Traffic tickets, fraud probes and deaths: what Rep. Daphne Campbell says about the citizen legislature and Miami-Dade

A Campbell family minivan has racked up five tickets for running right lights since 2010.

Most citizens would slow down. But Daphne Campbell isn’t like most citizens.

She’s a Democratic state representative who has another way to deal with future red-light tickets: file legislation to ban the traffic-surveillance cameras that shot video of her husband’s Honda Odyssey breaking traffic laws.

It could seem like a conflict of interest. But as long as a lawmaker’s bills don’t benefit him or her or a family member uniquely, it’s generally not a conflict of interest.

This is the state of ethics in the Florida Legislature. It’s a citizens’ legislature of 160 part-time lawmakers. They theoretically come from all walks of life and private professions.

This is representative democracy.

And Campbell, of Miami Shores, represents so much more in Miami-Dade.

Many citizens run red lights in Miami-Dade. Campbell is from Miami-Dade. And someone in her family ran red lights five times.

Miami-Dade is also a Medicaid fraud capital. Campbell and her husband own businesses that bill Medicaid. And the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit began investigating them two years ago. Their son, 30-year-old Gregory Campbell, faces Medicaid fraud charges in an alleged $300,000 scheme.

Many in Miami-Dade have tax problems. Campbell is from Miami-Dade. And she and her husband last spring were slapped with $145,000 worth of liens. The IRS also began examining the Campbells over financial transactions involving a web of family healthcare businesses. Two former business associates told The Herald and IRS that the Campbells scammed them.

Miami-Dade has questionable mortgages. The Campbells own numerous properties in Miami-Dade. Campbell’s husband pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal charge of falsely using someone else’s Social Security number to obtain $829,103 involving six separate loans, one of which was from a Honda dealership.

Miami-Dade has lots of immigrants who get ripped off. Campbell’s legislative office is in Miami-Dade. Turns out, her top aide Janice Shackelford was arrested for grand theft last fall for allegedly charging constituents, mostly Haitian immigrants, phony fees for help that never materialized. Before Campbell hired her, Shackelford had pleaded guilty to a 2006 grand theft charge in Miami-Dade; a swindling charge was dropped.

North Miami has been plagued with “unscrupulous” absentee ballot irregularities at assisted living facilities, a county ethics group reported in 2008. Campbell campaigned in a North Miami ALF. And that very ALF was highlighted in the ethics group report that pointedly mentioned the Democrat by name.

Some group home residents have died or been raped in Miami-Dade. Campbell and her son ran Professional Group Home, based in Miami-Dade. And two developmentally disabled Miami-Dade residents died in its care in 2006, one after she was raped by a dangerous resident. The rapist wasn’t supervised closely despite Daphne Campbell’s assurance to a judge that he would get “’one-on-one” monitoring from staffers who will “’be with him everywhere he goes.”

Beyond Miami-Dade, in Lee County, two other disabled people died in Professional Group Home’s care in 2006. One disabled man, who had profound trouble eating, was allowed to have a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich that choked him to death.

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Miami-Dade police officer convicted in lewdness case

A Miami-Dade police officer, who routinely stopped women drivers without cause and engaged in lewd conversations, was convicted in federal court Friday.

Prabhainjana Dwivedi, a seven-year veteran, was found guilty on six of seven counts of depriving people of their civil rights. He was found not guilty on the seventh count involving an undercover police officer.

Following the ruling, U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez immediately remanded Dwivedi back into custody pending sentencing scheduled for sometime in April, according to prosecutor Karen Gilbert. The trial began Monday.

Dwivedi faces up to a year in prison for each count.

A grand jury indicted Dwivedi after he was arrested by FBI agents Sept. 5 at Miami-Dade police headquarters.

Dwivedi, 33, was charged after an investigation into complaints filed for stops made in May and June of 2011 in which he detained “numerous women” for “unreasonable” length of time “without probable cause, reasonable suspicion or other lawful authority to conduct a stop,” a criminal complaint said.

None of the questionable stops were ever listed on his daily reports or called into dispatch.

According to the complaint, Dwivedi who worked overnight patrolling an area from Key Biscayne to Jackson Memorial Hospital, stopped a 24-year-old bartender who was driving from South Beach to Broward County on her way home from work at about 5:30 a.m. on June 25, 2011, in the area of the Golden Glades interchange.

The bartender, identified as M.F., was accused by Dwivedi of driving under the influence. Pleading her innocence, she requested to have a sobriety test performed. Her request was refused.

Noticing a child’s safety seat in the back seat, Dwivedi threatened M.F. that she would lose custody of her son if she were to be arrested on DUI charges, the criminal complaint said. Then the conversation turned sexual.

According to the complaint, Dwivedi, began to inquire about her surgically enhanced breasts and asked “if she had any scars or incisions from the surgery.”

Dwivedi then asked to see the scars. M.F. obeyed, lifting her shirt and exposing her breasts.

According to the complaint written by FBI special agent Susan Funk, “M.F. stated that Dwivedi did not touch her breast.”

, Dwivedi then allowed her to drive home, but said he would follow her to make sure she got safely home. Once at M.F.’s residence, Dwivedi said he was thirsty and asked for a glass of water. Once inside her home, he lingered for an hour speaking of his personal life.

In the end, Dwivedi left without ever reporting anything to dispatch or making any notes of the stop in his daily reports, the criminal complaint said.

