Arrest made in death of Amityville boy, 4

Frank Eltman

Police investigate the death of an Amityville child's death.

AMITYVILLE — An arrest has been made in the slaying of a 4-year-old boy found alone inside a Long Island apartment after an anonymous 911 call, police said Saturday.

Jonathan Thompson, 31, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Adonis Reed, Suffolk County police said in a news release.

Adonis was found unconscious on a couch in an apartment in a private house on a quiet Amityville street on Wednesday afternoon. He was pronounced dead at a hospital, and his death was classified as a homicide. Detectives said he showed signs of being assaulted.

Suffolk County police Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick told reporters Wednesday night that Adonis was "a victim of violence."

Thompson's home address is the same as the residence where the boy was found. He was arrested in Brooklyn with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Thompson was in custody Saturday and not immediately available for comment. He is scheduled to be arraigned later in the day.

Neighbor Eric Erath told reporters on Thursday that he used to see the little boy and his 6-year-old sister occasionally playing around the house, but he couldn't recall the last time. "Every time I used to see them, they were both very cheerful," said Erath, who lives next door.

He said he never saw any signs of abuse. "I do not believe anything like that happened," he said.

The boy's sister was in the custody of county child welfare officials, police said. It wasn't clear if the children lived at the apartment.

The apartment house where the boy's body was found is in a middle-class neighborhood with a hodgepodge of old and new architecture. The apartment is in a two-story Victorian-style house with yellow shingles.

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Miami-Dade sees first hiring drop since 2010

Miami-Dade ended 2012 with its first overall job loss in more than two years as sharp drops in construction, healthcare and government jobs wiped out other gains.

The sectors all share one key funding source — tax dollars — as ongoing squeezes in government budgets force cutbacks in hospitals, infrastructure projects and basic municipal staffing. Miami-Dade lost nearly 5,000 local government jobs in December compared to the year before. Its hospital and construction sectors were both down almost 2,000 jobs each. Miami-Dade last saw its overall payroll number decline in June 2010.

Along with a hiring loss, Miami-Dade reported a sharp increase in people describing themselves as unemployed. Miami-Dade’s unemployment rate went from 8.4 percent in November to 8.8 percent in December, the sharpest increase since the recession was still underway in 2009.

Miami-Dade’s new job numbers were easily the most discouraging data set in Florida’s latest employment report. Florida reported an unemployment rate of 8 percent for December, down from 8.1 percent in November even though hiring is down for the year. And Broward recorded its second month of job gains, up about 5,000 positions.

Construction and government hiring have been rocky for years in South Florida, but the decline in the healthcare could mark a new, disturbing milestone for Miami-Dade’s economy. Before the end of 2012, Miami-Dade hospitals hadn’t reported a net job loss for 56 months. The losses follow significant layoffs at both the University of Miami medical school and the Jackson hospital system.

Miami-Dade’s 8.8 percent unemployment rate is still significantly lower than where it was a year ago, when unemployment sat at 10.2 percent in December 2011. Monthly employment reports also subject to revisions, so the hiring picture could look much better in a month. Still, Miami-Dade’s increase of four-tenths of percentage point in the unemployment rate is the fastest growth since April 2009, two months before the 2007-09 recession officially ended.

Of all the local job markets, only Miami-Dade receives a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate on the same day as the statewide report. The smaller markets’ raw rates aren’t considered as reliable.

Broward’s raw unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in December, down from 7 percent in November.

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Sen. Marco Rubio to swear in Miami-Dade commissioner Rebeca Sosa on Friday

Miami-Dade Commissioners Rebeca Sosa becomes Miami-Dade commission’s first Hispanic chairwoman when she is sworn in on Friday by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.

Also being sworn in is fellow commissioner Lynda Bell, who is now the vice chair. Miami-Dade County Judge Gladys Perez will swear in Bell

The installation ceremony will be at 11:30 a.m. ceremony at the commission chambers at the Stephen Clark Center, 111 NW First St.

First elected in 2001, Sosa represents District 6, which includes areas of Miami, Coral Gables, West Miami, Hialeah and Miami Springs, as well as unincorporated zones.

Sosa’s office explained the Florida Senator is doing the honors at the historic swearing in because the two are long-time friends.

