about entertainment? You can still have fun for less. If you have old CDs, DVDs or books you don’t want anymore, trade them for new stuff online. Check out swapadvd.com and paperbackswap.com. You can also find cheaper tickets to a concert or

sporting event at zebratickets.com. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Strapped For Cash? Get Your Tax Refund Sooner Reporting Jorge Estevez MIAMI (CBS4) — Now that the holidays are over and the New Year has started, it’s time to start thinking about your income taxes. Many cashstrapped folks, who burned up their bank accounts over the holidays, have been left wondering if it’s possible to get their tax returns back sooner than they did last year.

The answer is yes. You can be one of the tens of thousands of people who can file weeks ahead of everyone else thanks to a new offer by H&R Block and it’s free.

“In this economy, they will need it.

We do have help if they need it early.

We do have help for them,” said Linda Brinkley, who works with H& R Block.

If you are expecting a refund check from the government, a new on-line system from H&R Block can get you that refund sooner. It allows you to access your W-2 form on-line, instead of waiting for weeks to have your company mail it to you.

“I like to beat the crowd. As soon as I get my stuff, I like to get it over with,” said Maritza Jitta, a client with H&R Block.

It’s good news for Jitta, who this year, needs her refund as soon as possible.

“I just got laid off. I figure once I get everything done, I can go ahead and file it and catch up on a lot of things that I need to catch up on,” said Jitta to CBS4’s Jorge Estevez.

Previously, waiting for W-2 forms has delayed refund checks.

“That is one of the draw backs in the past because when our clients would come in early, we would have to say we cannot send your return to the IRA without your W-2,” explained Brinkley.

Before you try to file early, you need to see if your company is one of the tens of thousands who provides the W-2. It may or not be participating in this free offer. Check on WWW.H& RBlock.com/W2 to see if your company participates. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

19

Obama Seeks To Show Commitment To Jobs continued from page 1 as $150-billion - to create jobs and further steady the economy.

for the president to “put his full and undivided attention on fixing our economy.”

It’s clearly a political issue. In a statement this morning, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele sought to score points for the GOP saying it’s time

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Employers Cut More Jobs Than Expected In December MIAMI (CBS4) — The United States job market continued to hemorrhage jobs in December, but economists say the fact that fewer jobs were lost in December than in November could be proof that the job market may well have hit the bottom.

In December, companies in the United States cut roughly 84,000 jobs in December. That was the smallest amount of jobs lost since March of 2008. In November of 2009, employers fired 145,000 workers as the recession continued.

Locally, the jobless rate continues to rise across the state of Florida.

In Miami-Dade County, the unemployment rate rose from 6.2 percent in November of 2008 to 10.5 percent in November of 2009.

Broward County’s numbers weren’t much better as the unemployment rate jumped from 6.5 percent in November 2008 to 10.1 percent in November 2009.

All total, Miami-Dade and Broward Counties currently have over a quarter of a million workers that

are unemployed through November 2009.

Still, economists point to fact that employers announced the fewest job cuts since the recession began in December of 2007. Planned firings dropped 73 percent in December, according to Bloomberg News. However, the number of jobs lost since the current recession began in December of 2007 is the most since World War II. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Poll: Fewer Say They Have It Better Than Parents counterparts, and Democrats are more optimistic than Republicans: Nearly three in four Democrats are optimistic about America’s future, while a majority of Republicans are pessimistic.

(CBS News) More than half of Americans are optimistic about the future of the United States over the next few years, a new CBS News poll finds. But they are less optimistic about their own opportunities than they were ten years ago.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they are generally optimistic about the country’s future, while 38 percent were pessimistic about the nation’s prospects. That’s slightly less optimism than CBS News found in 1996, when 59 percent were optimistic about the country’s future and 31 percent were pessimistic.

Younger Americans are optimistic than their

more older

Americans are generally less optimistic about their own prospects than they were in 2007 or 2000.

Fewer than half (47 percent) say they have better opportunities than their parents’ generation, a decline of 15 percentage points from June 2007 and 25 percentage points from early 2000.

The poll was taken as part of CBS News’ “Where America Stands” series, an in-depth look at where the country stands today on key topics and an outlook for the future decade.

More than one in four says they have worse opportunities than their parents’ generation. In 2000, just five percent said as much.

Women are generally more optimistic than men: Fifty-three percent say they have better opportunities for success than their parents’ generation, while just 40

percent of men say so.

One in two Americans say they are somewhat satisfied with how things are going in their life. Twenty-two percent are completely satisfied, while 28 percent are either somewhat or completely dissatisfied.

Income levels appear to make a difference. While 30 percent of those who make more than $50,000 are completely satisfied, just 15 percent of those who make less than that amount say they are completely satisfied. And while nearly 40 percent of those who make less than $50,000 are dissatisfied, just 17 percent of those who make more than $50,000 say the same.

Americans polled for the survey were asked to volunteer an ambition or dream they want to accomplish over the next decade. The most volunteered response, offered by 16 percent of those surveyed, was to start a business of their own or make a career change.

Thirteen percent said they simply want to live a long and healthy life,

or simply go on living. Another twelve percent said they wanted to further their education, while seven percent wanted to work less or retire.

This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1048 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone December 17-22, 2009.

Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones.

The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Who Will Be 75 in 2010?

“Mr. Baseball” Bob Eucker (Jan. 26); golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez (Oct. 13); race-car driver A. J. Foyt (Jan. 16); three-time Cy Young winner Sandy Koufax (Dec. 30); Olympian Rafer Johnson (Aug. 18), and NFL Hall of Famer Don Maynard (Jan. 25).

There Will Be Birthday Celebrations for Woody Allen, Richard Chamberlain, Donald Sutherland and Judd Hirsch (CBS) Dead for more than three decades, singer Elvis Presley would have been 75 on Jan. 8, and a host of commemorations are planned. These include ceremonies and exhibits at his birthplace in Tupelo, his resting place in Graceland and even at the Smithsonian in Washington.

But who else is 75 this year?

For starters, “Annie Hall” director Woody Allen marks the milestone on Dec. 1 and “The Exorcist” director William Friedkin turns 75 on Aug. 29.

Actors who turn 75 in 2010 include: Donald Sutherland (July 17); Julie Andrews (Oct. 1); Diahann Carroll (July 17); Richard Chamberlain (March 31); Robert Conrad (March 1); Jim Dale (Aug. 15); Judd Hirsch (March 15); Lyle Waggoner (April 13), and Lee Merriwether (May 27), who also was Miss America in 1955.

Musicians who will celebrate 75 years in 2010 include: Grammy winner Herb Alpert (March 31); singer Steve Lawrence (July 18); “Great Balls of Fire” performer Jerry Lee Lewis (Sept. 29); jazz musician Ramsay Lewis (May 27), and singers Johnny Mathis (Sept.

17) and Bobby Vinton (April 16).

A number of athletes also will mark that birthday this year. They include:

Other notables who were born in 1935 include: televangelist Jimmy Swaggart (March 15); Pulitzer Prize-winning author E. Annie Proulx (Aug. 22); Clinton adviser Vernon Jordan (Aug. 15); journalist Pete Hamill (July 25); feminist Susan Brownmiller (Feb. 15); the Dalai Lama (July 6); talk show host Phil Donahue (Dec. 21); the Amazing Kreskin (Jan. 12), and the artist Christo (June 13), who is known for draping world monuments in fabric.

Like Elvis, some celebs never made it to this milestone. Among those who would have turned 75 this year are singers Lou Rawls (Dec. 1 ), who died in 2006; John Phillips (Aug. 30), who died in 2001; Sonny Bono (Feb. 16), who died in 1998 and tenor Luciano Pavarotti (Oct. 12), who died in 2007.

Also, actors Peter Boyle (Oct. 18) who died in 2006; Lee Remick (Dec. 14) who died in 1991; “Gilligan’s Island” star Bob Denver (Jan. 9), who died in 2005; “Laugh In” comic Henry Gibson (Sept. 21), who died in 2009; Oscar winner Dudley Moore (April 19) who died in 2002; and Jerry Orbach (Oct. 20), who played Det. Lenny Briscoe in “Law & Order” until he died in 2004.

