It's looking like the Keys will be hit by Hurricane Isaac, or at least get a lot of rain and wind.
The blustery wetness is not a concern for me but my cat Joie (pronounced "Joey") is of another mind on this subject.
She's a rescue cat, found with her siblings in a southern Maryland tobacco barn after a redneck blew her mother away with a shotgun blast. The assailant is unknown to everyone, but I think we all understand where the resulting karma will lead him.
-------------------------------------------- Was that thunder? Joie's ears are erect and her countenance wary and resolute as her brain processes sound data. ---------------------------------------------
That seminal moment in her kittenhood means Joie does not brook loud noises.
To her, every sudden, sharp sound could be a shotgun blast.
I learned quickly not to pop plastic bags within her hearing range when putting my groceries away. The one time I did that, she leaped into the air faster than my brain could register the movement. She can transition from contended, sleepy recline to missile in a nanosecond. Her tail expands to the thickness of a cruise ship dock line by the time she lands. She then dashes under something, anything--the couch, a book case, even a loose floor tile if it's close by.
When she's asleep in the deep of night, she can register the flicker of lightning from as far away as Delaware with her eyes closed.
When she does hear quiet thunder in the distance, her rear end lowers to the floor and she stares intently at the ceiling. She then circles the carpet with her butt low and her tail horizontal to the floor and slinks into a closet or other hiding place.
God forbid if a rogue lightning bolt smacks the ground up the street. If you live in Key West, you know about those dark clouds that silently float over your house and let loose a bolt without warning. Those sneaky hits create a flash/explosion that makes everyone jump. Joie simply beams herselfelsewhere and no strobe light can ever record her flight. Not a chance.
Rain is another early warning technology for her; if she hears pelting rain on the roof, she assumes lightning is outside, to be followed quickly by shotgun blasts (thunder). Why take a chance? This cat won't. She knows the combination to the safe and, hoping to hide there, will work the tumblers like mad, too panicked to remember the sequence.
As I write, it's Friday night and a strong wind--not associated with Isaac--begins to blow through the windows. These powerful but short-lived blasts have been intermittent all day, but Joie just dashed past my desk and under the couch. If she only knew what could be on the way by Monday.
If Isaac hits us, there will be thunder, lightning, and lashing rain--for her, a Trifecta of Terror that guarantees I won't see her for a few days.
So I am not going to say the word S-T-O-R-M out loud. Even now she may have caught the tapping of keys and figured out I've spelled it out. I don't dare leave the weather.com tropical cyclone map up on my computer monitor, either. That would be out of the question. She would simply leap onto the desk and study the map to learn how many days until shotgun blasts arrive.
I tested her reaction time once and regret it still.
She was curled on the couch with the bliss on her face that only cats can achieve. I snuck up on her on my hands and knees, making sure not to alarm her. She knew I was approaching--she made a slight adjustment to her ears without moving her head. She expected me to gently scratch her behind the ears, but instead I put my lips to her ear and whispered, "Boom." I said it softly, but the emergency room doctor said I must have yelled.
My stitches come out next week.
The Cameroon jungle of 1953 was a vast, unspoiled tract under a tall green canopy. Crawling vines, broad-leafed, fruit-bearing plants, and rich loamy soil under rotting leaves supported a wide range of animals from tiny insects, tree frogs, snakes, wild boar, thousands of bird species, and mammals, including monkeys and chimpanzees.
In July of that year, a tribe of chimps welcomed a new baby, a male youngster who would one day travel farther and faster than any living thing on Earth. The chimpster (not the actual term for a young chimp, but I like the sound of it) lived peacefully in his first years in the safety of his troop. Like other young chimps, he clung to his mom and learned how to avoid a pounding by older males and kept his wits about him to stay out of the jaws of jaguars and other large predators.
The youngster, however, didn't smell the danger of a man-made trap, designed specifically to lure him in with fruit. The youngster was captured and taken from his home by animal trappers.
Ends up in Miami
After a series of exotic ports, strange cities, and foreign oceans, the chimp ended up at Rare Bird Farm in Miami. Cameroon and his family were not forgotten by the chimp. Chimpanzees are but a few mitochondria from being human and maintain their earliest memories until the day they die, and they live many years. He must have yearned for his homeland as he was moved from place to place until finally, he ended up at the newly minted launch pads of Cape Canaveral. It was there that U.S. Navy officers and scientists were designing a way to put a human being in space.
The chimp was officially named No. 65, which differentiated him from at least 64 other chimps who were candidates to be the first chimp to ride a rocket into space. The candidates were not given chimp names because if the space agency accidentally killed one of them, the public would find it less disturbing to hear about the death of Chimp No. 24 than a "Jo-Jo" or a "Bongo."
Chimp most certainly perished
He was trained by using fruit as a carrot, as it were. They put him in all kinds of contraptions that turned him, spun him, lifted him, dropped him, and left him in the dark. Until the blinking lights, klaxons, and other noises were blasted at him. When his training was over, he was dressed in a small space suit and helmet, outfitted with a urine tube and diaper, and strapped into a chimp-sized seat. He was bolted into a small capsule on the top of some Atlas rockets and launched into space. The shaking and rumbling of takeoff must have raised No. 65's heart rate beyond belief as his screams of fear filled the tiny capsule. As he began his slow descent toward the atmosphere, scientists on the ground kept their fingers crossed. They watched the needles and gauges as friction began to heat up the bottom of the capsule after it re-entered the atmosphere. But something went wrong and the capsule hit the atmosphere much, much faster than the planned rate of re-entry, leading most of the mission control scientists to believe they had sent their chimp to a fiery death. As the craft began to break apart, pieces began to land on lawns in Texas and other states.
Chimp in deep trouble
Not only was the craft coming apart, but ground control miscalculated the capsule's re-entry path and it went more than a hundred miles off course. When it parachuted to the ground, they had no idea where to look for it. There was no doubt in most people's minds that the test chimp was dead. In an insane gesture of hope, one searcher brought along an orange to feed No. 65 in case he somehow survived.
They found the capsule 135 miles off course. As searchers pulled the hatch open, the chimp, who the world soon learned was named "Ham," calmly grabbed the orange and began to eat it.
