PORT ST. LUCIE — A 42-year-old local man charged with two felonies in connection with obtaining a Florida drivers license also may be an international fugitive, investigators say.

Geraldo Ricardo Miranda, 42, of the 1600 block of Mansfield Street, has been arrested on charges of drivers license fraud and perjury. According to an arrest affidavit by the Florida Highway Patrol, an agent with the Department of Homeland Security told FHP troopers that Interpol confirmed Miranda is a fugitive wanted for prosecution in Brazil on charges of homicide, swindling, unlawful seizure and receiving stolen goods.

According to the arrest affidavit, Miranda is believed to have illegally crossed the Mexican border into the United States and twice during 2004 used a fraudulent Puerto Rican birth certificate to obtain a Florida drivers licenses in Broward County.

Troopers allege Miranda entered the Department of Motor Vehicles drivers license office on Selvitz Road in Port St. Lucie during April 2006 to have his license renewed. Signing an affidavit certifying that information provided the license bureau was true led to the perjury charge against Miranda.

Miranda was arrested Wednesday and was being held in the St. Lucie County jail Friday evening. Bond on the charges of drivers license fraud and perjury totaled $200,000; However, Miranda was also being held without bond pending investigation of immigration-related charges.

Reported by: James Kirley/Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers   via   Jornal.us

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Sixteen-year old high school student, Teah Wimberly was, convicted of second-degree murder in the death of her high school classmate.  She was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

On Friday, Teah Wimberly took the stand for the first time. Her lawyers took another shot at trying to reduce the sentence for the shooting death of her friend, Amanda Collette.

Wimberly with definite compunction read a statement and addressed the parents of Collette. "The focus should be on your feelings and thoughts and how this makes you feel because you're a victim as well," she said. "You're a kind loving mother, who raised an amazing daughter, who didn't deserve any of this, and I hope that one day you, her father and her little brothers can find it in your hearts to please forgive.”

Larry S. Davis Wimberly's attorney told The Associated Press that he is disappointed with the sentence and hopes "that after the appeals, she will be able to receive the help that she needs."

Wimberly's attorneys argued that Wimberly suffered from a bipolar disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder because she was sexualy abuse at a young age. Their argument was that Wimberly was temporarily insane when she pulled the trigger on her friend. Apparently the jury did not believe it.

A forensic psychologist, Dr. Trudy Block-Garfield took the stand at the Broward County Courthouse on Friday and testified for the defense'. She said repeated incidents of sexual abuse had left Wimberly with deep-rooted psychological scars. "The incident occurred between the age of 4 and 5, then it was somewhere between 5 and 6 by someone else, 11 and 12 by another person, and then around the age of 12."

The prosecution argued that Wimberly is a menace to the community and they asked for the maximum sentence.

Wimberly's attorney, Larry S. Davis, told The Associated Press that he is disappointed with the sentence and hopes "that after the appeals, she will be able to receive the help that she needs."

Amanda Collette, the mother of Collette, left the courthouse quietly without comment.

Broward County FL (March 27, 2010) Recession shows no signs of weakening and continues to take a record toll on Florida workers. According to the Agency for Workforce Innovation, Florida's unemployment rate jumped to 12.2 percent in February. The latest unemployment rate is the highest the state has ever seen, even higher than the rates measured during the 1973-1975 recession.

(((Florida's record unemployment rate was nearly three percent higher than the national average of 9.7 percent))). The rate is also three percent higher than in February 2009, which was considered to be right in the middle of the Great Recession.

Florida's unemployment rate passed the national unemployment average in the first quarter of 2008 and hasn't been below the national average since then.

Locally, Broward County saw an unemployment rate of 10.8 percent, which mean over 105,000 workers were without a job. The number was one-tenth of a percent lower than January's numbers, but nearly three percent higher than the February 2009 unemployment numbers.

Miami-Dade County's February unemployment rate checked in at 11.2 percent which translates to more than 141,000 workers being out of a job. The rate rose from January 2010 and was two percent higher than the same period in 2009.

Statewide, Flagler County had the highest unemployment rate at 17 percent, while Liberty County saw the lowest unemployment rate at 7.5 percent. The highest unemployment rates in the state were in Central Florida.

According to the AWI, the areas looking to hire the most workers were farmworkers/laborers, security guards, insurance sales agents, nursery workers, and telemarketers among others.

cbs4.com  via  Jornal.us

New York March 27, 2010 - Brazilian musicians will be  flying into  Chicago during the upcoming months. The  legendary Gilberto Gil at Symphony Center on April 2, the magnificent  Pernambuco big band Orquestra Contemporanea de Olinda from Pernambuco  at Rumba on April 6 , and the heavenly  Céu at Green Dolphin Street on April 23. 

