Hugh Grant is a Dad Again

Hugh Grant confirmed Saturday that he is a dad again.

PICS: Celebs and Their Cute Kids

The 52-year-old British actor tweeted, "In answer to some journos. Am thrilled my daughter now has a brother. Adore them both to an uncool degree. They have a fab mum."

Hugh and actress Tinglan Hong welcomed a daughter named Tabitha in 2011. No word yet on what Tabitha's little brother is named.

Related: Hugh Grant Responds to Jon Stewart Diss

Hugh told The Guardian in 2012 of being a dad, "I like my daughter very much. Fantastic. Has she changed my life? I'm not sure. Not yet. Not massively, no. But I'm absolutely thrilled to have had her, I really am. And I feel a better person."

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Woman wounded by stray bullet in the Bronx








A woman was wounded by a stray bullet in the Bronx, authorities said.

An unknown gunman shot the victim, 51, in the right side of her stomach about 9:40 p.m. in front of the Soundview Houses on Seward Avenue near Noble Avenue, cops said.

Investigators do not believe she was the intended target.

EMS rushed her to Jacobi Hospital, where she is expected to survive, authorities said.

No arrests have been made.











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Glades plan could siphon water from county wells




















For years, Everglades restoration engineers and scientists have been working on ways to control the ripple effects when they finally start returning healthy water flows to the marsh.

Increased suburban flooding has long been the big concern from raising water levels in the Everglades but a critical plan now on the fast track surprisingly poses the opposite problem.

Initial computer modeling for the $1 billion plan, which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is rushing to complete by year’s end, suggests the proposed re-plumbing of assorted levees, canals and pumps could divert too much water from a well field that supplies Miami-Dade County with much of its drinking water. At certain times of the year, it also could reduce already meager freshwater flows to southern Biscayne Bay that have turned much too salty.





Kim Taplin, chief of the Corps’s Central Everglades branch, acknowledged the results from the first modeling runs last month were unexpected but she also stressed that the suite of projects can be tweaked to ensure groundwater continues to recharge county wells in West Miami-Dade.

“It is truly a tentatively selected plan,’’ she said at a meeting on the plan this week. “There are a lot of policy issues that have to be worked out.’’

But the time frame for resolving the problem and other issues is short, and the stakes are high.

This particular plan, called the Central Everglades Planning Project, is an important experiment by the Corps to cut through the bureaucratic red tape that has tangled and slowed restoration since Congress first approved the joint state-federal restoration effort in 2000. The Corps — partnering with the South Florida Water Management District and a large “working group” of other state and federal agencies, environmentalists and outdoors groups — is trying to crunch its typical planning process of five-to-six years to 18 months.

The goal is to formally select a plan by April and have it approved by Corps leadership in Washington in time to include it among a handful of already authorized Everglades projects stalled until Congress approves funding — most likely through a massive public works spending bill. Such measures, called water resources development acts, are passed periodically, with the last one coming in 2007. Everglades supporters are pushing hard for another one.

The Central Everglades plan is designed to finally help the ailing heart of the Everglades — moving more water through state-owned water conservation areas south of Lake Okeechobee, down through the Shark River Slough, the historic headwaters of Everglades National Park and finally out into Florida Bay.

Though the plan wouldn’t do everything called for in the larger $13.5 billion restoration plan, which was expected to take decades to complete, it would represent a major first step toward restoring natural flow to a system long bottled up by dikes and drainage canals.

The plan calls for siphoning water currently released from the lake and “lost to tide” down the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers and redirecting it to the south.

The water — up to 65 million gallons annually — is intended to refresh long-parched swaths of the Glades and too-salty Florida Bay and offer relief to sections of state-owned marsh where water has historically been held too high, destroying tree islands and reducing wild life populations. After studying four alternatives, a working group hammering out the plan made a tentative choice last month, combining features from two alternatives. The new plan, known as 4R, includes nearly 20 separate projects to backfill portions of canals, remove or shorten levees, add gates and pumps, extend bridging along Tamiami Trail and remove the old road bed.





