Bronx mom in Newtown 'scam' also solicited funds claiming they were for Hurricane Sandy relief

MyFOXCT

Alleged scammer Nouel Alba leaves Hartford Ct. Federal court after making $50K bail.

The Bronx mom accused of posing as the aunt of Newtown massacre victim Noah Pozner to collect bogus charity donations also solicited funds she claimed were for Hurricane Sandy relief, The Post found.

Nouel Alba -- out on $50,000 bond in the alleged Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting scam – set up at least two organizations in the wake of the devastating October superstorm and asked folks to send money for victims to her personal PayPal account or home address.

Sources said yesterday that New York law enforcement is “aware” of Alba’s post-storm solicitations.

Just days after Hurricane Sandy, Facebook pages, Web sites and blogs sprung up on the Internet, listing Alba’s personal gmail account and Clason Point home on Beach Avenue as contacts.

One group – the NYC Hurricane Relief Fund – claimed to be “a registered charity” whose “founder [has] been funded by the Alba family,” and whose home served as “a drop off location and distribution center.” The charity vowed to find clothing, kitchen appliances, mattresses, furniture and shelter for devastated Sandy families, and claimed “we assign someone to manage each family to ensure that they receive most of the things they need to get back on their feet.”

“100 % of all proceeds goes toward these families,” boasted the site. It provided a tax-ID number that does not show up in state or IRS record databases.

Another charity, Operation Hurricane Sandy Relief for Teachers and Students, ostensibly collected money, backpacks and school supplies. Alba also personally set up an Amazon “wish list” for donated school items, her online footprint shows.

All of the Alba-connected hurricane relief sites have been disabled but cached versions remain online.

Connecticut authorities said yesterday that Alba used Facebook, the phone and texts to solicit donations for a “funeral fund” for her “nephew” Noah after the Newtown bloodbath that killed the little boy, 19 of his classmates and 6 educators.

Alba asked that funds be sent via her personal PayPal account or direct bank deposit, according to a federal complaint against her.

The twisted Alba, 36, even told prospective donors that she had to enter Sandy Hook Elementary School after the bloodbath and identify her “nephew” for police — and said the child had “11 gun shots in his little body.”

Noah’s family has said Alba is no relation.

Alba allegedly sent out her first calls for cash within hours of the shooting.

The next day, she said in an online posting that a funeral fund had been set up “for my brother and families,” according to the complaint in Hartford federal court.

Alba allegedly claimed in a text to one mark that she met President Obama with other family members and he “hugged us even cried [sic] with us.”

Several people were duped into giving donations, the complaint says, although she refunded them before her arrest. Alba was charged with lying to federal agents and released on a $50,000 bond.

She has denied setting up the Newtown donation sites and claims she was framed by Facebook enemies, the feds said.

“I thought it was a really rotten thing to do and I am glad she got caught,” said Rabbi Shaul Praver of Congregation Adath Israel of Newton, a friend of the Pozner family.

Additional reporting by Doug Auer

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New rule puts cloak of privacy on children’s apps

WASHINGTON --
Unbeknown to the lucky children who unwrapped tablets or smartphones this holiday season, new rules issued in Washington to protect their privacy on those devices could have profound implications for the future of the Internet and mobile apps.

The Federal Trade Commission recently updated the 14-year-old Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act rule, or COPPA, to cover smartphones and social media. The revised rule expands the list of “personal information” that cannot be collected from children under 13 without parental consent to include location, photographs and videos. It forbids child-directed apps and websites to track children’s activities on the Internet or to pass their data on to other companies without their parents’ knowledge. Third-party operators also will be liable for information gathered from child-oriented sites.

Privacy advocates say the changes set the stage for adult consumers to demand the same kind of privacy protection themselves.

The tech industry, which lobbied against the changes, warns that over-regulation of data collection will stifle innovation, increase costs for consumers, and put some app developers and websites out of business.

One trade group, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, published a cartoon that depicts Santa wielding a mallet labeled “NEW REGS” to smash children’s tablets and smartphones. The distraught youngsters clutch their broken devices and wail as a grinning elf offers them a box of safety goggles. “Don’t let the FTC steal Christmas,” the caption reads.

“We suspect this will dramatically diminish the number and kind of new education tools which are built for kids,” said Tim Sparapani, vice president for law policy and government relations with Application Developers Alliance, an industry association. “We were in the midst of an incredible innovative cycle which had great potential for advancing educational apps for free or nearly free. … The FTC’s actions threaten to grind that to a halt.”

Companies will have to hire lawyers and designers and build specially designed servers in order to comply with the new regulations, Sparapani said. “That might be the difference between you staying in business and thriving and hiring new people and closing up shop.”

