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THE MARATHON WEEKLY (ISSN 1944-0812) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY FOR $125 PER YEAR BY WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS, INC., 9709 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY, MARATHON FL 33050. APPLICATION TO MAIL AT PERIODICALS POSTAGE RATES IS PENDING AT FORT LAUDERDALE FL AND ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES.

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Listening to Jimmy Buffett’s hit songs known as “The Big 8” – “Margaritaville,” “Come Monday,” “Fins,” “Volcano,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Why Don’t We Get Drunk,” and “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” – end-to-end would take a total of 27 minutes, 5 seconds.

A SPECIALTY SAVE

New bill creates Monroe County carve-out for local contractor licenses

A rare sighting of eight flamingos brought bird watchers from throughout the islands to a salt pond on Grassy Key late last week. See page 19. MARIAH HRYNIEWICH/Contributed

Landscape Curb,” a press release by county public information officer Kristen Livengood said.

Current FKCA president Armand Messina said the bill was “absolutely” what Monroe County contractors were looking for, praising the efforts of Rep. Jim Mooney for his work in getting the carve-out across the finish line.

“It was due to a lot of efforts between the Contractors’ Association and Mooney,” he said. “I can’t stress enough that without that pressure, this would have never gotten through.”

As the president of electrical contracting company AM Electric, Inc., Messina also owns SunMasters A.M., a custom hurricane shutter manufacturing company that would have been massively affected without the new carve-out.

Keys specialty contractors at risk of losing their ability to operate legally in the island chain can breathe a sigh of relief, thanks to a Monroe County carve-out included in a piece of legislation modifying the troublesome House Bill 735.

House Bill 1383, adopted earlier this year by the Florida legislature, modifies the earlier bill, which preempted local occupational licensing. HB 735, which took effect in July 2021, prevented local governments from issuing specialty licenses – like those used by painters, pavers, landscapers and others performing the work outside the scope of general contractors, plumbers, electricians and others whose work has obvious life safety implications.

On its face, HB 735 appeared to make good sense – eliminate red tape for lower-risk contracting work by cutting redundant fees and overlapping licenses as specialty contractors register in multiple municipalities, while sending more significant licenses up to the state level for review. But for Areas of Critical State Concern (ACSCs) –including the Florida Keys – permitting requirements are much stricter, with licenses required for even simple tasks like laying pavers or installing a fence.

And while dozens of specialty licenses exist locally, many aren’t recognized at the state level, leaving more

than 400 Keys specialty contractors at the time staring down the barrel of an inability to operate without the recent fix.

As several Florida Keys Contractors Association members and officials told the Weekly in July 2022, the specialty licenses protect homeowners against inexperienced contractors performing subpar work. They also give contractors a legal recourse against clients choosing to ignore their invoices. In some cases, the licenses were the key to obtaining crucial materials in short supply from distributors prohibited from selling to unlicensed businesses.

Without the new carve-out, contractors would have been faced with three unsavory options: shut down their operations, invest the time and money to sit for a state contractor’s license – with hefty insurance implications, as they would likely face larger premiums to be insured for the significant work encompassed by lessspecialized certifications – or roll the dice and work without permits.

Monroe County originally halted its issuance of specialty licenses in July 2021, extending the expiration date of existing licenses for the legal maximum of two years until July 2023. Now, following HB 1383, those existing licenses will be valid until July 1, 2024, and the county will again issue specialty contractor licenses through the Monroe County Building Department.

“All previous specialty license types are offered except Landscaping and

“We held a county specialty license for doing shutters, so it directly affected us,” he added, reiterating that it would have been impossible to obtain materials from distributors in a highlyregulated industry without that license.

The new bill requires the state Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) to establish at least 12 new types of specialty licenses at the state level by July 2024, ranging from screen enclosures to marine seawall work, and prohibits local governments from requiring local licenses for any specialties not recognized at the state level – again, outside of ACSCs. It also specifies that local governments can’t require licenses to pull permits for work outside of the state-defined categories.

But Messina said while the news was welcome in Monroe County, the rest of the state outside of Areas of Critical State Concern didn’t fare as well, with local specialty licenses still set to end in 2024.

“It’s really good for Monroe County, but the rest of the state is kind of in a jam,” he said. “Now (specialty contractors) have to go and get state licenses, which is a real pain.”

Monroe County staff is available to discuss specific licensing questions via email at contractor-licensing@ monroecounty-fl.gov or by calling 305-289-2583 or 305-292-4493. The updates to local specialty licensing will be discussed at the Contractors’ Examining Board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at about 11 a.m. Additional meeting information is at monroecounty-fl.gov/ ceb.

ALEX RICKERT alex@keysweekly.com

BLUE BIRD/Pexels

CASE CONTINUES FOR KEYS COUPLE CHARGED IN JAN. 6 INSURRECTION

Bryan Bishop and Tonya Bishop await Oct. 31

hearings

mandy@keysweekly.com

The court case continues for a Florida Keys couple facing federal charges for their alleged participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Bryan Roger Bishop, 51, and Tonya Jean Bishop, 47, who were arrested Aug. 7 at a Marathon marina, are due back in federal court on Oct. 31, when they likely will enter pleas.

The defendants, a married couple, were living on a boat anchored in Boot Key Harbor when they were arrested by FBI agents and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Bryan Bishop faces felony charges, including physical violence and assaulting police with a deadly or dangerous weapon. Federal investigators say he sprayed a chemical irritant under the helmet of a police officer who was trying to quell the riot, according to the federal criminal complaint.

Tonya Bishop, who was Tonya Allison-Oberst until she married Bishop in July 2022, is not charged with violence, but is accused of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.

As of Aug. 16, more than 1,000 people had been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 riot. More than 600 have pleaded or been found guilty. About 600 defendants have been sentenced, with over half of them sentenced to anywhere from three days to 18 years in prison, according to The Associated Press.

Following their Aug. 7 arrest in Marathon, the Bishops spent the night in the Monroe County jail on Stock Island and appeared the next day before federal Judge Lurana Snow in Key West.

Both were released on recognizance bonds, meaning they didn’t have to put up any money as long as they agreed to appear at all court proceedings, surrender their passports and refrain from possessing firearms or other dangerous weapons.

Bryan Bishop also must submit to location monitoring, but Tonya Bishop does not, according to court documents.

Like all Jan. 6 proceedings, the Bishops’ cases have been transferred to the federal district of Washington, D.C., but many defendants attend via video conference.

The Bishops and other defendants have been ordered to stay out of Washington for anything other than court business, according to documents outlining the conditions of the defendants’ release while they await trial.

Both are being represented by federal public defender Lionel Andre, court records state.

In the detailed arrest complaint, federal investigators trace the alleged paths of Bryan Bishop and Tonya Bishop in and through the Capitol building, although the two did not appear to enter the building together, and were not seen together on the building’s video surveillance.

It is unknown whether the two knew each other before Jan. 6, 2021 and whether they traveled to Washington, D.C. together.

In a recorded jail phone call on Jan. 4, 2021, two days before the riot, Tonya Bishop (still Tonya AllisonOberst at the time), allegedly told her son, who was an inmate at the time, “On the 6th, Trump has called The Patriots together, a bunch of us are headed over there,” the criminal complaint states.

No further mention is made of “The Patriots” in the document.

The Keys Weekly reviewed court records from Clallam County, Washington, where Tonya Allison-Oberst was married to Tim Lee Oberst, who filed for divorce on Feb. 2, 2021, less than a month after the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to Clallam County records. The divorce was finalized a few months later in May 2021, according to Washington court records.

Monroe County court records show that Tonya Allison-Oberst married Bryan Roger Bishop in July 2022 in the Florida Keys. A week or so later, on Aug. 1, 2022, she applied for a U.S. passport in the name of Tonya Bishop, according to the federal criminal complaint.

When released from the Monroe County Detention Center in Key West the afternoon of Aug. 8, Tonya Bishop told the Keys Weekly outside the jail, “I hope you’re using the word ‘allegedly,’ because we’re innocent until proven guilty. Due process has not been served. We’re just regular people who want to live our lives quietly.”

Bryan Bishop, who told the federal judge in Key West that he receives a pension from the Navy, described their arrest by federal agents as “dramatic.”

Neither would comment when asked why they were in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

CONCH KEY MAN FACES ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE

GWEN FILOSA gwen@keysweekly.com

By early the next morning, Capurro was still ranting about a burglar being in his home, reports said.

Capurro’s roommate told deputies Capurro had been on a meth bender.

She said they both started doing meth the night of Aug. 29 – before Capurro called the sheriff’s office claiming a burglary had happened.

The roommate said she stopped doing meth, but Capurro kept ingesting the highly addictive potent central nervous system stimulant known to send addicts into delusions and violent behavior.

High on methamphetamine and ranting about a nonexistent burglar, a Conch

Key man on Aug. 30 fired a handgun three times inside his home while his roommate was inside, according to Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies.

No one was injured, but that wasn’t for a lack of trying, deputies said. His roommate, a 27-year-old woman who had her infant son with her when the first gunshot went off, said she feared for her life.

Peter Anthony Capurro, 57, was taken to the county jail on Stock Island and charged with attempted murder, shooting into an occupied structure, and improper exhibition of a firearm.

Capurro’s final shot on Aug. 30 went through his bedroom door and nearly struck his roommate, deputies said.

On Sept. 5, Capurro remained locked up on a $285,000 bond with a Sept. 20 court date, according to MCSO online records.

The night before the shooting, Capurro had called the Sheriff’s Office to his home on West Conch Avenue. He claimed he saw two people hiding behind the shower curtain in his bathroom, “so he discharged a firearm towards the shower,” MCSO Detective Ty Torres wrote in the incident report.

Torres and deputies went to Capurro’s home but found no evidence a burglary had happened. But they noticed he was acting erratically and appeared to be high on narcotics.

Capurro “continued and exceeded a normal amount consumed by a common user,” and began hallucinating and acting erratically, Torres reported the woman said.

Capurro told his roommate there was a burglar in the home and summoned her to the living room. He fired the handgun at his bathroom door.

The roommate said she raced out of the home with her infant son to her parents’ home nearby.

She left the child at her parents’ house “and for some reason decided to return back to the residence where Capurro was,” according to the MCSO report. Capurro fired the gun again while she was in her bedroom.

She went to confront Capurro. While she was standing behind his bedroom door, he aimed and fired into the door.

After a brief standoff with deputies, Capurro walked out of the home without further incident and was first taken to Fishermen’s Community Hospital in Marathon. He was later taken to jail.

The Sheriff’s Office found several firearms in Capurro’s home, including a 12-gauge shotgun, a .357 revolver, a 9mm handgun, and three rifles.

MCSO obtained a risk protection order Aug. 30 “in order to prevent the weapons from being in the possession of Capurro,” spokesman Adam Linhardt said.

Police say meth-fueled frenzy brings several charges against 57-year-old

Peter Anthony Capurro was booked into the county jail. MCSO photo

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED IN KEY WEST

of Congress in April of this year.

SINGER, SONGWRITER & SAILOR JIMMY BUFFETT DIES AT 76

steamship captain whose seafaring tales of adventure riveted a young Buffett.

Jimmy Buffett, the legendary songwriter who tapped into his 1970s Key West experience to create his own genre of laid-back beach music and build a business empire with his “Margaritaville” brand, died Friday, Sept. 1 at age 76. Buffett died at his home in Sag Harbor, Long Island, “surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” representatives posted on his website and social media pages.

“He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many,” the post said.

Flags at Key West’s City Hall were lowered to half-staff on Sept. 2 as his songs played on a loudspeaker outside the building.

Residents Paul Menta and Jordan Upchurch quickly organized a second-line tribute procession — “It’s 5 o’clock in Key West” — that packed Duval Street on Sept. 3, as more than 3,000 fans — locals and visitors — paraded from Front Street to Truman Avenue, stopping in front of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Cafe for a moment of silence. The bar and restaurant on Duval Street, as well as Shrimp Boat Sound, Buffett’s recording studio at the Historic Seaport, quickly collected flowers and memorial tributes that included song lyrics and salt shakers in honor of his iconic song, “Margaritaville.”

Buffett’s music allowed generations of fans to live vicariously through his music, offering escapist tales of Caribbean sails and Key West characters, late nights and rum-soaked run-ins.

How did it all begin?

Born on Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Buffett grew up in Mobile, Alabama, His grandfather was a

“The Gulf of Mexico was the doorway to a world of adventure where the characters he heard about in his grandfather’s stories were waiting to be discovered,” states jimmybuffett.com. “But it was a fateful trip to Key West with Jerry Jeff Walker in 1971 that would give Jimmy the inspiration to merge his musicality, wanderlust and storytelling.”

Buffett recalled that first trip to Key West in a 2018 interview with Keys Weekly, saying Walker and his girlfriend, Teresa “Murphy” Sadler, “took me to the Chart Room. Jerry Jeff was already a force of nature in Key West in those days. That was my first time, and they kind of left me there.”

After a few days of playing downtown, he returned to Miami, but the island stayed with him.

“I loved it so much. After I did a few gigs back in Miami, I thought, ‘I’m going back to Key West.’ I had odd jobs and could play the Chart Room.”

And he did.

He began his musical career playing for tips and beer money — first in New Orleans during college, then in Key West bars like the Chart Room and Capt. Tony’s Saloon in the 1970s.

In 1974, “Come Monday,” peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard charts. Then came 1977, when “Margaritaville” — a lighthearted lament about island life and the healing power of tequila — reached No. 8 on the charts and made Buffett a star.

He would go on to play sold-out arena tours every summer over a 50-year career that produced more than 350 songs and spawned a tropical lifestyle brand of bars, restaurants, beers, hotels and merchandise.

“Margaritaville” was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library

While beachy anthems like “Margaritaville,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Fins” get much of the retail musical attention at concerts, Buffett’s songbook is filled with clever lyrics and memorable tales of lost loves, favorite haunts, family dynamics, far-flung adventures and familiar cities.

The city of Key West always welcomed its troubadour home.

“Everyone has their version of Key West,” Buffett told the Keys Weekly in 2018. “I still smell black beans and chicken cooking when I’m riding my bike around. It’s much more gentrified, but it still has that authenticity. I relish the past, but I don’t live in it.”

Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band thrilled Key West in February, when they played four shows on the island to launch what would be their final tour, “Second Wind.”

When the two shows at the Coffee Butler Amphitheater quickly sold out online, Buffett’s team added two more performances at the Key West Theater. To enable more Key West locals to get tickets, people had to line up in person outside the box office on Eaton Street.

And they did, turning the blocks-long wait into a party, sharing drinks, laughs and stories.

On stage on Feb. 4 at the Key West Theater, Buffett and his band played the songs from his first Key West-inspired record, “A White Sport Coat And A Pink Crustacean,” from 1973. The singer namechecked Key West legends, starting with Coffee Butler, who had let Buffett open for him at local bars, and he dedicated the show to his friend Tom Corcoran, the Florida writer who died in January.

Strumming the opening chords to “A Pirate Looks at 40,” released in 1974, Buffett said, mid-verse, “It’s so cool singing this song in Key West.”

The island and its people loved every song Buffett sang in or about Key West, and the songs they know by heart will never be forgotten.

Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett performs on Duval Street in 2011. Buffett, 76, died Sept. 1, according to a statement posted on his website and social media pages. FLORIDA KEYS NEWS BUREAU/Contributed

Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band launch their ‘Second Wind’ tour in Key West in February 2023. LARRY BLACKBURN/Keys Weekly

GWEN FILOSA

AN ISLAND SAYS GOODBYE

KEY WEST HONORS JIMMY BUFFETT WITH SECOND LINE PROCESSION

David Sloan, Key West author and businessman, wrote the following tribute to Jimmy Buffett using dozens of his lyrics and song titles:

Stars fell on Alabama tonight with news from the coconut telegraph that James William “Jimmy” Buffett has taken his last trip around the sun. Despite rumors that Buffett has been wasting away in Margaritaville for many years, reports indicate that he died after suffering a Tampico trauma while surfing in a hurricane.

Authorities do not believe foul play was involved, but they are still investigating a Cuban crime of passion.

Known for his kindness, humor, velvety voice and pencil-thin mustache, the loss of Buffett is a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.

As the son of a son of a sailor, Jimmy traveled the world, bringing smiles to faces and changes in attitudes with every latitude he crossed. He went to Paris, the coast of Marseille, and said “hello, Texas” with the cowboy in the jungle.

The wino and I know about his Jamaica mistaica, but that didn’t stop Jimmy. He explored a volcano in Mexico one day and was off to see the lizard on a slow boat to China the next. When asked why he embarked on these chill-licensing missions, Jimmy replied, “It’s my job.” Oh, the stories we could tell.

Jimmy’s ashes are to be scattered in the Bama breeze, followed by a party at the end of the world. Boat drinks will be served at 5 o’clock somewhere, so why don’t we get drunk as we raise our tin cup chalice for a final toast?

Lord knows we have a lot to drink about. Light snacks will be served, including fruitcakes, grapefruit, Juicy Fruit, the last mango in Paris, and cheeseburgers in paradise. Elvis imitators will provide entertainment, and musicians can bring their instruments and play for gumbo. I wish lunch could last forever, but life is just a tire swing.

Jimmy Buffett is survived by his wife, Jane; daughters, Savannah and Sarah; son, Cameron; and sisters, Laurie and Lucy. He also leaves us Frank & Lola, Spider-John, Captain America, Bob Roberts, Delaney, Desdemona and Sweet Caroline. Savannah, fare you well.

We all thought Jimmy would be the last man standing, but now it is time to go home, back to the island, to the beach house on the moon. And we can pray for that Blue Heaven rendezvous with Jimmy, but God don’t own a car. There will be no plane on Sunday, but come Monday, It will be alright. It’s been a lovely cruise, Jimmy, and as we stand here living and dying in ¾ time, if the phone doesn’t ring ... well, we’ll know that it’s you.

1. Key West businessman Paul Menta, with megaphone, leads the Second Line tribute parade for the late Jimmy Buffett down Duval Street on Sept. 3, stopping for a moment of silence in front of Margaritaville. LARRY BLACKBURN/Keys Weekly. 2. Key West pays tribute to the man whose music launched the Margaritaville mentality. 3. An empty chair on stage at Margaritaville in Key West honors Jimmy Buffett, who created the song that inspired the bar, the lifestyle and the business empire. 4. More than

2,500 people fill Key West’s Duval Street in front of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville on Sept. 3 to pay tribute to the late singer/songwriter. 5. Notes, flowers and ‘lost shakers of salt’ are left in tribute outside Jimmy Buffett’s recording studio, Shrimp Boat Sound, at Key West’s Historic Seaport the day after the singer’s death.

THE VOTES ARE CAST

Who will be the Best of Marathon in 2023?

Maps show the number of unique voters casting ballots for the 2023 Best of Marathon Awards from all around the world. KEYS WEEKLY

Eighteen days of voting for the 2023 Best of Marathon awards saw thousands of votes cast from around the globe, helping us to decide the businesses and standout community members who will be honored at next Saturday’s award ceremony in Million Air’s Marathon hangar. From the staff of the Marathon Weekly, thank you to all who took the time to nominate and cast votes, and good luck to all of our finalists!

BY THE NUMBERS:

169,125 votes cast

4,845 individual voters

44 U.S. states

12 countries

THE AWARDS: Saturday, Sept. 16 at Marathon’s Million Air Hangar

Reception at 6 p.m., awards show at 7 p.m.

Tickets: $75 per person. For ticket requests, contact patti@keysweekly.com.

City of Marathon City Council Agenda

9805 Overseas Hwy., Marathon

Tuesday, September 12, 2023 5:05 P.M.

(*Denotes Item Is Passed By Consent Upon Approval of Agenda) Public Comments taken on all items and at 6:30pm time certain for items not on the agenda or as soon as possible thereafter.

First Public hearing to adopt tentative budget and millage rate

A. Resolution 2023-89, Adopting The Tentative Millage Rate and Levy Of Ad Valorem Taxes For The City Of Marathon, Florida For The Fiscal Year 2022-23; and Providing For An Effective Date.

B. Resolution 2023-90 Adopting The Tentative Budget For Fiscal Year 2022-2023; and Providing For An Effective Date.

City Council Items

* A. Approval of Minutes

B. Installation of a Memorial Garden at Rotary Park in Memory of Ben Segard (Mayor Gonzalez)

C. Recognition of Martin “Hammer” Runyon and Sean Cannon 20-year Anniversaries with the City.

D. Workshop Discussion Items (Councilmember Smith)

* E. Smart Ride Request

* F. Florida Keys Celtic Festival January 6th and 7th Request for use of City Property

G. Landry Sayer Annual Clean Up Day, September 23rd

City Manager Report

* A. MCSO Marathon Substation Report

* B. Grants Update

* C. Public Works Report

* D. Park and Recreation Report

* E. Marathon Fire Rescue Report

* F. Marina Report

* G. Code Report

* H. Wastewater Utilities Report

* I. Building Report

* J. First Time Homebuyer Update

K. Contractors Association Meeting from August 31st recap

L. Legal

1. Authorization to initiate litigation against R&R PROGRESSIVE LLC and their property, 58876 Overseas Highway, Marathon, Florida 33050, to seek compliance with the City Code and enforce the lien(s) arising from code compliance case number C2012-0363.

2. Authorization to initiate litigation against HYDER BROWNLOW LIVING TRUST AGREEMENT 9/20/2012 and their property, 1000 97th Street, Marathon, Florida 33050, to enforce the lien(s) arising from code compliance case number C2018-0028.

Quasi-Judicial Public Hearings:

A. Resolution 2023-78, Consideration Of A Request For A Conditional Use Permit For Ruth Ebert Pursuant To Chapter 102, Article 13 Of The City Of Marathon Land Development Regulations (Code) Entitled “Conditional Use Permits” To Convert A Triplex Into A Single Family Residential With 11 Bedrooms; Located At 213 S. Anglers Dr; Which Is Legally Described As Lot 38 Sombrero Anglers Club South Boot Key PB6-87, Monroe County, Florida; Having Real Estate Number 00355418-000500, Nearest Mile Marker 50.

B. Resolution 2023-79, Approving The Ranking And Allocations Of The Market Rate And Affordable Residential Building Permit Allocation System (RBPAS) For Period 1, Year 32 (July 14, 2023 To January 14, 2024); And Providing For An Effective Date.

Ordinances for Second Public Hearing and Adoption

A. Ordinance 2023-14, Amending Chapter 103 “Zoning Districts”, Article 3 “Use And Intensity Tables”, Updating Table 103.15.1 “Uses By Zoning District”; Providing For The Repeal Of All Code Provisions And Ordinances Inconsistent With This Ordinance; Providing For Severability; Providing For Inclusion In The Code Of Ordinances, City Of Marathon, Florida; And Providing An Effective Date.

B. Ordinance 2023-15, Amending Chapter 104 “Specific Use Regulations”, Article 1 “General Provisions”, Updating Section 104.25 “Hotels Or Motels”; Providing For The Repeal Of All Code Provisions And Ordinances Inconsistent With This Ordinance; Providing For Severability; Providing For Inclusion In The Code Of Ordinances, City Of Mara-

thon, Florida; And Providing An Effective Date.

C. Ordinance 2023-18, Amending City Of Marathon’s Code of Ordinances Section 10-5 Titled “Establishment of Special Magistrate System and Code Compliance Board.”; Providing For The Repeal Of All Ordinances Or Parts Thereof Found To Be In Conflict; Providing For Severability; Providing For Inclusion In The Code Of Ordinance And Providing For An Effective Date.

Ordinances For First Public Hearing

A. Ordinance 2023-19, Amending Chapter 107, Article 8 Entitled “Landscaping” Of The City Of Marathon Land Development Regulations; Providing For The Repeal Of All Code Provisions And Ordinances Inconsistent With This Ordinance; Providing For Severability; Providing For Inclusion In The Code; Providing For The Transmittal Of This Ordinance To The State Department Of Economic Opportunity; And Providing For An Effective Date Upon The Approval Of This Ordinance By The Department Of Economic Opportunity In Accordance With State Law.

Resolutions For Adoption

*A. Resolution 2023-80 Approving A Professional Services Agreement Between The City Of Marathon And Professional Practice Support, Inc., Third Party Healthcare Billing Agreement; Authorizing the City Manager To Execute The Extension And Expend Budgeted Funds; And Providing For An Effective Date

*B. Resolution 2023-81, Approving the Fire Rescue – EMS Medical Director Contract Agreement With Professional Emergency Services, Inc., In An Amount Not To Exceed $60,000.00; Medical Oversight For Interfacility Transfers Will Be Billed Separately In An Amount Not To Exceed $18,000.00; Authorizing The City Manager To Execute The Agreement And Expend Budgeted Funds: And Providing For An Effective Date And Providing An Effective Date

*C. Resolution 2023-82 Authorizing The City To Extend The Agreement With Ballard Partners, Inc. For Professional Consulting And Lobbying Services Before The Legislature Of The State Of Florida; Authorizing The City Manager To Expend Budgeted Funds, And Execute The Extension Agreement; And Providing An Effective Date

*D. Resolution 2023-83, Approving A Two-Year Extension To The Agreement Between The City Of Marathon And Keefe, McCullough & Co., LLP For Auditing Services; Authorizing The City Manager To Expend Budgeted Funds On Behalf Of The City; And Providing For An Effective Date.

E. Resolution 2023-84, Approving An Amendment To The Agreement Between The City Of Marathon And The City Of Key Colony Beach For The Provision Of Emergency Medical And Fire Rescue Services; Authorizing The City Manager To Execute The Amendment; And Providing For An Effective Date

*F. Resolution 2023-85, Approving Tourist Development Council Inter-Local Grant Agreement No. 2990 (Coco Plum Beach Additional Parking) Authorizing The City Manager To Execute The Agreement, And Providing For Conflicts, Severability, And An Effective Date.

*G. Resolution 2023-86, Approving Tourist Development Council Inter-Local Grant Agreement No. 2992 (Sombrero Beach Play Equipment Replacement) Authorizing The City Manager To Execute The Agreement, And Providing For Conflicts, Severability, And An Effective Date.

*H. Resolution 2023-87, Waiving the City’s Purchasing Policies and Approving The Purchase And Installation Of Security Equipment From Essential Net Solutions For Community Park In An Amount Not To Exceed $41,456.85; Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into An Agreement In Connection Therewith, Expending Budgeted Funds; And Providing For An Effective Date

*I. Resolution 2023-88, Approving A Modification To The Contract With ENS To Add Additional On-Site Staff Time To The City’s Contract Agreement With ENS In The Amount Of $5,500 Per Month; And Providing For An Effective Date

such purpose that person may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made; such record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. ADA Assistance: Anyone needing special assistance at the City Council hearing due to disability should contact the City of Marathon City Attorney at (305) 289-4130 at least five days prior thereto. Please contact the City Clerk at clavierd@ci.marathon.fl.us if you would

LEADERSHIP MONROE COUNTY ANNOUNCES CLASS XXXI

Leadership Monroe County, an educational non-profit community leadership organization, has announced its 31st year of programs with the selection of Class XXXI. The LMC program is aimed at residents who are active in leadership in the private sector, government or community organizations. Through a series of single or multi-day sessions over seven months, participants examine the fundamental public and private segments throughout the county. The program also provides participants the opportunity for mutual awareness and discussion of issues affecting the Keys. These experiences help participants grow as residents and leaders as well as provide connections among other leaders across the county.

Sessions begin Sept. 29 in Key West with subsequent monthly classes throughout the Keys, culminating with graduation in April 2024. Sessions are led by experts and leaders in the respective fields covered in each session. The sessions begin their focus on the challenges and opportunities that confront the dynamic tourism industry and the Keys economy. They continue to evaluate vital environmental issues from the Everglades to Florida Bay and the coral reefs, the Monroe County education system, the multiple levels of government, the judiciary and law enforcement system, the historical and present military significance in the Keys, emergency management and emerging best practices; and examine the Keys health care system providers, the human services sector, the increasing impact of the non-profit arts and creative industries, and the rapidly changing media platforms that inform the citizenry and affect and influence public policy.

Established in 1992, Leadership Monroe County is an independent nonprofit, governed by a countywide board of directors.

— Contributed

Class XXXI Members

• John Allen, director, Monroe County Parks and Beaches

• Donny Barrios, station commander, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office

• Danette Baso-Silvers, public affairs officer, Naval Air Station (NAS), Key West

• Rachel Carrier, director of operations, Marine Lab

• Patti Childress, business specialist, Keys Weekly

• Dale Coburn, attorney, Wolfe Stevens, PLLC

• Maria Covelli, grants coordinator, City of Marathon

• Lu Dodson, park manager, Islamorada Area State Parks

• George Fernandez, CEO, The Butterfly Conservancy

• Jay Fraioli, president, Media Counselors

• Judy Gregoire, camp director, Seacamp Association

• Jason Ingram, USCG sector commander/captain of the port

• Ben Kemmer, CEO, Florida Children’s Shelter

• James Morgan, Monroe County judge

• John Picco, financial advisor, Edward Jones

• Taylor Konrath Quarles, treasurer, Marathon Garbage Service Inc.

• Beth Regoli, commanding officer, Naval Air Station Key West

• Julie Schilling, AVP, Lower Keys regional manager, First State Bank

• Randy Smith, operations captain, Key West Police Department

• Michele White, SVP, First Horizon, Commercial Banking Leader

• Kenneth Wolfe, laboratory administrative director, Fishermen’s Hospital

• Suzi Youngberg, director and rescue coordinator, MarrVelous Pet Rescues

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or a snowbird, it is important to have your assets properly titled in a way that will avoid those assets going through probate.

By: Tracy and Sean McDonald

NOLAN O’HARA

THE SCOREBOARD

THIS WEEK IN KEYS SPORTS

Junior, Marathon Football

When Nolan O’Hara stepped onto the gridiron last spring, it marked his first ever football experience. One would never believe that the Marathon junior, a staple for Fins baseball, was a complete newcomer to the sport of football.

O’Hara’s natural instincts have helped him thrive in the sport. He leads the team with two sacks in two games and averages three tackles per game so far this season. His athleticism has helped put him at the top of the stats chart thus far, but what truly sets him apart from the typical athlete is his maturity.

“Nolan is super mature for his age. He has worked for years as a first mate on charter boats, he is great in school, he is responsible and so respectful of coaches and teammates,” said Marathon coach Sean McDonald. “He leads by example and is a gentleman until the game begins – then he turns it on.”

