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Local • DEVELOPER SURRENDERS IN ALLEGED LIBERTY CITY FRAUD Section Page 4

Money / Consumer • CASH IN ON “BLACK FRIDAY” SAVINGS EARLY Section Page 18

Entertainment • DEF LEPPARD HELPS VETS MARCH TO NEW BEAT Section Page 26

CBS4 Hurricane Guide • EL NIÑO MAY HOLD STORMY DRY SEASON FOR S. FLORIDA Section Page 38

Health • FAST FACTS: H1N1 (SWINE) FLU AND VACCINATIONS Section Page 52

Real Estate • CHINESE DRYWALL VICTIMS LOSING INSURANCE POLICIES Section Page 60

Reporting Stephen Stock sstock@cbs.com

MIAMI (CBS4 I-TEAM) — South Florida, once known as the illegal drug capital of the country has now

earned another dubious distinction among those fighting crime. A distinction for a quieter, less violent crime, but one that’s become just as costly as the drug trade. We’re talking about Medicare fraud. The

federal

government

says

Medicare fraud now costs American taxpayer $60 Billion every year in stolen money. That’s $200 for every man, woman and child in America.

Sports • HARD HAT TOUR: MARLINS STADIUM AT 100 DAYS Section Page 70

And, federal investigators say, South Florida is at the center of it all. continued on page 14

Automotive • CONSUMER REPORTS: FORD IS ‘WORLD CLASS’ Section Page 76

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L Local News Reporting Stephen Stock sstock@cbs.com

There is outrage among many taxpayers in Miami-Dade County following our investigation that aired months ago involving tax dollars not spent. Instead that money is hoarded and kept in commissioner’s financial kitties. It’s a practice called carryover which was first exposed by CBS4 I-Team Investigator Stephen Stock. Now, we have reaction from taxpayers who hit the radio airwaves in protest. “This first aired on CBS4 and was followed in The Miami Herald,” said radio host Jimmy Cefalo. The outrage melted the airwaves. “What you have is dogs fighting over the bone and the other dogs done run off with the bone,” said one caller responding to the controversy. Radio host and listeners alike vented about one of the most unique and questionable practices in local government anywhere in the United States. That’s the practice by Miami-Dade County Commissioners of carrying over unspent funds from one year to the next in their personal office budgets. “The voters are appalled. They can’t believe that Miami-Dade County Commissioners are sitting on $5 million while they’re cutting jobs and cutting projects and cutting services,” Cefalo added.

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I-Team: Many Angry Over Carryover Controversy Florida Tax Watch’s Dominic Calabro said more voters and taxpayers should be outraged. “It’s almost sickening. Please do you understand what you’re saying and doing and thinking? If this is not illegal, which I believe it is not, it should be,” Calabro said. Here’s how it works. Any money budgeted for commissioners’ district offices NOT spent in one fiscal year carries over. It accrues in future years. Add up all 13 commissioners’ carry over accounts and you are talking $5,015,788. That’s an increase from the previous fiscal year which was $3,816,000. All of this is taxpayer money which has accrued over the years with little public oversight, process or debate. “There’s no accountability. You would suspect that it would be time to clean up the financial system in Miami-Dade County,” said Doctor Sean Foreman, a Barry University political science professor specializing in local Florida governments. The CBS4 I-Team first uncovered this problem back in March. Almost no other major local government in the country engages in carryover.

“Wouldn’t that money be better used better served out on the street with needs that you say are out there?” asked Stephen Stock. “Yes. I think that’s a very good discussion for our budget hearings this year. What we’re going to do with carry-over,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson. Commissioner Sorenson seems to stand alone in her opinion because there appears to be little interest among the other current

commissioners in changing the carryover practice. In fact, even as hundreds of county employees prepare to lose their jobs and many county services are reduced or cut altogether the amount of unspent carryover has actually gone up from the previous fiscal year by more than one million dollars. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) News Powered By

This does not happen in Cook County, Chicago, Illinois nor Detroit, Michigan and not in Washington, D.C or New York City. Only in Los Angeles County, California is there some type of carryover and then it’s not a routine practice.

This newspaper will be read by over 300,000 people.

According to Miami-Dade Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, “The carryover money allows you the flexibility to when you don’t have those needs to carry that money over into another year when you have another kind of need.”

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Wrongfully Convicted Broward Man Refuses State $$ The AdTimes

reach the point where the state is ready to cut a check. Getting to that point took costly legal help, and McGee believes the state should help pay that cost.

N E W S P A P E R

PUBLISHER Tony Gambirazio

Victims don’t get a lump-sum payment. A state-paid annuity provides repayment over time, meaning people compensated under the law might not have the funds to fully pay the attorneys who helped them get the payment.

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FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) — A man who was awarded $179 thousand from the state of Florida because he was wrongly convicted of robbery won’t take the money because he says it’s not enough: it doesn’t pay the cost of legal bills he incurred in his fight to get the money. Leroy McGee said he needs the money; he is living virtually paycheck to paycheck with his mother, but he has refused to sign the paperwork needed to get the state payment because he believes the state should also pay his legal bills for seeking the state payment. “It hurts, because I can really use the money,” McGee told the Florida Sun Sentinel. McGee is one of the first people to be compensated under the new Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act, which allows people wrongfully convicted of a crime to get up to $50 thousand for every year spent in prison without seeking approval from the Legislature. Before the program was signed into law, victims of wrongful conviction had to file a claims bill with the legislature, a process that could result in lengthy delays and political haggling over payment. Even with the new law, the process to get compensated is complicated, and McGee is the first person to

State law addresses attorney fees, saying only the costs of fighting prosecution can be included in the state payment. The cost of getting compensation is not addressed by the law. McGee’s attorney is entitled to 25 percent of any payment McGee gets from the state, but his attorneys say they will not force him to pay them out of his own

pocket if the state refuses to cover attorneys costs. McGee was wrongly convicted of the 1999 robbery of a convenience store, even though he did not meet the description of the suspect and he had an alibi. The attorney who represented him was later disbarred. McGee fought his conviction after he was released from prison and was able to get it reversed with the help of the judge who presided over his case. The Florida Sun Sentinel contributed to this report. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) News Powered By

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I-Team: Camera Found In Internal Affairs Office Reporting Peter D’Oench pd’oench@cbs. com

MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) — The President of the Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police says he’s alarmed by what one officer recently discovered at the Internal Affairs offices at 6840 Indian Creek Drive. It was a secret recording system that was capable of spying on police officers. According to a purchase order obtained by the CBS4 I-Team, the equipment was purchased for nearly $1700 in August of 2004. It had been in place for five years, until the current Police Chief, Carlos Noriega, ordered that it be dismantled. “I did not agree with the philosophy to have a camera in that room, and I felt that the right move was to remove it as quickly as possible, then look into how that camera got there to begin with,” Miami Beach Police Chief Carlos Noriega told CBS4’s Gio Benitez. CBS4 has agreed to not reveal where the camera was positioned inside one of the rooms, in order to protect the way police conduct their investigations. But the camera involved was a tiny one and is similar to one used in CBS4 I-Team investigations. It vividly captures the sites and sounds needed for investigations. The police union said the camera was mounted inside a room used by internal affairs investigators. It was capable of capturing private meetings between cops being investigated and their attorneys. “I’m extremely disappointed,” said F.O.P. President Alex Bello. “I was obviously shocked to hear about some of the tactics that were

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embraced here.” Bello said the hidden camera was hooked to a monitor that was inside the office of internal affairs Captain James Hyde. In Bello’s memo to 604 current and retired officers in this city, he said their Bill of Rights had been violated. “We were under the understanding that Police had the right to privacy in that room,” said Bello. “Our concern is that with those sessions, they are recording or monitoring them without making the information available.” Bello told CBS4’s Peter D’Oench that the camera violated attorneyclient priviledge and said the case could impact many cases during the five-year period. Bello also said the camera also compromised the integrity and impartiality of the internal affairs unit. The camera was approved by former Police Chief Donald Delucca. He refused to go on camera, but he told CBS4, “I authorized the purchase to be used for investigative purposes only. I would have never used the equipment to monitor police officers without their knowledge. I never listened to or saw a tape during my tenure. I would have never authorized it to be used in that manner.” The wording on the purchase order says the equipment was needed because it was “necessary to conduct and monitor internal affairs interviews and investigations.” Police spokesman, detective Juan Sanchez, told us that when Chief Noriega learned about the camera recently, he ordered that it be removed. Sanchez said no conversation was ever recorded and that’s what Chief Noriega has told Bello.

“It never recorded,” said Sanchez. “It only meant to monitor the room and the purpose was mainly officer safety, and for training, and to make sure rights were being kept. The monitor was never meant to listen to attorneys and clients. That was never monitored.”

met with a prosecutor and has asked her to see if any laws were broken by the internal affairs unit. Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office, told us the case is being reviewed. He said there was no timetable for when the review would be finished.

“Whether they say it didn’t record or it did,” said Bello, “it’s information that was withheld from officers that was the subject of Internal affairs cases.”

Bello said he also plans to speak with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Bello feels the camera showed what he called “malicious intent.” He’s

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Developer Surrenders In Alleged Liberty City Fraud Reporting Peter D’Oench pd’oench@cbs. com

MIAMI (CBS4) — Boston developer Dennis Stackhouse, accused of stealing almost $1 million from a biotech park project in Liberty City, rushed from a Miami-Dade jail after posting $40,000 and chose not to comment as he jumped in a car and was taken away. The 67-year-old Stackhouse had surrendered Thursday morning after a Miami-Dade judge signed an arrest warrant charging him with two counts of organized scheme to defraud and two counts of first-degree grand theft. The investigation began after The Miami Herald reported in 2007 that Stackhouse used fake invoices on the taxpayersupported project and doublebilled on separate loans from the failed Poinciana Park project. Stackhouse is accused of creating a complex scheme revolving around the Poinciana Park project, which he pitched to community leaders in 2003 as a $118 million retail and office complex that would create up to 3,500 jobs. The project was supposed to be funded with private money backed by public bonds. The county commission pledged $23 million for the first phase of construction. Ultimately, no buildings ever went up, and the county pulled its support. Businessmen in the Liberty City had high hopes for the project on 15 acres of land at N.W. 74th St. and 27th Avenue. Enrique de la Pezuela, the Business

Development Manager of Machin Signs, told CBS4’s Peter D’Oench, “It was something that would have helped a lot of people in this area, a lot of businesses, including ours. Now I’m so disappointed. He’s in jail and this project is nowhere. And the people in this area who need the help have been cheated.” “Every time we find someone stealing from the public trust, it’s a betrayal,” said Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “But then again, when it’s money that was specifically designed it was federal money and designed for the purpose of managing this money for that poor community. It was supposed to empower the community and It was supposed build on hopes and promise jobs and business.” “The message is that when there is public corruption like this, we are going to go after it, no matter how long it takes,” said Fernandez-Rundle. Stackhouse was arrested after a two-year investigation and the probe was complicated by the fact that Stackhouse did not keep a ledger. Investigators say they found that Stackhouse had spent about $800,000 of the illegally-obtained funds.

never any intent to take money from this project,” said Handfield. “There is no evidence that he or anyone else in his family benefitted from this project. In fact, Mr. Stackhouse was out some substantial expenses.” Handfield said if Stackhouse is convicted, he could face up to 30 years behind bars on some of the counts. “I will vigorously fight these charges,” Handfield said.

This isn’t the first time Stackhouse has found himself in trouble with the law. He’s also been charged with making illegal campaign contributions. In December, he pleaded no contest and served seven months’ probation.

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Defense attorney Larry Handfield says Stackhouse never made a penny on the project, and he’s eager to fight the charges in court. “I believe we can show that no fraud was committed. There was

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Castro: More US Visitors Mean More Cuban Swine Flu more trips for a large number of people carrying the virus, and on the other prohibited us from obtaining equipment and medicine to combat the virus,” Castro said.

HAVANA (CBS4) — Fidel Castro has found something to sneeze at in Washington’s decision to ease visits by Cuban-Americans to his island: He says more Americans mean more swine flu.

He added, however, that President Barack Obama was not plotting to infect Cubans with the flu when, in April, he eased restrictions on CubanAmericans who want to travel or send money to Cuba. “I don’t think, of course, that it was the intention of the United States,” Castro wrote.

The 83-year-old ex-president wrote in state-controlled newspapers Saturday that many of Cuba’s early cases of the virus were visitors from the United States and he used the occasion to take a jab at the U.S. embargo.

Cuba’s government blames Washington’s 47-year-old trade sanctions for shortages of medical supplies, though U.S. law allows direct sale of American medical equipment to this country, where health care is free for all citizens.

“We had the strange case where the United States on one hand authorized

Cuba tried to halt the outbreak of swine flu early this year by grounding

all flights to Mexico, where the virus was spreading rapidly, and by imposing quarantines on those who were ill. Medical personnel went door-to-door to keep the virus contained through the summer. Most early cases were visitors from the United States or other countries. But health officials say that that swine flu is now spreading at a much faster rate and Castro said it has already infected patients in every Cuban province, “principally those with the highest number of relatives who reside in the United States.” Cuba has reported seven deaths and 793 confirmed cases. The World Health Organization says there have been more than 4,500 swine flu fatalities worldwide. Castro, who gave up leadership when he had a medical crisis in July 2006, met Tuesday for about two hours with Margaret Chan, the World Health

Organization secretary-general. Chan said Cuba will be among the about 100 developing countries that could begin receiving international swine flu vaccines as early as next month. Cuban leaders originally expressed reservations about the cost and effectiveness of vaccinations against the virus, but have since agreed to accept doses arriving from overseas. Castro himself remains somewhat reticent, however, writing Saturday that “our citizens should be aware that vaccinations against certain types of virus are difficult, given their genetic mutations.” (© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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I-Team: Medicare Fraud, The New Cocaine Cowboys continued from page 1 From outdoor dominos to rolled cigars, from exotic cuisine to extra strong coffee, all found along just about any street you look.

