NBA’s best player (LeBron James) isn’t best-paid

HOUSTON --
When LeBron James walks onto the court for Houston’s NBA All-Star Game Sunday, he’ll do so as the undisputed king of his sport.

Named the league’s most valuable player three times in the past four years, James is once again dominating the NBA and most likely headed for his fourth MVP award — two fewer than Michael Jordan — with presumably a long career still ahead.

But while James is the most valuable player in the NBA, he’s nowhere close to being the league’s highest paid. Of the 10 players voted into the starting lineup of Sunday’s All-Star Game, five earn more than James, whose salary for this season ranks 13th in the NBA.

James’ decision a while back to “take my talents to South Beach” was a case of trading dollars for victories. The league caps what teams can spend on salaries.

The bimonthly checks cut by team owner Micky Arison this year will equal a bargain come season’s end: $17,545,000.

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, the league’s highest-paid player, will earn about $10 million more than that this season.

James understands he’s underpaid in the purest sense, but he also understands reality: He makes obscene amounts of money playing a game. Super-rich athletes who gripe about money seldom get much sympathy — witness the outpouring of scorn when golfer Phil Mickelson recently complained that increased taxes on high earners, coupled with California’s high tax rates, might force him to make “drastic changes” in his playing schedule.

James also makes a fortune in endorsements, from companies ranging from Nike to Sprite to Samsung to Dunkin’ Donuts.

Still, the obvious question remains: Considering not only James’ impact on the Heat, but also his overall contribution to the entire NBA, how much money could James command on the open market if there were no league-imposed economic constraints?

“Per year, if there were no salary-cap restrictions, I think he’s worth well over $100 million, easy,” said Shane Battier, the Heat’s heady forward and former Duke University schoolmate of Heat CEO Nick Arison.

That’s $100 million per year.

It’s an audacious and historic number, but considering James’ recent run of play, it’s not complete fantasy. James is performing at a historic level of excellence. After thoroughly wiping the court in Oklahoma City on Thursday, scoring 39 points, pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out seven assists, James has scored at least 30 points in seven straight games.

The last player to accomplish that feat going into the All-Star break was Wilt Chamberlain back in 1963.

“This guy, LeBron James, he’s doing stuff that I’ve never seen,” said Hall of Famer Charles Barkley on Thursday night during TNT’s Inside the NBA. “He’s on another planet.”

Considering Barkley’s sharp criticism of James in the past, not to mention his history of going head-to-head with Michael Jordan during both men’s prime, that’s high praise.

But a market value of $100 million?

“Really, it boils down to the ego of an owner,” Battier said. “A lot of owners would pay just to have LeBron James on their team. I can think of a couple that would pay him, easily, nine figures per year.”

According to one numbers cruncher — John Vrooman, an economics professor at Vanderbilt University — Battier’s figure is an overestimation of James’ worth by about $60 million. Here is how his math works: Vrooman used an advanced metric known in the sports world as “win-share,” which assigns a number to each player on a team based on his contributions, both offensively and defensively, for a season. Last season, when James led the Heat to the championship, he had a win-share value of 14.5, which translates to 31.5 percent of the 2011-12 Heat’s 46 regular-season wins.

Read More..

Joe Martinez says he’ll challenge Joe Garcia

Joe Martinez, the former Miami-Dade Commission chairman who lost his bid to become county mayor last year, said Friday that he intends to run against U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia in 2014.

“I’m meeting with different people and feeling them out, seeing what the level of support will be there,” Martinez told The Miami Herald shortly after announcing his intentions on Facebook. He wants to get in the race, Martinez said, “to shake it up.”

Martinez’s name has been floated in political circles in connection with the 26th Congressional District since Garcia, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Rep. David Rivera in November. The district extends from Kendall to Key West.

Cites experience

Martinez, a Republican, said he sees himself as a pragmatist in tune with residents’ needs after his 12 years on the County Commission, including two terms as chairman. In his first term, former Mayor Carlos Alvarez campaigned for a strong-mayor referendum. In his second, Alvarez was recalled.

Both times, Martinez said, he helped lead the county. “It actually ran really smoothly,” Martinez said.

He gave up his seat last year to unsuccessfully challenge Mayor Carlos Gimenez. Martinez said Friday that he has since opened a public relations and business development consulting firm.

Focused on duties

Garcia’s chief of staff, Jeffrey Garcia (no relation), said that the congressman “is focused on doing the work that the people sent him here to do.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for politics later,” he added.

Martinez, conceding that “it’s too early to tell” how well Garcia will do as a freshman congressman, said he’s committed to running in two years.