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Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman Returning to Primetime in Kirstie's New Show on TV Land

A mini-Cheers reunion is on its way!

Former co-stars Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman are reuniting on the small screen this fall for Kirstie's New Show. The sitcom, picked up by TV Land, centers on Maddie (Alley), a Broadway star whose life gets turned upside-down when the son (Eric Petersen) she gave up for adoption seeks her out.

Pics-- Role Call: Who Got Hired In Hollywood?

"This cast is a TV Land dream team of stars," said network President Larry W. Jones in a statement announcing the newly greenlit series. "Seeing them all together is truly mind-blowing,"

Perlman will play Alley's assistant and best friend, Thelma. Seinfeld star Michael Richards will also co-star.

Related-- Director's Cut: Kirstie 'Cheers' Wild Times

Kirstie's New Show is slated to air this fall on TV Land.

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Chapman out of Herbalife








Robert Chapman, one of the first and most vociferous Herbalife bulls, has exited his entire stake in the embattled weight-loss and nutritional supplements company, he said today.

The Los Angeles hedgie told The Post he has either sold or hedged out of his entire position.

The investor said he still believes in Herbalife but thinks the shares — which have bounced between $46 and $26 over the last two months — could come under some pressure in the near term.

The $4.4 billion company has operated for most of its 33 years far out of the media spotlight but has been in the headlines since Dec. 19, when activist investor Bill Ackman made a $1 billion short bet against it, calling the company a “pyramid scheme.”




The company strongly refuted that charge.

Ackman foe Carl Icahn yesterday publicly revealed that he has taken a 13 percent stake in Herbalife — saying he didn’t believe in Ackman’s claims. “This is a boxing match, and you always want to bet on the guy who just got punched,” Chapman told The Post, referring to the Icahn-Ackman smackdown.

Chapman said the timing of the majority of Icahn’s Herbalife purchases — after the much-publicized TV debate with Ackman — tells him there is a “grudge component” to Icahn’s investment.

Herbalife shares jumped 17 percent early today, to $44.94, on news of the Icahn buy.

“The stock has overreacted to [the Icahn] news,” Chapman said.

Herbalife shares has sold off a bit after the robust opening and were up 7.4 percent in early-afternoon trading.

Chapman said that while he does not agree with activist Ackman that the company is a fraud, he said, “I expect that [the claim] will attract the attention of regulators some day, and I do not want to be long the day before a significant regulator has commenced an investigation of the company. That being said, I am extremely confident that the results of any such investigation will be benign and will vindicate Herbalife’s business model.”

Chapman recently visited Herbalife “quick response centers” and nutrition clubs in the Philippines on a due diligence tour of the company’s Asian operations and said “the results were extremely bullish.”

Chapman first commented on his latest Herbalife moves on Bloomberg TV this afternoon.










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Marshals seize Hollywood firm’s diet supplements




















U.S. Marshals have seized tainted dietary supplements from Globe All Wellness, a Hollywood company, because Food and Drug Administration investigators found the materials contained a dangerous drug, the FDA said.

“Several of the seized products contain sibutramine hydrochloride, ... the active ingredient in the obesity drug Meridia,” the FDA said in a press release issued Thursday. “In December 2010, Meridia was withdrawn from the U.S. market after clinical data demonstrated that the drug increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.”

Globe All markets claims its products can lower blood pressure and cholesterol, the FDA release stated. Such drugs need FDA approval -- which the products didn’t have.





“Companies that distribute products containing undisclosed drugs are not only breaking the law, they are putting consumers at risk,” said Howard Sklamberg, director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in a prepared statement. “With these kinds of hidden dangers, consumers cannot make informed decisions about the products they are taking.”

The FDA made inspections of the Hollywood company in October and February and concluded that the supplements “were not manufactured in accordance with the current good manufacturing practice requirements.”

