Survey shows better lending climate

Most Miami-Dade businesses believe they have easier access to borrowed money amid a slowly improving economy.

That’s one result from a recent survey of executives by Miami’s Bilzin Sumberg law firm. The online survey of about 200 top executives was conducted during the second half of 2012.

Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they thought the financing environment had improved since 2011, with venture capital funds and community banks identified as the top sources of potential capital. Fifty-two percent called the economy “growing slowly,’’ compared to 7 percent describing it as “strong and growing.” Only 16 percent described the economy as weak.

DOUGLAS HANKS

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New poll: Many Florida voters say they wouldn’t re-elect Scott as governor

TALLAHASSEE --
Gov. Rick Scott continues to suffer from poor approval ratings despite an improving economy and lowering unemployment, and a majority of voters say they wouldn’t vote to re-elect him, a new poll shows.

The poll found, among other things, that many voters are crediting the Obama administration with an improving economy, rather than Scott.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed Florida voters disapprove by 45-36 percent of the job Scott is doing, and 52 percent said he doesn’t deserve a second term, compared to just 30 percent who told pollsters Scott should be re-elected.

The poll also found that 55 percent of voters — including 53 percent of Republicans — say they’d like another Republican to challenge Scott for the GOP nomination in 2014.

Republican voters do give Scott a positive 63-19 percent job approval rating, however, and GOP voters say by a 55-26 percent margin that he deserves a second term.

“Obviously, the governor has almost two years to go until the election and anything is possible, but he faces a herculean task in changing public opinion to his favor,” said Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown.

Scott, who has struggled with negative approval ratings since being elected in 2010, plans to seek re-election next year. The only declared candidate challenging him is Democratic former state Sen. Nan Rich. Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who is now a Democrat, is considering a run, and Democrat Alex Sink, who narrowly lost to Scott in 2010, is thought to be mulling a rematch.

Crist, who was governor as a Republican from 2007 to 2011 and lost a bid as an independent in 2010 for the U.S. Senate, has a 47 percent favorable rating and 33 percent unfavorable mark among all voters, according to the Quinnipiac poll. His favorability among Democrats is 65 percent and among independents is 48 percent, but only 28 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of Crist, compared to 56 percent who have an unfavorable view.

Sink overall is viewed favorably by just 27 percent of voters and unfavorably by 14 percent, but 57 percent of respondents didn’t have an opinion.

Among four other possible Democratic challengers the poll asked about — Rich, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and South Florida businessman and former lawmaker Jack Seiler — none has a favorability score of more than 17 percent and the overwhelming number of respondents said they didn’t know enough about them to have an opinion.

The only other Republican the pollsters tested was Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, thought by many to be a likely candidate for governor in the future. But 80 percent of voters don’t have an opinion currently about Putnam, a longtime former Congressman and former state legislator.

Respondents said they dislike Scott’s policies by 52 percent to 32 percent, though nearly half of voters say they’re at least somewhat satisfied with the way things are going in Florida — the highest so far during Scott’s term. The poll didn’t ask specifically what policies voters don’t like.

Scott has staked his success on creating jobs, and has been able to boast about a falling unemployment rate for several months. Florida’s jobless rate fell in October to 8.5 percent, its lowest level since December 2008, and non-farm employment has grown for more than 27 straight months. When Scott got elected, unemployment in the state was at 12 percent, so he has made good to some degree on his main promise of getting people back to work.

Pollsters found, however, that many voters are crediting the Obama administration with the improving economy. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said the president deserves “a lot” of the credit for the improving economy, to just 16 percent who think Scott deserves “a lot” of the credit. Similarly, though, those voters who believe the economy is getting worse, overwhelmingly blame Obama rather than Scott.

The poll also found a 52-30 percent approval rating for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and a 51-31 percent approval rating for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat. The Legislature, generically, is seen negatively by 44 percent of respondents with just 35 percent approving of lawmakers on the whole.

The poll included 1,261 registered voters and was taken Dec. 11-17. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

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Facebook CEO Zuckerberg donating $500M in stock

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he is donating nearly $ 500 million in stock to a Silicon Valley charity with the aim of funding health and education issues.