The feds estimate that dozens of these problematic clinics located in just a ten block area between Bird Road and Coral Way are responsible for filing hundreds of Millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicare claims last year.

Miami’s Little Havana has become known nationally as the center of Cuban politics and culture in the United States.

And federal investigators say there are several similar ten block areas all over Miami-Dade County.

But it’s quickly becoming known for something else: Medicare Fraud.

Just between January, 2009, and August, 2009, federal sources say those dozens of clinics located in ten block areas all around Miami-Dade billed Medicare a total of $1,558,700,529 just for HIV-infusion treatments. Claims the federal investigators say were fraudulent.

Billions of your tax dollars are stolen every year here. And federal investigators say that Little Havana and other areas around Miami-Dade County have become the Medicare fraud capital of the world.

Waterman. UNDERCOVER SCHEME

VIDEO

THE

How exactly does all this work? You can see first-hand by watching undercover videotape shot by the CBS4 I-Team. Within minutes of meeting a local medical center’s office manager is talking money with our photographer. “You have a way to get these people?” the unidentified medical office manager asks in Spanish. On the videotape the office manager is talking to a CBS4’s photographer who has a list of Medicare

“We were the king of the drugs in the ‘80s,” said FBI agent Brian Waterman. “We’re king of healthcare fraud in the ‘90s and the 2000’s.”

EASY CRIME “It’s a crime that’s just too easy to do right now,” said Waterman.

“We’re talking millions of dollars in a month (stolen),” said the FBI agent. There are dozens of medical clinics, medical suppliers and pharmacies much like the one at 8350 Bird Road, which is now closed, where you can see the stencils from the sign still in the window.

The unidentified photographer then replies in English to make clear “In one month, $800 for the patient, you get $100, me get $100? Okay.” Investigators say after these clinics pay for these lists of numbers they then bill Medicare tens of thousands of dollars for drugs, medical equipment and supplies that aren’t needed and in most cases never even delivered.

That’s right. On another occasion, the same office manager at the same medical office offers another person, an HIV positive patient, $1,000 just for the patient to sign up on a sheet of paper. That way the clinic can use the patient’s Medicare number to bill Medicare.

Waterman says that what was once the center of the country’s drug trade has now become the epicenter of Medicare fraud.

“I’m talking about renting some space ten feet by ten feet you a couple of cabinets and couple of shelves, a desk maybe a computer maybe not get yourself an occupational license you apply to Medicare and you get a couple of other documents and you’re in business,” said Waterman.

“And you can sell those people (lists to other clinics) and then in three months they can come back (and we can Medicare again),” she tells the CBS4 photographer on the videotape.

“I’ll give you a thousand,” said the same office manager on another occasion. “A thousand?” the patient with the undercover camera asks. “Yea. One thousand,” said the office manager.

The FBI Special Agent Waterman leads South Florida’s special Medicare fraud strike force.

CBS4 I-Team investigator Stephen Stock asked “How easy is it?”

And she tells him that all the clinic will do for the patients is give them an X-ray even though they are all HIV positive. But she says she will bill Medicare for much more.

I-Team investigator Stephen Stock asked federal investigators about the ease with which this exchange took place. patients. They say that estimates that South Florida alone is responsible for 4 Billion dollars in Medicare fraud claims may actually be low. FBI agent Brian Waterman put it in perspective. “I’m talking literally a piece of paper with 30, 50 100 names on it with (four other pieces of information on it). That’s all the information you need, as long as they are legitimate Medicare patient (information), to bill Medicare,” said Waterman. I-Team investigator Stephen Stock asked “To commit this fraud?” “To commit the fraud,” said FBI agent

The woman talking in Spanish is the office manager at a local medical clinic that is still in business in Miami-Dade. In Spanish the manager tells the undercover photographer “For me to send a person to a rehabilitation center they give me $800 per person.”

“Does that surprise you?” investigator Stock asked. “No,” said FBI agent and strike force leader Brian Waterman. “It (the lists and names) won’t be used by just one company that name will be sold to the next company and the next company and the next pharmacy.” “All fraudulently?” Stock asked.

“In reality we get 800 and I get half and you get half,” she tells the CBS4 photographer on the tape.

“All fraudulent,” said FBI agent Waterman.

In other words, she’s telling him that she’ll split $200 with him for each Medicare patient he brings in.

“Here, (in South Florida) it’s blatant its right out fraud,” Perez said.

Special agent Omar Perez agreed.

Perez is a special agent for the US

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Department’s of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General’s Office of Investigations.

$20,000 off of something I made $100 off of,” another unnamed patient said. This patient committed fraud too.

“It’s easy!” said Perez of Medicare fraud. “It’s easy pickings. There’s no need to even attempt to create some paperwork.” Perez also serves on the special federal Medicare fraud strike force with FBI agent Brian Waterman and others. The strike force operates out of a nondescript warehouse that is stacked to the ceiling with evidence and case files devoted exclusively to Medicare fraud. “South Florida is ground zero (for Medicare fraud),” said HHS’s special agent Omar Perez. “It’s where it (fraud) is developed, where it’s tested, and once it’s proven, it’s shipped out to other parts of the country.” PRIVATE LISTS Through a source within the private medical insurance industry the CBS4 I-Team also obtained lists of billed Medicare services. The paperwork shows that one person’s Medicare number was billed by nine different clinics, sometimes for the same service. Total billed to Medicare for all this: $9,624.18. Another time $29,744.78 was billed to Medicare. “Once you put your signature down there, bam!” said an undercover informant. “You get your money.” The patient should know. HIV positive for years, the patient got paid by medical clinics all over Miami just for signing a name. The patient never got any treatment. The patient never got any medicine. “We averaged about $700 to $900 a day every Monday, Wednesday, Friday,” the patient said. At most, the patient would let them take blood, sign the name and walk out the door with the cash. “So once we gave the blood they would give us $100,” the unidentified patient said. “Just like that. We wouldn’t receive any treatment. All we had to do was to go in and sign some papers, a stack of four of five papers, that says we received this treatment.” “They (the medical clinics) might make

I-Team investigator Stephen Stock asked “You never got the treatment?” “That’s right,” the patient said. “You could walk right in, sign your name and say you don’t want the shot and they would give you the money as long as you sign the paper.” After four years the FBI caught up with both of these unnamed patients. They now work as undercover informants. That’s why we agreed to hide their identities. “We went to three clinics sometimes four, by 12 o’clock,” the second patient recounted. “They (the clinics) would put snacks out so you would be taken care of eating too. And getting paid. It wasn’t twenty dollar bills it wasn’t Washingtons. It was Benjamins baby! Benjamins!” “Hey you get a check for $600, they get a thousand,” said a recruiter for Medicare patients. For 4 months, the man says he served as a recruiter, what’s called “providores” in the Medicare fraud underworld. He was a “providores” who was paid to drive Medicare patients around South Florida to clinics in a van. The man asked not to be identified for fear the people he used to work with might harm him once the scam was exposed. “They got lists “providores” said.

patients,”

The only trouble: I-Team found Medicare patients who did just that. “It was easy to note they (the bills) were fraudulent,” said Medicare patient Roger Shatanof, who retired in South Dade County some years ago with his wife.

Roger Shatanof did check his bills and noticed his Medicare statement charged him for medicines and equipment that he and his wife never needed, never used and never received.

caught with a couple of grams of cocaine.”

“We never needed a wheel chair for my wife, we never needed an inhaler. We never needed the medicines they had down,” said Shatanof.

“Here’s why we should care,” said Perez. “From the moment that a teenager gets permission from their parents to start working all the way until you decide you’re ready to retire you’re paying into Medicare whether you like it or not.”

But when the former Miami-Dade school administrator called the Medicare hotline he was put on hold for more than two hours. He finally gave up. “It’s tax payers’ money,” Shatanof said. “To see something so simple, to check with the recipients ‘Did you receive these services?’ ‘Did you receive this equipment?’ (would apparently be so easy).” “We called Medicare and reported it. We asked please let us know a follow up and they never did,” said Shatanof Federal investigators say the CBS4 ITeam’s investigation demonstrates that this is a problem that’s out of control. It a problem that federal investigators admit they are only now starting to get a handle on. “We can arrest hundreds of people every year and it won’t stop the problem,” said FBI agent Brian Waterman. “We, as a country, have to decide what’s important (in Washington, D.C.).” “It’s going to have to be the people in Medicare, the people (setting policy), the people way above me to say we are going to stop this,” Waterman said.

the

“(Patients) that (had) been there before and have Medicaid cards,” the “providores” explained. “What they (the clinics) do is pass the information to another clinic and that clinic will bill Medicare or Medicaid for something that person hadn’t even been there for. Because a lot of people (Medicare patients) don’t check their bills.”

NOVEMBER 2009

“I don’t know what the answer is I just know that what we’re doing is not working,” said Waterman.

Both agents say everybody should be infuriated by and care deeply about solving this crime.

“Really the ones who are getting defrauded are us. It’s you it’s me it’s every one of us,” Perez said. “At the end of the day we are the people who are paying into the system,” said FBI agent Waterman. “I pay into it, you pay into it, any American who has a job, and you’re paying into this system in the hopes that when you turn 62 or you turn 65 that this will be there. And I think the big problem is if we allow this to continue the way it’s (Medicare) not going to be there for us.” “When you think about who the victim is at the end of the day, it’s not the government, it’s us!” said Waterman. How can you help stop this theft of YOUR money? Here’s what federal authorities suggest: First, if you see unusual activity such as a medical office with no patients and/or no workers, call federal authorities. Second, if you are a Medicare recipient, check your bill and report anything unusual that shows up on it, any doctor’s name you don’t know, any charge you don’t recognize, any clinic you’ve never visited, any drug or medical equipment who don’t use.

“Look, I’m not going to lie to you it’s not an easy task,” said special agent Omar Perez.

Now, as you read, during the investigation the CBS4 I-Team found several people who said they did just that, but never heard back from the feds.

“It’s easier to make a million dollars in two months than may be standing on a corner selling drugs,” said the special agent with HHS’s Office of Inspector General.

Federal authorities admit that has been a big problem in the past but they vow to fix it.

“The penalties that these perpetrators receive for committing these (Medicare) crimes are usually much less (than for drug crimes),” said Perez. “If you defraud the government for one million dollars, the time in jail would be much less than if you were

To that end they’ve established a special task force number to do nothing but receive Medicare Fraud tips. The number to call is 1-800-447-8477 (1-800-HHS-TIPS). (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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NOVEMBER 2009

I-Team: Ron Book Makes A Call To Action Reporting Michele Gillen mgillen@wfor.cbs .com

MIAMI (CBS4) — “Those people are not safe to be in a population with elderly people. I just can’t even imagine that this is happening and nobody knew about it. You obviously have discovered it,” says Ron Book, a man who walks where many wouldn’t dare, the darkest den of homeless sex offenders who, created their own tent city under the famed Julia Tuttle Bridge. But while Book has rolled up his sleeves to find them housing and close this colony, seeing the CBS4 I-Team investigation into how sex predators, registered offenders and violent felons are living in nursing homes and ALF’S with the most vulnerable elderly, left him, in his words, “shocked was probably an understatement, rage, anger. You know you see the world differently when you have a family member that has been victimized.” Her name is Lauren, a daughter who has grown into a force for change. As a child she kept a secret and lived the nightmare that the family’s trusted livein nanny was molesting her. “They are abusing people, they are manipulating, they are controlling, they are hurting, they are harming, they are maiming. Nobody, nobody other than a family member can tell you about the impact that one of these people have on families other than somebody that been there done, that,” Book tells Chief ITeam Investigator Michele Gillen. “They try to harm and use power and control over people who are weaker than themselves,” daughter Lauren tells Gillen as they walk together under the bridge. She is now joining her dad in alarm over the CBS4 I-Team findings of elderly

being raped and assaulted by nursing home residents with records. “It’s just outrageous, totally outrageous, we shouldn’t, we can’t, we can’t do that to those, it’s just like putting them live in a daycare facility, or kindergarten or first grade class. You can’t do it. And we must do all we can do to have them removed and find compliant housing for those individuals as well,” she declares. Book points out that when a registered sex offender moves into a neighborhood, residents are alerted with flyers. Yet, in the CBS-4 investigation no facility owner interviewed told residents that there are registered sex offenders living among them. Book found this most disturbing. “You are not going to notify the people or the families of the nursing homes or ALF’s? That is absurd, that is, in my opinion, a misinterpretation of what the law requires today. I think if you are in a residence, you are required to tell people, you are required to distribute those photos and if they are not doing it, they’re likely to be in violation of the law. They should be required to do it and they should be no if ands or buts.” Father and daughter says they are baffled that the I-Team found most nursing homes don’t conduct criminal background checks before admitting a resident, when many apartment buildings do, and as chairman of the Homeless Trust, Book knows -- even homeless shelters screen for a violent past. “We don’t let offenders and predators in, we do a background check, we don’t let them in, why because we have children there, we have older people there, we don’t want to expose them to the population,” he explains to Gillen.

While he and daughter Lauren struggle to still find appropriate housing for the several dozen men under the bridge, expect to hear their voice asking for protection of the elderly along with children. Time, he says, for our political leaders to bring everyone to the table.

litems,” are among the suggestions some experts say should be considered. The public need to do that, email, the phone, and snail mail to get this message through to lawmakers, that something needs to be done and we are watching and we are going to hold you accountable.”

