KEY LARGO -- The Key Largo Volunteer Fire-Rescue Department will not dissolve, despite losing its service contract, but instead will move into a new building and step up its fundraising efforts, embattled Chief Sergio Garcia said last week.
Garcia said the department plans to provide marine fire suppression, a K-9 search and rescue team and fire police services.
"Canceling the contract doesn't hurt us," Garcia told the Free Press. "It hurts the people of Key Largo." a new nonprofit Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department with Ronnie Fell, Scott Robinson and Ambulance Chief Don Bock as corporate officers.
The new department was expected to confirm its board of directors at a meeting Tuesday night. Results from that meeting were not available by press time.
In an effort to save its contract, the fire department board offered the district some concessions, including taking the selection of fire chief away from the membership and allowing the district to veto the board's selection of chief with a 4-1 vote. The concessions also included allowing the district to name two outside members to the fire department's board.
But in a contentious meeting last week, the battle lines held and the moves weren't accepted. At the meeting, district Chairwoman Jennifer Miller accused fellow board member Bob Thomas of pushing to cancel the contract as a move for political gain.
Miller told the department any further efforts to save itself would likely be a waste of time as the 3-2 vote will not change. She and board member Tony Allen opposed the contract cancellation.
Still to be resolved are ownership issues.
The district, for instance, owns the mile marker 99 fire station, but the outgoing department owns the land and the building next to the station.
While Garcia says a lease agreement is likely to be worked out for the fire station, the district's counsel, Dirk Smits, says he has prepared eminent domain documents in case the district is forced to take the land.
As for the building next door, the outgoing chief said he plans to move his department's operations there.
Bock was not thrilled to learn of Garcia's decision to move next door.
"I think it would be difficult," said Bock, who said he has hired all of Garcia's firefighters who have applied with the new department.
District board member George Mirabella said Garcia's services are no longer needed.
"We don't need two departments doing the same thing," he said.
In addition to Garcia's decision to keep his department operating in a scaled-down fashion, another matter has raised eyebrows.
The outgoing department for months has been drafting its annual fundraising letter to mail to Key Largo homeowners. The letter describes the department as providing firefighting services to Key Largo.
Garcia said Friday that he plans to move forward with sending the letter to every home in Key Largo to help fund his new services.
An official from the company that prints and mails the letter told the Free Press that it is awaiting money from the department for postage.
District board member Marilyn Beyer said the mailing would hurt the new department, which needs to start its own fundraising effort.
"It's misleading the public," Beyer added.
Thomas was more emphatic in his reaction to the planned mailing.
"Fraud," he said..
The outgoing department is expected to meet Wednesday, May 15.
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Given my keen interest in the fundamentals of economics and trading, I’ve known since my first year of college that I wanted to work in the finance sector.
Upon graduating, I made that a reality when I landed a job as a Technology Analyst at Morgan Stanley. After three years in that role, I learned about DRW. After doing some research, what really stood out about the firm was the culture. It seemed very different from many other companies in Montreal – friendly atmosphere, beautiful office, and seemed to provide a decent work-life balance. After interviewing and connecting with the team, I knew it was a place that I would enjoy.
I am a Software Developer that develops the programs and writes code that fuels the success of our event-driven trading team. This means when things happen around the world, DRW’s goal is to be the first to react and place a trade. We rely on our proprietary technology to gather information and process it at a rate quicker than our competitors.
My role requires a lot of problem solving and thinking outside of the box in a way that varies from the traditional developer role. For example, in a more traditional role, when an internal client asks for a new website, you move on once you’ve created it and met all the requirements. In my current role, if we are not winning every single event, then there is something to improve on. And, we are not going to win every time, so there is always room for growth – and at times the solution is not clear.
Trying to determine these software solutions is what I enjoy most about my role. We are always trying to find the newest technology and the newest ways to help us move faster on a trade.
Are you collaborating often with your colleagues?
As a software developer, my team writes software that is used to extract information that supports our trading efforts. With this process comes a lot of collaboration. For example, there’s a team dedicated to determining the best sources of information; trading teams who determine what information is relevant; and an operations team who ensures everything is configured correctly. It’s a highly collaborative process. When our software succeeds, we succeed, because our teams around the globe worked together to make it happen. And, it feels good to win as a group.
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Pediatric Mandibular Condylar Fractures With Concomitant Cervical Spine Injury: A Treatment Protocol for Prevention of Temporomandibular Joint Ankylosis.

In pediatric patients with mandible fractures and concomitant cervical spine injury (CSI), treatment strategies may occasionally compete: condylar fractures require functional therapy with range of motion exercises of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), while CSI requires neck immobilization. The authors report the case of a child presenting with bilateral condylar head fractures, a right parasymphyseal fracture, and concomitant CSI treated with cervical collar immobilization, who ultimately developed TMJ ankylosis. Here, the authors review mandibular condylar fracture management and suggest an approach for the pediatric patient presenting with condylar fractures and concomitant CSI requiring immobilization. To preserve range of motion at the TMJ, it is critical to prevent external restriction by prolonged cervical collar use. Instead, these patients benefit from a protocol utilizing conventional halo or noninvasive, pinless halo cervical spine stabilization. Without limitation of the TMJ, condylar fracture rehabilitation and healing may proceed unhindered.Don't let this sour you to festivals in general. If you read some of the other threads, here, one of the things everyone's saying is that the space at the Meadows stage was super-tight compared to the main stage at GovBall...which, having been to the past 4 of those fests, I can totally confirm. Being out in the field there is great, even for the most popular headliners - if the crush of the pit gets to be too much for you, you can still end up in a good position to see the stage - either faded back some, or up on the hill. 


I dunno - I'm generally pretty pro-fest. There's no beating it in terms of bang for your buck, and while I've certainly seen some annoying crowds, more often than not, the vibe can be really good if you can let at least *some* of the little annoyances slide.


I totally realize YMMV on that, but I'd just say you should check out one of the Randall's Island summer festivals (or something else along those lines - Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, whatever - if your budget allows for travel