Black Panther presidential candidate and “Soul on Ice” author Eldredge Cleaver, who died in 1998, would have been 75 on Aug. 31. © MMX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Miami Icon Emilio Estefan Launches Autobiography Reporting Lisa Petrillo MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) —Few authors get a red carpet premier to launch their first book.

But Emilio Estefan is no ordinary author. Estefan, who is often described as the ambassador of the Latin music world, has a remarkable resume, which is detailed in his new book “The Rhythm Of Success.” The book details how his immigrant origins didn’t deter his American dream.

“You’ve been witness to this, Lisa, for 20 years,” Estefan told CBS4’s Lisa Petrillo. “It’s been an amazing road and I really feel it’s the right time to write this book. I want help other immigrants and let others know they can find the American dream.”

Emilio Estefan celebrated his new endeavor with his wife of 32 years pop music star Gloria Estefan who beamed with pride.

find their dreams and he [has] always been such a positive person. That’s what he’s doing with this book,” Gloria said.

Emilio left Cuba at the age of 11 and never returned. His is the true rags to riches story. He remembers his first music gig in Miami playing an accordion at an Italian restaurant on Biscayne Boulevard.

“That’s one thing never forget. Even though I start from the bottom, I never [forget] where I came from and to have achieved this . I am always humbled and thankful to America, God Bless America,” Emilio said.

Emilio who made a name behind the scenes is now front and center. “The Rhythm Of Success” is out in stores now and Emilio will be on the talk show circuit next week. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Sex by Numbers In Warren Beatty Bio women, even though the 72-year-old “Shampoo” star did not lose his virginity until he was 20.

According to reports, Biskind says this figure “does not include daytime quickies, drive-bys, casual gropings, stolen kisses and so on.”

Author Claims Actor Warren Beatty Had Sex With More Than 12,000 Women (CBS) Warren Beatty’s long-time reputation as a womanizer has apparently gotten a boost with the publication of Peter Biskind’s biography, “Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America.”

According to published reports in the New York Post, Biskind estimates Beatty bedded 12,775

The star, who has been married to actress Annette Bening for almost 18 years, has been linked in the past to a host of women including Jane Fonda, Natalie Wood, Joan Collins and Madonna.

According to Biskind, an Oscar statuette was an aphrodisiac for the actor and explains his long list of Alist conquests.

In a statement to the Huffington Post, Beatty’s attorney, Bertram Fields, claims the book is an unauthorized biography.

“Mr. Biskind’s tedious and boring

book on Mr. Beatty was not authorized by Mr. Beatty and should not be published as an authorized biography,” Fields says. “It contains many false assertions and purportedly quotes Mr. Beatty as saying things he never said. Other media should not repeat things from the book on the assumption that they are true or that the book is an authorized biography.”

Children of a retired drama teacher, Beatty and his sister, actress Shirley MacLaine, grew up in suburban Virginia. He got his start opposite Natalie Wood in 1961’s “Splendor in the Grass” and gained prominence opposite Faye Dunaway in the 1967 hit “Bonnie and Clyde.”

Beatty has 14 Oscar nominations to his credit and is the only star to be twice nominated for four Academy Awards in the same year. The first was for “Heaven Van Wait” in 1978 and the second for “Reds” in 1981,

which netted him his only Oscar for best director.

Friends with borth former president John F. Kennedy and his borther, Robert F. Kennedy, Beatty has long been rumored to have political ambitions.

Beatty has been married to Bening since March 1992 and they have four children.

Biskind’s 640-page biography is to be published on Jan. 12 by Simon & Schuster, which has the same parent company as CBS. Biskind is the author of several other books about Hollywood. © MMX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Food Network Casualty Of Cablevision, Scripps War many Cablevision subscribers have been left searching for the channel itself, reports CBS station WCBSTV. “I’m kind of upset that they snatched it out like that without warning anybody,” Cablevision subscriber Diana Rogers said.

Millions Of Local Subscribers Lose Popular Channel and HGTV Over Ongoing Money Battle Between Media Giants NEW YORK (CBS) —A cable clash is leaving a bad taste in the mouth for many tri-state television viewers.

The very popular “Food Network” has been yanked from Cablevision systems in a dispute over money.

Food Network routinely searches for “diners, drive-ins and dives,” but

“I’m disappointed. I used to watch it almost every day. Both of them, both channels,” subscriber Juanita Nazario added.

Both Food Network and HGTV were yanked from Cablevision systems on New Year’s Day. As many as 3 million Cablevision subscribers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut now see a message instead of regular programming.

“Cablevision has taken a very hard line on this, much to our regret,” said Food Network president Brooke

Johnson.

have to come together.

Johnson said it’s a question of fairness. Her network and HGTV have increased in popularity, so their corporate parent, Scripps, is asking for an increase in subscriber fees.

“We don’t have the money, so, you know, they gotta come to a compromise,” Rogers said.

By one estimate, the increase will go from 8 cents a month to 25 cents for Food Network and from 13 cents a month to 41 cents for HGTV. Cablevision said it’s fighting to keep fees low for the sake of consumers.

But CBS 2 HD found one subscriber willing to pay more.

“As the ratings for networks like Food have come up and made them much more popular, I think Scripps is entitled to get what they’re asking for,” Cablevision subscriber Eric Bennett said.

Cablevision said it is keeping the channels available and urging Scripps to put Food Network and HGTV back on while the two companies negotiate.

Meanwhile, both Scripps and Cablevision have launched Web campaigns, trying to win consumers over to their point of view.

Some industry analysts said this dispute is likely to drag on for several weeks. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Cell Phones May Ward Off Alzheimer’s think during the day, how we eat and how we sleep,” said Dr. Dean Hartley, a neurological researcher at Rush University Medical Center.

We’re not implying lab mice spent hours yacking on a cell phone.

CHICAGO (CBS) — Here’s something that could have you insisting your family spend more time on the cell phone. The electromagnetic waves that many of us have tried to avoid may actually protect us from Alzheimer’s disease, reports CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago.

It may be tiny, but the dime-sized brain inside a mouse gives researchers the ability to better understand how our own minds work. It’s all connected to how the brain is biologically wired.

“Basically, it’s electric circuits, and there’s many areas that communicate with each other. And those are important for how we

Still researchers at the University of South Florida found when mice with Alzheimer’s were exposed to the electromagnetic waves from a cell phone for long periods, it actually protected against, and in some cases reversed Alzheimer’s disease.

Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center, who conduct similar studies, aren’t surprised by the impact of electromagnetic waves on a brain that isn’t functioning quite right because of Alzheimer’s.

“So the idea is that you can put a magnetic field to the head and actually get neurons to be stimulated,” said Dr. Hartley.

We have turned into a society connected to our cell phones. We’ve also been warned about potential

dangers.

Users like Marc Trice and Kim Dipofi, enjoying lunch along Taylor Street Wednesday, both worry about cell phone use as a possible cancer risk.

Researchers do point out, however, that in spite of those concerns, there is no significant study connecting short term cell phone use to cancer.

It’s a real brain teaser to those trying to process the Alzheimer’s information.

“Science today, I guess what we thought was not good years ago turns out to be good,” said Trice.

Dr. Hartley says this doesn’t mean that people should hold their cell phones up to their ears more often to make sure they are in better health.

“These are mice, and mice don’t reproduce all the same symptoms that you see in Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Hartley said.

In this study, exposing older mice

with Alzheimer’s to electromagnetic waves from cell phones erased deposits of a harmful protein associated with the disease.

In younger mice with Alzheimer’s, the protein build-up was prevented altogether.

Of course, this all needs additional study. And it’s another reason you should have a long conversation with your mom by phone. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Bacteria Found in Many Fountain Sodas and analyzed them for microbial contamination. They found many of the beverages from them were contaminated with bacteria.

Coliform/fecal bacterium was detected in 48 percent of them. The potentially deadly bacteria E. coli was found in 11 percent of the tested drinks.

Researchers Detect Fecal Bacteria in 48 Percent of Drinks Tested, E.Coli in 11 Percent

Dr. Alanna Levine, a primary care physician, said on “The Early Show,” contaminated fountain drinks could be a potential health threat to people who are weakened by illness.

Research from Hollins University, in Roanoke, Va., finds you very well could be, if your drink came from a cafeteria or restaurant soda fountain.

