The Cooler

A bunch of interesting news out there this morning, although I'm detecting a definite shift to turkey-related stories.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas Boulevard is feeling the pain.

Businesses on Las Olas, meanwhile, say they've been feeling a double dose of pain: the weak economy and fewer stores to draw visitors downtown. About 70 percent of the stores owned by The Las Olas Co. have tenants, down about 9 percent year-to-date.

"The street — it's deadly quiet," said Sue Gordon, owner of Sue Gordon bridal store.

Across the street from her store, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, are a string of blank storefronts that once drew steady foot traffic. Gordon, who has been on the strip for nearly 30 years, plans to move next month into a new location on North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale.

"I'm very happy to be leaving," she said, noting her customers have been coming into the store saying, "'What happened to Las Olas Boulevard?"

B- Sun-Sentinel: People are buying homes in Broward.

Bargain hunters continue to respond to plunging prices, with October sales of existing homes in Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports rising 46 percent, to 625 from 428 a year ago, the Florida Association of Realtors said Monday. The median price plummeted 29 percent, to $252,500 from $354,000 last October.

C- Sun-Sentinel: Cold turkey.

For the rest of us, it should be a sunny mild day, with afternoon temperatures in the mid to upper 70s and light breezes, the National Weather Service said.

“It does look like a beautiful day in store for Thanksgiving,” meteorologist Dan Dixon said.

The morning might be a bit nippy, in the mid to upper 40s in Palm Beach County and in the low to mid 50s in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

But, hey, many of you were craving some brisk weather for the holidays, right?

In all, most of this week should be glorious, with somewhat chilly mornings, temperate afternoons and cool evenings. We probably won’t see the temperature reach 80 degrees until the weekend.

D- Palm Beach Post: Twittering Black Friday.

Join our Black Friday Twitterthon!

It’s the day after Thanksgiving: Just you, your shopping bag and a menu of pre-dawn sales.

But where to go?

Follow the Post’s Black Friday Twitter team on your cell phone, PDA, laptop or desktop, as we scout local stores and give you the 411 on who’s open, who’s closed, and who just ran out of $99 BluRay players.

E- Palm Beach Post: Ahhhhhh, run for your lives! It's Splenda!

A white powder that forced the evacuation of about a dozen Palm Beach County Sheriff's employees has turned out to be a sweetener.

F- Herald: You get a car! And you get a car! And you get a car! [My Oprah impression.]

With the state facing a potential $1.4 billion tax shortfall, Miami-Dade Schools chief Alberto Carvalho called on the federal government to consider a bailout for the nation's public schools.

''The question in my mind is this: At a time when we're continuing the bailout of key industries, at what point do we have a bailout of public education?'' asked Carvalho.

G- Herald: We heart Miami...and it's crappy school system.

Outsiders may view Miamians as strictly easy-on-the-eye-and-mind types but perhaps they should consider this:

Miamians love their metropolis -- multicultural and all.

So says a new Gallup study that links economic growth to residents' ''loyalty and passion'' toward their neighborhoods. The report came out Monday.

In a study called Soul of the Community, researchers found that the No. 1 quality that makes Miamians enamored of their area is its ''openness to diverse and different people'' -- almost an inevitability in majority-minority Miami-Dade.

The report also included these surprising results: Residents of the Miami metropolitan area boasted of good schools and higher education, physical beauty and social offerings, like entertainment venues.

H- CBS4: Wyclef Jean goes into foreclosure.

On the outside, the home being built on Miami Beach looks like any other luxury home. But a quick records check finds the property, owned by a big name, is in trouble. Jean has sold 30 million albums, but apparently couldn't keep up with his mortgage.

The $2.4 million waterfront mansion on Pine Tree Drive is now owned by a bank. The house is scheduled to be sold at the Miami-Dade Courthouse next month, along with a handful of liens by the construction crews, who never finished, and more than $100 thousand in unpaid taxes.

I- CBS4: #13.

MIAMI GARDENS (CBS4) ― Miami Gardens ranks number 13 in the list of cities with the highest crime rate in the U.S. and Orlando number 18, according to City Crime Rankings 2008-2009 book.

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