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The Key West Citizen
Double-murder trial underway
A terrible crime occurred Oct. 15, 2015, said defense attorney Donald Barrett in opening arguments of a double murder trial May 6 heard at the Planation Key courthouse. “The question is who did it,” Barrett said, arguing that Key Largo resident Jeremy Macauley was framed by two brothers who are the real murderers, according to evidence he planned to share during Macauley’s two-week trial. The state prosecuting attorney told jurors...
STILL SHINING BRIGHTLY
A pair of former Key West High superstars are once again shining brightly, but now on the college level, as former Conch hurler Danny Galvan, as well as distance runner Nicole Matysik, were back in the spotlight during the week of April 22-26 when they both garnered Player of the Week honors for their respective conferences and teams. Matysik, who is a fifth-year senior at Furman University, was selected as the Southern Conference women’s outdoor track and field athlete of the week, which included all...
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
The floating maritime museum U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Ingham could have a sister ship and/or Key West could have another floating museum if the city moves forward on a proposal to bring another retired military ship to the southernmost island. The International Hyrdofoil Society is requesting to bring back a former U.S. Navy ship that was once part of a fleet of six ships stationed in Key West in the 1980s and early ’90s and is now one of the last of its kind and...
Letter carriers aim to 'Stamp Out Hunger'
The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) are preparing for their 32nd annual Letter Carriers Food Drive, known as “Stamp Out Hunger.” Residents are asked to leave a non-perishable food item their mailbox on Saturday, May 11, and a letter carrier will collect the items for the local food pantry. An estimated one in six Americans is unsure where their next meal will come from, including nearly 3 million seniors older than 65 dealing with hunger as well, with many living on fixed incomes.
Jury duty scammer uses fake certified mailings
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office continues to warn residents of fake jury duty scams, where thieves are posing as law enforcement officers and telling victims they need to pay money to resolve a fake arrest warrant. Most recently, the Sheriff’s Office has been made aware of certified mail from thieves falsely posing as real law enforcement agencies. They are using official-looking forged documents to scam residents, according to a news release from Sheriff’s Office spokesman Adam Linhardt. ...
Key West City Commission to vote on bond language
The Key West City Commission, on Thursday May 9, will hold its first of two required votes on approving the wording of four separate ballot questions regarding roughly $300 million in bonds that will go before voters in November. The commission had planned to also vote on a development plan for the Casa Marina resort that would allow for the possible redevelopment of nearly two dozen units of existing affordable housing and the development of two dozen market rate houses that could possibly be converted...
Tropic to show Marching Conchs in London film
Thanks to a lot of hard work and support from community members, the Key West High School Marching Conchs had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cross the Atlantic and march in the famed New Year’s Day Parade in London to ring in 2024. On Wednesday, May 8, at 6 p.m., the Tropic Cinema will host a free screening of a student-made film, produced by the high school’s Conch 5 Studios, that documents the band as they prepare for their trip and experience the parade across the...
Big donation supports the reef
While Mike Goldberg of Islamorada started out his work life pursuing money — putting in long hours for 12 years offering financial services — now money is pursuing him. Delores Barr Weaver, former co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL franchise, is donating $650,000 to I.CARE’s coral reef and sponge restoration efforts after seeing Goldberg on CNN TV in December 2023 as a Hero of the Planet candidate. Due to his...
Second deputy injured in crash
For the second time in roughly a month, a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been injured in a vehicle accident while making a routine traffic stop in the Florida Keys. Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Enforcement Deputy Andrew Leird, 49, was injured Tuesday, May 7, while on morning patrol in a school zone in Marathon, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesman Adam Linhardt. Leird was attempting to make a traffic...
Park use, fire boat among Islamorada Village Council agenda items
Changes to the Local Planning Agency, new housing and commercial square footage allotments for 2024, a fire rescue boat pilot program and an agreement with the school district on Founders Park baseball field use are among the agenda items to be tackled by the Islamorada Village Council during this week’s scheduled meetings. The council is set to meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, at the Founders Park Community Center, with a second possible meeting at the same time on Thursday, May 9, if any...
No fine administered in Salt Ponds sewage spill
The state Department of Environmental Protection late last week acknowledged a small sewage dumping into the Salt Ponds in Key West, but did not issue a fine and only ordered Waste Management to “mitigate and prevent future spills,” DEP stated. In early December, members of the community began reaching out to DEP with concerns about a suspected unauthorized discharge of untreated wastewater near the Key West Salt Ponds, according to DEP spokesman Jon Moore. ...