Bell who was elected in 2010 represents District 8, which encompasses a significant area of southeastern Miami-Dade, including the municipalities of Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay and Homestead with portions of Kendall an the Redlands.

Sosa and Bell won two-year terms in November.

The installation ceremony is open to the public.

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Mo. lawmaker wants tax on violent video games

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Republican lawmaker from rural Missouri bucked her party’s anti-tax bent on Tuesday and called for a sales tax on violent video games in response to a deadly Connecticut school shooting.

Rep. Diane Franklin, of Camdenton, said the proposed 1 percent sales tax would help pay for mental health programs and law enforcement measures aimed at preventing mass shootings. The tax would be levied on video games rated “teen,” ”mature” and “adult-only” by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the organization in charge of rating video games.

The rating board classifies games as “teen” if they contain violence, suggestive themes and crude humor. The popular music game “Guitar Hero” has a teen rating and would be taxed under Franklin’s plan. Another popular title, “Call of Duty,” has a mature rating and also would be subject to the sales tax. “Mature” games are deemed suitable for people 17 and older and may contain intense violence and gore.

“History shows there is a mental health component to these shootings,” Franklin said, referring to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that killed 20 students and six adults in Newtown, Conn., and the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting that left 14 dead.

Franklin’s plan is the latest in a string of measures proposed in response to recent mass shootings. Another Missouri Republican has filed a measure that would allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom. On the national level, Vice President Joe Biden is leading an effort to reduce gun violence and is expected to reveal recommendations Wednesday that include steps to improve school safety and mental health care, as well as address violence in entertainment and video games.

Franklin’s proposal already faces opposition from the Entertainment Software Association, which represents companies that publish computer and video games.

“Taxing First Amendment protected speech based on its content is not only wrong, but will end up costing Missouri taxpayers,” the association said in a written statement.

Tax increases typically are a hard sell in Missouri. This past November, voters rejected a proposed tobacco tax increase for the third time in a decade, choosing instead to leave the state’s cigarette tax at the lowest level in the nation. Republican legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon both have taken stands against tax increases.

Other proposals to tax violent video games failed in Oklahoma in 2012 and New Mexico in 2008. In Oklahoma, Republican state Rep. William Fourkiller had proposed a violent video games tax to combat childhood obesity and school bullying, but his plan failed to make it out of a committee.

Other non-tax efforts to curb the effect of violent video games also have fallen short. U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., put forward a measure last year for the study of the impact of violent video games on children, but it failed. A California law banning the sale of violent games to minors was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011.

The Entertainment Merchant’s Association sent a letter to Biden last week urging him to look elsewhere when it comes to his plans on gun violence.

“Make no mistake: blaming movies and video games is an attempt to distract the attention of the public and the media from meaningful action that will keep our children safer,” wrote the merchant’s association, a lobbying group for the home entertainment industry.

Others, however, have criticized the video game industry and its role in mass shootings.

“There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people,” National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said at a December news conference.

Franklin said she hopes her bill will “start a discussion” on the relationship between violent games and mental illness. Franklin, who has a granddaughter in kindergarten, added she is concerned about the safety of schools and universities in the state.

In 2008, there were 298 million video games sold in the U.S., generating $ 11.7 billion in revenue. Six of the 10 best-selling games included violence, and four carried a “mature” rating.

Franklin’s bill was formally introduced Monday and must be referred and approved by a committee before being considered on the House floor.

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Catfish Creator Talks Manti Teo and Kekua

The story of Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te'o, and the hoax he reportedly perpetuated, has captivated both sports-lovers and novices alike. In short, Te'o had started an online relationship with a woman who used the phony name Lennay Kekua, and fooled the athlete into believing she died of leukemia in September. Te'o was vocal about Kekua's battle, further endearing him to the Football nation.

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But on Wednesday, Te'o's story was exposed as a lie in the press, 10 days after he reportedly learned of the hoax himself. The rub is that, despite learning that Kekua was a fraud on December 6, he continued to talk about her battle with leukemia in interviews on December 8 and again in a newspaper interview published Dec. 10, according to The Huffington Post.

