​Zonta Club of Key West is excited to host the 30th Annual ABC (Awareness Breast Cancer) 10K and 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, November 5 at Higgs Beach. This event raises money to cover mammograms and other diagnostic and preventive screenings for women in the Lower Keys who otherwise cannot afford them.  
 
“The Florida Keys is a high-risk county for breast cancer given our geography and large number of residents who do not have health insurance.  This year we expect an even greater need for women’s health funds due to the financial hardships many women and their families face,” said Mechelle Burgohy, Committee Chair for the ABC Event and Zonta Board Member. 
 
Zonta has helped alleviate some of the barriers to healthcare in the Keys.  With the money raised at ABC, over 3,500 mammograms were provided to local women.  The club has never turned any woman requesting these services away and has made it easier for uninsured and underinsured women to receive these life-saving screenings.  
 
Join the hundreds of runners and walkers for this year’s events by registering now at tinyurl.com/abc30th.  Additional registration details follow. 

​The College of the Florida Keys (CFK) invites the community to the second round of CFK Poetics events on Thursday, October 6. “Culture Unites and Divides” continues as the theme of this year’s annual visiting poets series. Poet and poetry professor Tom Hunley will present at 6 p.m. in the Tennessee Williams Theatre on the Key West Campus. The event can also be viewed via a live stream at the Upper Keys Center auditorium in Key Largo. Hunley will read some of his works and take questions from the audience. Earlier on the day, he will participate in a craft talk with students in the College’s Library at the Key West Campus at 3:30 p.m. All events are free and open to the public. Learn more at CFK.edu/Poetics.
 
CFK Poetics is a series that aims to develop awareness of and immersion in the humanities landscape by connecting students and the community with poetry on the national level in a way that is immediate to their own experiences. Since 2019, visiting poets have come to CFK or appeared virtually to share their work and have conversations with the student body as well as the community at large. Formerly featured poets include B.H. Fairchild, Chelsea Rathburn, Richard Blanco, Ross Gay, and Adrian Matejka. 
 
About Tom Hunley: 
Tom C. Hunley is the author of seven full-length poetry collections, most recently What Feels Like Love (C&R Press 2021), seven chapbooks, most recently Adjusting to the Lights (winner, 2020 Rattle Chapbook Prize), and two textbooks. With Alexandria Peary, he co-edited Creative Writing Pedagogies for the Twenty-First Century (Southern Illinois University Press, 2015). He directs the Creative Writing MFA program at Western Kentucky University, where he has taught since 2003.  
 
Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

​The office of the County Administrator and the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners has reappointment Patricia Neyra of NEYRA Construction to the Tourist Development Council District 1 Advisory Committee.

The Key West City Commission approved the budget for fiscal 2022/23 that will provide various improvements to our island’s numerous parks and recreational facilities as well as additional public safety personnel, which will enhance the City’s safety and quality of life.

Following two budget workshops, the commission approved a tentative ad valorem tax rate of 2.0822, which equates to $2.08 per $1000 of assessed property value.
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The adopted budget addresses many strategic priorities identified by the community including road and sidewalk improvements, traffic and pedestrian improvements, efficiency and resiliency efforts, and a continued focus on citywide cleanliness and affordable housing initiatives. It also addresses increased personnel and operational costs and continues to provide assistance to youth recreational leagues and local non-profit organizations.
 
 
 

​After the final classroom session of Class 37 of the Ambassadors Academy, City Manager Patti McLauchlin awarded class members Bill and Toni Crowley with Extra Mile Challenge Coins.
The couple has made outstanding volunteer efforts in the City’s push to keep Key West beautiful.
They participate in the Early Bird plogging events on Fridays. They were part of Commissioner Mary Lou Hoover’s team during National Cleanup Day last weekend. They will be the captains of a team participating in the September 24th cleanup organized by Coast Love.
They’ve even adopted a spot for cleanup at the VFW in partnership with the Southernmost Coconuts Castaways.
Many Ambassador Academy alumni invest their time in the regular cleanups held around the island, and the City appreciates their dedication.
 

​The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners met last night to adopt the proposed $519.7 million Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) budget. The budget includes the Board of County Commissioners, the constitutional officers, like the Sheriff's Office, Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections, and Clerk of Court, and other appropriations for the Tourist Development Council, capital projects, and reserves. Monroe County has the lowest millage rate in Florida and has continued this trend for many years.
 
