Now - truth to be told - that's lunch money to me….or maybe I'd take a chance and get wet too, rather than updating this site with the adventurous spirit of others.   You can read the full story at the link below:

"This is thought to be an untouched shipwreck. It could have $100 million on it. This spot, right here," Pope said. "The majority of the treasure from this fleet is still out there … Today's the day. We wake up every morning and repeat that."Florida's waters hold promise for people like Pope.In 1985, Fisher found what was said to be the richest booty ever at the time — more than $400 million worth of gold and silver bars the size of bread loaves, coins and emeralds from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha that sunk in 1622 off the Marquesas, about 30 miles west of Key West.

But discovering treasure is no easy task. It takes days of monotonous searching and often a bit of luck.Using historical records, satellites, metal detectors and magnetometers, Pope and others follow virtual bread crumb trails made up of ballast stones, pottery shards, cannon balls and anchors. The treasures could be anywhere.Last year, W. Keith Webb's Blue Water Ventures found more than 16,000 pearls in a lead box, gold bars and other artifacts from one of the 1622 Spanish ships in the Keys. The find was worth about $12 million.Recently, Webb's crew found a tiny gold toothpick and earwax spoon — worth about $100,000 — near the same wreck site."Finding this nice piece of jewelry on the most northern part of our search lets us know we're heading in the right direction," Webb said, adding that he's looking for up to $200 million worth of treasure.Captain Greg Bounds of Gold Hound LLC was aboard the boat when the pearls and other artifacts were discovered."I'll never forget it," Bounds said. "I understand now exactly what gold fever means."Bounds is currently searching a wreck site from the 1715 fleet near Vero Beach.

He says records indicate there's up to $900 million worth of coins from the fleet still out there, somewhere. "Maybe tomorrow we'll find a thousand gold coins. That's just the way it goes," Bounds said.While Spanish manifests detail cargo, there's no way to tell exactly how much treasure each vessel carried since many valuables were left off records to avoid taxes, said Ryan Wheeler, Florida's state archaeologist.

Treasure hunters head to sea for salvage season - Yahoo! News

KEY WEST — Animal activists are searching for a man they say was seen stomping on baby chickens and a hen in Key West.AdvertisementNo one knows who the man is or what his motive was.But the Florida Keys Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hopes an ATM surveillance footage will help identify the suspect. One witness who was in the drive-through lane at the bank saw the attack and called 911.At least eight baby chickens and one hen were killed Tuesday afternoon.

Hunt on for Key West chicken stomper | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY

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The late 16th or early 17th century grooming tool was located yesterday by Blue Water Ventures diver Chris Rackley as he searched the about 40 miles west of Key West. He says its value could exceed $100,000.The divers are searching for the shipwreck trail of the Spanish galleon Santa Margarita that sank in a 1622 hurricane. They have recovered ceramic pieces, spikes, ships' fittings, rigging elements and two skeleton keys.

Trinkets Recovered From Spanish Shipwreck Off Key West

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Little wonder the Blume-Coopers love this city  they've called home for 13 years. (They own places in New York City and Martha's Vineyard, too.) The two begin most days with a 2-mile walk before Blume heads into her studio to write. She rides her bike to the grocery store; they've been vegetarians for nearly 30 years and s  he jokes that their wine tastes run from "red to white to Manischewitz."Blume is working the phones on behalf of Barack Obama, in  addition to doing book events and school appearances. 

Judy blooms again 

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Key West commemorates one of its most famous residents July 15-20 with the annual Hemingway Days celebration.Ernest Hemingway lived on the island throughout the 1930s. He had a writing studio on Whitehead Street, fished in local waters and had a cat with extra toes whose descendants still wander the grounds of the Ernest Hemingway Museum and Home.The July event includes a look-alike contest, readings and presentations, and a three-day marlin-fishing tournament.The festival's biggest literary event is a Hemingway short story competition. Winners will be announced July 18 by Lorian Hemingway, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author and Ernest's granddaughter, at Casa Antigua, 314 Simonton St., where Ernest Hemingway once stayed. The contest is in its 28th year.

Hemingway Days are just one reason to vist Key West — Lifestyle and Leisure, Ernest Hemingway, Chicago Bulls — OrlandoSentinel.com

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The Florida Keys housing market continued to slump in the first quarter of this year, with the prices and number of sales falling while the time homes spend on the market rising over the same period in 2007. Eighty fewer houses sold from Jan. 1 to March 31 — 13 fewer in the Lower Keys and 67 fewer in the Upper Keys, according to Multiple Listing Service statistics furnished by Rose Sanchez of Century 21 All Keys Inc. and Tracy Larson of American Caribbean Real Estate and Marr Properties.Lower Keys statistics range from Key West to Big Pine Key, and Upper Keys statistics range from Mile Marker 74 to 106, but exclude the Ocean Reef Club on the tip of Key Largo.In Key West, 73 homes sold, eight fewer than last year, with smaller homes being more popular. Among those that sold, 40 were two-bedroom, 21 were three-bedroom, 11 were four-bedroom and only one was a five-bedroom.

Current News - KeysNews.com - The Florida Keys Only Daily Online News!

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How about a simple stern lecture on the deleterious effects of marijuana on the brain.

A 35-year-old Monroe County high school teacher must appear in court Thursday on a marijuana possession charge, after her husband reported her to authorities.The husband said he'd returned to their Pine Way home from church on April 13 and smelled marijuana, then found a half-smoked joint on the bathroom window sill, reports say. He said he also found a green, leafy substance in a plastic bag "inside a vase on a shelf above the toilet in the master bathroom," reports say.The deputy reported that the bathroom smelled strongly of incense, and saw the joint and baggie, reports say.

Crime Reports - KeysNews.com - The Florida Keys Only Daily Online News!

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