Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

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Jennifer Kay

Jennifer Kay has 5 articles published.

As Zika spreads, Florida town a study in bug-borne illness

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A summer flu seemed to be sweeping through Rachel Heid’s riverfront neighborhood. Pale and shaky, she left work with a fever. Neighbors had the same symptoms, and a contractor at her home felt so sick he went to the hospital. Heid thought the neighborhood children were passing a bug around their circle. She never suspected a virus carried by bugs hovering around their birdbaths and tarp-covered boats – until health officials left pamphlets at their houses asking for blood samples…

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Manatees may lose endangered species status

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As they do whenever they visit Florida, Greg Groff and his young daughter stopped by the manatee pool at Miami Seaquarium, where the speed bump-shaped marine mammals placidly swim in circles. They noted the pink scars and disfigured tail on one manatee, damage from a boat propeller that left it unable to survive in the wild. Florida’s manatees need even more stringent protections than their listing on the federal endangered species list, Groff said, adding that boaters should go elsewhere…

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‘Street view’ goes undersea to map reefs, wonders

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It’s easy to go online and get a 360-degree, ground-level view of almost any street in the United States and throughout the world. Soon, scientists hope people will be able to do the same with coral reefs and other underwater wonders. U.S. government scientists are learning to use specialized fisheye lenses underwater in the Florida Keys this week in hopes of applying “street view” mapping to research and management plans in marine sanctuaries nationwide. Some of the rotating and panoramic…

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Same-sex marriage ban struck down in Broward County

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A third judge in Florida has overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in a single county but stayed his decision pending an appeal. The ruling Monday by Broward County Circuit Judge Dale Cohen mirrors decisions made last month by judges in Monroe and Miami-Dade counties. All found that a 2008 voter-approved constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in the state violates gay residents’ right to equal protection under the law as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. Republican Attorney General Pam…

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EPA: Florida must cut carbon emissions 38 percent

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The federal government is proposing that Florida cut its carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 38 percent by the year 2030. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced specific targets for all states Monday as part of the Obama administration’s effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants nationwide by nearly a third over the next 15 years. Florida’s 2012 carbon emission rate was more than 1,200 pounds per megawatt hour of energy produced. The EPA is asking the…

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