For his on-field play, sportsmanship and dedication to making himself and his team better, Marathon’s Nolan O’Hara is the Keys Weekly Athlete of the Week.

“Nolan has a great motor. He plays with complete intensity. He goes his hardest at all times.”

– Sean McDonald, Marathon football coach

BARRY GAUKEL/Keys Weekly

By: Tracy and Sean McDonald

IN SEARCH OF A

Football free agency poses challenge for isolated Monroe County

Packed and stacked. That was the theme of the opposition faced by Keys football teams on Sept. 1, when all three squads again lost to mainland private and charter schools. Open transferring and the ability to go from school to school has made for some seriously stacked teams in South Florida, and it seems as if Key West, Marathon and Coral Shores have a season full of all-star opposition on their schedules.

Unlike mainland schools, it is nearly impossible for Keys teams to lure student athletes to their rosters due to the unique geography of living on a string of islands. To make matters worse, it is never clear which teams will have the hot roster or which ones will give smaller public schools more even matchups from season to season.

Key West had an obvious hurdle with IMG Academy White, a school that professes to have “a proven reputation for player development, college recruitment and preparation to compete at the next level.” The Conchs looked across the line of scrimmage at a team full of multi-star recruits – last year, more than 60% of the school’s athletes committed to play at the Division I level and by the looks of this year’s roster, Key West’s second loss of the season came from a team that looks to do the same again.

More than 70 athletes traveled for IMG, making it easy for them to maintain a high level of play throughout

The Key West Conchs take on IMG Academy in their home opener on Sept. 1. The Ascenders outpaced the Conchs, 41-21.

Photos by GRACE ANDREW/Keys Weekly.

The Marathon Dolphins battle Somerset Silver Palms in their home opener on Sept. 1. Marathon suffered a 52-6 setback in the contest.

Photos by BARRY GAUKEL/Keys Weekly. See more game photos at keysweekly.com.

By: Tracy and Sean McDonald

the night. In contrast, “Depth became an issue for us, that’s for sure,” said Conchs coach Johnny Hughes. Even so, his team was able to score a trio of TDs Friday night, including a 60-plus yard run by Jeff DeJean. Walston Moren added six more points on the ground on a short rocket pistol play. QB Adrian Mira faced a lot of pressure throughout the night, making for a rough passing game, but was able to get off a quick 1-yard TD pass to tight end Noah Mercer.

Hughes was optimistic about his team, notably Mira’s ability to run the option and the Conchs’ execution of several big plays which opened up for them over the course of the game.

“Unfortunately, we gave up some big plays, too. We can’t afford to do that against teams like them,” he said, noting that two turnovers cost the Conchs dearly. “We claw for every yard and down and can’t let up big plays.”

Another high cost for Key West was losing junior Jaden Fox with a shoulder injury. While it does not look as if Fox will be out for a lengthy period, he is unlikely to see action this week against yet another dominant force in South Florida football: Oxbridge Academy, which will travel to Key West on Sept. 8. Leo Baptiste and RJ Estevez are expected to fill in for Fox, who plays both ways, for the time being.

Marathon lost an important piece of their lineup Friday night as well, as sophomore Eddie Garcia had to leave the game with a whiplash-like injury. Like Fox, Garcia will be out for at least this coming week, which spells bad news for a team with already the smallest roster in Monroe County.

A small roster was not a common denominator in the Fins’ opponent last Friday – Somerset Academy Silver Palms boasts a 59-man roster. While some teams tend to fib on their heights and weights, the left tackle for the Stallions, William Massa, was all of the 6’4” and 300 pounds listed on the team’s stat sheet, dwarfing junior Nolan O’Hara, one of Marathon’s larger players.

O’Hara, who was directly across the line from his enormous competitor, “did not give up and worked all night to get past (Massa),” coach Sean McDonald said of his defensive end. “He could very easily have gone into self-preservation mode, but Nolan is a competitor and showed so much heart Friday night.”

“It was like David versus Goliath.” he added.

Marathon did manage one phenomenal touchdown in the lopsided 52-6 contest. Carlos Lezcano connected with Fabbianho Louis Jeune, who turned on his speed and took the ball in for a 65-yard touchdown. One of McDonald’s two seniors, Yaniel Garcia, pulled in an incredible interception in the first half of the game, adding another positive note to the team’s second loss this season.

“The team is young and green, but they do not give up. This is a process and we know it,” said McDonald. “The guys did a fantastic job of staying positive, never blaming, and working together. They will be good, but it is going to take a lot of work. This group is up for the challenge.”

Marathon’s next challenge comes at the hands of the NSU University School. Marathon will play the undefeated Sharks in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Sept. 7.

Coral Shores coach Ed Holly is still feeling optimistic about his team’s season, describing the ’Canes as “young but eager to learn.” A relatively short trip to Palmer Trinity was extended for Coral Shores due to a heat delay and then a weather delay, putting the completion of the game in jeopardy because the Falcons’ stadium does not have lighting. The teams managed to get in all four quarters, and while Holly says his team is improving weekly, the ’Canes still need to work on “putting it all together” and doing so consistently, something that only comes from experience.

Coral Shores was down 14-0 at halftime and came out swinging in the second half. Hurricane fans who endured the heat and foul weather were rewarded with an exciting 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Dantay Diorio. The ’Canes’ other score came from a Yemcel Moreno run in the final moments of the game.

Holly praised Diorio’s relentless play at cornerback and took a great deal of pride in the defensive play of both RJ Dube and Jamoris Davis, saying Dube “played his best game on defense so far.”

Coral Shores will have the home field advantage this week when they play Palm Glades Prep, a team which has yet to score a touchdown this season and whose roster included multiple middle school athletes. With his team earning valuable experience each quarter, Holly’s Hurricanes should give fans some exciting action on Saturday, Sept. 9.

KEY

WEST BESTS MARATHON 3-0 Prep Volleyball Just Five Weeks from District Playoffs

It was a light week in prep volleyball after stormy conditions on Aug. 29 forced a postponement of one of just two matches scheduled for Keys play. Key West will play Mater Lakes on Oct. 12 in a makeup match and Coral Shores was off for the week. The Conchs did see some action, though, as did Marathon when the teams met in Key West on Aug. 31.

Key West won, beating the Fins 25-11, 25-12 and 25-7. Though the schools are in different classifications, friendly, local games are always a nice change from a long bus ride to the mainland. Marathon’s schedule will be light again this week, with just one match scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 7 at home against Palmer Trinity. Key West and Coral Shores will see more play at tournaments on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8 and 9. Key West will travel to Jensen Beach and Coral Shores will head to Wesley Chapel outside of Tampa. All three teams will be working hard to prepare for their district brackets which begin Oct. 12.

Key West’s Elise Warwick (20) prepares to hit. BERT BUDDE/Keys Weekly

By: Tracy and Sean McDonald

CROSS COUNTRY SPLITS THE DISTANCE

Keys runners meet on Big Pine for 5K

Monroe County’s cross country teams met up last week for a 5K on Big Pine Key. The Sept. 1 race was technically a Key West event, but the Conch coaches understand the challenges of long distance travel and the toll it takes over the span of a season. The location shaved off some travel time for many of the runners – particularly Marathon’s Bursa brothers, who felt right at home on a course which led them within shouting distance of home.

Junior Vance Bursa led the pack for the duration of the race with Key West’s Colbin Hill giving him a push at his heels until Bursa pulled away for the win. Bursa, who enjoys the chase, must have found a lively Key deer to pace him to his 17:46.16 first-place finish. Hill finished in second place, taking the top spot for the Conch boys. The Fins would fill the rest of the top seven spots, with brothers Jakub and Tony Bursa in third and fourth, respectively, senior Mason Buxton in fifth, and another brotherly duo taking sixth and seventh in Caleb and Dillon Shelar.

The boys and girls ran the race together, giving the top girls a chance to pace with some more speed than usual. The challenge resulted in personal bests for Conchs Caylaa Makimaa and Naima Thomas, who took the top two spots. Key West girls coach Keara McGraw was delighted with her entire team’s performance, saying Makimaa, Thomas and the rest of the Lady Conchs are “trending in the right direction for the season.”

Also trending in a good direction were Marathon’s Mikkel Ross, who came in third, followed by Key West’s Laira Anaya and Coral Shores’ Kai Guth. The Lady Fins had their own set of siblings in the top 10, with freshman Sara Robinson edging out sixth grader Shaina by just over 10 seconds.

McGraw added a second course for runners who wanted to compete at a shorter distance. Ten-year-old

Cadence Allen took the win for Big Pine Academy, while Coral Shores’ Zeffie Crockett and Jenna Mandozzi rounded out second and third place. The county meetup offered runners some friendly local competition, but this week the teams will return to long distance van rides to face opposition from a wider area. Coral Shores and Key West’s boys will participate in the FNU Invitational at Larry and Penny Thompson Park in Miami on Sept. 8 while Marathon headed to Miami Country Day on Sept. 6 (results not available at press time).

Shaina Robinson MHS 26:34.62

Rilynn Richards MHS 26:40.16

1. Top girls finisher Caylaa Makimaa (26) and Naima Thomas (44) congratulate top short-course finisher Cadence Allen. 2. Key West’s Jerven Louis (25) leads a group of runners mid-course. 3. Key West harriers led by Prometheus Delacerda (10) work their way through the course on Big Pine Key. 4. Cadence Allen, left, Reagan Evans, Isabella Gotuzzo and Saige Ensign pace one another. 5. Runners make their final pre-race plans on Sept. 1 before the start of a 5K on Big Pine Key. Photos by KEARA MCGRAW/Contributed

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.

Florida has a tetchy relationship with flamingos. A few centuries ago, before the state had been developed, they were common in South Florida and the Keys, as evidenced by a letter written by Gustavus Würdemann, an employee of the U.S. Coast Survey. He worked in the Keys for several months in 1857, installing equipment to monitor and record the tides, but he had a hobby of collecting bird and fish specimens and sending them off to the newly burgeoning Smithsonian Institution, as well as the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. In his letter, which was published posthumously in 1860, he recounts seeing a flock of 500 American flamingos on the flats around Indian Key and Islamorada. (John James Audubon wrote of similar-sized flocks a quarter-century before.) Würdemann also wrote about going out with a local hunter, who captured at least 100 of them and kept them, with their legs tied together, in a single canoe. (Many of the birds did not survive, which was how Würdemann collected the skins he sent to the Smithsonian.)

Hunting practices like this, as well as the plume hunters who decimated wading bird populations throughout South Florida at the end of the 1800s and early 1900s, largely wiped out the Florida population of American flamingos. For a long time it was believed that any flamingos seen in South Florida were escapees from Hialeah Race Track, though that was disproved in the early 1990s when a bird that had been banded in Mexico was seen in the Everglades.

Also, there was the lesson of Conchy, a flamingo trapped in 2015 for its own protection by Tom Sweets of the Key West Wildlife Center at Naval Air Station Key West. Before it was released near Everglades National Park it was equipped with a satellite transmitter, which tracked its movements on a daily basis. The data showed the bird moving all over Florida Bay for the next few years, yet it was reported very rarely by birders. Despite being fourfoot-tall pink birds, flamingos are apparently capable of moving around with hardly anyone noticing them.

Back in the 2010s several large flocks of flamingos, most likely birds that had come over from the Bahamas, were seen at a stormwater treatment area in Palm Beach County known as STA-2. Almost 150 were seen at the peak in 2014, but those numbers slowly dwindled back to nothing.

FLAMINGOSA- GO - GO IN FLORIDA, AND ELSEWHERE

Generally in Florida we only get the occasional flamingo sighting; more often than not, lone birds. (I’ve seen three of them since 2020, and eight or 10 in the time I’ve lived in the Keys.) Florida Bay tends to be the most likely place to see them. At least this was the case until tropical storm-turned-hurricane Idalia came along.

In the week since the storm passed, American flamingos have been popping up everywhere – six were spotted at St. Marks Wildlife Refuge just south of Tallahassee, one in a lake in Gainesville, one in Palm Coast, three in Clearwater, 16 at Treasure Island Beach, three in Fort De Soto, two on Anna Maria Island, five at Boca Grande in Charlotte County, 14 in Factory Bay near Marco Island, and a whopping 51(!) at Estero Bay Preserve State Park near Sanibel.

They’ve also been seen in Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio.

The flamingos have been a mix of adult and immature birds. (You can tell by how pink they are.) Since Idalia formed off the coast of the Yucatan, and lingered there for some time, it’s thought the Yucatan is where most of these birds came from.

It seemed only a matter of time until some were spotted in the Keys, which turned out to be the case.

Last Friday a ranger at Curry Hammock State Park spotted three flamingos flying southwest over the park. Late in the afternoon, as Mariah Hryniewich and Gianna Arcuri were finishing their day at the Florida Keys Hawkwatch, they saw a report that said Amy Grimm had just spotted eight American flamingos in one of the salt ponds of Grassy Key, just a few miles north.

When they arrived there the flamingos were all spread out in a line, mostly loafing. They set up their scopes to get better looks at the birds, which was when Mariah noticed a wide, yellow, plastic band on one of the birds’ legs. It had the letters DXCL on it.

Through a few of her birding connections, Mariah quickly found out that the band was from a project at Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve located near the eastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. The bird was banded in 2000, making it 23 years old. (American flamingos tend to breed between 2 and 6 years old.) It was banded during a time when the American flamingo population was being heavily preyed on by jaguars, and a team of veterinarians and scientists had worked together to incubate and hatch 200 eggs.

Mariah and Gianna went out to dinner, but stopped by the Grassy Key salt ponds on the way home to see the birds again, because you can never see enough flamingos. But the birds had moved on. Where they’d gone is still unclear, though three were spotted Tuesday off near Munson Island off Big Pine, and one was spotted by Colleen Fuller on Big Pine on Tuesday evening.

Whether the birds will stay in Florida, try to return to Mexico, or possibly move on to somewhere like Cuba is unknown. The ones that have been seen around the state are already getting hard to find. Though, as Conchy taught us, flamingos being hard to find does not mean they are not here.

Eight American flamingos seen recently on Grassy Key. MARIAH HRYNIEWICH/Contributed

CAPTAIN JOEL’S FISHIN’ HOLES THE FALL HAUL IS HERE

As we enter into the fall fishing season, I start getting excited. Fall is one of my favorite seasons in the Florida Keys for offshore and inshore fishing as well as lobster diving and spearfishing.

One of the biggest changes we're seeing right now is that the mahi bite seems to be getting a lot better. This summer, most anglers would agree the mahi bite was slow, with lower quality and quantity than usual. Some anglers blame it on our record heat wave; some blame it on the increase of commercial mahi fisherman in the Bahamas, cutting our mahi off at the pass; and some blame it on our increased fishing pressure here at home. Many anglers were expecting a banner mahi season since the daily mahi bag limit was recently reduced by FWC. We have seen better quality and quantity mahi caught this August and expect September and October to be an awesome mahi bite as well.

Another theory about why the mahi bite is picking up in dramatic fashion is that the fish simply had a late migration this year into the Florida Keys. With the fall season come tropical storms and hurricanes, and when it comes to mahi fishing, we have a love-hate relationship with these cyclones. Needless to say, we hate when the tropical storms and hurricanes come close enough to keep us off the water, but we love the debris we find floating offshore after the storms with high wind and waves.