Dealing with fear
Whenever fear begins to creep into my life, I remember Ham, the little chimp who was taken from his family and familiar surroundings, shipped all over the place and then shot through the atmosphere in a roaring blaze. Life is not easy. We lose good jobs, watch family members die, and suffer other calamities that leave us not knowing what to do next. A big one for me is fear; when my world turns upside down, I can become immobile. I've learned that calling friends and family gives me a foundation for action. I just call to chat, and if the time is right, I ask for guidance. Another tool is to list those things for which I'm grateful.
I don't know how Ham's experience changed him, maybe not at all, but if you're going through a tough period of your life right now, think of the diminutive chimp who, through events beyond his control ended up in an out-of-control space capsule with no way out.
You can do what he did, which was to hold on. Things will get better. They did for Ham. He survived his ordeal and lived the rest of his years quietly and safely in a zoo, siring youngsters of his own. He died at the age of 50 in 1983.
Hank James is standing in for John Guerra, who is on vacation this week. John will return next week.
It has been a slow news week. Yes, the primary elections in the Keys are Tuesday. That's correct, three candidates don't look so good now that their arrests have been made public.
But I think it's important to talk about my childhood. That's right, me, Hank James' childhood. John said I could write about anything I wanted, so that's what I'm doing. You may not believe what I'm about to tell you, but please hear me out first. It was a rough childhood.
You've seen the wording on toy packaging, "Warning: Choke Hazard for Children 3 Yrs. Old and Younger," right? Leggos; little green plastic army soldiers; small rubber firetruck tires; and detached eyes from Teddy bears--all these items at one time or other were stuffed into my mouth when I was just a toddler. The reason? Before I could walk across a room, I was a child toy tester with the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
I remember little of my time with the CPSC, except for the adults with clipboards who came to my little cage each morning to let me out. The gray steel desks in the big room under the phosphorous lights are burned into my memory.
The tests made for a long day. I was outfitted with a bib and put on a large blanket spread on the floor in the basement of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. A government employee known as a "Choking Test Administrator" would grab the back of my neck and force an Etch-a-Sketch knob into my mouth and hold my jaw shut as I fought to spit it out. If it did not go down, then there was no choke hazard. That's how Etch-a-Sketch's were approved with those big, black knobs.
That job lasted until I was 3, when I was too old by U.S. Government standards to be a child toy tester.
Except for those few years, my childhood was pretty normal. Until I turned 4 and my family moved. I'll never forget waking in that empty house, the only answer to my screams for my mother being the "drip-drip-drip" from the kitchen faucet. The windows were bare, stripped of the long curtains my mother had sewn before I was born.
I was left alone for a day and a night in that forlorn house until Sparky, the family dog my parents also felt was too much trouble, began barking at the bay window. Neighbors were aghast at the sight of the dog, frightened to death, alone in that house.
One lady grabbed Sparky, took him across the street to her house and fed him, giving him a nice, soft dog bed to sleep in. I was left in my empty house, playing with blocks and sleeping on the bare floor, until another neighbor, looking to see if my parents left behind any silverware or pots and pans, saw me and called the police.
I beat the loitering rap but was arrested for burglary and spent the next 13 years in a Maryland reform school. When I was 17, they put me in a car with a giant back seat and drove me into the country where they let me out on the side of a dirt road. As the state child services car drove into the distance, I knew there was only one thing to do: Find a farmhouse.
And my parents answered the door! They wouldn't admit it at first, but I remembered them, all right. The meth-lab smell in the farmhouse brought to the forefront my first memories of my mother. I suddenly remembered what she was like back when I was less than a year old, when she would hum quietly in the kitchen while breaking the sulphur off matchsticks. My parents didn't apologize to me for abandoning me, but did offer me a job delivering their product to trailer parks along the Mason-Dixon Line.
I did that for awhile, but met a nice church girl named Joyce and she taught me how bad I had been behaving and that I was not doing right by the Lord. I went to church every Sunday and got to cleaning up my life. Believe it or not, Joyce suggested we get married and have some little Hanks of our own. Imagine that! She is expecting soon.
I love my wife, but I have to tell you, she is not what you might call "attractive" in the traditional manner. Maybe in a Four-H handbook one might find the right term for her beauty. She's about 445 pounds, has brown patches on her skin and she's not livestock. During the first weeks of our marriage, animal control was to the house because neighbors reported a large cupricaba, or whatever those two-legged animals are called that everyone blames for cattle mutliations in Mexico. It wasn't one of those, that was my wife. Once neighbors got to know her, they stopped calling the Agriculture Department and the pound.
I also sprung Sparky with the money I made from the government and we are happy. No more running around like an animal (except for Sparky) and things are settling down.
That's all for now. Next week John will return with something more interesting to read.
"Letter to the Earth" is Mark Twain's imaginary correspondence to Earth from the "Office of the Recording Angel, Department of Petitions." The letter from Heaven to mine owners advises them how their prayers will be answered.
For instance, in his Letter to Earth, the Recording Angel advises mine owners:
"1. For weather to advance hard coal 15 cents a ton, [prayer] granted.
2. For influx of laborers to reduce wages 10 percent, [prayer] granted.
3. For cyclone, to destroy and fill up the mine of the North Pennsylvania Co. Note: Cyclones are not kept in stock in the winter season. A reliable article of firedamp can be purchased upon application."
Twain's use of heavenly correspondence with mine owners in the 1890s is a great device for reviewing recent events in the Keys. This letter, however, comes not from the Department of Petitions, but the Department of Behavioral Review, also overseen by the Recording Angel, an office of pretty high rank, you understand.
Letter to the Florida Keys
1. For the man, or woman--cruelty is not gender specific--who abandoned four German shepherd puppies in a steel trash bin in Key Largo, you have slid below all decency. Even as the trusting but confused countenance of each pup looked into your eyes to understand why you were putting them in the hot trash receptacle, you did it anyway. How can you condemn such heart-warming babes to a certain death? To not find value in the unquestioning loyalty, helplessness, and innocence God instills in all the newly born--well, your life must be void. You punish yourself just by waking each morning.
2. For the men who surprised and beat a well-loved bouncer and his colleague at the Green Parrot last weekend, stomping on his ankle until it broke and incurring head injuries that resulted in the young man's need to be on a respirator, your lives are going to change drastically. After your trial (or you make a plea deal) you'll have to leave the Keys. Too many people love this gentle and altruistic man and his fellow bouncer to let your act of violence slide. Even all the way up here in heaven, our staff can hear non-violent people down there saying you deserve an equal or greater beating.