Many other Brazilan Musicians will be playing. Indie rock singer Lulina from Sao Paulo at Ronny’s, playing un-Brazilian music, yet in her native Portuguese, it sounds very melodic. On last year’s Cristalina (YB) she and her band formed a meditative atmosphere for sensual melodies.  The music seems to have evolved form the ‘60s  Commng Friday Bahian singer  Sylvia Patricia, , will play at a free lunchtime concert at the Randolph Street Cafe in the Chicago Cultural Center. Her music fits squarely into the country’s MPB tradition (Musica Popular Brasileira), the all-encompassing tag for post-bossa pop that includes  all types of local traditions mixed with rock, jazz, and pop. She’s already produced five albums  and important names  like Caetano Veloso and Carlinhos Brown have made guest appearances on some of her songs.

((Brazilian music is full of passion and taking hold in the United States this year.))  It is  a combination of Portuguese and African sources meeting that creates a mystical  and magical sound, It is the constant search for new forms within Brazil's diverse musical heritage that most captivates Americans and at the same time influences musicians around the world.

Brazilian band, Orquestra Contemporânea de Olinda starts off it’s American Tour with a free concert at New York’s Lincoln Center Atrium followed by two nights at the club SOB's.  They continue their performances in Washington, D.C., Chicago, New Orleans and Miami. The group will also host two workshops in New Orleans.

Percussionist Gilú envisioned the stunning Pernambuco big band by combining the traditional guitar-bass-drums-vocal setup with a brass section. Orquestra Contemporânea de Olinda was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2009 in the category of Best Tropical Brazilian Roots Album..

According to the Lincoln Center website, "(((Orquestra Contemporânea de Olinda brings together some of the leading musicians of Northeast Brazil's fertile mangue beat music scene, mixing elements of frevo, the local Carnival soundtrack, rock, funk, and ska))). Their innovative and infectious music earned them a 2009 Latin Grammy nomination [in the category of Best Tropical Brazilian Roots Album].”

Complete U.S. tour :

Orquestra Contemporanea de Olinda U.S. tour dates:

4/1-Lincoln Center, New York, NY (8 PM, free)

4/3-SOB's, New York, NY (10 PM)

4/5-Kennedy Center, Washington DC (6 PM)

4/6-Rumba, Chicago, IL (8 PM)

4/6-venue TBA, New Orleans, LA (percussion and brass workshop and show, 8 PM)

4/8-venue TBA, New Orleans, LA (workshop)

4/9-Heineken Transatlantic, Miami, FL (8 PM)

Newark, NJ - 3/25/2010 - A car was completely ablaze on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge, in Newark, NJ, today at 12:00 p.m.  Police surrounded the vehicle and traffic was backed up for miles.  Ambulance were on their way. At this writing it is undetermined if the driver and / or passenger was hurt.

Car crash statistics, especially for car crashes by age, are important indicators of the elevated risks of certain age groups when it comes to operating a motor vehicle. A car crash kills a person every 12 minutes on average in the United States. Every year there are more than 6 million car accidents, the cause of about 40,000 fatalities per year. Among other factors, statistics are compiled based on age and location. Depending on the age group, the chances of a fatal car accident is more or less likely to happen. Indeed, the highest risk age group is 16 to 19-year olds. The following is a list of statistics for car crashes based on age and location. It does not take into account whether, for instance, the crash involved a side impact or head-on collision, but certain other criteria are included.

Newark, NJ: According to Allstate Insurance, people are more likely to be involved in a car crash in Newark, NJ than anywhere else in the nation

The emotional battle over health care reform has resulted in an unexpected reaction of political vandalism and attacks. At least 10 Congressional Democrats, who supported the health care bill, have reported death threats, incidents of vandalism and harassment over the past week. Bricks have been hurled through Democrats' windows, menacing phone messages, and even a propane line cut at the home of a congressman's brother.

Two days before the House passed the health care overhaul bill, the window of New York congresswoman Louise Slaughter's district office in Niagara Falls was smashed with a brick.  She has accused the Republican leadership of failing to condemn attacks against lawmakers who championed the legislation.

"((It's more disturbing to me that Republican leadership has not condemned these attacks and instead appears to be fanning the flames with coded rhetoric))," said Slaughter, a primary supporter of the bill.

John Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader stated that while many Americans are upset over the bill's passage, "violence and threats are unacceptable."  He said, "That's not the American way,” "We need to take that anger and channel it into positive change."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. at a news conference in Washington said that one of these people yelled out that Democratic lawmakers should be placed in front of a firing squad and  posters with the faces of lawmakers have appeared with in the cross hairs of a target.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich received a torrent of obscenity and threat-filled phone and fax messages.  A sample of the message:

"I hope you bleed ... (get) cancer and die," one male caller told the congressman between curses.