One of my favorite times to fish for mahi is right after a tropical storm or hurricane passes us. The blackfin tuna bite gets better at the Marathon Humps too, not to mention that wahoo start showing up.

Fall is also great for post-spawn snapper fishing. We like to anchor in the back country near East Bahia in Honda Key in four to six feet of water on grass flats with Swiss cheese-shaped sand pockets. We chum them up and fish for them with live pilchards or small pinfish. On days when we can't find live bait, we do well with chunks of ballyhoo on a jig head.

Mutton snapper come in closer in the fall and are caught in much shallower water inside the reefs. The yellowtail snapper bite picks up at the reef due to decreased offseason pressure, and larger schoolmaster snapper start showing up around the bridges.

Another fish we like to target in early fall is yellow jacks. When I tell clients we're going to go to target yellow jacks, many times they say, “Captain, we've already caught jack crevalles before, and although they're fun, they're not good table fare.” Then I explain the difference to them. Some biologists claim that yellow jacks aren't indigenous to this area and showed up two or three decades ago. They fight like a jack crevalle, but they taste like a permit or pompano – excellent table fare.

We also like to slow troll for grouper inside the reefs and under and beside bridges. We use stretch 30s and also occasionally use planers with jigs and plastic. Once the water cools down more, gamefish move in closer, which makes spearfishing better in the fall than the summer.

We also like to lobster dive in early fall. This year, the commercial lobster fishermen say it's one of the best lobster years they've seen in decades. Most of the commercial lobster fishermen have been getting their lobster in deeper water, and mostly on the Atlantic side. Another sign that the lobster have not migrated into the shallow waters of the Gulf in big numbers is that the commercial bully netters have had a real tough time catching lobster so far. Some commercial lobster fishermen say that the lobster are hanging in deeper water because of our heat wave, while some also say that part of the reason they’ve had such a hot start is because we had terrible weather both days of mini-season, preventing tourists from putting a dent in the lobster migration,. Rather than during mini-season or even opening week, we tell our lobster clients to come down lobster diving in September and October, when we seem to catch better quality and quantity.

Another good thing about fishing and diving in the fall is that the kids have gone back to school, and the tourist off-season is here, meaning less crowded hotels, motels and vacation rental homes are easier to reserve at a reduced off-season price.

I hope we dodge all direct hits from tropical storms and hurricanes this fall and hope to fish, dive and spear with you in our beautiful Florida Keys.

To book a charter with Ana Banana, call or text Capt. Joel at 813-2674401 or Capt. Jojo at 305-879-0564, or visit anabananafishing.com.

After a summer of heavy pressure, fall can be a great time to target grouper before the season closes at the end of the year.

…is a fifth-generation Floridian and second-generation fishing captain who owns and operates Ana Banana Fishing Company in Marathon. His passions include fishing, hunting and spending time with his family.

CAPT. JOEL BRANDENBURG

While often mistaken for the poor-eating jack crevalle, yellow jacks give a great fight and a tasty meal.

A commercial lobster boat unloads an impressive early-season catch.

Photos by JOEL BRANDENBURG/Contributed

TENNIS ANYONE?

THE 2023 U.S. OPEN IS THE 143RD EDITION OF THE TOURNAMENT. IT IS THE ONLY GRAND SLAM TOURNAMENT IN AMERICA. TO CELEBRATE THE SEASON CHECK OUT THESE THREE WINNERS

Carrie Soto is Back

By Taylor Jenkins Reid

Six years after retirement, Carrie Soto and her father Javier are in the heart of the massive screaming crowd at the 1994 US Open finals in Flushing Meadows, New York. But this time they are sitting in the stands. At 37, Carrie earned multiple world records, 20 Grand Slam titles and a lot of wagging tongues as she was once nicknamed “The Battle-Axe.” At this moment, Nicki Chan is one win away from overtaking Carrie’s record – the most Grand Slam wins ever. By a stroke of fate, Nicki doesn’t win the match, and Carrie decides in that moment that she will come out of retirement with her father coaching her to take one more victory. This incredible journey through the cutthroat, all-consuming world of tennis highlights a very complicated father-daughter relationship and Carrie’s latest, most surprising friendship with top-seeded men’s player Bowe Huntley, who helps Carrie get back in the game. Swept away by women’s tennis, the pages simply turned themselves as the next match approached. With fascinating characters, this is five-star fast-paced fiction at its best.

Open: An Autobiography

By Andre Agassi

A beloved tennis star and 1980s icon opens his heart and soul to the world. The reader does not need to be an avid tennis fan to enjoy this incredible memoir of Agassi’s life story – a child prodigy and early professional tennis champion who rose to fame and fortune as the world watched in awe. Growing up in Las Vegas, Agassi found himself under the volatile thumb of his demanding, perfectionist father. He was soon sent away to the infamous Bollettieri Academy in Florida and dropped out of school by the ninth grade, a constant regret. Agassi describes a rollercoaster career filled with emotional highs and lows the public rarely gets to witness. His faithful brother, caring coach and, later on, Stefanie Graf, provide the love and support he desperately craves. It is never easy, and maybe it is the struggle that makes one stronger – but Agassi illustrates how it can also wear you down – too fast, too young. His unflinching honesty is humbling as we try to imagine how exhausting penning this autobiography must have been. Kudos to Agassi, a player we loved watching and a person we can admire.

String Theory: David Foster Wallace on Tennis

By David Foster Wallace

Five extraordinary essays ranging from his younger success as a promising junior player in the heart of the Midwest to the idolization and heartbreak when Tracy Austin’s biography was released. Between 12 and 15 years old, Wallace was better at calculating wind and ball grids than he was on the actual court. His geometric thinking and calculating angles gave him an unexpected advantage, which led to unlikely wins. During his later adolescence, when his teammates grew exponentially taller and stronger, he finally gave up competing. Wallace’s early life left him with a unique understanding of the heart of the game and its players. He went on to become a successful writer, keeping a close eye on the tennis world and following its biggest stars. Even for non-playing readers, DFW translates the beauty of the game and its complicated athletes into something everyone can appreciate. Sadly, Wallace lost his life in 2008, but there is no doubt his writings will continue to inspire and entertain the world for years to come. If you are a tennis fan, or even an essay fan, this book is a must.

#WORTHWATCHING:

“King Richard,” starring Will Smith, is the entertaining and inspirational story of the Williams family, highlighting parental perseverance, pure talent and much love. It can be seen on Apple TV.

KAREN NEWFIELD

First and foremost a reader, she has reviewed hundreds of books on her blog www. readingandeating. com. And, more recently, this new Keys resident has also begun writing.

The U.S. OPEN can be viewed on ESPN through Sunday, Sept. 10.

THE CREATION STATION

Marathon once again has a center for creative expression with the official grand opening of Sandra Lee Photography and Art Studio, held in partnership with the Marathon Chamber of Commerce on Aug. 30. In addition to offering limited edition prints and original paintings, the studio is in the process of adding dozens of individual and group art classes, ranging from art education and painting with various media to jewelry making, knitting, mosaic creation, embroidery and more.

“It’s time to bring art classes back to Marathon,” said Sandra, a frequent

SWIPE RIGHT

Weekly photography collaborator. “Learning art can be healing, encouraging and uplifting. All ages need an air-conditioned place to express themselves through art. I’ve been doing private art classes in a smaller studio for over a year, and now I’m so excited to be able to expand and offer public classes to the community in this wonderful new space.”

The studio is located in the Town Square Mall plaza, 11400 Overseas Hwy., Suite 216-217. More information is at facebook.com/sandraleephotographystudio. Photo by ALEX RICKERT/Keys Weekly

Adorable furry faces are waiting for families at the Florida Keys SPCA

Keys Weekly is thrilled each week to showcase some “furever” friends that are ready, waiting and available for their perfect adoption “match” at the Florida Keys SPCA’s Marathon campus – complete with their best qualities, preferences and turnoffs to ensure the best fit.

TAYLOR

2-month-old female domestic shorthair.

Looking for: I love being a kitten and playing Turnoffs: Not having a family.

TONY

6-month-old male domestic shorthair.

Looking for: Do you have a catio? I love being outside.

Turnoffs: Being inside –it’s the worst.

TORINO

4-year-old male domestic shorthair.

Looking for: Cuddles and quiet time.

Turnoffs: Mosquitoes! They make my nose itch.

From cats and dogs to Guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, reptiles and birds, the perfect addition to your family is waiting for you at one of the SPCA’s two campuses, in Key West and Marathon. The SPCA’s knowledgeable staff will help with advice and care tips while working to ensure a good fit between each pet and its people. The SPCA’s Golden Paw program also provides special assistance with vet bills and medications for special-needs and older animals that require a little extra TLC.

See all the animals waiting for a home at fkspca.org. To contact the Marathon campus, call 305-7434800 or visit the campus at 10550 Aviation Blvd.

CAPTIVATING AIRBNB WATER FRONT DUPLEX

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DUPLEX

NEW BIODEGRADABLE PRODUCTS REPLACE UNPOPULAR PAPER STRAWS

Admit it. No one likes the paper straws that get as soggy in drinks as cereal in milk.

Of course, no one wants to choke sea turtles with plastic straws that end up in the ocean and don’t decompose for 200 years.

Enter Phade, the first marine biodegradable straw made from fermented canola oil.

Representatives from WinCup, the Georgia-based company that makes Phade straws, stirrers, cups and other food service products, spoke at the recent Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association meeting in Key West.

“Everyone is used to hearing ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,’ but we want to add ‘Replace’ to those Rs,” said Michael Winters, president of WinCup, referring to the replacement of plastic and paper straws with Phade straws, made from a biopolymer. “In a marine environment, our straws completely ‘fade’ away in nine weeks.”

The company’s motto, “Blue is the new green,” refers to its products’ Caribbean blue color as well as their biodegradability in the marine environment. Winters showed a time-lapse video of a Phade straw in a saltwater aquarium disintegrating in a matter of months. The straws and other products are also compostable on land, which is the ideal way to dispose of them.

“The proper way to dispose of a Phade straw is through composting,” the company’s website states. “A Phade straw is home- and industrial-compostable, so it will completely biodegrade in either environment. No straw should ever be disposed of in a marine environment; however, it was designed to be consumed by bacteria, so in the unfortunate circumstance where a Phade straw might end up in the ocean, it will biodegrade because it will be consumed by the bacteria in the ocean,” states the company’s website.

The pro sports industry has embraced the new Phade straw technology, and the products have been used at the Super Bowl, PGA golf tournaments, the World Series and other major events, Winters said.

When comparing Phade straws to paper alternatives, aside from their unpopularity and low performance, he pointed out that even the supposedly environmentally friendly paper straws are typically chemically treated and coated with wax or other materials, or they’re made with adhesives that slow their biodegradation.

“Despite their notoriously lackluster performance, paper straws have long been accepted — or at least tolerated — as the most ‘sustainable’ alternative to traditional plastic straws. But with toxic chemicals reinforcing their makeup and posing a risk to your customers and the environment alike, it’s about time we bust that myth once and for all,” the website states. “Microplastics in our oceans and food chain are a reason for concern. However, marine biodegradable PHA based products, such as our Phade straw, do not result in microplastics.”

When synthetic (traditional fossil fuel based) non-biodegradable plastics are littered in the ocean or on land, they break down and result in microplastics. These materials break into smaller and smaller pieces until finally only tiny pieces of plastic (less than 5mm long) — microplastics — remain.

In this context, “break down” simply means breaking apart, Winters said at the Aug. 24 FRLA event at Key West’s Opal Key Resort and Marina.

The “breaking apart” of a product is not the same as the “biodegradation” of a product, he added.

WinCup currently offers three sizes of Phade straws, along with three sizes of coffee cups and stirrers. One attendee at the FRLA event in Key West asked the company to next make souffle cups — the small plastic cups that typically hold salad dressing and other sauces.

“I go through a lot of those, and I’d love an alternative,” the restaurateur said.

Phade straws look and feel like traditional plastic straws, but are marine biodegradable and compostable, disappearing completely in about nine weeks.

TAX COLLECTOR’S OFFICE EARNS FINANCIAL EXCELLENCE AWARD

SAM STEELE ELECTED TO STATEWIDE LEADERSHIP BOARD

Monroe County Tax Collector Sam C. Steele and his staff recently earned the Florida Tax Collectors Association’s Legacy Award for financial excellence. Presented during the group’s annual forum in Orlando, the award is one of the highest honors a Florida tax collector can receive from the FTCA. It is also a first for Monroe County, according to a press release.

A five-person judging panel of government financial executives examined the Monroe County tax collector’s financial operations — its budgeting, customer focus and technology innovation/automation. The panel also required a perfect financial audit clear of findings.

“It was an honor to bring this award home to Monroe County alongside Daniel Cabot, our chief financial officer. The Legacy Award recognizes our whole team for their performance as stewards of Monroe County taxpayers’ dollars,” said Steele, who was also recognized by FTCA for completing a two-year course in executive leadership.

He was also elected to the FTCA board of directors for District 10, which represents Monroe, Miami-Dade, Lee, Collier, and Hendry counties. In the new leadership role, he will support the association’s mission to provide leadership, legislative advocacy, and assistance in influencing sound public policy on behalf of Floridians.

Also, as co-chair of the FTCA’s Records Management Coalition, Steele and co-chair Shelly Edmonson of Flagler County hosted an educational session about managing public records and complying with Florida’s public record laws.

“My team and I are proud to be recognized at the state level for our performance and leadership here in Monroe County,” Steele said.

KEYS WEEKLY WELCOMES GWEN FILOSA

LOCALLY OWNED NEWS OUTLET ADDS LOCALLY KNOWN JOURNALIST

Gwen Filosa is now digital editor at the Keys Weekly Newspapers, having joined the Keyswide team on Aug. 14.

Digital editor is a new position at the Weekly, created with Filosa in mind. She will manage the Weekly’s social media, host and produce the Weekly’s podcast and report on Keys news, culture and happenings across the island chain.

Filosa moved to Key West in June 2011 for a reporter job at the island’s daily newspaper. She later joined the staff of the McClatchy Companyowned Keynoter, then a subsidiary of the Miami Herald.

In 2016, the Miami Herald hired her to cover Key West and the Lower Keys.

In October 2022, Filosa left the Herald to work for Miami’s NPR member station, WLRN.

But in June 2023, she decided she wanted to work for a locally-owned and operated news organization. She reached out to the Weekly’s publishers, Britt Myers and Jason Koler, and they agreed it was a great match: the newspaper with the largest circulation in the Florida Keys and a veteran journalist dedicated to local news for more than 25 years.

“As our three Weekly publications have expanded across the Keys, we have witnessed an explosion of digital growth across our website, daily eblast and social media platforms,” said Myers. “The role of digital editor is vital to providing fresh, updated content to the local community throughout the week.

“Our mission at the Keys Weekly has always emphasized a ‘community first’ model,” said Myers. “When we search for local talent, it’s not only important they possess incredible talent in their field, but they also share a philosophy of community involvement and support. For us, Gwen checked every box and then some – and we are honored to have her join the Weekly family.

best reporters and editors in Florida and

I’m grateful,” Filosa said. “But I wanted to be in a newsroom again, working sideby-side with people who actually live in the Keys. I’ve always been a hometown reporter – from tiny New Hampshire towns to the city of New Orleans and, for 12 years now, in Key West.”