“They ought to be outraged by this, they ought to call public hearings, public meetings, they ought to summon the secretaries in those departments and there ought to be some answers,” Book said. “Background checks, notification, straight prohibition, flyer notification, certified letters to family members and the like, the guardians and guardians ad

Book says he needs no convincing that, “If you have a heart for the elderly, if you have a heart for your own family, your children, this issue ought to cause you deep, deep concern .” (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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M Money / Consumer Reporting Al Sunshine sunshia@wfor. cbs.com

MIAMI (CBS4 I-TEAM) — When you eat out at a restaurant you always want to get what you pay for, right? That’s certainly the case for those who can afford to pay top dollar for Japanese-raised Kobe beef often found on the menu at high-end restaurants. The CBS4 I-Team has learned if you’re buying this type of beef, you’re probably not getting what you paid for. They’re probably the most pampered cows in the world: Japanese Kobe Wagyu cattle born and bred in Kobe, Japan. Raised inside special barns in Kobe to keep them out of the cold, they even get their own beer. To keep them as stress-free as possible, Kobe cattlemen rub them down with wine, sake of course.

NOVEMBER 2009

I-Team: Diners May Have Beef With Pricey Steak is consumed inside Japan. According to the U.S.D.A., there is no actual Japanese Kobe beef being imported into the United States. The agency added, “Product labeled as Kobe beef is in error because there are no beef cattle that are coming directly from Japan at this time. They cannot be labeled as Kobe beef in America. If you’re getting Kobe beef it’s unlikely you are getting authentic Kobe beef from the Kobe region of Japan”. Glenn Miciotta is a Broward meat distributor. He explained there are different kinds of Kobe-style beef from different parts of the world. His top cuts include American Angus, American-raised Kobe from imported Japanese Wagyu cattle and Japaneseraised beef that sells for 4-5 times over U.S. beef. It’s not hard to see the difference between an American Angus cut of meat, American Kobe beef and Japanese Wagyu beef that’s covered in marbeling and fat. The U.S. cut is a much leaner American-style Angus beef. But Miciotta says despite the heavily marbled Japanese, Wagyu selling for as much as $30 an ounce.

And just calling beef Kobe could imply it’s Japanese raised under Japan’s strict Kobe beef guidelines when it probably isn’t. But take a look at this! The I-Team had no trouble finding local restaurants charging big bucks for small steaks. Some restaurant staffers told CBS4 Chief Consumer Investigator Al Sunshine that he was getting real Japanese Kobe.

Sunshine. Delgado.

“Absolutely,”

admitted

Todd Lapenta is a Miami Beach mortgage banker who enjoys a good steak. He recently ordered what he thought was a Japanese Kobe steak at a local South Beach eatery. He now wonders if he really got what he paid for. “Was it worth the money?” asked Sunshine.

What’s the result? Japanese Kobe’s got the reputation of being the best beef in the world. In Japan, a Kobe steak sells for the equivalent of hundreds of dollars. And because of its reputation, a growing number of South Florida restaurants advertise Kobe beef on their menu. The I-Team shot undercover tape in several South Florida restaurants. Our exclusive I-Team investigation found you could be paying big bucks for Japanese Kobe, but you’re probably not getting what you’re paying for. What’s the reason? Kobe’s a small region with limited beef production. Almost all the Kobe beef it produces

“It can’t legally be sold as Japanese Kobe because it isn’t born, raised, and slaughtered in Kobe, Japan,” he said. “What are they labeling it at restaurants,” asked Al Sunshine? “Some are labeling it Kobe, no doubt about it,” said Miciotta. According to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the agency that regulates Florida’s restaurant labeling, “the use of the term “Kobe beef” on a menu or special board is misrepresentation. That’s because under state law menu items have to fully disclose exactly what you’re getting.

“What’s Australian Tajima Kobe?” asked Sunshine. “It’s a special breed. The Kobe steaks are from Japan,” was what one restaurant staffer told him.

“No, not in my opinion,” said Lapenta. “You have to hope the restaurants are doing the right thing because you don’t know, do you,” asked Sunshine.

Henry Delgado manages one of South Florida’s top steakhouses, Miami Beach’s Smith & Wollenski. It features aged, corn-fed Midwest beef. He believes his steaks represent a better value than much more expensive Japanese beef.

“There’s no way I would know. No, there’s no way,” added Lapenta.

“If people think because they’re paying more for it, they’re getting a better product, that’s not always the case,” said Delgado. “Do you think a lot of people are overpaying for Kobe beef?” asked

Kobe-style beef can offer a good dining experience whether it’s from here, Australia or other parts of Japan. But don’t forget what you see on the menu may not be what you’re really getting, no matter how expensive it may be. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Costco To Accept Food Stamps Nationwide PORTLAND, Ore. (CBS4) — Costco Wholesale Corp. said Wednesday that it will start accepting food stamps at its warehouse clubs nationwide after testing them at stores in New York. It’s a big about-face for a retailer that has catered to bargain-hunting but affluent shoppers, and it’s a sign of the grim reality facing retailers and their customers. The number of Americans relying on government food subsidies to eat recently hit a record 36 million. Costco, which is based in Issaquah, Wash., began accepting food stamps at two stores in Brooklyn and Queens in May under political pressure from officials who worked with the company on opening a club in a redevelopment area in Manhattan. The company quickly expanded to all six of its stores in New York state. Company officials said they had doubted many customers would use food stamps but it turned out new members said they were joining precisely because the company accepted the assistance program. “We recognize these are tough times and more people are foodstamp-eligible,” Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said Wednesday. Costco said it hopes to accept food stamps at half of its 407 stores in the U.S. and Puerto

Rico by Thanksgiving and at the remainder as soon as it wins regulatory approval in each state. While most major grocery chains have accepted the food subsidy for years, more retailers have been accepting food stamps as the process has eased and the number of people using them has soared. Most users no longer receive stamps, but instead carry the value on a card that can be swiped at checkout much like a bank debit card. That makes it easier and more discrete for shoppers and speeds the checkout and reimbursement processes for retailers.

Because about half of Costco’s customers are small businesses and the rest tend to be more affluent than shoppers at traditional grocery chains, Galanti said, executives had assumed there wouldn’t be much response to it accepting food stamps but realized that assumption may have been wrong. “Certainly this economy was a wake-up call,” Galanti recently told investors. “It is not just very low-end economic strata that are using these (who) typically don’t have purchasing power.” Food retailing consultant Bill Bishop, of Willard Bishop Consulting, said Costco’s decision shows how pervasive the pressure on consumers has become. He said more and more grocers are seeing their sales

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Jailhouse Interview: Madoff Feared Getting Caught BOCA RATON (CBS4) — Nearly ten months after Bernard Madoff’s arrest, the New York Times obtained a jail house interview from official exhibits released by the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. Madoff openly talks about how SEC investigators missed opportunities. He said had they checked for basic information and followed through on items they had requested, the scheme would have been revealed much earlier. “I’m very proud of the role I played in the industry,” he said in the interview. “Of course I destroyed that now.” He says basic fact-checking would have gotten him caught such as if investigators would have verified if he had made trades, the Times reported. He feared he would get caught in 2004 when he feared investigators would have asked to see the account, but figured they chose not to because of his top reputation. In 2006, investigators called to ask for the clearinghouse number, but failed to follow up and nothing ever came of it. “After all this, I got away lucky,” he said. In turn, his victims were mostly unlucky. Investors like Stephie Halio, of Boca Raton, who lost nearly everything because of the Madoff scheme. “It is still so shocking to me that we lost practically everything we had,” Halio told CBS4’s Gio Benitez. She now finds herself struggling to

keep her home. “Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I say is this really happening? Did it happen?” Halio said. Halio had been investing with Madoff for 25 years. “The SEC can bumble, and the SEC and be incompetent, but they’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to come up with any evidence against him,” Halio said. Madoff himself says the evidence was always there. In a jailhouse interview, he told an SEC inspector that “it never entered the SEC’s mind that it was a Ponzi scheme” because of “the reputation I had.” Years before, accountant Harry Markopolos had warned of Madoff’s scheme, but his warnings went largely ignored. “If they don’t do their proper jobs, it’s meaningless, and the people will suffer.” Halio hopes she will recover some of her money – but it might be only ten percent of what she once had.

operations, according to Kotz’s report. But “a thorough and competent investigation or examination was never performed.” Kotz said at the Senate hearing he recommends that Schapiro consult with agency managers “so that appropriate action ... is taken, on an employee-by-employee basis, to ensure that future examinations and investigations are conducted in a more appropriate manner” and the failures aren’t repeated.

The report cited no evidence of improper ties between agency officials and Madoff, nor of senior SEC officials trying to influence the agency’s probes of Madoff, who was a prominent Wall Street figure. The New York Times and CBS4’s Gio Benitez contributed to this report. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

“I just wish that the victims get the money returned to them. I don’t care what happens to Bernie Madoff,” Halio said. David Kotz, the SEC inspector general, revealed in a detailed report in early September how the agency bungled five investigations of Madoff’s business between June 1992 and last December, when the disgraced financier confessed. During that time span, the SEC received six “substantive complaints that raised significant red flags” regarding Madoff’s

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Cash In On “Black Friday” Savings Early means large sales are likely from major stores. For retailers, it means the competition for each and every customer will be even more intense.

Sale

Reporting Christina Loren cloren@cbs.com

As early as this week, shoppers have been able to cash in on deep discounts normally postponed until the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday. After the 2008 holiday season saw the biggest sales decline in several decades, retailers are hoping that the early sales will boost consumer spending.

Tense Retailers Offer Deep Discounts Almost A Month Before The Traditional “Busiest Shopping Day of the Year.”

Wal-Mart has already stocked its shelves with over 100 toys for under $10 in an effort get a jump start on the competition for holiday shopping revenue. Here are some of the $10 toy options available:

(CBS4) Despite the latest news that the economy is continuing to show signs of recovery, retailers are still worried the holiday shopping season may be quite weak. For consumers, it

* Transformers 2 Deluxe Action Figures * Barbie Cut and Style Rapunze * Games such as Connect 4, Battleship, Monopoly, Trouble

* Vtech Explore and Learn Helicopter * Tonka Light and Sound assortment (firetruck, dumptruck, etc.) * Hot Wheels Trick Track Sears announced that they too will try to cash in on a piece of the early holiday shopping pie by offering “doorbusters” each week until Christmas. The first sale Starts Friday, October, 30 at 5 p.m. and runs through Saturday at noon. After this weekend, Sears will offer “doorbuster” deals every Saturday morning through Christmas, online and in stores. Here is an example of some of the “doorbuster” deals at Sears: * $79.99 (reg. $259.99) 3/8 court diamond stud earrings * 50% off all DieHard workboots (reg. $75.00) * $19.99 (reg. $39.99) on all Covington low-shaft boots

* $399.99 closeout (reg. $699.99) ProForma XP elliptical 16-in stride length. Other strides have been made by retailers in an effort to boost holiday spending. For the first time ever KMart has introduced online layaway, offering consumers a new way to shop in time for the holidays. This year Black Friday falls on November 27, but with early sales like these in conjunction with increased internet shopping, everyone may see shorter lines and lighter crowds this year. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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E Entertainment / Dining (CBS) It’s not some feel-good, Friday night date-movie or some big-budget popcorn thriller. In fact, “Precious,” at times, is so hard to watch, you can’t look away. Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe stars as Clareece Precious Jones, an obese, illiterate black teenager from Harlem. She is pregnant for the second time by her father and physically and verbally abused by her mother, but she still dares to dream of a better life. CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric talked to the people behind the film. Now that “Precious” has plucked her from virtual obscurity, Sidibe, 26, says the world’s sudden interest in her takes some getting used to. “Everytime I’m in the airport, the people are like ‘Oh my God, you’re that girl that’s almost famous. You’re about to be famous,’” Sidibe said. The movie’s journey to the big screen is as unusual and unlikely as Sidibe’s. In 1996, a former teacher turned poet who calls herself Sapphire wrote the novel “Push,” based on memories of teaching literacy to Harlem teenagers in the 1980s. During that time she met a 32-yearold woman who told her she had to arrange for a babysitter for her mentally-impaired daughter who was 20 years old. (The woman had been impregnated by her father when she was 12.) The character of Precious is loosely based on that woman.

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The Unlikely Journey of “Precious” “It’s not a rags-to-riches story. It’s not ‘The Biggest Loser.’ She doesn’t lose 100 pounds and find a boyfriend,” Sapphire said. “We watch small changes affect her life.” “Push” became an underground classic. Filmmaker Lee Daniels couldn’t put it down. Daniels grew up in south Philadelphia, where he saw people like Precious every day on the street, in the ‘hood and in the mirror. “Growing up gay in the projects, in the ghetto, is hard. It’s hard enough growing up there. But growing up as an outsider in that environment is terrifying,” he said. Daniels had already produced the critically-acclaimed “Monster’s Ball” when he began to pursue Sapphire for the film rights to “Push.” But it wasn’t easy. Sapphire felt turning her novel into a movie would mean the exploitation of overweight black women. She said no. But once she saw Daniels’ directorial debut, “Shadowboxer,” an unconventional movie about a female assassin diagnosed with cancer, she gave in. “I just thought this is someone who is willing to take a risk,” Sapphire said, “and at the same time, is a real artist.” Daniels canvassed the country, auditioning more than 400 girls, to find an actor who could handle the harrowing lead role. He found her at Lehman College in the Bronx. (CBS) Sidibe was studying psychology at City College in New York at the time, but had performed in productions at Lehman. She never imagined she would end up acting for a living.