“I’ve survived Miami-Dade politics,” he said. “What’s Washington?”

Read More..

Oscars Flashback: Drew Barrymore 1983

Considering that Drew Barrymore turns 38 today, it's fascinating to think that she attended her first Oscars thirty years ago. At the 1983 Oscars, the charming, young actress is adorable as ever as she is interviewed on the red carpet.

Although she had won a Young Artist Award for best actress for her performance in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Barrymore didn't receive a nomination for an individual award at her first Oscars despite the majority consensus that she should have.

VIDEO: Drew Barrymore Opens Up About Motherhood

However, the film, her second feature in her young acting career, was nominated for Best Picture at that year's Academy Awards.

With her sweet and sassy personality, 8-year-old Barrymore arrives to Hollywood's biggest celebration wearing a hot pink dress designed by her "momma" with a bow in her hair and a pearl necklace that was given to her by E.T. director Steven Spielberg.

"I don't know if it will win, but I'm hoping so much!" she says enthusiastically of the Oscar-nominated film.

VIDEO: Oscars Flashback '86: 10-Year-Old Angelina Jolie

Also nominated that April evening was the film's director, Spielberg, for whom she reveals she voted in addition to voting for the film. As for the Best Actress category, which was loaded with talented actresses Meryl Streep, Julie Andrews, and Jessica Lange, Barrymore wasn't too interested.

"I'm not nominated," she replies with a smile when asked about her vote for Best Actress.

Two years later, Barrymore received her first major awards show nomination at the Golden Globes for the 1984 film Irreconcilable Differences. Despite more Globes nominations over the years, she has never been nominated for an Oscar.

VIDEO: Oscars Flashback '83: Pregnant Meryl Wins Actress

However, twenty-seven years after her first Oscars, Barrymore won her first major awards (Golden Globes, SAG Awards) for Grey Gardens.

Read More..

Pope Benedict said in August strength was diminishing; Vatican says conclave to elect next pope might start before March 15

BERLIN — Pope Benedict XVI said last August that his strength was diminishing and "not much more" could be expected from him as pontiff, according to a German journalist who interviewed him for a 2010 book in which Benedict said popes should in some circumstances consider resigning.

Journalist Peter Seewald recalled in an article for German weekly Focus published Saturday asking Benedict during a meeting last August at the pontiff's summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, what more could be expected of him and his papacy.

Seewald said Benedict replied: "From me? From me, not much more. I am an old man and my strength is running out. And I think what I have done is enough."

AFP/Getty Images

Pope Benedict XVI today

Asked whether he was considering resignation, Seewald said that Benedict responded: "That depends to what extent my physical strength will compel me to."

Benedict announced on Monday that he would resign Feb. 28, making him the first pope to step down in nearly 600 years.

The announcement stunned the world, but the pope had laid the groundwork for a possible resignation when Seewald interviewed him for his 2010 book, "Light of the World."

"If a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign," the book quoted Benedict as saying. He stressed, however, that resignation was not an option to escape a particular burden, such as the scandal over sexual abuse by clerics.

In Saturday's article, Seewald recalled asking the pope in August how badly the scandal over leaks of papal documents, in which the pope's ex-butler was convicted of aggravated theft, had affected him.

It "is not as though I were somehow falling into a kind of desperation or world-weariness — it is simply incomprehensible to me," Benedict said, according to Seewald.

Benedict said the affair had not thrown him off his stride or made him tired of his office, "because I think this can always happen," Seewald added.

Meanwhile, the Vatican raised the possibility Saturday that the conclave to elect the next pope might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date possible under current rules that require a 15-20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant.

Vatican spokesman The Rev. Federico Lombardi said that the Vatican rules on papal succession are open to interpretation and that "this is a question that people are discussing."

"It is possible that church authorities can prepare a proposal to be taken up by the cardinals on the first day after the papal vacancy" to move up the start of conclave, Lombardi said.

He explained that the 15-20 day rule is in place to allow time for the arrival of "all those (cardinals) who are absent" to take part in the conclave in the usual circumstances of convening after a pope dies. But in this case, the cardinals already know that this pontificate will end on Feb. 28 with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and therefore can get to Rome in plenty of time to take part in the conclave, Lombardi said.

The date of the conclave's start is important because Holy Week begins March 24, with Palm Sunday Mass followed by Easter Sunday on March 31. In order to have a new pope in place in time for the most solemn liturgical period on the church calendar, he would need to be installed as pope by Sunday, March 17. Given the tight time-frame, speculation has mounted that some sort of arrangement would be made to start the conclave earlier than a strict reading of the law would allow.

