First Look: Bloom is Back for Third 'Hobbit' Flick

Talk about third breakfast! The first film in the new Hobbit trilogy hits theaters in just one more week, and we've got a look at the return of Orlando Bloom in the third film of the trilogy -- The Hobbit: There and Back Again -- to whet your insatiable Middle-earth appetite for even more goodies.

Video: Exclusive -- The Hobbit's Naughty Dwarf Calendar?!

In this exclusive first photo from Entertainment Weekly, Orlando's loyal Elf Legolas appears opposite Bard the Bowman, played by Luke Evans. There and Back Again serves as a narrative bridge between The Hobbit trilogy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and having a few familiar faces like Orlando's certainly helps the transition, even though Legolas does not appear on paper in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

Also helping ease the Hobbit transition are returning Lord of the Rings stars Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo Baggins, Christopher Lee as Saruman and, of course, Ian McKellen as Gandalf.

Video: Watch 'The Hobbit' Trailer

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey rides into theaters in 3D and 2D in select theaters and IMAX on December 14. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be released Dec. 13, 2013; while the third installment in the series, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, will hit theaters July 18, 2014.

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City agrees to pay out nearly $10M in Judith Leekin child abuse lawsuit settlement

New York City agreed today to pay out nearly $10 million as the first settlement in a lawsuit that followed one of the more disturbing child abuse cases in recent history.

The money will go to victims of Judith Leekin, who 30 years ago in Queens began mistreating foster kids in her care, then moved to Florida, adopted 11 special-needs children from New York, and abused and tortured them - all while collecting more than $1 million in government subsidies.

A federal judge in New York sentenced her to 11 years in prison in 2008 on fraud charges.

A judge in St. Lucie County sentenced her to 20 years in prison in 2009 for abuse of children and disabled adults.

AP

Judith Leekin.

Among them was an autistic boy - now an adult - who spent his childhood "essentially in a bucket, where he would eat, sleep, urinate and defecate," according to letter used at one trial.

Authorities in Florida said that Leekin had utilized numerous aliases - including Judith S. Johnson, Judith Lee-kin-de Johnson, Michelle Wells and Eastlyn J. Giraud - to adopt the 11 children and disabled young adults in New York between 1993 and 1996.

Child welfare officials have said the adoptions took place before a policy was instituted in 1999 to take fingerprints from adoptive parents to verify their identities.

After one of Leekin's trials in 2008, attorneys for the victims slammed New York state's Office of Children and Family Services for the lax oversight that led to Leekin's adoptions, saying that that "the process to foster and/or adopt children in New York during this time was easier than buying a used car."

The victims' identities are not revealed in court papers, because they were juveniles at the time the crimes took place.

Of the $9.7 million settlement, $6 million will go to two of the victims, officials said. The remaining $3.7 will be shared among the eight other victims, officials said.

Claims against a variety of other agencies named in the lawsuit are still pending in Brooklyn federal court, officials said.

"Judith Leekin’s extraordinary criminal scheme was unprecedented," said Bruce Strikowsky, an attorney who represented the city.

"Though the city had strong legal defenses, this settlement will benefit those harmed most by Leekin -- the children she abused. They have been, and continue to be, the city's primary concern," the attorney said.

mmaddux@nypost.com

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New equity options exchange owned by Miami company starts trading on Friday

MIAX Options Exchange, a new fully electronic, equity options trading exchange, said it will begin trading on Friday.

MIAX Options Exchange is based in Princeton, N.J., but its parent company is Miami International Holdings. While MIAX’s executive offices, technology development center and national operations center are based in Princeton, additional executive offices, and a multi-purpose training, meeting and conference center will be located in Miami, the company said.

MIAX Options Exchange’s trading platform has been developed in-house and designed for the functional and performance demands of derivatives trading, the company said.

INA PAIVA CORDLE

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Leon County judge accused of using office to promote for-profit religious business

TALLAHASSEE --
Leon County Judge Judith W. Hawkins was charged Wednesday with misconduct, accused of using her office to promote a business that sells Bible study books, souvenirs and other products to attorneys and others who regularly appear in her courtroom.

