Macy’s to open round the clock for last minute shopper

Last minute shoppers will have a marathon opportunity to finish their holiday purchases at Macy’s during any hour of the day or night.

The department store chain announced Thursday that the majority of its stores across the country -- including South Florida -- will be open round the clock for 65 hours straight starting at 7 a.m. Friday, Dec. 21 through midnight, Sunday, Dec. 23. Macy’s will be offering a special holiday One Day Sale for 48 hours running from 7 a.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Sunday.

Macy’s began the tradition of keeping stores open 24 hours in 2006 in New York. Over the years it was offered in a couple dozen locations, but never at any stores in South Florida.

“Our customers love it,” said Melissa Goff, Macy’s southeast spokeswoman. “It’s a planned customer centric opportunity that we’re rolling out nationwide.”

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HOLIDAY LIGHTS

It’s that time of year to decorate your home and tell us how wonderful it looks!

We’re seeking all entries for our annual Holiday Lights showcase. Tell us about your home, your decorations and where you live. Send this information to Lidia at ltzdinkova@gmail.com. by Monday, Dec. 10 or to Joan Chrissos, Holiday Lights, Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fl., 33132. Please include a daytime phone number.

We will feature the homes in Neigbors on Sunday, Dec. 16.

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PlayStation 3 was the world’s No.1 Netflix streaming device this year

There are dozens of devices that can stream Netflix (NFLX), but only one can machine be crowned the king of the living room. According to Netflix, that device is Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 3 console. Without revealing any specific figures, Netflix announced on its blog “in the U.S. and globally, PS3 is the largest TV-connected platform in terms of Netflix viewing” and that “at times, PS3 even surpassed the PC in hours of Netflix enjoyment to become our No. 1 platform overall.” 

Netflix’s blog is quick to mention why the PS3 is the most popular streaming device this year, applauding it for being the first console to have 1080p HD video and 5.1-channel Dolby Digital Plus surround sound, post-play, second screen controls, subtitles and easy app updates.

While the Xbox 360 is gaining ground in terms of how many hours users spend watching videos on it, streaming video services such as Netflix requires an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription. One reason why the PlayStation 3 might be leading Netflix streaming is because it doesn’t require a subscription fee to have access to the Netflix app, or any other streaming video app such as Amazon (AMZN) Instant Video.

“The PlayStation and Netflix communities both share a strong passion for high quality entertainment,” Sony Computer Entertainment of America CEO and president Jack Tretton said. “Netflix provides a fantastic experience for watching TV shows and movies on PS3, and our joint development will continue to produce innovations for our customers that further demonstrate PS3 as the true home for entertainment in the living room.”

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Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Brandi Glanville Says Her Son Got Sick Eating LeAnn Rimes' Laxatives

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville is claiming her oldest son with Eddie Cibrian, Mason, 9, got "extremely ill" from eating his stepmother LeAnn Rimes' laxatives.

"Mason, my eldest, ate some of Le's candies and got extremely ill. And Le's candies are laxatives. It was a big f--king deal for me, and I lost my mind," Brandi, 40, tells Us Weekly in a new interview. "She has one in every purse. Mason found [it] on the floor and thought it was a Skittle! They don't keep sugar in the house. He thought he finally found candy."

Pics: LeAnn Defends Herself with Teeny Weeny Bikini Photos

Brandi adds, "I, unfortunately, don't find her to be stable and I don't want her around my kids when Eddie's not there -- or at least the nanny, his parents, someone."

However, LeAnn's rep denies the incident. "Just more inaccuracies and half-truths," he tells the magazine.

Related: LeAnn Rimes Enters Treatment Facility

In addition, Cibrian himself has released a statement calling LeAnn "a loving and positive influence" on his two sons with Brandi, Mason and Jake, 5.

"They are without a doubt lucky to have her. The love they have for their 'bonus mom' continues to grow each day as we navigate the changes to our family; a fact that Brandi cannot argue as she herself has stated as much," Cibrian says. "It is absolutely ridiculous that my ex-wife continues to put the personal lives of myself, LeAnn, our sons and my family on public display for the sake of her notoriety. She is fully capable and has the means of contacting myself and LeAnn privately to discuss any matter concerning the children. The fact she chooses not to, should be pretty transparent. And while I do not wish to fuel her ever-igniting fire, there is a breaking point where enough is enough."

LeAnn, 30, whose weight has been the subject of constant scrutiny, underwent a 30-day treatment program for stress and anxiety in late August. She has repeatedly denied having an eating disorder.