Online advertising models rely on data culled from browser cookies, IP addresses and click histories to provide targeted ads to consumers based on their location, past purchases, web-surfing habits and other details.

A report issued earlier this month by the FTC found that many mobile apps for children collect personal information without letting parents know who has access to the data or how it will be used.

Almost 60 percent of the apps reviewed by FTC staff transmitted data from a child’s device back to the app developer or to an advertising network, analytics company or other third party. Using information from multiple apps, the third parties could develop detailed profiles of children based on their behavior in the apps, the report stated.

This practice of digital profiling is at the heart of an ongoing battle in Washington over whether data mining should be regulated by the government, and if so, how.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., introduced a bill in 2011 that would task the FTC with creating a “Do Not Track” option online, a concept modeled on the agency’s Do Not Call registry, which allows consumers to opt out of phone calls from telemarketers. Consumers would have to give explicit permission for their personal information to be used by websites or apps for targeted ads.

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Nonprofit with state contracts pays its top exec $1.2M

TALLAHASSEE --
A nonprofit company that holds two dozen state contracts to care for troubled juveniles in Florida pays its chief executive more than $1.2 million a year in salary and benefits, most of it courtesy of taxpayers.

Outraged, the state Department of Juvenile Justice says the money paid to William Schossler is excessive and should be spent to help kids. The state wants the hefty paydays to stop.

"It was never the department's intent that such a large share of the funding would go to compensate the top administration of your corporation instead of into direct services for our youth," wrote Gov. Rick Scott's juvenile justice chief, Wansley Walters, in a Dec. 12 letter to Schossler. "That is something that neither the department nor the citizens of Florida can abide."

Schossler, 65, of Chiefland, is president of The Henry & Rilla White Foundation, a Tallahassee-based nonprofit that has done work for the state for more than two decades. Named for Schossler's grandparents, the foundation manages residential treatment beds, provides counseling and therapy to troubled children after they complete residential care, and has programs to divert kids from delinquency.

In the current budget year, the foundation's 23 juvenile justice contracts statewide have a total value of $10.2 million.

The battle between the state and the foundation surfaces at a time when legislators are promising a more in-depth review of state contracts with private vendors, which comprise more than half of the state's $70 billion annual budget yet receive only token scrutiny.

Legislators rarely probe the details of contracts, but Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, has challenged senators to exhume contract details in agencies' budgets to see how money gets spent.

In what it called a routine review of contracts, the Department of Juvenile Justice discovered that Schossler earned $397,940 in salary and $862,837 in other compensation in 2010, according to the foundation's Form 990 filing with the IRS.

The previous year, Schossler made $382,906 in salary and $579,914 in bonuses and incentive compensation, that year's IRS filing shows.

Schossler, who worked for 15 years in state corrections and social services jobs, said the foundation board of directors decided he deserved a boost to his retirement package after years of building up the foundation. Some of the compensation was in the form of land that the foundation no longer needed, he said.

"You work your butt off for 25 years, and then you get ready to retire, and somebody decides to pay you some retirement money and somebody doesn't like that," Schossler said.

One of the foundation's board members is Schossler's sister, Linda Durrance, the board secretary. He said she is required to abstain from votes on compensation matters.

Henry and Rilla White were longtime residents of Bronson, a crossroads town and the county seat of Levy County, where he was a teacher and superintendent. They also ran White's Grocery, according to the foundation's website, www.hrwhite.org, which defines quality as "constantly striving for the best and gearing ourselves for the unexpected."

The unexpected is what happened when Schlosser met with Walters earlier this month.

When Walters ordered the foundation to propose a "plan of action" to cut salary overhead, the foundation responded with a report arguing that Schlosser's salary and benefits are within the range of those paid to CEOs of similarly sized nonprofits. The 2009 report was done by Compensation Resources of Upper Saddle River, N.J.

Walters disagrees and says Schossler's bottom line reveals a "disparity" compared to other non-profits that provide similar services for the state.

"There is no way that over the past couple of years you can have the level of executive compensation rise without seeing a reduction in services," Walters said in an interview.

Walters has directed the state agency to retool how it works. A big part of that exercise, called the "Roadmap to System Excellence," is a review of contracts with private vendors, which make up about two-thirds of the agency's budget.

In the Roadmap plan, Walters proposes ending contracts for aftercare services with vendors like the White Foundation and replace them with state oversight by juvenile probation officers, which she says will save nearly $12 million.

Schossler says that would be a serious mistake and a step backward to the days when juvenile justice was mostly about protecting state jobs.

"This is a hell of a way to do business, throwing me under the bus," Schossler said of Walters' criticism.

The foundation opposes the elimination of its funding under Walters' reorganization proposal.