“A girl like me, there’s no way,” Sidibe said. “Just because I don’t look like most actresses do. And I never thought I could. And I didn’t want to.” But she cut class and went to the audition anyway. Daniels’ casting choices for the film are unconventional: Comedienne Mo’nique plays Precious’ monstrous mother; rocker Lenny Kravitz is a male nurse; and Mariah Carey is an unglamorous social worker. Some critics have charged that “Precious” does little to challenge stereotypes. But once Sapphire watched the movie with a nearlyall-white audience she says she realized its theme was universal. “They gave us a standing ovation. And then a white woman in the back stood up and she said, ‘I’m 60 years old. And this is my story,’” Sapphire said. The movie has two other very influential fans. Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry signed on as executive producers, which may make an art

house film into a commercial success. As Gabby Sidibe adjusts to life walking red carpets, she says she’s mindful of who the movie is dedicated to: precious girls everywhere just like her. “Ultimately, I hope it means that people will not count me out because of my size,” she said. “I just hope that people can get past what I look like, and what other people look like, and see the heart and the soul of the person.” For more info: “Precious” (Official Movie Web Site) © MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Tickets On Sale Now For 2010 SOBE Wine & Food Fest Reporting Lisa Cilli lcilli@wfor .cbs.com

MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) — Tickets went on sale Monday for one of South Florida hottest events. The 2010 South Beach Wine and Food Festival. The festival, hosted by the Food Network, is a star-studded, four-day event that showcases the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirit producers, chefs and culinary personalities. More than 18,000 people are expected to visit the annual food fest which runs Thursday Feb. 25th through

the 28th. The event was founded as a fundraiser for Florida International University’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and has grown tremendously over the years. It is now one of the largest and most well-known festivals of its kind in the country. Some of the high-profile events include Thursday nights $200 Burger Bash, hosted by Rachael Ray, Friday night’s $350 BubbleQ hosted by Emeril Lagasse, Saturday night’s $125 Cocktail Time with Sandra Lee at Casa Casuarina, and Sunday’s $75 Moon Over

Miami’s Closing Party with Guy Fieri. There’s Saturday and Sunday’s $212.50 Grand Tasting at Lummus Park and also the $525 a-plate tribute dinner at the Loews Hotel honoring superstar chef Daniel Boulud. Another fun featured event for the entire family is the Kidz Kitchen. The two-day long mini-festival teaches kids and their parents how to make healthy food choices and features a variety of cooking demonstrations for children by various Food Network personalities such as Rachael Ray, Tyler Florence, and Paula Deen just to name a few. Tickets are $20.00

each. To purchase tickets and see a complete list of events from the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, go to www.sobefest.com. You can also purchase tickets by calling 877-762-3933. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved

More Parents Seeking Personal Trainers For Kids With Fears Over Obesity A Constant, Families All Over Paying Professionals To Make Sure Children Stay Active SCARSDALE, N.Y. (CBS) — What’s smaller than a couch potato but just as lethargic?

WCBS-TV in New York. “Considering that we have an epidemic of obesity in this country, getting kids involved in fitness, whether it’s with a professional trainer or just running around on the playground, it really is the best thing for them,” Donohue said.

A tater tot. And parents in our area are fighting the battle of the bulge -- even hiring personal trainers -- to get their kids in shape. He’s just 8 years old and he’s got a personal trainer. Jim Donohue of Fitness Blitz spends an hour each week with 14year-old Sarah and 8-year-old Mark Dachinger at their home in Scarsdale, reports CBS station

Playgrounds still have their place, but more and more busy parents in the city and suburbs are paying trainers up to a hundred bucks an hour to improve kids’ fitness.

conscious teens are often worried about their weight.

for younger kids, for teenagers. Everybody’s trying to provide for kids,” Valbiro said.

“It’s not something she thinks about, it’s something we think about,” Tamara Dachinger said.

Hoping they’ll find fitness a real kick.

Tamara Dachinger said hiring Jim the trainer really sent a message to her kids about the importance of physical fitness.

Experts say it’s important for trainers to keep things “fun” and avoid putting too much pressure on the kids.

“I think that’s a good foundation for the rest of your life, absolutely,” she said.

“I have worked with some sedentary kids. The parents are like, I have to get this kid active,” said Charlie DeFrancesco of Fit and Functional.

Trainer Frank Valbiro has been working with 7-year-old Ian for a year to improve his balance and coordination. He said parents aren’t just turning to trainers for help.

While parents worry about obesity and type-2 diabetes, body

“Gyms around America are offering a lot more classes aimed

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Def Leppard Helps Vets March to New Beat Drummer Rick Allen Uses his Personal Triumph Over Tragedy to Inspire Wounded Soldiers Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (CBS) They were the rock Gods of the 1980s, selling 65 million records, including the 10-time, multi-platinum album “Pyromania,” which spent threequarters of a year in the top 10 behind Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Almost 30 years later, Def Leppard is still together and still touring. In fact, business is booming for these working class British rockers. Early Show weather anchor and features reporter Dave Price had a chance to sit down with the rock legends and to learn how one band member’s personal triumph over tragedy has transformed him into much more than just another heavy metal hero. “Do you need a roadie? I’m looking for some job security,” Price joked. “Not with that shirt, dude,” said Def Leppard guitarist Viv Campbell.

sunroof and landed in a field,” said Allen. It was that car accident along a narrow stretch of road in rural England on New Year’s Eve 1984, that cost Allen one of the limbs on which he built a multimilliondollar career. “In that field, did you say to yourself, ‘I lost my arm?’” Price asked. “Apparently... one of the first things I said when I stood up was ‘I’m a drummer and I’ve lost my arm,’” Allen recalled. He should have lost his life. But lying in the hospital, Allen was determined to make the beat go on. “I started tapping my feet on this piece of foam that was at the bottom of the bed and then I realized that all the basic rhythms that I’d ever learned growing up I could play,” Allen said. Using a custom-made electronic drum kit, he taught himself to play all over again. “Everything that I used to play with my left arm, I’m now playing with my left foot,” he added.

This past year, the band teamed up for “CMT Crossroads” with Taylor Swift and for the single, “Nine Lives” with Tim McGraw.

And to this day, he continues to inspire his bandmates who never considered replacing him.

But “Nine Lives” could just as easily been the title of the band’s autobiography. And drummer, Rick Allen, yes the one with one arm can give the chapter and verse as to why.

“The fact that he’s still here and he gets up on that stage every night and does that - (mimicking Allen’s one arm in the air) - he is the icon of Def Leppard,” Campbell said. “We’re all brothers.”

“As the car rolled, the seat belt came undone. The seat belt took my arm and I left through the

But recently, Allen has been an inspiration to another band of brothers - wounded warriors

returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan who have also suffered life-changing traumas. “When I sit down with the troops, I talk about celebrating uniqueness as opposed to comparing yourself to yourself how you used to be,” Allen said. Through a foundation he calls Raven Drum, combat veterans like Sgt. First Class Renato Garza get more than just free tickets to a concert. They get a chance to open their hearts and to bare their soul.

other’s lives. “It’s a gift,” Allen said. “And the fantastic thing about Def Leppard is this is a wonderful vehicle to inspire people that are going through some of their darkest moments. It’s a huge reward.” © MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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“We, the soldiers, consider you guys our heroes. And I’d love it if you accepted this,” Garza said to Allen as he presented him with an award. The two then shared an emotional embrace. “So he transformed himself tonight from rock icon to what?” Price asked Garza. “A friend,” Garza replied. Friends who have changed each

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Cutting Corners: Stone Crabs For Less day since they have offered lunch 22 years ago,” said Stu Blumberg, a regular at Joe’s Stone Crab, who says great food doesn’t have to come at a high price. “You can actually come here for lunch comparable to any place else in town if not less,” said Blumberg. Reporting Jorge Estevez jestevez@cbs .com

MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) — A famous South Florida restaurant is making it a bit more affordable for people to dine out. Joe’s Stone Crab on Miami Beach, known for its famous seafood, has other alternatives and deals on their famous Stone Crabs. “I have been coming here every

“We have been able to stand the Great Depression and the ups and downs of the 80’s,” said Johnson to CBS4’s Jorge Estevez.

at “Joe’s Take Away”, a take out counter where you can get all of Joe’s food to go and eat it in the comfort of your own home.

The family has also lowered other fish dinners on the menu by a few dollars each, and as for the stone crabs, you can catch great deals.

We haven’t forgotten about telling you of affordable stone crabs, but first, the restaurant has everyday staples like chopped tenderloin, turkey burgers , and fried chicken each for $5.95. The restaurant also serves fried oysters for $7.95.

“It’s called our Joe’s Classic. It gives you the best Joe’s has to offer,” said Johnson.

“The philosophy of the family at Joe’s is affordable to everyone,” said General Manager Brian Johnson, a part of the Joe’s restaurant family for almost thirty years.

“I feel that the economy definitely reflects that our customers need to get value for their dollar, and we need to be able to deliver it,” said Johnson.

The dish has 4 Stone Crabs, two signature side dishes and the classic key lime pie for $39.95.

An additional value, can be found

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From a Park Bench to the Broadway Stage without one. Pointing out what was once “her” bench in the park she called home, White says, “I don’t know how, but it truly just happened.”

The American Spirit: Terri White’s 40-Block Return Trip From the Despair of Homelessness to Stardom on The Great White Way (CBS) Back in the day, Terri White belted it out with the best them. Holding her own with Liza Minelli, White starred in some of Broadway’s biggest hits, including the Tony Awardnominated musical “Barnum.” But over time, CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports, she got fewer roles -- and the woman who once made her home on The Great White Way found herself

New York City police officer David Taylor says. Taylor knew White from her old nightclub days. And he knew something was wrong.

Homeless by day, at night White tried to make ends meet as a regular on the New York nightclub scene. But that even dried up. She was desperate but had nowhere to go.

“She looked frightened and really, really down, depressed” he says. “I was concerned for her.”

“Sometimes I would just sing in the park,” she recalls, “just to get it out of my system.”

White says, “The next thing I know, he found someone who I could stay with and rest my head, and not be out here freezing.”

Her lowest point? “Not being able to perform. To me that’s life, is performing.” But then an old friend came back into her life. “The street can get pretty desolate at night, and I saw her walking down the street, and she noticed me in the car,”

One phone call, and her life changed.

Her world warmed up again... and now it’s on fire. In just one year, White was back on stage, opening to rave reviews in the Broadway musical “Finian’s Rainbow”.

where more than 30 years ago she made her Broadway debut. Her cast mates say, if that’s not irony, think about the theme of “Finian’s” a ‘40s revival. Explains actor Cheyenne Jackson, “The show is about hope, is about finding your rainbow. She’s lived and she’s survived and it’s really beautiful.” Onstage, White sings the song “Necessity, which includes the line: “The landlord says you can’t pay the rent.” She believes this role and the song she sings were written just for her. “I’ve always thought of being positive from the very beginning,” White says. “It is my theme song. It really is, ‘cause it’s a necessity in life.” Who’s to say life doesn’t imitate art? ©2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.

She’s also back at the St. James Theatre,

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HG Hurricane Guide Reporting Tim Kephart tkephart@cbs .com

MIAMI (CBS4) — As the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season winds down, many South Floridians have given great thanks to the weather phenomenon known as El Niño. The pattern has kept the hurricane season very quiet and South Florida hasn’t even been threatened by a storm. But, that may change as the dry season takes hold, because El Niño still

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El Niño May Hold Stormy Dry Season For S. Florida has the potential for a wet surprise. While hurricanes are stymied by El Niño, severe thunderstorms often increase during the winter/ dry season in South Florida during an El Niño. Some of the worst tornado outbreaks in Florida have occurred during an El Niño. So what is El Niño? It’s defined as a periodic increase in sea surface temperatures in Central and/or Eastern Equatorial pacific waters. In other words, the waters off the west coast of Peru begin to warm up during some years, and shift global weather patterns because of it.