A month earlier, Dwivedi made another questionable stop.

According to the complaint, Dwivedi stopped a19-year-old woman at 2:20 a.m. on May 27, 2011, on her way home from a nightclub with two friends. The woman, identified, as A.R., was informed the traffic stop was a result of a failure to turn on her headlights.

Dwivedi also claimed she was driving under the influence, but A.R. disputed the accusation.

A.R. was instructed to sit in the back seat of his marked cruiser and then Dwivedi “instructed A.R. to lower the zipper on the front of her dress down past her breasts to her mid-stomach” according to the complaint.

An hour and 20 minutes later, A.R. was on her way home without any citation and Dwivedi again made no mention or note of the stop, the complaint said.

Miami Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.

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Teen actress Bailee Madison to kick off children’s 5K in Broward

Teen actress Bailee Madison will be the official race starter for the I Care I Cure Childhood Cancer Foundation’s 6th annual 5K walk/run on Sunday. Madison, 13, has acted in Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” and the 2012 family comedy “Parental Guidance,” and is national youth spokesperson for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Childhood Cancer Foundation.

The I Care I Cure 5K race will begin at 7:30 a.m. at the BB&T Center, 2555 NW 136th Ave., Sunrise, and is open to adults and children. Post-race Family Fun Day activities organized by the I Care I Cure Foundation will last until 11 a.m.

Registration money will support research into gentler treatment options for childhood cancers.

Advance registration through icareicure.org is $25 for adults and $20 for children. Race day registration is an extra $10.

Registration includes a T-shirt, food and drinks, and access to Family Fun Day activities.

To learn more, call 800-807-8013.

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Murder charge dropped in Miami Gardens self-defense case

Prosecutors on Thursday dropped a murder charge against a man who claimed self-defense in fatally shooting an armed teen during a June 2010 brawl in Miami Gardens.

Travis Cooper, 28, had been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Gregory Gant, 16.

The men were part of two groups of fighting men. Cooper claimed Gant pistol-whipped a friend of his, then “pointed the gun in his direction.”

Cooper, a security guard who had a concealed weapons permit, shot and killed Gant. He later called police.

“It’s a relief. They charged me with second-degree murder for no reason,” Cooper said Thursday, flanked by lawyers Andrew Rier and Jonathan Jordan.

Prosecutors decided they could not defend a request for immunity filed under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which gave judges greater leeway to throw out criminal cases.

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Judge OK’s plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be legal parents of young daughter

A Miami-Dade circuit judge has approved a private adoption allowing three people — a gay man and a married lesbian couple — to be the legal parents of their 23-month-old daughter.

“We’re creating entirely new concepts of families. If you have two women seeking to be listed as Parent One and Parent Two, that does not exclude listing a man as father,” said Miami family lawyer Karyn J. Begin, who represented dad Massimiliano “Massimo” Gerina in a two-year paternity case involving lesbian friends who had his baby.

Maria Italiano and Cher Filippazzo, who married in Connecticut, and their attorney, Kenneth Kaplan, declined to be interviewed.

The women, according to Begin, are longtime partners who unsuccessfully attempted to become pregnant through professional fertility clinics.

Instead of giving up, they decided to try again at home and approached Gerina about fathering a child.

“They asked me,” Gerina said. “I was flattered by it. I thought what a great opportunity for me to have a baby.”

A single Bay Harbor Islands hair stylist, Gerina explained why he desires children: “It’s nature — the same reason a woman wants to be a mother.”

Gerina grew up Cagliari, Italy, where he never thought he could become a father. Eight years ago, though, he moved to South Florida and encountered many gay parents raising children.

“It’s not unusual here. Where I am from it’s unusual. I grew up with the mentality that it would never happen,” he said. “When I moved here, I saw gay couples, lesbian couples having families.”

On only a verbal agreement, Gerina gave the women his sperm and Italiano conceived. The lesbians planned for Filippazzo to later adopt the baby and they would both raise the child.

Florida law specifies that sperm donors have no legal rights in artificial inseminations. Thus the hitch: Gerina says he considered himself a parent, not simply a donor. The women, he claimed, “wanted a father for the baby, not just the sperm.”

Two weeks after insemination, Italiano learned she was pregnant. About seven months later, the women called Gerina and asked him to sign a contract.

“When they gave me the paper to sign that I had to give up all my rights to the baby, I didn’t,” he said.

Gerina began to ponder the legal consequences of siring a child. He hired Begin and presented the women with papers of his own.

“My papers said I would have parental rights, a visitation schedule,” he said. “They hated it. They said this wasn’t what they wanted. I said, ‘Now that you’re already pregnant, you should have thought about that before.’ ”

Their daughter, Emma, was born March 10, 2011. “The paternity lawsuit was filed right after the birth of the child,” Begin said.

The three parents feuded in court for nearly two years. A trial was set for Jan. 31, 2013.

A week before trial, Gerina, Italiano, Filippazzo and their attorneys settled the case privately.

Before posing for photos with the three parents and Emma, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Antonio Marin approved the settlement and the court adoption clerk submitted paperwork for Emma’s new birth certificate:

• Birth mother Italiano, a retail saleswoman, received “sole parental responsibility,” Begin said.

