Monroe County

Perseverance, a lucky sweater, and an uncanny resemblance to one of world's most iconic authors. That was the winning formula that helped a 69-year-old man from Key West, Florida, win the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest title this weekend in the Southernmost City in the U.S.

NYT Travel: Why did Key West, a city of 25,000 at the marshy tip of Florida, attract 4.6 million visitors last year? There are no theme parks, no golf courses, no casinos, and there are better beaches in far more obscure Florida cities. It’s probably the most charming, but unquestionably the least air-conditioned, city in a state where frosty AC is a sacrament.

Jimmy Buffett's widow, Jane Buffett, has asked a Florida judge to remove her late husband's financial adviser, Richard Mozenter, as cotrustee of his $275 million estate.

County commissioners in the Florida Keys agreed to withdraw from the South Florida Regional Climate Compact, as well as eliminate positions tied to emergency management, to cut costs.

The case, which stems from a deadly crash in 2019, raises broader questions about the safety of Tesla's driver-assistance systems and whether the company has exaggerated their capabilities.

Floyd Dean Devasier, 63, of Katy, Texas, was arrested Thursday for hiring or leasing property with intent to defraud. The charge stems from an incident that began earlier in the week when Devasier rented a 26.5-foot Panga-style vessel from Beach Weekend Key West Marina on Stock Island.

The Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year said it was terminating the Key Largo office for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Key West City Commissioners — under pressure from Florida’s attorney general — reversed a decision that was praised by residents at a previous meeting and voted to reenter into a 287(g) immigration enforcement agreement between local police and federal officials. It would deputize and train local law enforcement as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Nearly two years after an unprecedented die-off of endangered smalltooth sawfish in the Florida Keys, scientists are still investigating conditions that caused the deaths and how to better predict and prevent future outbreaks. “We're gonna probably have this tax on the sawfish population indefinitely," a marine biologist told WLRN.

A presidential executive order will increase entry fees for national parks, including Everglades National Park, but only for visitors who are not U.S. citizens. President Donald Trump said "national parks will be about America First."

Responding to an outcry of business owners, church leaders and local residents, the Key West City Commission cancelled the city’s agreement to allow local police to assist federal immigration agents in apprehending suspected undocumented immigrants.

“It has had devastating effects on the economic health of our island,” says the group — the Key West Immigrant Support Network — in a statement. “If we continue down this path, it will have irreversible consequences.”