A prominent columnist at the South Florida Sun Sentinel announced his retirement in a column Friday, stating that his decision was motivated by the state becoming a “gay-bashing authoritarian dystopia.”

Columnist Fred Grimm said goodbye to his South Florida audience in the piece, recounting his 56-year-long journalism career and lamenting how most people in the state are now supportive MAGA candidates, and opposed to Disney, the LGBTQ movement and other progressive causes.

“Not that it hasn’t been fun chronicling Florida’s descent into a waterlogged, python-infested, uninsurable, hurricane-pummeled, book-banning, gay-bashing authoritarian dystopia, but I’m outta here,” Grimm opened his farewell column.

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For the first half of the piece, Grimm noted that part of his exit from the industry could be his “old age.” “At 76, my arthritic fingers no longer dance along the keyboard,” he declared.

He also wondered if he’s just tired of this line of work, noting, “Maybe I’ve been worn down by so many hours staring at a blank computer screen, deadline looming, desperation building and inspiration lagging.”

Grimm also offered being burdened by the “cumulative effect of chronicling so many awful disasters” as another possible reason, though he stated that the state’s conservative politics were definitely one of the reasons he is done with the industry.

“Another factor has sucked the joy out of journalism,” he said, explaining, “A nasty, mutant strain of populism has taken hold of Florida and the rest of red-state America. Facts don’t matter. Medical science is rejected. Literary masterpieces are banned. Abortion is outlawed. Teachers are persecuted. Disney is villainized. MAGA pols, up to their shins in sunny-day flooding, deny that we’re in the throes of global warming.”

Grimm continued with a laundry list of right-wing caricatures to describe the state and the rest of red America’s political leanings.

“Meanwhile, MAGA heroes’ lies, sexual misdeeds and financial shenanigans are dismissed as media inventions. Jury verdicts and fair elections are disparaged as leftwing conspiracies.”

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Sun Sentinel columnist Fred Grimm pointed to Trump and DeSantis as individual’s inspiring his decision to quit journalism after more than five decades. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The columnist accused conservatives of believing that “violent insurrection” is justified and wrote that “Vladimir Putin is a role model” for them. 

He also described how “Homophobia, racism and xenophobia provide the subtext of the new politics,” and that a majority of white, working class Americans, including most of my relatives back in West Virginia, embrace politicians who promise to pummel elites and demean minorities.”

Grimm noted that he often feels as though he “was working for the DeSantis campaign” as his “campaign operatives instantly repackage media criticism into fund-raising appeals.”

Lastly, he wrote he just can’t find the optimism to deal with all this, especially with Trump’s continuing popularity, the fact there could be a “hellish hurricane season,” and that NBA star LeBron James “isn’t returning to South Florida.”

“I’m all out of optimism. My reservoir of adrenaline has gone dry. Time to leave this space to writers of the glass-half-full kind. Goodbye. Good luck. I’ll miss you,” he concluded.

A stingray called Charlotte who befuddled her aquarium team when she appeared to be pregnant without the presence of a male stingray is actually suffering from a rare reproductive disease, the group announced on Thursday, May 30. 

“We regret the delay of updates regarding Charlotte. This time was necessary to gather data and analyze lab and testing results,” said the Hendersonville, North Carolina-based Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO in a Facebook post. 

Those tests, said the aquarium, “show that Charlotte has developed a rare reproductive disease that has negatively impacted her reproductive system. The findings are truly a sad and unexpected medical development.” 

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Now, said the aquarium, “our priority is to focus on Charlotte’s health and well-being. We will work with, and be guided by, veterinarians and specialists to better understand this disease and the treatment options for Charlotte.” 

The group added that research into her disease is “limited.”

“We hope that Charlotte’s case and medical treatment will positively contribute to science and be of benefit to other rays in the future.” 

The team asked for people to “respect Charlotte and her care team as we navigate this unexpected news and work to determine the best path forward.”