Questions about the start of the conclave have swirled ever since Benedict announced that he would retire. As a result, his decision has created a host of questions about how the Vatican will proceed, given that its procedures for the so-called "sede vacante" — or vacant seat — period between papacies won't begin with a pope's death.

Lombardi also gave more details about Benedict's final audiences and plans for retirement, saying already 35,000 people have requested tickets for his final general audience to be held in St. Peter's Square on Feb. 27. He said Benedict would spend about two months in the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo south of Rome immediately after his abdication, to allow enough time for renovations to be completed on his retirement home — a converted monastery inside the Vatican walls.

That means Benedict would be expected to return to the Vatican, no longer as pope, around the end of April or beginning of May, Lombardi said.

He was asked if and when the pope would meet with his successor and whether he would participate in his installation Mass; like many open questions about the end of Benedict's papacy, both issues simply haven't yet been resolved, Lombardi said.

Read More..

Sign up for Feb. 21 Miami Herald Small Business Forum

Prepare your best pitch for the Miami Herald’s Small Business Forum, Feb. 21 at the south campus of our sponsor, Florida International University.

In addition to how-to panels and inspirational stories from successful entrepreneurs, our annual small business forum will include interactive opportunities with experts to learn about financing options and polish your personal and business brands.

During our finance panel, audience volunteers will be invited to explain their financing needs to the group. During our box-lunch session, they will be invited to pitch their business or personal brand to our coaches.

Those who prefer just to listen will be treated to a keynote address by Alberto Perlman, co-founder of the global fitness craze Zumba. Panels include success stories from the local entrepreneurs who founded Sedano’s, Jennifer’s Homemade and ReStockIt.com; finance tips from experts in small business loans, venture capital, angel investments and traditional bank loans; and insiders in the burgeoning South Florida tech start-up scene.

Plus, it’s a real bargain. $25 includes the half-day seminar, continental breakfast and a box lunch.

Register here.

Program

8 a.m.

Registration and continental breakfast, provided by Bill Hansen Catering

8:30 a.m. Welcome

Host: David Suarez, president and CEO, Interactive Training Solutions, LLC

•  Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

•  Alice Horn, executive director, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE South Florida)

•  Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge Overview:

•  Nancy Dahlberg, Business Plan Challenge coordinator, The Miami Herald

8:45 a.m. Session I – Success Stories

Moderator: Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

Speakers:

•  Jennifer Behar, founder, Jennifer’s Homemade

•  Matt Kuttler, co-president of ReStockIt.com

•  Javier Herrán, chief marketing officer, Sedano’s Supermarkets

10 a.m. Session II – All about Tech

Moderator: Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Speakers

•  Susan Amat, founder, Launch Pad Tech

•  Nancy Borkowski, executive director, Health Management Programs, Chapman Graduate School of

Business, Florida International University

•  Chris Fleck, vice president of mobility solutions at Citrix and a director of the South Florida Tech Alliance

•  Charles Irizarry, co-founder and director of product architecture, Rokk3r Labs

11:15 a.m. Keynote

Speaker: Alberto Perlman, CEO and co-founder of Zumba® Fitness

Introduction: Jane Wooldridge, business editor, The Miami Herald

11:45 a.m. Session III – Show me the money: Financing your small business

An interactive session featuring audience volunteers who will be invited to make a short investment pitch before a panel, including experts in microlending, SBA loans, traditional bank loans, venture capital and angel investing. Audience volunteers should come prepared with a two-minute presentation that includes details about current backing, how much money they are seeking and a brief synosis of ow that money would be used.

Read More..

Little Havana families stuck in crumbling condos

The owners of condominiums in the Havana Palms complex in Little Havana feel as if they are living aboard the Titanic. Everything is sinking.

“We’re afraid to walk in our own living rooms, to step into the bathroom, to gain weight, because our floors sink deeper every day,” said Mario Pineda, 53.

At the peak of the real estate bubble, between 2006 and 2009, about 20 neighbors bought condominiums in the renovated complex in the 900 block of Southwest Second Street. Some paid almost $190,000 — a fair price, they believed, for a piece of the American Dream.

From the outside, the condos looked lovely. Inside, there were tile floors, freshly painted walls and newly appointed bathrooms.

But there were problems.

Several neighbors said that they noticed cracks in their walls shortly after they moved in, and said the cracks seemed to have been covered up with plaster.

As time passed, cracks in the walls of Andrés Sergio Alvarez’s condo spread from the floor to the ceiling.

His neighbor, Juana Blandón, said she fears her bathroom will collapse because the floor is cracked right down the middle. She has her bathtub propped up with a pair of wooden planks.