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Dolphins get unanimous support for stadium tax deal in first Senate hearing

TALLAHASSEE --
The Miami Dolphins started off the legislative season 1-and-0 in their attempt to get lawmakers to approve a multi-million dollar deal to upgrade

Lawmakers in the Florida Senate Commerce Committee gave unanimous support to a bill that would clear the way for higher hotel bed taxes and a new sales tax rebate to help fund a $400 million renovation of the Fins’ digs.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, has cleared its first hurdle, but it still faces an uphill climb. There will be several more committee stops and the bill also has to clear the Florida House, where Braynon acknowledged that there’s still some heavy lifting to do.

“In the Senate, I don’t think that we’re going to have as many problems as we’re going to have in the House,” he said.

The bill would allow the Dolphins to collect an annual $3 million in sales tax rebates from the state for 30 years, as well as millions more in new bed taxes.

Several stakeholders came up to Tallahassee to support the bill at its first committee hearing, including Miami Gardens mayor Oliver Gilbert, SunLife stadium CEO Mike Dee and Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce President Bill Diggs.

All supporters pitched the same message: This tax deal is a smart economic move for the state, and would lead to Super Bowls, college championships and other major tourism events.

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Help the homeless by sharing your skills

More than a decade ago, the Rev. Pedro A. Martinez, watched the struggles of the homeless in Miami Beach. Then, he decide to do something about the problem. He designed and organized an outreach ministry to provide the homeless with much needed food, supportive services and community resources.

On Saturday the program called H.O.P.E. at Miami Beach Community Church, will begin its 11th year of reaching out to the chronically homeless in Miami Beach. The organization partners with the city of Miami Beach to have half-day events six times a year at the church, 1620 Drexel Ave., where the Rev. H.E. "Hunter" Thompson is the senior pastor.

During one of the events, it is not uncommon for individuals to receive a hot meal, clothes, shoes, hygiene products, a haircut, foot care, glasses, and referrals to agencies specializing in assisting the homeless. "Providing support and encouragement to the hungry and homeless is an important ministry, and we are pleased to partner with H.O.P.E. in Miami Beach," Thompson said.

Martinez said, "We seek to provide immediate assistance, while complementing the work of other churches and social-service agencies.”

In addition to the event on Feb. 9, five other events will be on April 13, June 8, Aug, 10, Oct. 12, and Dec. 7. All events are from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and all who are in need are welcome. However, the priority is serving the homeless.

Although H.O.P.E. receives donations of clothing and food, Thompson said, "The help of professional specialists such as podiatrists, dentists, chiropractors, massage therapists and barbers/haircutters are needed to share their skills and expertise."

Said Martinez: "Providing food and clothing is just the beginning. The homeless need and deserve, access to basic care."

If you have a service that can be used to help the homeless, or for more information about H.O.P.E., please contact Martinez at 305-220-3467, or go to the website, hopeinmiamibeach.org.

For more information on the programs and services at Miami Beach Community Church, call Thompson at 305-538-4511 or visit the website, www.miamibeachcommunitychurch.com.

Temple to honor leaders

Temple Beth Tov-Ahavat Shalom in West Miami will present "The Grand Celebration" at 4 p.m. Sunday to honor four of its leaders — Rabbi Manuel Armon, Cantor Irving "Babe" Resnick, and Frances and Milton Miller.

Born in Buenos Aires, the center of one of the largest and most influential Jewish communities in Latin America, Rabbi Armon studied at the Buenos Aires Hebrew Teachers Seminary, and was later granted a scholarship to pursue rabbinical studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where he earned a masters degree in Hebrew Literature and became the first Latin American to be ordained a rabbi. He later graduated from Columbia University in New York, and from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. While at the University of Jerusalem, he served as the secretary of the Institute of Jewish Studies. He also taught Bible and Talmud at various schools in Israel.

Armon later moved to the United States and served as various pulpits as a rabbi. For the past 15 years, Armon has served as the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Tov-Ahavat Shalom. He is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly of the International Association of Conservative Rabbis, and the Greater Miami Rabbinical Association. The Rabbinical Assembly recently honored him for 50 years of service as a rabbi.

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Details emerge about Boynton Beach man who killed two sons

BOYNTON BEACH (AP) The Boynton Beach man who killed two of his sons before killing himself had declined an invitation to a party hours earlier, saying he had to do “something important,” his roommate said on Sunday.

Police say Isidro Zavala killed his younger sons, 12-year-old Eduardo and 11-year-old Mario, early Saturday at his estranged wife's home.

According to police, Victoria Zavala was watching television when she heard a commotion just before 2 a.m. She found Isidro Zavala choking one of his sons, and she begged him to kill her and spare the boys.

Isidro Zavala told her that he would leave her alive to suffer their loss. She was not injured. Officers found both boys dead at the scene, and they found Zavala, dressed all in black, dead with self-inflicted gunshot wounds in the chest and head.

“This is an unusually brutal type of murder,” said Boynton Beach Police Chief Matthew Immler.

The Palm Beach Post reports the couple had filed for divorce in October after nearly 20 years of marriage. They were scheduled to go to court Tuesday for a mediation hearing.

Zavala's roommate said he last saw Zavala Friday evening at their house, less than a mile away from the crime scene. Mariano Batalla told the newspaper that Zavala said he couldn't attend a friend's birthday party because “he had to do something important.”

Batalla said he returned from the party around midnight and repeatedly tried to call Zavala, who never answered his phone. Zavala's truck remained parked in their driveway. Police woke Batalla around 5 a.m. and told him what happened.

“I feel so, so, so sad because he's my best friend,” Batalla said. “It's a big surprise for me. He don't tell me nothing about this.”