“We all have bacteria living in our bodies normally,” she said. “It becomes more of a problem for people with compromised immune systems -so people on chemotherapy, cancer, HIV, that sort of thing.”

Researchers tested 30 soda fountains

Levine said there is a range of

(CBS) Could you be guzzling down germs?

symptoms from none at all to gastrointestinal distress and other infections in the body.

However, she said she believes the main source of the contamination is likely the machine’s water lines.

Symptoms to look for: • Vomiting • Severe diarrhea • abdominal cramping.

She said, “Any time any water or liquid sits somewhere, it’s just a breeding ground for bacteria.”

Levine said if any of these symptoms are extreme, you should contact your doctor.

Contamination can occur from employees or customers failing to wash their hands properly and touch the machine, Levine said. Also, bacteria can enter your drink if the soda fountain machine and/or its water lines aren’t cleaned properly.

Levine said, “You can get collections of bacteria in the water line, and that then runs through the whole machine and gets into the beverage.”

To help avoid potential contamination, Levine said, employers should begin enforcing stricter hand washing guidelines and tighter regulations on soda fountain cleaning. As for what you can do to avoid bacteria, Levine said it might be a good idea to only drink canned or bottled sodas. © MMX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Group Helps “Emotional Eaters” Lose Weight of the non-profit organization Heal Your Hunger whose mission is to help people lose weight from the inside out.

Tricia Greaves, president of Heal Your Hunger, said she struggled with her weight most of her life. At age 21 she stopped dieting, lost 50 pounds and made it her mission to help others.

LOS ANGELES (CBS4) — In pictures Tsilah Burmas was always smiling, but on the inside she felt frustrated and tortured.

“I was always constantly dieting and gaining weight and losing weight.”

Burman said she would eat a lot of her food at night, often skipping meals during the day. Like so many other men and women, Burman developed a need to eat all the time.

But eight months ago Burman heard

“My problem wasn’t about food or fat it was about stuffing my emotions with food,” said Greaves.

She found that instead of focusing on what you eat, focus on your emotions and changing patterns.

“So they can have a healthy relationship with food, with their bodies, with their stress and then naturally lose weight,” said Greaves.

To stop emotional eating Greaves said start by eating three healthy

meals a day, without snacking in between. If you feel yourself reaching for the chips or other favorite snack food, Greaves said ask yourself why you’re doing it.

“Why am I hungry? Is there an appointment I’m nervous about,” said Greaves. “Sometimes emotional hunger can feel like physical hunger.”

Greaves said it’s important not to skip meals and absolutely no after dinner eating because this when most people overeat.

“For one, that’s when we’re alone and we can eat what we want and we use food to de-stress,” said Greaves.

Meditate for a few minutes before meals, especially dinner, so you’re not agitated and nervous from the day and overeat. Also cook as often as you can. She says restaurant food

can be loaded with calories and there’s an emotional benefit to preparing your own meals.

“It says ‘I’m worth taking a trip to the store’,” said Greaves.

While it’s important to make healthy choices about food, Greaves pointed out that you don’t have to be perfect.

She adds that adding a little exercise into your weekly habits will help the weight drop off.

Burman said she’s lost 60 in the past eight months by changing patterns and changing herself.

“Just as it had been a lifelong process to gain the weight, it will be a lifelong process to lose the weight and keep it off.” (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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I-Team: Medicare Policy May Put Some At Risk haywire and involves everyone who pays taxes.

“I’m so angry with our system,” Porter said.

Reporting Stephen Stock MIAMI (CBS4 I-TEAM) — The CBS4 I-Team has learned of a Medicare policy that was meant to save money but may, in fact, be costing taxpayers more while putting the health of some patients at risk.

I-Team Investigator Stephen Stock has the unusual story out of Philadelphia.

43-year-old Leonard Porter who lives outside Philadelphia has decided to spend extra time with his children these days, fearing that his days are numbered.

“It’s hard,” said Porter. “I cry every day.”

Why? Because Porter fears he won’t live much longer to see his family.

“So that’s what I’m going through now,” said Porter, “making a way to pay for my funeral.”

Chronic high blood pressure destroyed Porter’s kidneys.

But he got a transplant in 2003.

Porter’s brother donated one of his kidneys in a transplant that seemed to take. But Porter, like all transplant patients, had to stay on anti-rejection drugs forever.

And that’s where this story goes

Here’s how it works: For those patients who qualify, taxpayer supported Medicare pays for kidney transplants. It also pays for the cost of drugs, covered at 80%. But if someone has Medicare only because of kidney failure, their drug coverage ends after 36 months.

It was at that point in time, 36 months, which Leonard said his pharmacy told him he no longer qualified for Medicare.

He says there was no way he could pay $30,000 a year for the drugs that would keep his body from rejecting his new kidney.

“And I’m like ‘Wow! How am I going to pay for this medicine?’” said Porter at his predicament.

So, because he went off the antirejection drugs, Leonard Porter’s transplanted kidney failed and he’s now on dialysis.

Now, with a port in his chest, Leonard Porter is hooked up to a machine three times a week to keep him alive.

The dialysis, which is paid for by Medicare, costs more than double the price of the drugs.

“They’re willing to pay for my dialysis which is $71,000 a year,” said Porter, “but not willing to pay for the medicine which is half that price. I don’t understand that. I’m very angry.”

“It’s always frustrating,” said Dr. John Daller, an expert in transplant cases.

Dr. Daller is the head of Temple University’s Abdominal Transplant program where Leonard Porter received his new kidney. Dr. Daller says this specific Medicare policy that stops paying for anti-rejection drugs doesn’t make sense.

He says patients can be thrown into impossible situations.

“They’re forced to make choices of do I work? Do I put food on my family’s table? Do I pay for rent, or do I worry about getting my medications this month?” said Dr. Daller.

Democratic Pennsylvania Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, who is on the committee that oversees Medicare, is also concerned about the issue.

“I can’t justify it,” said Representative Schwartz. “You know sometimes these rules are made and then over time we learn that they were no right rules to make.”

Schwartz said Congress is now considering a revision in rules governing the anti-rejection drug coverage.

But she admits that right now, nobody knows when or if it will pass.

The sad irony is that Medicare says that Leonard Porter was still covered

by Medicare because he became eligible due to disability after the transplant.

When reporters started asking questions, Medicare said Porter was quote “unaware of what he was entitled to” and it did not know why he was told he no longer qualified.

For Leonard Porter, who now needs another transplant, the experience

has created a new mission.

“Making sure my children are all right if I don’t make it through tomorrow (is my main goal now),” said Leonard Parker.

Spokespersons for both Medicare and the pharmacy in Pennsylvania say they are looking into Leonard Porter’s case.

But until the rules regarding antirejection drugs change, Congressional representatives such as Representative Allyson Schwartz worry that more cases like Leonard Porters will cost Medicare and you more while needlessly endangering some patients’ lives. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Home Prices Climb For 5th Straight Month

Only 11 Of 20 Metro Areas Show Gains WASHINGTON (CBS4) — Nationally, home prices continued to rise for the fifth consecutive month. The Standard & Poor’s/ Case-Shiller home price index released on Tuesday showed home prices moved up by 0.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted reading of

145.36 in October. But, the news wasn’t so rosy in South Florida.

from its bottom in May, but still almost 30 percent below its peak in April 2006.

In Miami, home prices fell 0.4 percent from September to October. Perhaps more troubling for a housing recovery in South Florida is that home prices dropped 14 percent from October 2008.

Eleven of the 20 cities posted month-over-month gains with San Francisco and Detroit posting the largest increases. Dallas recorded a flat reading for the month, while Tampa and Chicago had the largest declines.

The gauge was down 7.3 percent from October 2008, the smallest year-over-year decline since October 2007. The median forecast of economists surveyed

by Bloomberg News anticipated a 7.2 percent drop.

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The index is now up 3.4 percent

Deerfield Beach City Leaders: Abandon Home, Pay Up says the city often has to pick up the cost of dealing with overgrown grass and polluted pools.

DEERFIELD BEACH (CBS4) — Abandon your house, expect a fine.

That’s the message the city of Deerfield Beach officials are hoping to drive home after city leaders passed a law that would allow them to levy special assessments against properties not up to code.

Commissioner Bill Ganz who advocates the strict enforcement

He says the distressed property also attracts loiterers.

