Florida’s unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in April 2016, down 0.2 percentage point from the March 2016 rate of 4.7 percent, and down 0.7 percentage point from 5.2 percent a year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in April. Florida’s unemployment rate has been less than or equal to the national rate for 26 … Read more
It’s that time of year — when Florida residents flock to the land of Hemingway, hammocks and sunset celebrations – the Florida Keys. The 110-mile highway to Key West is peppered with attractions, restaurants and shops to explore, but you’ll need a place to stay and there are many good options. Here are a few … Read more
The Middle Florida Keys are an often overlooked destination. Lying between the Upper Florida Keys where you will find the Diving & Fishing Capitals of Key Largo and Islamorada and the Lower Florida Keys with Big Pine Key’s Key Deer and world famous Key West, the Middle Florida Keys is sometimes referred to as the Heart … Read more
Residents living by the city-owned Harbor Drive boat ramp near Aviation Boulevard behind Florida Keys Marathon International Airport may get some reprieve from what some call encroachment in their area.City Manager Charles Lindsey told the Marathon City Council at its meeting Tuesday that he and city staff might have a proposed ordinance to present at … Read more
Wayne Carter may be one of the busiest professionals in the Florida Keys, working as chief executive officer of the Marathon and Lower Keys Association of Realtors. But he’s a got a side gig: Working as a crocodile response “agent” for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “As a teenager, I worked for a … Read more
The Turtle Hospital at mile marker 48.5 bayside in Marathon admitted 172 sea turtles last year — nearly double the number of 2014, hospital staff says. Manager Bette Zirkelbach said cases of fibropapillomatosis, a debilitating herpes virus specific to sea turtles, are increasing, especially among juvenile green sea turtles. “Marine turtles with FP have external … Read more
Marathon Legend has it this city got its name from the workers who toiled to build Henry Flagler’s railroad through the Keys. The work, they said, was a real marathon.The name stuck and today the 16-mile series of islands is one of the most family friendly strips in south Florida. At The Turtle Hospital, kids … Read more
Resorts in the Florida Keys are opening and renovating faster than you can say “Ernest Hemingway.” What does Hemingway have to do with it? The iconic American author lived in Key West during the 1930s, when he penned The Snows of Kilimanjaro and To Have and Have Not, and immortalized the free-spirited isle in literary … Read more
By Julia Ford-Carther Just a short drive from Miami, trips to the Florida Keys—stretching from Key Largo to Key West—offer a different way to experience paradise. Surfboards and Adirondack chairs beckon outside The Beach Café at Morada Bay. While Miamians live where everyone else vacations, residents like to sneak away occasionally for a change … Read more
The most stunning feature of this charming 11,674-square-foot estate in Marathon that just hit the market is out back, where you’ll find the pool of all pools, outfitted with a waterfall, bridge, wet bar and jacuzzi. Located in the Heart of the Florida Keys, the property known as “Fish Camp” is Marathon’s priciest home on … Read more
Florida Keys Beaches I recently took an extended road trip down the East coast from West Virginia, ending magnificently in the Florida Keys. Anyone who has traveled down that way, knows that the Keys can be quite expensive to stay in. So money for activities does not have to be that much thank goodness, there … Read more
Want to brush up on your snorkeling skills or enjoy the beautiful Florida Keys’ waters without paying for a boat trip? You won’t see massive coral formations as shown on television, but you can find a wonderful and intriguing underwater world in the nearshore waters. At three area Florida State Parks, a quick swim will … Read more
More than 100 marine-resource conservation counts were filed against a Marathon man late Monday after law officers surprised a boat making a nocturnal landing. Jose Carlos Acosta Arias, 37, was carrying a mesh bag with 77 wrung lobster tails when he stepped off a “blacked-out vessel” near the oceanside of 74th Street in Marathon, reported … Read more
Heavy machinery cleaned up debris at the former Crystal Bay Resort in Marathon over the weekend, clearing part of the property as developer Marvin Rappaport hopes to start construction in January. Rappaport said there are 30 cottages on the property near mile marker 50 bayside of U.S. 1, which he plans to demolish and rebuild. … Read more
Summer may be slipping away, but you still have time to slip beneath some waves. The best part is — you don’t even have to leave the country to do it. Yahoo Travel went in search of easily accessible and interesting places to don fins, mask, and snorkels for a fun day of fish peeping. … Read more
Pritam Singh is one step closer to turning Knights Key into Marathon’s next destination resort. Singh, who built, among other things, the Truman Annex housing development in Key West and Tranquility Bay Resort in Marathon, received unanimous approval Monday from the Marathon Planning Commission for his yet-to-be named 199-room resort at the RV park at … Read more
A suggestion that the city of Marathon should explore purchasing land next to the boat ramp on Harbor Drive behind the Florida Keys Marathon International Airport brought protest from residents at a Thursday budget workshop. With some residents vehemently opposed, that shifted the discussion to perhaps purchasing the former Quay property next to the Island … Read more
Two Miami men who were caught with the tail of an endangered loggerhead sea turtle in Marathon in January are scheduled to appear before County Judge Ruth Becker Aug. 27 for a hearing. Possessing sea turtles or any part of them is against the law. Sea-turtle activists in the Florida Keys are urging Assistant State … Read more
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff A shipwreck salvor has claimed to have found a wrecked sailing vessel somewhere off the Middle Keys, but as is usual with such cases, specifics about what treasures it may hold and from what year in history it hails remains shrouded in secrecy. A company called EPW Salvage, Inc., owned … Read more
At about the same time the dubious wrecker John Jacob Housman first made his way to the Florida Territory, another questionable captain was sailing this way, too. His name was Joshua Appelby, born Dec. 5, 1770 in Newport, Rhode Island. Like Captain Housman, he arrived in the Florida Territory circa 1822. As a point of comparison, … Read more