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FORT MYERS, Fla. -

Justified shooting or cold-blooded murder?

A Fort Myers father is asking Gov. Rick Scott to decide after the state said the man who shot and killed his son was acting in self-defense.

The family of Ryan Modell is frustrated that more wasn't done to figure out what happened in his shooting death. They say they don't understand why a grand jury wasn't the one to make the decision if the killing was murder or justified.

James Taylor is a free man after a March ruling that his shooting of Ryan, 33, was justified based on Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law. Modell was trying to enter Taylor's condo, which looked identical to his.

The case was reviewed by Assistant State Attorney Dan Feinberg.

"This was a questionable shooting at the very least," said Mark O'Mara, the Modell family attorney.

"The threat that you perceive has got to be immediate, and it's got to be one of great bodily injury."

In March, Sandy Modell confronted Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox about the lack of charges, which until then a decision hadn't been announced. It was the next day the State Attorney's Office said charges would not be filed.

"That looks to me like a call that should have been made by the grand jury, not some prosecutor," O'Mara said.

Modell and his attorney want Scott to assign a different state attorney to take a second look at the case.

Mark O'Mara, who rose to fame after successfully defending George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, says a critical component for "Stand Your Ground" is missing from this case.

"The fear has to be immediate. You're going to do it to me now, and it has to be that you can cause great bodily injury," O'Mara said.

For now, the SAO is sticking with its original decision and says they won't be taking any other actions in the case.

Scott has shown a willingness to get involved in judicial issues.

In April, he took 21 first-degree murder cases away from Orlando State Attorney Aramis Ayala when she said she would no longer seek the death penalty in any cases, including the case of Markeith Loyd, who is accused of killing a police officer.

James Taylor, the man who shot Ryan Modell, had no comment.

See more here:
Fort Myers family asks Scott to review 'Stand Your Ground' ruling - NBC2 News

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - (WFOR/CNN) - Florida Memorial University on Saturday awarded an honorary degree to slain Florida teenagerTrayvon Martin.

Martin's parents attended the ceremony and accepted the teenagers degree in aeronautical science on his behalf.

Martin, who had dreamed of being a pilot, was killed five years ago in Sanford, Fla., after being shot by community watch member George Zimmerman.

Martin's parent said the posthumous degree is bittersweet.

"I think this just shows what this community, how they feel, how they believe in our family, believe in our foundation. This was a day that we planned for as parents, we just wish that we would have watched him walk across the stage," said Trayvons father Tracy Martin.

Martin's mother graduated from Florida Memorial University located in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Zimmerman was found not guilty in Martin's death.

Courtesy WFOR via CNN Newsource

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Trayvon Martin awarded honorary degree at Florida Memorial University - WPTV.com

The parents of a teen killed in 2012, sparking outrage when his shooter was acquitted, took the stage at Florida Memorial Universitys commencement in Miami Gardens today to accept an honorary degree for their son,WSVN in Miami reports.

Trayvon Martin's bachelor's degree in aeronautical science was bittersweet, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin said, but they were encouraged by the community's support. "Just watching all the 2017 graduates come across the stage, and just to share that moment with them, it was very powerful," Martin said. Fulton is a graduate of Florida Memorial.

Earlier,the university said it was awarding the aeronautics degree, with a concentration in flight education, to Martin "in honor of his love for planes and the steps he took during his young life toward becoming a pilot."

The teen was shot and killed in Sanford by George Zimmerman, who claimed self-defense on the grounds of a gated community in which Zimmerman and Martin's father's fiancee lived. Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in 2013.

More here:
Trayvon Martin's parents accept posthumous aeronautical science degree - Palm Beach Post

Knight News gave University of Central Florida Deputy General Counsel Youndy Cook until May 15 to explain why UCF is hiding certain records about who will help spend nearly $20 million in public funds even though the University of Florida and Florida State University make them public.

If Cook cant convince Knight News that UCF is right and UF is wrong by that deadline, Knight News will file its fourth lawsuit aimed at protecting the publics right to know how UCF is spending public money. As of last count, UCF has spent more than $220,000 in public money defending its position that routine Student Government Association records like budget expenses and job applications are not subject to public scrutiny.

UCF believes that records created and kept by SGA, in connection with SGA business, are a part of a students educational record and therefore are protected under FERPA. FERPA stands for the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act. FERPA was created to ensure that students educational records and information like SAT scores are kept secure. A few years ago, UCF started applying FERPA to SGA, resulting in unprecedented secrecy, like the closure of election violation hearings.

