Kathleen Schalch is a general assignment reporter on NPR's national desk. Her coverage can be heard on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.
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Entries are being accepted for the Friends of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve 2026 Photo Contest honoring Carolyn Babb. The deadline is Jan. 31, 2026. The contest is limited to amateur photographers and only digital entries can be submitted. Photos must be of native species and must have been taken at the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, which includes Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve North.
Meteorological winter began on Dec. 1 while astronomical winter began on Dec. 21. Astronomical seasons are based on the Earth's position in connection with the sun.
Holiday motorists going a bit too fast through a school zone on the Florida Keys Overseas Highway might receive an onion from the Grinch instead of a traffic ticket. Colonel Lou Caputo, who recently retired from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, donned the Grinch costume Friday morning to stage an awareness-raising holiday traffic patrol at Key Largo School.