The Zavalas also have a 19-year-old son who does not live at his mother's house. Investigators found a note from Zavala to his oldest son in a bag at the crime scene.

In the note, Zavala told the 19-year-old that he was a good son and to take care of himself, Immler said. The bag also contained a second gun, extra ammunition, duct tape and cutting shears.

A second note was found at Isidro Zavala's home, but police did not release its contents.

Victoria Zavala had been licensed as a cosmetologist, and Isidro Zavala owned a landscaping company.

Children who live across the street say they last saw Mario several days ago when they were flying kites with another friend. They remembered him playing in their backyard or playing video games, and they could not understand why Mario's father would kill him.

Police said they had never visited the Zavalas' home. A spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families said the agency also had no previous history with the family.

Batalla said he knew Zavala as a gentle friend who made pork and rice dishes for special occasions and who walked to church every weekend. Batalla had recently been baptized, and he had encouraged Zavala to do the same.

“But he kept telling me, `No, not yet,“’ Batalla said. “He said he wanted to learn more before he got baptized.”

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Information from: The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, http://www.pbpost.com

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Police investigating ‘suspicious’ death of elderly woman in Miami home

Police are investigating details surrounding the death of an elderly woman found inside her home near midtown Miami.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Friday, Miami Police officers went to the home of Carmen Diaz, 78, whose adult son decided to visit her after not hearing from her in a few days, according to a news release. When he arrived, he found Diaz dead inside her home of 50 years at 120 NW 34 St.

Miami Police spokeswoman Kenia Reyes said although the death appeared “somewhat suspicious,” the department isn’t releasing details until the county medical examiner determines the cause of death.

WSVN-Channel 7 reported that the adult son found Diaz’s house ransacked and her body wrapped in a blanket in her bathroom.

Police confirmed the house was in disarray, but wouldn’t say if there had been a burglary.

The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner is currently investigating the scene.

This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

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National Urban League to hold 2015 conference in Fort Lauderdale

The National Urban League announced today that Fort Lauderdale edged out nine other cities to attract its 2015 conference.

“There were some strong cities and affiliates,” Rhonda Spears Bell, the senior vice president for the National urban League said Friday during a news conference held at the Urban League of Broward County’s headquarters. “But everything seemed to line up for Fort Lauderdale.”

The organization currently holds a mid-winter conference in Fort Lauderdale every year.

“It’s time to bring the big game,” Bell said.

In the past, the national conference has attracted well known guests such as Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

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Another Miami police officer criminally charged with extortion

A Miami police officer who recently resigned while under investigation surrendered to authorities Thursday on criminal charges stemming from an FBI investigation. He became the second officer charged with involvement in an alleged protection racket for a sports-betting ring operating out of a Liberty City barbershop.

Harold James, an eight-year veteran, is charged with two counts of extortion involving providing protection for “the cashing of fraudulent checks’’ in exchange for cash payments, according to court records.

He is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court Thursday afternoon. Prosecutors are seeking to seize $800 from James that they say he pocketed from the alleged protection racket in 2012.

James became the second Miami officer criminally charged in as many days. In an unrelated case, authorities arrested Officer Luis Hernandez, 27, Wednesday and charged him with armed kidnapping and sexual battery by a law enforcement officer. Also Wednesday, the department fired an officer, Reynaldo Goyos, for shooting and killing an unarmed motorist two years ago.

In federal court, James is charged by criminal “information,’’ a sign that he is cooperating with authorities and will eventually plead guilty to limit any prison sentence.

James last worked in the Model City neighborhood before he resigned in November, city records show. He generally received above-average performance evaluations, and he received nine commendations over his career. James was reprimanded seven times, mostly for traffic accidents or failing to appear for court hearings, records show.

Earlier this month, fellow Miami Officer Nathaniel Dauphin became the first of several cops swept up in the broad anti-corruption dragnet of the city’s embattled police department.

Dauphin, 41, allegedly helped organize the protection racket for the Liberty City sports-betting operation. He pleaded not guilty to a single charge of extortion conspiracy, alleging that he “protected and facilitated illegal activity — gambling — in exchange for receipts of cash payments.’’

Dauphin, a police officer since 1996, was allegedly paid $5,000, according to the charge. The government filed papers to seize that money from him. Dauphin also was charged by “criminal information.’’ He was released from custody on a $100,000 bond.

James and Dauphin are among at least 10 Miami police officers expected to soon face federal criminal charges or internal discipline related to the protection scheme and other criminal activity, The Miami Herald has learned.

Seven of the officers under scrutiny, including James, have already resigned or been relieved of duty in recent weeks, according to sources close to the probe.

The FBI, which has been working with Miami internal affairs investigators since the gambling operation was shut down in March 2012, is expected to make more arrests.

The targeted officers, who worked in the Model City substation, are suspected of providing off-the-books protection and frequenting the Player’s Choice Barber Shop, 6301 NW Sixth Ave.

Also relieved of duty are officers Malinsky Bazile, 27, Vital Frederick, 26, and Angel Mercado, 29, who are suspected of other criminal activity unrelated to the alleged protection racket. All continue to receive pay while the investigation continues.

In December, The Herald reported that 31-year-old officer Lashunda Hodge was relieved of duty with pay as part of the protection-detail probe.

