The Cooler

Here's some of the more interesting stories I found this morning in the mainstream media.

A- Herald: The Dolphins are officially Chadless.

Starting quarterback Chad Pennington, who injured his throwing shoulder on Sunday, likely will miss the rest of the season, according to multiple sources.

B- Herald: 400 Miamiams love Miami.

Sure, Miami's got lousy drivers, questionable manners and one of country's most depressed real estate markets. Yet despite its drawbacks -- not to mention the recession -- residents of Miami-Dade say they love this city more than ever.

To be more precise, they're expressing a greater level of attachment to this community, according to the ``Soul of the Community'' three-year study conducted by Gallup and funded by the Knight Foundation.

This year, the second of the project, Miami had the most significant jump in community attachment when compared to other large cities in the survey, which is being released Tuesday. In all, 26 U.S. communities are being studied.

[...]

``It turned out to be somewhat surprising to us,'' said Scholl, Miami program director for the foundation. ``I would have thought that people, because they were unhappy with their economic circumstance, would be unhappy with their community.''

For the 400 local adults interviewed by Gallup between February and April, problems of crime and unemployment were perceived as being more severe than in 2008. But positive qualities -- especially Miami's openness, aesthetics and social offerings, like culture and entertainment -- caused a statistically significant increase in the overall level of attachment compared to last year.

C- Herald: They write letters.

Firefighters work four days a week. Most of the time they sit idle. They promote themselves as sex symbols on calendars. Before 9/11 firefighters were considered slackers who wanted fair pay and a good pension.

Now they all have hero status, even those who did not battle in the aftermath of 9/11 in New York. I know a regular firefighter who makes $125,000 a year, including overtime, and a lieutenant who makes $300,000. What is wrong with this picture?

ARMANDO ALVAREZ, Miami

D- Sun-Sentinel: Their way of thanking you for flying with them.

Several big airlines this week have added $10 surcharges for most of their tickets for travel on three busy days around Thanksgiving and New Year's holidays.

American and United airlines added the charge for most of their fares for travel on Nov. 29, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, as well as Jan. 2 and 3. On Friday US Airways Group Inc. matched the surcharge, and FareCompare.com said Delta Air Lines Inc. added it, too.

Spokespersons for Southwest Airlines Co. and Continental Airlines Inc. both said they had not added the surcharge.

E- TC Palm: She's more of a cat person.

MARTIN COUNTY — A 23-year-old Stuart woman stabbed and killed her dog Sunday, according to an arrest affidavit.

Cassandra Danielle Lauderdale of the 1700 block of Southeast Salerno Road was charged with cruelty to animals and was being held at the Martin County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bail Monday.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office was called about the incident about 10:30 p.m. Sunday at Lauderdale’s home. Deputies found several people inside, including Lauderdale, who appeared agitated. The people at the home told deputies she had taken the dog into the bathroom and stabbed it in the bathtub, the arrest affidavit said. They told the deputies they heard the dog’s yelps during the attack.

“She uttered that she had the right to kill the dog and it was no one’s business,” Deputy Vance Irick wrote in his report.

F- WSVN: Just another day on I-95.

MIAMI (WSVN) -- All northbound lanes of Interstate 95 approaching State Road 836 managed to remain open despite 500 feet of hosing that fell onto the expressway from a fire truck Monday afternoon.

A pickup truck driving behind the City of Miami Fire Rescue engine received damage to its front bumper and a flat tire. However, the smaller vehicle's driver was not injured.

Firefighters removed the tubing from the road and loaded it back onto their truck.

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