Zuckerberg donated 18 million Facebook shares, valued at $ 498.8 million based on their Tuesday closing price. The beneficiary is the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a nonprofit that works with donors to allocate their gifts.

This is Zuckerberg’s largest donation to date. He pledged $ 100 million in Facebook stock to Newark, N.J., public schools in 2010, before his company went public earlier this year. Later in 2010, he joined Giving Pledge, an effort led by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Warren Buffett to get the country’s richest people to donate most of their wealth. His wife, Priscilla Chan, joined with him.

In a Facebook post Tuesday, Zuckerberg, 28, said he’s “proud of the work” done by the foundation that his Newark donation launched, called Startup: Education, which has helped open charter schools, high schools and others.

With the latest contribution, he added, “we will look for areas in education and health to focus on next.” He did not give further details on what plans there may be for funds.

“Mark’s generous gift will change lives and inspire others in Silicon Valley and around the globe to give back and make the world a better place,” said Emmett D. Carson, CEO of the foundation.

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Killer Joe Exclusive Clip

When Matthew McConaughey first read the script for Killer Joe, he was at a loss for words. "I didn't get any of the humor," he says in ETonline's exclusive clip off the DVD's bonus features.

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McConaughey was so perplexed by the script, he nearly passed on the project. "It took me a couple days to shake that off," the actor says, adding that he searched out the advice of others in making the final decision. "[I talked to] some peers of mine, who I trust their reads on things, who said, 'No, it's hilarious.' And they pointed out how and why."

VIDEO - McConaughey's First ET Interview

And it looks like he made the right decision as the role not only scored McConaughey an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor, but also some of the best reviews of his career!

Although, it turns out, McConaughey wasn't exactly what the writer was looking for ... check out ETonline's exclusive clip off the Killer Joe DVD, in stores December 21, to find out how the actor ended up snagging the role. Then click here to pre-order!

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Cop in critical condition after elephant trunk attack

A cop is in critical condition after he was beaten in Hamilton Heights this morning with a broken piece of statue shaped as an elephant trunk, witnesses said.

The injured officer was trying to break up a domestic brawl between a crazed man and his grandmother inside a building on St. Nicholas Avenue and West 145th Street at 8:10 a.m., police said.

A bystander flagged down officers outside and led them to suspect Dominick Anderson, his family said.

“My son has psychiatric problems, he thinks my mother is doing the voodoo on him,” said Mary Anderson, mom of the suspect.

David McGlynn

Mary Anderson, the mother of Dominick Anderson who allegedly beat a police officer with an elephant trunk this morning in Hamilton Heights.

Mary Anderson couldn't believe what she had just seen: “Oh my God, oh my God.”

The officers went inside and tried to pry the suspect off 62-year-old Beverly Holmes, police and family said.

Dominick Anderson was swinging a broken off piece of an elephant statue -- the trunk -- and struck the officer in the head, cops and family said.

"He needs help, he's not a murderer,” Mary Anderson said. "I went to the hospital, my mother is in critical condition, they are trying to charge him with attempted murder."

The grandmother was taken to Harlem Hospital, also in critical condition, police said. She suffered a stab wound to the head, according to the FDNY.

The wounded officer was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital in critical but stable condition, cops said.

"It's a family tragedy,” the heartbroken mom said. "He's a good boy."

Five other officers suffered minor injuries and were taken to area hospitals for treatment.

The suspect is in stable condition at Harlem Hospital, where he’ll undergo a psychiatric evaluation, officials said.

He’s in police custody but has not been formally charged yet, authorities said.

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Stone-crab season suffers in the Keys

Despite rocketing prices for stone-crab claws, many Florida Keys commercial fishermen have nearly given up on the season only 2 months old.

"We may see record prices but also record pain," said Gary Graves, general manager of Keys Fisheries in Marathon. "Prices don't mean anything if you can't catch anything."

Harvests since shortly after the season opening Oct. 15 have been "as bad as I can remember during my 45 years in the business," Graves said. "It's just bleak."

Keys Fisheries, one of the state's leading wholesalers for stone crabs, has laid off half of its production staff, maybe 20 people, Graves said.

"We hate to do it to our people but we're probably not finished," he said. "Right now, a big day for us is 1,000 pounds [of claws]. It should be around 15,000 pounds. We're doing nothing."