For now, Schossler makes no apologies for his pay and benefits package.

"If there's something wrong here, I'm sure my board will fix it, but there's nothing wrong here," Schossler said. "If anything, my board thinks I'm underpaid."

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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iOS apps see Christmas sales spike shrink in 2012

Distimo just released its statistics on Christmas Day app downloads and revenue growth… and the download spike is far smaller than it was last year. Back in 2011, Christmas Day iOS app download volume spiked 230% above the December average. This year, the increase was just 87% — far below industry expectations. The revenue spike came in at 70%.

[More from BGR: Google names 12 best Android apps of 2012]

Interestingly, iPad downloads increased by 140% this Christmas, implying that the iPhone download bounce was really modest.

[More from BGR: New purported BlackBerry Z10 specs emerge: 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 8MP camera]

A few weeks ago, AppAnnie released statistics showing that iOS app revenue growth had stalled over the summer of 2012, whereas Android app revenue growth was relatively strong at 48% over a five month period. Both Distimo and Appannie are respected companies and their analytics are closely followed by app industry professionals. Could it be that the pace of iPhone app revenue growth has slowed down sharply from 2011 levels, even if Distimo and AppAnnie numbers aren’t entirely accurate?

This article was originally published by BGR

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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UFT won't sign new teacher evaluation agreement without wage increase guarantee, city officials claim

The teachers’ union has refused to sign a long-awaited agreement with the city on a new teacher evaluation system unless it gets a guarantee of wage increases in the next contract, Department of Education officials charged today.

They claim the union also sought to derail talks on the rating system, which started in April, by mandating that the city confirm how many schools it will close next year first, according to a complaint filed by the DOE.

uft

In a letter to the state Public Employee Relations Board, DOE officials said the union recently refused to negotiate details of the evaluations at all until questions of how it would be implemented were answered first — which they claim violates state bargaining law.

Following an email by UFT President Michael Mulgrew outlining that “ultimatum,” the union canceled meetings on December 18 and 19, the DOE claims.

The agency has until Jan. 17 to get its evaluation system approved by the State Education Department or else it will forfeit $250 million in state education aid.

“We remain prepared to negotiate all outstanding issues required to get to an agreement on teacher evaluation, but, unfortunately, Mr. Mulgrew’s failure to bargain in good faith and insistence on including issues unrelated to teacher evaluation is unacceptable and illegal,” Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a statement.

Mulgrew said his union has been waiting since last week for the DOE to schedule a meeting on the roll-out and implementation of the evaluations, which he insisted is fair game in the bargaining talks.

In its filing today, the DOE called it putting the cart before the horse.

“The idea that this is not a subject of bargaining is ludicrous,” Mulgrew told The Post. “I’m sitting in downtown Manhattan, my phone’s not ringing and it’s up to them to set up the meeting.”

He said he’s prioritizing talks on the roll-out of the system because the DOE had already botched initial preparations, such as by not providing the proper training.

Asked whether his union was seeking promises of future wage increases in the current talks, Mulgrew declined to say.

“I’m not negotiating in public,” he said.

The most recent teachers’ union contract expired in October 2009, although its terms have remained in effect ever since.

Talks on a subsequent contract stalled largely because the city said it couldn’t match the pattern of raises given to other public employees — of 4 percent annually — after the economy soured in 2009.

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Royal Caribbean orders third Oasis-Class vessel

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced Thursday that it has contracted with STX France to build a third Oasis-class vessel for delivery in mid-2016. In October, the cruise line announced it planned another sister ship to the successful Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

The contract, subject to financing and other conditions, includes the transfer of Pullmantur’s Atlantic Star. STX France has also provided the company with a one-year option for the mid-year 2018 delivery of a fourth Oasis-class vessel at similar pricing.

Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, with 16 decks and 2,700 staterooms, are the largest cruise ships in the world. The ships sail weekly to the Caribbean from their home port of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.

Miami Herald Staff

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Kendall’s Dadeland Mall to get new Microsoft Store

Microsoft announced Wednesday it’s opening six new permanent stores in early 2013 - and one will be at Dadeland Mall in Kendall.

“We’re thrilled to ring in the New Year by announcing the locations of our first new store locations for 2013,” said Jonathan Adashek, Microsoft’s general manager for sales and marketing, in a news release.

An official opening day for the store has not been released.

For the holidays, Microsoft had a temporary store at Dadeland Mall near Abercrombie & Fitch.

Other permanent Microsoft Stores set to open soon are in San Antonio; Beachwood, Ohio; San Francisco; Salt Lake City and St. Louis, the release said.

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Partiers Feel Cruel 'Aftershock'

A group of partying touristas in Chile find themselves facing the wrath of Mother Nature and – even worse – human nature in the disaster thriller Aftershock, and we have a first look at the trailer.