“If there’s a lien on a foreclosed property the chance of getting the money back is slim,” Ganz said.

“By putting it as a special assessment we stand a better chance of getting it back. Eventually, we want to attach the assessment to tax bills so we are certain to get the money back.”

“Some of the kids started to trash the neighborhood. They started to vandalize,” Cabram told CBS4 News Reporter Joan Murray.

Eliseo Cabram who lives in the northwest area of the city has been dealing with an adjacent abandoned property.

“Someone has to take responsibility.

A lot of us are working people trying to do the right thing,” Cabram said.

Cabram says the owner walked out on it about two years ago and during that time he’s had to deal with bugs, rodents and a dirty pool.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Cabram says someone took a sledgehammer to the walls of another neighborhood home on the verge of foreclosure.

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35

FAST FACTS: Safety Tips For Home Heating monoxide (CO) fumes. Every year, exposure to dangerous levels of CO results in more than 100,000 medical visits and 300 home poisoning deaths in the U.S. The Broward Sheriff’s Office Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services provides the following tips to help you avoid tragedy this winter:

FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) — Too often, when the weather turns cool in South Florida preventable fires from heating systems end tragically.

Using stoves or portable heaters in a makeshift fashion frequently pose the greatest threat.

According to the Home Safety Council, each year in the United States 240,000 home fires occur as households use gas, wood, kerosene, coal or other fuels as their major heating source. Burning these fuels releases potentially fatal carbon

* Install a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide (CO) alarm on every level of your home and near sleeping areas and make sure to keep them in good working order. Carbon monoxide is a silent killer. * Never use a gas or charcoal barbecue grill inside your home or any enclosed area. * Avoid using a cooking stove to heat your home. * Turn off gas or electric space heaters before leaving a room or going to sleep.

* Establish a fire escape plan with at least two means of exit from every room.

Chimney maintenance: * Proper chimney maintenance reduces the buildup of creosote, a black tar substance that can block passageways or ignite. All chimneys should be thoroughly cleaned at least once a year. Remember, soot and creosote buildup in the chimney is what flue fires are made of.

problem.

Heating equipment: * Burns and fires associated with portable heaters, fireplaces and furnaces are a major concern. Any heating device must have care and maintenance to operate properly.

Portable heaters * Keep children away from space heaters. Keep heaters out of high traffic areas and away from pets.

* When you turn on the heat in your home for the first time, expect a slight burning smell from the accumulation of dust that burns off coils. This smell should dissipate within a few minutes. If it does not, or if you notice an increase, call 9-11, as there may be an electrical

* Keep plenty of clear space - at least 36 inches around and above for all heating devices. Both fireplaces and portable heaters should be constantly attended when in use. Never go to bed or leave home while either is in use. * Never use candles as a heat source.

* Don’t hide cords from portable heaters under rugs. Try not to use extension cords with space heaters.

Use only heavy-duty extension cords if necessary. (© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Freddie Mac Eases Condo Loan Restrictions

Reporting David Sutta MIAMI (CBS4) — Our troubled housing market may finally begin to show a little positive movement in the coming months. Some banks are once again ready to shell out cash, and it could help fill all of those empty condos in South Florida.

It was roughly a year ago when

banks began to blacklist Miami condos. The lists, including one we came across from Bank United, were done in secret because technically they are illegal.

Regardless essentially all of downtown Miami was blacklisted.

developments.

loans banks stopped lending money.

Essentially thousands of condos, once off limits, can now be financed. “It’s not the cure all but it’s a step in the right direction.”

Henry Villaronga of Total Bank said.

Villaronga say the loosening of restrictions “Represents a big relief that going to help in the declining of the market and housing in general.”

Realtor Dorota Baginska saw all of her deals turn to cash buyers picking up condos in bulk. Regular people looking for a bargain home were out of luck. Baginska of La Playa Properties told us “If they don’t have cash there is just no way for them to buy and it’s just frustrating.”

It’s a big deal for local banks, like Total Bank, who had refused to lend in many downtown condos and now doing an about face.

And sellers were frustrated as they were unable to find buyers. But, this week a major shift happened when Fannie Mae, the government sponsored enterprise, relaxed its rules on lending in 50 South Florida

“It’s actually assisted us in being able to offer more financing to home buyers who are interested in purchasing or refinancing.”

Villaronga said.

When banks write homeowners a mortgage, they typically sell it on the secondary market to entities like Fannie Mae, who assume the risk.

When Fannie Mae restricted those

This could very well be a bailout for our struggling condo market. “We have a group of people who are just waiting to buy something; and now we are able to tell them yes you can buy in the building that you really wanted and it’s just a big smile on their face... And for us too!” said Baginska. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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The Adtimes Newspaper - REAL ESTATE

January 15, 2010

37

New Law Requires Loan Modifiers To Have License to have an active license from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.

TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) — People who are looking to modify their loans might want to wait until a new law goes into effect on the stroke of midnight December 31st to get the most protection.

“These new laws will help consumers who are in need of loan modifications, and protect them from financial fraud during these difficult economic times,” said OFR Commissioner Tom Cardwell in a statement. “Our goal, along with the many other fine organizations who helped pass this legislation, is to ensure Floridians only pay for loan modification services that are a true benefit; not an unrealistic promise to solve their financial problems.”

That’s when the state will require any company or individual offering loan modification services

Cardwell also warns anyone not to pay for up-front fees for loan modifications.

Reporting Jasmine Kripalani

“If your broker asks for any money up front, simply turn and walk away,” Cardwell said.

Earlier this year, the state legislature modified the Florida Mortgage Brokerage and Lending Act. Gov. Charlie Crist signed it into law June 29, 2009 as an enhancement to the Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Act. Attorney General McCollum’s office filed 17 civil lawsuits on behalf of Florida homeowners.

with regards to loan modifications,” said Valerie J. Saunders, president of Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers (FAMB ) in a statement. “An individual’s home is their greatest asset and the implementation of appropriate loan modification guidelines in our state’s lending laws is a step in the right direction.” (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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“The Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers is pleased that the state of Florida has passed measures to ensure additional consumer protection specifically

Some Homeowners Banking On “Super” Plan

MIAMI (CBS4) —South Florida is less than one month away from Super Bowl XLIV and for most of us, seeing the game on television will be as close as we get to the stadium for the big game. With Main Street still struggling to find its way, the costs of trying to get to the big game have continued to

skyrocket. But some South Floridians are finding a way to capitalize on the game by leaving their homes.

out of the question. However, some South Floridians are still going to make money off of the game without ever attending any event. Some people are renting

the Miami Herald.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, super Bowl tickets on the secondary market were going for anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 depending on where the

their homes out for the big game.

The rentals include condos, homes, and even boats and can be found through rental agencies or websites like Craigslist.

be high at the end of the month.

And in a time when many are struggling to pay the monthly rent themselves, making a little extra money off the Super Bowl, sounds

seats are located. According to the NFL, the list price on the tickets

The demand for rooms around the

range from $500 to $1000. In addition to the high costs for the

2010 Super Bowl may be higher because even without tickets to the

average fan, corporations are still being very budget conscience about buying tickets for the game.

game, many will come for the South Florida atmosphere. In 2007, the average hotel rooms rented for just under $500 according to CBS4 news partner

So, for many the Super Bowl is

Still, when you add in the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl; the demand for lodging will

like a super plan. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

39

More Miami Super Bowls Call For Super Renovations stadium.”

MIAMI (CBS4) — The Miami Dolphins and the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee would like to see Dolphin Stadium get a facelift. It’s one that would include a partial roof to keep fans dry while leaving the field open to the elements. The NFL was not happy about the 2007 Super Bowl rainstorm here and apparently is saying the future of its marquee game in South Florida is in doubt without numerous stadium upgrades.

Super Bowl Host Committee chairman Rodney Barreto said, “We need to figure out what kind of improvements we can make to the stadium to make us competitive with other cities going after Super Bowls and Pro Bowls like we are.”

All of the concept planning is in the very early stages and boosters tiptoed around the biggest issued of all: the price tag.