The National Weather Service said that, “If the current El Niño develops as expected, south Florida can expect higher than normal rainfall amounts as well as an increased threat of severe weather, including tornadoes.” The last major tornado outbreak across South Florida was in March of 2003, during another El Niño pattern. Eight tornadoes were spotted on March 23, and one person died when an EF2 (Enhanced Fujita Scale) tornado tore through parts of MiamiDade County.

in the Gulf of Mexico and track northeastward on a track across Florida. Typically, winter storms will push through areas of northern Florida, and southern Alabama and Georgia. In addition to the storms, rainfall in general is expected to increase. As the rain and storminess increases, it also means the temperatures may be below normal during the day due to the increased cloudiness. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) News Powered By

Severe weather, including tornadoes, are more likely during an El Niño because low pressure systems form further to the south

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Why Do We Use Daylight-Saving Time? (CBS) We do this tango twice a year: spring forward in March and fall back in November. But why do we observe daylightsaving time? The history tracks to a concept expressed by Benjamin Franklin, although he didn’t come up with the idea of turning back the clock, reports CBS station WCCO-TV. Franklin wrote a letter to the French in 1784, satirically suggesting the French wake up with the sunrise in order to save on candle wax. He argued that the French would save 64 million pounds of candle wax by taking advantage of natural light. The idea of literally turning back the clock to take advantage of sunlight during the waking hours came from New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson. According to the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, “His shift-work job made him aware of the value of the daylight hours, and on 16 October 1895 he presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society advocating seasonal time adjustment.” In the United States, the World War I effort to conserve coal was the reason states started turning back their clocks. The original idea was to save energy, but it was never a requirement to change the clocks. Some states changed, some did

not. There were even conflicts within the Twin Cities. In 1965, St. Paul decided to begin its daylight-saving time period early to conform to most of the nation. Minneapolis chose to follow Minnesota’s state law, which had the “spring forward” happening later. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 still allowed states to opt in or out to daylight-saving time, but it did set a national date for the changes to take place. Most researchers have found that due to lifestyle changes, the original goal of conserving energy no longer holds. Shifting the daylight just shifts the time that the electricity is used. Even so, in 2007, the federal government added about four extra weeks to the period of daylight-saving time. We spring forward in late March and fall back in early November. The legislation was pushed by retailers, who felt that longer sunlight at night led to an increase in shopping. Some have proposed just staying at daylight-saving time, and never changing the clocks. However, if we didn’t fall back, in early January, sunrise would be at 8:51 a.m. There have been safety reasons cited for changing the clocks, however, hard evidence of a decrease or increase in crashes is hard to come by. The United States isn’t the only country that changes the clocks

(although Arizona and Hawaii do not observe daylight-saving time). All of Europe (except Iceland) changes. Most of Asia, including China and Japan, do

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The Fight To Save Miami Marine Stadium Reporting Eliott Rodriguez erodriguez@cbs. com

MIAMI (CBS4) — The fight to save the Miami Marine Stadium is gaining momentum. The stadium, which was built in 1963, has been closed since Hurricane Andrew. It’s fallen victim to 17 years of total neglect. The walls are marred with graffiti, chairs are falling apart, metal rails are rusted and concrete is crumbling. On a recent visit, the only sign of life was a raccoon roaming the 6,500-seat facility. It’s sad to see the empty stadium overlooking a modern city skyline, but despite all the rust and decay, the movement to save the one-of-a-kind Miami landmark is stronger than ever. In October, the stadium was placed on the World Monument Fund’s watch list of threatened monuments. Earlier this year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation put it on its most endangered list. Singer Jimmy Buffet is now appearing in televised public service announcements in support of the stadium. All this is happening while a grassroots group called Friends of Miami Marine Stadium has grown to some 1,000 members. “It’s a symbol of everything that’s great about Florida— boats, music, water and great Florida fun,” Buffet says in the video, which includes scenes from a 1985 concert. Buffet calls on supporters to contact their commissioners to save the

stadium. The spot ends with the web address for Friends of Miami Marine Stadium, www.marinestadium.org. CBS4’s Eliott Rodriguez spoke to the stadium’s architect Hilario Candela, who was 28 years old and fresh out of architecture school when he was given the assignment to create a waterfront venue for boat racing. Candela, now 75, said he wanted to create something unique to Miami. “My motivation was to create more than a building, something more than an answer to a need,” he said. He succeeded. There is, in fact, no other facility like it in the country. 1967. Candela is saddened to see the stadium in such a sad state of disrepair, but he is heartened by the growing effort to save it. He told Eliott Rodriguez that the facility is structurally sound. After all, he pointed out; it’s made of concrete and withstood the wrath of Hurricane Andrew. Still, it would take at least $30 million to get it re-opened and that’s a huge obstacle especially during these tough economic times. Don Worth, who heads Friends of Miami Marine Stadium, believes the community has finally realized the importance of the stadium. Besides power boat races, it hosted hundreds of concerts and other events. It was the spot where Richard Nixon got a huge hug from Sammy Davis Jr. during the Republican National Convention in 1972. It even has an Elvis connection, having been featured in the Elvis Presley movie “Clambake” in

Even though, the City of Miami is financially strapped, Worth believes city leaders should seek a partnership with the private sector to raise the funds to open the stadium. The $30 million price tag, he says, is small compared to other projects such as the Marlins ballpark and the Performing Arts Center. The biggest fear for supporters is that the stadium share the same fate as another city of Miami property—the Orange Bowl, which was knocked down to make room for a new baseball stadium.

preserved. “To destroy that and to destroy those memories, it is a crime,” he said. Supporters hope the same crime is not committed on the Miami Marine Stadium. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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“The stadium was really on its way to the wrecking ball. Going, going, gone,” Worth said. “This place can be re-invented and if the community gets behind it we have something really special here.”

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H Health Or, People With Pre-Existing Conditions Could Get Charged Much Higher Rates

CHICAGO (CBS) — There’s an inside secret among insurance companies. Many of us don’t know anything about it, but it’s the reason why many people who apply for health coverage are denied. CBS station WBBM-TV discovered the secret while investigating why so many people are falling through the cracks. John Ainsworth is familiar with what can happen to people who apply for health insurance. “I know firsthand why the system has to be overhauled,” he said. Both John and his wife had diabetes when they applied for health insurance, and the company asked about it. “And that was it -- we couldn’t buy a health insurance policy,” John said. Just paying for his medications was prohibitive – more than $1,000 a month. For a time he got his prescriptions filled for free at Chicago’s Cook County’s hospital, in effect passing the burden on to county taxpayers. “We weren’t indigent, we just

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Insurers Deny Medical Coverage With ‘Trigger List’ couldn’t afford to pay the fullfare price at the hospital or doctor,” John said. His case is not unusual. WBBMTV investigators obtained a copy of the “Trigger Diagnosis List,” which is a list of diseases and illness for which insurers can deny coverage. Professor David Dranove of the Kellogg School of Management explains why this happens: “What the insurance company is trying to do is making sure they’re not signing up somebody who is going to immediately run up medical bills for $20,000; $30,000; $50,000.” Even if you can get health insurance with a pre-existing condition, you better be ready to pay plenty. That’s what happened to Edwin Harrison, an accountant who survived colon cancer 15 years ago. He wound up with coverage that cost $850 a month in premiums; it had a $20,000 family deductible. “That’s not per year -- that’s per occurrence,” Harrison said. “But when you have pre-existing conditions, sometimes that’s the only types of policy that are available to you.” Professor Dranove questions the value of such a policy. “This is almost like not having insurance at all,” he said. “This could wipe out somebody’s savings.” To prevent that, reform proposals pending in Washington would cap the amount that can be charged for premiums and deductibles and

provide subsidies to help lowerincome people pay for them. All of the proposals prohibit i n s u r a n c e companies from denying coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition. Whatever you do, Dranove warns, don’t intentionally leave out a preexisting condition when applying for insurance because you could wind up being responsible for 100 percent of the cost of your medical bills. The good news for John Ainsworth is that he has found a

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Fast Facts: H1N1 (Swine) Flu and Vaccinations

MIAMI (CBS4) — 1. What is H1N, also known as Swine Flu? 2009 H1N1 influenza (sometimes called Swine Flu) is caused by a new strain of influenza virus. It has spread to many countries. Like other flu viruses, 2009 H1N1 spreads from person to person through coughing, sneezing, and sometimes through touching objects contaminated with the virus. Signs of 2009 H1N1 can include: • Fatigue • Fever • Sore Throat • Muscle Aches • Chills • Coughing • Sneezing Some people also have diarrhea and vomiting. Most people feel better within a week. But some people get pneumonia or other serious illnesses. Some people have to be hospitalized and some die. 2. How is it different than regular seasonal flu? Seasonal flu viruses change from year to year, but they are closely related to each other. People who have had flu infections in the past usually have some immunity to seasonal flu viruses (their bodies have built up some ability to fi ght off the viruses). The 2009 H1N1 flu virus is a new virus strain. It is very different from seasonal flu viruses. Most people have little or no immunity to 2009 H1N1 flu (their bodies are not prepared to fi ght off the virus). 3. Why is there so much talk about washing your hands for protection. Like seasonal flu, swine flu spreads through the coughs and sneezes of people who are sick. Emphasize to children that they should wash with soap and water long enough to finish singing the alphabet song, “Now I know my ABC’s...” Also use alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

4. What types of vaccines are there? Vaccines are available to protect against 2009 H1N1 influenza. These vaccines are made just like seasonal flu vaccines. • They are expected to be as safe and effective as seasonal flu vaccines. • They will not prevent “influenza-like” illnesses caused by other viruses. • They will not prevent seasonal flu. You should also get seasonal influenza vaccine, if you want to be protected against seasonal flu. Inactivated vaccine (vaccine that has killed virus in it) is injected into the muscle, like the annual flu shot. A live, intranasal vaccine (the nasal spray vaccine) is also available. Some inactivated 2009 H1N1 vaccine contains a preservative called thimerosal to keep it free from germs. Some people have suggested that thimerosal might be related to autism. In 2004 a group of experts at the Institute of Medicine reviewed many studies looking into this theory, and found no association between thimerosal and autism. Additional studies since then reached the same conclusion. The live, intranasal vaccine does not contain thimerosal. 5. Is H1N1 as serious a problem as first thought? So far, swine flu isn’t much more threatening than regular seasonal flu. During the few months of this new flu’s existence, hospitalizations and deaths from it seem to be lower than the average seen for seasonal flu, and the virus hasn’t dramatically mutated. That’s what health officials have observed in the Southern Hemisphere where flu season is now winding down. Still, more people are susceptible to swine flu and U.S. health officials are worried because it hung in so firmly here during the summer -- a time of year the flu usually goes away. 6. Are some people at greater risk from the virus than others? Swine flu is more of a threat to certain groups -- children under 2, pregnant women, people with health problems like asthma, diabetes and heart disease. Teens and young adults are also more vulnerable to swine flu. Ordinary, seasonal flu hits older people the hardest, but not swine flu. Scientists think older people may have some immunity from exposure years earlier to viruses similar to swine flu.

--Who will be recommended to receive the 2009 H1N1 vaccine? CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended that certain groups of the population receive the 2009 H1N1 vaccine when it first becomes available. These target groups include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages of 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems. We do not expect that there will be a shortage of 2009 H1N1 vaccine, but availability and demand can be unpredictable. There is some possibility that initially the vaccine will be available in limited quantities. In this setting, the committee recommended that the following groups receive the vaccine before others: pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact, children 6 months through 4 years of age, and children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions. The committee recognized the need to assess supply and demand issues at the local level. The committee further recommended that once the demand for vaccine for these target groups has been met at the local level, programs and providers should begin vaccinating everyone from ages 25 through 64 years. Current studies indicate the risk for infection among persons age 65 or older is less than the risk for younger age groups. Therefore, as vaccine supply and demand for vaccine among younger age groups is being met, programs and providers should offer vaccination to people over the age of 65. 7. Should children be vaccinated? These groups should be first in line for swine flu shots, especially if vaccine supplies are limited -- people 6 months to 24 years old, pregnant women, health care workers. Also a priority: Parents and caregivers of infants, people with those high-risk medical conditions previously noted. What will be the recommended interval between the first and second dose for

children 9 years of age and under? CDC recommends that the two doses of 2009 H1N1 vaccine be separated by 4 weeks. However, if the second dose is separated from the first dose by at least 21 days, the second dose can be considered valid. 8. Who should NOT get the vaccine, or should wait? You should not get 2009 H1N1 vaccine if you have a severe (life-threatening) allergy to eggs, or to any other substance in the vaccine. Tell the person giving you the vaccine if you have any severe allergies. 2009 H1N1 LAIV should not be given to the following groups. • children younger than 2 and adults 50 years and older • pregnant women, • anyone with a weakened immune system, • anyone with a long-term health problem such as - heart disease - kidney or liver disease - lung disease - metabolic disease such as diabetes - asthma - anemia and other blood disorders • children younger than 5 years with asthma or one or more episodes of wheezing during the past year, • anyone with certain muscle or nerve disorders (such as cerebral palsy) that can lead to breathing or swallowing problems, • anyone in close contact with a person with a severely weakened immune system (requiring care in a protected environment, such as a bone marrow transplant unit), • children or adolescents on long-term aspirin treatment. If you are moderately or severely ill, you might be advised to wait until you recover before getting the vaccine. If you have a mild cold or other illness, there is usually no need to wait. Tell your doctor if you ever had: • a life-threatening allergic reaction after a dose of seasonal flu vaccine, • Guillain-Barré syndrome (a severe paralytic illness also called GBS). These may not be reasons to avoid the vaccine, but a health professional can help you decide. 9. What are the risks of taking the nasally administered (LAIV) vaccine? A vaccine, like any medicine, could cause a serious problem, such as a severe

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allergic reaction. But the risk of any vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small. The risks from 2009 H1N1 LAIV are expected to be similar to those from seasonal LAIV: Mild problems: Some children and adolescents 2-17 years of age have reported mild reactions, including: • runny nose, nasal congestion or cough • fever • headache and muscle aches • wheezing • abdominal pain or occasional vomiting or diarrhea Severe problems: • Life-threatening allergic reactions to vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it is usually within a few minutes to a few hours after the vaccination. • In 1976, an earlier type of inactivated swine flu vaccine was associated with cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). LAIV has not been linked to GBS. What if I have a severe reaction to the NAIV Vaccine? What should I look for? Any unusual condition, such as a high fever or behavior changes. Signs of a severe allergic reaction can include difficulty breathing, hoarseness or wheezing, hives, paleness, weakness, a fast heart beat or dizziness. 10. What are the risks of taking the H1N1 injection? The virus in inactivated 2009 H1N1 vaccine has been killed, so you cannot get influenza from the vaccine. The risks from inactivated 2009 H1N1 vaccine are similar to those from seasonal inactivated flu vaccine: Mild problems: • soreness, redness, tenderness, or swelling where the shot was given • fainting (mainly adolescents) • headache, muscle aches • fever • nausea If these problems occur, they usually begin soon after the shot and last 1-2 days. Severe problems: • Life-threatening allergic reactions to vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it is usually within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot. • In 1976, an earlier type of swine flu vaccine was associated with cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). Since then, flu vaccines have not been clearly linked to GBS.