A follow-up Facebook post on May 31 provided additional details about Charlotte’s condition. 

The aquarium said it was “actively searching” for additional information about Charlotte’s disease. 

“Good morning. Many are asking [for] the name of the reproductive disease, but it is simply found under that text reproductive disease,” said the Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO. 

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The aquarium said it was “actively searching” for additional information about Charlotte’s disease, noting that while there have been studies done on southern rays, it had not found any on round rays to date. 

Charlotte is a California round ray. 

On June 1, the aquarium posted that it would be closed for the day to focus on Charlotte’s care. 

Charlotte first made news in February after she was believed to have become pregnant despite not living with a male of her species for eight years.  (Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO)

This update comes about three weeks after the Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO posted a cryptic update about Charlotte, saying that the stingray had shown “very little change” that week and would be receiving additional tests. 

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“We appreciate your continued support and excitement as we navigate this unfamiliar area of science and marine biology,” said the aquarium in the May 8 post. 

The aquarium then turned off the commenting function, raising alarm among some people who had followed Charlotte’s story.

Aquarium staff members feared that Charlotte had cancer when her body began swelling. (Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO)

Charlotte first made news back in February, when the Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO announced that she was pregnant despite not sharing a tank with a male stingray of her species for nearly a decade.

Brenda Ramer, founder and executive director of the aquarium, told Fox News Digital in February that she initially feared Charlotte had cancer, as the round ray had begun to “swell” in recent weeks.

An ultrasound, said Ramer, showed that Charlotte’s swelling was not from tumors, but, shockingly, eggs. 

It was thought that perhaps Charlotte had reproduced asexually, or had possibly become impregnated by a male shark in her tank — and it was reported in February that she could give birth imminently. 

Stingrays have, on rare occasions, reproduced without a mate in a process called parthenogenesis, said Ramer. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO for further updates on Charlotte’s condition. 

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle. 

A helicopter pilot in Florida was charged this week by the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) after he allegedly landed on a closed shorebird nesting site.

Ernesto Cordero was charged with harassing the nesting birds, a misdemeanor, for allegedly harming the eggs of a protected species when he landed at Egmont Key State Park, scattering hundreds of shorebirds after he smelled fuel, according to FOX 13. 

He was also cited for landing a helicopter in a state park and entering a closed area. 

The shorebirds have gathered at the wildlife refuge to breed, according to the FWC. 

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Cordero told FOX 13 he was afraid that fuel was leaking from the copter, and he chose to land at the island wildlife refuge at the mouth of Tampa Bay, instead of risking a crash. 

FWC investigators said that witnesses reported seeing a woman get out of the helicopter and take photos at the closed nesting site, which contained black skimmers and sandwich terns. Cordero said he was able to check for a leak without getting out of the helicopter. He added that he didn’t radio in an emergency. 

Hubbard’s Marina Capt. Robyn Lela told FOX 13: “It’s their home, and we’re coming to it, and we need to respect that.” 

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Birds at Egmont Key State Park in Florida.  (FOX 13)

Cordero was flying a company helicopter owned by CC Landscaping Warehouse Plus, Inc., in Bradenton, Florida, the Tampa Bay Times reported, citing Flight Aware. Cordero reportedly owns the company. 

Cordero eventually landed south in Punta Gorda, the Times reported. 

Pelicans swimming at the Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge.  (Nick Ameen/U.S. Coast Guard via Bloomberg)

“Our seabirds and shorebirds have an intrinsic value, and, a right to exist here on the beach,” Audrey DeRose-Wilson of Audubon Florida told FOX 13. “But if we want to talk about, like the value they give to us, they are indicators of a healthy, functioning ecosystem, which is something that benefits all of us.”

Audubon Florida said that the wind from the helicopter’s blades likely damaged eggs at the nesting site as the pilot landed. 

Cordero is expected back in court on July 1, according to the news station.