Unreported News

Chicago News Edition

                                of Continental Newstime newsmagazine

                    VOLUME   XII                 NUMBER 1                   MARCH 1, 2024

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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, a science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month.  Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.

Chicago News Edition of Continental Newstime

Editor-in-Chief: Gary P. Salamone

Continental Features/Continental News Service

501 W. Broadway, Plaza A, PMB# 265

San Diego, CA 92101

(858) 492-8696

E-mail: info@continentalnewsservice.com

* Congressional News Briefs …   Senator Dick Durbin, who, together with 10 of the largest hospitals in Chicago, initiated the Chicago HEAL Initiative to deal with the root causes of gun violence through economic, health and community projects in 18 of the City’s neighborhoods having the highest rates of poverty, violence, and health deficiencies, has announced award of $1,944,811 to Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and the University of Chicago, under the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Strategies to Support Children Exposed to Violence Program.  Senator Tammy Duckworth, who joined the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman in making the announcement, observes, “Too often, young people are exposed to, and become victims of, violence in their communities.  I’m proud to join Senator Durbin in announcing this significant funding to help these Chicago hospitals expand their trauma-based, mental-health services, to foster an environment where young people and families can process, heal, and thrive.”  Senator Durbin underscores that, as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he helped resurrect the Children Exposed to Violence Program and increase its budget, and he asserted that is “part of my Chicago HEAL Initiative” and that the “federal funding will support hospital efforts to create stronger, more resilient communities where every child has the opportunity to thrive.”  Persuaded that dealing with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) is one way to break the cycle of violence, he teamed with West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito to bring about the Trauma Support in Schools Program, from which Chicago Public Schools and the Illinois State Board of Education derived $2.9 million in financial support.  In other developments, Senator Durbin and Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D., noting that the late Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny received a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 and received such recognition as the 2021 Sakharov Prize of the European Parliament, the 2021 Knight of Freedom Award by the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, and the 2021 Moral Courage Award of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, have announced plans to introduce legislation to rename a segment of the street near the Russian Ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C. as “Alexei Navalny Way.”  Denouncing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s tactics of, first, poisoning Navalny, then confining him within a prison in the remote Arctic Circle, Senator Durbin calls for the immediate release of another Russian opposition leader, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and the Senator is on record favoring the imposition of sanctions on Russian officials involved in blatant violations of international law, including human-rights law.  With respect to federal judgeships, both Durbin and Duckworth have expressed satisfaction that the Biden Administration has declared its intent to nominate two Illinoisans to judicial vacancies.  Just last autumn, the Senators had recommended six candidates for current and future vacancies in the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, one being Georgia Alexakis, whom the President plans to nominate as a Northern District U.S. Court Judge.  In addition, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy L. Maldonado is due to be nominated to serve as a Seventh Circuit Court Judge.  Moreover, Senator Duckworth, who, as a bio-fuels advocate, has introduced legislation to permit the nation-wide, year-round sale of ethanol blends higher than 10 percent, has praised the decision of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow year-round sales of E15 gasoline in Illinois and seven other Midwestern states, beginning in April, 2025.  She remarked, “E15 fuel helps our nation reduce reliance on foreign oil while bringing down gas prices for working families across the country, and by expanding the availability of homegrown bio-fuels we’re not only helping families keep more money in their pockets, but also strengthening our national security, reducing emissions and driving economic opportunity here at home.”  The Senator specifically mentioned that it is a boon to farmers.  Ultimately crediting President Joseph Biden for the decision, Senator Duckworth added, “This is an important start, and I will keep working to bring this cheaper, cleaner fuel alternative to pumps nation-wide and year-round as soon as possible.”  Likewise, Senator Duckworth reports building on her trade-mission, track record of encouraging a Japanese regulatory change allowing higher imports from American bio-fuel producers and of convincing Taiwan to buy some $2.6 billion in Illinois corn and soybeans.  Most recently, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee member traveled to Sweden and The Netherlands to spotlight how Illinois is “uniquely positioned” to increase exports for international companies and how investment in Illinois makes sense for those companies planning to expand operations and for those companies already prospering from a footprint in Illinois.  The official visit she led to those countries, she projects, will also result in good-paying jobs and economic growth in Illinois.  On his part, Representative Danny K. Davis, with support from Ohio Representative Brad R. Wenstrup, has introduced The Housing for Homeless Students Bill, with homeless youth, veterans and foster youth in mind, to reduce the tax liability for affordable-housing developers through improvements to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.  Under this legislative proposal, these individuals, as full-time students, would be able to live in housing units supported by the Tax Credit.  The Congressmen reference research showing that more than one-third of all college students and nearly half of all community-college students are housing-insecure, to establish the need for their proposal.  Further, as Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support, Davis has led a Democrat effort calling on Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley to address the disproportionate denial of Disability benefits for persons having Sickle Cell Disease.