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What should I do? • Call a doctor, or get the person to a doctor right away. • Tell the doctor what happened, the date and time it happened, and when the vaccination was given. • Ask your provider to report the reaction by fi ling a Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) form. Or you can fi le this report through the VAERS website at www.vaers.hhs.gov, or by calling 1-800-822-7967. 11. Does the vaccine immediately protect you? No. Even those first in line for shots may not have immunity until around Thanksgiving. That’s because it’s likely to take two shots, given three weeks apart, to provide protection for those under ten. For those over 10, it takes a week or two after the shot for the vaccine to take full effect. 12. Have the vaccines been sufficiently tested? The federal government has begun studies in eight cities across the country to assess its effectiveness and figure out the best dose. Vaccine makers are doing their own tests as well. Some critics say too few people have been involved in the tests, but health officials believe this vaccine should be treated like the annual traditional flu vaccine...as a variation of a long tested immunization agent, tweaked for a new strain. 13. Will the seasonal flu vaccine also protect against the 2009 H1N1 flu? The seasonal flu vaccine is not expected to protect against the 2009 H1N1 flu. 14. Can the seasonal vaccine and the 2009 H1N1 vaccine be given at the same time? Inactivated 2009 H1N1 vaccine can be administered at the same visit as any other vaccine. This is the type of vaccine used in shots. Live 2009 H1N1 vaccine, the kind used in nasal inhalers, can be administered at the same visit as any other live or inactivated vaccine EXCEPT seasonal live attenuated influenza vaccine. 15. Do those that have been previously vaccinated against the 1976 swine influenza need to get vaccinated against the 2009 H1N1 influenza? The 1976 swine flu virus and the 2009 H1N1 virus are different enough that its unlikely a person vaccinated in 1976 will have full protection from the 2009 H1N1. People vaccinated in 1976 should still be given the 2009 H1N1 vaccine.

NOVEMBER 2009

16. I’m worried. The H1N1 flu shot vaccine has not yet arrived and flu season is coming. Millions of swine flu shots are available in some states, and are coming to South Florida soon. If you are in one of the priority groups, try to get your shot as early as possible. Check with your doctor or local or state health department about where to do this. Many children should be able to get vaccinated at school. Permission forms will be sent home in advance. 17. Someone in my home or workplace has been tested, and may have H1N1. If exposed before you’re vaccinated, be extra cautious. Stay away from public gathering places like malls, sports events and churches. Try to keep your distance from people in general. Keep washing those hands and keep your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth. 18. What if I get sick? If you have other health problems or are pregnant and develop flu-like symptoms, call your doctor right away. You may be prescribed Tamiflu or Relenza. These drugs can reduce the severity of swine flu if taken right after symptoms start. If you develop breathing problems (rapid breathing for kids), pain in your chest, constant vomiting or a fever that keeps rising, go to an emergency room. Most people, though, should just stay home and rest. Cough into your elbow or shoulder. Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever breaks. Fluids and pain relievers like Tylenol can help with achiness and fever. Always check with a doctor before giving children any medicines. Adult cold and flu remedies are not for them. 19. Where will the vaccine be available? Vaccine will be available in a combination of settings such as vaccination clinics organized by local health departments, healthcare provider offices, schools, and other private settings, such as pharmacies and workplaces. As vaccine is available in South Florida, we’ll share that information here 20. I really don’t want to be vaccinated. Are there other ways to prevent the spread of illness? Take everyday actions to stay healthy. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. If soap and water are not

available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.* Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way. Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them. Sources: Florida Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Miami-Dade Health Department (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) News Powered By

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What Is The Gluten-Free Diet? FORT WORTH, Texas (CBS) — The health claims are popping up everywhere: lose weight, feel more energized. Grocery stores and restaurant chains are hopping on the bandwagon, too. But, what is the real story behind a gluten-free diet?

allergy,” she said, “so we need to buy things that are wheat-free.” Marden now has more choices than ever at places like Whole Foods, which has an entire aisle of glutenfree products. “We’re able to find him bread and baking mixes for cupcakes and pancakes.”

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley and sometimes found in oats. Registered dietician Lona Sandon said, even though only one percent of the population has a gluten sensitivity to things like bread, pasta and cereal, glutenfree dieting has become a fad, reports CBS station KTVT-TV.

And restaurants like Maggiano’s are adapting their menu to glutensensitive customers who want more options. Senior Director of Culinary Keith Brunell said Maggiano’s has “created rice flours to make our chocolate cakes. They’ve created rice flour seasonings that are able to do chicken parmesan. They have found a way to do every item on the menu gluten-free.”

Margaret Campbell switched to a gluten-free diet, even though she has no known sensitivity and the grocery products are more expensive. “It was a total transformation,” she said. Campbell said breads and pastas left her feeling sluggish. She’s been gluten-free now for about a year and has lost 10 to 15 pounds. “The energy level is just amazing,” she said. “I mean, wow, I can’t believe how great it feels.” Sandon said there’s no scientific proof that avoiding gluten provides any medical benefit, unless you have celiac disease or a gluten allergy. “A lot of those claims are unfounded,” she said, “but people are reading them, they’re hearing about them and who doesn’t want to feel better? Who doesn’t want to have more energy?” And as for the weight loss Campbell reported, Sandon explained, “If you start avoiding certain foods like pasta and breads that are made with wheat, you tend to cut out a lot of extra calories and things you were eating before.” But the need is real for people like Anne Marden. “My son has a wheat

There’s been discussion about gluten-free diets helping children with autism. Sandon said gluten sensitivity may be found in some children with the disorder, and removing it from their diet can provide relief from the symptoms. But it is not a cure. Here are some more facts about gluten: -- Eating a gluten-free diet means no barley, rye or wheat (durum, semolina, kamut, spelt). An easy way to remember that is BROW. -- Eating gluten-free is the only way people with gluten intolerances can avoid symptoms, which include abdominal pain, gas and bloating. Those who don’t have gluten intolerances who want to eat gluten-free may perceive it as a healthier way to eat. It could actually help you make better choices, as it really forces people to read food labels. -- There are a lot of foods that are naturally gluten-free. Fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry are all naturally gluten-free. Potatoes and

corn are also gluten-free, which means chips aren’t off limits! FritoLay snacks, such as Lay’s and Tostitos, are made with just three simple ingredients – corn (or potatoes), healthier oils and salt. These are all ingredients that fit into a gluten-free diet. -- When it comes to foods typically made from BROW ingredients, like pastas and cereals, many companies are now making gluten-

free options. But make sure to check the label as companies looking to make gluten-free food taste better often rely on fat to replace gluten. Brands such as Quinoa Corporation and Ener-G are great options and can be found in supermarkets such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Puzzling Increase In Produce Allergies Reporting Cynthia Demos cdemos@cbs.com

MIAMI (CBS4) — If you have allergies, you probably check the pollen counts every day. But now you may need to check something else: your refrigerator. Doctors say more patients are having problems with produce, and exactly why this is happening is still a puzzle. Growing up, 20-year old Salmaan Bokhari says he was the only one in his family who didn’t have allergies.

came into his kitchen and ate some plums, his throat swelled up. “When you can’t breathe it’s like the most horrible feeling in the world,” said Salmaan. He ended up in a hospital. “We were scared,” said Bokhari’s father. As a kid, Salmaan was never allergic to plums. The allergy showed up later. This is not uncommon says, Dr. Mary Kay Tobin, Director of the Allergy Clinical Services at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

“Like my mother, brother, sister, everyone was allergic to cats and dogs,” Salmaan said. “I couldn’t have a pet. I thought it was unfair.”

“They’re stunned, because this just really didn’t occur to them,” said Dr. Tobin.

Salmaan grew up eating fruit but then a few years ago, when he

Tobin says in some areas, fruits and vegetables have developed what’s

called a “protective protein.” These proteins look very similar to tree, grass or weed pollen. So if you’re allergic to pollen you may be allergic to certain produce. She says she’s seeing more cases of fruit and vegetable allergies. “There’s something different in the environment that has caused these changes in the plants,” said Dr. Tobin. Some believe it’s the plant’s way of coping with things like climate change or pesticides. Whatever the reason, The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology says some people who are allergic to ragweed become allergic to fruits like melons and bananas. People who are allergic to grass may begin to have a problem with tomatoes and oranges. Some

people who are allergic to birch pollen can become allergic to potatoes, carrots, celery, and even apples. Salmaan does not suffer from a pollen allergy, but Dr. Tobin says that up to half of all people who do may at some point develop allergies to fruits and vegetables. Allergies to fresh fruits and vegetables fall under what’s called oral allergy syndrome. Symptoms are usually itching and burning of the lips, mouth and tongue. But, for some people, it can be much more serious. Dr. Tobin says some patients report fewer problems with organic produce or cooked fruits and vegetables. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) News Powered By

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R Real Estate Hoping to keep the precarious economic recovery on track, the Senate is considering a plan to extend and expand a stimuluspackage provision giving firsttime homebuyers an $8,000 federal tax credit.

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Others include continued subsidies for laid-off workers trying to keep their health insurance and a proposal by President Barack Obama to provide seniors and others with a $250 payment to make up for the lack of a Social Security cost of living increase next year. “There is a point in time when we

Senate May Expand 1st-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit owe it to our country, we owe it to our economy, we owe it to mainstream America, where we know we have a proven program that works, to extend it and buoy the marketplace,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who is sponsoring a homebuyers’ credit extension with Senate Banking

their proposal as an amendment to a Senate bill that would extend unemployment insurance benefits for the nearly 2 million jobless workers who are due to exhaust their benefits by the end of the year. That bill would give an additional

homeowners’ credit issue should be part of the unemployment bill. But there is powerful backing for taking it up in some form. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., said last week that she is looking into extending and expanding the popular tax credit, which according to IRS data has drawn more than 1.4 million applications from first-time homebuyers for houses in 2008 and 2009. Senate Majority Harry Reid, DNev., last month joined Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., John Ensign, RNev., Debby Stabenow, D-Mich., and Isakson in introducing a bill calling for a straight six-month extension of the tax credit.

One idea now being discussed is to combine the homebuyers’ credit with legislation, strongly backed by the Obama administration, to extend federal assistance to the millions of people in danger of exhausting their unemployment insurance benefits. That bill is likely to reach the Senate floor next week. While the White House says there will not be a second stimulus package following the $787 billion economy booster enacted last February, extending the homebuyers’ credit and unemployment benefits are among several primary means being pushed to help people get through the prolonged economic downturn.

NOVEMBER 2009

One possible obstacle to the more ambitious Isakson-Dodd approach is the cost, about $16.7 billion according to the Joint Committee on Tax. News Powered By

Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. The stimulus-package credit allows first-time homebuyers to reduce their federal income taxes by 10 percent of the price of a home, up to a maximum of $8,000. It is set to expire Dec. 1. The Isakson-Dodd proposal would extend the credit to June 30, 2010. It would also remove the first-time homebuyer requirement and raise the eligibility income limit to $150,000, or $300,000 for a couple. The senators are trying to attach

14 weeks of benefits to jobless workers in all 50 states, and another six weeks on top of that to people in the 27 states where the unemployment rate is at or above 8.5 percent. The national unemployment rate is 9.8 percent. Currently, a laid-off worker in a high unemployment state is entitled to up to 79 weeks of state and federal assistance. The average payment is about $300 a week. Supporters of the extension say it is necessary in an economy where 15 million unemployed are competing for 3 million jobs. Senate Democratic leaders have not decided whether the

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Shorts Sales: What Homeowners Need To Know Fix, although many people seem to shy away from them because they believe they are scams or don’t understand the process.

DENVER (CBS) — Every week in Denver county there are anywhere between 100 and 150 homes that go into foreclosure, CBS station KCNCTV reports. That’s according to Stephanie Fix with RE/MAX, a realtor who specializes in what are called short sales -- a process that can save a homeowner from going into foreclosure. A short sale is where there’s a negotiation with the bank to sell the home for less than what is owed on the mortgage. It’s legal, according to

more paperwork, and they can take up to 90 days to close on, according to Fix.

“They key is to make sure that an agent who has a listing has experience negotiating with the bank, marketing the property, communicating to the buyers throughout the process ... sometimes it can take 90 days,” said Fix. “If you are patient, you find a good short sale with a good listing agent who knows what they’re doing, then, as a buyer there are some incredible deals out there right now.”

For financially-struggling sellers who need to sell their homes, the short sale process is a way to avoid foreclosure, which would be much more damaging to their credit than a short sale. Fix says sometimes the bank can come back and ask that seller pay the difference between what the home sold for and what was owed on the mortgage, but she also says that a good realtor or an attorney can often negotiate with the bank and reduce the amount that is owed in the end.

For example, Fix is currently working to sell a $2.5 million home through the short sale process. The current bid on the home is $850,000. For a buyer looking to find a good deal on a home, a short sale can do just that. They do require more negotiating,

Fix says there are basically three things sellers need to sell a home through the short sale process. The home needs to be listed and marketed by a realtor, a strong offer has to be brought to the table, and the seller has to prove that he or she is in financial

distress. “It (financial distress) can be medical, it can be a divorce, it can be a job relocation where someone has to move for a job,” she said. “Those are the reasons that we do short sales. Just remember that you can’t have assets in your savings or your checking account -- you truly have to be financially distressed.” Additional Resources To learn more about the short sale process, watch Stephanie Fix in our “Web Extra” in the video player to the right as she explains what it is, how to qualify for a short sale as a seller, and what you can expect if you’re trying to buy a short sale. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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New York Apartment Going For Cool $25M Upper Floors Of Brooklyn Clock Tower Building Home To 7,000 Square Foot Palace, With Majestic Views Of NYC Skyline

have the Manhattan skyline as a picture right in front of you. The Statue of Liberty,” Abehsera said.