Keys Fisheries has raised its dockside prices paid to fishermen several times to encourage fishermen to keep their traps in the water.

Graves said it costs a fisherman about $1,200 in fuel, labor and other expenses to make a day's trip. The fish house's current prices are $9 per pound for medium-size claws and $17 per pound for the coveted jumbos.

"Our wholesale sales prices are higher than that and retail is through the roof," Graves said. "But we can't fill the orders we have."

A Marathon community group recently canceled the organization's annual stone crab feast for members because no claws were to be found.

The season runs until May 15.

Last season, Monroe County produced about 1.1 million pounds of legal-size claws, accounting for a large portion of Florida's total 2.67 million-pound harvest worth an estimated $23.6 million to the commercial fleet.

About 1,000 people statewide are licensed to fish traps for stone crabs. Only the claws are kept. Historically, stone-crab harvests have topped three million pounds of claws.

"The last two years were good and the recruitment looked normal," Graves said. "The first round of trap pulling was fine but it went downhill from there — like falling off a cliff."

Fishermen and researchers are baffled.

"Blame it on global warming, blame it on BP [Deepwater Horizon oil spill], blame it on Mother Nature," Graves said. "Everybody's got an idea but nobody can say why. It's probably a combination of a bunch of things."

News reports from stone-crab fleets farther up the Florida Gulf Coast suggest an octopus population explosion. Crabs are a favorite food of octopus, which are smart enough to get into traps.

"We've seen more octopus in the 6- to 8-pound range, which is abnormal," Graves said. State experts have suggested warm winters may have triggered the octopus boom.

"Things could turn around," Graves said, "but realistically the chances of it happening this season are slim."

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Grinch stops traffic in Keys with a police radar gun

The Grinch was out in full force in the Keys, but he wasn't stealing Christmas.

Instead, he was checking traffic speeds through the school zone at Stanley Switlik Elementary School around mile marker 49 in Marathon. Speeders going no more than 5 mph over the 20 mph limit got the option of a ticket or an onion. Obviously, most opt for the onion.

Chief Lou Caputo, third in line at the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, played the role of the Grinch, handing out about 10 onions.

He has been donning the outfit — while operating a radar gun — this time of year since 2000.

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Kristen Stewart I Apologize To Everyone For Making Them So Angry

Getting noticed in Hollywood is the toughest task facing every fledgling actor and every A-lister will tell you countless stories about the times they almost quit the business. Kristen Stewart did just that during a new interview with Newsweek, recounting the make or break audition that ultimately put her on the path to stardom.

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After being discovered during a school play, Stewart and her mother (Jules Mann-Stewart) drove from audition to audition with no luck. "I decided a year after not getting any commercials, 'F*ck it. I won't make my mom drive around Los Angeles anymore,'" Stewart says.

"I also got so nervous for every single audition. I was just dying. I had one appointment left and my mom said, 'Have a little integrity and go to your last one.' And it was The Safety of Objects. If I hadn't gotten that, I would have been done."

PHOTOS - Kristen & Rob's Style Showdown

One wonders if Stewart wished her cinematic journey ended all those years ago, as her high profile status led to one of the most memorable celebrity scandals of 2012. "It's not a terrible thing if you're either loved or hated," she says now, 5-months removed from the situation. "But honestly, I don't care 'cause it doesn't keep me from doing my sh*t. And I apologize to everyone for making them so angry. It was not my intention."

In the end, Stewart says she learned a lot from that experience -- particularly not to let the public dictate decisions made in her personal life. "It's a little annoying having to be so compartmentalized," she says. "I go from box to box to box. But I'm going out a lot more now. I was starting to get closed off and self-conscious, and I'm trudging forth into the world more often."

RELATED - Anatomy of K. Stew's Style

With Bella Swan and all those heartbreak headlines behind her, Stewart is endlessly excited about what the future holds. "The only relief when it comes to Twilight is that the story is done. I start every project to finish the motherfu*ker, and to extend that [mentality] over a five-year period adapting all of these treasured moments over four books, it was constantly worrying. But as long as people's perspective of me doesn't keep me from doing what I want to do, it doesn't matter."

For more from Kristen Stewart's Newsweek interview, click here!

