Letters to the editor with pictures since 0202. Published on Big Pine Key’s garbage days, Tuesdays and Fridays.
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[Hummingbirds] How can I attract hummingbirds? I live in the woods surrounded by plenty of birds, but I’ve never seen a hummingbird. If I put a feeder out, will they come by themselves or do they need further incentives? How do you chum for hummingbirds? |
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| [“Rent control”] No more greedy landlords! |
 [Come Help Distribute Campaign Materials and Meet Walt] This Sunday, July 15, 3:00 PM, 20844 4th Ave. West, Cudjoe Key, 33042
Walt and I are having a get together for friends this coming Sunday, who we are asking to help distribute campaign materials. You are one of those friends. Please come and join us to get a sign to place on your property, send campaign info to your friends, distribute campaign literature, work on election day, etc. Walt is clearly the most qualified candidate for this race. When informed that Walt is running for the new Keys Energy Utility Board Seat D, one of our most prominent and respected local newscasters stated “Walt, it’s like this position was made just for you”. Walt has been tireless in his volunteer efforts to come to the aid of our Keys Community on so many occasions. He could really use your help now, in this increasingly competitive campaign, so that he can continue to do so. We will be serving Walt’s legendary paella, pulled pork, corn on the cob, other fixings and refreshments. We will have yard signs, car magnets and banners to be placed. Attached is the brief brochure of Walt’s extensive qualifications, experience and intentions. Please come. You are welcome to confirm your attendance so that we can procure enough seafood for that Paella! If a schedule conflict prohibits your attendance, please stop by another time – or we will be happy to drop off signs, magnets, etc. to your location. Thank you for your attention and support! ~Jean Gormley Drabinski Campaign Manager |
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| [Perception] A well-dressed and groomed man riding a bicycle in a strange neighborhood gets cheerful hellos instead of suspicious looks and bad vibes. |
U.S. Navy SEALs have chosen the Belgian Malinois as the dog they go into battle with. Here are a few reasons why. Video |
| [Illegal Aliens] Simple form to use to report illegal aliens. Link |
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| [The Movies] It use to be five minutes of credits at the beginning of all movies, but now with Netflix’s fast forward feature, people were skipping over the credits. Now the movie starts immediately and after a few minutes they slip in a credit here and there until they have all appeared and the movie wasn’t interrupted. |
[Redneck Test For Sharks] The people of Edisto Beach, SC have reportedly come up with a fool-proof way to detect sharks in the water. A man on vacation last weekend put it to the test, and it worked. Video |
| [Accessorize] Marijuana and fashion rolled together in budding industry. Video |
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 [Splenda Kills Fire Ants] Splenda is a persistent chemical that is used to determine if pollution is from sewage. It messes up marine life where treated wastewater effluent enters that environment. Here is a much better use for it than as a sweetener: fire ant killer! Splenda is a molecule of carbon and hydrogen with attached chlorine atoms. Its molecular structure is similar to that of DDT. It was discovered accidentally while trying to create a new insecticide. It is no surprise, then, that Splenda kills ants. Here is what one person reported as his experience using Splenda to get rid of fire ants. ‘I did this back around 2007. Our campsite (private land) was overrun with fire ants. I was buying very expensive fire ant poison for over 5 years. All Amdro did was kill a few ants and then the whole colony would relocate somewhere else on the property. I had some left over Splenda I wanted to get rid of and I thought of using the Splenda as bait to lure the fire ants out of their den. I was going to poison the ants once there were enough on the ground to do some damage. Well, I only did this 1 time on 1 fire ant mound and there were at least 50 mounds on this 5 acres. It was late September when I did this. Come next spring, All of the fire ants were gone!” Link |
| Beware the flu bug that is attacking in the Keys big time. You get sore ears, throat and other nice things. Take lots of o.j. and meds, but don’t go out and spread this. It hurts! |
Effendi means “faithful” in Egyptian. |
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| [Irma Survivor Picnic] Good afternoon. I heard just part of a story about a Irma survivor picnic to be held in Sept. Do you know where I can get more details? I’d like to offer some help to the project. |
 How did the real murderer know that Bruce Schmitt intended to go to Costa Rica, as he was advised to go by the FBI, unless the FBI was in on the conspiracy? Moral of the story: Don’t go up against Marathon’s City Council; you could end up dead. Statue of Limitations now expired. Imagine that! Link |
| A 92-year-old woman shot and killed her 72-year-old son because he wanted to put her in an assisted living facility. Now she has to find out what jail houses geriatrics? Link |
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| Do stupid people ever hit a point in their life, where they realize they’re stupid? |
 Barracuda bites man snorkeling off Key Largo. A barracuda bit a man on the leg when he was snorkeling off Key Largo Saturday afternoon. The man was swimming within John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park when he was bitten. Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Corps treated the man’s injuries when he was brought to shore, said he was bitten below the knee. It wasn’t anything life-threatening. If this is accurate it is the first time a barracuda has bitten a person in the Florida Keys since records have been kept. Or is it the lower Keys where a barracuda has never bit anyone intentionally? Heart – Barracuda |
| [“Rent control”] I’m all for it. It not only solves the affordable housing problem, but it also does away with landlord greed. |
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| [Immigration] It was a traffic stop in the Keys one moment, and an immigration arrest the next. Link Agents arrested Sanchez, and when they searched him, they found a fake Social Security card and a bogus permanent-resident card, Talbert wrote in his report. Sanchez also had an “alien registration number” that belonged to another person, according to the report. Yeah, I know. He came to escape the gangs and find a better life. Problem is, he was doing it at the expense of others, those whose SS number, “alien registration number” and faked perm res-card he had. I somehow don’t think he was paying taxes either. We can’t be the dumping ground for the world’s criminals. Build a wall, rewrite immigration law and let’s even the playing field for those applying for citizenship the legal way. There’s thousands of good people waiting to hear their number called. They deserve to come first! |
When Elvis joined Celine Dion on stage, nobody could believe their eyes. Is he still dead? Video |
| [“Marathon’s sliver”] A retired Marathon mail driver told me that the missing streets on the west end are because the Postal Service assigned street numbers beginning on the west end of Knight’s Key at the beginning of the bridge. But they never built the streets on Knight’s Key (only Knight’s Key Blvd) so the first street you come to in Marathon is 12th Street Terrace, then numbers go down to 11th Street, then they start to go up again to 13th, etc. That part is another part where no one seems to know why. |
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| [Stanley in Africa] Again the steamers arrived at Equator Station, where the commandant had a harrowing tale to tell of how the neighboring Bakuti had lost their chief and had come to the station to buy the soldier laborers to the extent of fifty, thinking they were slaves, in order that they might sacrifice them over the dead chieftain’s grave. It is needless to say that they were driven out of the station and given to understand that rites so horrid were not sanctioned by civilized people.
