Jim Mooney Florida House District 120

🇺🇸 Today in 1789, George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States.
Standing at Federal Hall in New York City, Washington took the oath of office and helped set the foundation for the American presidency and the young nation’s future.
A historic day for America — and a reminder of the leadership, courage, and unity that helped shape the country. 🇺🇸

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Breaks Ground On New, State-of-the-Art Discovery Center & Aquarium
~Multimillion-dollar facility will attract visitors from around the world to connect with Florida’s Coral Reef and marine ecosystems~

KEY LARGO, Fla. — John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park — America’s “first undersea park” and a beloved South Florida institution that has welcomed millions of visitors from around the world for more than six decades — today ushered in a new era with a groundbreaking ceremony for a new, state-of-the-art Discovery Center & Aquarium to open in 2028.

The Florida State Parks Foundation joined Florida State Parks, the Friends of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, and several community partners to commemorate the occasion. Once complete, the multimillion-dollar facility, funded from public and private sources, will foster new connections between park visitors, Florida’s Coral Reef and the abundant native wildlife that lives in and around it.

“John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is a true one-of-one within Florida’s state parks system, and the new Discovery Center & Aquarium will be as special and unique as the park itself,” said Matt Caldwell, Board President of the Florida State Parks Foundation. “The Foundation is proud to play a part in bringing this new facility to fruition, and we are so grateful to all our partners whose generous support has helped make it possible.”

Upon completion in fall 2028, the Discovery Center & Aquarium will transform visitor experiences with modern and expansive aquarium tanks filled with native Florida marine species. The aquarium’s centerpiece will feature more than 23,000 gallons devoted to Florida’s Coral Reef.

The Discovery Center & Aquarium will also offer several interactive experiences, exhibits and displays designed to create a sense of stewardship for one of Florida’s most precious natural resources. Additionally, the facility will further the work conducted by the Mote Marine Laboratory, whose scientists have restored more than 200,000 corals to Florida’s reef and will continue their efforts in and around the park.

With more than 350 miles of coral reef spanning from the Florida Keys to St. Lucie Inlet, Florida is home to the only living coral reef along the coast of North America.

“Our parks manage and preserve the state’s natural resources, and that includes Florida’s Coral Reef,” Florida State Parks Director Chuck Hatcher said. “We’re excited for visitors to enjoy this new Discovery Center & Aquarium, and we think it will be a perfect starting point to explore the park’s beaches, trails and undersea experiences.”

Created in response to growing concern about Florida’s Coral Reef in the 1950s, the park is named for John D. Pennekamp, a former editor at the Miami Herald who led efforts to protect the reef and helped rally public support for its conservation.

Approximately 400,000 people visit John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park each year to explore Florida’s Coral Reef and surrounding ecosystems via boat tours, paddling trails, scuba diving, snorkeling and swimming. The park also offers 42 campsites, three hiking trails and three sites designated for saltwater fishing.

“John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is a jewel of Monroe County and the state of Florida, and this new Discovery Center & Aquarium is an incredible investment in our natural resources, our community and our economy,” Monroe County Commissioner Holly Merrill Raschein said. “Like so many of our residents, this park holds a place in my heart, and I am so proud to support the park and its future.”

Pennekamp’s grandson, Tom Pennekamp of Tallahassee, serves as Vice President on the Florida State Parks Foundation’s Board of Directors and spoke during the groundbreaking ceremony on behalf of the Foundation and the Pennekamp family.

“Some of my fondest memories are of visiting this park with my grandfather,” Tom Pennekamp said. “This is a special place for our family, but it’s also special for the millions of people who have created their own memories and experiences here.

“We join everyone who loves John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in celebrating this momentous day and looking forward to this incredible new Discovery Center & Aquarium.”



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On This Day In History!
April 23, 1982: Keys secede from Union, create Conch Republic

"This is only partly humorous. There's a great deal of anger in this town," said a participant of the Florida Keys' "secession" from the Union. Five days earlier, the federal government set up a roadblock south of Florida City to search cars for drugs and illegal immigrants. Traffic backed up 19 miles. When news spread, hundreds of tourists canceled hotel reservations because they didn't want to spend hours in a checkpoint traffic jam. So in one of the most unique protests ever staged, Mayor Dennis Wardlow declared the creation of "The Conch Republic," called himself Prime Minister, declared war on the United States by breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a U.S. Navy uniform, talked of minting "bubba bucks" for currency, then surrendered to the man in the Navy uniform and asked for $1 billion in federal aid.

"By establishing that border, they have declared us a foreign nation," Wardlow said. The federal government soon removed the checkpoint, but the idea of the "Conch Republic" lives on. The Keys celebrates its Independence Day each year on this date. The "Conch Republic" flag can be found for sale in many forms. Souvenir passports are issued. And the Republic has spoken out in protest several times regarding various issues in the Keys since 1982.

🌍 On this day, April 22nd 1970 , EARTH DAY was celebrated for the first time. 🌍

Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world’s environmental problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time on April 22, 1970. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches and educational programs across the country.

Earth Day was the brainchild of Senator Ga***rd Nelson of Wisconsin, a staunch environmentalist who hoped to provide unity to the grassroots environmental movement and increase ecological awareness. “The objective was to get a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the political establishment out of its lethargy,” Senator Nelson said, “and, finally, force this issue permanently onto the national political agenda.”

The 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's book _Silent Spring—_about the effects of pesticides—is often cited as the beginning of the modern environmental movement in the U.S. Sustainability, organic eating and the “back-to-the-land” movement continued to gain steam throughout the 1960s.