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Court rejects hearing for final appeal for rape-trial cop

He's out of appeals -- but he's still trying to stay out of Rikers.

The highest court in the state has declined to hear the appeal of Kenneth Moreno, the disgraced East Village ex-cop tried in last year's notorious "Rape Cops" trial -- meaning both he and his former partner are now due to turn themselves in and head to Rikers on their official misconduct sentences on Thursday, Dec. 20.

But Moreno is planning a last-ditch stay-out-of-jail effort, his appeals lawyer tells the Post.

"I am presently preparing a habeas corpus writ that's going to federal court," the lawyer, Stephen Preziosi, said this morning. "I will be asking a federal judge for a stay of the sentence -- So it's not over."

Steven Hirsch

KENNETH MORENO

The writ will argue that constitutional violations during the "Rape Cops" trial -- including Moreno's longstanding accusations that the lead prosecutor improperly instructed the jury on the law -- warrant the overturning of his conviction, the lawyer said.

"That's a violation of his due process," the lawyer said. "The other thing is the insufficiency of the evidence for a conviction on official misconduct," he said.

Both Moreno and his ex-partner, Franklin Mata, had been acquitted in May, 2011 of raping a drunken young fashion executive who they'd been dispatched to help into her East 13th Street apartment.

But both were convicted of three counts each of official misconduct -- one for each time the pair were caught on surveillance video using the woman's keys to re-enter her apartment.

Mata, who prosecutors said played a more minor role of lookout, has been sentenced to serve 60 days jail, meaning 40 days with good behavior. He has exhausted his appeals and will be turning himself in, said his lawyer, Edward Mandery.

Moreno, a married father of two who prosecutors accused as the actual rapist, has been sentenced to serve one year, meaning closer to eight months with good behavior.

"Look, regardless of the outcome of the appeal we're grateful that justice was for the most part done in this case," said Moreno's trial lawyer, Joseph Tacopino.

"Ken would have been serving upward of 25 years if he had been convicted of the top charges, so we're grateful that this jury -- and they were truly remarkable -- saw through all the rhetoric."

Moreno had challenged his conviction on every level possible, starting with the trial judge, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro, and then hitting the state Appellate Division.

Both Carro and a panel of appellate judges rejected his arguments that the evidence of misconduct was legally insufficient and that prosecutors misstated the law in summations.

In asking the Court of Appeals to reconsider the same arguments, Moreno had added an extra issue -- complaining in papers this month that a one year sentence was too much, given that Mata had only got 60 days for the same charge.

"Absurd," prosecutors argued in opposing papers. Moreno was clearly the leader in the misconduct, motivated by his "romantic" interests in the woman, they argued. The latest decision rejecting Moreno's application for permission to appeal was issued by Court of Appeals Judge Victoria Graffeo.

Moreno's latest bid for freedom will be filed either tomorrow or Thursday morning -- right on his deadline for surrender, Preziosi said. Asked if Moreno understood the very strong possibility that he'll have to surrender on Thursday regardless, the lawyer added, "We understand that is a possibility."

Mata, meanwhile, is resigned to beginning his jail stint, his lawyer said.

"My client was accused of some very serious crimes, and he was acquitted by a highly competent jury who heard all the evidence," Mandery said. "This last step will bring some closure to the case and allow Frank to move on with his life."

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Pipeline Brickell, a new co-working space, reaches 70% occupancy

Pipeline Brickell, the shared workspace at 1101 Brickell Avenue that opened last month, announced it has reached 70 percent occupancy and is now home to dozens of startups, established companies and professionals. Company founders Todd Oretsky and Philippe Houdard said members of the 14,000-square-foot high-design co-working center include The Founder’s Institute, the world's largest startup accelerator; Pininfarina, an Italian-based design firm with clients including Ferrari and Maserati; Virgin Unite, a non-profit foundation founded by Richard Branson for the venture capital conglomerate Virgin Group; LearnerNation, a provider of interactive learning tools; and GuestBooker, a New York-based firm that specializes in booking high-profile talent on national TV networks. Pipeline Brickell, one of a wave of co-working spaces already opened or planned for Miami, also offers its members classes, workshops and networking events and has been hosting programs for community organizations.

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