Tree House suspect taken into custody
Authorities remanded into custody Tree House murder suspect Franklin “Ty” Tucker on a $3.1 million bond late last week at an airport in Oregon after he failed to take a drug and alcohol screening at his schedule time. Authorities reportedly took Tucker into custody on Friday, May 3, in the smoking section of Portland International Airport in Oregon, Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward said. Judge James Morgan III had issued a bench warrant for Tucker to be taken into custody after he failed to...
Conchs baseball set to host; Lady Conchs, Lady 'FIns both garner postseason berths
By claiming a third consecutive District 16-4A Championship, the Key West High baseball team knew there would be a place for them in the 4A state bracket — it was just a matter of where they would land. On the other side of things, the Key West High softball team was waiting to see if they did enough to garner an at-large bid after losing in the District 16-4A Championship game. The 2024 campaigns continue into the postseason for both of the Key West hardball...
After turning 74, Welzien swims for 137th time around Key West
On April 17, Bill Welzien turned 74 years old; six days later he was in the waters off the coast of Key West, completing his 137th swim around the island on April 23. Swimming at a rate of a minute and 54 seconds per 100 yards across the 12.5-mile circumference of Key West, Welzien was able to return to Smathers Beach, where he started, in six hours, 26 minutes and 54 seconds. “Very happy with my time,” said Welzien, who was escorted by kayakers David Welzien and David Ezmerly during his total of 10,835 strokes, noting the most difficult stretch was when he was facing “a stiff wind” of 20 mph through the Key West Harbor until they rounded toward the coast of Sigsbee. Welzein will now continue to add to his lifetime total of island circumferences by competing in the 48th annual Swim Around Key West on June 22.
THREE IN A ROW
The three-peat is complete as the District 16-4A Championship is back in the hands of the Key West High baseball team for a third straight season after the Conchs claimed the title behind another stellar pitching performance, this time from Jacob Burnham, during a 2-0 victory against Killian High on Thursday, April 2, on the Cougars’ home diamond in Miami. Burnham would scatter six hits and two walks across his 6 2/3 innings of work in his dominant start, as only in the fourth inning...
Sabres' big inning keep Lady Conchs from repeating as district champs
Through the first three innings of the District 16-4A softball championship game, just two St. Brendan batters were able to reach base via a walk in the first and error in the third, against Key West starting pitcher Chloe Gilday, who had four strikeouts to the first 11 hitters she faced on Thursday, May 2, on the Sabres’ home diamond in Miami. St. Brendan had the answer for Gilday in the fourth, as she was collecting her fifth strikeout of the game in the frame,...
Key West City Commissioner urges public to attend hospital meeting
The Lower Florida Keys Hospital District board expects a larger-than-normal turnout for its meeting Wednesday, May 8, prompting a move from Lower Keys Medical Center on Stock Island to the Harvey Government Center in Key West. The existing lease between Community Health Systems Inc. (CHS) and the Lower Florida Keys Hospital District will expire in 2029. The 30-year lease was initially put into place in 1999 with Health Management Associates, which was acquired in 2013 by Community Health Systems. ...
Dolphins qualify 15 for region finals, boys claim runner-up in district
Fifteen Marathon High athletes placed in the Top 4 of the District 16-1A Track and Field Championships on Wednesday, May 1, during which the Dolphin boys claimed the runner-up trophy by scoring 134 points, well behind the 253 piled up by host and champion Palmer Trinity, but comfortably ahead of Divine Savior, who finished third with 96.5, while the Lady ‘Fins, with 104 points, let second place slip through their fingers as Palmer Trinity romped on this side, too, with 244 points to capture the title, and Divine Savior used a second-place finish in the meet-closing 4x400 meter relay to...
Rescued sawfish dies
A distressed smalltooth sawfish rescued on April 5 off of the Lower Florida Keys died Thursday, May 2. The sawfish was rescued on Friday, April 5, 2024, when Mote Marine Laboratory and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded to a call reporting the animal swimming in circles in Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys. It was transported to an interim holding tank at Mote’s Lower Keys facility to stabilize the animal. On April 11, following treatment and monitoring, the animal made the several-hour...
Monroe County officials receive latest TDC audit
As the search has just started for a new Monroe County Tourist Development Council director, a county-contracted auditing firm has finalized it latest audit of the TDC operations, which again questions if the director followed county purchasing policies and procedures. After the first of three recent audits of the TDC were concluded, the Monroe County Commission agreed earlier this year to have the firm Cherry Bekaert conduct an audit of the TDC, which receives more than $60 million a year in hotel bed tax to...
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