Filosa arrived in Key West from New Orleans, where she covered Orleans Parish criminal courts for the Times-Picayune. During a decade at the metro paper, Filosa also kept tabs on state and federal courts, Louisiana prisons and the death penalty system.

She was part of the TimesPicayune’s staff that was awarded both the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News, and the Public Service medal, for coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They worked nonstop to report on the region shattered by not only the hurricane, which made landfall at a Category 3, but the levee system failures that left 80% of the city under water.

Before she arrived in New Orleans, Filosa wrote for the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire. She was a regional reporter before taking the police and courts beat. In 2000, she was on the team that covered New Hampshire’s then first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

Filosa graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and also studied at the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism.

More information about the Monroe County Tax Collector’s office is at monroetaxcollector.com or on Facebook at Monroe County Tax Collector Key West.

— Contributed

“And adding Gwen has been of interest to us for some time, as she embodies the local spirit of ‘One Human Family.’ She is not only a highly respected journalist here in the Keys, but Gwen has a proven track record.”

Filosa said she also wanted a change from working remotely for mainland news outlets.

“I’ve worked with some of the

In addition to journalism, Filosa has done standup at Comedy Key West since 2017, and has performed at the Key West Theater.

Filosa has become a grateful resident of Key West, where the Fighting Conchs rule – but remains a devout New Orleans Saints fan. Send her news tips, story ideas and hair compliments to gwen@ keysweekly.com

Citrus County Tax Collector Janice Warren recognizes Monroe County Tax Collector Sam Steele for completing a two-year executive leadership course. CONTRIBUTED

Monroe County Tax Collector Sam Steele, left, and his chief financial officer Daniel Cabot, right, accept the Legacy Award for financial excellence from Putnam County Tax Collector Linda Myers. CONTRIBUTED

Gwen Filosa started as digital editor of the Keys Weekly on Aug. 14.

GREATER MARATHON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

305.743.5417

1.800.262.7284

12222 Overseas Highway info@floridakeysmarathon.com ww

AFTER HOURS

Who: Key Colony Inn Restaurant

When: Wednesday, September 13th 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Where: Key Colony Inn, 700 W Ocean Drive

What: Great networking, food & beverages; come promote your business and meet Marathon business owners, executives, and leaders!

MEMBERSHIP LUNCHEON

September 19th 12pm - 1pm

When: Tuesday, September 19th Noon - 1pm

Where: Fl Keys Steak & Lobster House

3660 Overseas Hwy, Marathon

Speaker: Drew Grossman, CEO Fishermen's & Mariners Hospital

Topic: Updates at Fishermen's Community Hospital and medical care in Marathon

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED – SPACE IS LIMITED E-mail

or Call

FUNCTIONALLY CAFFEINATED WELLNESS DEFYING AGE-ISM: NOT LETTING THE OLD WO/MAN IN

JENNIFER BOLTZ HARVEY

If you are a client of mine or a friend or family member, you have heard me say, “Don’t let the old lady/man in.” It’s a phrase I’ve been using for the last 12 years since I started my personal training career.

I was astounded by how many times I’d recommend an exercise –knowing that it was safe and effective for this individual to do, and that they were more than capable of doing it –and the response would be “I’m too old for that.” What? No!

Or I’d casually hear on the gym floor, “Well, at my age I shouldn’t…” For crying out loud, stop with that nonsense.

My own mother, who is only 70 years old, does this all the time, and it has stopped her from doing so many things that she is more than capable of doing.

You see, what you repeatedly tell yourself to do or not do, eventually you begin to believe it, and your body follows suit.

In a world obsessed with youth, the pernicious effects of ageism often go unnoticed. This silent prejudice, which discriminates against individuals solely based on their age, extends its reach into our society's mental and physical well-being. It's high time we explore the detrimental impact of ageism – the discrimination against people on the basis of their age – on longterm health and how individuals can defy stereotypes to lead fulfilling lives.

Ageism has far-reaching consequences, and the negative stereotypes attached to aging can be incredibly damaging to one's mental health.

Older adults who experience ageism are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. The constant barrage of messages that suggest aging is synonymous with decline can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Believing that one is incapable of achieving new goals or that they are a burden to society can become a harsh reality, impacting overall mental health.

...is a Marathonbased ACSMcertified personal trainer and precision nutrition coach who owns and operates Highly Motivated Functionally Caffeinated LLC.

Moreover, ageism affects physical health as well. The belief that older individuals are frail and feeble can discourage them from engaging in physical activities. This lack of exercise and activity can lead to a decline in muscle mass, strength and cardiovascular health. In contrast, research has shown that active older adults can maintain their physical health and even improve it in some cases.

To defy ageism and not let the old wo/man in, individuals can adopt several strategies. First, maintaining an active lifestyle is paramount. Examples like Ernestine Shepherd, who became the world's oldest competitive female bodybuilder at the age of 81, prove that age is just a number. Regular exercise can improve physical strength, agility and overall health, dispelling the notion that aging equals frailty.

Lifelong learning is another powerful tool against ageism. The idea that older individuals can't acquire new skills or knowledge is baseless. Many older adults pursue higher education or learn new languages, disproving stereotypes. This mental stimulation not only keeps the mind sharp but also enhances overall well-being.

Social engagement is crucial to combating ageism. Isolation often accompanies aging, but staying connected with friends, family and communities can provide emotional support and combat loneliness. Technology has made it easier than ever for older individuals to stay connected and engaged in society.

Ageism is a pervasive issue with profound effects on both mental and physical health. To counteract this prejudice, individuals must reject societal stereotypes and embrace an active, engaged and lifelong learning mindset. The examples set by resilient individuals who defy ageism underscore the possibilities and potential that come with age. By not letting the old wo/man in, we can lead happier, healthier, and more fulfilling lives, regardless of our birth date.

I’m going to leave you with this question: “If you didn’t know how old you were, how old would you be?”

MARATHON VICE MAYOR JOINS FOUNDATION’S ADVISORY COUNCIL

Robyn Still, business owner and vice mayor of Marathon, has joined the Middle Keys advisory council of the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys.

The foundation manages over 200 charitable funds totaling over $25 million in assets, making grants over $2 million annually to support Florida Keys nonprofits.

"I am so excited to be a part of the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys,” said Still. “I believe that working together is the only way to have positive impacts on our residents and visitors.”

Still joins Middle Keys Advisory Council members Marian Buccafurni, Sarah Adams, C.M. Bishop, Rebecca Godchaux and Lavarski Smith.

The advisory council helps to connect the foundation with the Middle Keys’ most pressing needs, along with the people, projects and organizations addressing those needs. Some of the council’s most recent grant recipients include KAIR, Marathon High School, Keys AHEC, and Habitat for Humanity of the Middle Keys.

One of the foundation’s goals is to expand philanthropy in the Middle Keys, and this is a primary goal of the advisory council.

“We are grateful to the foundation for establishing the Middle Keys Advisory Council to assist nonprofits in the Middle Keys by providing them with much-needed grant support,” said Buccafurni, council chair and foundation board member. “We are grateful to all of our regional council members who are committed to doing good in our local area.”

Still is also the current chair of the Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce, is on the board of the Rotary Club of Marathon, and sits on the boards of several other local organizations. She and her husband own The Tackle Box, a bait and tackle store in Marathon. She moved to Marathon in 2016 from north Georgia after retiring from a career in law enforcement that spanned over 20 years. She has a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in the administration of justice and security. She is a Class XXX graduate of Leadership Monroe County and is a Take Stock in Children mentor. She and her husband have three sons, one of whom just graduated from Marathon High School.

More information is at 305-292-1502 or cffk@cffk.org.

Marathon Vice Mayor Robyn Still. CONTRIBUTED

ISLAND ATTRACTIONS

HOMEBASE FOR RAILROAD WORKERS ONCE HAD BIRD FLOCKS

In the Florida Keys, we all have our favorite islands. My favorite, Indian Key, has an incredible story, and I have written an inordinate number of columns about it over the years. This column, however, is about Kelly McKinnon’s favorite island.

McKinnon is the executive director at the Pigeon Key Foundation, and his favorite island, believe it or not, is Pigeon Key, located under the old Seven Mile Bridge in the Middle Keys.

FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY WITH BRAD BERTELLI

the hammocks and the loss of the fruit-bearing hardwood trees on which they feed.

Pigeon Key, however, is not remembered for its birds — though it does seem to have a history with them. A man named Otto Stellrecht, born in 1863 in Germany, immigrated to America at 19. In 1892, he came to Florida, and three years later, in 1895, Stellrecht moved to the Torch Keys, about 25 miles away from Key West. Family stories say that he farmed a grove of Key lime trees while there. They also suggest that he raised turkeys on Pigeon Key.

An author, speaker, Florida Keys historian and Honorary Conch. His latest book, “Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli, Volume 1,” shares fascinating glimpses into the rich and sometimes surprising histories of the Florida Keys.

On early Spanish charts, the island McKinnon is lucky enough to call home was identified as Cayo Paloma. Paloma is the Spanish word for pigeon, and the story behind the name suggests the island was once home to large flocks of pigeons. The namesake bird was the distinctive white-crowned pigeon. As it can be imagined, the slate-gray feathered bird has a crown of white feathers covering its head. The pigeons are indigenous to extreme South Florida and the Keys, the Bahamas, the Greater and Lesser Antilles islands, southeastern Mexico, and Central America — and once, they called Pigeon Key home.

They are a skittish species and should be, as they were relentlessly hunted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the fast-flying birds can be seen zooming over the tops of the tropical hammocks they call home. While they are no longer hunted in the Keys and South Florida, their populations are threatened by the destruction of

What Pigeon Key is best remembered for, however, is its connection to the building of the Key West Extension of Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway. Because of its placement within that 7-mile watery gap between Marathon and the Lower Keys, the island was viewed as a potential base of operations during the construction of the series of four bridges connecting the two sets of islands.

In 1907, the 5-acre Pigeon Key was surveyed by railroad engineers and determined to be the ideal location for a construction campsite. After the island was cleared of its hardwood hammock, railroad workers built three dormitories, a large mess hall, a warehouse, offices, a bakery, a commissary and an infirmary tent.

Because the small island became inundated with workers, a fourth dormitory was built, and tents were erected to house the more than 400 people living on the island during those peak construction periods. Unlike the vast majority of island communities outside of Key West, one luxury the workers had was electricity to light the buildings — F.E.C. Railway generators powered it.

The day before the passenger train carrying Henry Flagler shook, rattled and roared across Key West and steamed into the southernmost terminal for the first time, the Jan. 21, 1912, edition of the Indianapolis Sunday Star printed a story mention-

ing Pigeon Key: “The camps are in charge of a resident or division engineer with the one at Pigeon Key presently the most active. At high tide, Pigeon Key is about two acres in extent and perhaps three acres at low tide. There are four bunkhouses, each designed to hold 64 men; one of them for the foremen, who are housed apart from the laborers. Each has a reading room with good lights. Good mattresses are provided on standard doubledecked bunks, with plenty of clean bedclothes; all laundry work being done by the company. Once a week all beds are washed and thoroughly disinfected to keep any parasites from getting a start.”

Pigeon Key and the rest of the F.E.C. right-ofway were sold to the state after the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane ended the railroad’s run. Eventually, Monroe County was given possession of the island where, today, the old wooden railroad buildings stand like a sort of ghost town — but a kind of living ghost town.

The island was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1990, and two years later, the Pigeon Key Foundation was formed to “protect the island’s long-standing history from the Henry Flagler era.”

Today, visiting the island is a bit like stepping back in time — but also, because of the foundation’s mission, those visiting the island are offered the opportunity to peek into the future.

In addition to preserving history, one of the foundation’s missions is to “educate our youth through marine science curricula and research.”

If you have not visited the island, step back in time, walk the grounds and see the railroad buildings dating back to 1908. The island’s museum is filled with historic photographs, artifacts and stories revealing a more profound history of this amazing island. Guided tours are available. For more information about the Pigeon Key Foundation and touring the island, visit www.pigeonkey. net.

Work on the Florida East Coast Railway bridge over Pigeon Key. KEY WEST ART & HISTORICAL SOCIETY/Contributed

New

Rejoice in Hope Live in Harmony Love One Another

SAIL ON, SAILOR

Remembering Jimmy Buffett

It was a shock last Saturday to wake up to the news of Jimmy Buffett’s passing. This year of 2023, which has seen the passing of way too many music legends, has claimed yet another. This one, however, is just a bit closer to home.

I got my first guitar on Christmas Day, 1976 — ironically, Jimmy Buffett’s 30th birthday. In 1977, Buffett became a household name, thanks to “Margaritaville” and the “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” album. Young guitar pickers had a wealth of new songs that made us all yearn for a carefree life in the tropics, and the fact that they were fairly easy to play was a bonus.

The first time I saw Buffett in concert was on the Volcano tour in 1980. I was finishing up my freshman year at the University of South Carolina (also the alma mater of Jimmy’s wife, Jane). He came on to that Carolina Coliseum stage like a victorious soldier in a Hawaiian shirt after a wonderful – but way under-appreciated – opening set by J.D. Souther. There was the semiacoustic “Hot Dog and a Road Map” tour later that year, featuring just Buffett along with bassist Harry Dailey and harmonica player Fingers Taylor. These concerts fueled my ambition to play guitar and sing for people, as well as to get back to my former Florida home.

I always got to see Buffett on his summer tour stops at Carowinds until I left college and hit the road playing music. Those musical journeys brought me to the Keys in 1984, where I found a tropical island home and a life in music that didn’t involve living out of a suitcase. I remember when the first Margaritaville store opened near the Turtle Kraals in Key West, and I’ve taken more than a few visitors to the Margaritaville Cafe on Duval Street.

I managed to catch Buffett playing live a couple of times in Key West. The first was a benefit concert to save the salt ponds at the Key West High School football field back in the 1980s. The other was at Margaritaville in 1990. No matter the event or venue, Buffett always surrounded himself with good musicians, with his main objective ensuring the audience had a great time.

And the audiences always did.

“Parrot Heads,” a term coined by Timothy Schmit, turned Buffett concerts into tropical-themed events. Tailgate parties, Hawaiian shirts, beach balls, foam fins and copious amounts of beer and blender drinks got everyone in the mood for the main event. Nobody kept the party going like Jimmy Buffett; his tours were virtually always the best happening in town. And that

desire to keep the party going was instrumental in the creation and growth of the billion-dollar Margaritaville brand. His music and brand inspired the creation of Parrot Head clubs around the world, where many of these clubs set out on a mission to “Party With a Purpose.” Buffett himself took on a few causes, many of which involved protection of our environment. He was friends with legislators and presidents, and I believe many of them were jealous of the Jimmy Buffett lifestyle. (Seriously, who wouldn’t be?)

Buffett was only 28 when he wrote and recorded “A Pirate Looks At Forty.” I was in my teens the first time I played it. Over the years, I’ve played a lot of Buffett songs. So has most everyone else who has ever played music in the Keys. Now that I am 21 years past that magical age of 40, it gives me pause to stop and consider how long Buffett has been part of all our lives.

Buffett leaves quite the legacy. In addition to his vast catalog of songs and recordings, there are the books, novels, and everything else Margarita. Buffett's brand and business sense will ensure that his legacy will live on for decades.

