The Cooler

The Cooler is back. Let's check out what's going on in the SoFla mainstream media this morning.

A- Herald: Yes, it's Cyber Monday.

Amazon.com, which is starting its Cyber Monday deals at midnight on Monday, is offering as much as 60 percent off a Panasonic VIERA 55-inch TV that's usually priced higher than $1,000. Sears is offering $430 off a Maytag washer and dryer, each on sale for $399. And Kmart is offering 75 percent off all of its diamond earrings and $60 off a 12-in-1 multigame table on sale for $89.99.

B- Herald: This is the way they do fraud in the Keys and, yes, of course the suspects are from Miami.

An ongoing investigation into an elaborate scheme to counterfeit state-issued tags for spiny lobster traps has pulled in a second suspect.

Jesus Alonso Perez, 51, of Miami was charged with possession of phony trap tags after his arrest last week by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers in Miami-Dade County.

Perez is the first person arrested in the case since Ramon Rojas, 44, of Hialeah was arrested on Monroe County and Miami-Dade warrants earlier this month.

[...]

"During the investigation, we were able to determine [Rojas] actually was in the midst of selling some of these counterfeit tags and ended up selling 100 at $50 a pop," said FWC Officer Jorge Pino, an agency spokesman. "We knew some of these tags were being used already."

C- Herald: Soon there will be no such thing as a free ride.

Motorists will find it more expensive to drive around South Florida roadways in coming years, as a new network of toll lanes takes shape.

The network would extend from Florida City in southernmost Miami-Dade County to Interstate 595 in central Broward, and from Interstate 75 in western Broward to Interstate 95 in east Broward.

“One of the main projects we foresee are the managed lanes project,” said Harold Desdunes, the Florida Department of Transportation’s district director of transportation development in Miami, using the formal designation for toll express lanes.

D- Herald: Video, Dolphins win.

E- Herald: Life in South Florida.

Scores of shoppers at Flea Market USA on Sunday had to dive for cover after officers opened fire in the parking lot on two suspects inside a minivan, Miami-Dade police said.

One suspect was killed in the hail of bullets and a second was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The condition of that person, or how they were injured, is unclear.

E- Herald: They write letters.

Beware, Marlins fans

I was in Miami for the Marlins’ opening day against the Dodgers, April 5, 1993. It was great. Now the Marlins have a shiny new stadium, and the team has blown its budget for the next 10 years. So why shouldn’t it have decided to have a giant “fire sale?”

I’ve since moved back to San Diego, and there is relevance here. After the first season in their new shiny stadium, which was practically given to them by the city and the fans, the Padres did the same thing — sold off their top players. The team has played AA baseball, at best, since. Does this sound familiar?

Good luck to my friends in Miami, you deserve better — so does San Diego.

Wayne Stokes, El Cajon, Calif.

F- NBC Miami: Giant gator head on its way to Miami.

Part of a 100-foot-long alligator head art project made its way across Alligator Alley to South Florida on Sunday, causing motorists to pull over, stare and take pictures.

The alligator, made of steel and recyclable materials, is being taken on an 18-wheel flatbed trailer on a three-day trek that began on Florida’s west coast, crossed Alligator Alley and ends in South Florida.

[...]

Goradesky is the artist behind “Gator in the Bay,” a multi-phase art project aimed at raising awareness to restore the Everglades. The alligator head next month will be part of a gigantic alligator floating in Biscayne Bay for Art Basel Miami Beach.

G- WSVN: Video, they're still catching pythons out in the 'Glades.





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