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To Key West Housing Authority officials it was seen as a necessary task, the chopping down of banana trees Richard "Diver" Overman nurtured daily with his fingerless hands, outside the windows of his public housing apartment on Amelia Street. To Overman it was a massacre. "They were just nubs when I planted them," the 67-year-old retired lobster diver said. "Now I am so disappointed. That was my pastime -- the only pastime I've got. Now they took them away and I feel like nothin'." Housing Authority Director Manuel Castillo said he and his staff tried to work with Overman, but...

BP lawsuit will be heard in Key West CITIZEN STAFF A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will be heard in Key West. More than 300 people and businesses are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit against British Petroleum. The plaintiffs are seeking a cut of the $20 billion the oil company set aside to cover damage claims related to the spill. The 328 plaintiffs in the 69-page complaint filed on Feb. 25 include many Monroe County companies, including, but not limited to: Banner Tire...

They called it "Flagler's Folly," the wondrous work of concrete, steel and wood stretching 128 miles from the Florida mainland to Key West, in a place where nature never intended for a railroad to run. But exactly 100 years ago Sunday at 10:43 a.m., a 110-ton Schenectady-built locomotive, powered by steam heated by oil, rolled over the last length of track on a dusty and stark Key West, bearing the ailing man dubbed the island's savior, oil baron Henry Flagler. He was greeted by applause, cheers, band music and choirs of schoolchildren, this man whose final dream was realized by...

A dog that reportedly bit a policeman during a domestic battery investigation last year was shot dead Wednesday night by a detective during a drug raid at the same house, according to Key West police reports. Buddie, a 5-year-old pit bull terrier mix, was shot in the head by Detective Michael Chaustit, who reportedly fired one bullet from his .45-caliber service handgun while the dog's mouth was clamped down on his left hand -- requiring three stitches at Lower Keys Medical Center. A veterinarian euthanized the dog at the scene about an hour laterreports say. During a 9 p.m. raid...

There are many who argue that President Obama has (repeatedly) broken his promise to bring transparency and openness to the White House. In literal terms, however, Obama may not have actually broken that specific promise ,.. it’s just that people may not have understood what Obama meant by transparency and openness. ..Here’s a case in point: First Dot: Several months ago, the union world was shocked when Andy Stern, the ignominious president of the Service Employees International Union abruptly “quit” as leader of the Purple Hand. Surprise and speculation swelled. Was it the Blago Trial? Is he sick?Second Dot: Then,...

Energy Policy: Deep-water drilling will resume in the Florida Strait when a giant, semi-submersible oil rig en route from Singapore arrives later this fall. The bad news is it will not be American. While U.S. oil and energy prices "necessarily skyrocket," as President Obama once said they would under energy policies that have imposed a de facto ban on offshore drilling, a massive Chinese-built semi-submersible oil rig is on its way from Singapore to a drilling position off northwest Cuba perhaps as little as 50 miles from Key West, Fla. The long-predicted move could come as early as November, as...

I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that I was astonished with the speed and completeness of response to a pair of requests I filed recently under the Texas Public Information Act, which has been a pleasant surprise in covering Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The tweet drew a quick response from several reporters and activists in Texas, who noted that the speed may have something to do with what Perry's government destroys: every email more than a week old. The office says they print out and save emails that they're required to preserve, but there's no way to check.

The remains of a sunken warship recently found in the Mediterranean Sea may confirm the site of a major ancient battle in which Rome trounced Carthage. The year was 241 B.C. and the players were the ascending Roman republic and the declining Carthaginian Empire, which was centered on the northernmost tip of Africa. The two powers were fighting for dominance in the Mediterranean in a series of conflicts called the Punic Wars. Archaeologists think the newly discovered remnants of the warship date from the final battle of the first Punic War, which allowed Rome to expand farther into the Western...

<p>"I've had kidney stones. This was worse. I never want to have it again," says Richard Branch, a Navy Lieutenant stationed in Key West. He ended up having to be hospitalized in Miami after a mosquito carrying the Dengue virus got him.</p>

Interview unravels Key West lore New documentary corrects some Bettie Page myths Bettie Page, the iconic 1950s pinup girl known around the world for her bondage photos and fetish films, moved to Key West in 1957 and married a Conch named Armon Walterson. On a dark New Year's Eve night a few months later, the world-famous vixen found God when she stopped to listen to a preacher in a White Street church that has long disappeared. Cited as a pivotal moment in the life of a woman who had a big heart but a less-than-savory past, the events of her...

