The Florida Keys Only Daily Newspaper, Est.

1876
May 5, 2014 Vol. 138 No. 125 14 pages Monday
FOR CLASSIFIEDS 305-292-7777, Option 3 KEYSWIDE CLASSIFIEDS keysnews.com/classifieds
INDEX CLASSIFIED ADS 4-6B COMICS 6A CRIME REPORT 2A CROSSWORD 5B KEYS CALENDAR 2A OPINION 4A SPORTS 1B
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.:
This seaside city thought it
had the perfect solution the
last time California withered
in a severe drought more
than two decades ago: Tap
the ocean to turn salty sea-
water to fresh water. Page 7A
WEATHER
Connor Chaney, seventh grade,
The Basilica Elementary School
See forecast on Page 2A
NATION
TALLAHASSEE: Con-
fronting a tough re-election
fight Gov. Rick Scott came into
his fourth legislative session
as governor with a focused,
but yet limited agenda.
Page 8A
FLORIDA
Marathon City
Manager Mike
Puto talks about
proposed chang-
es to the city charter that will go
before voters in November.
Also on todays show:
Chris Tittel, Health Dept.
Mike Davila, KWFD
Dean Walters, FDOT
Capt. Al Young, Coast Guard
Joe Garcia, congressman
Bobby Dube, FWC
Mary Casanova,
Literacy Volunteers
NEWS: 7:30, 8:30 a.m., noon, 5 & 6 p.m.
Evening Edition 5-5:30 p.m.
ON THE RADIO
MIKE HENTZ/The Citizen
Ground crew members check the Prowler jets of Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Training Squadron 1 at Boca Chica.
MARATHON
City looks to sea
for water in drought
In a tough re-election
fight the gov. gets help
At a time when the White
House has softened American
travel restrictions to Cuba, a
former contractor says he is
trapped in a Cold War-era pris-
on sentence that is killing him
slowly.
Alan Gross, 65, is serving a
15-year sentence in Havana for
bringing satellite phones into
the communist nation under
a program funded by the
U.S. Agency for International
Development.
Former President Jimmy
Carter, 66 U.S. senators,
Secretary of State John Kerry
and various American Jewish
organizations have all lobbied
on behalf of Gross.
Now, an elected Key West
leader wants the tiny island
city, which is closer to Havana
than Miami, to take a stand.
Sponsored by City
Commissioner Tony Yaniz, the
proposed resolution would
state that Key West implores
the Cuban government to
release Alan Gross as an act
of good faith that rises above
political philosophies and
agendas.
Commissioners meet at 6
p.m. Tuesday at Old City Hall
with the item near the top of
their agenda beneath other
proposals that the city 1.) Urge
Southwest Airlines to continue
air service at the Key West air-
port and 2.) That commission-
ers reappoint John Parks to the
Housing Authority Board.
Provided photos
Alan Gross, 65, a Maryland contractor, is seen in a series of photos his family has posted online to
show his deterioration between 2009 and 2014 due to imprisonment in Cuba for illegally distributing
communications equipment. He has 11 years left on his sentence.
BOCA CHICA
Marines call them the
chariots of electronic
Armageddon, and they fly
an unusual looking plane not
often seen coming and going
from Boca Chica Field.
The EA-6B Prowler is a twin
engine, electronic warfare jet
tasked with jamming and
sometimes destroying enemy
radar or other systems aimed
at shooting down American
aircraft.
They are unique in that
they are side-by-side, four-
seaters, whereas most jets are
configured with just one pilot
or with the pilot up front and
a navigational or other sys-
tems officer sitting directly
behind.
The Prowler is getting on
in years and the Navy has
moved away from the roughly
35-year-old airframe, but the
Marine Tactical Electronic
Warfare Training Squadron
1 (VMAQT-1) based out of
Marine Corps Air Station
Cherry Point, N.C. are still
bringing Armageddon via the
older planes.
Theyre aiming at becoming
regular visitors at Naval Air
Station Key West, said squad-
ron commanding officer Lt.
Col. Josh Flash Gordon.
This is our first time in
squadron history in Key West,
but our intention is to make
plans to visit twice a year,
Gordon said.
The Banshees, as VMAQT-
A group of residents wants
Monroe Countys elected offi-
cials to look more closely at
three key points in the countys
trash collection agreements
before signing off on roughly
$153 million in new contracts
with its current trash hauling
companies.
The Monroe County
Commission is scheduled to
vote May 21 in Key Largo on
10-year contracts for garbage
collection, trash haul-out and
recycling services in the Lower
Keys, Key Largo and the city of
Marathon.
But first, Lower Keys resi-
dents Jan Edelstein and
Bill Hunter want Kessler
Consulting, a trash consult-
ing company, to review several
aspects of the countys garbage
services and contracts. Kessler
recently evaluated the city of
Key Wests needs, services and
contracts and authored a solid
waste master plan for the city.
Edelstein and Hunter want
Kessler to conduct a rate com-
parison for trash collection
and haul-out costs. They also
want Kessler to analyze exist-
ing county trash contracts
and operations at the countys
transfer stations, where gar-
bage is dropped off by collec-
tion trucks, then hauled out of
the Florida Keys.
The residents argued that
See TRASH, Page 3A
In a last-ditch effort to reach
an agreement with the local
teachers union, school district
administrators scheduled three
meetings to take place this
week, as the clock ticks down
on the end of the contract year
being negotiated.
District officials on Friday
announced they would meet in
closed executive sessions with
the elected School Board at 1
p.m. today, and with the nego-
tiating team of United Teachers
of Monroe at 4:30 p.m.
If the union rejects the dis-
tricts proposals, the School
A homeless man charged
with second-degree murder
in the 2013 stabbing death of
another vagrant at a make-
shift campground is arguing
he should be
immune from
pr os ecut i on
under Floridas
controversial
Stand Your
Ground law.
T i m o t h y
Howard, 60,
faces a possible maximum
sentence of life in prison if
convicted of stabbing Richard
See CUBA, Page 3A
KEY WEST
See STAND, Page 8A
See UNION, Page 3A
See MARINES, Page 8A
Howard
Residents: No-bid, $153M contract deserves expert opinion
Group seeks trash contract review
Prowlers on patrol
Electronic warfare squadron uses Boca Chica
City may join effort to
free man in Cuban jail
BY TIMOTHY OHARA
Citizen Staff
Union,
school
district
face off
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
Citizen Staff
Suspect
claims
self-defense
BY ADAM LINHARDT
Citizen Staff
BY GWEN FILOSA
Citizen Staff
BY ADAM LINHARDT
Citizen Staff
17
th
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