Gov. Scott's teacher pay raises would cost $480 million

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott says his proposed across-the-board pay raise for all full-time Florida teachers would cost nearly half a billion dollars next year. That would consume all of a tentative projected budget surplus of $437 million.Scott said his plan would cost $480 million statewide. He declined to say what the percentage pay hike he’s recommending until he unveils...

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Three reasons to root for RIM

I have expressed skepticism that RIM (RIMM) will really be able to pull off an epic comeback and reestablish BlackBerry as a legitimate contender with the iPhone and the barrage of Android smartphones that get released every year. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want it to happen. Quite the contrary, I’m hoping that RIM proves all us nasty skeptics wrong, defies the odds and produces a big hit with...

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White Collar 2013 Jeff Eastin Interview

The explosive (how cool was that fire thing Neal did with the kiln?!?) White Collar season premiere may have answered one big lingering mystery -- Sam Phelps a.k.a. James Bennett is Neal's father and is not a cop killer -- but set up countless new questions.In an attempt to gain some season 4.5 clarity, I caught up with EP Jeff Eastin to find out who's coming back, who's leaving for good and what...

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2 NJ men suing Subway over shorter footlong sandwiches

MOUNT HOLLY, NJ — Two New Jersey men have sued Subway, saying the world's biggest fast-food chain has been shorting them on its so-called footlong sandwiches.The filing made Tuesday seeks compensatory damages from the company and a change in practices.Plaintiffs' lawyer Stephen DeNittis says the company should either make their sandwiches 12 inches long or stop advertising them as footlongs.He said...

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Miami Dolphins slam Norman Braman, Marlins Park deal

The Miami Dolphins ramped up their public campaign for a tax-funded stadium renovation this week, buying full-page ads against their top critic and trying to distance the plan from the unpopular Marlins deal.The team bought an ad in Tuesday’s Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald knocking auto magnate Norman Braman’s criticism of the Sun Life Stadium deal, which would have Florida...

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Growers want state to give them 30-year no-bid access to Everglades land

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet will be asked on Wednesday to agree to a no-bid contract to allow two major agriculture companies to farm on Everglades land for another 30 years, a deal that would include pouring tons of phosphorous-laden fertilizer onto the site the state is spending billions to clean-up. The request from Florida Crystals and A. Duda...

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Russell Crowe Compares Costume To Britney Spears' Toxic

A fan of Russell Crowe's noticed something pretty amazing about the tough guy's Les Miserables costume -- it greatly resembles Britney Spears' stewardess getup in her video Toxic.Crowe, 48, retweeted Boris Prso's split pic of the celebs in costume on Monday, with Boris writing: "hey @britneyspears did you see @russellcrowe in #lesMis maybe he is fan of you." RELATED: Worn Out? Stars Step Out In Same...

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Is Facebook envy making you miserable?

LONDON (Reuters) – Witnessing friends’ vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness, according to German researchers.A study conducted jointly by two German universities found rampant envy on Facebook, the world’s largest social network that now has over one billion users and has produced an unprecedented platform for social comparison.The...

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Tuiasosopo apologized to woman whose picture was used to portray fake Te'o girlfriend

The woman whose photo was used as the "face" of the Twitter account of Manti Te'o's supposed girlfriend says the man allegedly behind the hoax confessed and apologized to her.Diane O'Meara spoke to NBC's "Today" show Tuesday. She says Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating a fake woman called Lennay Kekua. Te'o asserts he was tricked into an online romance with Kekua...

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Brickell Avenue drawbridge stuck in up position

Traffic chaos spread throughout downtown Miami Tuesday when the southbound span of the heavily traveled Brickell Avenue drawbridge became stuck in the up position after the locking mechanism sustained damage during a test operation at dawn. Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) officials said they did not know how long emergency repairs, now in progress, will take...

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