The Keys

   The new All-Electronic Tolling System is being installed on Card Sound Road and will be operational in June 2018. It replaces the cash-only tollbooth that was removed last year.

   Jereima “Jeri” Bustamante, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Scott who was going to work on his U.S. Senate campaign, died Sunday when a boat in which she was riding crashed into mangrove trees in the Florida Keys.

The Upper Keys have seen a recent increase in outboard boat engine thefts. Thieves are targeting all sizes and makes, but mostly Yamaha and in one case, a Mercury. Fenced-in lots have not been a deterrent in some cases as criminals are cutting their way onto private property. In each case, steering cables, fuel lines and wiring harnesses are cleanly severed.

One of two men who robbed the Tavernier Dairy Queen at gunpoint on the night of Aug. 23 arrested in Miami-Dade County is now in jail in Monroe County.

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed a bill dealing with the approval of electric transmission lines, an issue that stemmed from a legal battle between Florida Power & Light and local governments in Miami-Dade County.

After two weeks of emotionally charged testimony and raw debate, the Florida Senate on Monday narrowly approved a sweeping measure addressing

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is putting up $6 million to help complete cleanup of marine debris from Hurricane Irma in Monroe County. Gov. Rick Scott this week announced a deal between the department, working with the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and Monroe County to assist in recovery from the September hurricane.

Citing the need, now more than ever, for affordable housing, Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys is holding its 16th annual cocktail party fundraiser on Friday, March 2, 2018 from 6:30 p.m. until 10 p.m.

   With the winds of Hurricane Irma gone, residents of the Middle Keys feel they have been forgotten with little or no help from the government of Monroe County.