The Cooler

Loads of stuff out there to read in the mainstream media this morning. Here is some of it...

A- WPLG: Another South Florida genius.

MIAMI -- A man was arrested Tuesday after he strapped a lamppost onto the top of a van and tried to sell it for scrap at a recycling center, Miami police said.

Elio Valera had recycling in mind when he strapped the light pole to the top of a borrowed van and drove it about 40 blocks to a recycling center near Northwest Seventh Avenue and 21st Street, where he intended to sell it for a few hundred dollars.

"It's been on the ground for three months," Valera told Local 10's Mark Joyella. "Nobody's picked it up. So if they don't want to recycle and use it, I'll do it."

B- WPLG: Hollywood water tower gets vandalized.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Two men were arrested late Monday night after they scaled the Hollywood water tower and spray-painted it with graffiti, police said.

Hollywood police said Kevin Harrison and Evan Reichert, both 22, climbed a barbed-wire security fence to access the tower in the 2800 block of Sheridan Street shortly before midnight. That activated a silent alarm at the Hollywood Police Department.

As the vandals climbed the tower, other alarms went off. Hollywood police quickly surrounded the tower and ordered them to come down from the 150-foot-high catwalk.

C- WPLG: Live chickens and more at North Miami Beach's Ham and Eggery.

D- WPLG: It's the 1st day of mini-bug season.

E- Herald: I hope her contract specifically points out that "she does not get paid if she does not work."

The Miami-Dade County School Board attorney should not have kept $10,000 for moving expenses because she never actually relocated from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade -- as required by the payment, the school district's Inspector General's said in a report released Tuesday.

[...]

The report did, however, acknowledge that the wording on the contract between Rico and the district was vague and did not provide consequences if she accepted the money but did not move.

F- Herald: Boycott McCain!

WASHINGTON -- The pending merger of American beer giant Anheuser-Busch and a Belgian company that brews and sells beer in Cuba is thrusting John McCain into the middle of thorny Cuba-U.S. relations.

McCain's wife, Cindy, owns the third-largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in the country -- which means she would stand to profit by partnering with a company that is in business with the Cuban government.

G- Herald: Morin

H- Herald: Cop's son takes his Dad's cruiser for a ride in Broward and pretends. Classic.

I- Sun-Sentinel: Yes! More signs will help things.

New signs posted every mile in the median will tell drivers how far they have to go to get out of Interstate 95's new express lanes in Miami-Dade County.

The signs are meant to reassure drivers who enter the express lanes without realizing they can't get off at local exits.

"Stay calm. Don't panic. Only 1/2 mile to go!" Make sure they're also written in Spanish.

J- Palm Beach Post: 2nd bag goes to $50 on Delta.

Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation's third-largest carrier and the largest airline at Palm Beach International Airport, will double its charge for checking a second bag on a domestic flight as part of a set of fee increases to help offset the high cost of fuel.

The Atlanta-based carrier said Tuesday that the changes will apply to customers who purchase a ticket on or after Thursday for travel on or after Aug. 5.

Fee changes include an increase from $25 to $50 to check a second bag for domestic travel. Fees for specialty items that require special handling, such as surfboards or ski equipment, will increase on domestic and international flights, Delta said.

K- CBS4: Video, DeFede on Rudy Crew.

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