The first Earth Day indeed increased environmental awareness in America, and in July of 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was established by special executive order to regulate and enforce national pollution legislation. Earth Day also led to the passage of the Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts.

On April 22, 1990, the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, more than 200 million people in 141 countries participated in Earth Day celebrations. Senator Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton in September 1995. (He died in 2005.)

Earth Day has been celebrated on different days by different groups internationally. The United Nations officially celebrates it on the vernal equinox, which usually occurs about March 21.

On This Day in History! Apollo 13
With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returns to Earth on April 17, 1970.

On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert and Fred W. Haise. The mission was headed for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon. However, two days into the mission, disaster struck 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the spacecraft. Swigert reported to mission control on Earth, “Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light and water had been disrupted.
The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon, looped around it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth.
The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its oxygen supply, as well as running on batteries due to the loss of the fuel cells to allow successful reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and Apollo 13‘s course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested maneuvers. On April 17, tragedy turned to triumph as the Apollo 13 astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

***THE FUNDRAISING EVENT ON APRIL 29th HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO Jim Mooney Candidate House District 120 BEING BACK IN SESSION IN TALLAHASSEE THAT WEEK. A NEW DATE FOR THE EVENT WILL BE SCHEDULED SOON!***

***THE FUNDRAISING EVENT ON APRIL 29th HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO Jim Mooney Candidate House District 120 BEING BACK IN SESSION IN TALLAHASSEE THAT WEEK. A NEW DATE FOR THE EVENT WILL BE SCHEDULED SOON!***

Fun Day at Key Largo School for the SAFER, SMARTER KIDS curriculum by Lauren's Kids!

1513
Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain
Near present-day St. Augustine, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on the Florida coast, and claims the territory for the Spanish crown.
Native Americans inhabited the area that became known as Florida for thousands of years before any European contact. Although other European navigators may have sighted the Florida peninsula before, Ponce de León is credited with the first recorded landing and the first detailed exploration of the Florida coast.

The Spanish explorer was searching for the “Fountain of Youth,” a fabled water source that was said to bring eternal youth. Ponce de León named the peninsula he believed to be an island “La Florida” because his discovery came during the time of the Easter feast, or Pascua Florida.

In 1521, he returned to Florida in an effort to establish a Spanish colony. However, Native Americans attacked his expedition soon after landing, and the party retreated to Cuba, where Ponce de León died from a mortal wound suffered during the battle. Successful Spanish colonization of the peninsula finally began at St. Augustine in 1565, and in 1819 the territory passed into U.S. control under the terms of the Florida Purchase Treaty between Spain and the United States.

U.S. troops land on Okinawa
On April 1, 1945, after suffering the loss of 116 planes and damage to three aircraft carriers, 50,000 U.S. combat troops, under the command of Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner Jr., land on the southwest coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa, 350 miles south of Kyushu, the southern main island of Japan. Determined to seize Okinawa as a base of operations for the army ground and air forces for a later assault on mainland Japan, more than 1,300 ships converged on the island, finally putting ashore 50,000 combat troops.
The Americans quickly seized two airfields and advanced inland to cut the island’s waist. They battled nearly 120,000 Japanese army, militia and labor troops under the command of Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima.

The Japanese surprised the American forces with a change in strategy, drawing them into the mainland rather than confronting them at the water’s edge. While Americans landed without loss of men, they would suffer more than 50,000 casualties, including more than 12,000 deaths, as the Japanese staged a desperate defense of the island, a defense that included waves of kamikaze (“divine wind”) air attacks. Eventually, these su***de raids proved counterproductive, as the Japanese finally ran out of planes and resolve, with some 4,000 finally surrendering. Japanese casualties numbered some 117,000.

Lieutenant General Buckner, son of a Civil War general, was among the casualties, killed by enemy artillery fire just three days before the Japanese surrender. Japanese General Ushijima committed ritual su***de upon defeat of his forces.

MANATEE APPRECIATION DAY
Manatee Appreciation Day on the Last Wednesday in March focuses the world's attention on an herbivore with no known natural enemy. Also known as the sea cow, manatees are a vulnerable species due to their contact with humans. Boating and pollution, as well as other external forces, threaten the manatee.


These slow-moving herbivores inhabit slow rivers, canals, saltwater bays, estuaries, and coastal areas around the world. All three species of manatees are considered gentle giants, spending most of their time eating, sleeping, and traveling.

West Indian - This species includes two subspecies - the Florida Manatee and the Antillean manatee. The Florida manatee ranges from the Caribbean and up the coast of Florida toward North Carolina. They have also been spotted near Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. The West Indian manatee prefers slow-moving freshwater but is also found in saltwater, too.
African Manatee - Inhabiting both salt and freshwater, the West African manatee travels all along the West African coastline. While mostly a herbivore, the West African manatee also occasionally eats fish.

Manatees weigh between 300-540 kg (600-1200 lbs) and live up to 60 years. Spending most of their time underwater, unpolluted habitats are vital to their survival. While they do surface occasionally to replenish their oxygen, manatees can remain submerged for about 20 minutes at a time. When they do surface, they are capable of replenishing 90 percent of the air in their lungs. By comparison, humans only replace about 10 percent.

More Manatee Facts:
Belonging to the scientific order, Sirenia, they are also related to the dugong.
Manatees are related to the elephant.
Due to their immense size, they graze up to 8 hours a day.
Manatees continually replace their teeth. A new set is always growing behind the current set of teeth.
The observance aims to bring awareness to some of the manatees' most significant challenges. Due to loss of habitat, pollution, hunting, and climate change, manatee numbers are declining. While conservation efforts have brought the manatee back from the brink of extinction, more must be done.