3. To the people of the Keys. We know your hearts are heavy with the loss of Emily Boyd Lowe, founder and director of the Keys Chorale. She joined Florida Keys Community College as a voice teacher, and founded the Keys Chorale. The annual concerts she conducted at the Tennessee Williams auditorium and outdoor concerts at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park became popular cultural events for almost 20 years. The universe is sewn together with music and song is the ancient language of prayer. People like Emily are rare and beautify lives immeasurably. (The Key West Citizen wrote a beautiful account of this lovely woman's life at http://keysnews.com/node/41394.)
4. To the Alaska fishermen who saved the young bear from the whirlpool in the Kenai River. Your actions were valiant and greatly pleased the mother bear and the struggling cub's siblings panicking on shore. As they watched in horror, your actions proved that the link between man and beast is strong. Pulling the young bear from the water was not lost on Nature. It was rare proof that human beings and all living things share the same fate. You need animals and they need you. All life on Earth share a common peril and must operate on that knowledge.
5. Which brings us to John Guerra of Key West, who made a big mistake Friday when he, along with his co-worker, cut down a tree with a nesting dove hidden in its upper branches. The ring-necked dove stayed on her clutch of two eggs even as the chainsaw roared just below her. Those of us on the Recording Angel's staff know you didn't see the mother bird until it was too late, and she escaped unharmed, but those eggs didn't make it when they connected with the ground. Therefore, we are going to file this incident under "Unresolved" unless you spend the rest of your days ensuring animals are cared for whenever you come across a lame cat, a hungry dog, a distressed iquana, or other such being in discomfort. We know you apologized to the mother dove and her mate as they flew about the fallen tree trying to discover the fate of their once-promising brood. They don't speak human, but we believe they got the gist of your apology. That does not excuse you, however, and we on the staff of the Recording Angel will be watching how you treat animals, insects, and other beings you come across.
Aug. 3, 2012 Recording Angel Department of Behavioral Review
Traveling south from Key Largo, where North America runs out in a diminishing string, the night sky is vast and deep. From the dark pockets along U.S. 1 where there are no street lights or lighted homes and stores, one can look up and see stars dusting the sky. It is the kind of heavens stargazers hope for. For decades, residents and visitors who drive down U.S. 1 or sail the Florida Straits to Key West have reported seeing unidentifiable lights and bizarre solid objects in flight. The following reports, taken from the National UFO Reporting Network, include sightings from some pretty reliable people.
If you have seen something unexplainable in the sky, please write your experience in the comments section at the end or email me at johnlguerra@gmail.com with your UFO experience.
I've included many Keys UFO accounts, some dating as far back as 1962.
I note when the UFO images here are connected to Keys sightings. I pulled other images from outside the Keys.
June 30, 1975:
“This happened sometime between 1971 and 1977 (I'm sorry that I can't be more specific, but we took so many trips to Florida back then and I didn't record the info); my then-husband and I were traveling south through the Florida Keys on U.S. 1.We were about to exit one of the bridges onto a Key, going south, when on my right (the Gulf of Mexico side) I saw the bottom of a huge metallic ‘ship’ — that's the only way I can describe it, hovering near and just above a waterfront home rooftop, straddling the rooftop and the water. It just hung there, just at a little above rooftop level. I could only see the bottom of it, as I remember the top of it was cloud-, or mist-covered (although it was sitting not far off the ground). There were lots of people already pulled over to the side of the road and out of their cars, gesturing and pointing towards it. I absolutely begged my then-husband to please ‘Stop, stop!’ I wanted to look at it, but he wouldn't, he just kept looking straight ahead with the pedal to the metal. (I think he was scared to death). I craned my neck as we drove by to see as best I could, and then it suddenly vanished. This happened so long ago, but I distinctly remember that whatever it was created absolutely no sound. As to its shape, it looked to me like the rear end of a dirigible, only standing straight up, vertically. Like the bottom of a missile. It was metallic gray.”
June 1, 1978:
“It was late one night when my mom, dad, childhood friend and I were making one of the hundreds of trips up the Florida Keys from Key West we took back in the late ‘70s. It was very, very dark, very little traffic.
The sky was clear with lots of stars. My friend and I decided out of boredom to watch the sky for shooting stars. We saw an occasional plane or airliner with their blinking lights traveling across the sky. At one point I was watching one of these ‘planes’ (no blinking lights) when all of a sudden it took off like a shooting star, so that got my attention. But it never went out of sight. Instead it stopped ‘shooting’ and continued at a regular speed like a plane. At this point, I called everyone’s attention to it. Then it shot across the sky again, then stopped, and did it again. It was moving in irregular patterns, one way then another. We were all just amazed and could not take our eyes off of it, just watching it zigzag around at different speeds. It seemed like it went on for such a long time.
My dad was having a hard time keeping his eyes on the road and on the object too, but he didn’t stop, he just slowed down. We were all trying to guess what the heck it could be, because we knew it was not a shooting star or a plane. We do have a lot of military bases down in the Keys, but I don’t even think the stealth bomber was in existence or even being tested at that time.
I don’t think there was any aircraft at that time that was capable of this kind of movement. We continued to watch it as its movements seemed to take up the whole sky, when suddenly it stopped and just slowly faded out. It looked as if it went straight out into space at a very, very high rate of speed until it was just gone from sight. We still talk about it to this day.”
Jan. 1, 1996, Key Largo:
“At in the morning, I was anchored in TarponBasin, which is just off the Howard Johnson’s Restaurant and adjacent to the tower, which placed the tower north by east of our boat. This was just prior to crossing to the Bahamas. I got up to check out the anchor and went on deck as it was a clear, warm night, and looking up I noticed a line of white being reflected in a diagonal formation to its line of travel. It looked and traveled somewhat like a flight of birds.
I observed a black triangular-shaped craft fly directly over Key Largo, Fla., approximately 1,000 feet up and 2,000 feet north of the bell tower at the Howard Johnson. Size would be about 100 feet, plus or minus a small amount. It was completely blackened and traveling at about 35 mph, I saw no lights and no reflection other than off the upper edge of the fuselage. A split second later, I realized that it was a hard-edge, reflecting light back towards me, but not downward. We sailors always have binoculars available, so I was able to get a better view immediately. I was able to see the bottom somewhat; it appeared featureless. At this point time it was impossible to see with the naked eye. I again watched it go slowly to the northwest until it completely blended into the night sky. I called Connie on deck and gave her the binoculars and she was able to see it also. My background as a private pilot and having built and flown my own planes and ultra-light (aircraft) allowed me to judge the speed. As low as it was we both were able to trade off the glasses and observe the progress. I am a retired teacher and have been for 22 years, most of which I have been captain and used to reporting factual reports.”
