The Cooler

Here are some of the stories that grabbed my attention from today's mainstream media.

A- Herald: Hard times for jai-alai.

"It's an embarrassing place to go," said Benny Bueno, one of the sport's best players for 24 years before retiring in 2005. "People don't want to be seen at jai-alai frontons. Everything is old and decaying. It looks like a house in shambles. And no one wants to go to a house in shambles."

B- Herald: Prominent Miami attorney dies in hiking accident in Colorado.

Prominent Miami attorney Steven E. Chaykin died Wednesday in a freak hiking accident as he tried to rescue his wife after she had slipped while climbing a waterfall near Aspen, Colo.

C- Herald: No soup for you...unless you're going to the chair.

Miami-Dade Public Defender Bennett Brummer took the witness stand Wednesday to make the case that his office is so underfunded his attorneys must refuse to take hundreds of cases.

Brummer is asking Circuit Judge Stanford Blake to allow his office to refuse appointments for all new felony cases that don't involve the death penalty. He's arguing that his attorneys are already overburdened and can't do their constitutional duty for any new clients.

''Our capacity to handle existing cases is declining, and I expect it to get much worse very rapidly,'' Brummer said.

D- Herald: Irony and the recently indicted de Céspedes brothers.

Back in 1999, Carlos de Céspedes added his name to a letter, now dripping with irony, from Miami's most prominent Cuban leaders. ''We are outraged by what has happened in our beloved community,'' the letter said. ``Once regarded as the crime capital of America, we are now perceived as its corruption capital.''

E- Sun-Sentinel: Your Only in South Florida Moment of the Day.

HOLLYWOOD - Swingers and Hollywood have not exactly been loving bedfellows.

Yet starting today, the city that once declared war on a downtown swingers club and tried to ban 2 Live Crew's smutty rapping is playing host to Swingfest 2008, billed as the "world's largest swingers party" and adult trade show.

The four-day-and-three-wild-nights event takes over the entire Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, rife with themed parties, hundreds of exhibitors, a shuttle service to a nude beach and the Fore Play golf tournament.

Porn stars, including former California gubernatorial candidate Mary Carey, will be in town, mingling with the expected 10,000 or so convention delegates.

F- WPLG: Dirty dining at Bagels & Co. in North Miami Beach.

G- Miami Today: The Miami Arena could be gone in 2 weeks.

The Miami Arena could be demolished within two weeks and its Northwest First Avenue site cleared within a month, says building owner Glenn Straub.

H- WPLG: Miamians "addicted" to email.

MIAMI -- According to a survey conducted by America Online, nearly a quarter of Miamians open their eyes, stretch, get out of bed and immediately check their e-mail.

The city-by-city survey found 39 percent of Miami residents admit they're hooked on e-mail, lower than the national average of 46 percent. According to AOL, the average Miami e-mail addict checks personal e-mail at work at least three times a day and checks work e-mail at home during the weekend on average three times.

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