Dolphins CEO Mike Dee said, “It certainly is not a plan we have figured out how it is going to be paid for.” He quickly added the Dolphins like the current stadium setup just fine. Dee told his audience, “This isn’t the Dolphins saying we need to have these improvements done to the

The caution is understandable. One number being floated for proposed stadium upgrades is $250 million, money that could come from tourist/hotel taxes. The problem: the Florida Marlins have already dipped into that well for their new baseball park and got the money after a long, bruising battle that has generated enduring skepticism.

Sports fan Will Furry said, “I think we got ripped off with the Marlins stadium and it is getting out of hand.”

Such sentiment must be gauged in the months ahead. So too must the costs of losing money—hundreds of millions say boosters, far less say opponents—if Super Bowls come here less frequently or not at all, as happened with the 2013 bid for the big game. Former Dolphins star Nat Moore said, “The state of Louisiana made a commitment to the (New Orleans) Superdome and regardless of how great our bid was, we lost the bid.”

The Dolphins will move forward then, knowing full well that they may wind up launching nothing more than a Hail Mary pass in the face of a public with little appetite for more public funding of big ticket stadium projects.

Several weeks ago, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell went public with his thoughts on the future of holding Super Bowls in Miami. Goodell said Super Bowl XLIV may be the area’s last until major renovations are made to Dolphin Stadium.

Goodell said it’s not a question of the city or the area, but rather his complaints center around the 22year-old Dolphin Stadium. Despite undergoing $250 million in improvement in 2007, the NFL believes the stadium is falling behind the competition.

“The key thing is to make sure the stadium is state of the art and that it can compete with the stadiums in some of these other communities.

They are moving to another level in some of these stadiums,” Goodell said.

Among the complaints the NFL has about Dolphin Stadium are the location of lower-level seats and lighting at the stadium. The luxury

boxes are also a point of concern for the league for future Super Bowls. The renovations that are planned for the stadium would cost around $250 million; and committee members are considering asking Miami-Dade and Broward County to put up the money for the renovations, according to CBS4 News partner, the Miami Herald.

CBS4.COM’s Tim Kephart contributed to this report. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

41

2010 Orange Bowl Didn’t Generate Fan Interest

MIAMI (CBS4) — Call it lack of enthusiasm or call it bad timing, but the Orange Bowl tickets for Tuesday’s game were as cold as the weather.

When you walked into Landshark Stadium, you could hear many shouting “tickets! tickets!”. What you didn’t see though were takers.

The battle between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Orange Bowl did not generate much heat. CBS4’s Erika von Tiehl was outside the stadium about an hour before kick off and found people trying to sell tickets for one quarter of their face value. The Orange Bowl’s matchup, while solid for college football fans, hasn’t generated much interest outside of Georgia and Iowa, and tickets for the game have been

selling for more than half price most of Tuesday.

director, the Jayhawks became the pick for the Orange Bowl.

Ben Deull had been trying to sell 6 tickets since 3 p.m. in the afternoon.

He told CBS4 just minutes before kickoff that he hadn’t sold one. In fact, he couldn’t even give them away. In the end, Ben just tossed them in the air and went in to watch.

He hoped someone, anyone, would pick them up.

In 2010, unlike past years, the Orange Bowl ticket isn’t a tough get. Fans are practically giving tickets away. Clay Rowand, a Georgia Tech student, paid $125 face value for a ticket to the game.

He had hoped to unload it for around $80. He wound up getting just $40 for the tickets.

In recent years, the Orange Bowl has suffered while being a part of the BCS. For the past two years, the Orange Bowl’s television ratings have bottomed out. The 2007 game between Wake Forest and Louisville set the mark for lowest-rated bowl game with a 6.98 rating. The 2009 game between Virginia Tech and Cincinnati shattered that rating by dropping to a 6.1 rating.

Allison Gutierrez faced a similar dilemma. “I’ve got two club level Orange Bowl tickets…those were $215 each,” Gutierrez said. She turned to Craigslist to try and sell more than $500 worth of tickets.

The game has also been clouded with controversy after the bowl selected the Kansas Jayhawks to play in the Orange Bowl as an atlarge team over the Missouri Tigers in 2007. Missouri had defeated Kansas in the regular season and had been ranked as high as number one in the country, but after a lot of lobbying by Kansas’ athletic

“I had no takers. We originally tried to sell them for $400. No response.

Then we lowered it to $250. No response,” Allison said. Tuesday morning, $140 was the magic number to get the tickets sold.

According to the Orange Bowl Committee, 30,000 tickets were sold to Iowa Hawkeye fans while Georgia Tech fans bought up 15,000 tickets for the game. While that’s an impressive number, Land Shark Stadium holds around 70,000 fans.

There could be a number of explanations for the lackluster sales.

Fans give multiple versions of why the game has the potential to be a dud at the box office. Gabriel Arronte, a fifth year senior, said “It’s a long trip, especially for Iowa, so I don’t know if they wouldn’t be able to make it.”

Iowa fan Casey Reidell offered up a different explanation. “Georgia Tech fans don’t travel well. I think that’s part of the problem,” Reidell said.

Then again, if the fans thought they were getting away from the cold air of Iowa and the hustle and bustle of Atlanta, they likely got a rude awakening over the past few days in South Florida. But, the explanation that may carry the most weight came from Clay Rowand, a Georgia Tech student.

“I guess in this economy, they are expensive tickets,” Rowand said.

CBS4’s Erika von Tiehl & Tim Kephart contributed to this report. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

43

Hollywood PD Intends To Fire Cops Over DUI Report The police dash-cam audio and video tape also recorded an apparent conspiracy. You hear the following on tape: “We’ll bend this a little bit.

She’s drunk, so it is what it is. I don’t want you to make things up ever, it’s wrong, but if I need to bend to protect the cop, I’m gonna.”

3 Officers And 2 Employees Are Expected To Be Fired Reporting Carey Codd HOLLYWOOD (CBS4) — The Hollywood Police Department announced Wednesday that they plan to fire three police officers and two department employees accused of doctoring a DUI police report.

According to a city news release, the department plans to fire: Sgt. Andrew Diaz, Officers Dewey Pressley and Joel Francisco, Crime Scene Technician Andrea Tomassi and Community Service Officer Karim Thomas. A city spokesperson tells CBS4 News the officers and employees have five days to appeal the city’s decision to fire them.

The decision follows a widelypublicized case that involved an audio recording of the officers apparently discussing how to coverup an accident involving Officer Francisco and Alexandra TorensVilas.

The incident happened last February when Officer Joel Francisco allegedly rear-ended Torens-Vilas’s car in the 2800 block of Sheridan Street.

The officers are also heard saying, “We’ll do a little Walt Disney to protect the cop because it wouldn’t have mattered because she was drunk anyway.”

After the audio and video recordings were released, the Broward State Attorney’s Office dropped all charges against TorensVilas.

On Wednesday, Torens-Vilas told CBS4’s Carey Codd that she is pleased with the city’s decision.

“It was an abuse of power on their part, and it just goes to show that you’re eventually gonna be found and should not be tolerated on any level,” she said.

Torens-Vilas also said the decision does begin to restore her faith in law enforcement.

“It’s Hollywood Police taking a stand and not tolerating this type of thing, which is good,” she added.

Torens-Vilas’s attorney, Larry Meltzer, said the officers do not deserve to carry a badge.

“They can no longer be officers because they can no longer be trusted to do an open, honest, and fair and just investigation,” said Meltzer.

In the discipline letters, Hollywood Police cite the officers and employees for violating numerous departmental policies, including official misconduct and integrity.

The department also accuses the officers of deliberately altering the facts of the traffic crash and “shifting the primary culpability” of the accident.

The department also mentions that Officer Francisco has been involved in seven preventable accidents since 2000. Francisco is the officer who allegedly hit Torens-Vilas’ car.

Hollywood Police Chief Chadwick Wagner writes in the letter to each officer and employee that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement supported the city’s

findings and the Broward State Attorney’s Office monitored the investigation “in anticipation of prosecutorial review.”

Twenty-seven other cases involving the officers are also being reviewed, as well as some closed cases. “I would say that the chances are very good, for example, if the officers played a crucial role in a case that was either plead or a motion to suppress, those cases could be coming back,” said Catherine Keuthan from the Broward State Attorney’s Office. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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The Adtimes Newspaper - HEALTH

January 15, 2010

45

Crest Pro Health Mouthwash: Stained?