--------------------------- This photo was taken off U.S. 1 by an unidentified car passenger, according to the photographer''s notes on the image. The image can be found on Yahoo image search under "UFOs in the Keys." Could it be a Chinook helicopter transporting military personnel? ----------------------------
Jan. 4, 2004, Marathon:
“We were driving toward Key West from Miami on U.S. 1 at about last night (Saturday night). I was driving over a bridge and in the distance I saw something with a green and red light. I noticed it and told my friend I thought it was the balloon that transmits Radio Marti to Cuba on Cudjoe Key. I have seen the balloon in the daytime and assumed that's what I was seeing last night.
Right away, I noticed we were still far away from Cudjoe Key. Anyway, as we got closer to whatever it was, I noticed the lights were very noticeable. I was concentrating on seeing if it was a balloon, so I was looking mostly below the lights. I noticed it was not attached to anything and there was no tower below the lights. It was also too low to be a plane. My friend was looking out the passenger window and said he saw a white light and a red light. He did not see the green light that I originally saw.
When we got closer to the lights, they moved from my side of the truck because the road hadn't curved, but I couldn't see them anymore. My friend said whatever it was moved, and he saw it more over the road. He saw a red and white light 100 to 250 feet away, hovering directly over the highway. He also saw a black mass between the lights in what looked like a triangle, but didn't totally point at the top. From his account the white light was on the top and he saw a red light on the corner of one of the bottom of the points. There was never any sound it made. We opened the windows of the truck when we were close to it, and it was just quiet.
I kept looking for a place to turn around because there was a car right behind me. I had to go about 1,000 feet before I saw a driveway and turned around. When we went back, there was nothing there. No lights. We looked to see if there was anything in the air that it could have been, and again nothing. It was as if it just disappeared.”
Aug. 30, 1989, Key West:
“At the time of the sighting, I was assigned to the U.S. Navy hydrofoil, the USS Pegasus, stationed in Key WestHarbor. As an operating specialist and radar operator, I was trained by the Navy in lookout and reporting procedures with emphasis on attention to detail.
On or about the date above, I, along with my family, was driving home from the beach when my wife, who was looking out the window, asked me, ‘What kind of aircraft is that?’ I turned to look and at about 100 yards offshore, coming slowly from the east toward U.S. 1, I saw what appeared to be two bright lights (brighter than an arc welder’s torch). I pulled over, aiming the front of the car directly toward the inbound object, thus giving us a much better view.
The object continued flying toward us and stopped about 15 feet directly in front of us, hovering over the water at an altitude of about 10 feet. I could now see it much clearer. The object was in the shape of a teardrop, slightly flattened. It was silver in color with no identifiable markings. It measured approximately 7 feet long, 18 inches tall and about 3 feet wide, all measurements coming to a tapered tip, which I believed to be the tail of this craft. It hovered for a few seconds, then it, quite effortlessly, while remaining in its present position, it turned right, facing north, then turned left, facing south. A few more seconds it lowered itself to about 6 to 12 inches over the water and remained there for several minutes. I find it quite interesting that while it hovered and executed these few maneuvers, I couldn’t help but notice that it had no pitch and yaw, had no visible heat signature, had no rivets or weld seams to show how it had been put together and there was no dispersal of the water as this craft hovered directly over it.
The two bright lights that I saw I believed them to be its propulsion system but instead of pushing the craft, it appeared to be pulling the craft. The craft raised itself about 3 feet above the water and preceded south, out to sea. As it was outbound, it stopped and slowly started to rise. At this point I noticed the sunset cruise boat was outbound in the channel. It was as if this object knew that to continue on its present course that it would have been struck by the ship.
The ship passed underneath the object, which was now at an altitude of about 200 feet and continued outbound until I lost it in the distance.
Nov. 1, 1962, Key West:
“In the very early morning hours of 1962—I don't recall the date or month, at the time I was only 10 years of age—a very loud whistling sound woke me.
As I woke up, I noticed a bright light coming in my bedroom window. When I pulled back the curtain, I saw a very, very large glowing ball coming slowly over the top of my house. It was flying very low, but the only sound I heard was the whistling sound I told you about earlier. I was very scared and covered my head with the covers until it was gone.
I am not saying this was a UFO; I am only saying that it was something very unexplainable and it has stayed with me all these years, since Key West has a military base, I often wondered if maybe it wasn't something the military was testing.
But if so, I never saw anything like it again. If it had not been for the whistling noise, I may have even thought it was ball lightning or something like that, but the eerie sound makes me wonder. The shape was completely round, very, very large, slow moving and had a constant whistle. There was only one object. Color was a very bight yellow-orange, not unlike the sun. I myself was only 10 at the time; I am now a housewife in South Carolina.”
Feb. 18, 2008, Key West
While observing the overflight of the Space Shuttle and International Space Station from Key West, I observed a third object. The shuttle and the ISS, moving together in orbit, were about 4 to 5 seconds apart, traveling from the northwest sky in a southerly direction.
I then saw a third object moving from south of the space shuttle and the ISS in a northerly direction; it crossed paths very close to the space shuttle and ISS. After passing the space shuttle and ISS, it made a very large, arcing turn to an east heading.
This object was not as bright as the space shuttle and the ISS and looked very much like any other man-made satellite, except that it changed directions; basically it moved from a north heading and changed directions to an east heading after passing the space shuttle and the ISS. This was also witnessed by a friend, five miles away.
June 6, 2006, Key Largo:
“We saw six dim points of light in circular position out in space! It was around I took my dog for a late walk at a marina in Key Largo. The clouds had moved from my vantage point and I could see stars. At that moment, with the naked eye, out in space, I noticed six points of light in a circular position. I know the objects were in space because it was almost as if they were amongst the stars. They were not as bright as the stars; the stars were dim (glowing). The perfect position amazed me! They seemed to be slowly floating to the northeast. They also seemed to stop for a period of time and then continue. They never twinkled or changed color. After a while I went inside to call a friend who was also in Key Largo, but he was asleep. I looked out my window and I was shocked to still see them! Eventually the cloud coverage came back and I could no longer see them! Did anyone else see this? Very weird!”