Related: What Scares Eli Roth?

Aftershock producer and co-writer Eli Roth seems to quite like being in front of the camera these days, with the Hostel director playing a single guy just looking to meet girls with his pals at an underground nightclub when a devastating earthquake rocks the South American country. Stumbling among the rubble in an effort to survive, society erupts into chaos and Eli and his pals find themselves face-to-face with escaped prisoners looking to exploit their newfound freedom any way they can.

Related: Eli Roth Helps 'Raiders' Fan Film Find Cult Status

In addition to Ariel Levy, Nicolas Martinez, Lorenza Izzo, Natasha Yarovenko and Andrea Osvart, Selena Gomez also stars in the film directed by Nicolas Lopez, rocking theaters in 2013.

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Repairs underway for collapsed wall in Chelsea building

Repairs are underway on a landmarked Chelsea building that was evacuated when part of a structural wall fell to the sidewalk.

The seven-story building at 655 Sixth Avenue was emptied on Tuesday night when the wall failed on the building’s West 20th Street side.

Workers began constructing a sidewalk bridge around the collapsed area today. They don’t expect to start working on the structure itself until tomorrow.

Residents of the wing of the building that fronts on West 20th Street were barred from returning to their homes.

Apartments and businesses on the Sixth Avenue side of the building were allowed back inside yesterday morning. The building, which dates to 1875, has retail on its first floor and condos upstairs.

R. Umar Abbasi

655 Sixth Avenue.

“The building won’t fall. They don’t build buildings like this anymore,” said Maurice Laboz, 75, a real estate developer who has lived in the building’s penthouse for five years.

No one was injured by the collapse.

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90-year-old real estate baron, philanthropist Jay Kislak is forever young

Real estate baron Jay I. Kislak discovered a Fountain of Youth of sorts that springs from an inquisitive and acquisitive mind.

At 90, Kislak is wheeling and dealing in real estate, and he’s exploring history and art with the fervor of a man generations younger.

The patriarch of The Kislak Organization marked 74 years in real estate this year, 59 spent in Miami.

While he has long since appointed a protégé, Thomas Bartelmo, as president and CEO of the diverse family-owned real-estate businesses, Kislak remains chairman. And he is a regular at the headquarters in Miami Lakes.

That is, when he’s not off to Maine for the summer.

Or busy chairing a blue-ribbon commission named by the U.S. Interior Secretary to orchestrate the 450th anniversary in 2015 of the founding of St. Augustine.

Or jetting off to evaluate a possible acquisition. (Kislak recently looked at the potential for real estate development in North Dakota, booming with shale oil, but decided to pass.)

Kislak’s empire has gone through dramatic changes over the years. He built — and eventually sold — commercial banking, mortgage servicing and insurance firms.

Today, with annual revenue in excess of $28 million, his organization focuses on the commercial brokerage business started by his father, Julius Kislak, in Hoboken, N.J., more than a century ago; on owning a portfolio of apartments and other property (Kislak is on the prowl for more), and on managing funds of property-tax certificates, a niche created by the economic downturn.

Looking out his office window at a bustling interchange recently, Kislak mused: “I remember when they built the Palmetto Expressway and you could drive down it and never see another car.”

“The same thing with I-95: There was hardly any traffic,” said Kislak, a slender man with a signature mustache and a thick Hoboken accent that never faded.

Kislak moved to Miami in 1953 to grow the mortgage business, but his world view hardly dates to 1950s Florida. Already a book lover, he began pulling on a thread of Florida history, soon broadening his interest to the early Americas.

Over the decades, Kislak, bankrolled by a stream of brokerage commissions, mortgage fees and apartment rent, grew into a prominent collector of rare books and maps, manuscripts, artifacts and art to feed his fascination with the pre-Columbian era and the European exploration of America.

His wife Jean Kislak shares his passion for collecting. They met at a party for Andy Warhol; it would be her second marriage, his third. Their quest for art, history and collecting has taken them to all continents, even Antarctica.

“We don’t quit [collecting]. But we are going to quit,” said Jean, a former corporate art director. “Acquisition has always been a part of my life. I don’t know if it’s a sickness.”

In 2004, Kislak gave away much of the treasure. His foundation donated more than 3,000 rare maps, manuscripts, paintings and artifacts to the Library of Congress. The gift, estimated to be worth in excess of $150 million, is housed in the ornate Thomas Jefferson building in an exhibit that bears his name. Kislak also funds fellowships for studies of the collection, part of his diverse efforts over the years to support education. Among other things, his family foundation endowed the Kislak Real Estate Institute at Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, N.J., and has provided key support to a real estate program at Florida State University.

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