Key West

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Hemingway Look-Alike Wins Contest, Despite Big Difference

'I only have one wife,' jokes Gerrit Marshall, 68, victor of annual Key West doppelganger contest

(Newser) - On his 68th birthday, a white-bearded Wisconsin man won the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, a highlight of Key West's annual Hemingway Days celebration that ends Sunday. Gerrit Marshall, a retired television broadcast engineer from Madison, prevailed over the weekend at Sloppy Joe's Bar, a frequent hangout of Ernest Hemingway...

Cuban Migrants Reach Florida by Hang Glider

Border Patrol takes both into custody

(Newser) - Two Cuban migrants used a motorized hang glider to fly the approximately 90 miles from the Communist-ruled island to Key West on Saturday, Florida officials said. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said the duo landed safely at Key West International Airport at about 10:30am and were turned over...

Family Calls Swept-Away Diver's Rescue a 'Miracle'

Dylan Gartenmayer was found off Key West, Florida

(Newser) - For a moment, the family members look out at the black speck in the water—fearful, waiting. Then they erupt in cheers, and no wonder. Their loved one, 22-year-old spearfishing diver Dylan Gartenmayer, had then been missing for at least three hours, per NBC Miami . Gartenmayer had been free diving...

Bartender Cracks Case of Burned Key West Buoy

He remembered suspect who ordered 3 rounds and never left a tip

(Newser) - Police in Key West trying to find the suspects who vandalized an iconic local landmark in the early hours of New Year's Day got some help from a bartender with a good memory for bad tippers. After authorities shared video of the two suspects setting a Christmas tree on...

2 Dead, 10 Missing After Boat Overturns Near Key West

Survivors say they left Cuba Sunday

(Newser) - The Coast Guard says multiple units are searching for 10 people believed to be missing in waters near Key West, Florida. Another eight people were rescued Thursday afternoon and two bodies were recovered around 16 miles south of the island, CNN reports. The Coast Guard says the cutter Resolute saw...

Woman Allegedly Tried on $15K Ring, Walked Out With It

Jannet Novelo-Aqela faces felony charge of grand theft

(Newser) - A Florida woman has been arrested almost a month after she allegedly snagged a $15,000 diamond ring from a jewelry store in Key West. The manager of Gold Silver Creations says that on Feb. 10 a female shopper in a floral jumpsuit tried on a three-diamond, 14-karat white gold...

Police: Fake Dating Profile Invited Men for Sex, Meth

Suspect and victim have never met but have dated the same man

(Newser) - The threatening texts and phone calls began in October. The 36-year-old Key West woman blocked the calls, only to have them start up again from other numbers. "You think texts are bad, next is your house and your job," Florida police said Vanessa Marie Huckaba told her at...

Body Cam Footage: Cops Try Handcuffing 8-Year-Old

Attorney Benjamin Crump says he plans to file lawsuit

(Newser) - Handcuff an 8-year-old? Florida police tried it in 2018 but found the boy's wrists too small for the cuffs, NBC News reports. Attorney Benjamin Crump tweeted bodycam footage of the incident Sunday, which has already racked up 2.3 million hits: "Unbelievable," he writes, adding that Key...

Florida Couple Jailed After Refusing to Quarantine

Key West residents ignored COVID-19 order

(Newser) - Two Florida Keys residents who ignored orders to quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 ended up in jail Wednesday night. Jose Freire Interian, 24, and Yohana Gonzalez, 26, were charged with violating isolation rules for a quarantine and violating emergency management disaster preparedness rules, the Miami Herald reports. Both charges...

He Just Bought a Private Island. Cops Say He Stole From Kmart

Andrew Lippi faces grand theft charges, accused of stealing $300 worth of items

(Newser) - Andrew Lippi owns a resort that's been used in MTV's Real World and a private island in the Florida Keys that he purchased for $8 million last week. He was also just accused of trying to steal about $300 worth of items from Kmart. ABC News and the...

