Nancy Klingener

The reason the Florida Keys are wary of COVID-19 — and put up a checkpoint keeping visitors out for more than two months — has always been the same: the limited hospital capacity on the island chain. As the numbers of coronavirus cases rise, that capacity is becoming an increasing concern.

Beaches will be closed in South Florida for the Fourth of July weekend but people are still going to be on the water — on boats. From Palm Beach County to the Keys, law enforcement is gearing up to handle  crowds and to try enforcing social distancing, and other rules, on the water.

The new school year in the Keys could happen three different ways, depending on what's happening with the coronavirus.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released its plan to help the Florida Keys adapt to rising seas. The $5.4 billion plan would include elevating more than 7,000 homes and buying out almost 300.

June 19 commemorates the day the last enslaved African Americans learned of their freedom in Galveston, Texas — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

This year, Juneteenth was observed amid continuing demonstrations and other events addressing systemic racism, injustice and police violence. In South Florida, people danced, remembered and looked ahead.

There’s a lot of talk about the new normal, but what does that mean in a place where the old normal had changed so much already?

Earlier this month, right after the Keys reopened to visitors, Monroe County commissioners voted three to two against making masks mandatory inside businesses. They did recommend the wearing of masks.

But after a couple weeks of watching how people are behaving, they decided to revisit the issue.

The United States Supreme Court ruled Monday that employers may not discriminate against LGBTQ employees because of their sexual orientation.

In Florida, a bill that offered legal protection to LGBTQ people has failed year after year in the state Legislature. State Rep. Holly Raschein, R-Key Largo, has been a sponsor and champion for that bill.

About 2 million people a year visit Key West — and almost half of them get there on cruise ships. With the industry on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, some folks on the island are working on a reset.

Naval Air Station Key West is like a small city within the Keys — so it's had its own response to COVID-19. There are about 5,500 employees and dependents, with an airfield, a port and annexes all over the island.