Putting aside Te'o's potential perpetuation of this hoax for personal gain (some have posited he did so to further endear himself to Heisman Trophy judges), this phenomenon is not only becoming increasingly more commonplace, but it's a full-fledged TV phenomenon thanks to MTV's Catfish, based on the 2010 documentary.

RELATED - ETonline's Interview with Catfish Creators

Nev Schulman, the original "Catfish," Tweeted on January 16, "I am working on finding out more about this @MTeo_5 #Catfish story. I have been in contact with the woman involved and will get the truth." He later Tweeted at Manti, saying, "I know how you feel. It happened 2 me. I want 2 help tell ur story & prevent this from happening to others in the future. Lets talk."

Nev's brother, and Catfish co-producer, Ariel Schulman appeared on Good Morning America minutes ago and revealed that while Manti hasn't returned their interview requests, they have learned quite a bit about what happened behind the scenes.

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"[Nev and Catfish co-host Max Joseph have] uncovered a few people who were duped by the fake Kekua character," Ariel told George Stephanopoulos. "It's bigger than Manti, there were other people she was corresponding with."

When asked why Te'o would carry on a relationship with someone he'd never met, Schulman explained, "I think when you want something bad enough, in his case, a connection, you'll ignore the red flags. My gut is that there's a lonely person behind it all who didn't expect it to go this far. My guess is there was no malicious intent and it was just two people looking for love."

For more on MTV's Catfish, click here!

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Japan probe suspects excess voltage in Boeing 787 battery

TOKYO — The burned insides of a battery in the Boeing 787 at the center of a worldwide grounding of the aircraft indicate it operated at a voltage above its design limit, a Japanese investigator said Friday, as US officials joined Japan's probe into the incident.

The All Nippon Airways plane made an emergency landing Wednesday morning in western Japan after its pilots smelled something burning and received a cockpit warning of battery problems. Nearly all 50 of the 787s in use around the world have since been grounded.

Photos provided by the Japan Transport Safety Board of the lithium ion battery that was located beneath the 787's cockpit show a blackened mass of wires and other components within a distorted blue casing.

AP

The distorted main lithium-ion battery of the All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787, which made an emergency landing on Wednesday at Takamatsu airport in Japan.

Japan transport ministry investigator Hideyo Kosugi said the state of the battery indicated "voltage exceeding the design limit was applied" to it.

He said the similarity of the burned insides of the battery from the ANA flight to the battery in a Japan Airlines 787 that caught fire Jan. 7 while the jet was parked at Boston's Logan International Airport suggested a common cause.

"If we compare data from the latest case here and that in the U.S., we can pretty much figure out what happened," Kosugi said.

The 787 relies more than any other modern airliner on electrical signals to help power nearly everything the plane does. It's also the first Boeing plane to use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for its main electrical system. Such batteries are prone to overheating and have additional safeguards installed that are meant to control the problem and prevent fires.

GS Yuasa Corp., the maker of the lithium-ion batteries used in the 787s, said Thursday it was helping with the investigation but that the cause of the problem was unclear. It said the problem could be the battery, the power source or the electronics system.

U.S. safety officials and Boeing inspectors joined the Japan Transport Safety Board investigation Friday.

The American investigators — one each from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board and two from Boeing Co. — inspected the ANA jet on the tarmac at Takamatsu airport in western Japan.

An initial inspection by Japanese officials of the 787 found that a flammable battery fluid known as electrolyte had leaked from the plane's main lithium-ion battery beneath the cockpit. It also found burn marks around the battery.

Aviation authorities in Japan have directed ANA, which owns 17 of the planes, and Japan Airlines, with seven, not to fly the jets until questions over their safety have been resolved.

The 787, known as the Dreamliner, is Boeing's newest jet, and the company is counting heavily on its success. Since its launch after delays of more than three years, the plane has been plagued by a series of problems.

The FAA has required U.S. carriers to stop flying 787s until the batteries are demonstrated to be safe. United Airlines has six of the jets and is the only U.S. carrier flying the model.

Aviation authorities in other countries usually follow the lead of the country where the manufacturer is based.

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Prices for Miami Beach luxury condos soar to records

Ultra-luxury condominiums on South Beach are fetching nosebleed prices.

