The Cooler

Lots of interesting news this morning that you will, no doubt, see referenced elsewhere in the SoFla blogosphere later today. We point you to it first right here at SFDB. Enjoy your Cooler.

A- Herald: And how many do you suppose vote for the party that likes to use the 47% number and the terms "leeches" and "moochers?"

Just north of Flagler Street in Little Havana you could see them. Dozens of people sitting Tuesday night in lawn chairs wrapping around Northwest 14th Avenue. Some been here since Nov. 28.

“It’ll be 8 days,” Juanita Alvarez said.

What are they waiting for? A ticket for a food basket from the Latin Chamber of Commerce. Each holiday season, the organization hands out food baskets with rice, bean, spices and other food supplies. But first they give out tickets for them.

[...]

One woman, Martiza Garcia, said she had been eating, sleeping and brushing her teeth from the spot where the line started since last week.

B- Herald: Let us pray.

On Tuesday, an intensive 18-month lobbying effort by the Christian Family Coalition paid off when commissioners voted 8-3 after lengthy debate to reinstitute prayer before public meetings for the first time since 2004.

Those prayers, according to the new ordinance, must be non-denominational and be offered before the meeting officially begins, with commissioners choosing the speaker ahead of time on a rotating basis. If a commissioner wishes, he or she may offer the prayer.

C- Palm Beach Post: Darwin nods.

Authorities say a 59-year-old man walking on the shoulder of Interstate 95 ran in front of a semi tractor-trailer and died early this morning near Riviera Beach.

D- TC Palm: There's one born every minute.

Last week, a 24-year-old woman told deputies she had filled out an online application to become a mystery shopper. She received a check for $1,385 with instructions to cash the check, spend about $100 at a couple of stores but wire the bulk of the money back to the company via Western Union, according to the report.

[...]

One week after depositing the check at Seacoast National Bank, the woman said bank officials called and said the check was returned as fraudulent.

E- South Florida Business Journal: Bigger than Sawgrass? Who knew?

Aventura Mall remains the largest mall in Florida and the 16th largest in the U.S., according to Esri, which has designed an interactive satellite view of the nation's 50 largest malls.

F- South Florida Business Journal: Great public relations for Basel.

In his newest novel “Back to Blood,” Tom Wolfe dedicates a chapter around the frenzy of Miami Beach’s Art Basel fair and its VIP parties, status-crazed billionaires and one-up buying sprees. In an excerpt from the book, he writes: 'All of them wanted to be where things were happening, and it would be over the moment the first foot of the first clueless member of the public touched the premises.'

[...]

Local gallery owner and art dealer Gary Nader said the event has become exactly what Wolfe has described in his novel.

“Art Basel is a buying frenzy to see who has more money. What he wrote is true,” Nader said. “It’s really pitiful that a bunch of wealthy people are clamoring over who can spend more.”

G- CBS4: Life in South Florida.

Police said just after 4:30 p.m. Monday they received multiple 911 calls about a woman being attacked on Sabal Palm Drive near Miramar Parkway and University Drive.

“Somebody’s getting stabbed in the street!” said one caller. “This dude’s gonna kill her,” he told the 911 operator.

“Do you see her with a knife?” the 911 operator asked. “Ya, he’s stabbing her,” he said.

Arriving officers found the body of Jones lying on the ground; she had been stabbed to death.

“She was approached by the suspect, we heard from one witness that she ran a short distance and was yelling and that the suspect dragged her down and started stabbing her,” said police spokeswoman Tania Rues. “We have varying witness accounts, but we believe two knives were used.”

H- CBS4: Another scam?

The Marlins announced Tuesday that the World Music Awards will be held at the stadium on December 20. The Marlins said the program will be aired to 180 countries around the world and reach more than a billion viewers.

The awards show will reportedly have music fans’ “favorite artists performing live.” However, no major bands/acts have been booked in Miami for that day, according to Pollstar.com.

I- WPTV: 'Tis the season.

St. Lucie County sheriff's deputies went to an address in the 200 block of Camino Del Rio and spoke to the 70-year-old man.

The man told deputies he was standing outside when he saw Mayerson and her husband driving by. He said he "shot them the 'middle finger,'" an affidavit states. Asked why he did so, the man said, "I do not like them for my own reasons."

The man said the vehicle stopped, and Mayerson's husband got out. The two started arguing, and the man said he called Mayerson an inappropriate name to her husband's face.

That, he said, is when Mayerson got out and punched him in the face. The man said he got knocked to the ground, scratching his wrist.

.