Sept. 3, 2000, Long Key
At about , my wife and I were sitting at the edge of the water at the KOA campground looking at the stars and water. There were no streetlights, just darkness, except for the stars above and the headlights of traffic coming over the bridge from Islamorada.
We saw what looked like car headlights start coming from the horizon in the east, but as it got past the trees, we saw it was more like 14 lights lined up in a row! My wife asked, ‘What in the world is that?’ and I replied I wasn't sure. We sat and watched this thing slowly approach, and realized it was the largest aircraft we'd ever seen, approximately the length of two commercial planes lined up nose to tail.
As it got closer, we were almost blinded by the lights, as it was flying at a fairly low altitude. I remarked to my wife that I couldn't hear any engines and that's when we started getting scared. Surely an aircraft flying that low would have engines we could easily hear! She ran into the motor home to get another couple we were staying with, but by the time they got outside, it had passed over and was gone. I never believed in UFOs before this, but this shook me to the core, as well as it did my wife.
I know there is a naval air station near Key West, so we thought maybe it was some sort of stealth military plane, but it was so large we don't know how they would hide something that big.
It was black, or it was just too dark outside to see a color or shape. Approximately 14 "headlights" spaced evenly apart. It had about the speed of an airplane preparing for landing, and about as low as one approaching a runway. It was flying parallel to the earth at a steady speed..”
Nov. 11, 2004, Key West:
I saw an orange object over Key West, Fla. High altitude, orange object observed nearly straight up from viewer and slightly east, first thought to be a satellite moving from south to north, but object slowed, stopped and then made slow, steady movements east, then south, then north, and repeated the motion with some variations.
Visible stars (that didn't move) confirmed the motion and actions of the light. Could have been a very high altitude Drug Enforcement Agency or U.S. Customs craft, but there was no sound. Sighting occurred one hour before sunrise in totally clear skies, three hours after a thunderstorm.
Object faded away after five minutes of the movement. Location was above Key West Naval Air Station, but was very high. No pulsating light, solid. Photo taken, not yet developed. Not expecting much by way of photo due to light levels and high altitude, even with lens extension.”
June 1, 2000, Key West:
My wife and I observed strange light formations in the sky over Key West and the Straits of Florida, in the early summer of 2000. We were 20 feet above the beach. We were facing, due south. The sun was below the horizon, at our right and rear. The entire sky, from east to west, was lit up by the red wave-length light, bending through the atmosphere and coloring the humid air mass. Scientists call it "after-glow.” The sky was pink, except for the shadows cast by the horizon and dirty atmosphere, rising up from the east and south. Night was coming and the shroud of evening was creeping above the horizon. If you paid close attention, you could see the cross-section of the atmosphere, as the red light from the setting sun passed through the various atmospheric densities—dirt and dark on the bottom and thin and clear at the top. You could see the shape of the top layer of clouds as the light of the world outlined their billowing shapes, across the sky. Suddenly a huge V-shaped formation filled the sky. We saw two, maybe three, huge inverted V shapes blotting out the afterglow. They were due south, over the Straits of Florida. They extended from the southern horizon to a point somewhere overhead and behind us. Just as suddenly, we were in eclipse-like, lighting conditions. The pink, except, for some wedge-shape light still reflecting off the clouds in the southern sky, was gone. Things that should have been reflecting the afterglow were suddenly, dark. The sea stopped reflecting the pink sky, that seconds, ago, played off the mirror-like ocean that characterizes the shallow waters found atop seven miles of reef. The white stones that made up the jetty were in shadow. It was pretty darn sudden. We never saw anything remotely like it before, except in pictures of a developing eclipse. Then, we noticed evidence of a fourth object, overhead and stretching due east. My wife grabbed her 35mm camera and started shooting. The images that she captured are unexplainable. The pictures show what appear to be the images of two, maybe four, arrowhead shaped objects casting shadows against the southern sky and directly overhead. For two years, the photos were in a drawer—they were of odd light formations, but there are a million of them, everyday. Then I happened to show one of them to a man who makes his livelihood measuring things and recording things accurately. He is a professional “expert” witness, and architectural details and pinpoint accuracy, are his bread and butter. When we casually showed him one of the photos, he physically flinched and sat straight up. It certainly got his attention. That is when I started to examine just what it was that was making the images. After much thought, I realized that in the case of the most well-defined image of an inverted arrowhead, I was looking at a shadow being cast by a V-shaped object, suspended point-side down, flat side facing the sun. The object appeared to be hovering in a fixed position, at a point that would place it between the sun that had set -the light source—and the pink sky and dark-shadowed atmosphere in the southern skies, in effect, the movie screen. The image in the sky was an artifact of the atmosphere, as it bent the light and focused the dark image of the V-shaped object onto the movie-screen like background. We snapped 10 pictures that day and they showed that the above-mentioned V shaped object had changed its alignment to the sun. The pictures contain a wealth of scientific information and raise a whole lot of questions.
Jan. 9, 1979, Key West:
“This is about a small, unexplainable hovering object I spotted as a child of 10 while walking home from school one day in the ‘70s. I was walking home from school down Flagler Avenue one day in about the fourth or fifth grade. This was around 1978 or 1979. I had walked home every day since the second grade. It was between and I was walking on the sidewalk against the traffic. It was a four-lane with a median. I was one block from my home when I looked across the street ahead of me and saw a strange, small object hovering above the sidewalk about 15-20 feet up.