The charges focus on Gaza Road Ministries, a business that sells books, stages seminars and conferences and sponsors mission trips to other countries, including Guyana, Romania, Mongolia, Mexico and Brazil.

Her sermons have included “Your Day in Court,’’ emphasizing that “God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.’’ In October she appeared at a seminar discussing, “When Life Gives You Lemons,” turning obstacles into opportunities.

Florida’s Judicial Qualifications Commission alleges that these activities and the use of a judicial assistant who has helped promote the ministry take time away from judicial duties for a profit-making business.

The Commission also alleges that selling and attempting to sell her books, study guides and other publications in her Leon County Courthouse chambers and courtroom to attorneys and court staff is an abuse of Hawkins’ position.

In 2011, Hawkins reported it as a business interest that generated more than $13,500 in income, the Commission noted.

“You often take time away from your judicial duties to promote your business to the detriment of the prompt and efficient administration of justice,’’ the commission charged.

Hawkins was elected in 1996, the first African-American elected in the Second Judicial Circuit that includes Leon County. She is married to Dr. James Hawkins, former dean of the school of journalism at Florida A&M University.

Contacted at the courthouse shortly after the charges were released by the Florida Supreme Court, Hawkins said she could not discuss them because she had yet to receive a copy.

She has 20 days to respond to the charges. The commission has the authority to recommend a reprimand or removal from office after a hearing. The final decision is up to the state Supreme Court.

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Ensemble 'Argo' Cast Getting More Kudos

Ben Affleck's nail-biting '70s Iran hostage tale Argo is a box office hit and gathering steam as it heads into awards season. Ben and his players first received The Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award at The Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony back in October, and now the cast is set to be honored with the Ensemble Performance Award at this year's Palm Springs Film Festival on January 5th.

Related: Hollywood Awards Toast 'Argo' Cast

Watch the video to catch the new, behind-the-scenes Argo featurette which contains new interviews with Ben, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston and more.

Video: The Secrets Behind the Incredible True Tale 'Argo'

In theaters now, Argo finds Ben directing and starring as a CIA "exfiltration" specialist who comes up with an audacious plan to get the six Americans safely out of the country in the midst of the 1979 Iranian revolution and hostage crisis: Devise a fake Hollywood sci-fi movie called Argo as a cover to allow a rescue team to get in behind enemy lines to pull it off. Based on a true story, the plan was so incredible, it could only happen in the movies…

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Chief's Belcher's daughter to receive $1M from NFL

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The estate or guardian of the infant of the Chiefs player who killed her mother before turning a gun on himself will receive more than $1 million under terms of the NFL's collective-bargaining agreement.

Jovan Belcher's 3-month-old daughter, Zoey, stands to receive $108,000 annually over the next four years, $48,000 in the fifth year and then $52,000 each year until age 18. She'll continue to receive that amount until age 23 if she attends college.

The beneficiary of Belcher, who was in his fourth season, also will receive $600,000 in life insurance, plus $200,000 for each credited season. There is also $100,000 in a retirement account that will go to his beneficiary or estate.

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Kasandra Michelle Perkins and daughter Zoey.

Players' beneficiaries are kept confidential.

The current collective bargaining agreement was ratified in August 2011.

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Innovate MIA puts spotlight on startup community

If you think the next week is all about art, you may be surprised to learn there are also six entrepreneurship events vying for your time.

And that is all by design.

In much the way that Art Basel helped put Miami’s arts community on the international map, organizers of the first Innovate MIA hope their weeklong grouping of events will shine a light on the city’s growing tech startup community and its position as the gateway to Latin America.

Many of the events — ending with Florida International University’s Americas Venture Capital Conference — are after Art Basel. That’s also why the third annual AVCC was moved to Dec. 13-14 from its previous mid-November dates.

“Our message is come for Art Basel, and stay for AVCC,” said Juan Pablo Cappello, a lawyer, entrepreneur and investor who is on the steering committee of the venture capital conference and several other Innovate MIA events. And all week, there will be plenty of opportunities for Miami’s entrepreneurs, creatives and investors to mingle with their counterparts from all over the Americas and beyond.