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39 people arrested in NY cocaine-trafficking operation

SYRACUSE — Authorities say they've arrested more than three dozen people in breaking up a drug trafficking operation that sent millions of dollars of cocaine from the New York City metro area north to upstate communities.

State Attorney General Eric Scheiderman says 39 people have been charged in connection with Wednesday's early morning raids in Cortland, Syracuse and New York City.

Authorities say police seized cocaine worth more than $1 million. Scheiderman says the drug network moved cocaine from downstate to be sold in Cortland, Syracuse and Watertown. Officials say some of the drugs also came from Buffalo.

Of the 39 arrests, 34 were made in Cortland, Syracuse and five other central New York locations.

Officials say the arrests are the result of a nine-month, multi-agency investigation called "Operation Southbound."

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Innovate MIA puts spotlight on startup community

If you think the next week is all about art, you may be surprised to learn there are also six entrepreneurship events vying for your time.

And that is all by design.

In much the way that Art Basel helped put Miami’s arts community on the international map, organizers of the first Innovate MIA hope their weeklong grouping of events will shine a light on the city’s growing tech startup community and its position as the gateway to Latin America.

Many of the events — ending with Florida International University’s Americas Venture Capital Conference — are after Art Basel. That’s also why the third annual AVCC was moved to Dec. 13-14 from its previous mid-November dates.

“Our message is come for Art Basel, and stay for AVCC,” said Juan Pablo Cappello, a lawyer, entrepreneur and investor who is on the steering committee of the venture capital conference and several other Innovate MIA events. And all week, there will be plenty of opportunities for Miami’s entrepreneurs, creatives and investors to mingle with their counterparts from all over the Americas and beyond.

In addition to the AVCC, there’s Incubate Miami’s DemoDay, where its class of startups present their companies, the martial arts-inspired TekFight and HackDay, which dangles a $50,000 cash prize. Endeavor, the global nonprofit that promotes high-impact entrepreneurship in emerging economies, is bringing its two-day International Selection Panel to Miami, and Wayra, an international accelerator, is holding a one-day event to showcase its promising startups from Latin America and Spain. It’s all part of Innovate MIA week: “I don’t think anything like it has ever been organized here in South Florida,” Cappello said.

The AVCC will be the big draw, with about 300 people expected to attend the two-day event at the JW Marriott Brickell. The conference, themed “Data, Design & Dollars,” will feature thought leaders from all over the world, particularly Latin America, and presentations by 29 selected companies. This year, the format has been overhauled and energized, with lots of short talks and more time for question-and-answer sessions and networking, said Jerry Haar, associate dean of FIU’s College of Business, director of the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center and AVCC co-chair.

The AVCC’s 36 speakers include Martin Varsavsky, Argentine tech entrepreneur, investor and founder of Viatel, Ya.com, Jazztel and FON; Hernan J. Kazah, co-founder and managing partner at Kaszek Ventures and co-founder of Mercadolibre; and Jason L. Baptiste, CEO and co-founder of Onswipe. There’s also Michael Jackson, former COO of Skype and now a venture capitalist; Albert Santalo, founder and CEO of Miami-based CareCloud; and Bedy Yang of 500 Startups.

Chosen from more than 100 applicants, the 29 presenting companies hailing from all over the Americas will be giving either two-minute or five-minute pitches, fielding questions from a panel of judges and competing for prize packages valued at about $50,000. Eight of the startups are from South Florida: itMD, Kairos, Trapezoid Digital Security, Esenem, LiveNinja, OnTrade, Rokk3r Labs and Zavee.

The presenting companies have “proven innovation, proven management teams and the ability to scale well and be a pan-regional player,” said Faquiry Diaz Cala, president of Tres Mares Group and co-chair of AVCC. “The word is out this is a great place to come and pitch to great investors in addition to potentially being one of the prize winners.”

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State elections officials to investigate voting problems in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties

TALLAHASSEE --
Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner told a Senate committee Tuesday morning that he plans to dispatch a team of experts to Miami-Dade next week to investigate more fully the “problems” with the recent election, including long lines at the polls and an overwhelming surge of last-minute absentee ballots.

Detzner, who is Gov. Rick Scott’s chief elections officer, said Miami-Dade is one of five Florida counties his staff will make fact-finding visits to, beginning in Tampa next week.

Referring to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Detzner said: “The mayor gets it. He knows what the problem is in Dade County and how to solve the problem.”

Testifying before the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, Detzner said the “problem” could be anything from a lack of early voting sites to a lack of money for office operations. He said his office will spend a week in Broward, Palm Beach, Lee and St. Lucie counties, and that his office will first visit a sixth county, Hillsborough, where Supervisor of Elections Earl Lennard is retiring and where “a couple of issues” need attention.

