Key West

Navy Capt. Elizabeth Regoli became commanding officer of Naval Air Station Key West Thursday, in a time-honored Navy traditional ceremony with bells, pipes and a brass band.

Officials typically record about two sperm whale strandings a year in the Gulf of Mexico, so two in a week is unusual.

WLRN earned 14 awards in the Florida News Awards competition for journalism produced in 2021, including Overall Station of the Year. Sundial's Leslie Ovalle is the top radio producer in the state.

Rents are rising. Is it up to lawmakers to control the situation? We look at the rising cost of living — everything from gas to our precious Cuban coffee. Plus, could moving Key deer off the Florida Keys help save them?

The state is giving Florida cities and counties 98 grants totaling almost $20 million to local governments to plan for sea level rise and flooding adaptation. The single largest grant — just over $900,000 — went to the city of Key West.

Skyrocketing housing costs are pushing the Monroe County school board to once again consider getting into the landlord business. Officials are reviewing a plan to build 76 affordable housing units on district land.

Commissioners say they want a contract with organizers that would get rid of "fantasy zones" where being topless is allowed — if you're wearing body paint.

Miami Beach’s handling of Spring Break has led to concerns about over-policing in largely Black crowds. Ultra Music Festival welcomes back Afrobeta. Plus, there’s a lost time capsule from 1972 somewhere in Key West.

Key West will celebrate its bicentennial with a time capsule. But locals are learning that an earlier capsule marking the island's 150th anniversary is AWOL.

The crew from the USS Shark raised the American flag over Key West for the first time on March 25, 1822. Now the ship's logbook is part of local historic archives.

A new state law aimed at preventing derelict vessels will require boats anchored offshore in the Keys to move at least every 90 days. Boaters say that will make them less safe. They also want more training and sheltering options during rough weather.

Opioid overdoses have been a major problem in the U.S. and Florida for years. The newer synthetic opioid fentanyl is even more dangerous. And that danger has reached the Florida Keys, where health workers are trying to distribute overdose kits as widely as they can.