The Cooler

I'm running a little short of time this morning so here's an abbreviated Cooler...

A- Sun-Sentinel: And not a hurricane in sight!

Expect a rather dry winter and spring with about 5 inches less rain than normal, the National Weather Service in Miami said Thursday. However, the region's water levels shouldn't suffer because the rainy season saw about 5 inches more rain than average, meteorologist Robert Molleda said.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Almost #1....not quite. Maybe next year.

Almost one in five Florida children have no health insurance, and the number has grown 10 percent in the past three years despite efforts to cover them, health advocates said in a new study released Thursday.

Florida now has the second highest rate of uninsured children in the nation, behind Texas, as more employers cut back on health coverage and rising prices make coverage unaffordable, said Families USA, an advocacy group for low-income issues.

C- Sun-Sentinel: Because she has high standards.

PORT ST. LUCIE - Doors opened for Tiffany Shepherd, just not the right ones.

Shepherd, the 30-year-old former Port St. Lucie High School teacher who months ago claimed she lost her teaching contract because of her bikini mate job, on Thursday said she "turned down all the magazines."

"I didn't want to do Playboy," she said, noting she sought legal advice and learned that appearing in the magazine likely would mean she'd never teach again.

Shepherd, a mother of three boys, became a media sensation after alleging she was released from her teaching contract because of her job on Smokin' Em Charters, which offers trips with bikini-clad and topless women.

D- Herald: They got the UM crocodile killer!

UM police and state wildlife officials on Thursday arrested a 16-year-old in the butchering and beheading of the nine-foot animal in a campus canal early this month. They're looking for an adult who they say also took part, luring the reptile with fishing chum, tying it down and chopping it up.

.