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* State Government News Briefs …  Governor J.B. Pritzker, in his State of the State Address, explained that immigrants are not being diverted from temporary shelter to more-permanent shelter because of an “unwelcoming” policy, but because “Chicago’s shelter system is near capacity, and it is dangerous if migrants have no shelter or support at all.”  Addressing other matters, he proposed spending an additional $50 million to address the extreme housing insecurity of Black Illinoisans, who represent just 14 percent of the state population, but make up 61 percent of the un-housed population.  He unveiled a plan to eliminate medical debt, modeled on the plan Cook County officials have been implementing.  He pledged, as well, to eliminate the state’s regressive grocery tax, to ease the burden of inflation on Illinois families.   Simultaneously, his budget proposal would create a Child Tax Credit for young families and improve the access of vulnerable Black women to maternal health care.  What is more, the Governor touted the Healthcare Consumer Access and Protection Bill he advocates to curb health insurance-company coverage abuses, such as “step therapy” and prior authorization of medically-necessary treatment.  Similarly, he outlined plans to meet the needs of childhood education, kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade education, and higher education, while listing the accomplishments of his Administration, which he said included realizing nine credit upgrades, establishing a $2-billion Rainy Day Fund, balancing five consecutive state budgets, eliminating the bill backlog, furnishing rental and mortgage aid, approving tax relief, and lowering interest costs.

* County Government News Briefs …  The Cook County Board reports receiving a $625,000 capstone grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, to mark more than an eight-year advance toward safely reducing the local jail population while dealing with inequities in the justice system.  Cook County alone has received $7.3 million altogether under this Safety and Justice Challenge, with 80 jurisdictions across 34 states tapping into resources totaling $381.5 million to reduce the misuse and over-use of jail and to eliminate racial disparities in local criminal-justice systems.  Cook County, for one, has reportedly safely reduced its jail population by more than 35 percent during the last decade.  Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle asserts, “As we embark on this final phase of the Challenge, we remain committed to working across agencies and centering the needs and perspectives of residents and communities that have been disproportionately impacted by crime, violence and mass incarceration.”  The Executive Director of the Cook County Justice Advisory Council, in turn, announces that the Council will be administering the County’s Readiness and Capacity Building Initiative, which builds on the Cook County Starting Block Grant Initiative, designed to promote the health, growth and sustainability of diverse community-based organizations.  In fact, Avik Das observes, “Through our long history of grant-making and partnership with community-based organizations, we recognize the obstacles many agencies face in applying for, and sustaining, government funding.”  Therefore, the first step will be to recruit established organizations experienced in conducting training and workshops and/or offering technical assistance in program design, grant-writing, and management.  After the application deadline of March 20 and selection of these experts, they will come alongside client organizations of differing sizes, missions, sectors and geographical areas to help them qualify for grant support.  Says Cook County Board President Preckwinkle:”The Cook County Readiness and Capacity Building Initiative will help us advance equity in grant-making for local organizations.”