The marshals seized lots of products with the names SlimXtreme, SlimXtreme Gold, SlimPlus, SlimLee, GelSlim, SlimDrops and Colonew, the release said.

In July 2011, the company issued a voluntary product recall of its product Via Xtreme Ultimate Sexual Enhancer Dietary Supplement for Men.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon.





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Crime Watch: Steer clear of these latest email scams




















Today I want to share with you some interesting scam emails shared by readers. We truly need to be super-careful and not open or respond to any of them.

I personally got the one from Kabul and had to laugh because this was a new one for me. I am not showing the email address, but trust me it looked very official especially when I do have friends that are stationed in Kabul. Here is the email I got:

Subj: Greetings from Kabul.. ... .





Hello,

I am CPT. Greg Hooper an officer of the U.S Army presently serving with the 395th CSSB peace keeping forces in Afghanistan. You may not know me but i really need your help as i have some very important packages to ship to you for safekeeping until i return back home to the USA.

I will explain in details only if you meet my conditions. Thanks for your prayers & support as we hope to return in one piece!!

CPT. Greg Hooper.

The second email I want to share came from a read who had some very good suggestions and its really worth sharing, since he had a personal experience with the email. Here is what he had to say:

Dear Carmen:

Thank you for your article in The Miami Herald on Jan. 6, 2013, titled "Two email scams you shouldn’t fall for." I haven’t seen the second one you mentioned yet, but I’ve received the first one several times over the last two or three years. It’s amazing how many of my friends and acquaintances have been robbed overseas in the last few years!

I’m writing because I thought there was one element to the scam that I thought important to be emphasized, and, if you ever decide to re-publicize the information, I’d suggest including it. Sometimes, when I’ve received those e-mails, they are not only from someone I know, but the email address in the "FROM" line is identical to the email address of the friend who is supposedly writing to me. This instantly leads a person to trust that the email is legitimate. And, since a quick "reply to" will allow the recipient to verify that it’s true, it’s easy to fall for it.

However, when you hit "reply to", the e-mail address to which the message will be sent is NOT the same as the one from which it appeared to have been sent. The address changes — very, very subtly.

For example, I could receive a message from a friend at "FRIEND101@gmail.com", but, when I hit "reply to", the message will be sent to "FRIEMD101@gmail.com" (the "N" was subtly changed to a "M") or "FRlEND101@gmail.com" (the capital "I" has been changed to a lower-case "L"). So if I sent an email to the person using "reply to", asking "is this true?!?", I would likely receive a message back from the scammer verifying it’s fictitious validity.

Thanks for listening and for aiming to protect the public!

Jeff Rothkopf

Folks, like I always say the Internet is a wonderful form of communication, but it brings its dangers, therefore we all must be vigilant and astute when using it.





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Kaley Cuoco Reveals Her Valentine's Day Plans

ET caught up with The Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco at the Tommy Hilfiger Los Angeles Flagship Opening after party, where she shared that she definitely has more than one Valentine's Day date this year.

In fact, she has 27.

Pics: Pucker Up -- A-List Couples Kissing!

"Floor seats to the freaking Lakers. That's where I'll be with my sister, that's my Valentine's Day night!," Kaley replied when asked if she had any romantic plans for today.

"I have like 27 dates, can't wait ... with my eyes," she joked about checking out all the Laker players.

An all-white clad Jessica Alba shared that she'll be spending the day with her two daughters, Honor, 4, and Haven, 1.

"We're gonna be making heart-shaped cookie sandwiches. We made something called whoopies already," she revealed about her family plans. "And Honor did the sprinkles on the whoopies. We're gonna have a Valentine's with the kids tomorrow and then Friday, Cash and I are gonna have our little date night."

Video: Sneak Peek -- Valentine's Day on 'Big Bang Theory'

Fellow mom Alicia Keys was also excited to spend some "us time" with her man Swizz Beatz and their two-year-old son Egypt.