'Idiot' Jumps on Pelican, Now Faces Charges

Maryland's Hunter Hardesty posted now-viral video involving protected species

(Newser) - Questionable content often finds its way onto Facebook, but viral videos of humans attacking animals generally don't go over well. A Maryland man is finding that out after he posted a clip Thursday from Key West, Fla., in which he's seen apparently luring a pelican over to the...

Key West Bans Sale of Certain Sunscreens

Hawaii also restricts products with certain chemicals

(Newser) - Wear sunscreen, sure, but not just any kind—especially when you're in the Florida Keys. Key West lawmakers voted 6-1 Tuesday to ban the sale of sunscreens with oxybenzone and octinoxate, the New York Times reports. Studies have shown that the chemicals are damaging to coral reefs. "Our...

Conch Harvesting Gets Tourist Over 2 Weeks Jail Time

The Texas woman said she didn't know it was illegal to harvest the threatened mollusks

(Newser) - A tourist in Florida has been sentenced to 15 days jail time after she says she thought she was simply collecting sea shells. Per the Miami Herald , Diana Fiscal-Gonzalez was caught after harvesting dozens of queen conchs from the coast of Key West. Fiscal-Gonzalez, who was visiting from Texas, was...

Retiree Accepts Proposal After Winning Conch Shell Contest

Mary Lou Smith, 70, and Rick Race, 73, were both competing on a stage in Key West

(Newser) - A Florida retiree has won the women's division in Key West's annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest—and accepted a marriage proposal from a fellow competitor. Seventy-year-old Mary Lou Smith impressed the judges Saturday with long blasts on the fluted, pink-lined shell. And when 73-year-old Rick Race proposed on...

Packing 130mph Winds, Irma Makes Landfall in Florida

Monster hurricane slams into Cudjoe Key; up to 1M are already without power

(Newser) - Hurricane Irma has made landfall in the Florida Keys, reports the AP . The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said the center of the massive hurricane made landfall on Cudjoe Key in the lower Florida Keys at 9:10am. Its top sustained winds are 130mph. Irma earlier began its assault...

Best Hemingway Lookalike: Guy Named Hemingway

Like Ernest, he also likes to drink

(Newser) - For the first time in its 36-year history, a Hemingway has won a competition seeking the man who most looks like literary giant Ernest Hemingway. Dave Hemingway was named the winner of the "Papa" Hemingway Lookalike Contest on Saturday in Key West, Fla., reports the AP . He says he'...

Fugitive's Home for 18 Years: Key West Houseboat

Michelle Singleton was living as Catherine Harris

(Newser) - Michelle Singleton had a seemingly enviable life in Key West, Florida—that is, until police knocked on the door of her houseboat on Friday and took her into custody, 18 years after she was convicted of payroll check fraud. Singleton had skipped town in 1996, leaving Kansas City, Mo., before...

Key West Could Be Underwater by 2113

Florida Keys prepare for sea level rise

(Newser) - According to federal flood-planning directives, the ground floor of the Stock Island fire station in the Florida Keys should be built up 9 feet. Instead, county authorities went a foot and a half beyond that—just in case. Nearby parks, roads, and bridges also may be elevated. The sea level...

Feds Can Restrict Hemingway's Cats: Ruling

Judges crack down on Key West museum

(Newser) - Looks like Ernest Hemingway's famous six-toed cats won't roam so freely anymore. Three federal judges have ruled that a Key West, Fla., museum housing the cats can no longer keep them without restrictions, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The museum will have to put them in cages overnight,...

Man Commits Suicide Over Obama Victory

Fla. man scrawled 'F*** Obama' on will

(Newser) - A troubled Florida man appears to have chosen death over another four years of President Obama, police say. Officers who had been requested to conduct a welfare check found the body of Henry Hamilton, 64, next to two empty bottles of anxiety and schizophrenia medication in the Key West home...

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