From that point on, I did not take my eyes off of it, but I did try to see if there was a string on it or if it was being controlled from someone on the ground. This was a residential neighborhood and there was little to no traffic at this time. Or if there was, I do not remember, I was so fixated by this object. I continued to watch it, walking slowly as it just hovered there. Suddenly it seemed to "’notice’ me and it made a direct bee-line across the street toward me. As I write this, I am getting chills upon chills just recalling this. It didn’t move fast nor slow but just steadily in a very straight line at the same altitude. Soon it was right over my head, maybe 10 feet above me, and following me exactly as a continued to walk. I was not afraid but extremely intrigued. I couldn’t imagine what it was! It was a small very colorful disk. It was slightly tilted, with a small cylindrical ‘handle’ going through the center. If I can remember, I believe the handle was red. It looked kind of like a toy but it baffled me because it was spinning and it was silent and there was nothing attached to it. I couldn’t understand how it could be suspended up there, and at that time, I was not aware of any remote controls like this. It hovered over me, spinning quietly until I reached the end of the block and stepped off into the street, then it immediately went back across the street. I still continued to watch it, looking back at it until I got to my house. At that point, I felt afraid and went into the house, locked the doors and called my mom at work as I watched out the kitchen window trying to spot it. I didn’t have a good view. I never saw it again. I was not particularly aware of UFOs. Our family was not into that. So it didn’t occur to me that this could be a UFO. I drew a picture of it for my mom and dad and my mom wrote down what I said and we kept that. But I have never forgotten anyway. From that day on, I always tried to find an explanation for such an object. I looked at kites and remote controls or whatever I could find to explain it. I never could. Then when I saw a toy or colorful kite that reminded me of it, I would feel a sense of panic. To this day I still have not found a plausible explanation for it. There were no other witnesses. This is the first time I have reported it. I am 40 years old. Watching a UFO special on the Discovery Channel this afternoon prompted me to report this, finally! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Nov. 15, 1973, Key West:
“I saw a saucer craft with red/green alternating lights on its midsection; seen within 500 yards traveling slowly at first then vanished. While walking out of the now-defunct naval base in Key West, my friends and I saw a large, saucer-shaped craft hovering over a line of trees, no more than a 1/4 mile from us. The craft had a bank of alternating green and red lights that rotated around it as it moved slowly from our right to our left.
It traveled directly across our line of sight, slowly at first. The rotating lights seemed to correspond with the speed of the craft as did a low-pitched, deep whirring sound. As the craft sped up, the lights and the frequency of the sound increased accordingly. We watched it for about 10-15 seconds, when all of a sudden, it streaked up into the sky at an incredible rate of speed.
We watched it until it virtually vanished high in the sky. It was reported to have also landed inside the navy base, as several other sailors indicated in their report to the commanding officer of the base. The base was unexpectedly closed three to four weeks later.
I witnessed the same craft less than 10 days later at another location in Key West.”
July 3, 2000, somewhere in the Keys:
“I saw a chrome ball that was the size and shape of a basketball flying in the Florida Keys, making a variety of 90-degree turns. I was on vacation in the Florida Keys. It was the night before the Fourth of July. I was laying in a beach chair on a small part of the beach looking at the sky.
I noticed something moving; it was in the shape and size of a basketball and looked as if it were chrome-plated or some sort of silver color. The way it was moving, there was no way it was any sort of plane, balloon, helicopter, etc. The object would move forward, then move 5-15 feet to either side (not a zigzag pattern) but more like it was making a variety of L-shaped turns at 90-degrees and kept going until I couldn’t see it any longer. It was traveling in a west-northwest direction at about 10 mph. I wish I would have chased it.”
July 1, 2001, Key West:
“I saw a sphere formation over Key West.”
I wanted to report a sighting which has me puzzled. About two weeks ago, I was in Key West and staying at a hotel.
I was in the pool, which is obviously outside; the time was approximately As I was relaxing (I had not been drinking!) and staring into the night sky, I suddenly noticed a "V" formation of orange spheres. They were moving fairly slowly from my point of view, but I realized that at the altitude that they were traveling, their speed must have been much greater.
The odd thing about this: One ball was zigzagging in and out of formation. As much as I am interested in UFOs, I am a logical person and do not jump to conclusions. But I have no explanation for what I saw!”
Feb. 24, 2008, Key West:
“I was sitting on a starboard deck of a cruise ship that was traveling in open sea westward, positioned south-southwest of Key West, Fla. I was observing the stars in the northern skies, which were mainly clear with a few scattered clouds on the horizon.
I became intrigued with one particular object as it was definitely spherical, and appeared to be situated between the scattered cloud cover and my line of sight. Its size was consistent with that of the stars, or perhaps a bit larger.
The object then began to spin in a pinwheel fashion for about 8-10 revolutions and then sped off at tremendous speed toward the northwest. It spun very rapidly and with each revolution, its area of circumference became larger. It was akin to watching water drain down a sink but only in reverse.
I was able to observe the object as it sped off for only 1-2 seconds, due to the rate of speed. There were no sounds or any other anomalies associated with it. I found the experience to be rather eerie, but for some reason I felt comfortable with it, almost to the point of satisfaction. I am an agnostic when it comes to aerial phenomena. However, this sighting was definitely a mind stimulating experience.”
Dec. 19, 2002, Key West:
“I never reported this to anyone officially. I have discussed and shown the object I accidentally captured in a photo December a year ago with family members and some co-workers. Some were intrigued, some very skeptical. In my mind, it's a UFO, no doubt about it.
My husband, my sister-in-law, and myself were on a four-day cruise in the Caribbean. On the evening of Thursday, Dec. 19, 2002, we were getting ready to depart Key West. We were on the uppermost deck of the ship watching the sunset to our west. The time was between and
The sun sets very quickly this far south, so I was intently watching the sun go down through the view finder of a simple Kodak 35mm disposable camera. Music was playing but not loudly. There was no noise coming from overhead and no motion to take our attention away from getting the sunset on film. There were lots of people on the starboard side of the ship doing the same thing. I took only two shots, just a few seconds apart.
I had the film developed at a local camera shop. I looked at the photos before I left and when I saw the object in the sunset photo, I asked their rep if there was a scratch on the negative or any trash on it.
He looked at the negative closely with a magnifying eye piece and said no there wasn't. He thought, like I did, it was a very curious photo and even jokingly said that ‘You may have captured a UFO without even knowing it.’ The object is gone in the photo taken almost immediately after the first one.”
Oct. 5, 2001, Key West:
UFO hovers over cruise ship in Key West
We were on a cruise ship out in the Key West area. Suddenly, I saw this strange craft, with a rectangular shape with lights on top all around, and lights on the bottom all around.
It seemed to hover over the cruise ship, as if it were watching us. First, it would jet to the right and [make] quick movements to the left. It was faster than any man-made object that we know of today. Then it would fly back toward the ship. Of course, I decided, ‘Let’s see if it hears me.’ So I yelled out ‘if you are a UFO, I dare you to come closer.’
My god, my god, it did, as if it heard me. Several hundred people were on deck at the time, all staring at this craft. I asked one of the stewards/crew members: “Don’t you think we should report this? Their reply was ‘Awwww … we see this all the time. As long as they don’t hurt us, we don’t want to alarm the passengers, who didn’t see this or cause panic.’