At least three other Miami officers are facing scrutiny in connection with the protection scheme: Hodge’s roommate, Kenya Crocker, 39; Dauphin’s girlfriend, Carol Vargas, 39, and Darryl Bryant, 51, according to sources familiar with the case.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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Miami police officer fired for shooting of unarmed man in Little Haiti

In an unusual move, Miami police on Wednesday announced it has fired an officer for the questionable shooting of an unarmed motorist.

In a brief statement, the department said Officer Reynaldo Goyos,who has been on the force for seven-years, “has been terminated because his discharge of firearm on February 10, 2011 was found to be unjustified by the Department. “

Killed in the police shooting was Travis McNeil, 28, who was in a car and was unarmed.

The firing is a surprise because in June, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office cleared Goyos of any criminal act in the fatal shooting of McNeil. They said the shooting was legally justified because McNeil, reached down into his car during the traffic stop at 11 p.m. and Goyos believed he was reaching for a weapon.

In the press release, the department said: “This termination is based strictly upon a violation of Miami police’s “Deadly Force Policy,”

McNeil and his 30-year-old cousin Kareem Williams, who was also shot, had been pulled over by an unmarked police unit after they left the “Take One Lounge.” According to family, McNeill died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Kareem was wounded by the officer in the arm, back and abdomen.

But no weapon was found in McNeil’s car, only the cell phone that had fallen from his lap, the state attorney’s office said in its report.

Prosecutors found that a manslaughter prosecution wasn’t likely to succeed because the state couldn’t disprove that Goyos wasn’t in fear for his life at the time of the shooting.

The shooting angered many activists and was the last of seven deadly police shootings of black men in Miami’s inner city in just seven months.

All of the shootings happened under the watch of former police chief Miguel Exposito and all but two of the men were armed, according to the Herald.

The department said the case is now closed.

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Study: Medicaid expansion may save state money

Florida would save money over the next decade — not lose billions as Gov. Rick Scott has argued — by accepting Medicaid expansion under federal healthcare reforms, according to a detailed economic study.

Miami-Dade legislators and healthcare industry leaders, getting together on Monday, heard about the report by Georgetown University — the most positive yet on a highly debated provision of what is often called Obamacare.

Jack Hoadley, a senior researcher with the Georgetown Health Policy Institute, said the study was the first to calculate spin-off savings in other state programs if Florida accepted the expansion, which over the next 10 years could bring $26 billion in federal funds to provide insurance to an estimated 815,000 to 1.3 million Florida residents who are now uninsured.

In Miami-Dade, expansion would cover an additional 150,000 to 225,000, according to the Georgetown projections. That reduction in the uninsured would bring huge relief to the county’s hospitals, which by federal law must treat anyone who comes to the emergency room, regardless of ability to pay.

The top-level meeting, at the United Way of Miami-Dade headquarters, was convened by United Way, Health Council of South Florida and Health Foundation of South Florida.

At the very least, the Georgetown findings and other recent analyses have some critics reconsidering opposition to the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act.

State Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, who previously was an “absolute no” vote against Medicaid expansion, said after the meeting that he was now “open to the thought” that expansion makes sense.

State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, R-Hialeah, said he was still concerned about the debt-ridden feds’ ability to fund Medicaid over the long term, but “we are looking at all the options.”

Estimates about the real costs of expansion have varied wildly based on the law, which requires the federal government to pay all costs of the expansion for the first three years. Starting in 2017, the state will start paying a small share, which will reach 10 percent of the expansion costs for 2020 and beyond.

Gov. Scott, who has long been critical of Obamacare, contended in December that expansion would cost Florida taxpayers more than $26 billion over 10 years. Opponents and healthcare experts criticized that estimate as way too high, and earlier this month the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration gave a much lower estimate of $3 billion for the decade.

That was lower even than a report by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, a Washington research group, which in November estimated that expansion would cover an additional 1.2 million residents at a cost to the state of $5.4 billion over 10 years.

Georgetown’s Hoadley said Monday that the Kaiser study used only rough data for all 50 states, while the Georgetown study, funded by two Florida nonprofit foundations, looked in detail at how Medicaid expansion would save money in other areas. The Georgetown study found that the state would have to spend less for safety-net hospitals such as Jackson Health System, mental-health and substance-abuse programs and the medically needy program.

Hoadley said the savings calculations were “a very cautious estimate.”

The Georgetown report projected that the state would save $300 million in 2014, the first year of Medicaid expansion, and $100 million in 2020, when the state would be paying for 10 percent of the expansion costs.

The Georgetown study found that expansion was especially important in Florida, where almost one in three — 30 percent — of nonelderly adults are uninsured, compared to 18 percent nationwide.

In South Florida, the figures are even higher for uninsured non-elderly adults: 57 percent in Hialeah, 50 percent in the city of Miami, 48.5 percent in Deerfield Beach and 31.2 percent in Kendall.

Hospitals strongly support the expansion. On Monday, Phillis Oeters, an executive with Baptist Health South Florida, told legislators that hospitals have already seen their Medicare and Medicaid payments reduced greatly in other areas.

“Enough is enough,” she said. “Hospitals can’t take it anymore.”

A study done for the Florida Hospital Association estimated that the infusion of federal funds from Obamacare would add 56,000 jobs to the state.

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Miami Heat’s LeBron James at White House event: “Mama, I made it!”

Out of uniform and looking dapper, Miami Heat players were honored Monday at the White House by President Barack Obama, a basketball fan who gushed over the play of team stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

In the packed East Room of the White House just before 2 p.m., Obama recapped the team’s road to victory in last year’s NBA championship, as 25 players, Coach Erik Spoelstra and team owner Micky Arison stood behind him.