In addition to the AVCC, there’s Incubate Miami’s DemoDay, where its class of startups present their companies, the martial arts-inspired TekFight and HackDay, which dangles a $50,000 cash prize. Endeavor, the global nonprofit that promotes high-impact entrepreneurship in emerging economies, is bringing its two-day International Selection Panel to Miami, and Wayra, an international accelerator, is holding a one-day event to showcase its promising startups from Latin America and Spain. It’s all part of Innovate MIA week: “I don’t think anything like it has ever been organized here in South Florida,” Cappello said.

The AVCC will be the big draw, with about 300 people expected to attend the two-day event at the JW Marriott Brickell. The conference, themed “Data, Design & Dollars,” will feature thought leaders from all over the world, particularly Latin America, and presentations by 29 selected companies. This year, the format has been overhauled and energized, with lots of short talks and more time for question-and-answer sessions and networking, said Jerry Haar, associate dean of FIU’s College of Business, director of the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center and AVCC co-chair.

The AVCC’s 36 speakers include Martin Varsavsky, Argentine tech entrepreneur, investor and founder of Viatel, Ya.com, Jazztel and FON; Hernan J. Kazah, co-founder and managing partner at Kaszek Ventures and co-founder of Mercadolibre; and Jason L. Baptiste, CEO and co-founder of Onswipe. There’s also Michael Jackson, former COO of Skype and now a venture capitalist; Albert Santalo, founder and CEO of Miami-based CareCloud; and Bedy Yang of 500 Startups.

Chosen from more than 100 applicants, the 29 presenting companies hailing from all over the Americas will be giving either two-minute or five-minute pitches, fielding questions from a panel of judges and competing for prize packages valued at about $50,000. Eight of the startups are from South Florida: itMD, Kairos, Trapezoid Digital Security, Esenem, LiveNinja, OnTrade, Rokk3r Labs and Zavee.

The presenting companies have “proven innovation, proven management teams and the ability to scale well and be a pan-regional player,” said Faquiry Diaz Cala, president of Tres Mares Group and co-chair of AVCC. “The word is out this is a great place to come and pitch to great investors in addition to potentially being one of the prize winners.”

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Top Fla. economic official resigns amid questions

TALLAHASSEE --
Gov. Rick Scott’s chief job creator abruptly resigned Tuesday after less than eight months following disclosures that he collected unemployment benefits while traveling in Europe before he was hired.

Hunting Deutsch quit his $140,000-a-year job as executive director of the Department of Economic Opportunity, the new agency created by Scott to coordinate Florida’s job-creation efforts and attract new or expanding businesses. Scott now must find his third director of the agency in less than a year.

“I find the current media focus on my personal matters a distraction to the agency and your administration and believe it is best for me to leave,” Deutsch wrote in a resignation letter to Scott dated Tuesday. His last day on the payroll will be Dec. 14.

Deutsch resigned while Scott is on a three-day trade mission to Bogota, Colombia, leading a delegation of nearly 200 people seeking to bolster economic ties between Florida and the Latin American nation.

Reached by the Associated Press, Deutsch refused to answer questions about the benefits.

“Quite frankly, it’s a personal matter,” Deutsch said.

The agency Deutsch ran distributes unemployment benefits to jobless workers in Florida, which unions and other worker advocates say are the stingiest in the country — at $275 a week for a maximum of 23 weeks.

Deutsch collected unemployment benefits for 91 weeks over a two-year period from 2009 to 2011 when he was traveling in Europe with his wife, according to the Florida Current, the online news site of LobbyTools.com, which broke the story Nov. 7.

The 91 weeks in benefits were eight short of the 99 he could have drawn because of emergency federal rules in place at the height of the national recession.

“I’m fortunate enough where I’ve worked for very successful companies for a long period of time and luckily sold all my bank stocks — most of them at the right time, at the right price — and quite frankly, didn’t have to work,” Deutsch told the Current. “So my wife and I took time off and traveled a great bit; we were in Europe several times.”

Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said Deutsch did the right thing by resigning.

“I think it was bad form for him to seek unemployment while he was off on a trip to Europe,” Gaetz said. “I think those of us in public life should have a higher standard of performance.”

Scott welcomed Deutsch to “our team” in April, praising his “strong and experienced background” as a senior executive in the banking industry, most recently at BankUnited in Miami, where he was executive vice president of wealth management. Deutsch also spent more than 20 years in a variety of posts at SunTrust Banks in Orlando.

