KEYS WEATHER

Staffers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Coastal Wildlife Conservation Initiative are coming to the Keys next week to discuss their strategy for wildlife conservation in coastal areas of Florida, including Monroe County.

The Nov. 8 session is from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and the Nov. 9 session from 9 a.m. to noon. Both are at the Marathon Garden Club, mile marker 50 bayside.

Although the meetings are open to the public, those planning to attend are asked to register in advance online at

www.myfwc.com/

Conservation; select “Coastal Wildlife Conservation Initiative,” then “Register.”

FWC staff will present an overview of the initiative and its partnership strategy, and ask those attending to identify pressing coastal conservation issues in their area — in this case, the Keys — and discuss gaps in research, education, management and regulation that stand in the way of resolving those issues.

Said Blair Hayman, the initiative’s coordinator. “Critical, immediate, as well as long-standing coastal wildlife conservation issues could be addressed more effectively through the cooperative efforts of a partnership rather than by individual agencies or entities.”

PREDICTED TEMPERATURES

DAY HIGH LOW WED. 81 72 THURS. 81 70 FRI. 81 71 SAT. 81 71

Forecast: Expect partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies.

Visit KeysNet.com/weather for radar and extended forecast.

BEACH ADVISORIES

The Monroe County Health Department tests Keys beaches twice weekly for the presence of enteric bacteria. The following beaches have health advisories against swimming: ● South Beach,Key West.

CONTACT US

Upper Keys

91655 Overseas Highway Tavernier,FL 33070 Newsroom . . . .(305) 852-3216 Advertising . . .(305) 852-3216 Fax . . . . . . . . . . . .(305) 853-1040 Fax . . . . . . . . . . . .(305) 852-0199

Marathon

3015 Overseas Highway (P.O.Box 500158) Marathon,FL 33050-0158 Newsroom . . .(305) 743-5551 Advertising . . .(305) 743-5551 Fax . . . . . . . . . . .(305) 743-6397 Fax . . . . . . . . . . .(305) 743-9586

Key West

2720-A N.Roosevelt Blvd. Overseas Market Key West,FL 33040 Newsroom . . .(305) 296-6989 Advertising . . .(305) 296-6989 Fax . . . . . . . . . . .(305) 296-1287

E-mail

keynoter@keynoter.com

Missing your paper?

We no longer offer same-day redelivery for missing or wet papers.Customers can request a credit or next-day redelivery by calling 743-5551.After hours,call toll-free (800) 843-4372.

KEY WEST NASCAR team owner injured in plane crash

Aircraft slides off Keys runway Monday night

By CAMMY CLARK cclark@MiamiHerald.com

A jet carrying Rick Hendrick, owner of NASCAR’s Hendrick Motorsports, and his wife, Linda, crash-landed Monday evening at Key West International Airport.

Both were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries, according to Peter Horton, director of airports for Monroe County.

The Gulfstream 150, which was registered to

MARATHON

Maryland man reportedly had pills,hash,pot

By RYAN McCARTHY

rmccarthy@keynoter.com

Some advice: If you’re carrying a lot of illegal drugs in your car, it’s best to obey traffic laws so as not to draw attention to yourself.

Jesse Leese, 25, of Baltimore, Md., learned that over the weekend, says the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

The laborer was charged with several drug-related offenses around 11 a.m. Sunday after deputies pulled him over near 53rd Street in Marathon after receiving a call from a motorist that the van Leese was driving northbound at mile marker 20 was crossing the center line of U.S. 1. That was at 10:28 a.m.

Deputies staked out the NASCAR five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, apparently lost its brakes upon landing at the small airport about 7:45 p.m.

Horton said the pilot and co-pilot radioed to the tower saying they had “no brakes.” The plane skidded off the 4,800-foot runway and came to a stop along a 600-foot unpaved safety area that had just been added at the airport in May.

“If this area hadn’t been added, the outcome would have been different and probably catastrophic,” Horton said. “Before, we had only 100 feet of overrun, and then they would have gone into a salt pond and hit an embankment.”