BROOKLYN (CBS) — There are certain properties that defy the current downturn in real estate. These trophy apartments have price tags and pedigrees that put them outside of the reach of all but a select few.

The kitchen is top of the line with state of the art everything. Overall, the apartment is 7,000 square feet, including 3,000 on the main floor alone.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t take a look inside the most expensive apartment in Brooklyn. The location is a former industrial section of Brooklyn known as Dumbo. The property is located on the top three floors in the Clock Tower Building, a New York City landmark. The price is $25 million, reports CBS station WCBS-TV in New York City. “You’d have to be insane in this kind of economy to put a $25 million triplex in the market, but I think that the answer is that there is no market or timing for something like this,” Asher Abehsera said. And “time” is certainly a theme here -- with the most notable feature of this one of a kind penthouse being the iconic clocks inside, they’re 14-foot high windows. In every direction, there are stunning views of the city. “You’re literally looking at the icons of New York. You have the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges right in your face. You

Access is by private elevator, and once inside, “We created an elevator in the core of the space that’s enclosed in glass and a staircase that’s glass and steel,” Abehsera said. The interior elevator takes you to the upper floors where there are three light-filled bedrooms, and luxurious bathrooms. The master features a tub opening up to the city expanse. And ascending even higher there’s a roof deck that is half open, half enclosed. “You literally have 360-degree unobstructed views of the entire NYC skyline, from Staten Island to Jersey to all of Brooklyn. It’s really special. It’s a ‘wow’ space,” Abehsera said. The apartment is currently available, but there are reports the developer is trying to interest Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire who is said to be interested in buying the New Jersey Nets and moving them to Brooklyn. And for the record, the most expensive condo that has sold in Brooklyn to date is on the 14th

floor of building.

the

clock

tower

That one is a relative bargain at

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Earnings And Housing Dominates Wall Street’s Week market has truly hit bottom just yet.

Reporting Tim Kephart tkephart@cbs .com

NEW YORK (CBS4) — Apple, Google and the housing market all helped drive the Dow Jones Industrial average up…and down through the past week. The tech giants reported good earnings, while a mixed bag of housing numbers gave economists pause on whether or not the housing

Monday, the Dow moved above 10,000 again thanks to solid corporate earnings reports by multiple companies. Apple’s stock enjoyed a week-long rally that took the stock above $200 per share. But analysts cautioned that gains from the large companies have been based on cutting costs and not on higher revenues from consumers spending again. By Tuesday, the housing market reported both good and troubling news. Home construction was up 0.5 percent during the month of September, but that was less than analysts had expected. A new study also warned that home prices are likely to see a double-

digit dive through the next year, especially in South Florida. On Wednesday, the Fed joined in the good news/bad news economic reports. The Fed says there are new signs the recession is ending, but then warned that bad loans on commercial real estate (similar to the bad home loans that recently went belly-up) could be the next big problem for the economy. Thursday, the government reported new numbers that show there will be more pain for now, as jobless claims rose by 11,000. But, a separate report said that the economic recovery should be well underway by early in 2010. The only question will be whether the recovery is for job seekers, or for companies who have

continued to cut back. And on Friday, the latest housing report showed consumers are rushing to take advantage of the new first-time homebuyer’s tax credit of $8,000. Wholesale oil prices ran around $80 a barrel throughout the week. And while the corporate earnings show many companies still struggling, they aren’t in as bad of a shape as they were earlier in the year. CBS4’s Donna Thomas contributed to this report (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) News Powered By

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Chinese Drywall Victims Losing Insurance Policies At Least Three Insurers Have Canceled Or Refused To Renew Policies Citizens Property Insurance Corp Has Received 23 Claims About Chinese Drywall, And Has So Far Denied Five Florida Office Of Insurance Regulation: Cancellations Are Legal. No Law Prevents Insurance Companies From Canceling Policies Because Of Chinese Drywall

policies after homeowners sought their help replacing the bad wallboard. Because mortgage companies require homeowners to insure their properties, they are then at risk of foreclosure, yet no law prevents the cancellations. “This is like the small wave that’s out on the horizon that’s going to continue to grow and grow until it

between 2004 and to have built tens homes. They concentrated in especially Florida.

2008 -- enough of thousands of are heavily the Southeast,

The defective materials have since been found by state and federal agencies to emit “volatile sulfur compounds,” and contain traces of strontium sulfide, which can

In each instance, the insurer learned of the drywall through a claim filed by the homeowner seeking financial help with its removal.

WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) — South Florida homeowners, along with those in other parts of the country are dealing with more bad news concerning Chinese drywall. Insurers are dropping homeowners’ policies due to the defective drywall. James and Maria Ivory’s dreams of a relaxing retirement on Florida’s Gulf Coast were put on hold when they discovered their new home had been built with Chinese drywall that emits sulfuric fumes and corrodes pipes. It got worse when they asked their insurer for help -- and not only was their claim denied, but they’ve been told their entire policy won’t be renewed. Thousands of homeowners nationwide who bought new houses constructed from the defective building materials are finding their hopes dashed, their lives in limbo. And experts warn that cases like the Ivorys’, in which insurers drop policies or send notices of nonrenewal based on the presence of the Chinese drywall, will become rampant as insurance companies process the hundreds of claims currently in the pipeline. At least three insurers have already canceled or refused to renew

hit with a second and third wave of bad news: Their insurers are declining to fill their claims, then canceling the policy or issuing notices that policies won’t be renewed until the problem is fixed. The homeowners have little recourse since neither the Chinese manufacturers nor the Chinese government are likely to respond to any lawsuits or reimburse them for the defective drywall.

The Ivorys have sued, but it could take months for their case and hundreds like it to work their way through the courts. In the meantime, they have moved back to Colorado because their threebedroom ranch home two miles from the Gulf of Mexico is unlivable and soon will be uninsured.

becomes a tsunami,” said Florida attorney David Durkee, who represents hundreds of homeowners who are suing builders, suppliers and manufacturers over the drywall. “This is going to become critical mass very shortly.” During the height of the U.S. housing boom, with building materials in short supply, American construction companies imported millions of pounds of Chinesemade drywall because it was abundant and cheap. An Associated Press analysis of shipping records found that more than 500 million pounds of Chinese gypsum board was imported

produce a rotten-egg odor, along with organic compounds not found in American-made drywall. Homeowners complain the fumes are corroding copper pipes, destroying TVs and air conditioners, and blackening jewelry and silverware. Some believe the wallboard is also making them ill. The federal government is studying the problem and considering some sort of relief for homeowners. Meanwhile, the AP interviewed several homeowners who, like the Ivorys, were unlucky enough to purchase properties built with Chinese drywall, and are now being

“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster,” said James Ivory, who is still making mortgage payments on the house. “It was all in our heads, nice weather down there, calm life, beaches. Now I don’t know what to do.” John Kuczwanski, a spokesman for the Ivorys’ insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., said their claim was denied because the drywall is considered a builder defect, which is not covered under the policy. It also considers the drywall a pre-existing condition that could lead to future damage, which is why the company won’t renew the policy unless the problem is fixed. “If someone were to have bought a new car and there was a defective

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part, would that person go to their auto insurance to get that fixed or would they go back to the manufacturer?” Kuczwanski said. “We provide insurance, not warranty service.” Citizens, a last-resort insurer backed by the state of Florida for people who can’t find affordable coverage elsewhere, has received 23 claims about Chinese drywall, and has so far denied five. Citizens could not immediately say how many policies had been canceled or not renewed because of the drywall.

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to later discover it had Chinese drywall. They filed a claim with their insurer, Universal Insurance Co. of North America, and were denied. Universal then sent the couple a letter, stating their policy was being dropped because “the dwelling was built with Chinese drywall.” The couple then signed on with Citizens, but didn’t divulge the

their houses. “I really believe everybody should have an insurance claim with this,” Becnel said. “But it’s hard to tell somebody to go make a claim, then they lose their policy. This is a nightmare for people.” “I tell people flat out if you file, you may lose your insurance,” agreed Mississippi attorney Steve Mullins, who has about 100 clients

Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, agreed that homeowners policies were never meant to cover “faulty, inadequate or defective” workmanship, construction or materials.

NOVEMBER 2009

policies had been canceled or not renewed. Whitfield offered to move back into the house, but he said he was told he’d first have to replace the drywall. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. (© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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Tom Zutell, spokesman for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, said the cancellations are troubling, but legal. No law prevents insurance companies from canceling policies because of Chinese drywall. “We are staying out of the fray at the moment,” he said. Even if a homeowner does not file a claim over the drywall and remains covered, they could later be denied a claim for a fire or another calamity if insurance investigators determine the home contained undisclosed Chinese drywall. “If you think that by not telling your insurance company about the drywall that you’re protected, you’re sadly mistaken,” Durkee said. A newly married couple in Hallandale Beach saved up for five years to buy their first home only

drywall issue, and hasn’t filed another claim. The 31-year-old man requested anonymity because he’s afraid of losing his insurance policy, and thus his home. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do if that happened,” he said. “All this has basically taken us back five years. We saved money to buy this home.” Universal did not respond to requests for comment. Louisiana lawyer Daniel Becnel Jr., who represents more than 200 owners of homes containing Chinese drywall, is advising his clients to avoid filing claims with their insurers or they could lose

with Chinese drywall in their homes. One of Mullins’ clients, Chris Whitfield, a 29-year-old tire repairman in Picayune, Miss., says he moved out of his house because the drywall was making his family sick. His claim was then denied by his insurer, Nationwide, which followed up with notice that he would be dropped because his policy didn’t cover unoccupied dwellings. Nationwide spokeswoman Liz Christopher declined to comment on Whitfield’s case and could not say how many drywall claims had been submitted or how many

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Once Fierce Competitors on the Basketball Court, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird Have Turned into Fierce Friends

Shooting Stars and would tell you, ‘You can’t stop me. I’m gonna get about 40 tonight.’ Then he would go out there and get 40.”

(Left: Michigan State’s Johnson and Indiana State’s Bird during a news conference in Salt Lake City, March 25, 1979.)

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Magic Johnson ran the fastbreaking, high-flying show-time offense of the L.A. Lakers to 5 NBA championships with sleight of hand and a joyful exuberance.

“He looks like a guy who just got off a dump truck - I mean, hair not combed or brushed. He sloppy dresses, so everything is wrinkled. Larry Bird does not look like a basketball player,” Johnson said.

(CBS) Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were quite the basketball players in their day. Quite the competitors, too. Today they’re the best of friends, and happy to talk about how that came to be. Jim Axelrod has the view from courtside: It doesn’t happen often in the world of sports . . . two great champions face off in their primes - and push each other to levels they would have never reached on their own. Think boxers Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. But they didn’t become best friends. Which makes the rivalry born 30 years on a basketball court, when Magic Johnson played Larry Bird for the college championship, a rivalry like no other. “He was always smiling,” said Bird. “And as I told Magic, my goal my whole career was trying to knock out his two front teeth,” he laughed. “Then he wouldn’t be smiling so much.” “When I saw Larry, I wasn’t smilin’,” Johnson replied. “Now, normally, I have a nice big smile. But Larry Bird took that smile right away.” During his Hall of Fame career playing for the Boston Celtics, Larry Bird was a one-man highlight show of dazzling no-look passes and last-second, buzzer beaters. No one was better when the game was on the line. “He’s cocky and confident,” Johnson said. “He looked at you,

“I always thought he was, like, a step ahead of everyone else,” Bird said. “His intelligence was above and beyond anyone else I’ve played against.” They both grew up poor in the Midwest . . . Johnson in L a n s i n g , Michigan, Bird the pride of French Lick, Indiana. As a teenager, Bird wore out this backboard, nailed to the garage of his childhood home. He practiced endlessly, heeding a warning from his high school coach: “In the summer, we was always on the courts and one night, it was getting late, and he came by,” Bird recalled. “And he knew we’d been there for a long time. And that’s when he said, ‘No matter what you do out here, there’s always somebody doing a little bit more.’ “ “Did you believe him?” Axelrod asked. “I believed him. And he was right. It was Magic,” Bird said. (AP Photo/Jerome McLendon) Magic Johnson first saw Bird on a college all-star team.

“And we started scrimmaging, man, did he come alive. It was like a new guy, another person. And man, could he p l a y basketball.” “Didn’t matter his hair wasn’t combed?” A x e l r o d asked. “It didn’t matter. At that time, it didn’t matter. His hair wasn’t combed, his sock bein’ dirty. Tennis shoes bein’ old. Oh my goodness! And what you did with Larry Bird, you just sat there, your mouth just was open like, ‘Wow. . . ‘” “You know, I can remember going home and telling my older brother that I’d just seen the best basketball player I’ve ever seen,” Bired recalled. “And you know, he goes on - Yeah, yeah, whatever. Then once he sees Magic play, he came back and says, ‘You’re right. He is better than you!” For the next 15 years they were obsessed with each other . . . not just during the three times the Lakers and Celtics squared off for the NBA championship, but even during summer workouts when they were supposed to be taking it easy.