More than two dozen cases of locally-acquired dengue fever have hit the resort town of Key West , Fla., in the past nine months, officials from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) -- A sixth-generation Key West resident, who first blew a conch shell as a child, has won the island's 48th annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest in Florida. Thirty-six-year-old Clinton Curry followed his two-toned toot Saturday with a portion of composer Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" on a single shell, earning applause from several hundred spectators. Blowing the fluted, pink-lined conch shell has been a Key West tradition since the early 1800s, when seafaring settlers used it as a signaling device.

Inmates at a South Florida jail were masters at picking Uncle Sam's pocket, filing for more than $1 million in bogus tax refunds. Now the feds are fighting back.(snip)Detainees turned the IRS into their own private ATM, filing for about $1 million in fraudulent refunds. Before the scam was uncovered, they hauled in as much as $100,000 for themselves, their friends and relatives, say past and present law-enforcement officials. It was easy money. ``I was shocked that inmates could steal from the IRS that easily and that blatantly and not be prosecuted. Even when the case was handed to them...

.CLIMATE... THE LOW TEMPERATURE AT KEY WEST AIRPORT HAS ALREADY DROPPED TO 42 DEGREES AS OF 5 AM. THIS SMASHES THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD LOW OF 48 DEGREES WHICH WAS SET IN 1970. ONLY TWO LOWER TEMPERATURES HAVE EVER BEEN RECORDED IN KEY WEST...WHICH ARE THE ALL-TIME RECORD LOWS OF 41 DEGREES ON JANUARY 13 1981 AND JANUARY 12 1886. TEMPERATURE RECORDS IN KEY WEST DATE BACK TO 1873. WITH A COUPLE OF HOURS YET TO GO BEFORE SUNRISE...THERE IS STILL A WINDOW FOR FURTHER COOLING TO OCCUR...AND WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR TEMPS VERY CLOSELY. ALSO OF NOTE IS THAT...

Recycling ordinance is move in right direction In the past, the traditional "Three Rs" were reading, writing and arithmetic -- and obviously not spelling. But outside the classroom today, people are adopting another R trinity: reduce, reuse and recycle. The importance of this new mantra is becoming increasingly clear. (The school budget is over by $2.1 Million and the kids still can't pas the state FCAT exams) The Key West City Commission (Led by Mendacious McPherson RINO), at its Jan. 6 meeting, will be considering a proposed recycling ordinance. The main focus of this ordinance is to increase the percentage...

KEY WEST (CBS4) ― Key West residents are mourning the loss of a legendary former Key West bar owner and former mayor. Anthony "Captain Tony" Tarracino passed away Saturday afternoon, according to his wife of 38 years. He was 92 years old and had been hospitalized for about a week with a heart and lung condition. His wife and seven of his children shared stories in his hospital room shortly before his death. A viewing is planned for Friday evening in Key West, with a service scheduled for Saturday morning. A reception for family and friends at Captain Tony's Saloon...

KEY WEST, Fla. -- The U.S. Coast Guard discovered 7 tons of cocaine on a homemade submarine that featured sophisticated navigation equipment. Coast Guard officials said the apparent Colombian drug runners were taken by surprise on the 70-foot vessel. The sub was stuffed with $187 million worth of drugs. Four people were taken into custody in international waters. The vessel and the people aboard were on their way to Key West Thursday. The bust happened off the coast of Costa Rica after a U.S. Navy airplane spotted the sub.

A 16th circuit judge has approved the adoption of a Key West boy by one of his gay foster fathers, calling Florida's categorical ban on gay adoption "unconstitutional on its face" and deciding that adoption was in the best interest of the child. Judge David Audlin entered a 67-page order in response to the fathers' petition for adoption, which must be in one person's name if the adoptive parent is not married. The published ruling has deleted the names of the involved parties, while the original has been sealed. The order details the family life that two local businessmen have...

Looking like Noah's Ark after the flood, a sleek, 158-foot yacht driven aground by a hurricane lies just offshore, mired for most of the past two years in a dispute with the government over how to free it without doing too much damage to the seagrass. Through it all, the boat's owner, Peter Halmos, has stubbornly insisted on staying aboard or living close by on a cluster of houseboats so he can guard his beloved Legacy against pirates and thieves plying the calm green-and-azure waters off Key West. A Hungarian emigre who made a fortune selling theft protection to credit-card...

Drag queen Inga the Swedish Bombshell gets a tattoo by artist Boe Mencarelli at Key West Ink.