Dr. Jonathan Szymanowski, a local periodontist, explained that the key ingredient in Crest Pro health is CPC -- cetylpyridinium chloride -which has the same properties as one found in the rinses they recommend after oral surgery to keep bacteria levels down.

SACRAMENTO (CBS News) — Crest’s Pro Health mouth rinse is touted as “unbeatable protection against plaque and gingivitis,” but some consumers are saying this mouthwash is actually turning their teeth brown.

Commercials for the product promote healthy, beautiful smiles for life. But check online postings from Crest Pro health users, and you’ll find dozens of complaints saying those smiles are stained.

“I noticed on the insides of the teeth or tongue, it was just really stained, like yellow and brown. It was just gross,” said one woman, who wished to be identified as Debbie.

Debbie said the mouth rinse stained her teeth. Since she happens to be an employee at a local dental office, she does not want to reveal her identity because she believes local offices have a lot on the line.

“You’re buying products from these people,” Debbie said. “There are just certain agreements that you are locked into and it’s hard to stand up and say this product isn’t all that it says it’s going to be for you.”

The mouthwash is now the subject of a class-action lawsuit out of Michigan that claims the Crest Mouth Rinse “causes severe staining and browning of teeth.”

“This molecule sticks to teeth, sticks to tissues, but then also kills off the bacteria,” Dr. Szymanowski said, adding that stains are expected with that ingredient. “It’s okay to have a little staining. We always inform our patients, and they know it’s coming.”

But that’s the issue: they know it’s coming.

The lawsuit claims that Crest has “actual knowledge that its product causes staining,” and that “the warnings and directions that accompany Crest Pro Health mouthwash fail to inform consumers about the risk of tooth discoloration or loss of sense of taste.”

the company had received 3,800 complaints out of more than 100 million units sold, although consumer websites still claim that the mouth rinse has caused a significant number of stainings.

When asked if there was a chance the numbers could be higher because customers may not be reporting problems directly to the company, Laura Brinker acknowledged that may be the case.

On their website, Crest goes so far as to say that the brown staining is a sign that their mouth rinse is working.

“After the active ingredient kills the germs in your mouth, those dead germs can collect on the surface of your tooth and can actually appear as a stain,” Brinker said.

Dr. Szymanowski said that may not be the best way to put it. “Proof that it’s working? No. Proof that something is there, yes,” he said.

Proctor & Gamble representative Laura Brinker says the company saw no need for a warning.

As for the issue of how people use the product, Dr. Szymanowski tells his patients to be aware their own behavior can make the staining inevitable.

“Based on inquiries to consumer relations, we know that 99.9 percent of people who are using Crest Pro Health every day have not reported any such concern regarding tooth discoloration,” she said.

“People who just drink wine, smokers, coffee, and even tea -especially green tea -- has quite a lot of staining,” he said.

But how many consumers does that represent in terms of real numbers?

“Well, it’s difficult to talk about the real numbers because, as you know, they change every day,” Brinker said.

In a July e-mail, Laura did say that

People complaining about the staining want everything from the product pulled to just a warning, and Proctor & Gamble say they are considering making a change.

“We are anticipating some new language to our label,” Brinker said, but was careful to point out it won’t be a warning. “Because such a small

percentage of consumers have actually reported this, we actually don’t consider this a warning. We actually consider this a sharing of relevant information.”

One complaint about the stains these chemicals can cause is that home cleaning won’t remove them.

Dentists say that a deeper cleaning, which can be expensive, is the only thing that will remove the brown stains on teeth.

Still, Proctor & Gamble believes the product is working as designed, even though the company will pay for cleanings of unhappy customers in some cases. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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The Adtimes Newspaper - HEALTH

January 15, 2010

47

Dating Web Site Drops 5,000 Due To Weight Gain

Beautifulpeople.com Bumps Off ‘Fatties’ For Holiday Snacking PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — An extra 600 calories a day is what one study says the average American consumes between Thanksgiving and New Years.

For many, it means a little extra holiday bulge.

“We especially noticed that sort

of since from November, which we all know Thanksgiving, all the way through New Year’s, members had been gaining weight, letting themselves go,” said Genevieve Maylem, US Managing Director of beautifulpeople.com. And that’s not allowed on www.beautifulpeople.com, a dating Web site.

Maylem says because other members complained or there was a marked difference in recent photos, 5,000 members were kicked off the site for holiday heftiness.

“You have to say there’s some truth in advertising there. It is

called beautifulpeople.com, so obviously this is not site looking for good personalities,” said Cristina Gibson, who supports the decision.

“Well that’s obviously not ethical, I would think. I mean, you can’t kick off a person for gaining weight especially during the holidays. I was a lot thinner last week,” said Antonio Jaramillo, who is against the Web site kicking off members.

January is traditionally when millions vow to shed the holiday weight. Gym memberships and diet centers have a spike in membership. But people usually don’t get outed so publicly over

their holiday pounds.

“I don’t think it’s discriminatory, I think it’s in fact. It’s really about representing yourself in an accurate way. And we hope that members will get back in shape and get back on the site,” said Maylem.

When people were dismissed, the dating service also included information on gyms and health clinics. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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The Adtimes Newspaper - HEALTH

January 15, 2010

49

DIY Plastic Surgery A Trend In North Texas side effects in her forehead. “I noticed, after it kicked in after four days, that my expression was a little bit different.”

By Arezow Doost DALLAS (CBS) — Just a week into the New Year and some doctors say they’re seeing a growing trend with do-it-yourself plastic surgery!

From skincare, to laser treatments, to even do-it-yourself Botox… instructions and products are available online.

But doctors say while DIY procedures can be cheaper, they’re also dangerous.

“I’d rather spent the money on Botox than go buy an expensive face cream,” explained Joanna Laufer from Dallas to CBS station KTVT-TV. Lauer started getting Botox about a year ago.

The 25-year-old recently wanted to save money and hired someone to inject her with Disport, which is a new alternative to Botox.

“I let someone, that was not qualified, come into my home and do it and that was a big mistake,” said Laufer. Within just a few days she says she felt the

Plastic surgeons say they’ve noticed more and more women buying their own injectable filler material and then injecting themselves. Often times it can be much cheaper to buy the filler material online.

“I think it’s a very worrisome trend. These tools are not toys,” explains Dr. Bill Johnson, with Innovations MedSpa in Dallas.

“It’s just not a good idea to do it yourself.”

According to Dr. Johnson, taking the DIY route can not only be harmful but in some cases deadly. “The thing you’re going to really see, with people doing their own Botox, you’re gonna see a lot of uneven eyebrows and you’re gonna see a lot of what we call ptosis, where the eyelids drop.” Dr. Johnson has even talked some clients out of doing their own Botox.

Manousha Khairkhah wanted to have a Botox party before the holidays. “We thought it was the holidays. With the holiday parties and everything it was like a little Christmas gift to ourselves, because it is expensive,” she said.

In November 2009 a Mansfield woman was busted for selling do it yourself Botox injection kits over the internet. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says Laurie D’Alleva sold several prescription drugs online from her businesses, Ontario MedSpa and Discount MedSpa. Abbott says D’Alleva doesn’t have a license to sell or distribute prescription products, which is required in Texas.

D’Alleva also apparently produced “how-to” videos showing herself injecting her own face with syringes Many women, like Laufer, say they’ve learned their lesson and

hope others don’t make the same mistake. “From now on I’m only going to let a plastic surgeon perform Botox on me,” says Laufer.

Only licensed doctors can legally purchase safe injectables. The doctor can make sure the right amount of Botox is injected and that the fillers go in the right places.

One Botox treatment usually runs about $200. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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The Adtimes Newspaper - CONSUMER

January 15, 2010

51

Great Gizmos at Vegas Electronics Show PARROT AR.DRONE: Price Unlisted/Unknown Availability A quadricopter controlled by your iPhone or iPod touch. It creates its own wireless network and has two cameras, one under and one looking forward. You can view one of these cameras on your iPhone.

CNET.com Senior Editor Natali Del Conte Highlights Flashy Products at the Consumer Electonics Show (CBS) From 3-D televisions to the latest in computers, the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has it all.

The event has so much that Natali Del Conte, senior editor of CNET.com, returned to “The Early Show” Friday to highlight more of the latest gizmos and gadgets from this year’s show -after showcasing several on Thursday.