Perhaps the real legacy Buffett leaves behind is the joy he brought to so many through his music. Godspeed on your next big adventure where you go, and I’m sure the rum will soon come.

— John’s Perpetual Island Tour stops every Monday at Boondocks, Wednesday at Brutus Seafood, and Thursdays at Sparky’s Landing. Check out John’s music anywhere you stream or download your music Or point your browser to: johnbartus.hearnow.com

John Bartus is a singer-songwriter and the former mayor of Marathon.

JOHN BARTUS

WIKIPEDIA/Contributed

NOAA PROTECTS RELOCATED CORAL NURSERY

TEMPORARY SPECIAL USE AREA LIMITS USAGE FOR 60 DAYS

In response to rising ocean temperatures, NOAA has used its emergency authority to create a temporary special use area in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to protect endangered corals that have been relocated to a nursery in federal waters about five miles southeast of Tavernier. The temporary regulation lasts 60 days, with the option for one 60-day extension, and prohibits all entry except for continuous transit without interruption.

“It’s critical for managers to have the ability to quickly respond to urgent situations,” said Sarah Fangman, sanctuary superintendent. “Coral bleaching created by the recent marine heat wave has forced practitioners into an emergency response, moving endangered corals to cooler, deeper water. This temporary special use area will limit physical impact to sensitive coral nursery stock from anchoring, unintentional fouling of fishing gear, and bottom tending fishing gear including traps.”

Expert forecasts suggest that extreme ocean temperatures will likely persist until at least October. Coral nursery stock located in shallow nurseries (20-30 feet in depth) are most at risk, where nearshore protected environments heat up much more intensely than offshore locations. The relocated site, protecting 2,800 coral fragments, has been established in 70 feet of water.

“The temporary rule is an important management tool that the state and FKNMS have, and this is a perfect

COMMERCE CORNER

example of how it should be used,” said Ken Nedimyer, technical director for Reef Renewal USA. “We ask that fishermen and local boaters be understanding about the need for this temporary closure. Many of the corals being held in this nursery are the sole remaining colonies left from what used to be thriving thickets of staghorn or elkhorn, so the future prospects for restoration depend on keeping them alive. We anticipate moving the corals back to our Tavernier nursery sometime in October or November, so the duration of the closure is just about right.”

The emergency action is taken in accordance with the sanctuary’s original 1997 regulations: “where necessary to prevent or minimize the destruction of, loss of, or injury to a Sanctuary resource, any and all activities are subject to immediate temporary regulation, including prohibition.” Because further damage to these sensitive nursery corals would occur if the prohibition implemented by this rule was delayed, NOAA found good cause to waive notice and public comment.

It has been 20 years since the sanctuary used the emergency provision. In 2003, a similar coral stress event resulted in a temporary no-entry zone in the White Bank Dry Rocks Area near Key Largo.

The GPS location of the .07 squaremile area can be found in the free Marine Sanctuary Explorer mobile app by searching “Tavernier (Temporary) Special Use Area.”

— Contributed

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Coral nurseries that were relocated to protect them from high water temperatures will be further protected by a newly established temporary special use area in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. CONTRIBUTED

Big Pine Key Library seeks donated books for book sale

The Big Pine Key library is accepting donations of new or gently used hardcover and paperback books for the Friends of the Library book sales. Bring donated books to the library in the Big Pine Key Winn-Dixie shopping center between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on any day but Sundays. The books will be on sale Mondays through Saturdays at the library. All proceeds go back to the library to fund events. Please call 305-731-6323 with questions.

MCSO to perform pedestrian, bicycle safety enforcement

Monroe County ranks in the top 25 counties in the state for traffic crashes resulting in serious and fatal injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists. In an effort to protect the safety of these vulnerable road users, the Sheriff’s Office will conduct highvisibility enforcement details during the period of Aug. 28, 2023, through May 10, 2024, at high pedestrian and bicycle crash locations in Key Largo, Marathon and Stock Island. These areas are over-represented in traffic crashes resulting in serious and fatal injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists. Enforcement efforts will focus primarily on education to drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. However, violations may result in warnings or citations depending on the circumstances. Drivers, obey speed limits, never drive impaired, and always watch for pedestrians and bicyclists. Bicyclists, obey traffic laws, ride in the direction of traffic, and use lights when riding at night. Pedestrians, cross in crosswalks or at intersections, obey pedestrian signals, and make sure you are visible to drivers when walking at night.

Keys attractions offer kid discounts in September

Kids and their families can explore Florida Keys attractions through a program that provides free admission and opportunities for children age 12 and under. The Kids Keys Deals program continues through Sunday, Oct. 15, and is spearheaded by the Key West Attractions Association. Families can visit kidskeysdeals.com to download coupons for visits to nature-themed and historic attractions, restaurant perks and activities on the water. Participating attractions in Key West include the Key West Shipwreck Treasure Museum, Conch Tour Train, Key West Aquarium, Old Town Trolley Tours, Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory, Sails to Rails Museum, Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical

Garden, Key West Escape Room and Harry S. Truman Little White House. Elsewhere in the island chain, offerings for kids include free general admission to the Middle Keys’ Dolphin Research Center and Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters marine park, and admission and other treats from Islamorada’s one-of-a-kind History of Diving Museum. Also featured are watersports excursions from Danger Charters, FunKey Charters, Fish Monster MAX, Sebago Watersports and Fury Water Adventures.

September is library card sign-up month

September is library card sign-up month, a time when the Monroe County Public Library joins the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries nationwide to remind everyone about the valuable resources available with a library card – from borrowing books, e-books, audiobooks and DVDs to getting homework help, learning new skills, streaming films or attending a book club or story time. Monroe County public libraries offer LinkedIn Learning, with more than 20,000 courses that can help entrepreneurs and small business owners. There are also courses in technology and creative fields that can help people advance in their professional and personal lives. The library offers Law Depot, where cardholders can get business agreements and other forms. Each branch offers free wifi and loans laptops for in-library use. More information is at keyslibraries. org or via email to info@keyslibraries.org.

Marathon youth flag football registration is now open

Registration is open for the Marathon Parks and Recreation youth flag football league. Four divisions will compete in this year’s league: 6U, 8U, 10U and 14U. Registration is open until Friday, Sept. 22 and practices will start on Monday, Oct. 2. For more information and to register, visit https://clubs.bluesombrero. com/cityofmarathonparksandrec.

Come take a class at the Marathon library

The Marathon library has a wide variety of class offerings, ranging from photography to book clubs, robots, virtual reality and more. Scan the QR code here to see the schedule and get involved.

K-9 PROTECTION

DRUG - SNIFFING MAKO RECEIVES BALLISTIC VEST THANKS TO DONATION

JIM McCARTHY jim@keysweekly.com

Monroe County Sheriff’s K-9 Mako took a break from the drug sniffing on Aug. 25. With his handler, traffic enforcement deputy Aaron Roddy, the two visited the Roth Building in Tavernier where Mako was fitted with a new piece of equipment aimed to keep him a little safer while serving the community.

Mako, a 3-year-old Labrador trained to sniff out narcotics, stood and watched as Roddy grabbed a new ballistic vest donated by Dr. Robert Prosek. The 5-pound vest fit snugly as Prosek, Sheriff Rick Ramsay and school resource deputy Lauren Landa watched Roddy strap it around his partner in fighting crime.

“He’s one of the best looking officers now,” said Prosek, the owner of Florida Veterinary Cardiology who learned that Mako didn’t have protection while on duty. “There was an officers’ day at Ocean Studies (Charter School) and I saw the units out there. I talked to the deputy (Landa) about a vest and she said they didn’t have one.”

Prosek is no stranger when it comes to donating vests to K-9s in South Florida.

“I bought some before for Dade County. They (K-9s) should be protected too,” Prosek said. “They worked hard and they’re officers.”

Mako is one of two K-9 units op-

erating in the Florida Keys, the other being the golden retriever K-9 Coral. Recently, Mako aided deputies in the arrest of two Big Pine men who were reportedly in possession of pills and methamphetamine. During an Aug. 15 traffic stop in Marathon, Robert Alan Stotts, 49, and Louis Van De Gejuchte, 46, were allegedly found with almost 30 grams of methamphetamine and approximately 20 Adderall pills without a prescription.

Roddy, also a task force officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Mako not only assists during traffic stops, but he also works with state and federal partners. Roddy said the vest contains a harness so K-9 Mako can be deployed from the air and on the water.

“It’s rated for anything he might encounter,” Roddy said.

When not sniffing out narcotics, Mako and Roddy make friendly visits with local students and the community at National Night Out. And when he’s not working, Mako is busy chasing boats and enjoying some downtime with Roddy.

Inside the Roth Building, Ramsay presented Prosek with a challenge coin as a token of thanks for the vest donation.

“That’s very kind of you,” Ramsay said to Prosek. “These dogs are doing great stuff. Every week they’re making nice drug cases. A lot of them are coming from the K-9s which give them (officers) probable cause to search cars.”

From left, Lauren Landa, school resource officer with Ocean Studies Charter School; Aaron Roddy, traffic enforcement deputy; Dr. Robert Prosek; and Sheriff Rick Ramsay with K-9 Mako. JIM McCARTHY/Keys Weekly

LEGAL NOTICES

FICTITIOUS NAME NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned, desiring to engage in business under the fictitious name of ELITE

CONCH HITTING located at 2 Beechwood Drive, Monroe County in the City of Key West, Florida 33040-6208, intends to register the said name with the Division of Corporations of the Florida Department of State, Tallahassee, Florida.

Dated at Key West, Florida this 30th day of August, 2023.

By: JOSEPH A. GANDOLFO

Publish:

September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

PUBLIC SALE NOTICE

NOTICE OF SALE

U-HAUL COMPANY OF MIAMI

Notice is here by given that on

September 11th, 2023, Leonard Richford Jr. Storage Auctioneer, Executive Administrator for U-Haul Company of Miami, Will be offering for sale under the Judicial Lien Process, By Public Auction, the following storage units. The Terms of the sale will be cash only. U-Haul Company does reserve the right to refuse any bids. The sales will Begin at 8:00 a.m. and continue day by day until all units are sold. The names of whose units will be sold are as follows:

103530 Overseas Highway, Key

Largo, FL 33037

Anita Lezcano

Unit 1559

$952.91

Brian Long

Unit 1504-51

$1,292.00

Todd Nichols

Unit 1449

$572.05

Corey McGahen

Unit 1184

$644.79

Edmund Joseph

Unit 1622

$580.56

David Allen

LEGAL NOTICES

Unit 1407

$584.92

Publish:

August 31 & September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE

Florida Keys Council of the Arts

Notice of Upcoming Meetings

The Florida Keys Council of the Arts will hold the following meetings via Communications Media Technology using a ZOOM webinar platform. The access points to view the meeting or for members of the public to provide public input will be:

JOIN ZOOM via the Zoom app and use each meeting ID and password listed. Meetings are open to the public, and all are invited to attend. Questions, or to RSVP, please email Liz Young at director@keysarts.com

ART IN PUBLIC PLACES Meeting

Tue. Sep 19, 2023 at 12:00 PM

Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 884 2962 8588

Passcode: 265175

Publish:

September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE

QUARTERLY MEETING NOTICE:

LOCAL COORDINATING BOARD FOR THE TRANSPORTATION DISADVANTAGED

The Monroe County Local Coordinating Board (LCB) will be holding its regularly scheduled quarterly meeting on Friday, September 8, 2023 from 10:00 am – 11:00 am at the Marathon Government Center, BOCC Room, 2798 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050. The primary purpose of the Coordinating Board is to provide information and advice to the Community Transportation Coordinator on the coordination of services provided to the transportation disadvantaged

LEGAL NOTICES

population of Monroe County, pursuant to Chapter 427.0157, Florida Statutes. Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), any person requiring special accommodations at this meeting due to a disability or physical impairment, and any related questions or inquiries concerning this meeting should be directed to Vanessa Naranjo at the Health Council of South Florida, Inc. at (305) 592-1452 ext. 121 at least 72 hours prior to the date of the meeting.

Publish:

September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

CITY OF KEY COLONY BEACH

NOTICE OF CODE AMENDMENT

HEARING

SECOND/FINAL READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 2023-486

Key Colony Beach Sewer Rate

Increases

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Commission of the City of Key Colony Beach, Florida, will hold the following Public Hearing to hear amendments to the City’s Code of Ordinances.

DATE/TIME: Thursday, September 21st, 2023

TIME: 9:35 am OR at the conclusion of the Public Hearing

LOCATION: Located at the Temporary Meeting Place for the City of Key Colony Beach, at the Key Colony Inn Banquet Room, 700 W. Ocean Drive, Key Colony Beach.

The proposed Ordinance to be heard by the City Commission is [ORDINANCE NO. 2023-486], entitled: “AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF KEY COLONY BEACH, FLORIDA; AMENDING CHAPTER FOURTEEN OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, ENTITLED SEWERS AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL, SECTION 14-6 MONTHLY RATES AND CHARGES, AND PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; REPEALING ANY INCONSISTENT PROVISIONS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE

Effective September 28, 2023, Michelle D. Bachtel, MD, FACC, will no longer be practicing at the office of Keys Medical Group Cardiology.

Patients may continue to contact the office for an appointment with April Gallagher, APRN. As of September 27, 2023, appointments will also be available with Steven Rowe, MD, FACC. Request an appointment via the patient portal, online at KeysMedicalGroup.com or at 305-294-5727.

Patients may also request a copy of their medical records by contacting Keys Medical Group Cardiology, 1111 12th Street, Suite 210, Key West, FL 33040. Phone: 305-294-5727.

Publish: August 31, September 7, 14 & 21, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

LEGAL NOTICES

DATE.”

Interested parties may appear at the meeting and be heard with respect to the proposed ordinance. Copies of the proposed Ordinance are available for inspection at the City Hall of Key Colony Beach.

If any person decides to appeal any decision made by the Key Colony Beach City Commission with respect to any matter considered at the Code Amendment Hearing, that person will need a record of the proceeding and for such purpose may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based.

If you are unable to attend the Public Hearing on Thursday, September 21, 2023, but wish to comment, please direct correspondence to: City of Key Colony Beach, City Clerk, P.O. Box 510141, Key Colony Beach, FL 33051, and your comments will be entered into the record.

City Clerk City of Key Colony Beach, Florida

Publish:

September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE SOLICITATIONS

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at 3:00 P.M., the Monroe County Purchasing Office will receive and open sealed responses for the following:

Construction of Employee Housing on Big Pine Key Monroe County, Florida Pursuant to F.S. 50.0211(3)(a), all published competitive solicitation notices can be viewed at: www. floridapublicnotices.com, a searchable Statewide repository for all published legal notices. Requirements for submission and the selection criteria may be requested from DemandStar at www.demandstar.com OR www. monroecounty-fl.gov/bids. The Public Record is available upon request.

Monroe County Purchasing Department receives bids electronically. Please do not mail or attempt to deliver in person any sealed bids. Mailed/physically delivered bids/proposals/ responses WILL NOT be accepted.