On Tuesday, a penthouse at the Setai Resort at 2001 Collins Avenue closed for $27 million — the highest price ever for a South Florida condominium, according to real estate agents.

“We’re definitely seeing the market turning upward,” said Jeff Miller, of Zilbert International Realty in Miami, who represented the buyer in the sale of the palatial 7,100-square-foot condominium. “We’re seeing buyers come in from all over the globe.”

Just a few weeks ago, Ohio coal mining businessman Wayne Boich Jr. completed the sale of his Icon South Beach penthouse at 450 Alton Road in the uber-trendy South of Fifth neighborhood for just under $21 million.

The 6-bedroom, 7 1/2-bath Icon condo sparked a bidding war that drove the sale $2 million above the listing price — a level that is three times the $7 million Boich paid in July 2007 in the depths of the bust. It was a record price for a Miami Beach bayside condo.

“The luxury market is on fire in South Beach — especially the South of Fifth neighborhood,” said Dora Puig, principal of PuigWerner Real Estate Services, who was the listing broker for the Icon unit. “It’s moving Miami to totally different pricing points.”

The Setai’s record may not reign for long.

Penthouse 2 in the decade-old Continuum South tower at 100 South Pointe Drive in the South of Fifth neighborhood is on the market for $39 million.

That is a record listing price for a Miami-Dade condominium, according to Puig, who also snagged that listing.

Amid the market sizzle, Puig bumped up the asking price late last summer from $35 million.

The penthouse, which has 11,000 square feet of interior space, belongs to Manhattan real estate developer Ian Bruce Eichner, who built the Continuum project at the tip of South Beach and kept the trophy for himself.

The Continuum penthouse, which has 6,000 square feet of deck and a rooftop heated pool, boasts sweeping 13 1/2-foot ceilings that give the feel of a single-family home. The floor-to-ceiling glass walls offer a 360-degree view of the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay, downtown Miami and Miami Beach from 40 stories up.

“It looks down on Fisher Island, way down,” Puig said with a smile.

The unit has a private interior elevator, of course, and stretches over two indoor levels and two largely exterior levels.

One big plus: It has a gated entrance and sits on an expansive enclave of rolling lawns and gardens adjacent to a city park at the tip of the island.

The unit comes with an additional 874-square-foot guest quarters that would delight most mortals. “The guest unit is intended for professional quarters: the maid, the nanny, the chef, the pilot,” Puig explained.

Also included is a snazzy cabana on the beach.

Eichner has used it as a vacation home and once rented it to Tom Cruise for a couple of months while he was in Miami to film Rock of Ages.

On Thursday, Puig hosted Miami’s power brokers for a look at the Continuum penthouse over champagne and hors d’oeuvres. Next week, she plans to spend three days in New York touting the property to high-end brokers.

Such palatial properties typically are paid for in cash. But what would a monthly payment be?

With a 20 percent down payment of $7.8 million, the buyer would have to finance $31.2 million.

“I don’t know that I’d be able to find anybody willing to go that high on one unit,” warned Steve Schneider, a mortgage broker who is owner and president of Abacus Lending Group in South Miami.

If a buyer could line up a 15-year fixed rate mortgage at 3.5 percent, the monthly payment for principal and interest would be $223,043.35.

“I’d hate to see the tax bill,” said Schneider.

According to Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser records, the 2012 property tax bill on the Continuum penthouse was $264,896.17. That was based on an assessed value of just $9.5 million, less than half what the Property Appraiser listed as the market value of $19.3 million. The tax break came as a result of the state law that caps increases in assessed values on non-homesteaded property at 10 percent a year.

The condo maintenance fee for Eichner’s unit runs $7,624 a month. “I think that’s low for what you get,” said Puig.

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Weather alert: Cold front moving in today; lows dipping into the 50s at night

After the sun goes down Thursday night, open the windows.

Forecasters say South Florida will cool down overnight to the mid-50s. The heat relief will be spiced with a breeze.

According to the National Weather Service, Friday’s daytime temperatures will snap up to the low-70s before cooling down again at night to the low-60s.

“We may have a hard time getting to 70 degrees on Friday,” said David Bernard, chief meteorologist at Miami Herald new partner CBS4. That he said, will be a “shock to the system” for South Floridians basking in winter warmth so far.

