The Cooler

Cosmetic surgery gone bad in Weston seems to be the story du jour this morning in the local mainstream media. That and more in the Cooler.

A- Herald: When "minor cosmetic procedures" go bad.

Rohie Kah went to a Weston spa on Friday morning for what a friend called a minor cosmetic procedure. The 37-year-old mother of three from Miramar left Weston MedSpa later that afternoon in the back of an ambulance headed for Cleveland Clinic Florida, where she remained Tuesday in critical condition.

Exactly what transpired in the intervening hours is a mystery, but attorneys representing Kah's family assert that whatever happened at Weston MedSpa was not minor.

``Something really bad happened there,'' said Michael Freedland, a Weston attorney who described Kah as being ``clinically brain dead'' after her visit to the spa.

[...]

``She had some kind of seizure or multiple seizures during or after the procedure,'' Freedland said, adding that ``someone at the facility tried to revive her'' before paramedics were called.

B- Herald: Awesome story, Miami Herald.


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C- Herald: They write letters.

Alvarez `duplicitous'

The Editorial Board was too kind to Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez in its Sept. 19 editorial Judgment call. It said: ``We do not question his integrity, but, rather, his judgment.''

I question both. Alvarez issued a warning to the community of a pending budget crisis and prepared a doomsday budget. Yet he awarded salary increases to favored staffers.

Is this not duplicitous behavior? The mayor could have remedied salary disparities by consolidating duplicated staffs in his and the county manager's offices. Positions could have been eliminated and, yes, a few staffers would have left for other opportunities.

Unless Alvarez realizes that he represents the residents of Miami-Dade, and not his staff and police commanders, he will leave office as an ineffective and disgraced politician.

PETER L. FORREST, Miami

D- South Florida Business Journal: How about that change?

Home prices in Miami rose 1.3 percent between June and July, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Index.

However, prices still remain down 21.2 percent, year-over year.

[...]

“The rate of annual decline in home price values continues to decelerate and we now seem to be witnessing some sustained monthly increases across many of the markets” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s, in a news release.

E- CBS4: This guy is looking like a real piece of work.

MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) ― CBS4 News has confirmed that a Miami Beach police officer involved in two police shootings in June and later suspended with pay on an unrelated matter, was relieved of duty after he tested positive for marijuana, according to a CBS4 News source and the officer's attorney.

Officer Adam Tavss attorney Gene Gibbons and a CBS4 News source both say that when Tavss was "relieved of duty" earlier this month, it was because he failed a marijuana drug test.

F- CBS4: The City of Miami has a new budget.

Some employees will be taking pay cuts and some might be seeing pink slips after the City of Miami Commission voted to approve it's 2009-2010 budget early Wednesday morning.

The saving of non-union jobs and saving police NET offices took center stage Tuesday night as the City of Miami Commission debated before voting on the budget items. The city was trying to balance the budget and at the same time come up with enough money to save 159 city employees from layoffs.

G- WSVN: When iguanas attack.

OAKLAND PARK, Fla. (WSVN) -- A 7-year-old girl is recovering from getting nearly two dozen stitches after she said an iguana bit her.

Madison Wells said the iguana bit her in her neighbor's backyard last Thursday. "A 6-foot iguana bit my foot, and I got 23 stitches," she said.

[...]

Wells' mother described her daughter's reaction after the incident occurred. "She was hysterical crying and she was really hurt. It was almost like her feelings were hurt more then anything because the iguana bit her," said Michelle Yurko.

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