The Cooler

There's a whole bunch of goodness in this morning's mainstream media.

A- Herald: Mother Nature comes to the rescue again.

Back-to-back wet months have washed away South Florida's water shortage.

Conservation areas that make up much of the Everglades are brimming. Ground water supplies have recharged, even in South Miami-Dade County where wells ran dangerously low three months ago. The vast water barrel known as Lake Okeechobee is now right where water managers want it, and is actually just a tad high.

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In fact, if another Fay comes along, the district will likely be grappling with suburban flooding concerns and the Army Corps of Engineers will likely be dumping water from the lake to protect an aging dike undergoing repairs that will take decades.

B- Herald: Analysis of the Obama Administration's response to the military coup in Honduras.

Rather than take the lead, the White House has chosen to defer to the Organization of American States, allowing it to steer an effort to orchestrate a restoration of ''democratic order'' in Honduras -- a move analysts say might enhance U.S. credibility in a region that has long viewed Washington's intervention with suspicion.

''The situation offers a clear opportunity to reposition U.S. policy from being for or against parties and candidates in Latin America, to being solidly supportive of the democratic process,'' said Robert Pastor, an American University professor and former Director of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs at the National Security Council.

C- Herald: Good decision.

A Miami-Dade judge on Thursday refused to release surveillance video that captured NFL player Donte' Stallworth's car striking and killing a pedestrian who was crossing the MacArthur Causeway.

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Reyes's family members and prosecutors had asked that the video be withheld because its posting on the Internet or broadcast on television would cause emotional trauma, especially for Reyes' 15-year-old daughter.

Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy agreed, saying the video was ''akin to autopsy photos or akin to the depiction of a crime scene,'' which can be restricted by a judge under state law.

D- Herald: Does someone smell something?

Authorities responding to a call about a foul smell in a quaint Hialeah house late Wednesday found a dead man buried under the floor boards.

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Rodriguez was found in a shallow grave in a crawl space under the house's living room, said Detective Carl Zogby, a Hialeah spokesman. Rodriguez was buried in sand and soil under the home in the 600 block of East 19th Street.

E- Herald: Wash out.

Strassberg says there's a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms Friday and a 50 percent chance Saturday, sure to ruin any outdoor barbecue or golf outing.

F- Herald: Property tax revenues way down for South Florida.

The most severe drop in taxable property value in Miami-Dade County in at least 40 years is actually a little worse than first thought.

Final property rolls released this week show the dip was 9.5 percent countywide, not 9.2 percent.

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''Government is going on a diet and it is way overdue,'' said Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett, who opposes raising property taxes despite a 16 percent drop in value in his city. ``We are going to do what all taxpayers are doing in Dade County, that is we will balance the budget with the revenue we have.''

G- Herald: Morin.

H- Sun-Sentinel: The world's tiniest violin.

TALLAHASSEE - Steve Hoffman, of Lighthouse Point, feels a bit bullied these days.

He's a smoker, a shrinking class of Floridians that's feeling overtaxed since a $1 hike on a pack of cigarettes hit convenience stores across the state.

"They're picking on a small group of people -- not small, but small in comparison," said Hoffman, 60. "They think it's just so easy to quit. It's not. Now they're trying to really just stick it to us."

I- Sun-Sentinel: Chan Lowe.

J- Palm Beach Post: Maybe a side trip to South Beach?

HOBE SOUND- — Disgraced South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will spend the Fourth of July weekend in Florida with his wife and her family in a visit that likely will bring him to Hobe Sound.

Sanford will leave for Florida Friday morning to be with his wife, Jenny and their four sons this weekend, said Joel Sawyer, the governor's spokesman.

K- TC Palm: It will be a little quieter tomorrow night in this guy's neighborhood.

STUART — Martin County Sheriff’s Office is continuing an investigation at 907 Ocean Blvd. in Stuart where about $100,000 in illegal fireworks, explosive materials, several weapons and a large amount of cash was discovered.

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Homeowner James Buhs, 46. was taken into custody without incident and multiple charges are pendinge. Buhs is a convicted felon with a history that includes possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a machine gun, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Detectives discovered inside the three-bedroom single-family residence and garage hundreds of boxes of fireworks marked with names including “city crasher”, “solar flare”, “rumble ramble”, “Molotov cocktail” and “pyro protest” stacked floor to ceiling in addition to materials for professional displays and cylinders to shoot fireworks into the air.

L- WPLG: But did he have clearance?

MIAMI -- Officials at Miami International Airport are searching for a dog that was seen running around on a runway on Thursday afternoon.

The dog was roaming on fields adjacent to the airport as well as on an actual runway at one point. It was seen on the east side of the airport near LeJeune Road.

M- WSVN: Your South Florida story of the day.

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A truck driver narrowly missed a 7-foot alligator as it was crossing a road early Friday morning.

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The tow-truck driver was driving to work around 5:30 a.m when he almost ran over the gator. "I saw something in the street, it looked like a piece of a tree. I slowed down and I had to slam on the breaks," said Herrera. "I look and I saw it-- 6 feet, it's a gator."

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