Teen gunned down on LES

A teen boy was gunned down in Manhattan, police said.Raphael Ward, 16, was shot on the Lower East Side at the intersection of Rivington and Columbia Streets about 9:10 p.m. yesterday, cops said.He was wounded in the chest and rushed to Beth Israel Hospital but died shortly after, authorities said.Cops are investigating whether he was the victim of a robbery,...

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Needle reaches the inner groove for Spec’s

In the end, even the almighty Adele and Taylor Swift could not hold back the inevitable.Spec’s, one of the last great record stores, will close its flagship location in Coral Gables on U.S.1, thus joining once-favored chains like Virgin, Tower and Peaches, locally and abroad, that have withered from Internet shopping. With the closing, sometime in January after the merchandise...

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Opening statements to start in Miami terrorism trial of local Muslim clerics

Opening statements are set to begin Friday in the Miami federal trial of an elderly Muslim cleric and his son on charges they funneled tens of thousands of dollars from South Florida to the Pakistani Taliban terrorist organization to carry out violent attacks against U.S. interests overseas.A jury of 12 people was selected Thursday after they filled out four-page questionnaires...

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Jessica Simpson Talks Being a Mother and Style

Jessica Simpson gets real about the challenges of motherhood in a new interview with People, in particular, finding the balance between her career and the responsibilities of being a new mother."On some of the days of Fashion Star, I'm awake before [my daughter Maxwell] is awake, and I'm not home until she's already back to sleep," she admits. "That's only happened about four times, but it makes the...

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Mayor Bloomberg fires back at UFT ad about evaluation negotiations

The United Federation of Teachers has released a TV ad blasting New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for taking a "his way or the highway" approach to education.Bloomberg in turn accused the union of walking away from negotiations over a new teacher evaluation system.The UFT ad released Friday accuses Bloomberg of "going after teachers" instead of supporting...

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American Airlines, US Air merger threatened by lack of accord, says pilots union

.DALLAS — An American Airlines merger with US Airways Group Inc. may not occur during the AMR Corp. unit’s bankruptcy unless pilot groups from the carriers agree on interim contract terms, American’s pilot union has warned. If an accord isn’t reached “in the very near future, in all likelihood there will be no merger before American Airlines exits restructuring,” Keith Wilson,...

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New Year is a good time to count your blessings

The new year is a great time to look back and consider how blessed you are. I try to do that every day, but often in my life I am overwhelmed at the enormous blessings the Lord has bestowed on me. No, I didn’t get a great big financial windfall last year. And I walk with a cane, because of painful arthritis in one of my knees. Still, I am blessed. I can still walk.A few years...

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The Most and Least Influential Social Media Celebs

While he isn’t currently available for promotional work, businesses would have the most success on social media with President Barack Obama endorsing their goods and services, new research shows.A study by social marketing platform SocialToaster revealed that Obama is considered the most influential celebrity on social media. Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Ashton Kutcher and Anderson Cooper followed the...

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Kathy Griffin Reacts Anderson Cooper Crotch Kiss

"If you think this is the part where I'm going to apologize for trying to go down on Anderson Cooper, you are sorely mistaken," Kathy Griffin told David Letterman when asked about her sexual simulation on the journalist during CNN's New Year's Eve coverage in Times Square."I tried ladies and gays for you," the comedian declared on Wednesday's Late Show. When Letterman, 65, asked how Griffin, 52,...

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Brave Sandy Hook students return to classroom for first time since Newtown school massacre

AFP/Getty ImagesA Sandy Hook Elementary student flashes a peace sign as children leave on a school bus in Newtown.Give peace a chance.A bus-riding Sandy Hook Elementary School tyke didn’t need to utter a word to say what’s on the mind of everyone between Newtown and Monroe.Traumatized Sandy Hook kids came back in class today, for the first time since last...

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