This idea of redacting an accusers name and closing election hearings under the guise of FERPA, is not consistent with either UFs or FSUs Student Governments. Knight News Adviser Sean Lavin, who is attending law school at UF, requested election violation records from UF Student Government and was given non-redacted Election Violation reports. During that time, Lavin also learned that UFs student body president is the Student Government records custodian the one with the say over what information can or cannot be released. UCF, on the other hand, claims that the UCF SGA president has no decision-making power to release his own records.

UF and FSU are treating Student Government the way Floridas Legislature intended as an entity created by law to spend about $20 million in state funds in order to give Student Government participants the chance to learn how to serve the public that elected them with honesty, transparency and accountability, Lavin said. UCF has ripped away that valuable learning experience from its own students, so UCF students wont be prepared for the real world, while their competition at FSU and UF will.

The latest UCF records battle is over who applied for paid positions on the new UCF SGA presidents cabinet, and whether UCF is breaking the law by keeping them secret.

On May 1, Knight News reached out to UCFs SGA asking for the applications and resumes of students who have applied to be in Nick Larkins and Cristina Barretos Executive Cabinet.

On May 5, Knight News received an email from the Assistant Director of the Office of Student Involvement David Oglethorpe that said, There are no releasable documents responsive to this request. An education record is a record that directly relates to a student and is maintained by the institution, which includes student employment records. The records you requested meet this definition, at least in part, therefore, all documents have been withheld.

Knight News believes that FERPA does not apply to the applications of students who are trying to obtain roles inside SGA. In fact, UCFs decision to not release these applications and resumes runs counter to UCFs actions in the past.

Back in November, Knight News made a public record request for the resumes of students who have applied for a justice position inside SGA. UCF complied with this request and Knight News was able to investigate the applicants.

The denial of Knight News request is just the latest chapter in what may be an attempt to hide information from the student body. As Knight News previously reported, Larkins was found not in violation of bribery after his accuser, SGA Facilities, Safety & Transportation Coordinator Bobby Sells failed to attend Larkins bribery hearing.

After the hearing, Sells told Knight News that he believes Larkins did in fact promise positions to certain individuals. But he decided not to attend the hearing because he did not want to negatively affect SGA.

Prior to Larkins bribery hearing, Knight News requested and received a redacted document where the names of Larkins accuser and the students who Larkins allegedly bribed were redacted. UCF later updated the record to show Sells name, only after Sells agreed to his name being released.

After learning that the UF Student Body president decides whether to release or hide records, Knight News reached out to Larkins to find out what role he played in the denial of our request.

I have had absolutely nothing to do with the rejection of your public records request, Larkins said.

I was locked out of my Chief of Staff account a few weeks ago and I still have not gained access to my Presidential email, so other than the back and forth emails Ive been ccd on between Ms. Cook and Mr. Lavin, I know nothing about this request, Larkins continued.

Larkins went on to explain that he does not know what role he plays in public record request and also that Oglethorpe is the person that all request go through.

David Oglethorpe is the person that we forward all of our public records requests to. I have only been the President for about a week so I have never gone through the process of releasing records, so at this point, I honestly dont know what my role is, Larkins stated.

Lavin said that the Florida Legislature enacted a statute clarifying that SGA as a whole is maintained by students not the administration and that it could be a major legal problem if UCF administrators are interfering with SGA President Larkins custodial duties.

When I was covering the George Zimmerman case for an Orlando TV station, the special prosecutor insisted that the City of Sanford could not release its own records even if Sanford believed they should be released, Lavin said. Sanford listened to the special prosecutor, kept the records secret, got sued and the appellate court ruled Sanford broke the law by keeping the records secret. If UCF forces Knight News to sue Larkins to access SGAs secret application records, we feel confident the result will be the same as in the Sanford case a ruling rejecting the bad advice defense.

Lavin believes UF is right to recognize that the Student Body president is the custodian who must decide whether the records should be released, and that whoever is calling the shots at UCF to do things differently refuses to admit it because that mystery decision-maker pulling the strings is wrong.

Larkins was elected Student Body President, not David Oglethrope, Lavin said. It doesnt make any sense for Oglethrope to tell Larkins he cant release his own records when Larkins sits on the Board of Trustees and occupies the SGA Presidential office created by the Legislature to appoint SGA officers to help spend $20 million and Oglethrope doesnt. If UFs student body president can decide what records to release, why cant UCFs?