I had always somewhat believed in UFOs, but this was the first time, and now I am a believer — that someone out there is watching us and observing us. The ship continued to flash back and forth up and down sideways and then just float in one spot like it was hovering! Again, the object was rectangular and somewhat also of a sphere shape, with lights all around it, with different-colored lights. And to me, it seemed like it was monitoring the ship’s activities and watching the people, including me, on the ship.
I wish I knew about this site sooner and hope this helps. But now at least it’s on record to help prove, that Yes, we are being watched and observed, from where only God knows!
P.S.: We were on the ship, Majesty of the Seas Royal Caribbean.
Jan. 19, 2002, Key Largo:
On vacation in Key Largo, I was standing on the terrace watching the stars on a clear, dark night, with no moon visible. Earlier, there had been a rather nasty traffic accident not far from where I was staying and the Medevac helicopters had been in the vicinity.
Also, there were several police helicopters that seemed to be searching the area for several minutes. Unfortunately, this area of the United States is known for illegal 'drug running' due to its remoteness and closeness to many islands in the Caribbean.
During this 'busy' period in the sky, I noticed a slow-moving object, very high up in the night sky. Its location was so high I couldn't comprehend it being part of any potential scouting trip. Using a pair of binoculars, my friend and I noticed that this object had lights flashing red and green, similar to that of an aircraft.
We continued to watch and as we did, the object began to change from a hovering position to one of movement. It would “zigzag” to the right and left, up and down very quickly and then seemed to return to its original 'hover' position. We watched for more than an hour. By that time, the other aircraft had long disappeared.
In all honesty, its appearance resembled a star, twinkling red and green and at an extremely high altitude. What seemed so unusual to me was the length of time this object hovered. No other aircraft came near it whether it was hovering or moving place to place. After approximately an hour and a half of observing it, the object simply disappeared. These and other UFO accounts can be found at http://www.nuforc.org/
-------------------------------- Many Keys residents and visitors will remember this image, which was taken on New Year's Eve three years ago. The dramatic arc of the aircraft and the phenomenon of the fiery horizon puzzled many witnesses. Some believed it was a Navy missile test, while others thought it was otherworldly in origin. Alas, it was just a commercial airliner taking a little-used flight path to avoid heavy air traffic around airports in the South. Or so the authorities said. ------------------------------------
The good news about School Board member Duncan Matthewson's retirement is the rich slate of passionate and qualified candidates fighting for the District 3 (Big Pine) seat. I liked each District 3 candidate at Finnegan's Wake bar last Thursday evening and I believe each is competent and would give the job his best. This is good news for voters, because voters usually must choose from a field of uninspired candidates who are hoping to supplement their incomes with the $30,000 (or so) the seat pays. Nothing wrong with liking that money, but the Monroe County School District is at a crucial point in its transition from a political patronage organization to a lean and professionally run school system.
Whoever gets the board seat in that district must be an extraordinary person. The job requires strong preparation before every meeting. Learning the budget and proposed spending amendments thoroughly; understanding all changes in state education requirements; inspecting proposed construction and service contracts for problems--board members must master an endless stream of information by meeting time. By the way, that doesn't include spending time away from home in the evenings talking to parents, teachers, and students. Attending night games--the list goes on.
Schools still in transition
Your vote will have power because the board is in uncharted territory. The School Board is the proud, new boss of a school superintendent who draws his power not from political patronage or the polls. He need only keep the board happy. All five members best-case, but at least three of them.
Nor is the new superintendent a governor-appointed napkin holder. I write this not as an affront to outgoing Superintendent Jesus Jara, who worked hard fulfilling the governor's mandate that he run the school system, but to make the point that the school board is now the boss.
Now that Superintendent Mark Porter from Minnesota must answer to them, the five board members have more power than ever before--certainly it has more say than it did before the Acevedos opened their family credit card account at the First Bank of Trumbo Road.
It is this new reality--that five board members must act with one voice when managing poor Mr. Porter--that I suggest voters pick a candidate with a clear understanding of what ails the school system. That someone should be familiar with board politics; understand the recent history of the school system; attend board meetings regularly, and speak with common sense.
I'm going to suggest voters take a good look at Ed Davidson, best-known to the community in the Middle Keys as Capt. Ed. If there is a fifth Beatle, then Davidson is the sixth School Board member. The dive captain and decorated Navy fighter pilot has attended more than 200 board meetings and Audit and Finance Committee meetings and participates in board debate via the public comment period at each meeting. He doesn't just gripe, though. He offers solutions and in some cases, the board has taken his suggestions.
I like the guy because he has that attitude that one must finish what one starts; that a hard day's work means something; and that when something is a bad idea, it's a bad idea to implement it. He has the endorsement (and a $200 contribution) from Ocean Reef PAC Inc., which represents homeowners in the Ocean Reef community.
Sorry, John Welsh
I hope my friend John Welsh, the sharp former principal of Key West High School and accomplished runner (he just took part in a marathon run along the Great Wall) will pardon me for what to him must sound like betrayal. I am not saying Davidson is what Welsh isn't. Both are men of courage and commitment.
At roughly the same time Davidson hit enemy targets from his F-4 Phantom over the North Vietnamese capital, Welsh was on the jungle floor engaging in what one can euphemistically call "up-close-and-personal conflict resolution" with the enemies of South Vietnam.
I don't want to mislead the reader, however. Welsh is gentle, kind, compassionate and much-beloved by many students, teachers and parents.
Welsh also is a veteran of the school district, having served as a teacher and administrator in the county schools for decades. Welsh also knows what it takes to run the largest public school in the Keys and has had to implement state school mandates from requirements for physical education teachers to student-teacher ratios. He has seen many changes in his years in the district, including the imposition of the No Child Left Behind regime and shifting attitudes of parents, teachers, and students. I doubt there's anything that could surprise John Welsh in a school.
But I make Welsh my second choice behind Davidson. Experience running a school does not always translate into an effective School Board member. If that were true, Board Member Ron Martin would be a change agent on the board. He isn't though he does offer sage advice at times.
To get the District 3 seat, Davidson has for years studied the issues to prepare himself for the each board meeting. He followed teacher union/district negotiations, learned student-teacher classroom ratios, and other issues the board debated.
Was he always auditioning for a spot on the board? I would have to say yes. He has spoken at nearly every meeting and has actively worked for the election of individual board members. I believe his hard work before meetings indicates that he'll tackle this board seat and make it his own quickly. He'll do what he says he'll do: help the district change into an effective, mean, lean fighting machine.