FY23 budget highlights:

• A decrease in the proposed FY23 aggregate millage rate by 4.2 percent from 3.3748 to 3.2326. A homesteaded residential property owner with an average appraised assessed taxable value of $469,161 in 2022 will see a $0.66 monthly decrease in their property tax for the FY23 year. The taxable value is different from the market value.
• Reflects a property value increase with a total value of $36.8 billion, another historic high. Property values have doubled in the past 10 years.
• Reflects continued investment in roads and bridges, resilience adaptation, facilities, and public safety infrastructure. A number of notable capital projects are funded in whole or in large part with non-local funding.
• Funds expanded recreational facilities, including upgrades and amenities to existing parks and expanded library services.
• Funds higher operational costs like CPI-based increases for vendor contracts, higher cost of fuel, supplies, and materials, higher utility and property insurance costs, and higher personnel costs.
• Provides more than $2.1 million in funding for 26 community-based nonprofit organizations.

                      
The Monroe County Office of Budget and Finance provides coordination and development of the budget that will go into effect Oct. 1, 2022. The award-winning office continues to work with inflation issues, Hurricane Irma, and COVID-19 impacts while providing for the department's daily operations, program enhancements, capital projects, and infrastructure improvements.
 
For more information about the budget and budgeting process, visit www.monroecounty-fl.gov/budgetandfinance.
 

​Monroe County Fire Rescue took delivery of a Mobile Fire Pump Testing and Training unit called a Draft Commander 3000. This mobile pump testing unit is one of a kind and will help Monroe County comply with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. The unit is stationed at the training facility on Grassy Key to provide hose testing and fire apparatus pump testing and training. The unit uses clean recycled fresh water during pump testing instead of salt water from an open water source that would corrode apparatus pumps.
 
“Having a unit like this on hand will allow us to save time, money, and resources,” said Chief Steven Hudson. “This multipurpose unit will greatly assist all fire rescue departments in Monroe County during pump testing and training.”

​Mayor Teri Johnston and the Key West City Commission have proclaimed the week of September 25th through October 1st as Childhood Cancer Awareness Week.
According to The American Cancer Fund for Children and Kids Cancer Connection report, cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among U.S. children between infancy and the age of 15. This disease is detected in more than 16,000 of our country's young people every year. An estimated 400,000 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer globally each year, and one in five loses their battle with cancer.
The American Cancer Fund for Children, Inc., Kids Cancer Connection, Inc. and Lions Clubs International are dedicated to helping these children and their families. They provide a variety of vital patient services to children undergoing cancer treatment at participating hospitals throughout Florida and the country, enhancing the quality of life for these children and their families. They sponsor a variety of programs:  toy distributions, family sailing programs, pet-assisted therapy, educational programs, and hospital celebrations in honor of a child's determination and bravery to fight the battle against childhood cancer.
Scott Pridgen, the executive director of AH Monroe, accepted the proclamation.
“We’re all looking for a cure,” he said. 

​Monroe County Office of Marine Resources replaced 80 regulatory marker buoys at the Whale Harbor Channel “Flats” in Islamorada and 11 regulatory marker buoys at Harry Harris Park in Tavernier. Both regulatory No Motor Zones areas were established in 2003. Within a No Motor Zone, all vessels equipped with internal combustion motors (e.g., gasoline or diesel motors) for propulsion must turn off the internal combustion motor and, if possible, tilt or raise the internal combustion motor out of the water.
 
This project was funded in part through a grant awarded to Monroe County by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Florida Boating Improvement Program (FBIP). Replacement of these waterway markers improves boater safety by increasing marker visibility and understanding of waterway regulations, promotes boating access, and protects shallow-water resources such as seagrass and coral.
 
The Monroe County Office of Marine Resources maintains more than 550 aids to navigation, encompassing 22 boating regulatory zones and 36 channel marker chains throughout the Florida Keys. The FBIP funding significantly augments Monroe County’s Boating Improvement Fund, which is generated from recreational vessel registrations and is used to maintain waterway marking infrastructure and other important boating and waterways services.

Brighten the Square!

We want your input on enhancing Key West's most iconic public square. 

Mallory Square is beloved for its nightly Sunset Celebration, an iconic event that brings together the best of the Keys' natural beauty and unique culture. This is just one of the many roles this public square has played in its history, from anti-piracy outpost to auction house; shipbreaking yard to fishing pier. Today the City of Key West is asking, how can we realize the full potential of Mallory Square to support the Keys' culture, commerce and community? 

Click here https://mallorysquare.engage.sasaki.com/  to join the planning process! Help write the next chapter in Mallory Square's story.
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From September 2022 to May 2023 the City of Key West will be conducting a collaborative master planning process to guide future improvements to the square. The planning process will be community-centered, relying on input from both residents and visitors at all stages of development.