The products featured on “The Early Show”: PANASONIC FULL HD 3-D TV: Price Unlisted/Availability Spring This is a 3D and HD television.

They cannot provide pricing information, but they say it will be available in the spring. You need to wear 3D glasses for this one - but it provides full resolution to both eyes.

LENOVO IDEAPAD U1: $999/ Available in June 2010 Lenovo’s IdeaPad U1 is a hybrid PC notebook with a detachable screen, providing two PC’s in one device. The 3.8 pound laptop has an Intel processor and runs Windows 7, but when the screen is detached it switches instantly to a multi-touch tablet.

REGEN SOLAR RENU PANEL AND IPOD DOCK: $288/ Available June 1, 2010 This is a solar panel that charges your iPhone. Also you can buy other attachments for other electronics. You can set it on the table, or attach it to your window PHILIPS WAKE-UP LIGHT: $169/Now Available Alarm clock that gradually wakes you up with a light that gets progressively brighter.

Philips Wake-up Light gradually turns on 30 minutes before your wake up time, simulating a natural sunrise. Also comes with natural sounds or even the radio.

BOXEE BY D-LINK: around

$200/Available in the first half of 2010 The Boxee Box by D-Link delivers movies, tv shows, music and photos from a user’s home computer to their HDTV. The popular software program now has its own ‘box’ that lets users watch hundreds of thousands of popular TV shows and movies on their computer. Boxee’s social media features make it easy to discover new content from friends through Facebook, Twitter and more.

grade Swarovski crystals, these headsets custom made bling for your portable music player or with a DJ turntable small audio and large DJ turntables. On a less flashy note, all headsets and cases in iWave’s Grass Roots collection are either made from natural materials and renewable resources, including the packaging. © MMX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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BY IWAVE: $2,500/Available by custom order. Covered in top-

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The Adtimes Newspaper - CONSUMER

January 15, 2010

53

‘Google’ Wins Top Word Of Nameless Decade While many of the decade’s most popular words were products of the Web, most were spawned by politics and media - and sometimes both.

‘9/11,’ ‘Green’ and ‘Text’ Among Most Influential Words of the Past Decade (aka the ‘Aughts,’ aka the ‘Naughties’) NEW YORK (CBS News) — Chances are, in the past year, you read a blog about a bank bailout, a balloon boy and a beer summit.

And you may have been inundated with tweets about mini-Madoffs, Climategate and Octomom.

Indeed, 2009, like every other year, spawned a vocabulary torn from the headlines: “inaugurate,” “H1N1” and “rogue” all caused gridlock in Web traffic. Depending on which dictionary you trust, either “admonish” (Merriam-Webster) or “unfriend” (New Oxford American) was anointed 2009’s word of the year.

But what was the top word of the past decade?

“Google” (the verb) takes the prize, according to the American Dialect Society, which made the declaration Friday evening in Baltimore.

Take, for example, the recently ingrained terms “red states” and “blue states.” The practice of color coding political parties dates back more than a century, but only in the past decade did the color red come to symbolize Republican and blue Democrat, says Zimmer, who’s day job is executive producer of Visual Thesaurus.

Beginning with the 1976 presidential election, TV networks assigned the color blue to the incumbent party (at the time, the GOP) and red to the challenger. That model continued until 2008, when the Democrats (at the time, the challenger) were supposed to be switched to red. However, thanks to the likes of Tim Russert and other TV analysts who had color-coded maps in the 2000 and 2004 elections, the blue/red distinction had become so synonymous with Democrat/Republican, that the colors stuck.

“It just became unavoidable,” Zimmer says. “That coincidence of how the map was colored had a big linguistic effect on how we divide the country.”

The intersection of politics and news gave birth to other notable words.

The disputed election of George W. Bush, for instance, made “chad” the American Dialect Society’s word of the year in 2000.

“It’s hard to imagine life before we were Googling,” American Dialect Society executive councilmember Ben Zimmer tells CBSNews.com.

Not surprisingly, much of the lingering lexicon from the Bush era revolves around war - “axis of evil,” “9/11,” “WMD,” “ground zero” and “IED” are all ingrained in our vocabulary.

In the end, “Google” beat out five formidable finalists for Word of the Decade: “9/11,” “green,” “blog,” “text” and “war on terror.” (The ADS deemed “tweet” top word for 2009.)

As for Barack Obama’s imprint on language, history will tell. For all of Mr. Obama’s eloquence, the president has yet to produce any catch phrases, buzz words or memorable expressions.

Zimmer notes that way back in 2002 (when “weapons of mass destruction” was crowned Word of the Year), “Google” was voted most useful and “blog” most likely to succeed.

The one exception?

“Wee’d wee’d up,” says Zimmer, who nominated the term, along with 31 others, as 2009’s word of the year. (“There is something about August going into September where

everybody in Washington gets all wee-weed up,” the president said of his agitated detractors last summer.)

the de facto choice - the aughts - is actually a corruption of the word “naught,” meaning nothing or zero.

Politics also gave a boost to the suffix “-er” in the last decade. For example: “flip-flopper” (coined during the 2004 election), “birther” (someone who doubts Mr. Obama was born in the U.S.), and “deather” (one who subscribes to Sarah Palin’s “death panel” claim).

While the “aughts” is uninspiring, the “naughties” has more sex appeal.

In fact, at the dawn of the decade, there was already a grassroots campaign in support of the “naughties.” Ten years later, the name seems apt. After all, in a decade marked by “axis of evil,” “mini-Madoffs” and “sexting,” naughtiness prevailed.

While Democrats clung to sterile terms like “public option,” Zimmer says Republicans were far more effective at leveraging the “-er” suffix to their advantage - even if it was in an alarmist or conspiratorial fashion.

While “-er” ruled the ends of words, “un-” was the decade’s dominant prefix. Sites like Facebook forced the word into our cyber consciousness as a quick, often cold, way of undoing an action - or an online relationship. “Unfriend,” “unfollow” and “unfavorite” are examples.

Zimmer says “un-” has supplanted “de-” as the preeminent reversative prefix. Similar to the Twitterspawned interjection “fail,” the negative prefix serves as a metaphor for the decade.

“It extends into social relations,” he says. “It has big social ramifications because the whole concept of friendship is changing.”

Of course, for every shiny new word that became a permanent dictionary addition, there was one that faded into obscurity. Called “stunt words” by lexicographers, some words just don’t stand the test of time. These fleeting words include “muggle” (a word popularized in 2000 from Harry Potter, meaning a mundane, unimaginative person) and “plutoed” (2006’s word meaning to be demoted or devalued, like the erstwhile planet). Maybe the most forgettable word of the year in American Dialect Society history: 1990’s “bushlips.”

Which brings up a final linguistic quandary: what do we call the first decade of this century? Even now, there is no consensus. The aughts?

The naughties? The zeroes? The oh’s? The double oh’s? As Rebecca Mead of the New Yorker points out,

Some Words That Shaped the 00’s: Here is a list of some notable words of the decade, according to the American Dialect Society. The ADS’s annual Word of the Year vote includes several sub-categories most outrageous, most useful, most likely to succeed, least likely to succeed, most euphemistic, etc. The first words listed were crowned Word of the Year.

2000: Chad; Courtesy call; Civil union; Nader traitor 2001: 9/11; Shuicide bomber; Ground zero; Misunderestimate 2002: WMD; Google (verb); Blog; Amber alert; Regime change 2003: Metrosexual; Embed; SARS; Pre-emptive self defense 2004: Red state, blue state, purple state; Flip-flopper; Phish; krunked 2005: Truthiness; Katrina; Podcast; Sudoku 2006: Plutoed; Macaca; YouTube; Lactard; waterboarding 2007: Subprime; Facebook; Green(prefix); Truther; Toe tapper 2008: Bailout; Barack Obama; Change; maverick; Shovel ready; TWD (texting while driving); Bromance; Terrorist fist jab 2009: Tweet; -er (suffix); Fail; Public option; H1N1; Death panel; Sexting (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

55

Poll: 3 In 4 Support Airport Body Scans be used because they see through a passenger’s clothing and thus constitute an invasion of privacy.

