Wednesday, September 5, 2012

LOWER KEYS

Utility closes early for memorial

Keys Energy Services' business offices will close at 2 p.m. Friday so employees may attend the 3 p.m. memorial service for Josh Yarbrough at the Key West United Methodist Church, 600 Eaton St.

The utility will re-open for regular business at 8 a.m. Monday and the staff regrets any inconveniences the closure causes customers..

Yarbrough, a 28-year-old journeyman lineman, was electrocuted Aug. 30 while responding to a routine, after-hours call on Big Pine Key and working on the roof of a home. The accident remains under investigation.

Yarbrough had worked for the utility for seven years.

MARATHON

Save-a-Turtle hosts lecture

The Save-a-Turtle organization will host a free guest lecture by marine researcher William Sharp of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Turtle Hospital in Marathon.

Sharp has worked with FWC's research institute studying spiny lobster, evaluating fisheries and currently serves as leader of the agency's Coral Reef Ecosystem Restoration Ecology Program and still works on recreational spiny lobster fishery issues.

The lecture will take place after the Save-a-Turtle board meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m.

LOWER KEYS

Drunk, reckless driver arrested

A Naples man was arrested for driving drunk and recklessly Friday night on Sugarloaf Key.

Deputy Greg Korzen was at Mile Marker 18.5 at 8:45 p.m. when he saw an orange Camaro speeding and driving recklessly, according to reports from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. The suspect was heading north in the southbound lane and passed a tractor-trailer and two other vehicles in a no passing zone, the report states. Korzen's radar clocked the Camaro at 96 mph in a 45-mph zone.

The deputy activated his lights and siren and saw the suspect swerving across both the white and double yellow lines on the road, at times swerving into oncoming traffic. The vehicle finally pulled over at Mile Marker 20, where the 45-year-old driver told Korzen he was at Mile Marker 80 and was heading to Mile Marker 150, to his hotel in Marathon.

The suspect failed sobriety exercises and refused a breathalyzer test. He was charged with unlawful speed, driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving, passing in a no-passing zone, failing to drive in a single lane and refusal to sign a civil citation. He was booked into jail.