The Cooler

Tons of interesting stories out there in the mainstream media this morning. Here's just a few of them...

A- Herald: Someone didn't get the memo.

A hired plane flew low over the Florida Bay on Monday, then dropped several bags into the water near Gilbert's Marina in Key Largo. Immediately, two waiting boats sped to pick them up.

A drug drop, thought Keys residents, who alerted law enforcement.

Turns out it was not a flashback to the '80s drug-running days. It was a low-budget commercial. The bags did not contain cocaine or any other drug. They were filled with cardboard and sand.

''Some guys starting a gangsta-style clothing line were doing a makeshift operation,'' said Bobby Dube, a spokesman for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. ``It wasn't professionally done. One of the friends had a boat, camera and models to simulate a mock drug offload.''

But it appeared real enough to the people who called law enforcement by VHF marine radio. It also evoked an air, land and sea response by several local, state and federal agencies, including the fish and wildlife agency, the Department of Environmental Protection park patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Coast Guard and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Dube said.

B- Herald: Another basketball player gets hooked up on South Beach.

Former Miami Heat basketball player Rasual Butler, 29, was arrested early Monday morning in Miami Beach and charged with carrying a concealed firearm and wrongful display of a firearm.

[...]

A witness told police the men had been leaving Club Mansion. The witness saw Butler pull the gun from his waistband.

When police arrived, Butler was sitting in the back seat of a Lincoln Navigator with the door open. He was ordered out of the SUV. He told responding officers the gun was on the floorboard.

''It was loaded, with a round in the chamber, ready to fire,'' Sanchez said.

Butler told police he has a concealed-weapons permit in another state -- but not in Florida.

When told he was going to be arrested Butler responded with: ''Man, I'm a professional athlete, I didn't do anything wrong,'' according to the police report.

C- Herald: The City of Coral Gables doesn't want its employees to tell about the kissing...and other things.

A high-ranking Coral Gables employee chastised for having written an e-mail about co-workers having sex in the office asked administrators Friday to remove a reprimand from his personnel file.

Procurement Supervisor Danilo Benedit received a warning last month from human resources about an e-mail he sent the city manager telling him co-workers were repeatedly having sex in a nearby office. In the warning, he was threatened with termination if there was another violation of city rules requiring discretion in e-mails.

Benedit wrote City Manager David Brown in April,telling him it was the third or fourth time he had heard loud sexual activity occurring at the city's equipment yard property on Coral Way and Southwest 72nd Avenue.

D- Sun-Sentinel: Darwin at work...

Okeechobee - Kasey Edwards said he never paid "too much mind" to alligators swimming in canals in Okeechobee County.

But early Sunday morning, an 11½-foot alligator had his full attention as Edwards, 18, struggled to free his left arm from the jaws of the reptile.

"It's a very surreal feeling. You know, feeling like you're about to die here and you know, praying to God," Edwards said. "I have to give all the credit to God for keeping me out there."

He got away with his life and the gator with his left arm.

E- Sun-Sentinel: Florida buying U.S. Sugar land in the 'Glades.

F- Palm Beach Post: Doncha just hate when that happens?

STUART — A Port St. Lucie man was arrested and charged with drug trafficking Sunday after Coast Guard officials found a black canvas shaving bag with two kilos on cocaine in the wake of his boat after they stopped him near the St. Lucie inlet.

G- WPLG: 84 74 health violations at Pompano Beach Chinese restaurant.

H- WPLG: Gas thieves along Calle Ocho.

I- CBS4: Mayor Manny and Gloria disagree with offshore drilling.

J- WPTV: Just a reminder for those parents who might have forgotten that it's not a good idea to leave your toddler alone in the car in 90 degree heat with the windows rolled up. Just in case you've forgotten or something.

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