The Cooler

This is the last week of Sun Sentinel coverage in the Cooler. I'll announce what I plan to do later on this week. In the meantime, enjoy.

A- Sun-Sentinel: On the up side, mosquitoes won't go near him.

The suicidal man survived the revolting attempt to take his own life.

But by downing a toxic cocktail of malathion — a common pesticide — he touched off a chain of disruptive consequences Sunday when fumes from the poison sickened three paramedics, shut down a hospital emergency room and knocked a rescue vehicle out of service for hours.

[...]

The bizarre incident began just before 1:30 a.m. when paramedics were called to the 5900 block of 40th Lane, where the man was found lying on the grass.

En route to Northwest Medical Center, the man vomited, Booker said, and three paramedics in the rescue truck with him began "to become dizzy, nauseous and getting headaches."

At the hospital the fumes pouring out of the man prompted hospital officials to move him to another floor, away from the emergency room, which was temporarily shut down as a precaution, Booker said.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Life in South Florida.

The house that smelled up an entire neighborhood after a man's body decomposed for days inside a bedroom has finally been cleaned.

On March 23, Mayor Mike Ryan said city officials would try to get permission from the jailed homeowner to enter the house and clean up.

But in the end, a bank came to the rescue.

On Thursday, Regions Bank had a biohazard company remove the soiled bedding that was causing the stench, Ryan said.

C- Palm Beach Post: Liz Balmaseda returns to Miami...and eats.

New architectural icons swank up the town. Storefronts and cafés pop open to reflect the city's ever-shifting demographics. Hip districts rise where hookers and drug dealers roamed not too many years ago. Magical toll-grabbing devices wink upon traffic-choked highways in green and red. And in the grid and gridlock, my Miami still dances to its own beat.

I've been away for a few years now, and sometimes the metropolis confounds me with its sudden structures and new "it" places. Don't get me wrong- there's exciting stuff happening in Miami. In many ways, the city has reached its full cosmopolitan potential. It's so "there," you can taste it.

D- WPLG: The new, improved BK.

Over the past year, Burger King evaluated all of its ingredients from the bacon to the cheese slices it serves on its chargrilled burgers as part of a yearlong quest to reverse years of slumping sales of its Whoppers and fries. The result: On Monday, it plans to launch a lineup of smoothies, frappe coffees, chicken strips and snack wraps. The 10 new items mark Burger King's biggest menu expansion since the chain opened its doors in 1954.

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