South Florida’s biggest business stories of 2012

For South Florida’s economy, 2012 centered on one main question: Would the recovery continue? The answer: Yes, and slowly.Housing values continue to climb, unemployment rates shrink, hiring grows and spending strengthens. And yet 2012 ends on the same general theme as 2011: Things are getting better, but at a slow enough pace that South Florida will have to wait at least...

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For new year, resolve to commit random acts of kindness

Well, here we are, dear Friends and Neighbors, on the eve of another new year. So much happened to us in 2012 — some good and some bad. But through it all, by the grace of God, we made it to the end of the "old" year.When I was a young woman, I made a new year’s resolution every year. The new year brings with it that kind of fresh-start magic. To many of us, the new year...

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Buzzmakers: Kate Winslet's Wedding and Rider Strong's Engaged

What had ET readers buzzing this week?1. Kate Winslet Ties the Knot!Kate Winslet recently married her boyfriend Ned Rocknroll in a small, secret ceremony in New York.A rep for the 37-year-old Oscar winner tells ET, "I can confirm that Kate Winslet married Ned Rock'nRoll in NY earlier this month in a private ceremony attended by her two children and a very few friends and family." The rep added that...

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Forced diet at eateries

New York City’s restaurant industry slimmed down in 2012, ending the year with fewer openings and flat revenues, according to analysts and hospitality execs.“We had expected a better year coming out of the recession,” admitted a disappointed Jeremy Merrin, founder and president of Havana Central, the casual, full-service Cuban restaurants with Manhattan...

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Resources for South Florida small businesses

•  Florida Small Business Development Centers. Counseling and training at centers in South Florida and around the state, www.floridasbdc.org.•  SCORE Workshops, online training and free coaching at local branches, www.score.org, miamidade.score.org, browardscore.org, southbroward.score.org• Florida Women’s Business Center. Provides training, mentoring and...

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Former Miami Beach resident may be next Israeli ambassador to U.S.

Ron Dermer, a top adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and who has family ties to two former Miami Beach mayors, may soon become the next Israeli ambassador to the United States, according to reports in an Israeli newspaper.The daily Makor Rishon reported late Friday that the current ambassador, Michael Oren, plans to step down from his post in the spring...

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Makers of $99 Android-Powered Game Console Ship First 1,200 ‘Ouyas’

Like Nintendo’s Wii U game console, the Ouya (that’s “OOH-yuh”) has an unusual name and even more unusual hardware. The console is roughly the size of a Rubik’s cube, and is powered by Android, Google‘s open-source operating system that’s normally found on smartphones and tablets.Ouya’s makers, who are preparing the console for its commercial launch, encourage interested gamers to pop the case open...

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Uncle Sam’s sorry day of reckoning

Never mind New Year’s Eve — Monday is Debt Ceiling Day! According to the best guesstimate by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the federal government on Monday will reach its statutory borrowing limit of $16.4 trillion — or roughly 104 percent of America’s total economic output. A legal limit on federal debt was first enacted during World War I and has...

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Resources for South Florida small businesses

•  Florida Small Business Development Centers. Counseling and training at centers in South Florida and around the state, www.floridasbdc.org.•  SCORE Workshops, online training and free coaching at local branches, www.score.org, miamidade.score.org, browardscore.org, southbroward.score.org• Florida Women’s Business Center. Provides training, mentoring and...

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Relatives take to the streets for clues in the murder of Miami teen

The grieving parents of a slain 16-year-old boy took to the streets Thursday in an effort to find who killed the Miami Jackson Senior High 10th-grader.Bryan Herrera — who will be buried Friday — was shot to death days before Christmas while riding his bicycle in Allapattah. Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho helped Bryan’s parents hand out fliers Thursday....

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