He also received a fax with the title "Defecating on Stupak." It displayed a picture of a gallows with "Bart (SS) Stupak" on it and a noose attached. The caption said, "All Baby Killers come to unseemly ends either by the hand of man or by the hand of God."

U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello's brother had a propane line leading to a grill in his home  cut after a Tea party activist believing that it was the congressman's home posted the brother's address online instead. The posting suggested that its members to drop by and "express their thanks" for the Democrat's voting  in favor of the health care reform.

Chairman of the Danville Tea Party, Nigel Coleman, admitted that he re-posted the comment, including the address, on his Facebook page. The posts were removed after the error was discovered.

"We've never been associated with any violence or any vandalism," he said. "We're definitely sorry that we posted the incorrect address."

Even Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who was one of the 14  who filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health care overhaul said that things are going too far.

"That is way over the line," he said. "It's not civil discourse, it's an invitation to intimidation and it's totally unacceptable."

Mark Potok of the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center commented that "I think it is astounding that we are seeing this wave of vigilantism,"

Potok said that these tactics are very similar to those used by by hate groups.

"(((This is what neo Nazi leaders in America do today)))," Potok said. "They post personal information about their enemies and sit back and wait for somebody else to act."

On Wednesday, behind closed doors over 100 House Democrats met with the FBI and U.S. Capitol Police. The lawmakers voiced their "serious concern" over the security they are receiving both at work in Washington and in their home districts.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., explained that normally, the Capitol Police provides personal security only for members that are in a leadership position.  Since the attacks at least 10 members have been offered increased protection.

When he was asked whether  members are in danger, Hoyer said: "Yes. (There are) very serious incidents that have occurred."

On Wednesday Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer sent e-mails to senators and their staff warning them to "remain vigilant." He said that the warning was meant to "assuage people's fears." To date there have been no reported incidents involving senators.

Even with the added protection, the aggression has take its toll and unsettled House Democrats.

Hoyer said that  "[o] ur democracy is about participation…Our democracy is about differing and debate and animated debate and passionate debate. But it is not about violence.".

Washington D.C. March 23, 2010 - Using the argument that requiring individuals to buy insurance violates the Constitution, 14 State prosecutors, 12 of them Republicans, ran to court to today to block the historic health care bill minutes after President Obama signed it into law.

In a suit filed in federal district court in Tallahassee, Fla.," Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said” This bipartisan effort by attorneys general around the country should put the federal government on notice that we will not tolerate the constitutional rights of our citizens and the sovereignty of our states to be trampled on. I will pursue this litigation to the highest court if necessary."

The lawsuit complained that "[t] he Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage,”

Only one democrat signed on to the lawsuit, Louisiana Attorney General James "Butch" Caldwell. The other prosecutors represent Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington State. Virginia's Ken Cuccinelli, Republican attorney general, filed a separate suit.

McCollum hopes other Democrats would join the suit.  He said "It's a question for most of us in the states of the costs to our people and to the rights and the freedoms of the individual citizens in upholding our constitutional duties as attorneys general,"

Several distinguished law professors said that the health insurance requirement is clearly within Congress' reach "It would be surprising if the (Supreme Court) says Congress can't regulate people who are participating in the $1 trillion health care market," said David Freeman Engstrom, a Stanford University Law School professor. "The lawsuit probably doesn't have legs both as a matter of precedent and as a matter of common sense."

Sanford Levinson, a University of Texas Law School professor, said that Americans who choose not to buy health insurance could pay a fine under the law. Congress, he said, clearly has the authority to levy taxes and fines.

"As a technical matter, it's been set up as a tax," Levinson said in discussing penalties under the health care law. "The argument about constitutionality is, if not frivolous, close to it," he said.

"You'd have to imagine that the five conservative Republicans on the Supreme Court would be willing to invalidate the most important piece of social legislation in 50 years on the basis of a highly tendentious and controversial reading of the Constitution."

Constitutional law professor Robert Sedler at Wayne State University in Detroit said ((the effort isn't going anywhere. "This is pure, pure political posturing and they have to know it,))"

The White House commented, that it isn't worried about this lawsuit and many legal experts agree the effort is in vain.

Department spokesman Charles Miller in Washington said, "[w] e are confident that this statute is constitutional and we will prevail when we defend it.”

In fact White House domestic policy chief Melody Barnes dared the prosecutors "To…[b]ring it on,'" He, pointed out that similar suits filed over the Voting Rights Act  and Social Security when those were passed. "If you want to look in the face of a parent whose child now has health care insurance and say we're repealing that ... go right ahead."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Zinc Bar  in New York City , Presents Brazilian Vocalist  Kenia Sunday March 28 2010 with Cidinioa Teixeira Group and Friends.