“I always said, ‘I know what he’s doing. I know he’s still out there,’” Bird said, “and I’d get up an extra 200 or 300 shots, just because of him. And I had other things I wanted to do that day, but I couldn’t do it a lot of days, because of him. I did it.” “That can make you hate a guy!” Axelrod said. “Well, I was wanting to hate him. That was in my mind. He was the enemy.” “The ultimate respect that Larry Bird got, especially in the Black community, was like, ‘I don’t care if he’s white or not, that guy can sure play basketball,’ Johnson laughed. “And so, you know, you’re sitting in the barbershop and people are talking about ‘Larry Bird,’ ‘Larry Bird,’ ‘Larry Bird.’ So, I’m sitting there like, ‘Hurry up and cut my hair, I gotta get into the gym,’ you know? It was driving me crazy! “He made me always watch my game and evaluate it to his standards, not to just my own standards,” Johnson said. “But I’m saying, ‘What would Larry do? How many shots has Larry taken?’ You know? So, I’m always watchin’ his stat line. ‘What did Larry do last night?’ So, no matter what, I was always watching Larry Bird.” Mutual respect may have been pushing them to the top of their games. But friendship? That was out of the question. Bird said it was a good thing there was no personal relationship between them on the basketball court. “You keep the competitive edge,” he explained. “Well, that’s what really fueled him and motivated him,” Johnson said.

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“And then I had to say, ‘I don’t want to get to know him, either,’ because we didn’t want to like each other.” That’s the way it stayed . . . until 1984, when Converse, the sneaker company, paid big bucks to get both men to film a commercial at Larry Bird’s home outside French Lick. Typically they exchanged few words during the morning shoot. Then they broke for lunch . . . “I’m thinking I’m going to my trailer and eat,” Johnson said. “So he says, ‘No . . . No, man, you’re eating with me. My mom prepared lunch for us up there in the house.’ So, we go up there. His mother’s so sweet, bless her heart. She was just so sweet.” (CBS) “Yeah, we talked, we talked quite a bit that day,” Bird said. “And it wasn’t about basketball. It was about, you know, how he grew up, about his family, and just wasn’t about the NBA.” “And we didn’t want to leave,” Johnson said. “It was like an hour, hour-and-a-half break. We talked about everything from us growing up poor, and how we grew up. And it was just on and on and on. The rest of the commercial, they couldn’t get us to stop talking.” The ice may have started to melt during Magic Johnson’s trip to Bird’s home to film the commercial. But there was no way these two men were going to be able to go any deeper into their relationship - at least not then, while they were still playing. “It could have happened a lot earlier, if I let it,” Bird said. “I knew that. But I closed the door.” They played against each other for seven more seasons, until one day

NOVEMBER 2009

in 1991, their days as rivals came to a stunning end.

drop everything and do what you gotta do to help.”

Magic Johnson called a news conference to announce he had HIV. He was retiring.

“In life you don’t get but so many people that you know would be there in the middle of the night,” Axelrod said.

“And when I announced HIV, the first call I got was Larry Bird. First call. You know? He’s crying and just, you know, checking on me, you know? And after all we’ve been through, you know? All the battles, and all the wars. And here he’s taking the time to just say, ‘Man, I love you. I care about you. I hope everything’s all right. What can I do to help you?’” The games were over. Something real and lasting was emerging in their place. Bird said when he hung up the phone from that call he couldn’t sleep: “‘Cause at that time, you thought it was a death sentence. Eight, seven, eight years, you’re dead.” Johnson offered that Bird was there for him “from day one.” The next summer Johnson came out of retirement to join Bird on the Dream Team that won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics. There they discovered the same passion that had driven them apart . . . now bound them tightly together. (CBS) “The one thing, though, I know is, if I ever had problems with my son, with my marriage, anything, if I call him he will be there, and vice versa,” Bird said. “That’s a powerful thing?” “Yes,” Bird said, “in a heartbeat,

“One, in my case. I got a lot of good friends, but one. And it’s him.” Johnson’s reaction: “Wow. He he’s gonna make me start crying in a second here. He shouldn’t have said that. Oh boy.” “So, how did you get there?” A x e l r o d asked. “Wow, I don’t know. When somebody you know puts in the time like you. And also got a big heart like you have.” “We were there for each other, just like now,” Johnson said. “We’ll always be there for each other. It’s something that - forget the color of the skin, we’re the same. We’re just alike. We’re just alike.” Their playing days over, both men have found success off the court as well. Larry Bird runs the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. Magic Johnson has built a $700 million business empire headquartered in Beverly Hills. They’ve collaborated on a new book about their 30 years together, “When the Game Was Ours” (Houghton Mifflin), the story of how the competitive fires that stoked them to NBA championships and gold medals needed to be

tamped down before they could bask in the warmth of real friendship. “We had similar backgrounds,” said Bird. “We both worked hard, and just our love of the game, I always said if we grew up in the same towns and we played basketball, we’d have been best friends.” “We may not talk for two, three months, but boy, we get on that phone, we just continue on and on and on and on,” Johnson said. “That’s what makes it beautiful, that we don’t have to talk every day. But he knows I got him. And I know he’s got me.”

For more info: magicjohnson.org nba.com nba.com Indiana Pacers “When the Game Was Ours” by Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, with Jackie MacMullan (Houghton Mifflin) | Excerpt Legend of French Lick Inn & Resort © MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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NOVEMBER 2009

Hard Hat Tour: Marlins Stadium At 100 Days its opening day in April 2012. The stadium is being built one beam at a time. So far, construction has focused on erecting the north track super columns which will support the retractable roof. At approximately 130-feet in the air, the north track super columns have now been topped out and new construction phases are in the works.

Reporting Lisa Cilli lcilli@wfor.cbs .com MIAMI (CBS4) — Grab your hard hat. The Florida Marlins hosted a hard hat tour of the new Marlins Ballpark in Miami. While it’s far from being ready for the first pitch, the ballpark has come a long way just 100 days after construction began. The Florida Marlins broke ground on the new 37,000 seat stadium in midJuly. Since then, the new stadium has been slowly coming to life ahead of

“These are the four main columns for the north side and they are the basis for the entire operable roof system. They climb the height of 138 height,” said Sid Perkins, a Hunt Moss contractor. The retractable roof was always a priority for the Florida Marlins. So was the Southeast orientation of the diamond which takes into consideration the sun and the shade. The stadium will also have unobstructed views of Miami’s skyline made possible by six operable glass panels.

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy for the Marlins. For years, county and city leaders struggled with the idea of finding funding for the new stadium, so as not to overburden the local taxpayers. Deals came and went until in the last year, a deal agreeable to both sides was struck and passed by the city and county commissions. Now those involved say they are living up to what was promised. We’ve had a very strong local presence, so far 61-percent of the firms are local, are from Miami-Dade County, we had a responsibility in our deal to do a 35-percent goal and we are tracking right now over 61percent,” said Claude Delorme Sr., V.P. Ballpark Development. The ballpark will be located on the parcel of land bordered by NW 6th Street to the north, NW 4th Street to the south, NW 16th Avenue to the west and NW 14th Avenue to the east. With a capacity of

approximately 37,000 spectators, the retractable roof, air-conditioned ballpark will contain 928,000 square feet on the former Orange Bowl site. Since the Marlins inaugural season in 1993, the team has shared Dolphin Stadium, now called Land Shark Stadium, with the Miami Dolphins. The team believes a retractable-roof facility will help draw more fans during South Florida’s hot and rainy summers. The team, which won World Series titles in 1997 and 2003, will be renamed the Miami Marlins when the new stadium opens in April 2012. Click here to follow the ballparks progress from a webcam that overlooks the site of the new ballpark. CBS4’S Marybel Rodriguez contributed to this report. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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Meet The Chicago Cubs’ New Owners CHICAGO (CBS) — The Ricketts family formally introduced themselves to the media and to Chicago on Friday, officially starting the Ricketts era for the Cubs. But there’s much more to the story than what they told the media, reported CBS station WBBM-TV WBBM spent extensive time with Tom Ricketts, the organization’s new chairman, and with his two brothers, Pete and Todd, and their sister, Laura, before the family’s coming-out party. Tom Ricketts made one thing clear: They are fans, first, who put in serious time at Wrigley’s bleachers. “People should just be comfortable with the fact that we’re fans, and we’re going to do what’s right for the team and what’s right for the stadium,” he said. At the downtown headquarters of his international bond-trading firm, Incapital, his office features Cubs souvenirs sprinkled among family photos. “All the kids have played baseball, and I coached all of them,” Tom Ricketts, the North Shore father of five, said. He grew up, middle class, in Omaha, Neb. The family fortune came later from his parents founding Ameritrade. Tom came to Chicago for college and fell in love -- with his wife and the city. He takes the train to work every day. He gets to Cubs games on the L. “Easiest way to get there, sure,” Ricketts said.

The contrast between his downtown office and his cramped Cubs quarters at Wrigley Field is striking. He’s already planning to move Cubs personnel out of the stadium proper to land next door, which now a parking lot. He also would like to offer fans a few more options, including a gift shop, and batting cages kids and nice restaurants. Those would be more options than he and his brother, Pete, had back in the 1980s, when they roomed together at an apartment near Addison and Sheffield. “We’re all Cubs fans, and this is a dream come true,” Pete Ricketts, a former GOP congressional candidate from Nebraska, said. During a tour of the old neighborhood, Tom Ricketts said he doesn’t envision trying to add more night games, at least not in the short term. “I think part of it is, we want to be good neighbors and be part of the community,” Rickets said. He remembered sunny summer afternoons spent in the bleachers. “We would sit in the front row of center field, and part of reason was, you could sit right over the beer vendor,” he said. “He could just hand beers up to the front row, so it would save a lot of trouble.” His brothers and sister were often with him, dreaming like so many others, what they’d do if they owned the Cubs. Laura, an attorney and gay-rights advocate, had her own ideas. “No question: Improve the ladies’ room” at Wrigley, she said. “More

women’s restrooms. No lines. No missing a whole inning just to use the ladies’ room.”

“I think our initial reaction was, Hey, good luck, you should go for it,’” Pete Ricketts said.

As he walked in the rain in Wrigleyville, Tom Ricketts chatted about the family’s love for the Cubs, the city and for Wrigley Field.

“I think we all thought it a bit crazy and likely never happen, but here we are,” Laura said.

“The experience here is special,” he said. “A lot of the newer stadiums were built to look like an old stadium. Our thought is, we have that.” Tom Ricketts said he first broached the idea of buying the team with his family members. “I brought it up a few years ago with everybody, when the (thenowner) Tribune was struggling a bit, looking for some different solutions,” he said. “I said, ‘Hey, the team might be for sale, let’s just kind of throw our hat in the ring and see what happens.’” None of the family members held out against the idea.

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A Automotive Ford is the only Big Three automaker to be cited by Consumer Reports as producing cars with “world class reliability,” according to the magazine’s latest survey. Asian brands again dominated the magazine’s 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey, with eight of the top 10 brands from Japanese and Korean companies. But several Ford Motor Co. models were as dependable - or better than the industry’s best, scoring above perennial leaders Honda and Toyota. Consumer Reports found that 90 percent (or 46 out of 51) of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles had average or better reliability. “Ford is definitely doing something right,” said Rik Paul, the magazine’s automotive editor. Brands from Chrysler and General Motors, on the other hand, continued to struggle, with Chrysler coming up last among 33 brands sold in the U.S. Asian brands have scored best in the survey for years. The magazine said Toyota’s Scion small-car brand topped the reliability list for the second year in a row.

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Consumer Reports: Ford Is ‘World Class’ Honda, Toyota, Infiniti and Acura rounded out the top five. Ford’s Mercury, finishing at 10, was the only Detroit brand to rank in the top tier. The Ford brand finished 16th, and Lincoln finished 20th, largely due to higher-end models - many with all-wheeldrive - scoring below average in reliability, said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ senior automotive engineer. “Those types of problems are keeping them from being truly world class,” Fisher said. Bennie Fowler, Ford’s vice president of global quality, said the company is applying the same methods that worked with the Fusion and other models to the ones that didn’t perform as well. The company constantly listens to customer complaints and tracks warranty claims to improve quality, he said. “We know that the quality levels today have to be greater tomorrow,” he said. Of the 48 models with top reliability scores, 36 are from Asian automakers: Toyota (18), Honda (8), Nissan (4), and three each from Hyundai/Kia and Subaru. The findings, released today, are based on surveys taken in March by magazine or online subscribers who own or lease 1.4 million vehicles. Based on those responses, Consumer Reports predicted the reliability of 2010 models. Among family sedans, Ford’s 4-

cylinder Fusion and the Mercury Milan ranked higher than all other models except for Toyota’s Prius. The Ford cars outscored Honda’s Accord and Toyota’s Camry, the two topselling cars in America, “which many people view as the paradigms of reliability,” Paul said.

The Consumer Reports survey also found that higher-priced cars aren’t necessarily more reliable than less-expensive ones. Inexpensive small cars and midsize family sedans were the most reliable in the survey, which questions subscribers about 17 potential problem areas.

The Lincoln MKZ also topped rivals in its class, the Acura TL and Lexus ES, but other Lincoln models fared less well.

Complete results will be in Consumer Reports’ December issue (due out Nov. 2), or can be accessed by subscribers on the Consumer Reports Web site.

The least reliable vehicle, Volkswagen’s Touareg, is 27 times more likely to have a problem than the most reliable car, Honda’s Insight hybrid, according to the magazine. Among GM cars, 20 of 48 models surveyed had average reliability scores.

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One third of Chrysler’s models were much worse than average in reliability. Last year Consumer Reports said it could not recommend any Chrysler product. However, this year the editors said they could recommend the redesigned, four-wheel-drive Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. Paul said automakers often can only make quality improvements when new models come out, and those have been few for Chrysler in the last two years. “Hopefully for them, when they do release new models, they will still have the same level of quality that we saw in the Ram,” he said.

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