Bernard says the cold front will move in Thursday afternoon, preceded by rain.

Through the weekend, highs will be in the high-70s, with lows in the mid-60s.

For the full forecast with updates, click here.

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Missouri Lawmaker Wants Violent Video Games Taxed

A rural Missouri lawmaker wants her state to tax certain video games to help curb gun violence. The Associated Press reports state Rep. Diane Franklin, R-Camdenton, believes a 1 percent sales tax on video games rated teen, mature and adults only would help finance mental health programs aimed at reducing gun violence such as the recent mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

What does the legislation propose?

House Bill 157 proposes to create “an excise tax based on the gross receipts or gross proceeds of each sale” of video games rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The tax also involves the “storage, use or other consumption” of violent video games in Missouri including “tangible personal property.” This means the tax could extend to memorabilia derived from the games such as toys, clothing and video game accessories.

How does the legislation hope to enhance public safety?

The law hopes to procure “new and additional funding for treatment of mental health conditions associated with exposure to violent video games… .” The revenue from the tax cannot be used to replace existing revenue already in place. Franklin deems the legislation “necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare, peace and safety.” Therefore, if the legislation passes it will go into effect immediately. There is no mention in the legislation as to how much revenue should be generated, nor does it say whether the sales tax is just on new merchandise as opposed to used games on the secondary market.

Have similar laws been considered before?

A similar proposal was struck down in mid-February in Oklahoma. Democrat William Fourkiller crafted legislation in 2012 that is very similar to Franklin’s idea in Missouri. A subcommittee struck down the bill by a 6-5 margin. Fourkiller, in defending the law , said it wasn’t a “magic bullet” but that Oklahoma had “to start somewhere” to curb childhood violence. Oklahoma also would have taxed ESRB teen, mature and adults only games at a rate of 1 percent.

Does the Missouri law have a chance to pass?

CNN notes a federal appeals court made a ruling in 2003 that video games are free speech protected by the First Amendment. Ironically, it was a federal case stemming from St. Louis County, Mo., that created the precedent for video games as free speech. Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh’s decision was reversed by an appellate panel. The ruling came shortly after the state of Washington banned the sale of certain video games to children under the age of 17. Gamasutra reveals New Mexico also tried, and failed, to pass a similar law in 2008.

What are Franklin’s credentials as they relate to the proposed bill?

Franklin was first elected in 2010 from Camdenton. She is a mother of two sons and served on Camdenton School Board from 1993 to 1999. She sits on the House Appropriations-Education committee. Franklin is a third-generation small business owner and comes from a farming family. Missouri Republicans currently have a veto-proof supermajority in the General Assembly. Camdenton is a small city of around 3,700 people near Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics.

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SAG Awards Flashback: Javier Bardem 2008

Javier Bardem made an immediate impact on the film world when he began undertaking roles in wide-release American films; however, he didn't experience the reward of his American film success until undertaking ruthless hit-man "Anton Chigurh" in No Country for Old Men.

The Spanish actor had received plenty of accolades in his native country but had yet to receive any tangible reward for his American films until 2008. He had been nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his first American film, Before Night Falls, but still had nothing to solidify his touted performances.

VIDEO: Javier Bardem is an 'Uncomfortable' Bond Villain

"It's a great honor of course, and I guess what I did is to take it and say, 'O.K., thank you for that; it's a great honor," he says to ET's former co-host Mary Hart at the 2008 SAG Awards of his many nominations for No Country. "There's not much you can do other than really thank the people that thought that you could be included in [the nominees category]."

Bardem would have plenty more thanking to do that night, as he won not only the Best Supporting Actor Award but also received the Best Cast Award for No Country. A few weeks later, he completed his sweep of the awards circuit with an Oscar for the role.

RELATED: Javier Bardem: I Don't Watch My Performances

"I'm so happy!" Bardem offers in Spanish when prompted by Mrs. Hart to celebrate as he would in his native tongue.

While Bardem won't have the opportunity to make an awards sweep as he did in 2008, the 43-year-old actor has been given another SAG nomination to be thankful this year, this time for his supporting role in Skyfall.

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