CBS News Poll Also Finds Majority Support For President Obama’s Handling Of Christmas Day Bomb Plot (CBS News) Almost three quarters of the American public are in favor of full body x-ray scanners at airports, according to the findings of a new CBS News poll conducted in the wake of the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Of those questioned, 74 percent said airports should use the controversial machines because they provide a detailed check for hidden weapons and explosives and reduce the need for physical searches. Just 20 percent said the machines should not

Racial and ethnic profiling of passengers at airports received less support, with just over half (51 percent) saying added security checks for passengers from certain ethnic or racial groups is justified.

Thirty-eight percent said such profiling was not justified. Views on racial and ethnic profiling have changed little since a previous CBS News poll in 2006.

President Obama’s response to the attempt on Northwest flight 253 won the support of more than half the public, but those views were highly partisan.

Fifty-seven percent of the Americans questioned by CBS said they approved of the way the Obama administration responded to the attempted terrorist attack, while only 29 percent said they disapproved.

The ratings are better than recent measures of President Obama’s overall approval.

However, when broken down on party lines, 75 percent of selfprofessed Democrats said they approved of how the President handled the incident. Just 41 percent of Republicans said the same.

In more detail: • Men were more likely (51 percent) than women (48 percent) to say racial or ethnic profiling is justified.

Older Americans were also more apt to support it. Partisanship also factors into people’s views: 62 percent of Republicans supported profiling at airports while just 42 percent of Democrats did so.

• Those who spend the most time in the air - roughly one in ten Americans - also were more apt to support profiling. 62 percent of selfdescribed frequent fliers said more rigorous checks for certain groups of people by airport security are justified, compared to 49 percent of those who fly occasionally or never.

• Additional airport security checks are viewed as going only so far in preventing terrorism. Four in five

Americans think if the government required even more comprehensive screening procedures in airports that would be effective in stopping future attacks, but few - just a quarter - said it would be “very effective.” _____________________________ ___________ This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,216 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone January 6-10, 2010.

Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones.

The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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January 15, 2010

57

Does It Really Do That? Accu-Pressure Safety Caps go – what? Every three months or so? Whenever.”

Ickes volunteered his car and Lindsey, a certified service expert with AAA, performed the test.

MIAMI (CBS4) — Underinflated tires can end up costing drivers money at the gas pump or even to lose control on the road. But AccuPressure Safety Caps promise to give you more miles to the gallon, increase the life of your tires and reduce the danger of losing control by showing you when your tire pressure is too low. But does it really do that?

Lou Ickes and William Lindsay put them to the test.

Ickes says ignoring tire pressure is the number one car maintenance problem in the country.

“They should be checked monthly at worst,” Ickes explained. “Most of us

The product works by changing color based on the tire’s inflation. If your tire is properly inflated, the Accu-Pressure Safety Caps stay green.

But if your tire pressure is four or five pounds low, the cap should turn yellow. If your tire is 10 or more pounds low, the safety cap should turn red.

First, a note: to find out what the correct air pressure should be, don’t look at the tire; look at the inside of the driver’s door jam or in some cases, the inside of the rear door jam.

In this case, the correct inflation is 30 pounds per square inch or 30 PSI, So our testers use the 30 PSI AccuPressure Safety Caps.

“You always want to check your tire

pressure cold,” Ickes said. That means to check it before you leave your house. Once you’re on the road, the air inside the tire heats up increasing the pressure.

However, the Accu-Pressure Safety Caps don’t account for over inflation. So it reads the over inflated tire as 30 PSI with a green light. That could be misleading.

First, our testers replaced the four regular tire caps with the AccuPressure version.

But overall, our testers are satisfied, giving the safety caps a thumbs up except for the price plus shipping and handling. Regular tire gauges are available for only $8 and will last forever.

The passenger rear tire is properly inflated at 30 PSI. And that’s the message relayed by the green color from the Accu-Pressure Safety Cap. Meanwhile, tire number two should not be green - it’s underinflated to 26 PSI. Ickes took a look. “It’s reading half yellow and half red.

That is an indication that something is wrong - an indication that your tire is underinflated.”

For tire number three, the testers let out air and left the tire at 20 PSI, “Which is ten pounds under and it reads red,” said Ickles. “Which represents exactly what it should.”

Tire number four is our “trick tire;” it has been overinflated at 35 PSI.

But Ickes also offered a caution about some downsides to the product. The directions suggest removal of the safety caps every time you take your car through a car wash. Also, he says to watch out for low curbs because the safety caps stick out.

“They could be knocked off or turned and you’d lose all your tire pressure and have a flat tire and have to call AAA.”

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Capricorn

Aquarius

(Dec. 22-Jan. 20)

(Jan. 21-Feb. 18)

Too many opportunities and too many changes going on. You may have more to do with children this month; keep an open mind.

You should make sure that your personal papers are in order. Your personal situation is fluctuating. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Monday.

January 15, 2010

59

Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar. 20)

Sudden changes of heart may cause disruptions in your domestic scene. Avoid any over indulgences.

Your reputation will be affected.You should regain some of your self esteem if you get involved in organizational functions. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Wednesday.

You need to look into ways to change your selfimage. Don’t give them the use of your credit card.

You may want to put everyone to work on a project that will keep them all too busy to complain.

Anger might lead to carelessness and minor Injuries.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Thursday.

PUBLISHER Tony Gambirazio

DIRECTOR OF SALES Hector Collado ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES Ines Collado Cleo Saenz Cesar Rodriguez INSIDE SALES Sarah White Ileana Patuto OFFICE MANAGER Montserrat Surroca FRANCHISING Tony Gambirazio •

Aries

Taurus

(Mar. 21-Apr. 20)

(Apr. 21-May 21)

Be careful not to overexert yourself. This may not be the time to lend or borrow. Minor accidents could occur if you don’t take precautions. You will be able to borrow money in order to invest. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

Cancer

Leo

(June 22-July 22)

(July 23-Aug. 23)

Any capricious behavior will confuse loved ones and your mood swings will result in loneliness.

Avoid joint ventures and steer clear of groups that want you to contribute financial assistance.

Pleasure trips or friendly get-togethers will be satisfying and intellectually stimulating. You will encounter those who can help you further your goals if you attend functions that attract prominent people.Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Sunday.

ADVERTISING Advertising information can be obtained by calling our general sales office at 305-477-1699. visit us online at www.theadtimes.com

GENERAL INFORMATION 7210 SW 57th Avenue Suite 206 Miami, FL 33143 305-477-1699 ©2009 Advertising Times Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use, without written consent, of editorial or graphic content in any manner is strictly prohibited.

Take time to help children with projects that may be too hard for them to do on their own. Try not to be too aggressive or judgmental when talking to your mate.

Sentimental feelings may make it difficult to get much done at work. You can expect insincere gestures of friendliness this month.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Monday.

(Aug. 24-Sept. 22)

Try not to be too harsh with loved ones; there will always be two sides to an Issue. Your emotions will be touched off concerning recent encounters with your lover. Get back down to earth and to basics. Disappointments regarding partners will be subject to the way you react to their personal comments. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Thursday.

9 1

4

7

1 7

3 2

5 1

4 6

7

2 5 6

1

8

(Nov. 23-Dec. 21)

3

3 9

7 8

Sagittarius You are best to stick to yourself this month.

Look for professional guidance if it will help unite the family. Your determination may make you a little overbearing when dealing with others. Observations will be far more productive. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Tuesday.

Virgo

Horoscopes provided by www.astrology-online.com

Don’t confide in any relatives whom you know have a tendency to meddle in other people’s affairs. So smile! Don’t be afraid of opposition; your suggestions are valid. Be aware that a female you work with may be trying to hold you back.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

(Oct. 24-Nov. 22)

If you can put some work into home improvements, you should. Secret affairs could cause upset. Don’t say something you’ll live to regret. They will jump at the chance to do something without you if it sounds like more fun.

Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Tuesday.

Go out with friends and avoid the situation on the home front. Social activity should be on your agenda this month. This will not be the day to lend money to friends or family.

Uncertain changes regarding your personal life are evident. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.

Libra

Scorpio

(May 22-June 21)

In-laws may cause difficulties. Travel should be considered. Property purchases should be on your mind. You can find solutions if you are willing to communicate. Put your time and energy into home improvement. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.

(Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

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Gemini

6 9 2

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ART DIRECTOR Tammy Kukic