Mario and Genny Pineda live in terror because their apartment is on the second floor. They avoid walking in the middle of the living room because the floor tiles are loose and sink with every step.

Over time, the problems got worse.

On Jan. 10, the Reyna and Jesús Garcia’s living room floor collapsed. The family, with two teenage daughters, has since moved to a rental apartment.

“Luckily, that happened at midnight, so nobody was hurt,” said Reyna García as she pointed to the rotten floor boards in the middle of the living room.

Not long after, the city of Miami declared the buildings a danger to the community. Municipal inspectors told the homeowners they had 30 days to make the repairs necessary to comply with the city codes.

“The building is uninhabitable,” said Mariano Fernández, director of the Department of Construction. “There are structural problems and health problems.”

The company that sold the condominiums was Montara Land V LLC, formed in May 2005 by lawyer Anibal Duarte-Viera and real estate agent Gabriel de la Campa. Miami-Dade County records indicate that Montara Land V borrowed $2.775 million to buy the complex, which was built in 1946.

“We bought that property as investors,” Duarte-Viera said.

By October 2006, Montara Land V had converted the apartments into condominiums under the name Havana Palms, and put them up for sale. Duarte-Viera said he had hired a company to manage the building and remembers doing some repairs, though he could not give details.

The condominiums’ buyers aspired to a typical middle-class life. They remember the big red signs outside the complex, announcing the possibility of obtaining financing through Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami.

Some received a loan from the county; others, a subsidy from the city for new property owners who will remain in their homes for several years.

“Everybody was excited at seeing this pretty place, one that we could buy with the help of the government,” said Reyna García, 39.

The new homeowners had to make monthly maintenance payments of $166 to $220. According to the homeowners, those payments were collected through Duarte-Viera’s and De la Campa’s company.

Read More..

Kate Gosselin, Kendra Wilkinson to Wife Swap

Kate Gosselin will take on the life of a former Playboy bunny! The mother-of-eight is set to appear with Kendra Wilkinson on Celebrity Wife Swap where the two will live a day in the other's shoes.

The reality stars will be the first to appear on ABC's new show, airing Feb. 26.

Gosselin, 37, will live with Wilkinson's former NFL husband Hank Baskett and their son Hank, 3, while Wilkinson, 27, will learn what it's like to be a single mother firsthand when she moves in with Gosselin's eight kids (twins Cara and Mady, 12, and sextuplets Aaden, Collin, Joel, Leah, Alexis and Hannah, 8). We wonder if her ex Jon Gosselin will drop by the house while the Playboy model is looking after the kids.

Who would you rather trade lives with: Gosselin or Wilkinson? Let us know, below.

Read More..

Funeral is held for SI mom killed in Turkey

A New Yorker killed while vacationing alone in Turkey is being remembered as a good-hearted and joyful person.

A funeral was being held Friday on Staten Island for Sarai Sierra, a mother of two.

The service began with a prayer and "Amazing Grace" played by pipers from the transit system. Sierra's husband is a bus driver.

Her body was found Feb. 2 in Istanbul, 12 days after she disappeared. Police say she suffered a fatal blow to the head.

The 33-year-old went to Turkey to explore her hobby, photography. A friend who was supposed to join her canceled for financial reasons.

Sarai Sierra

Turkish authorities and the FBI are investigating her death. No arrests have been made.

Read More..

In Key West, women earn more than men

Key West is one of just four cities in the United States where the median income for women exceeds that of men, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The American Community Survey, which goes beyond population figures and analyzes comparative social, economic and educational data, found that nationwide, men older than 16 working full-time and year-round earn an average of $47,233.

The same group of women on average earns around 78 percent of that, $37,199.

But it's different in Key West; Sebring, Fla.,; Madera, Calif.; and Fort Payne, Ala., according to survey data from 2011, the most recent figures released.

In the Southernmost City, women on average earn $33,956 while men earn $31,716.

Tiffany Horton, director of sales at the Ocean Key Resort and Spa and formerly the revenue manager for the Marriot Beachside, pointed to Key West's hospitality-driven economy as an explanation.

"I think it's a great area of success for women because of their compassion and their motherly instinct," she said. "In hospitality, sales and the hotel industry, you have to relate to so many different people and understand different personalities and work with them."

In Sebring, total earnings for both groups are slightly less but women still out-earn men, taking in an average of $28,677 compared to $27,094.

Jodi Weinhofer, executive director of the Lodging Association of the Florida Keys and Key West, noted there are many high-level female executives and managers in Key West's hospitality industry, as well as numerous female guesthouse owners.