* City Government News Briefs …  Mayor Brandon Johnson, referencing the City of Chicago climate-deception lawsuit filed against BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute, argues, “From the unprecedented poor air quality that we experienced last summer to the basement floodings that our residents on the West Side experienced, the consequences of this crisis are severe, as are the costs of surviving them.  That is why we are seeking to hold these Defendants accountable.”  Almost 200 pages in length, the suit before the Cook County Circuit Court purports to lay out the timeline of defendants’ knowledge and deception relative to their products’ contributions to climate change and alleges, as causes of action, failure to warn, negligence, public nuisance, civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment, and violations of the City’s municipal code pertaining to consumer fraud and misrepresentations in connection with sale or advertisement of merchandise.   Supportive of the court  complaint, Alderman Matt Martin charges, “These companies knowingly deceived Chicago consumers in their endless pursuit of profits.  As a result of their conduct, Chicago is enduring extreme heat and precipitation, flooding, sewage flows into Lake Michigan, damage to city infrastructure, and more.  That all comes with enormous costs.  But both the facts, and the law,” he thinks, “are on our side, and we intend to shift those costs back where they belong: on the companies whose deceptive conduct brought us the climate crisis.”  In particular, the City presses for compensatory and loss-of-use damages, penalties and fines for statutory violations, disgorgement of profits, associated fees, interest, a cease-and-desist order, and any other relief the trial jury would approve.  In other developments, the City Council is due to consider a $1.25-billion bond issue the Mayor has proposed to foster economic development and build or preserve affordable housing.  The Mayor also announced a departure from previous administrations’ public-financing tool, the Tax Increment Financing Program, and Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Ciere Boatright confirms that the new approach is essential since one-third of the City’s 121 TIF districts are scheduled to expire during the next three years and since TIF districts do not work in depopulated and disinvested neighborhoods.  With Council approval of the Housing and Economic Development Bond, Boatright’s Department would administer $625 million over five years for neighborhood-development grants ($400-$500 million), small-business support ($80-$115 million), and training, jobs, wealth building, and missing middle-housing infill development ($55-$90 million).  Meanwhile, the Department of Housing would administer the other $625 million for construction and preservation of affordable rental housing ($360-$390 million), construction and preservation of homeownership or affordable owner-occupied housing ($210-$240 million), and preservation of single-room occupancy structures ($20-$30 million).

* School District News Briefs …  When the Board of Education last met on February 22, it adopted a Resolution to create a Comprehensive Whole School Safety Policy in the Chicago Public Schools and a Resolution authorizing the appointment of members to fill vacancies on Local School Councils; it approved a Board Report on Guidelines for establishing Elementary and High School Student Fees; it okayed a Policy on Parent and Student Rights of Access to, and Confidentiality of, Student Records; it rescinded a Board Report on Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Court Orders of Protection while adopting a new policy on Domestic Violence and Dating Violence; it adopted Academic Calendars for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school-years; it authorized the first renewal agreement with SAGA Innovations, Inc. for in-class, math-tutoring services for at-risk high-school students; it authorized a new agreement with Riddell, Inc. and Schutt Sports, LLC for football-equipment reconditioning, recertification, new purchases, and related athletic-safety services; and, among other actions, it adopted the 2023 fiscal-year Chicago Public Schools Annual Report of Fiscal Efficiency.  The Board’s next meeting begins at 10:30 AM on March 21.

* Weather …   The National Weather Service reports that current conditions at Chicago Midway Airport, as of 1:53 AM on February 27, are mostly cloudy,  with a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 78 percent, wind out of the southwest at 13 miles per hour, barometric pressure of 29.46 inches, a dewpoint of 53 degrees, and visibility of 10 miles.  Until Friday, look for over-night low temperatures ranging between 19 degrees and 23 to 34 degrees and quite of mix of weather, including a slight chance of thunderstorms, then likely thunderstorms and rain and snow, followed by blustery/windy conditions and a slight chance of snow showers, clear skies, sunny skies, mostly-clear skies, and daily high temperatures dropping from 75 degrees to 28 degrees, up to 44 degrees.  On Friday, March 1, look for partly-sunny skies and a daily high temperature of about 50 degrees.  That night, the forecast calls for partly-cloudy skies, with a low temperature of around 41 degrees.  Saturday, sunny skies become partly cloudy, and from day to night the temperature swings from about 63 degrees down to about 49 degrees.