The pilot and co-pilot, van on the Marathon end of the Seven M i l e Bridge, which Leese

LEESE crossed at 10:58 a.m., then followed the suspect for a few miles before pulling him over.

When they did, they reportedly found more than 230 prescription pills and other drugs inside the van.

The report says Leese was “driving all over the road, including into oncoming traffic and off onto the shoulder.” He had four passengers inside.

During the traffic stop, the arrest report says, deputies saw an open bottle of Sailor Jerry’s rum behind the driver’s seat. Leese was initially given warnings for not staying in his lane, not carrying a current insurance whose names were not available, were walking after the accident and did not appear to be injured, Horton said. But both pilots were taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Hendrick and his wife were put on stretchers and taken to the hospital. The extent of their injuries was not available. The National Transportation Safety Board was notified and will be investigating the incident.

In 2004, Hendrick’s team plane crashed en route to a NASCAR race, killing all 10 aboard, including his son, brother and two nieces. The Hendricks own a waterfront home on Sunset Key.

NASCAR has its seasonending race, the Ford 400, on Nov. 20 at Homestead

Erratic driving leads to big drug haul

Photo courtesy SHERIFF’S OFFICE Deputy Jon Barry Huff (left) and Deputy Bradford Colen show the drugs,cash and other items seized during a Sunday morning traffic stop.Police pulled over 25-yearold Maryland resident Jesse Leese for driving erratically and found him carrying more than 230 prescription pills, marijuana,hash and an open bottle of rum.

Miami Speedway. card and for the open container.

But Leese admitted to having marijuana in the van, leading deputies to conduct a search. They found numerous containers — including a pair for Tic Tac candies — holding the prescription pills Xanax, oxycodone, methadone and Adderal, as well as hash.

Leese was charged with felony counts of possessing opium or a derivative, and a controlled substance without a prescription. He’s also charged with misdemeanor marijuana and drug equipment possession. He had $544 on him, which was seized for possible forfeiture.

One of is passengers, 42year-old Cerrina Norton of Key Largo, was charged with possession of marijuana.

Leese remained in jail as of Tuesday afternoon at the Monroe County Detention Center on $6,000 bond.

5 5County The Real EstateTeam

Donna Steele 305.395.0856 Sherry Fell 305.453.1770 It’s Free? Zero? Nothing?? That’s right! Do you want out? Owe too much? More than it’s worth? We have the resources. We have the attorneys. We do this EVERY day. We are your Dream Team. We sell dreams daily. CALL, TEXT, EMAIL TODAY.

Tropical Springs Realty 103100 Overseas Hwy #51, Key Largo, FL 33037

FLORIDA KEYS KEYNOTER (ISSN 8756-6427,USPS# 0201-620) is published semi-weekly by Florida Keys Keynoter,P.O.Box 500158, Marathon,Florida 33050-0158. Subscription rates are $54.23 in the Keys.Your Keynoter home delivery subscription includes Keys Sunday and the Sunday edition of The Miami Herald. Keynoter mail subscriptions: $59.53 in Florida and $56.16 outof-state.Please call for all other rates,including overseas mail. Periodicals Postage Paid at Marathon,Florida and additional mailing offices. Keynoter photo by RYAN McCARTHY At least six of these no-parking signs are posted at a private lot adjacent to the public boat ramp near mile marker 54.Several people towed from the lot have complained to the City Council about tow companies accepting only cash.

Marathon to amend law

From Marathon,1A

accept traveler’s checks and credit cards from vehicle and vessel owners. Tow companies operating on the city’s tow rotation list shall afford owners a reasonable time to secure an acceptable method of payment and must have a written policy in place regarding accepting credit or debit cards on site at all times.”

Pruitt could not be reached for comment by press time. It’s unclear whether he has an agreement with the property’s owner to tow any vehicle parked there.

The council appeared to agree with Ramsay the towing law should be amended, but Mayor Ginger Snead said a larger problem is with the lack of available public boat-ramp parking.

“I think there should be an alternate method of paying. That’s the most immediate problem we have, but it goes deeper than that. We

She pointed to a specific complaint logged on the Monroe County website over weekend after a Saturday incident.