The Monroe County Purchasing Department hereby directs that bids be submitted via email to: OMB-BIDS@monroecounty-fl.gov, no later than 3:00P.M., on October 18, 2023. Please submit your confidential financial information in a SEPARATE EMAIL from your bid and required documents. Your subject line on both emails must read as follows:

Construction of Employee Housing on Big Pine Key 10-18-2023

Files that do not contain this subject line WILL BE REJECTED. Please note that the maximum file size that will be accepted by email is 25MB. Please plan accordingly to ensure that your bid is not rejected due to the file size. Should your bid documents exceed 25MB, in advance of the bid opening, please email: ombpurchasing@monroecounty-fl.gov so accommodations for delivery of your bid can be made prior to the bid opening. Please be advised that it is the bidder’s sole responsibility to ensure delivery of their bid and waiting until the bid opening to address or confirm your bid submission delivery will result in your bid being rejected. The bid opening for this solicitation will be held virtually, via the internet, at 3:00 P.M., on October 18, 2023. You may call in by phone or internet using the following:

Join Zoom Meeting https://mcbocc.zoom. us/j/4509326156

Meeting ID: 4509326156

One tap mobile:

+16465189805,, 4509326156# US

LEGAL NOTICES

Publish: September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA

PROBATE DIVISION

FILE NO.: 23-CP-020-M

IN RE: ESTATE OF BETTY NIELSEN, Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the estate of BETTY NIELSEN, deceased, whose date of death was December 21, 2022, is pending in the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 3117 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050. The estate is testate and the date of the decedent’s Will and any codicils are November 11, 2021. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court WITHIN THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM. All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against the decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN SECTION 733.702 OF THE FLORIDA PROBATE CODE WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

The date of first publication of this Notice is: September 7, 2023.

Personal Representative: Erik C. Nielsen 2347 Sombrero Boulevard Marathon, FL 33050 Attorney for Personal

Representative: James J. Dorl, Esq. Florida Bar No. 618403 JAMES J. DORL, P.A. Suite 12 First Professional Centre 5701 Overseas Highway Marathon, FL 33050

Telephone: (305) 743-6565

Facsimile: (305) 743-4143 e-mail: jjdorl@yahoo.com

Publish:

September 7 & 14, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA PROBATE DIVISION FILE NO.: 2023-CP-051-M IN RE: ESTATE OF WILLIAM W. BROWN, JR., Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the estate of William W. Brown, Jr., deceased, whose date of death was June 19, 2023, is pending in the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 3117 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050. The estate is testate and the date of the decedent’s Will and any codicils are December 11, 2015. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court WITHIN THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against the

LEGAL NOTICES

decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN

THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN SECTION 733.702 OF THE FLORIDA PROBATE CODE WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

The date of first publication of this Notice is: September 7, 2023.

Personal Representative:

Dyann Putman

P.O. Box 522588

Marathon Shores, FL 33052-2588

Attorney for Personal

Representative:

James J. Dorl, Esq. Florida Bar No. 618403

JAMES J. DORL, P.A.

Suite 12 First Professional Centre 5701 Overseas Highway Marathon, FL 33050

Telephone: (305) 743-6565

Facsimile: (305) 743-4143 e-mail: jjdorl@yahoo.com

Publish:

September 7 & 14, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA

PROBATE DIVISION

FILE NO.: 2023-CP-027-M

IN RE: ESTATE OF ROBIN G. SAUNDERS, Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the estate of Robin G. Saunders, deceased, whose date of death was April 3, 2023, is pending in the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 3117 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050. The estate is testate and the date of the decedent’s Will and any codicils are April 3, 2023. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court WITHIN THE LATER OF 3

MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM. All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against the decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3

MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN SECTION 733.702 OF THE FLORIDA PROBATE CODE WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

The date of first publication of this Notice is: September 7, 2023.

Personal Representative:

Kenneth W. Saunders

327 Anglers Drive North Marathon, FL 33050

Attorney for Personal

Representative:

James J. Dorl, Esq. Florida Bar No. 618403

JAMES J. DORL, P.A.

Suite 12 First Professional Centre

5701 Overseas Highway Marathon, FL 33050

Telephone: (305) 743-6565

Facsimile: (305) 743-4143

e-mail: jjdorl@yahoo.com

Publish:

September 7 & 14, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA

PROBATE DIVISION

FILE NO.: 2022-CP-088-M IN RE: ESTATE OF JOSEPH P. RABITO,

Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the estate of Joseph P. Rabito, deceased, whose date of death was June 27, 2022, is pending in the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 3117 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050. The estate is intestate. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court WITHIN THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against the decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN SECTION 733.702 OF THE FLORIDA PROBATE CODE WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED. The date of first publication of this Notice is: September 7, 2023.

Personal Representative: Linda M. Rabito 2913 Sombrero Boulevard Marathon, FL 33050

Attorney for Personal

Representative: James J. Dorl, Esq. Florida Bar No. 618403

JAMES J. DORL, P.A. Suite 12 First Professional Centre 5701 Overseas Highway Marathon, FL 33050

Telephone: (305) 743-6565

Facsimile: (305) 743-4143

e-mail: jjdorl@yahoo.com

Publish:

September 7 & 14, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA DIVISION: PROBATE

FILE NO.: 23-CP-000098-P IN RE: ESTATE OF ALAN ALFRED HANCHER, Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the estate of ALAN ALFRED HANCHER, deceased, whose date of death was May 19, 2023, is pending in the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 88820 Overseas Hwy., Tavernier, FL 33070. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court ON OR BEFORE THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN SECTION 733.702 OF THE FLORIDA PROBATE CODE WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

Jay Park Hancher

20 Hillside Avenue

San Rafael, CA 94901

Attorney for Personal

Representative:

Anthony A. Velardi, Esq. Florida Bar No. 113917

Key Largo Law

218 Lignumvitae Drive

Key Largo, FL 33037

Tel: (305) 453-5277

Fax: (305) 453-4985

E-Mail: anthony@keylargolaw.com

Publish:

September 7 & 14, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA PROBATE DIVISION

FILE NO.: 21-CP-98-P

DIVISION: UPPER KEYS

(Adversarial Proceeding)

IN RE: ESTATE OF BERTHOLD KEIL

Deceased.

NOTICE OF ACTION

(formal notice by publication)

TO: All persons having or claiming to have any right, title or interest in the assets and estate of BERTHOLD KEIL, deceased

YOU ARE NOTIFIED that a Petition to Determine Beneficiaries has been filed in this court. You are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, on petitioner’s attorney, whose name and address are:

Richard E. Warner, Esq., Richard

E. Warner P.A., 12221 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050 on or before November 22, 2023, and to file the original of the written defenses with the clerk of this court either before service or immediately thereafter.

Failure to serve and file written defenses as required may result in a judgment or order for the relief demanded, without further notice.

Signed on this 24th day of August, 2023.

KEVIN MADOK, CPA,

As Clerk of the Court

By: Catie L. Knowles

As Deputy Clerk

Publish:

August 31 and September 7, 14 & 21, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA

PROBATE DIVISION

FILE NO.: 23-CP-211-K

DIVISION: LOWER KEYS

IN RE: ESTATE OF FREDERICK EBERSTADT Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the estate of Frederick Eberstadt, deceased, whose date of death was July 29, 2023, is pending in the Circuit Court for MONROE County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 500 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida 33040. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court ON OR BEFORE THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court

WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN FLORIDA STATUTES SECTION 733.702 WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

The date of first publication of this notice is: August 31, 2023.

Personal Representative:

Nicholas Nash Eberstadt

53 Cape Henlopen Drive, Apt. 3 Lewes, Delaware 19958

Attorney for Personal

Representative:

Richard E. Warner

Attorney

Florida Bar Number: 283134

RICHARD E. WARNER, P.A.

12221 Overseas Highway MARATHON, FL 33050

Telephone: (305) 743-6022

Fax: (305) 743-6216

E-mail: richard@rewarnerlaw.com

Secondary E-Mail: pamela2@ rewarnerlaw.com

Publish:

August 31 & September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA

PROBATE DIVISION

FILE NO.: 23-CP-105-P

IN RE: ESTATE OF STEPHEN J. ORTON, Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the estate of STEPHEN J. ORTON, deceased, whose date of death was June 25, 2023, File Number

23-CP-105-P is pending in the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is Plantation Key Government Center, 88820 Overseas Highway, Plantation Key, FL 33070. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice has been served must file their claims with this Court WITHIN THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE TIME OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT SO FILED WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIOD SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

The date of first publication of this notice is: August 31, 2023.

Personal Representative:

CYNTHIA A. ORTON

174 Indian Mound Trail Tavernier, FL 33070 Attorney for Personal Representative:

JOE A. CATARINEAU Florida Bar Number: 0517291 91750 Overseas Highway Tavernier, FL 33070 Telephone: (305) 852-4833

Publish: August 31 & September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA

PROBATE DIVISION CASE NO: 23-CP-000160-K IN RE: ESTATE OF LLOYD P. BREWER, JR., Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the Estate of Lloyd P. Brewer, Jr., deceased, whose date of death was June 9, 2023, is pending in the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 88820 Overseas Highway, Plantation Key, FL 33070. The names and addresses of the Administrator Ad Litem and the Administrator Ad Litem’s attorney are set forth below.

demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court ON OR BEFORE THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN FLORIDA STATUTES SECTION 733.702 WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

The date of first publication of this notice is: August 31, 2023.

Scott Saunders, Administrator

Ad Litem

P.O. Box 6162

Key West, Florida 33041

Jared Gelles, Esq.

FBN 991181

Co-Counsel to Scott Saunders

STOLZENBERG GELLES FLYNN & ARANGO, LLP

1533 Sunset Drive, Suite 150 Coral Gables, Florida 33143 Tel: (305) 961-1450/ Fax: (305) 423-3979

E-mail: jgelles@sgfcounsel.com egrant@sgfcounsel.com

Publish:

August 31 & September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA PROBATE DIVISION FILE NO: 23-CP-000050-M IN RE: ESTATE OF DANIEL CALLAGHAN GUDE, Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the Estate of Daniel Callaghan Gude, Deceased, whose date of death was July 2, 2023, is pending in the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 3117 Overseas Highway, Marathon, Florida 33050. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the Decedent and other persons having claims or demands against Decedent’s Estate, on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served, must file their claims with the Court ON OR BEFORE THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM.

All other creditors of the Decedent and other persons having claims or demands against Decedent’s Estate must file their claims with this Court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN FLORIDA STATUTES 733.702 WILL BE FOREVER BARRED.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIOD SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

The date of first publication of this Notice is August 31, 2023.

Signed on this 28th day of August, 2023.

Personal Representative

Michael Egan Gude, Petitioner

1536 Camp Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

Attorney for Personal

Representative Lee Robert Rohe, ESQ. Florida Bar Number: 271365

LEE ROBERT ROHE, P.A.

1100 Crestwood Court South

Unit 1117

Royal Palm Beach, Florida 33411

Telephone: (305) 745-2254

Email: lrrlaw@bellsouth.net

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA PROBATE DIVISION

FILE NO.: 23-CP-041-M IN RE: ESTATE OF DONALD M. DAHLFUES, Deceased.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

The administration of the estate of Donald M. Dahlfues, deceased, whose date of death was December 22, 2022, is pending in the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Florida, Probate Division, the address of which is 3117 Overseas Highway, Marathon, Florida 33050. The estate is testate and the date of the decedent’s Will and any codicils are July 5, 2011. The names and addresses of the personal representative and the personal representative’s attorney are set forth below.

All creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against decedent’s estate on whom a copy of this notice is required to be served must file their claims with this court WITHIN THE LATER OF 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF SERVICE OF A COPY OF THIS NOTICE ON THEM. All other creditors of the decedent and other persons having claims or demands against the decedent’s estate must file their claims with this court WITHIN 3 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE.

ALL CLAIMS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH IN SECTION 733.702 OF THE FLORIDA PROBATE CODE WILL BE FOREVER BARRED. NOTWITHSTANDING THE TIME PERIODS SET FORTH ABOVE, ANY CLAIM FILED TWO (2) YEARS OR MORE AFTER THE DECEDENT’S DATE OF DEATH IS BARRED.

The date of first publication of this Notice is: August 31, 2023.

Personal Representative: Judy M. Dahlfues 302 B Anglers Drive North Marathon, FL 33050 Attorney for Personal

Representative: James J. Dorl, Esq. Florida Bar No. 618403

JAMES J. DORL, P.A. Suite 12 First Professional Centre 5701 Overseas Highway Marathon, FL 33050 Telephone: (305) 743-6565

Facsimile: (305) 743-4143

e-mail: jjdorl@yahoo.com

Publish:

August 31 & September 7, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA CASE NO.: 23-DR-646-K DIANA RESHETKO ROSA Petitioner, and, ABDUSALOM KADIROV Respondent. NOTICE OF ACTION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE (NO CHILD OR FINANCIAL SUPPORT)

TO: ABDUSALOM KADIROV RESPONDENT’S LAST KNOWN ADDRESS: UNKNOWN YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an action for Dissolution of Marriage has been filed against you and that you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to it on Diana Reshetko Rosa, whose address is 3333 Duck Avenue, Apt. A208, Key West, FL 33040 on or before October 10, 2023, and file the original with the clerk of this Court at 500 Whitehead Street, Key West, FL 33040, before service on Petitioner or immediately thereafter. If you fail to do so, a default may be entered against you for the relief demanded in the petition. The action is asking the court to decide how the following real or personal property should be divided: NONE Copies of all court documents in

LEGAL NOTICES

this case, including orders, are available at the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office. You may review these documents upon request. You must keep the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office notified of your current address. (You may file Designation of Current Mailing and E-Mail Address, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915.) Future papers in this lawsuit will be mailed or e-mailed to the address(es) on record at the clerk’s office.

WARNING: Rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, requires certain automatic disclosure of documents and information. Failure to comply can result in sanctions, including dismissal or striking of pleadings.

Dated: August 30, 2023

Kevin Madok, CPA Clerk of the Circuit Court Monroe County, Florida

By: Shonta McLeod Deputy Clerk Publish:

September 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA CASE NO.: 23-DR-0000590-K ORLANDO MACHADO GALIANO Petitioner, and, NIURKA JIMENEZ PAZO, Respondent.

NOTICE OF ACTION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE

TO: NIURKA JIMENEZ PAZO RESPONDENT’S LAST KNOWN ADDRESS: 240 LIBERTAD MORON CA, CUBA 65110

YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an action for Dissolution of Marriage has been filed against you and that you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to it on ORLANDO MACHADO GALIANO, whose address is 2111 FLAGLER AVENUE, KEY WEST, FL 33040 on or before SEPTEMBER 25, 2023, and file the original with the clerk of this Court at 500 Whitehead Street, Key West, FL 33040, before service on Petitioner or immediately thereafter. If you fail to do so, a default may be entered against you for the relief demanded in the petition.

The action is asking the court to decide how the following real or personal property should be divided: NONE

Copies of all court documents in this case, including orders, are available at the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office. You may review these documents upon request.

You must keep the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office notified of your current address. (You may file Designation of Current Mailing and E-Mail Address, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915.) Future papers in this lawsuit will be mailed or e-mailed to the address(es) on record at the clerk’s office.

WARNING: Rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, requires certain automatic disclosure of documents and information. Failure to comply can result in sanctions, including dismissal or striking of pleadings.