* Sports …  This afternoon, the White Sox play the Cubs in Spring Training.  In the NBA, later tonight, the Bulls host the Bucks—who visited Charlotte yesterday—for a 9 PM tip-off.  Over in the NHL, the Blackhawks host the Columbus Blue Jackets tomorrow for a 7 PM face-off. 

* Interview—Condensed and Reprinted           by Francine Silverman

The New York Times’ Christopher Lehmann-Haupt: A Quarter Century of Reviewing Books

    When Christopher Lehmann-Haupt was in the Army, one job was to watch the generator for his radar unit. This “mindless” activity provided hours of reading time.  “When I was young, any good story would transport me,” he recalls. After graduating Swarthmore, where he majored in History and English, he obtained a Master’s degree in fine arts from Yale Drama School, where he wrote theatrical reviews and his first book review.  Following the Army, he worked as an editor in several publishing houses for four years before joining the Times as a Sunday Book Review Editor.  He is also the author of Me and DiMaggio.  Lehmann-Haupt says he’s applauded for his diversity in reviewing history, current events, memoirs, Cold War novels, thrillers, sports, economics, and cultural criticism.  “I taught myself to do that in order to keep sane,” he explains with a laugh.  “After you’ve spent four days reading a 1,200-page history of 19th-century England, the next book you want to review is Pat the Bunny.”  [Editor’s Note: Christopher Lehmann-Haupt passed away in 2018, having served as senior Daily Book Reviewer from 1969 to 1995.]

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* Proverbs (chapter 28/verse 22): “He that hastes to  be rich has an evil eye, and considers not that poverty shall come upon him.”   hastes=hurries.

[A timely warning against get-rich-quick schemes]

A free copy of the Etna, California News Edition of Continental Newstime [dated August 14, 2020] containing the newspaper feature of outdoor writer Lee Snyder is also available by

E-mail request ​to info@continentalnewsservice.com

*Free

Marion, Montana News Edition

                             of Continental Newstime newsmagazine

           VOLUME I                              NUMBER 1                            AUGUST 17, 2022

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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest, periodic newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, an intermittent science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.