He singled out James’ performance during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, describing it “as one of the best in basketball history.”

He also kidded Wade about his outfit, a gray suit worn with stylish-sneakers

At one point, James asked the president if he could say a few words.

“Hey, it’s your world, man,” the president answered.

James praised his team and expressed excitement at being at the White House.

“Mama, I made it!” he said.

Miami Herald staff writer Luisa Yanez contributed to this report.

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ING Miami Marathon winner Luis Carlos Rivero Gonzalez inspired by father’s murder

Guatemala’s Luis Carlos Rivero Gonzalez has been a professional runner for more than two years — mainly at distances of ten to 21 kilometers – but he had never raced 26.2 miles until Sunday’s ING Miami Marathon.

Toeing the front of the starting line with about a dozen elite marathoners from Africa, South America, Europe and the U.S., the 26-year-old law student ran away from them and never saw them again until after he broke the tape in Bayfront Park in 2:26:14 – two minutes ahead of runner-up David Kipkoech Tuwei, 29, of Kenya (2:28:15) and third-place Tesfaye Girma Bekele, 30, of Ethiopia (2:28:22).

“Yeah, I had expectations of winning,” Rivero Gonzalez said through a translator. “It felt good to be able to represent my country in the marathon. My dream is to be in the Olympics. I’m going to fight to reach that goal.”

He collected $2,000, plus a colorful race medal. Tuwei and Bekele won $1,000 and $500, respectively.

Rivero Gonzalez said as a child, he ran with his dad — a lawyer in the town of San Marcos. But five years ago, his father was killed by “criminals,” and it spurred him to train harder in his dad’s honor.

Rivero Gonzalez admitted when questioned by reporters that his coach falsified his best marathon time as 2:23:08 on his application for elite runner status for the ING.

Top runners get to start at the front of the pack, along with other perks.

With 25,000 runners in the marathon and half-marathon lined up in front of AmericanAirlines Arena for the pre-dawn start, Gonzalez did not want to be slowed by the huge crowd. The strategy worked; runner-up Tuwei said he didn’t have the leader in sight for long after the starting gun.

Women’s marathon winner Mariska Postma Kramer of the Netherlands – had been registered as an elite competitor for the half-marathon, but decided at the last minute Saturday to enter the double-distance race instead.

It turned out to be a good decision, as the 38-year-old professional runner cruised to a 2:46:07 victory in her first Miami race – more than two minutes in front of runner-up Tezata Desaign Dengersa ofTurkey and Ethiopia (2:48:43).

Third-place Kir Selert of Brooklyn, N.Y. finished in 2:57:32.

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Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones running for reelection

Eight years have passed since Michelle Spence-Jones was elected to the Miami City Commission.

She isn’t willing to leave just yet.

Spence-Jones — who was charged with bribery and grand theft in 2009, suspended from office, acquitted and reinstated to her post — is seeking reelection, she announced Friday. She represents District 5, which includes Overtown, Little Haiti and Liberty City.

Whether Spence-Jones could run again has been the subject of much debate. The Miami city charter limits commissioners to two terms and Spence-Jones has twice won election. But City Attorney Julie O. Bru opined that Spence-Jones could run again because her second term was interrupted by the suspension.

“Our charter prohibits a commissioner or the mayor for running for reelection after that commissioner or mayor has served two consecutive terms,” Bru reaffirmed to Spence-Jones at a City Commission meeting Thursday. “You are eligible to seek reelection because you did not serve two full consecutive terms.”

Spence-Jones’s opponent isn’t buying it.

“The bottom line is, Michelle is term limited,” said the Rev. Richard P. Dunn II, who held the commission seat in Spence-Jones’s absence. “She received financial compensation for the time she was away and she was fully vested in the pension. Are the citizens of Miami going to pay her twice?”

Dunn plans to file a legal challenge “immediately,” he said.

Spence-Jones wants the additional term, she said, “to finish what I started.”

She pointed to the improvements she’s spearheaded along Northeast Second Avenue in Little Haiti. “We cleaned the place up, repainted many of the buildings and recreated a Caribbean feel by adding steeples,” she said.

The ultimate goal, Spence-Jones said, is to make Little Haiti a destination for tourists akin to Little Havana’s Calle Ocho. She has a similar vision for Overtown, which was once the cultural hub of Miami’s black community. To that end, Spence-Jones pushed for improvements to Northwest Third Avenue and provided grant money for local businesses.

“Now we’re going to move forward with a marketing campaign and build relationships with cruise lines and tour operators,” Spence-Jones said. “But these sorts of things take time.”

Other big projects are in the works.

Earlier this year, Spence-Jones pushed through a $50 million bond issue for improvements in Overtown — the largest investment the blighted community has seen in decades. The money will go toward affordable housing and some retail projects.

But Spence-Jones takes an equal amount of pride in some of her smaller initiatives, including a project that brought Hollywood director Robert Townsend to Overtown to film an independent movie. Students from the University of Miami and several local high schools had the opportunity to serve as interns. The film will debut this summer.

She plans to focus future efforts on Liberty City. She is already laying the groundwork for a program that will train residents to become laboratory technicians. A second program will help people with criminal records pursue careers in the automotive industry.