"I was thinking of doing something really sweet and special, and something at home," she said about their cozy plans. "I thought we could like, all cook together and make a beautiful meal, and spend just some us time. So good, I can't wait."

Check out the video to hear Neil Patrick Harris' very secretive Valentine's Day plans, and also Tommy Hilfiger himself on which celebrity he would most like to dress!

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American Airlines, US Airways announce merger




















After a nearly yearlong courtship, the union became official Thursday: American Airlines and US Airways have formally announced plans to merge.

An early morning announcement by the airlines confirmed reports widely circulated after boards of both companies approved the merger late Wednesday.

The move brings stability to one of Miami-Dade County’s largest private employers more than a year after the airline and its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving the fate of thousands of employees — and the largest carrier at Miami International Airport — in question.





According to the Thursday announcement, the deal was approved unanimously by the boards of both companies, creating the world’s biggest airline with implied market value of nearly $11 billion, based on the Wednesday closing price of US Airways stock. The airline will have close to 100,000 employees, 1,500 aircraft, $38.7 billion in combined revenue.

The deal must be approved by American’s bankruptcy judge and antitrust regulators, but no major hurdles are expected. The process is expected to take about six months, according to a letter sent to employees Thursday by American CEO Tom Horton.

Travelers won’t notice immediate changes. The new airline will be called American Airlines. It likely will be months before the frequent-flier programs are merged, and possibly years before the two airlines are fully combined. The new airline will be a member of the oneWorld airlines frequent flier alliance.

And for Miami travelers, it’s unlikely that much will change at any point. American and regional carrier American Eagle handled 68 percent of traffic at the airport last year, while US Airways accounted for just 2 percent. American boasts 328 flights to 114 destinations from Miami.

“We don’t expect any substantial changes at MIA if the merger occurs because our traffic is largely driven by the strength of the Miami market and not the airlines serving it,” said airport spokesman Greg Chin.

American has said for more than a year that its long-term plan calls for increasing departures at key hubs, including Miami, by 20 percent. That pledge has already started to materialize; in recent months, the airline has added new service to Asuncion, Paraguay and Roatán, Honduras.

During its bankruptcy restructuring, about 400 American employees lost jobs, leaving American and its regional carrier, American Eagle, with 9,894 employees in Miami-Dade County and 43 in Fort Lauderdale. US Airways has few employees in the area.

“It really isn’t going to affect Miami in a very major way anytime soon,” said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant in Evergreen, Colo. “Only because US Airways isn’t a big player in South Florida.”

At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, American and US Airways combined would still only be the fifth-largest airline after Southwest, Spirit, JetBlue and Delta, a spokesman said. The two airlines have little overlap in routes from Fort Lauderdale.

Despite the lack of major changes, Boyd said the merger would be a good development for Miami.

“It should be positive for the employees and it should be positive for the communities that the airlines serve,” he said.

Robert Herbst, an independent airline analyst and consultant, said US Airways will add a “significant amount” of destinations in the Northeast, including Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.





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Grand jury refuses to indict NYPD cop who gunned down National Guardsman during traffic stop








Seth Gottfried


The traffic stop in October that left National Guardsman Noel Polanco dead.



A Queens grand jury today declined to indict a NYPD cop who gunned down an unarmed National Guardsman last year, The Post has learned.

The jury returned a no true bill in the case against ESU cop Hassan Hamdy, who shot Noel Polanco in October during a traffic stop on the Grand Central Parkway, a law-enforcement source said.

Hamdy, with the Emergency Services Unit, pulled over Polanco on Oct. 4, and claimed the 22-year-old Guardsman reached to the floor of the car despite his warnings to keep his hands on the wheel, sources previously said. The elite detective feared for his life, the sources said.





Ellis Kaplan



Hassan Hamdy




Facebook



Noel Polanco





But Polanco's companion in the car said that Polanco kept his hands on the wheel the whole time.










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