Tag Archives: Key West

Pop Singer/Restaurateur Jimmy Buffett Dies At Age 76

The Associated Press reports: Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song “Margaritaville” and turned that celebration of loafing into an empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76. “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” a statement posted …

Read More »

Key West Drag Queen Launches Bid For Florida House

Florida Politics reports: The Florida Legislature could be getting its first openly performing drag queen. Michael Elgin Travis, who performs as “Erika Rose” in Key West, has filed to challenge Republican incumbent, Rep. Jim Mooney in Monroe County’s House District 120. He said the inspiration to run for state office hit while he went to Tallahassee with friends to testify …

Read More »

Hurricane Ian Nears Category 5 Strength [VIDEO]

The Weather Channel reports: H​urricane Ian has strengthened into a Category 4 as it draws closer to landfall later today between Sarasota and Fort Myers, packing threats of life-threatening storm surge as well as potentially catastrophic wind damage and flooding rainfall. Bands of heavy rain containing strong wind gusts are lashing parts of the Florida Peninsula and the Florida Keys …

Read More »

Stiffed Bartender Fingers Key West Landmark Arsonists

The Associated Press reports: Always remember to tip your server, if you know what’s good for you. A tourist made a big impression in a Key West bar by ordering drinks three times on New Year’s Eve without leaving a tip. That enabled the staff to easily track him down after police released webcam video showing vandals setting fire to …

Read More »

Vandals Torch Key West’s Southernmost Point Landmark

The Miami Herald reports: In the early hours of New Year’s Day, two people vandalized Key West’s famous Southernmost Point buoy landmark by setting a fire right beside it. The blaze left a large part of the colorful giant buoy — right where it reads “90 miles to Cuba, Southernmost Point, Continental U.S.A.” — charred. There was “extensive damage” to …

Read More »

Key West Cruise Pier Operator Donates $1M To DeSantis

The Miami Herald reports: The business developer who operates the Key West pier which gets most of the city’s cruise ship traffic has donated nearly $1 million to the political committee of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Legislation that would overturn a voter-approved referendum to limit cruise traffic is up for a vote in the House today and may soon be on …

Read More »

FL Fire Commissioner Arrested In Mask Dispute [VIDEO]

The Tampa Bay Times reports: East Like Fire Rescue Commissioner James Dalrymple was arrested in downtown Key West and charged with obstruction of justice after an incident that unfolded after he refused to wear a mask as required by city ordinance. According to a Key West Police report, officer Leonardo Hernandez saw a group walking south on Duval Street around …

Read More »

Florida Keys May Close Again, Beaches Now Off Limits

Miami’s PBS affiliate reports: Spiking coronavirus numbers in the Florida Keys are causing consternation among public officials, and questions about whether the county will once again close to visitors. “We were fortunate for the time we had the checkpoint up and you saw what the results were. We did a really good job. The community was behind it,” Bob Eadie, …

Read More »

FLORIDA: Key West Reopens For Tourists

USA Today reports: Two weeks after Hurricane Irma devastated the Florida Keys, the first cruise ship docked Sunday in this southernmost city, providing the first boost of tourist dollars to the storm-ravaged area. Key West Mayor Craig Cates said he agonized over the appropriate time to welcome tourists against to his city, which was spared from the worst of Irma’s …

Read More »

KEY WEST: Island House Reports Being “Safe And Sound” After Hurricane Irma, Ready For Business Soon

Many JMG readers have written me over the last week, hoping for some inside scoop on the status of Key West’s Island House and the other popular gay guesthouses that are their Old Town neighbors. Today, we actually have some positive hurricane-related news. Via press release: Feeling humbled by our good luck, we’re happy to announce that the Island House, …

Read More »

FLORIDA: All Keys Residents May Return Tomorrow

The Miami Herald reports: All Monroe County residents will be able to return to the Keys Sunday. This includes those who live in severely hard-hit areas of the Lower Keys between Key West and Marathon. Residents of the Middle Keys will be allowed to return Saturday morning, said Roman Gastesi, county administrator, during a Saturday morning conference call with other …

Read More »

KEY WEST: Gay Bar Owner Feeds Hundreds

The Palm Beach Post reports: After 25 years in Key West, Jim Gilleran knows residents need a cold beer, a hot meal and a place to reconnect after a hurricane. While most bars and restaurants remain shuttered on Duval Street, Gilleran opened his 801 Bar hours after Hurricane Irma smashed past the island. He’s kept his generator operating since, serving …

Read More »

KEY WEST: US Military Delivers Rations And Water

The Palm Beach Post reports: As life returns to a small semblance of normal in the Upper Keys, normal is still far off for residents living in the Middle and Lower Keys, where the usually raucous town of Key West was boarded up and shut down. The Marathon Airport took on the look of a disaster on foreign soil as …

Read More »

FEMA: 25% Of Homes Destroyed In Florida Keys

CNN reports: Initial estimates indicate 25% of the houses in the Florida Keys have been destroyed, and 65% have major damage, said Brock Long, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s administrator. Basically, every house in the Keys was impacted some way,” Long said Tuesday. He said the numbers are early estimates and could change. Irma left a trail of devastation throughout …

Read More »

Florida Keys Evacuees Barred From Immediate Return

Reuters reports: Residents who fled the Florida Keys in anticipation of Hurricane Irma’s wrath were told they could not return to their island homes on Monday, news that angered evacuees anxious to get back to assess the damage. Authorities reported widespread damage on the archipelago off the tip of southern Florida. At the White House, U.S. Homeland Security Adviser Tom …

Read More »

FLORIDA: 4.5 Million Without Power, Key West Largely Unscathed, Damage Much Worse In Middle/Upper Keys

The Miami Herald reports: As the waves and winds began easing Sunday, residents of Old Town emerged not knowing exactly what to expect from the most powerful hurricane to strike the Florida Keys in more than a half century. But all in all, many in Key West seemed relieved that the damage from a Category 4 Irma was not much, …

Read More »

Irma Makes Landfall Near Key West As Category 4, Power Out For Over 1 Million Across Florida [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: Announcing itself with roaring 130 mph winds, Hurricane Irma plowed into the mostly emptied-out Florida Keys early Sunday for the start of what could be a slow, ruinous march up the state’s west coast toward the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg area. “The most important thing is to pray for us,” Gov. Rick Scott said on NBC. …

Read More »

LIVE VIDEO: Hurricane Irma Open Thread

Overnight open thread for Irma watchers. Here’s the latest: Hurricane Irma churned toward Florida on Saturday, leaving a trail of death and destruction across the Caribbean and prompting one of the largest emergency evacuations in American history. The National Hurricane Center said on Saturday evening the eye of Irma was beginning to slowly move away from the coast of Cuba …

Read More »

LIVE VIDEO: Storm Surge Forecast Issued For Key West

The Washington Examiner reports: A “reasonable worst case scenario” forecast shows half of Key West underwater due to storm surge, according to a Weather Channel meteorologist. Hurricane Irma, a Category 3 storm as of 11 a.m., is predicted to turn away from Cuba and make landfall in the Sunshine State by Sunday morning. Forecasters say the eye is expected to …

Read More »

Irma Now Forecast To Make Landfall At Category 5

NBC News reports: The newest projected path for Hurricane Irma shows it regaining strength after it passes Cuba and making a Florida landfall as a Category 5 storm. Irma is then expected to move over Florida and then continue through Georgia and west over Huntsville, Alabama as it loses hurricane status. With the current projected path, Irma will make landfall …

Read More »