Spence-Jones’s tenure has been somewhat of a rollercoaster. After being elected to her second term, she was charged with bribery and grand theft in two separate cases and removed from office by then-Gov. Charlie Crist. Jurors later acquitted her of bribery, and prosecutors dropped the grand-theft charges.

A vindicated Spence-Jones returned to City Hall in August with newfound political heft.

Spence-Jones is now suing Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle and Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, accusing them of conspiring to destroy her political career via the prosecutions. She declined to talk about the suit, saying only: “I’m going to let my lawyers fight that battle.”

She may have another legal fight ahead.

Dunn believes the city attorney’s opinion giving Spence-Jones the go-ahead to run again won’t withstand a legal challenge. He says Spence-Jones has served two consecutive terms because she was paid for two consecutive terms.

Dunn also criticized the city attorney, saying she likely felt pressured to give that opinion because Spence-Jones is her boss.

“If it stands up in a court of law, I will respect that,” said Dunn, who attended Thursday’s commission meeting and took notes on a legal pad. “But I’m not going to be whitewashed by a city attorney’s opinion that’s biased by her boss’s posturing position.”

Dunn, who also sat on the commission in the mid-‘90s after Commissioner Miller Dawkins was removed from office, pointed to his own accomplishments as a commissioner. He said he helped secure funding for Gibson Park,and quelled racial tensions after Miami police officers shot and killed seven black men in 2010 and 2011.

“Michelle Spence-Jones does not own that seat,” he said. “It’s owned by the people of District 5.”

No other candidates have announced they are running for the post.

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Fundraiser at Alper JCC to help kids with special needs

Judy Mezey and Lisa Leventhal will return as chairs for the 17th annual Special Needs Fundraiser on Feb. 9 at the Alper JCC, 11155 SW 112th Ave. Their dedicated committee members include Suzie Fisher, Joanne Gentile, Renee Gershen, Teri Hirschberg, Lynn Katzen, Tobe Marmorstein, Sharon Samole, and Carol Stiefel.

Six have been involved with planning the event for 15 years or more.

This year the theme is “Music of the 60’s” featuring Jay Siegel and The Tokens. Siegel was on the original recording of the 1961 doo-wop hit single The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Proceeds from the concert, silent auction and gourmet dessert reception benefit the Alper JCC’s Shirley and Chester Paul Special Needs Program.

Mezey started the life cycle program 27 years ago for children who were often left out of socialization experiences such as birthday parties, play dates and club groups. The program was launched in 1990 and is thriving. There is a full summer camp and no-school holiday classes for children, ages four and up, with cognitive and/or physical disabilities. There are also programs for special needs teens and young adults. The fundraiser is a necessity to keep the programs going.

“This is a great evening,” Mezey said in a release. “The money that we raise supports the majority of this program throughout the year. It allows the kids to go on field trips…and also provides funding for scholarships.”

Tickets including the performance, silent auction and dessert reception are $65, $100, and $150 per person. For more information on the Alper JCC

Special Needs Program, or to purchase tickets, call 305-271-9000, ext. 238, or visit www.alperjcc.org.

TRIBUTE TO MILITARY

Just after midnight on Feb. 3, 1943, the United States Army Transport Dorchester sunk in the icy North Atlantic Ocean after being hit 20 minutes earlier by a German submarine’s torpedo fire. The ship was about 100 miles from Narsarsuak, Greenland. Of the 902 men on board, only 230 survived.

On the transport were four Army Chaplains: Father John Washington, Roman Catholic; Reverend Clark Poling, Dutch Reformed; Rabbi Alexander Goode, Jewish;

and Rev. George Fox, Methodist. And according to survivor reports, the religious men sacrificed their lives to help save others.

As the story is told on www.greatships.net, “The four chaplains found a deck box full of lifebelts and together started assisting the men who were without into the belts and overboard. Soon the box was empty. The Chaplains, one by one, removed their own lifebelts and gave them to men who had none. The Chaplains locked arms, sang and prayed for the men as the Dorchester sank with them on board.”

You can honor their selfless service at the 70th anniversary of the Four Chaplains from 2-4 p.m., Feb. 3 at Temple Beth David, 2625 SW Third Ave. in Miami.

The event is free and open to the public. There will be patriotic music by The Singing Miamians of Pinecrest, and a SOUTHCOM Color Guard ceremony. Refreshments will be served. For more write to info@bethdavidmiami.org or call 305-854-3911, ext. 200.

To read more visit www.fourchaplains.org. Also be sure to sign up for the 11th annual Tribute to the Military 5K Run/Walk starting at 8 a.m., Feb. 24 at Merrick Park in Coral Gables. For details, and to register ahead of time, go to www.tributetothemilitary.org.

WRITERS CONFERENCE

The South Florida Writers Association will present notable Florida authors Eliot Kleinberg and Seth Bramson along with life coach Steve Liebowitz, and singer and poet Christine Pointer from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Feb. 2 at Our Backyard Museum, 11701 NW 12th St., in Plantation. The public is invited.

Total cost for the conference, including lunch, is $30 for non-students and $20 for students. You can pay SFWA by check sent to Mort Laitner, 8679 SW 51 St., Cooper City, FL 33328 or by PayPal at www.southfloridawritersassn.org.

NEW NEIGHBORS

Experience new talent, get involved, and make friends at the next monthly luncheon of the New Neighbors Club of South Dade. The group has welcomed many new members in the past year and organizers hope to keep on growing this club.

