Gwen Filosa
Florida Keys ReporterGwen Filosa covers the Florida Keys for WLRN.
She moved to Key West in June 2011 for a reporter job at the island’s daily newspaper, the Keys West Citizen. She later joined the staff of the McClatchy Company-owned Keynoter, then a subsidiary of the Miami Herald. In 2016, the Herald hired her to cover the Keys. She joined WLRN in October 2022.
Gwen came to Key West from New Orleans, where for a decade she covered Orleans Parish criminal courts for The Times-Picayune. She also kept tabs on Louisiana prisons, the death penalty and public housing.
Gwen was part of The Times-Picayune’s staff that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News, as well as the Public Service medal, for its coverage of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. She rode out the hurricane in the newsroom and then, after being forced to evacuate the building due to flooding, reported on its devastating aftermath across the region.
Previously, Gwen wrote for the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire. She covered the police and courts beat after working as a regional reporter. In 2000, she also helped cover the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
She graduated from Indiana University with a B.A. in English literature and also studied at the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism.
Gwen has become a grateful resident of Key West, where the Fighting Conchs rule – but remains a devoted New Orleans Saints fan. Geaux Saints!
Contact Gwen:gfilosa@wlrnnews.org
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The Monroe County School District announced that two new principals would take over schools that are also their alma maters. It means that all three public high schools in the Florida Keys are run by educators who hold diplomas from the same schools they lead. -
He had Ernest Hemingway for a neighbor, bought a Model T car with a New Deal job and served in the Pacific during World War II – but, as he hits another milestone birthday, one of Key West's oldest living Conchs doesn’t look a day over 90.
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Acclaimed bestselling author Judy Blume on Wednesday was named an “honorary Conch” by elected officials in the Florida Keys, not just for being a long-term illustrious resident of Key West, but also for supporting local arts and fighting book censorship.
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The new $42 million Islamorada water transmission line project is expected to be finished in 2025. Work will slow traffic on the busy Overseas Highway.
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A Florida Keys woman complained to the state that the popular Island House resort discriminates against cisgender women, trans and non-binary with its men-only policy.
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In Monroe County, the growing number of drug overdose deaths — driven in part by the rise of fentanyl — are leading law enforcement to prosecute alleged drug dealers for murder to stem a deadly crisis.
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People in Key West have long been divided over the cruise ship industry's impact on the small island. Voters put big limits on cruise traffic in 2020 but state lawmakers canceled their wishes. Activists are up in arms about two days this year when two ships docked side by side at the same time.
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The Seward Johnson sculptures were removed from its outside perch this week from the Key West International Airport and sent to New York for refurbishing.
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Street performers at the popular Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square in Key West can juggle knives or defy gravity with acrobatic stunts — but since a tourist suffered a burn in January, they can’t use fire in their acts until further notice. A full-time fire spinner is grappling with the fire shutdown, while others fear for the popular show's future.
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Mallory Square is Key West's famous tourist spot for watching the sunset. The lead Florida Keys historian for the Monroe County Public Library system said it's not named for Stephen Mallory who was secretary of the Confederate Navy.
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Jimmy Buffett is a self-made legend. But when he landed in Key West 50 years ago, he was a "nobody from nowhere," he told a crowd. For Key West fans, his visit is an emotional homecoming.
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The Monroe County Sheriff's Office has a petting zoo at its jail on Stock Island. They just adopted a skunk who needed a home.
