Local News

Key West Back in the Day: Roosters prove the power of publicity

Avant-garde artist Andy Warhol once claimed that, in the future, every human being would achieve 15 minutes of fame. But he never said a word about roosters. More recent transplants to Key West seem to believe that the free-roaming poultry population, and the near-constant…

Horoscopes: Truth in connection

This is a week of difficult but necessary conversations. It is time for some radical honesty, and just getting the information out will be more important than attempting to say it the “right” way. Mercury, the planet of communication and logic, is moving into the watery…

Wild Things: 59 species or bust, continued

The rain only lasted an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Enough time to go home and help reassure the dog that the thunder did not mean the world was ending or that anyone was mad at her, and if she had another Milkbone maybe she’d start to believe that everything was going to […]

Tourism dollars fund 18 new mooring balls in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Tourism tax dollars are helping protect some of the Florida Keys’ most valuable natural resources, with the installation of 18 new mooring buoy anchors at three popular reef sites within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The Monroe County Tourist Development Council awarded…

County investment supports new discovery center and museum at Pennekamp State Park

Monroe County Commissioners recently approved allocating $2 million toward the new Discovery Center & Aquarium at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo. The allocation, the largest single contribution to a capital project in the Florida State Parks Foundation’s…

Cheers for charity: Sunrise Rotary’s OktoBREWfest is set for Oct. 3

Don’t worry, you didn’t miss this year’s Key West Brewfest. Events take place Oct. 1-5, with the popular Grand Tasting main event set for Saturday, Oct. 3, from 3 to 8 p.m., at Southernmost Beach Resort. Oh, and it’s now called OktoBREWfest. The Key West Sunrise Rotary Club this…

Monroe County's Key West Government Office to Close Friday 10/2 Due to Flooding Concerns

Sanctuary Advisory Council resolution asks for answers on Stock Island wastewater discharges

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council is calling for state and federal agencies to address concerns that treated wastewater from shallow injection wells on Stock Island is reaching delicate nearshore waters. At its quarterly meeting on Sept. 15 in Marathon,…

Stock Island father and son arrested following morning drugs and guns raid

A Stock Island father and son were arrested on Thursday by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations detectives and the SWAT team following a residential search warrant on 8th Avenue in which three firearms, fentanyl, methamphetamine were found. The sheriff’s office found…

Islamorada Council reduces property tax increase, approves spending plan with pay bumps for staff

Islamorada Council members chose not to slap village property owners with a nearly 10% increase on their tax bills during a final budget hearing on Sept. 28 at the Founders Park Community Center. Instead, the council elected to set a millage rate that represents a roughly 7% hike…

Key West officials tackle hefty agenda at Oct. 1 meeting

Key West officials will tackle a hefty agenda at their Thursday, Oct. 1 meeting, discussing everything from a new AI policy, the search for a city attorney and the overall structure of city government. The Oct. 1 meeting will likely be the last regular meeting for commissioner…

Who should run Key West’s only hospital? Hear the proposals at the Oct. 6 meeting

An upcoming decision will affect everyone in Key West and the Lower Keys, and public input is critical. The board that oversees Key West’s only hospital has received proposals from companies that want to manage Lower Keys Medical Center when the current management agreement ends…