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| 7 reasons why Iggy Pop‘s still an icon at 70. Link |
 I need an attorney who can assist the sibling of an elderly Vet who is a Marathon local but is in the psychiatric ward of Homestead Hospital. Is that Family Law? Is that Estate Law? I’m looking for recommendations. |
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| [“Rent control solves affordable housing problem”] Yes it would, but there’s no profit in it so it will never happen. That’s the same with the downstairs enclosure solution; there’s no profit for anyone except the homeowner. |
[Illegal Aliens] I agree, stop them at the border and send them back then and there. Most voters don’t want any of the illegal immigrants who’ve recently arrived in their state and say any legislation passed by Congress to deal with the problem should focus on sending them home as soon as possible. |
| [Cat Lady] The only thing crazy about this cat lady is the number of felines she’s rescued: 28,000. Video |
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| I love the poorly educated. ~D. Trump. I think he was talking about this man. Video |
[Winn Dixie] Weekly ad. Link |
| [“Affordable housing”] People from the mainland come here for work and need affordable housing. Say we need 1000 new affordable units. Ok, we build them. People move in. People from the mainland come here for work and need more affordable housing. We need a thousand more. We build them. People move in. People from the mainland come here for work and need more affordable housing. We need a thousand more …
Building housing on every inch of land in the Keys, not only ruins the Keys, but only temporarily satisfies the insatiable need for more housing. The only beneficiaries are developers. |
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| [Immigration] I have a friend who is still waiting 7 years since applying for citizenship – legally. It’s no wonder they take the quicker rout over the border. The illegal entries must stop. Link |
[My Name is Trump… Donald Trump] Extreme editing to create Trump in the 007 role. My favorite is Melania in the hot air balloon. Video |
| Florida’s annual two-day lobster mini-season coming soon. Here’s what you need to know (If you’re a local — leaving is all you need to know!) Link |
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| [The Marathon ‘sliver'”] The 534 voting units that were in Voting District 2 and were gerrymandered to move out of the lower Keys into a narrow sliver of Marathon(still in Voting District 2) now having nothing to do with the lower Keys. Marathon peoples who want to represent the lower Keys whos concept of what life in the lower Keys should be about is totally wrong. It’s not about development, it’s not about huge corporate resorts, it’s not about repetitive useless weekly special events guaranteed to pull in big bucks. It’s about peace, quiet, relaxation and the pursuit of happiness. |
 [Not Just Splenda That Kills Fire Ants] From an article in Entomology Today of March 28. 2017: Researchers from China have discovered that some sweeteners can be lethal to the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), a devastating pest found South America, the United States, Australia, Asia, and on many Caribbean islands. In a test, ants that were fed erythritol, aspartame, and saccharin had a mortality rate higher than 80 percent. They say it works especially well because it does not kill them immediately, giving time for them to share throughout the nest. Are you sure you want that diet soda |
| [Extremes] Someone complained that a funny post about the President shouldn’t have been published. That’s the problem in our country, you are either on the extreme right or left. There’s no longer any middle. Sometimes stuff is just funny. Get over yourselves. |
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| That 7 Mile Bridge repair which is costing 77 million tax dollars just happens to be in that tiny sliver of District 2 that was moved to the Middle Keys side of the 7 Mile Bridge. So it’s not Marathon’s #1 tourism attraction. I propose that a fee be charged for everyone, who sets foot, even those members of the Pigeon Key Society who conned the Monroe Commissioners to donate Monroe County Taxpayer funds to help pay for their repairs. Yes, that’s right, your tax money that could have been used for schools, infrastructure upgrades, parks, new equipment for teachers. But they decided to misappropriate the tax money that the voters voted to pay for Monroe County infrastructure, so who’s going to prosecute them? Fat chance because people can’t be bothered. |
Manatee rescued in Key Largo. Video |
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