“He had some lines,” Detzner said. “I want to use him as a benchmark in our first interview process as a good performer, to benchmark some of the other counties.”

The 13-member elections panel is chaired by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, who began the two-hour session by emphasizing the need to reform not only the voting process but the ethics laws, which Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, has said are too lax in Florida.

“There’s always a few that would bring disgrace to all of us,” Latvala said. “Our job is to make that a little harder to happen in the future.”

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Scandal Who Shot Fitz Exclusive Video

The already-electrifying second season of ABC's Scandal ramped up the drama up one-million notches when President Fitzgerald was shot in the closing moment of last week's episode, causing #WhoShotFitz to trend for hours.

RELATED - TV's 10 Best Dressed Stars

How will Olivia react? Was Mellie involved in her husband's attempted assassination? What does this mean for James' vote-rigging expose? Two of those questions are (seemingly) answered in ETonline's exclusive clip from Thursday's Scandal, which -- much like this sensational sophomore year -- is heartbreaking and heart-pounding in equal measure!

VIDEO - Kerry Washington Hits The Big Screen

Titled Happy Birthday, Mr. President, the episode not only forces Olivia to return to work at the White House, but gifts the audience with another string of fascinating flashbacks, revealing the inaugural days of Fitz's presidency. 

Watch ETonline's exclusive sneak peek of the most important Scandal to date, airing Thursdays at 10 p.m. on ABC.

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Worker crushed by falling refrigerator

A construction worker was crushed when a giant refrigeration unit fell from a crane at Bronx-Lebanon Medical Center this morning, authorities said.

The industrial-size refrigerator came loose from the crane as it was being hoisted off a delivery truck at about 10:50 a.m., said sources.

The worker became pinned under the refrigerator when it fell, said sources.

The man was brought for treatment to the emergency room of the hospital at 1650 Grand Concourse, said the Fire Department. He was reported in critical condition.

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The business behind the artist: Miami’s art gallery scene still evolving

This week, thousands of art collectors, museum trustees, artists, journalists and hipsters from around the globe will arrive for the phenomenon known as Art Basel Miami Beach. The centerpiece of the week: works shown at the convention center by more than 260 of the world’s top galleries.

Only two of those are from Miami.

While Art Basel has helped transform the city’s reputation from beach-and-party scene to arts destination in the years since its 2002 Miami Beach debut, the region’s gallery identity is still coming into its own.

“Certainly Miami as an art town registers mightily because of the foundations, the collectors who have done an extraordinary job,” said Linda Blumberg, executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America. “I think there’s a definite international awareness there. But the gallery scene probably has a bit of a ways to go. That doesn’t mean it’s not really fascinating and interesting.”

The gallery business, especially where newer artists are concerned, is a game of risk, faith and passion. Once a gallery takes on an artist who shows promise, they become an evangelist on their behalf, showing their work in-house and at fairs, presenting it to museums and curators and potential collectors and bearing the cost of that promotion.

For contemporary artists, most galleries take work on consignment, meaning they get a cut of as much as 50 percent when works sell. While local art galleries have been growing in number and popularity in the last several years — just try to find parking during the monthly art walk in Miami’s hot Wynwood neighborhood — even some of the area’s top art dealers say that while business overall is good, they struggle in the local marketplace.

“Our problem is that we have to do lots of art fairs in order to connect with the market that we need to connect with to sell the work that we have,” said Fredric Snitzer, a Miami-Dade gallery owner for 35 years. “The better the work is, the harder it is to sell in Miami. And that ain’t good.”

A handful of serious collectors call Miami home and store their own collections in Miami, including the Braman, Rubell, Margulies and de la Cruz families. But outside a relatively small local group, many gallerists say, their clients come from other parts of the country and world.

And some gallerists point out the troubling reality that even the powerhouse Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin could not stay open in Miami for more than a few years.

“The fact that big galleries have not been able to sustain their business models in South Florida tells you we’re obviously not at this high established point,” said gallery owner David Castillo. “It’s not like we’ve arrived, let’s sit back and watch Hauser & Wirth open down the street.”

Still, Miami’s gallery business has come a long way since the early 1970s, when a few dealers on Bay Harbor Island’s Kane Concourse were selling high-end pieces but the local scene was hardly embraced.

Virginia Miller, who owns ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables, first opened in 1974 to showcase Florida artists, though her focus soon added an international scope. She and other longtime observers credit several factors for Miami’s transformation, including the community’s diversity, the establishment of important museums, the Art Miami fair that started 23 years ago, the presence of major collections and, of course, Art Basel Miami Beach.

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