The Cooler

The kitty killer is still on the loose in Miami-Dade. That and other stories are noted in this morning's Cooler...

A- Herald: Getting a little ventilation on I-95.

Martin Cunningham was driving on the entrance ramp to southbound Interstate 95 from Hallandale Beach Boulevard early Wednesday morning when the driver of a silver Ford Focus aggressively tried to merge into his lane. But traffic behind Cunningham prevented the 42-year-old motorist from braking, and he was not able to allow the driver to merge.

As Cunningham continued driving south, he noticed the four-door Focus pull up beside his car. He then heard two loud bangs before the car sped off.

When he stopped, Cunningham found two bullet holes in the left rear side of his car.

B- Herald: The serial cat killer strikes yet again.

Helen Shafner was returning to bed early Wednesday when she heard the first scream.

''It was a real loud, horrible scream,'' said Shafner, 82, a Palmetto Bay resident for 12 years. ``I kinda figured out what was going on.''

``I knew it was different than a cat fight.''

Hours later, Shafner found two cats in her front yard, both dead. The pair were among five cats found mutilated in the Palmetto Bay area on Wednesday, adding to the growing tally of mysteriously killed cats.

C- Herald: Life in South Florida.

A 60-year-old woman had trouble pumping gas into her son's 1997 Jeep Cherokee at a gas station in the 1600 block of Southwest 30th Avenue, so she asked a younger man nearby to help.

He filled the tank. Then, he snatched the keys, jumped into the Cherokee and drove away.

Stunned, the woman called the police. They spotted the vehicle speeding along Northwest Eighth Street, and tried to pull it over. But it kept going, and hit six cars. Then the driver jumped out and ran away.

An officer raced after him. He found the bad Samaritan hiding in a dumpster in the 600 block of Northwest 24th Avenue. Later, at a police lineup, the victim identified the man as the robber.

D- Herald: Happy hour is the new black.

At the start of the traditionally slow summer months, upper-moderate and high-end restaurants are stepping up promotions to avoid additional losses. It's why happy hours are popping up at many well-known restaurants including Meat Market on South Beach, Chef Allen's in Aventura and Johnny V in Fort Lauderdale.

It's also a way to make an empty restaurant look busy.

''We all have to do something . . . to put people in seats,'' said Johnny Vinczenz, owner of two Las Olas restaurants, Johnny V and Smith & Jones. ``During the hot summer in South Florida, the early evening is definitely a slow time. This creates a vibe and an atmosphere.''

E- Herald: Morin.

F- Sun-Sentinel: Did someone hear something?

POMPANO BEACH - After penning the most important explanation of his life Wednesday, a 78-year-old man collected his cane, left his Pompano Beach home and went to the district branch of the Broward Sheriff's Office.

By the parking lot, in a grassy area by a pond, the unnamed man lifted a pistol to his head and fired. The crack of a gunshot rent the midday air.

One other person, an unidentified records specialist, witnessed his final act. The cane and gun fell to the ground.

After passing through his head, the bullet penetrated a second-story window. It tumbled, spent, to the floor near a secretary. She was unfazed.

"She continued to work," sheriff's spokesman Mike Jachles said.

[...]

He apparently didn't want to run the chance of dying and nobody finding out.

"The man killed himself, and he wanted to do it somewhere he would be attended to and not go undiscovered," Jachles said.

G- CBS4: And if you're not getting shot at...

DANIA BEACH (CBS4) ―Alex Front described the large piece of metal hurtling towards his car like being in a 3-D movie.

"It was coming right at me," Front told CBS4's Carey Codd. "It was turning and the windshield hit me in the face and repelled back."

Front was on I-95 in rush hour traffic Wednesday afternoon when a metal gate from a trailer flew along the roadway and smashed into the windshield of his Lexus. The impact rained glass all over Front. Fortunately, he was wearing sunglasses that shielded his eyes and he amazingly walked away with a few scratches on his arms and head.

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