Claus Parow of Lakeland wrote that he parked in the lot for less than an hour while visiting with his wife for Fantasy Fest and came back to find his car gone.

He ended up paying $260 in cash to retrieve his vehicle, adding that dealing with staff at Arnold’s Towing was like “dealing with the Gestapo. Since this obviously is a well-known

From Chief,1A

Jim Callahan. County Administrator Roman Gastesi encouraged Callahan to apply in the hopes the two governments could share his cost, just like the arrangement Marathon and Islamorada had for Wagner.

But the council is less than enthusiastic about that plan, preferring instead to hire its own need to fix the problem itself, not just a symptom of the problem,” she said.

There is no available public parking near the Quay boat ramp and only limited space at public ramps on 33rd Street and Harbor Drive. Residents had complained for months about traffic created by illegal parking at a lot adjacent to the Harbor ramp, so the city made it a no-parking site.

Councilman Mike Cinque said the Keys are “land poor” when it comes to parking and suggested using a portion of the cityowned 104th Street property once designated for affordable housing to fix the problem.

“We might be able to designate a portion of that property for boat trailers and put an automated fence in there,” he said.

The council approved a motion to amend the law and research solutions to

Keynoter photo by SEAN KINNEY Complaints about after-hours towing at the Whitehead Street post office in Key West are increasing.Now,the Postal Service says it’s ‘reviewing the parking lot situation.’

Mayor calls it ‘heck of a scam’

From Key West,1A

the lack of parking. scam in Key West, why has nothing been done to stop it?”

Cates agreed the fee structure and overall operations of local tow companies should be re-examined, hence two amended ordinances he planned to bring to city commissioners in a meeting after press time on Tuesday.

“It’s one heck of a scam and it’s unbelievable,” he said. “They have your car; you can fight it as a civil matter but it could be months or weeks. And if you lose, you’re paying all that storage. People know

Callahan not in Marathon’s plans

you can’t fight it.” full-time chief.

“I’ll probably meet with him to envision how he understood the relationship would work,” Hernstadt said. “From the comments in the [local media], it seems they’re more inclined to hire their own fire chief.”

The second council meeting of the month is scheduled for Nov. 22 at 5:30 p.m. at the Marathon Government Center.

Weiner charged with theft and exemption fraud

Keynoter Staff

A suspended Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent accused of homestead-exemption fraud is scheduled for court on Thursday, with a pretrial conference set in anticipation of a Nov. 14 trial.

However, the likelihood that Vince Weiner, 47, will actually go to trial that day appears slim, considering it would come just two and a half months after his arrest, which would be quick by most criminal-justice standards.

Neither Donald Barrett, Weiner’s attorney, nor Mark Wilson, the assistant Monroe County state attorney assigned the case, could be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The pretrial conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in front of Circuit Court Mark Jones at the Freeman Justice Center in Key West.

On Aug. 17, the FDLE — his employer — arrested the Key West-based Weiner on charges of felony grand theft and misdemeanor homestead-exemption fraud. He was immediately put on administrative leave.

Wilson said then that Weiner bought a Big Pine Key house in 2005, then got assigned to Fort Myers in 2006. While living in Fort Myers, Weiner rented his Keys house out but claimed the homestead exemption, Wilson said.

The FDLE says Weiner claimed the Big Pine exemption for the tax years 2007 to 2010. As a result, the FDLE says, Weiner received at least $5,918 in tax exemptions to which he was not entitled.

Florida homeowners are allowed one homestead exemption, which allows for a property-tax break on their permanent residence. It can be claimed only when the owners live in the house.

Unnatural keepcranepoint natural.com

Paid for by KCPN B. Welber Coord.