Marion, Montana News Edition of Continental Newstime

Editor-in-Chief: Gary P. Salamone

Continental Features/Continental News Service

501 W. Broadway, Plaza A, PMB# 265

San Diego, CA 92101

(858) 492-8696

E-mail: info@continentalnewsservice.com

* Congressional News Briefs … Marion’s agent in the U.S. House of Representatives, Matt Rosendale, decided he was not going to sugar-coat House Bill 5376. While House Democrats said they were acting to pass the “Inflation Reduction Act,” the Congressman contended that legislation increasing the size of government, raising taxes on hard-working Americans and spending billions of taxpayer dollars on the Left’s Green New Deal was actually an “Inflation Acceleration Act” and he cast a vote against the bill. Warning that the spending would “cripple our nation’s budget,” he noted that the legislation “will also raise an army of 87,000 IRS agents to squeeze more taxes out of already-hurting American families. With frivolous spending and an enlarged, aggressive IRS, the only climate that will be changing over the next year will be the economic climate, and it will get worse.” He offered this solution: “To reduce inflation, Congress must freeze spending, a concept the Left does not understand. Reining in federal spending and reducing taxes to lower inflation will reaffirm confidence in those investing in our economy.” On his part, Senator Steve Daines, commenting on the $739-billion, so-called Inflation Reduction Act of President Joseph Biden and Senate Democrats that he opposed, asserted that Senate Democrats voted against Daines’ amendment to eliminate policies that would increase costs on Made in Montana energy and other amendments that would render the bill “less painful for Montanans.” He characterized, as “supersizing the IRS,’ the plan to hire more than 80,000 Internal Revenue Service agents “to audit small and medium-size businesses and assert control over the lives and finances of Montanans.” He termed a subsidy for “rich people” the provision to offer $7,500 tax credits to individuals making up to $150,000, so they can purchase expensive electric vehicles. Considering the bill “a slap in the face of Montana families,” the Senator added, “The Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend bill is bad for Montana families, bad for Montana energy jobs and bad for Montanans’ pocketbooks.” Working with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono, Senator Daines has introduced bipartisan legislation, known as the BABES (Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening) Enhancement Act, to require the Transportation Security Administration to clarify and update guidance, every five years, on handling breast milk, baby formula, and other related nutrition products based on consultation with leading maternal-health experts.  Calling the legislation a “Bill to Support Montana Moms,” Daines informs that companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives, and the measure is endorsed by such organizations as the March of Dimes and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Senator Jon Tester, in turn, as the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announces that the $792.1-billion Defense Appropriations Bill earmarks almost $182 million for Montana priorities, saying, “This legislation will keep America safe by investing in Malmstrom Air Force Base, giving our troops a well-deserved pay raise [4.6 percent], ensuring our servicemen and women are well-equipped with the most up-to-date technology, and shifting resources towards programs that’ll maintain our fighting edge over adversaries like China and Russia.” For example, over in Columbia Falls, uAvionix is due to receive $7 million to develop Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System communications.  In addition, he reports that, for Montana, the American Rescue Plan Act means $266 million to deliver high-speed Internet to rural areas of the state, something that is “one of the biggest keys to success for Montana’s students, families, and small businesses.”

* State Government News Briefs … Governor Greg Gianforte has expressed the view that the Montana Supreme Court, after upholding a district-court order temporarily blocking three pro-life bills he signed into law—the Court should not delay bringing into line its 1999 ruling in Armstrong v. State with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision finding that there is no constitutional right to abortion and that the states are entitled to restrict abortion. In other developments, the state legislature has highlighted a recent report by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology that acknowledges findings of the Department of Environmental Quality that the ingestion of too much manganese through drinking water may be harmful, at the same time the Bureau notes that the mineral, naturally present in many common foods, is essential for proper nutrition and that too little may be harmful, as well. Some research shows that adults and children drinking water with high manganese concentrations for sustained periods may suffer from memory and attention problems and motor-skill deficits. But, since most Montanans tap groundwater supplies for their drinking water, they mainly avoid high levels of manganese. Those that do not? The Bureau’s Ground Water Assessment Program reports that 7 percent  of the water samples it tested exceeded the recommended health-standard limit for

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adults and children older than 6 years of age. Checking 3,858 water samples from across the state, the Bureau gives assurance that manganese concentrations were low and safe for 85 percent of the well samples it analyzed and that lower concentrations were recorded in samples from western Montana aquifers; higher concentrations, in the eastern part of the state. Specifically, certain aquifers near Flathead Lake, north and west of Great Falls, and in the Missouri River Valley yielded more samples with elevated manganese concentrations. The Safe Drinking Water Act categorizes manganese as a secondary water contaminant, like iron, pH and sulfate, meaning it is safe to drink, but may damage water equipment and transmit an unpleasant odor and taste. The state legislature reports that 380 Montana schools, to date, have tested water fixtures for the primary water contaminant, lead and are implementing remedies for contaminated fixtures.

* County Government News Briefs … The Flathead County Board of Commissioners [Brad W. Abell, Pamela Holmquist, and Randy Brodehl], at its last meeting on August 11, considered six different lakeshore permits, including one at McGregor Lake, one at Flathead Lake, and another at Whitefish Lake; conferred with Erik Mack, of the Planning & Zoning Office, who reported an uptick in zoning violations; discussed giving authorization to publish a Notice of Public Hearing on Road Abandonment concerning an unnamed portion of road off Highway 93 West; took up the matter of authorization to publish a Call for Bids for the estimated $120,000 Fall, 2022 Pavement Striping Project; was due to hear from Liz Wood, of Mountain Climber Transit, on ridership increases, and from Ashley Cummins, Director of the County Library, who reported approximately 1,000 daily patron visits system-wide and who provided an update on the Library Board vacancy;  planned to meet with Sheriff Brian Heino; and, among other County business, was tasked to sign a Behavioral Health Hospital Provider Agreement with Logan Health.