Deutsch is the second executive director of DEO to depart following controversy.

The agency’s first leader, Doug Darling, resigned in January under pressure from Scott’s former chief of staff, Steve MacNamara, four days after Darling sent MacNamara a note complaining about excessive travel by the state film commissioner. Shari Kerrigan had been recruited to her post by MacNamara.

Herald/Times staff writer Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.

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Stars Return to Middle-earth for 'The Hobbit'

Are you ready to return to Middle-earth? Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is coming to theaters and IMAX everywhere in 3D on December 14, and the extensive cast of Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and Wizards features a pleasant mixture of new and returning faces to new, first installment of the growing, six-movie franchise.

Video: An Unexpected Journey to the NZ 'Hobbit' Premiere

"It's been 10 years since Lord of the Rings and we had no interest in making a sequel," says Peter Jackson about the new movie, which serves as a prequel to Rings. "But fortunately J.R.R. Tolkien had written this incredibly charming children's fairytale. … It's a much more charming, humorous story, and that was really the attraction for us -- the fact that we were able to go back and be the same storytellers, the same filmmakers, going back into Middle-earth again, but following a different story with a different group of characters largely. And a different tone – a lot more humor."

The long-awaited big-screen adaptation follows the adventures of the diminutive Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (played by Martin Freeman) as he journeys with a group of 13 Dwarves to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. On the way, they must battle treacherous Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and sly Sorcerers. And when Bilbo gains possession of Gollum's (the returning Andy Serkis) "preciousss" ring, the fate of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.

"We've seen Bilbo already with the brilliant Ian Holm, and [in this movie] you start with the younger Bilbo. Suddenly it's the beginning of his journey, and it's the classic sequel," explains Martin Freeman, who adds that the newcomers to the franchise were welcomed with open arms by the family-like cast and crew: "We were made to feel like we had every right to be there, and we were well looked after."

Richard Armitage, who plays exiled Dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield, says, "I do think Peter has done something really interesting by kind of connecting the blood flow from the Rings trilogy into The Hobbit, very much in the prologue and all of the other characters that sort of link the two films together, and that has given it some sort of oxygen that fans will really enjoy."

Video: Precious Gollum Moments in New 'Hobbit' Trailer

Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Elijah Wood never imagined that they would return to Middle-earth to put on Hobbit feet and pointy Elven ears, and Elijah says, "The whole notion of coming back, it was a gift. It isn't something that any of us really expected. … It was an amazing experience."

And how different is Gollum this time around? "Well, he's 60 years younger, so he's only 540, and I think pretty sexy," jokes Serkis, who also served on The Hobbit as second-unit director: "It was doubly thrilling," he said of the unexpected offer from Jackson, joking of the opportunity, "He's known I've wanted to direct for a long time, and so it was really like being given a Maserati when you haven't passed your driving test. … It was a fantastic experience and hugely challenging."

The epic film also features returning The Lord of the Rings cast members Ian McKellen, Ian Holm and Christopher Lee alongside new faces Manu Bennett, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, Dean O'Gorman, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott and Aidan Turner.

Pics: 'The Hobbit' Photo Exclusive

So why will The Lord of the Rings fans love The Hobbit? "Because they'll be totally surprised by it," says Weaving, who especially loves the scene in which the Dwarves sing. "It was transporting … and moving." Cate agrees, "I found it really rich and surprising," pointing out that she's "really cool this month" to her three boys!

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Rapper likens self to one of world's greatest composers

Big-talking rapper Ryan Leslie -- who set fire to the front page of The Post for reporting on a $1 million jury verdict against him -- is now likening himself to one of history's greatest composers.

Leslie told Vibe magazine that he plans to title his next album "Black Mozart," and will record some of it in the capital of classical music, Vienna.

Last week, a Manhattan federal court jury rapped Leslie for reneging on a $1 million reward he offered for a laptop and hard drive that were stolen while he was on tour in Germany in 2010.

Auto-repair shop owner Armin Augstein found the gear while walking his dog, but Leslie ignored Augstein's efforts to claim the reward.

bruce.golding@nypost.com

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