Freddie Colloca, a new singer in pop music, will perform at the luncheon that starts with social hour at 11 a.m. on Feb. 13 at the Coral Gables Country Club, 997 N. Greenway Dr. in Coral Gables.

Colloca, 27, will perform contemporary music and popular ballads at the New Neighbors event. His singing has been compared to that of Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Antony, and Luis Miguel.

The luncheon cost is $25 and reservations are required. Deadline for reservations is 6 p.m., Feb. 7. Contact Rita Casagrande at 305-595-0213 or ritafosse@yahoo.com.

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Youth Crime Watch helps kids take a bite out of crime

Last week’s column generated several emails from you asking if Youth Crime Watch is in every school. Unfortunately due to budgets, we are not, but we do service those that contact us. Therefore I asked our program director, Joel Mesa, to write my column for today to enlighten my readers about our program.

Youth Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County serves nearly 35,000 students per school year via youth crime prevention presentations, safety projects, YCW club meetings, assemblies, rallies, and special events. Our YCW School Coordinators conduct more than 500 presentations per school year at the Miami-Dade schools on: YCW orientations, YCW installation, YCW appreciation, reporting crimes, school safety, school violence prevention, bullying and cyberbullying prevention, sexting prevention, stranger danger, personal safety, drug prevention, gun prevention, character education, cyber safety, anger management, McGruff the Crime Dog, and much more.

I have experienced at first-hand the dominant factors that youth crime prevention education has in molding our future leaders to strive for success and strengthen our school communities. The students are the “eyes and ears” of our schools. They are the primary stakeholders in preventing crime at their schools by educating their peers on safety topics and by anonymously reporting threats and warning signs that can lead to violent incidents. However, they cannot do this without adequate training. YCW of Miami-Dade County’s primary mission is to provide them the training and skills to make their safety visions an observable reality. It is a mission that has been possible year after year.

Children and young people can be so vulnerable to fall for the ills of school crime. Youth Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County has been healing those ills throughout the last 33 years by implementing programs in the Miami-Dade schools. YCW of Miami-Dade County was selected as the National Crime Prevention Program of the Year by the National Crime Prevention Council. YCW educates students on safety skills which in turn the youth apply those skills in their schools to promote safe school environments, educate their peers on youth crime prevention, and curb school crime. The organization also provides students and faculty a multitude of crime prevention materials so the safety education can be reinforced in the classroom lessons and in YCW club activities. YCW is also the premier organization which has McGruff the Crime Dog appear at Miami-Dade school safety functions and help kids “take a bite out of crime.”

School crime statistics and survey assessments have continuously demonstrated that schools with YCW programs have lower crime rates and safer school environments. This in turn is a contributing factor in academic achievement. A child that is fearful of being bullied and harassed will prioritize their fear over their academics. On the other side of the “safety spectrum”, those children that feel comfortable and safe in their school environments will be more motivated & determined to focus on their academics.

Crime Prevention is a holistic process, working with teachers, counselors, parents, administrators and schools police, but the most important participant is the parent. For more information, feel free to call our office 305-470-1670 and we will be happy to send you a brochure.

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Gov. Rick Scott approves no-bid Glades deal

TALLAHASSEE --
Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet unanimously approved the request of two agriculture companies Wednesday to allow them to renew their leases to farm state land in exchange for them swapping other parcels for Everglades clean-up efforts.

Scott, along with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater ignored concerns of environmental groups across the state that the conditions of the leases to A. Duda & Sons and Florida Crystals were overly generous and would limit the state’s options for cleaning up the Everglades in the future.

The environmentalists urged the Cabinet to slow down and re-negotiate a shorter-term lease that gives the state the options it may need if the restoration projects require more land. But Melissa Meeker, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District, told the Cabinet there would be no need for their land.

"The parcels where the leases are so far outside where any potential project would be…far from any footprint where we would be looking for any projects,’’ she said. "We feel very confident that we have the land we need.’’

The environmental groups said they will take their appeal to the water management district board, which must approve the lease agreements.

"We still hope they will reduce the length of the lease,’’ said Charles Pattison of 1000 Friends of Florida. He said that if the state decides it needs additional land covered under the leases, it could be on the hook to pay the growers for lost income from farming.

The sugar companies argued that every acre of land that remains in farming — including state land — equals jobs for their employees.

"Every time we take land out of production it costs jobs,’’ said Gaston Cantens, vice president of Florida Crystals. "Everyone likes to beat up on us."

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Texas campus issues alert amid reports of shooter

A Texas college has gone into a lockdown amid reports of a shooter on campus.

Jed Young, a spokesman for the Lone Star College System campus in north Harris County, told The Associated Press that a shelter-in-place order has been issued.

Emergency personnel have responded to the Houston-area college campus.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office had no immediate details.

The shooting happened sometime shortly past noon at the campus, according to the Sheruff’s Office, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Initial reports indicate at least three people may have been wounded. No other information about injuries was immediately available.

"We know that shots have been fired and we are in a shelter-in-place situation on the campus," Vicki Cassidy, manager of media relations for Lone Star College System, told the Chronicle. "It's a pretty chaotic scene at this point in time."

Cassidy said she could not provide any other details about the shooting. The campus is one of six that makes up the community college system.

Early reports indicate the shooting may have occurred in the library as well in the cafeteria.

The campus has been placed on lockdown as authorities investigate the case. Officials asked students and faculty to remain where they are on the campus. They also ask other people not to come to the campus.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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