Dated: August 21, 2023

Kevin Madok, CPA Clerk of the Circuit Court Monroe County, Florida

By: Riza Hall Deputy Clerk

Publish: August 24 & 31 and September 7 & 14, 2023

The

o’clock a.m., at 500 Whitehead Street, Monroe County, in the City of Key West, Florida, offer for sale and sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for CASH the Following described property situated in Monroe County, Florida, to wit:

COUNT I

Condominium Unit 105, Unit

Weeks 36 and 37, of THE BANYAN TREE OF KEY WEST, together with an undivided interest in the common elements, according to the Declaration of Condominium thereof, recorded in Official Records Book 872, Page 1654, as amended from time to time, of the Public Records of Monroe County, Florida.

Pursuant to ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO RESET FORECLOSURE SALE DATE ON COUNT(S) I entered in a case pending in said Court, the 23RD day of August 2023

Style of which is: THE BANYAN TREE OF KEY WEST CONDOMINIUM AND OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION

Plaintiff v. WILLIAM STAFFORD Defendant

And the Docket Number of which is 2020-CA-44-K

WITNESS my hand and the Official Seal of Said Court, this 24TH day of August 2023.

KEVIN MADOK, CPA

Clerk of the Circuit Court Monroe County, Florida

By: Shonta McLeod

Deputy Clerk Florida Statute 45.031: Any person claiming an interest in the surplus from this sale, if any, other than the property owner as of the date of the Lis Pendens must file a claim within 60 days after the sale.

Publish:

September 7 & 14, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MONROE COUNTY

CASE NO. 2020-CA-44-K

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE BY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT

Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, Kevin Madok, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Florida, will, on the 27th day of September, 2023 at 11 o’clock a.m., at 500 Whitehead Street, Monroe County, in the City of Key West, Florida, offer for sale and sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for CASH the Following described property situated in Monroe County, Florida, to wit:

COUNT II

An undivided 1/260th interest as a tenant in common with other owners in the Resort Facility (1 Time Share Interest), according to the Time-Sharing Plan thereof, recorded in the Official Records Book 942, Page 653, of the Public Records of Monroe County, Florida (Plan). Together with the right to occupy, pursuant to the Plan, Unit 405, during Unit Week 35.

Pursuant to ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO RESET FORECLOSURE SALE DATE ON COUNT(S) II entered in a case pending in said Court, the 23RD day of August 2023

Style of which is:

THE BANYAN TREE OF KEY WEST CONDOMINIUM AND OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION

Plaintiff v. WILLIAM STAFFORD

Defendant

Publish:

September 7 & 14, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MONROE COUNTY

CASE NO. 2020-CA-44-K

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE BY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT

Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, Kevin Madok, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Florida, will, on the 27th day of September, 2023 at 11 o’clock a.m., at 500 Whitehead Street, Monroe County, in the City of Key West, Florida, offer for sale and sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for CASH the Following described property situated in Monroe County, Florida, to wit:

COUNT III

An undivided 1/416th interest as a tenant in common with other owners in the Resort Facility (1 Time Share Interest), according to the Time-Sharing Plan thereof, recorded in Official Records Book 988, Pages 1510 through 1580, of the Public records of Monroe County, Florida (Plan). Together with the right to occupy, pursuant to the Plan, Unit 503, during Unit Week 35.

Pursuant to ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO RESET FORECLOSURE SALE DATE ON COUNT(S) III entered in a case pending in said Court, the 23RD day of August 2023

Style of which is:

THE BANYAN TREE OF KEY WEST CONDOMINIUM AND OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION

Plaintiff v. WILLIAM STAFFORD

Defendant

And the Docket Number of which is 2020-CA-44-K WITNESS my hand and the Official Seal of Said Court, this 24TH day of August 2023.

KEVIN MADOK, CPA Clerk of the Circuit Court Monroe County, Florida

By: Shonta McLeod

Deputy Clerk Florida Statute 45.031: Any person claiming an interest in the surplus from this sale, if any, other than the property owner as of the date of the Lis Pendens must file a claim within 60 days after the sale.

Publish:

September 7 & 14, 2023

The Weekly Newspapers

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MONROE COUNTY CASE NO. 2020-CA-44-K

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE BY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT

Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, Kevin Madok, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Florida, will, on the 27th day of September, 2023 at 11 o’clock a.m., at 500 Whitehead Street, Monroe County, in the City of Key West, Florida, offer for sale and sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for CASH the Following described property situated in Monroe County, Florida, to wit:

COUNT IV

Newspapers

Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, Kevin Madok, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Florida, will, on the 27th day of September, 2023 at 11

And the Docket Number of which is 2020-CA-44-K

WITNESS my hand and the Official Seal of Said Court, this 24TH day of August 2023.

KEVIN MADOK, CPA

Clerk of the Circuit Court Monroe County, Florida

By: Shonta McLeod

Deputy Clerk Florida Statute 45.031: Any person claiming an interest in the surplus from this sale, if any, other than the property owner as of the date of the Lis Pendens must file a claim within 60 days after the sale.

Unit 38 in Condominium Parcel Number 105, of the BANYAN TREE OF KEY WEST CONDOMINIUM, together with an undivided interest in the common elements appurtenant thereto, according the Declaration of Condominium thereof recorded in Official Record Book 872 at page 1654 Public Records of Monroe County, FL, together with any amendments thereto.

Pursuant to ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO RESET FORECLOSURE SALE DATE ON COUNT(S) IV entered in a case pending in said Court, the 23RD day of August 2023 Style of which is: THE BANYAN TREE OF KEY WEST CONDOMINIUM AND OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION

Having Fun in the Middle Keys

FT administrative, salaried position. Responsible for operations of Group Homes in accordance with State and Fed rules and regulations. Oversight of sta and clients. Bachelor’s degree and Florida DL w/clean driving record req. At least 2 yrs of mgmt and admin experience req, and direct or comparable experience w/same or similar population preferred. Computer skills: moderate to advanced. Pre-employment training online and in person. Ability to pass a Level II background screening and references. EOE. Apply at 1401 Seminary St., Key West, FL or online at www.marchouse.org.

For more information, please contact hr@marchouse.org Phone: 305.294.9526 *32 FAX 305.292.0078

MARC, 1401 Seminar y St, Key West, FL www.marchouse.org Come join our family! EOE

NOW HIRING DIVE INSTRUCTOR

Please contact April at 305.407.3262 or april@floridakeysaquariumencounters.com for more information. 11710

MARATHON GARBAGE SERVICE

We are now hiring for the following positions:

Diesel

NOW HIRING IN ISLAMORADA

MARINA CASHIER

Must have customer service experience working in a retail environment and using a point of sale system. Additional duties include restocking, completing purchase orders, daily ordering of basic items in the store, and maintaining a clean appearance in the store. This is an hourly position and compensation is based on experience. Work hours are flexible and we try to maintain a set weekly schedule.

Please respond by email (Ma at islamarinama @gmail.com) with any relevant previous experience and at least two references.

NOW HIRING IN ISLAMORADA BOAT RENTAL STAFF

FLEXIBLE HOURS & COMPETITIVE WAGES

Need to have experience driving boats and a working knowledge of the Islamorada area by water. Duties include taking reservations, giving captains lessons and routine boat maintenance.

Email Ma at eliteboatrentalsma @gmail.com. Please include contact information and any relevant experience.

NOW HIRING FT FRONT OFFICE ASSISTANT MARATHON, FL

Duties to include invoice and inventory entry, booking airline shipments, creating and filing paperwork for international shipments, scheduling inspections needed for international shipments, customer communication and tracking, creating and maintaining customer accounts and some customer service. Must be proficient in Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel. This position requires high attention to detail and the ability to multitask. Compensation will be dependent on experience.

IS HIRING

IN THE UPPER KEYS

FULL TIME PROJECT MANAGER EXPERIENCED

TRIM CARPENTER

Send resume to: admin@cbtconstruction.com Or call: 305-852-3002

Applicants must apply in person to be considered.

4290 Overseas Hwy, Marathon

SUDOKU SOLUTION

Benefits package including vacation, sick days, holidays and 401K PSP retirement plan. Please send cover letter and resume to sales@dynastymarine.net for consideration. No phone calls please. dynastymarine.net

DOLPHIN RESEARCH CENTER IS HIRING

Dolphin Research Center has Full-Time/Part-Time, Permanent/Temporary Guest Services & Gift Shop positions that involve direct contact with our visitors & is another opportunity to ensure they leave DRC with a happy & positive experience.

Walk around the grounds and see dolphins every day.

Job description available at www.dolphins.org. E-mail your resume and a DRC application to drc-hr@dolphins.org. EOE

58901 O/S Hwy - Grassy Key, FL Teaching... Learning... Caring

Keys Energy Services, in Key West, Florida, is accepting applications for the following position in its Executive Department:

TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION

T&D ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

Starting pay rate for this position, depending on qualifications and experience: $108,332/annually$111,365/annually

For more information, including job duties and required qualifications, and to apply for the job, please visit their website at www.KeysEnergy.com.

KEYS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

KEYS promotes a Drug-Free Workplace.

Certain service members, veterans, the spouses and family members of service members and veterans, receive preference and priority in employment, and are encouraged to apply for positions being filled.

Keys Energy Services, in Key West, Florida, is accepting applications for the following position in its Transmission & Distribution Department:

SUBSTATION ELECTRICIAN

Starting pay rate for this position, depending on quali cations and experience: $40.35/hr. - $45.19/hr. For more information, including job duties and required quali cations, and to apply for the job, please visit their website at www.KeysEnergy.com.

KEYS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

KEYS promotes a Drug-Free Workplace.

Certain service members, veterans, the spouses and family members of service members and veterans, receive preference and priority in employment, and are encouraged to apply for positions being lled.

is accepting applications for the following full-time position in Key West

TERRITORY SERVICE AND SALES REPRESENTATIVE

This opportunity o ers you the ability to partner with our current customers in the Hospitality and Food Service industries. You will serve as the face of Ecolab, servicing Laundries and Dish machines, dispensing equipment, and systems for our customers. You will also provide recommendations on advanced cleaning and sanitation programs. Full training provided at our Headquarters.

Comprehensive bene ts package including medical, dental, vision, matching 401K, company paid pension, opportunities for stock purchase, tuition reimbursement, and more. Decal company vehicle provided. $3000-$4000 Sign on Bonus available for this role!

High School Diploma or GED. For more information, including job duties and required qualifications, and to apply for the job, please call 786-512-2238.

EXPERIENCED ELECTRICIANS AND HELPERS NEEDED

Experience is required. Must have a valid driver’s license. We offer 401K, medical insurance, paid holidays and paid vacation.

Positions available in Key West and Marathon. 305-292-3369

DUI EVALUATOR/ INSTRUCTOR

The Advocate DUI Program is hiring for part time positions. DUI instructors and evaluators - 2 days a week, Bachelors or Masters degree in substance abuse eld required. Bilingual preferred, not required. Of ce located in Marathon. Contact Marcia at 305-704-0117.

THE GUIDANCE/CARE CENTER, Inc.

IS HIRING!

GCC offers excellent benefits for full-time employment, but we realize some would prefer part-time to enjoy the Florida Keys lifestyle more. All positions can be considered for full or part-time unless notated. Apply at westcare.com and enter your availability.

KEY LARGO

Advocate

Behavioral Health Therapist (Child)

KEY WEST

Peer Support Specialist

Prevention Specialist Advocate

Behavioral Health Therapist (Child, Adult)

Behavioral Health Counselor (Children)

Case Managers (Adult)

MARATHON

Driver (CDL required)

Care Coordinator

Behavioral Health Therapist (Child, Adult)

RNs/LPNs - 3 shifts (also Per Diem)

Maintenance Specialist

*Behavioral Health Technicians

3 shifts (also Per Diem)

Peer Support Specialist

*Support Worker – Assisted Living Psychiatric ARNP (PT only)

*No experience required for these positions. Will train. A caring heart & helpful hands required.

DOLPHIN RESEARCH CENTER IS HIRING

Volunteer Resources

Administrative Assistant (Full-Time, Permanent)

Media & Marketing Staff Member (Full-Time, Permanent)

Human Resources Assistant (Part-Time, Permanent)

Guest Services & Gift Shop Staff (Full-Time/Part-Time, Temporary/Permanent)

Accounting Director (Full-Time, Permanent)

Facilities Maintenance Apprentice (Full-Time, Permanent)

Trainer (Full-Time, Permanent)

Education Program Host (Full-Time, Permanent)

Benefits include medical, life & disability insurance, 401(k) plan, paid vacation, sick time & holidays.

Full job descriptions available at www.dolphins.org/career_opportunities

Email cover letter, DRC application & resume to drc-hr@dolphins.org EOE

DOLPHIN RESEARCH CENTER

58901 O/S Hwy - Grassy Key, FL Teaching... Learning... Caring

FEATURED PROPERTIES

8 FLORAL AVENUE KEY HAVEN | $2,699,000

Stunning 3BR/3BA home boasting stellar open water views in front of the house, and pristine canal views in back. Meticulously maintained and flooded with natural light this gem features massive kitchen, large dining room and bonus sitting room. Sprawling main bedroom o ers breathtaking views and privacy on its own separate floor. Brick paver deck leads to 60 feet of sea wall featuring an 18k boat lift at this Key Haven treasure!

51 RIVIERA DRIVE BIG COPPITT | $1,095,000

Priceless open water views define this Lower Keys gem, providing an atmosphere of serenity and relaxation. Nestled at the end of the road in Gulfrest Park, this property boasts an oversized lot, with ample space for storage, entertaining, or potential RV parking. World class boating, fishing, and diving await immediately out of your backyard, and the neighborhood boat ramp a ords further access and is only ½ mile away.

THE LISA FERRINGO GROUP

COLDWELL BANKER SCHMITT

O ce: 305.872.5261 Cell: 305.797.1221

lisaferringo@gmail.com LisaFerringo.com

BAY DRIVE SUMMERLAND KEY | $1,999,900

Bright and spacious Summerland Key retreat, on a peaceful corner lot, with endless turquoise water views! This prime location is ideal for the avid boater, with approximately 189' of water frontage and enviable ocean access within minutes. Entertain guests on the spacious open back porch, overlooking the well-maintained yard and canal below. Nestled within a tranquil, established neighborhood, while just minutes to shops and restaurants in town!

DOMINICA LANE VACANT LOTS RAMROD KEY | $699,000

Build your dream home in paradise! Oceanfront lots with approx 62 ft. of open water frontage as well as 160 ft. canal frontage in desirable Breezeswept Beach Estates! Stellar no-bridge boating access to open water, and as close as you can be to the turquoise waters of Looe Key which o ers world-class snorkeling and diving. Breathtaking sunrise views from the private sandy beach, and unrivaled nighttime sky!

1157 91ST COURT OCEAN MARATHON | $899,000

Build your own island dream home on this ROGO exempt, Gulfstream Village canal front lot in a prime location! Incomparable open water access, this lot boasts a deep water canal with 30' of concrete dockage. Enjoy access to world renowned fishing and diving within minutes! Take advantage of this excellent investment opportunity, and the chance to personalize this build to suit your ideal Keys lifestyle!

4500 FILER COVE ROAD BIG TORCH KEY | $5,999,000

Secluded & private 4BR/4BA estate with over 2,000 ft. of waterfront situated on over 12 picturesque acres. 2,500 sq. ft. of decking connects the main home & guest house and was designed to maximize the indooroutdoor living spaces. A true boater's paradise located along Niles channel allowing for direct access to either the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico is complete with 65x15 foot concrete seawall on a deep-water canal, davits, & dock house.

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