* School District News Briefs … The Marion Elementary School District, with the library closed during the summer due to remodeling, plans a Back to School Kick Off Event on September 1, with school starting on September 6.  Earlier this month, the District posted a notice that it was hiring for full-time teaching positions in physical education and in the sixth-grade classroom.  The School Board is scheduled to meet again on September 12.  Meantime, in the Kalispell Public Schools District, Flathead High School announces that classes resume either on August 31 or September 1, depending on the grade level.

* Sports … The Flathead High School Boys Varsity Football Team is set to play Skyview on August 27 at 7 PM and is due to visit Gallatin on September 2 for a 7 PM kickoff.

* Weather … The National Weather Service reports that current conditions 17 miles west-southwest of Kalispell, as of 3:15 PM on August 17, are sunny, with a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 15 percent, barometric pressure of 29.95 inches, visibility of 10 miles, wind out of the south-southeast at 3 miles per hour, and a dewpoint of 36 degrees. The over-night forecast calls for clear skies, northeast wind of 3 to 5 miles per hour and a low temperature of about 55 degrees. Tomorrow, look for sunny skies, with a daily high temperature of about 91 degrees, calm wind becoming east-northeast wind of about 6 miles per hour in the morning. Thursday night, expect mostly-clear skies, with a low temperature of about 56 degrees and northeast wind of 3 to 6 miles per hour.

* Community Calendar … August 19—Pachyderm Meeting of Flathead County Republicans (12 Noon-1 PM) at the Eagles (37 First Street W, Kalispell); August 27—Pheasants Forever Chapter #138 Banquet (5 PM-9 PM), at the Fairgrounds; September 16/17—Quilt Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 17—Glacier Rabbit Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 30—Kalispell Ski Swap, at the Fairgrounds.

Dry Tortugas  [Reprinted and Updated]                                                                                                                by  Lee Snyder

   Named “Las Tortugas” (the turtles) by 16th-century Spanish explorers who found the harmless reptiles nesting on its shores, the Dry Tortugas is a collection of several sandy spits and tree-dotted islands.  Fort Jefferson, once famous as a 19th-century “American Devil’s Island,” remains one of the world’s largest brick structures. The red brick fort is most famous as the jail where Dr. Mudd was held after treating Lincoln’s assassin for a broken leg.

   Fort Jeff,  past  National Monument, is now part of Dry Tortugas National Park, which, together with the water and island reefs, is one of this nation’s most remote and unique units of our National Park system.  While sharks are still occasionally found swimming in the moat, tourists are more likely seen snorkeling around the fort’s outer boundary viewing a dazzling array of fish, coral and sponges. Today, the Coast Guard’s close scrutiny of increasing public pressure allows visitors to see what underwater Florida is supposed  to be.  Divers claim the park waters are the liveliest anywhere in the state.  “Little Africa,” an unspoiled section of coral reef near Loggerhead Key, the largest island in the chain, boasts expanses of staghorn and elkhorn coral more like those found in Caribbean than in Florida waters.

   Nearly 27,000 people—mostly fishermen, yachtsmen, and divers—visit the park by boat each year.

   But, for a six-week period, the bulk of the visitors attend for another reason.  Spring in the Tortugas is definitely a birdwatcher’s delight.  Florida’s peninsular shape is like an appendage reaching out into the ocean.  Its islands are the first safety offered  travelers crossing the Gulf of Mexico….  The “funneling effect” allows for close inspections of the birds in their most colorful breeding plumage—an opportunity that draws enthusiastic birders from all over the world….On any given spring day in the Tortugas, birders with four, five and six hundred birds on their lists are found.  Listers with seven and eight hundred on their lists are usually there as guides, having visited the islands years before.  But, even  so, an errant species from South America, the Bahamas or Cuba could fly by adding to all lists.

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