Tony Albanes

(305) 972-7838 tonyalbanes@aol.com

Cracencio Rivera Jr. (786) 355-2428 elchatozz@yahoo.com

Come visit our online photo galleries and submit your own at www.KeysNet.com/Photos

4 HUGE DAYS OF SAVINGS DOORBUSTER SALE!

Photo by ANDY NEWMAN/FLORIDA KEYS NEWS BUREAU

THURSDAY - SUNDAY NOV. 3RD - 6TH

Two Fantasy Fest revelers garbed as giant groupers subscribe to the festival’s ‘Aquatic Afrolic’theme during Friday’s Masquerade March.More Fantasy Fest photos, 3B OUR ENTIRE STOCK OF Few problems reported REDUCED MERCHANDISE From Fantasy Fest,1A incident saw two Miami festival, attempting to gain EXTRA 25% OFF! men arrested for possession compliance from offenders. for alleging ingesting harmful chemicals by inhaling nitrous oxide out of canisters designed to charge of cocaine in the 800 block of Duval after another partygoer told cops the men were selling drugs. “What they try and do in those massive crowds,” she said, “is do as much as possible by compliance and not PLUS THURSDAY - SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3RD - 6TH whipped-cream dispensers. Crean said police use dis- run around arresting every-

The other drug-related cretion during the 10-day body.” ALL REGULAR PRICED ALL REGULAR PRICED

MONROE COUNTY SCHOOLS SILK TOPS LULU B.

Big grant for Sigsbee Charter 30% OFF! 30% OFF! KEKE AND SIMPLY SILK SPORTSWEAR AND SWEATERS By SEAN KINNEY teachers, she said. “Basically, Marilee Fitzgerald, acting skinney@keynoter.com what the money will be spent director of the Department on is increasing achievement of Educational Activity KEY LARGO

With $540,000 in federal through the implementation Office, summarized the goal M. M. 98 1/2 grant money in hand, staff at of new technology.” of the grants as “ensuring Tel: 852-4515 the Sigsbee Charter School in Key West is planning ways to That will include laptop computers, Apple iPads and that the children of military families receive an excellent MARATHON M. M. 50, Gulfside Villageimprove math and science Smart Boards, which are education that prepares them Tel: 743-5855 curriculums and extend additional training to teachers. Sigsbee, formerly a tradiinteractive white boards that teachers use. Jannes said other funds for successful careers and to be active contributors to their communities and the OPEN Mon. - Sat. 9:30 - 5:30 Sundays Noon - 5:30tional public school, became a would be used to bring in nation.” public charter in July 2010; consultants and coaches to the school at 939 Felton Road help the teachers with profesis funded by the state but not sional development. constrained by the testing and Sigsbee has 20 teachers reporting standards by which and 30 support personnel. the Monroe County School Jannes said the budget for District has to abide. 2011-12 is $3 million.

Eighty percent of Sigsbee’s “It definitely is a substan385 students are the depend- tial amount for our school and ents of military members, hence the grant from the U.S. it will definitely help us to fill some gaps we have in being a MEET THE FREE* Department of Defense’s Educational Activity Educational Partnership. new charter school. Some of our materials are outdated at this point and we could stand INSTANT ISSUE “We are very excited and we’ve already started making plans,” Sigsbee Principal Eli to upgrade our technology.” The Department of Defense’s education arm DEBIT CARD Jannes said. awarded more than $64 mil-

“We cannot spend the lion in grants this year to 57 money on facilities or opera- military-connected local edutional costs” like hiring new cation agencies. OR AS OTHER BANKS CALL IT, GRAND OPENING

THE SORRY-BUT-WE’LL-HAVE-TO-CHARGE-YOU-FIVEBUCKS-A-MONTH-AND-YOU’LL-HAVE-TO-WAIT-THREEPAINFULLY-LONG-WEEKS-TO-GET-IT-EVEN-THOUGHYOU-COULD-REALLY-USE-IT-TODAY-DEBIT-CARD.

Big Bones, Little Bones... We've Got You Covered and Your Doggie Too!

Quality beachwear and products for people as well as a complete line of dog clothing and accessories. Visit our new store opening November 1 in the Overseas Market

Unlike other banks, Centennial Bank doesn’t charge a monthly fee for our debit card. Just stop by one of our convenient locations, and we’ll give you a personal instant-issue debit card that’s ready before you walk out the door. Get it today. Use it today. How convenient is that? At Centennial Bank, we make banking easy. Even when it comes to changing banks. Call or visit any branch for complete details.