Lavin said that if FERPA really does apply to SGA, then UCF broke the law repeatedly back when he was Speaker of the Senate at UCF and all SGA records were released to the public without a second thought.

We never hid any of this stuff and the FERPA police never came and took away UCFs federal funding, because everyone knows SGA records are not education records, Lavin said. If I were President Larkins, Id have some tough questions about why UCF cant follow UFs lead and let the students run SGA so UCF students can get the same valuable experience that will benefit them in the real world. If administrators are going to make all the decisions, why bother having a student government at all?

Go here to see the original:
UCF Covers-Up Records that UF, FSU Make Public - KnightNews.com

1. Summary

We believe Momo (NASDAQ:MOMO) created a new favorable business model, a social live broadcasting app which combined built-in nearby social networking functions with live broadcasting. The new business model offered a much better ARPU than the traditional live broadcasting platform. If MOMO's MAU reaches 100 million or the ARPU reaches $4 in 2017, we believe its market capitalization could reach $10 billion with a high probability. However, if MOMO loses growth in both MAU and ARPU, it would reveal the company is overvalued.

2. What will Q1 earnings be like?

As of April 26th, the Wall Street analysts' consensus estimates for the 1st quarter were as follows:

Modeling.AI has been working hard with abundant data sources. Based on the data that we have collected so far, all of our models predict that MOMO will beat both the Rev and EPS 16Q4 consensus with a very high probability.

Our model prediction data

Q1 will be a great quarter again for MOMO because the MAU and ARPU will continually increase, and the growth of revenue will keep the momentum as well. The most amazing part of the Q1 report may be the increase of ARPU and MAU. MOMO had incredibly good ARPU in 16Q4, $3, which was the highest ARPU in the live broadcasting industry in China. Therefore, the ARPU of Q1 will be greater than $3 with a very high probability. Considering the ARPU's behavior, MOMO's live broadcasting is not the same as the traditional one, whose ARPU is only around $2.3 and is getting to the bottleneck. However, we have not seen an obvious slowdown in the company's ARPU growth rate. MOMO would be a pretty attractive investment object if its ARPU continues growing at a reasonable rate.

Based on our data, the first month of Q2 was great in terms of DAU and ARPU. If the company can somehow maintain the momentum in May and June, Q2 will be a splendid quarter once again.

We used to think of Momo as a social networking app. However, today most people classify and recognize it as a live broadcasting app because MOMO makes about 80% of its revenue from the live broadcasting business and literally has the highest ARPU in the market of live broadcasting in China. Remarkably, this figure is still growing. The company officially started its live broadcasting service in 2016 Q1. In the very first quarter after launching the live broadcasting service, 30% of MOMO's revenues were from live broadcasting and ARPU was $0.7. After only one quarter, the revenue figures and ARPU rose to 60% and $1.32 respectively. In the latest official report for Q4 2016, revenues and ARPU were at 80% and $3 respectively. We assume the figures would reach 82.3% and $3.1 in the upcoming earnings report. As its live broadcasting service soared these years, MOMO cashing in on this opportunity can bring a huge benefit to its revenues and social functions.

Data from the company's earnings reports. Chart created by Modeling.AI

Therefore, we think MOMO may create a new business model in the social networking industry: live broadcasting mixed with nearby social application, which we may call "live social broadcasting." This new business model is actually quite different from the traditional social business model and the live broadcasting business model. We will talk more about live social broadcasting in details in section 3.

3. MAU and ARPU

After a year and half of conspicuous growth in terms of monthly active users (MAU), this metric stopped growing in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2015, which caused concern with investors.

However, from the 1st quarter of 2016, MOMO's MAU regained its growth, with an average quarterly growth of 3.8%. In the 4th quarter 2016, the MAU had an impressive growth rate of 4.78%, and we expect to see growth continue in the 1st quarter of 2017. Based on our data, it appears that this figure will grow in the first month of the 2nd quarter. If MOMO can somehow maintain the momentum, the 2nd quarter will be another successful quarter for the company.

Compared to other live broadcasting apps in China, MOMO has been leading in terms of revenues and ARPU since it first launched the nearby live broadcasting function in April 2016. We believe the company has the ability to generate much more revenue per user than its competitors, due to its unique business model.

