GOVERNOR NAMES SUAREZ TO COLLEGE BOARD

SHE IS AN ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY & TWO -TIME POLITICAL CANDIDATE

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 16 announced the appointment of Alexandria Suarez to the College of the Florida Keys’ seven-member board of trustees.

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Suarez will fulfill the remaining two years of former board member Stephanie Scuderi’s four-year term, CFK President Jonathan Gueverra told the Keys Weekly on June 20. Scuderi left the board in October to accept a job as the college’s vice president of advancement.

Suarez’s first meeting was June 27 at the college’s Upper Keys campus. Suarez told the Keys Weekly she looks forward to contributing her talents and expertise on the board as a former educator and practicing attorney.

“I am excited to support the focus on academic rigor and opportunities that will lead to a bright future for College of the Florida Keys students,” she said.

Suarez is an assistant state attorney for the 16th Judicial Circuit. She is currently a member of the Florida Bar and was previously a teacher with Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

A member of the Republican Party, Suarez in 2020 ran for the Florida House of

Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 16 appointed Alexandria Suarez to the College of the Florida Keys board of trustees. CONTRIBUTED

Representatives to represent District 120, which includes the Florida Keys.

She lost in the Republican primary in August 2020 to Jim Mooney, who remains the District 120 state representative.

Suarez then ran for the Monroe County school board in 2022, with the governor’s endorsement, but lost to incumbent Sue Woltanski, who continues to represent District 5 in the Upper Keys on the county school board.

Board members of the College of the Florida Keys are appointed by the governor, and the board currently includes: chairman Kevin Madok, vice chair Sheldon Suga, Daniel Leben, Michelle Maxwell, Mike Puto, Richard Weinstein and Suarez.

Mark Hedden

... is a photographer, writer, and semi-professional birdwatcher. He has lived in Key West for more than 25 years and may no longer be employable in the real world. He is also executive director of the Florida Keys Audubon Society.

We were out on the boat for sunset, because every once in a while it’s a good idea to remind yourself that you live on an island. My wife and I have a standing, decades-long joke, inspired by a long-forgotten local editor who would run a lot of highly basic, gee-whiz stories about Key West in the paper. At Fort Zach, Higgs Beach or out on the boat, one of us will inevitably, incredulously say, “Do you know this entire island is surrounded by water?”

No one else ever gets the joke. I’m not sure we totally do. But we’re not giving up on it. To quote Wayne from “Letterkenny,” “You don’t f**k with tradition.”

We cruised slowly out of Garrison Bight, which fortunately no one has yet tried to rename in a more pablumized, tourist-friendly fashion (I’m looking at you, Key West Historic Seaport), and the waterfront Navy housing, with its enviably long docks, solar panels and waterfront views, and then throttled up when we got to the seaplane ramp.

Last time we’d gone out, we’d anchored in the flats behind the mooring field off Wisteria Island, and it had been very pleasant. This week, though, we decided to anchor just west of Sunset Key, née Tank Island, so we could swim and enjoy the same sunset view the rich people get, but for practically free.

We threw the anchor in about 20 feet of water and cracked beers. Hans jumped in first, then Bre, then me, then Dave. My wife kept watch over the cheese board.

We were judging the architectural choices of the wealthy – everyone liked the place with the deep porches the best – when they flew in, two dark shapes whose wingbeats moved them across the sky with the casual efficiency of the overqualified. Fish crows.

Distinguishing a fish crow from an American crow can be tricky. Fish crows have longer wings and tails, shorter legs, and proportionally smaller heads, but often those are difficult distinctions to make, even if the two species are standing next to each other and not moving.

The most reliable test is by their call. American crows sound like, well, textbook crows, with their loud, absolutely unsubtle croaks and caws. Fish crows sound kind of like American crows, but their voices are much more pinched, as calling through a kazoo with the wax paper diaphragm removed to make fun of the avian normative American crows.

But there is also a much easier trick to determine which species you are seeing in Key West: We only have fish crows.