"I do think the hospitality industry is somewhat blind to men and women," she said. "In hospitality, it doesn't matter who you are. Across the board, it's all about performance."

Catherine Hill, director of research for the American Association of University Women, said of the comparative pay levels, "The big issue is what type of industries you have in that city."

"Every industry has its own drivers in terms of where you see higher wages, lower wages, more equality, and food service or hospitality is one of those," she said. "There's also such a thing as a culture. In some communities, you see a much more level playing field."

Read More..

Feds catch convicted Miami lawyer-banker on lam for 27 years in Mexico

Back in the 1980s, Miami lawyer Manuel Lopez-Castro was convicted of racketeering charges for helping a marijuana ring flush with cash buy a majority interest in Sunshine State Bank during the heyday of drug trafficking and money laundering in South Florida.

But rather than surrender to start his 27-year prison sentence in early 1986, Lopez-Castro fled to Mexico and eventually dropped the “Castro” in his last name when he obtained a fraudulent Mexican birth certificate, authorities say.

This week, the feds finally caught up with the longtime fugitive.

Mexican police arrested Lopez-Castro, 61, during a traffic stop in Cancun Tuesday, when he jumped out of his vehicle and ran. He didn’t get far. Mexican authorities officially deported Lopez-Castro and turned him over to U.S. Marshals Wednesday for the flight to Miami.

On Thursday afternoon, Lopez-Castro will be in Miami federal court where he was convicted at trial in October 1985.

Lopez-Castro was convicted of helping a marijuana smuggler buy a majority share of the South Miami bank. According to an indictment, the lawyer acted as a Sunshine State official who assisted the bank’s executives, co-defendants Ray and Rafael Corona, in laundering drug profits.

Lopez-Castro failed to show up on Jan. 30, 1986, at a federal prison in Tallahassee. That’s when the lawyer, disbarred after his conviction, was to begin serving his sentence.

Then-U.S. District Judge James W. Kehoe signed a warrant for Lopez-Castro’s arrest. He had been free on bonds totaling $260,000 while he appealed his conviction.

Lopez-Castro’s parents had pledged their home as part of the collateral for the bonds. Castro had surrendered his U.S. passport when the bonds were set. He had been known to travel frequently to Costa Rica and Panama.

Federal agents searched Lopez-Castro’s home at 8100 Old Cutler Rd. for information about his disappearance. The property was valued at $350,000.

At trial, Lopez-Castro’s wife, Paulette, sat through nearly every day of the proceedings. She also vanished, according to a Miami Herald story at the time. The couple had two children, Manuel, 2, and Natalia, 6.

After the lengthy trial, the federal jury convicted Lopez-Castro and one other man, acquitted a third defendant and failed to reach a verdict on the two main defendants charged with helping the marijuana smuggler buy his way into the South Miami bank.

The jury deadlocked in their deliberations of Ray Corona, former board chairman of Sunshine State Bank, and his father, Rafael Corona, the bank’s former managing director. But they were retried in 1986, convicted and sentenced to prison for 20 and 5 years, respectively.

Both Coronas were charged with taking $2 million from Jose Antonio Fernandez, known on the street as La Mentirita or “The Little Liar,” and using the money to buy the Sunshine State Bank in May 1978. Fernandez’s interest in the bank was concealed; on paper, the bank was purchased by the wife of a Panamanian money launderer.

In the first trial, jurors failed to resolve the case against the Coronas because they apparently did not believe the testimony of the government’s star witness, Fernandez. Before trial, he had pleaded guilty to smuggling some 600,000 pounds of marijuana into the United States in 1977-84.

Fernandez told the jury how he filled shopping bags with cash and gave the money to the Coronas to buy Sunshine State Bank, and then asked them to conceal his ownership of it.

The Coronas agreed, Fernandez said, in exchange for stock and their being named officers of the bank.

Prosecutors marshaled volumes of evidence and carefully explained to the jury how the Coronas negotiated with Fernandez, paid for the bank with drug profits, then celebrated with champagne when the bank purchase was approved by regulators.

But Ray Corona, 37, and Rafael Corona, 64, who testified in their defense, told jurors that they were duped by Fernandez.

Fernandez was sentenced to 50 years in prison on narcotics charges, but later had his sentence reduced based on his cooperation with prosecutors.

The jury convicted Lopez-Castro and Gerardo Jorge Guevara, 42. Both assisted with Fernandez’s ownership of Sunshine State Bank, the jury found. The jury convicted them of numerous racketeering and fraud charges.

The jury acquitted William Vaughn, 64, who directed a company described as a “front” by government investigators, who said it was used to launder Fernandez’s drug profits.

Read More..