Things To Do In SW Florida

Brightline’s rollout to Orlando took another step forward early Wednesday as the South Florida-based higher-speed rail line started to sell tickets for travel as early as September along a 170-mile extension between West Palm Beach and Central Florida.

Customers, however, will not immediately know when the trains will start operating on the new route that runs north along the Florida East Coast Railway to Cocoa, then hooks west on a newly constructed rail bed to a station at Orlando International Airport. It’s along that 35-mile segment that Brightline’s test trains in March reached 130 mph. The current top in-service speed has been limited to 79 mph.

“Once we have an opening date, we will make that announcement as well, and then guests can book for the inaugural ride,” said director of media relations Vanessa Alfonso.

Orlando ticket sales are open for trips starting Sept. 1.

Management believes there is significant enthusiasm among members of the traveling public to start sales now for a service expected to start in the latter part of this summer. read more

By LISA MASCARO and SEUNG MIN KIM (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Debt-limit talks shifted into an encouraging new phase Tuesday as President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy named top emissaries to negotiate a deal to avert an unprecedented national default. Biden cut short an upcoming overseas trip in hopes of closing an agreement before a June 1 deadline.

The fresh set of negotiators means discussions are now largely narrowed to what the White House and McCarthy will accept in order to allow lawmakers to raise the debt limit in the coming days. The speaker said after a meeting with Biden and congressional leaders that a deal was “possible” by week’s end, even as — in McCarthy’s view — the two sides remained far apart for the moment.

Biden was publicly upbeat after a roughly hourlong meeting in the Oval Office, despite having to cancel the Australia and Papua New Guinea portions of his overseas trip that begins Wednesday. Biden will participate in a Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, but then return to Washington on Sunday. read more

Disney is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tourism oversight board, the latest move in a back-and-forth legal battle that has drawn national attention.

The entertainment giant filed the motion Tuesday in state court in Orlando in response to a lawsuit filed by the DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

The struggle is over who will control the special district that oversees government services for Disney World. Disney first sued DeSantis, the oversight district and other state officials in federal court, arguing that they had engaged in a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.” Then the DeSantis-appointed board countersued in state court.

In the motion, Disney’s lawyers argue that a new state law seeking to void Disney’s development agreements renders the lawsuit moot. They also say the matter should be handled in federal court.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District defended its lawsuit in a prepared statement. read more

Rich Thomaselli | (TNS) TravelPulse

There is a scene in the film “The American President,” almost a throwaway scene, where a change in the president’s plans happens. Apparently, there is an airline strike in St. Louis and he is intending to fly there with the hopes of mediating.

As he is putting on his coat, he says, “You know what my economics professor once told me?”

His chief of staff then quickly quips back, “Never have an airline strike at Christmas?”

Add the busy summer travel season, especially this summer, to that list.

A strike by airline pilots could be a major thorn in the side of summer travel this year. In fact, it could disrupt it quite a bit. Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines pilots have recently voted to authorize a strike.

“The lack of leadership and the unwillingness to address the failures of our organization have led us to this point,” Casey Murray, the president of Southwest’s union, said in a statement. “Our pilots are tired of apologizing to our passengers on behalf of a company that refuses to place its priorities on its internal and external customers.” read more