That's why I believe he should get that Big Pine seat.
Do you think your local, county and state officials are corrupt?
Is that nice employee at the Housing Authority, the Sheriff's Office, or wastewater treatment plant skimming money from the organizational till?
Is the meter maid accepting $20 bribes from car owners who walk up as she writes them a parking ticket?
Is the housing inspector giving a pass to his friends and family in the construction business while making it impossible for you to finish the addition you're building on your house?
When you go to pick up your dog from the animal shelter, is the counter person pocketing the $150 fee you just paid to get Fido back?
If you live in an average American city, chances are someone is grabbing public money for personal use.
Corruption seems to be a kind of institution in the Keys. In spite of the promise of public humiliation and jail time, there's always one more government official waiting in the hallway outside the grand jury room.
Is anyone watching the store?
At the Monroe County School District, former Adult Education Coordinator Monique Acevedo not only rang up hundreds of thousands of dollars in groceries, clothing, jewelry, furniture, and other goods on her school district credit card, she stole tens of thousands of dollars in cash from adult students hoping to earn state beauty licenses. The evening beauty school would accept only cash from students hoping to learn hair styling and manicure skills. Though scores of students paid up to $1,900 for classes, the line item in the annual school district budget for "Adult Education fees collected" were followed by empty accounting columns. In other words, the budget was prepared every year with no indication that money was ever collected from all those students.
The empty columns were there for the district's Finance Director to discover if she so desired. The proof was there, too, for the Florida Auditor General's Office, the state agency that reviews each school district's budget for fraud every year.
In the months before she was caught, Ms. Acevedo gave a special presentation before the School Board about all the money generated by her Adult Education Department beauty school classes. During the presentation, she told board members that the fees from the classes generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the school district. She said that with a straight face, without a trace of irony. A recording of that meeting shows Board member John Dick expressing disbelief, but the truth was not learned for some time.
Now that she's well into her eight-year sentence for fraud in a Florida prison, the district is still trying to find its feet in the sand.
What if the newspapers reported all of the financial mischief in the school district--with the poor children literally robbed of publicly funded school books, clothes, dental care, and other benefits--and the Office of the State Attorney decided not to prosecute?
In the public call for justice, what if the state attorney decided that enough damage had been done to the district? Let Ms. Acevedo resign (she did) and let the school district clean its own house, some in the community suggested. After all (a state attorney could have decided) a long, penetrative investigation would only hurt the morale of well-meaning school employees and destroy the public faith in its school system.
U.S. Attorney prosecuted cases in the past
Many of the public corruption cases before Dennis Ward became Monroe County State Attorney were handled not by that office on Whitehead Street but investigated from the Miami FBI office and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney, Ward's supporters argue.
Glen, a good friend who was born and raised in Key West, told me the Keys have changed in one respect in recent years: Now when there's a case of public corruption, the public learns the details of what happened. The public gets information about cases that once were dealt with quietly.
Ward, who got in trouble for greeting a juror (in full view of the courtroom, not in secret) and who neglected to keep up with continuing state bar association education requirements, is getting pummeled for these mistakes by his campaign opponents.
Ward's mistakes shouldn't be ignored, but given their proper weight. The judge declared a mistrial in that assault case and Ward apologized for breaking courthouse ethics.
Ward has since completed his bar education requirements. He was temporarily suspended from the bar, as were more than 800 other attorneys statewide, state bar officials said. Those same state bar officials consider it a minor administrative matter. Ward was rightfully criticized after his suspension became public, but I don't consider it a vote-breaker by any means.
Though former State Attorney Mark Kohl is hoping to win his seat back from Ward in November, I believe Kohl has had two terms to fight corruption in the Keys and Ward's supporters believe Kohl showed timidity in his pursuit of government criminals. Voters will have a chance to decide whether that criticism is fair. Kohl's supporters can point to Kohl's conviction of Louis LaTorre, the former head of county social services who recently began serving his 42-month sentence for DUI with serious bodily harm. LaTorre had been free since 2008 appealing his conviction.
Ward should be re-elected
I am voting for Ward; he ran for his office on the promise to prosecute corrupt Keys officials. That is just what his office has done.
I first met Ward at the Studios of Key West one evening during his first run for office. As we stood outside the studios during an open house there, he introduced himself and as we talked, he told me he wasn't going to shy away from prosecuting dishonest local politicians. It was a safe promise to make; at the time there were no corruption cases on the horizon. So, Monique Acevedo is in prison; her husband, Randy, earned three felony obstruction convictions and is on probation. Norma Jean Sawyer, who ran the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust but misspent money meant to help poor and elderly residents in Bahama Village, also was convicted under Ward's service. The public had been pounding the table for someone to do something about the BCCLT problem for a long time.
Former Mosquito Control Director of Operations, Mike Spoto served 90 days in the Monroe County Detention Center for theft of cell phone services paid for by taxpayers. Kohl declined to prosecute Spoto, but Ward reopened the case after he was elected.
Now Ward's assistant prosecutors are warming up in the bullpen for Lisa Druckemiller, the former Monroe County Technical Services Director charged with illegally selling about 50 iPhones and iPads that were slated for official use. A grand jury Tuesday indicted her for those alleged crimes.
Prosecutors are solid team
Ward's aces are Chief Assistant State Attorney Manny Madruga, assistant State Attorney Mark Wilson, and other assistant prosecutors who convinced juries to convict in criminal cases. Building strong cases and presenting simple but solid arguments to juries, Ward's prosecutors have helped Ward deliver satisfaction to a public tired of corruption in the Keys.
Ward faces fellow Democrat Catherine Vogel in the Aug. 14 primary; the winner of that race faces Kohl, who is a Republican, on Nov. 6. Vogel, who defended former Schools Superintendent Randy Acevedo in his obstruction trial, has criticized Ward's style for years. She argues that Ward tries his cases in the press when he should remain silent. Vogel believes his public comments in the run-up to Randy Acevedo's trial hurt her attempts to build a defense. She asked a judge to regulate Ward's statements to the press during Acevedo's prosecution, but the judge rejected her motion.
As long as a prosecutor agrees to release recordings, files, notes or other investigative documents to the press, I don't think the state attorney needs to comment anyway.
It's not that complicated, though. Ward is a fighter and Keys residents need someone who understands that corruption is expensive, destroys the public faith in its government, and hurts the morale of those who get up every day and do the right thing.
