Monroe County

Perseverance paid off Saturday night in Key West, as Chris Dutton made history becoming the first "Young Hemingway" ever to win Sloppy Joe's 45th Annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest.

In Key West, 24 finalists selected during preliminary rounds Thursday and Friday are competing Saturday night in the final round of Sloppy Joe's 45th Annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest. Past winners will narrow the field to five before one contestant is crowned "Papa 2026."

The Florida Keys just got its second undersea habitat, where researchers can spend days working and living without breaking the water’s surface.

Field researchers at the Coral Restoration Lab rushed from the ocean, carrying plastic crates filled with elkhorn corals. They join a wave of rescue missions on Florida’s coast that are removing corals from the sea, in hopes that they can give this vital form of marine life a fighting chance this blistering summer.

The species are the first added to the Endangered Species List by the Trump administration during its second term.

With a measuring tape and waterproof notepad in hand, genealogist Shellie Baxter swims around a shipwreck embedded into the ocean’s floor in the Florida Keys. The water is warmer than the San Diego shores she’s used to, but this is still her most challenging dive yet – she is learning how to document slave shipwrecks.

Coral scientists and nursery operators are taking steps to protect fragile coral as water temperatures rise.

Kevin Renly, a former San Diego resident who now operates Southernmost Bees in the Florida Keys, secured the victory on his third attempt at the title, devouring a full 9-inch pie in less than a minute (59.60 seconds to be exact).

If passed, the state's mosquito control districts that rely on ad valorem taxes could lose a third of their funding, according to the Florida Mosquito Control Association.

A proposed Florida constitutional amendment aimed at slashing property taxes could offer immediate relief to homeowners, but county property appraisers are warning it will spark a major financial challenge for local governments and alter how public services are funded.

Key West is this week celebrating the LGBTQ+ community “with a little bit more passion” — as it hosts its last Pride festival to be aided by public funding before a DEI ban kicks in.

Monroe County Mayor Michelle Lincoln sent a letter Friday to members of the Florida Legislature expressing deep concerns over the proposed bill, known as SJR 2-F, just ahead of the start of Monday's special legislative session in Tallahassee.