The vocalist who single-handedly defined the essence of heavenly, pop accented Brazilian jazz in the 1980s and ‘90s returns with an album that surpasses all expectations. With the release of Simply Kenia, the singer, known simply as Kenia, confidently reasserts her position as one of the reigning queens of contemporary Brazilian music.

Simply Kenia is a captivating blend of venerable choro works and samba and bossa nova-accented tracks that represent the best of the contemporary MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) tradition. Add several handpicked favorites from the American ballad songbook and there’s little doubt that it all adds up to the most well-rounded and stylistically authentic album of Kenia’s career and a program that’s perfect for her trademark seductive style, amber-toned voice and impeccable phrasing. Backing Kenia on Simply are a group of seasoned Brazilian jazz musicians who rank among the most celebrated of their time, including keyboardist César Camargo Mariano, guitarist Romero Lubambo, drummer Teo Lima, and bassist Leo Traversa.

The artist was born Kenia Acidly into a family of Italian origins in the city of Nova Iguaçu, a distant working class suburb of Rio de Janeiro. When she was six, Kenia’s family moved to Copacabana. Later, she lived in Niterói, Rio’s sister city across Guanabara Bay, and chic Leblon, one of the city’s most upscale neighborhoods. Each stop along the way provided opportunities to explore the local cultural peculiarities that go into making Rio and its neighboring environs one of the world’s most exotic locales.

An interest in music came early; she studied piano and learned to play the guitar by ear. Singing however, became her path to success in music world. Influenced by such Brazilian greats as the late Elis Regina, she also began listening to such North American artists as Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRea and George Benson. And her choice of music to interpret came not from the bossa nova of the 1960s but from the talents of the generation of composers that followed and put the Brazilian sound on the world map once again.

After her arrival in the U.S. in 1980,

Kenia’s talents were quickly recognized by such leading music producers as Creed Taylor, who signed her to accompany Brazilian jazz trumpeter Claudio Roditi on his debut release Red on Red. She also played a key role in Taylor’s The Devil’s Toothpick, a music film that documented the ritualistic dance and music styles associated with the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religion. And she launched her own successful solo recording career, producing four popular and critically acclaimed albums for the MCA and Denon labels between 1987 and 1991 that helped define the emerging “Smooth Jazz“ radio format of the day. The success of these ventures established Kenia as one of the most popular and successful U.S. based Brazilian musicians since the heyday of Sergio Mendes and Brazil ‘66.

It’s been a decade since Kenia’s name graced the cover of a new CD release—far too long, her most ardent fans would quickly say. But she makes up for lost time on Simply Kenia. Her magic touch is not only still alive, it’s more potent than ever. Simply put, Simply is Kenia, through and through.

ZINC BAR

New York's favorite playground for jazz legends and new talent.

82 West 3rd Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 477-9462

Joe Arpaio the immigrant hating  gun totin', Sheriff from Maricopa County, who has repeatedly flaunted his  disrespect for the federal government is at it again. Despite the fact  that ICE has suspended Arpaio's federal 287(g) authority his unconstitutional dragnets continue.

The most recent two-day total for the sweep that ended Friday was 111 of which only 78 were suspected of being illegal.  Arrapio's press release indicated that 21 of them were turned over to ICE.

Arpaio found his addiction to harassing illegal immigrants when he was granted power under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).  This part of the law grants legal authority for state and local enforcement to investigate, detain, and arrest aliens on civil and criminal grounds.

In Maricopa,  Arrapio's immigration sweeps have created the appearance  that  police agencies will or can  deport an  immigrant upon being contacted, even when the person is the victim of a crime.

Arizona is known to have some of the harshest immigration policies in the nation. They include an employer sanctions law against companies that knowingly hire undocumented labour, which has been used as a reason to conduct workplace immigration raids.

It's been said that  "Arpaio doesn't need 287(g) to arrest people. The Arizona criminal code has changed so drastically that he's above and beyond the control of Napolitano,"  according to  Aarti Shahani, a researcher with Justice Strategies and author of the report "Local Democracy on ICE".  The bottom line for many immigrant activists is that the 287(g) program has to be discontinues.  The failure of the federal government to put an end to this program reflects poorly on President Barack Obama's promise to approve comprehensive immigration reform,

Now as if he isn't strange enough, Sheriff Joe is thinking about running for Governor of Arizona, and he has raised 2 million dollars.

You wonder who would give a person like Arpaio any money at all, let alone support him in a run for the governorship. Apparently the immigrant hating sheriff is popular among those favoring the deportation of  illegal immigrants.  The U.S Justice Department is investigating Arpaio for civil rights abuses against Hispanics, and a federal grand jury is looking at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for charges of abuse of power.

Pro immigrant activists hope that any version of a comprehensive immigration reform law will permanently remove section 285 (g) from the immigration laws.