Latest news with #Quadrozzi
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'Finally We Got Him!': 'Punk' Duck Nabbed After Terrorizing Florida Community
A Florida community can breathe easy now that a local rogue known for stalking and attacking residents has been apprehended. Jimmy, a Muscovy duck, was captured this week in the Cape Coral neighborhood he had held hostage by his acts of terror. Prior to being caught, Jimmy had attacked multiple people, local news station Fox 4 Now reported earlier this month. Neighborhood resident James Sepulveda described sitting on his porch, 'eyes closed,' when he suddenly 'felt a jab' on his hand and realized Jimmy had bitten him and drawn blood. In video footage from the news outlet, Sepulveda can be seen opening his door a crack to see Jimmy standing just outside. The man then says the duck is 'waiting' for him. Jimmy even chased Fox 4 reporter Bella Line while she attempted to report on his misdeeds. Muscovy ducks are native to Central and South America, Mexico and some parts of Texas. While the ducks are seen in the wild throughout Florida, they are a non-native species in the state. It's legal in Florida to capture 'nuisance' Muscovy ducks, but illegal to release them back to the wild because they can 'can transmit diseases to or interbreed with Florida's native waterfowl,' according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. After Jimmy's story went viral, animal rescuer Mark Quadrozzi of Remarkable Rescues stepped up with a solution that would work for humans and duck alike. This week, Quadrozzi managed to catch Jimmy and relocate him to his animal sanctuary more than 200 miles away in Ocala, where the bird can join a flock of other Muscovy ducks. Sepulveda was thrilled with the news. 'Finally we got him!' he said, per Fox 35 Orlando. The news outlet noted that it wasn't clear whether Jimmy was the only unruly duck in the area, or if others could remain. Quadrozzi believes that Jimmy, who is about 3 to 4 months old, was probably raised by people and abandoned. He also said the duck's age and sex explain a lot about his behavior. 'This is a young male,' Quadrozzi told Fox 4. 'Yes, and that's why he's being such a punk.' School Clears Out Its Halls Each Year To Help Duck Family Get Home Oldest Known Wild Bird Has Been Spotted Again — And She's Got A New Boyfriend Bald Eagle Feared Injured Deemed Simply 'Too Fat To Fly'
Axios
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Axios
New York preservationists beg Trump to save SS United States
A group of New York preservationists is asking President Trump to intervene to save the SS United States. Why it matters: The historic ocean liner was supposed to leave its South Philly dock months ago, but after multiple delays, there's no clear timeline as to when it'll exit the Delaware River. Driving the news: In a letter sent to the White House this week, the New York Coalition to Save the SS United States says the ship "is on the brink of being lost forever" unless the Trump administration moves quickly to purchase the vessel from Florida's Okaloosa County under "public use" laws. The group is also concerned that the county's plan to sink the ship off the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump has renamed the Gulf of America, could "create the next environmental disaster." The liner is partly constructed of lightweight aluminum, which "presents unique and untested risks of harm as that metal oxidizes in seawater," the group says. Context: The ship's former stewards, SS United States Conservancy, had pleaded with former President Biden, Congress and officials in the U.S. Secretary of the Navy to save the ship, but to no avail. Okaloosa County acquired the ship for $1 million for an artificial reef. Zoom in: The New York group says it has been trying to raise money to have the liner transported to Brooklyn, where it hopes to reimagine the ship as a "floating ecosystem" with coworking space and incubators. The group is led by John Quadrozzi Jr., a New York concrete magnate who owns the Gowanus Bay Terminal. Quadrozzi told the Gothamist he has access to a 1,300-foot space where the ship could be docked. Quadrozzi's allies include Dan McSweeney, co-founder of the SS United States Conservancy. What they're saying: In their letter to Trump, the New York coalition called the liner an "iconic and irreplaceable testament to American achievement" — a nod to its historic maiden voyage in 1952, when the SS United States became the fastest liner to cross the Atlantic. "As we stand at the crossroads of the preservation v. destruction of a monument to American innovation, it is imperative that we acknowledge the gravity of inaction," the group wrote. The White House didn't respond to Axios' request for comment. McSweeney tells Axios the Brooklyn proposal wasn't given enough consideration before its sale, and the ship's current and past stewards "owe it to the community" to give it another look. "It may or may not [turn out] differently," he says. "We're not going to know until we try." The other side: Okaloosa County commissioners received a separate letter from the New York group seeking their cooperation to keep the ship from being reefed, county spokesperson Nick Tomecek tells Axios. But Okaloosa County isn't shifting course and "fully intends to deploy the SS United States as the world's largest artificial reef along the Gulf Coast," Tomecek says. Before being reefed, Tomecek says the ship will undergo "extensive cleaning," including being stripped of all "non-metal components, oil and harmful chemicals" to ensure it passes regulatory inspections and is "environmentally safe'". Catch up quick: Okaloosa County paid a $100,000 fine to pier landlord Penn Warehousing after failing to meet a Dec. 12 deadline to relocate the ship. The county, which has paid $3,400 in daily docking fees, has been repeatedly delayed from transporting the ship to Mobile, Alabama — first by weather, and later by Coast Guard inquiries. The latest: The ship was scheduled to leave South Philly this month but that departure was pushed back again after the Coast Guard requested "additional information" about towing equipment and logistics, Tomecek says. The county provided those details to the Coast Guard and "will be scheduling another departure date soon." What's ahead: Once the ship is transferred to Mobile, it'll undergo 8-12 months of preparations before it's sunk.