For example, in the last three quarters, YY ARPU figures were $2.1, $2 and $2.35. In the company's latest publicly available financial report, we learned that the ARPU was already over $3. In addition, ARPU and MAU were continuing to increase in April, according to the analysis by Modeling.AI. Our models suggested ARPU and MAU would be $3.1 million and 82.3 million respectively in Q1 2016. MOMO launched the live service in 2016 Q1, and then the ARPU was equivalent as YY after only two quarters. This trend continues. These figures will be better in the near future if MOMO can keep up the momentum.

Based on our calculations, ARPU could get close to $4 later this year, which would be the highest ever in the Chinese live broadcasting market.

Data from the company's earnings reports. Chart created by Modeling.AI

4. Social App or Live Broadcasting App?

As mentioned earlier, we believe MOMO created a new business model of "live social broadcasting." Before launching the live service, many users simply took advantage of the "Nearby" function and moved on to other social apps such as WeChat (OTCPK:TCEHY) once they became acquainted with other users in MOMO, which could be the main reason why MOMO's MAU stopped growing since Q3 2015. After the live broadcasting service was released, a "chemical reaction" magically occurred between MOMO's existing functions such as "See nearby people" and live broadcasting. People tended to watch nearby live broadcasting and were willing to spend much more time and money on MOMO rather than other live broadcasting platforms. The MAU started rebounding and the ARPU soared suddenly.

5. The Future and Valuation Methods

5.1 The Future of the Live Broadcasting Industry in China

Data from the company's earnings reports. Chart created by Modeling.AI

Data from Analysys International. Chart created by Modeling.AI

The overall size of the live broadcasting market has continued to increase in China since 2016. The market has indeed become much more mature than it was in 2016. We believe the total market size of live broadcasting will continue to grow in the future. As the chart shows, it will reach approximately 15 billion RMB in 2017, a growth rate of 60% year over year from 2016. By 2020, the size will probably touch an astonishing 60 billion RMB.

The rapid growth of the live broadcasting business was mainly a result of the reduction in mobile data fees. As the price of mobile data has gone down, the number of 4G mobile users has grown in China. In February 2016, there were only 484 million 4G users in the country, but a year later the number was 806 million - a year-over-year growth rate of 66%.

While 4G data became cheaper, people actually tended to use more data. In 2016, Chinese mobile users used 0.84 GB of 4G mobile data on average, and this figure was predicted to reach 1.6 GB in 2017, representing a 90% year-over-year growth rate. According to data forecasted by the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT), mobile data usage would be 5.4 GB per user by 2020.

At the end of 2016, MOMO's ARPU was greater than $3. We believe its live broadcasting business will definitely benefit from accelerated development of the 4GB mobile network. Therefore, MOMO is obviously on the fast lane of the live broadcasting industry in China.

Data from Analysys International. Chart created by Modeling.AI

Data from the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT). Chart created by Modeling.AI

5.2 Valuation

5.2.1 Growth

Data from Thomson Reuters. Table created by Modeling.AI

At the moment, the P/E ratio (TTM) for MOMO is about 50 times, which likely causes concern about whether the ratio is too expensive in comparison with competitors. Yet, the key factor to determine whether MOMO is overvalued or not is its future growth.

Data from Thomson Reuters. Table created by Modeling.AI

As the table shows, the company had impressive growth in revenues and EPS in 2016. Revenues and EPS grew by 413% and 963% year over year, respectively. What about 2017? The current analyst consensus is for $1142 million in revenues and $1.42 in EPS for 2017. If the analysts are right, MOMO will have 107% growth in revenues and 84% in EPS in 2017 based on historical figures. The PEG ratio would be an impressive 0.69 for 2017 and 0.9 in 2018. When you take growth into consideration, MOMO is actually not that expensive if the company's business can keep growing as we expect.

5.2.2 Risks

As we discussed in section 2, MOMO's robust revenue growth was primarily driven by growth in MAU and ARPU. We believe the company's 2017 revenues will beat Wall Street's consensus of $1142 million with ease if the two factors can keep up the current pace or even slow down somewhat.

That being said, sluggish growth in MAU or ARPU would have a substantial impact on the company. Therefore, these key indicators should be monitored in a timely and precise manner. With cutting-edge artificial intelligence and Big Data technologies, Modeling.AI can offer real-time operational data monitor services accurately and professionally to reduce the investment risk significantly.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Here is the original post:
Momo: The Next Social Networking App Giant? - Seeking Alpha