News In Brief

Florida crews spray to control Med flies

Ground crews started spraying Thursday against Mediterranean fruit flies, which could destroy Florida's $1 billion-a-year citrus crop. Officials said they would blanket the heart of Miami with pesticides during weekly air sweeps for the next two months.

The state also clamped a quarantine on fruit and vegetables around Miami. Officials asked residents of an 81 square-mile tract of Little Havana centered around the Port of Miami not to transport fruit that could carry Med-fly larvae out of the area. Four flies were found in the area Tuesday.