Things To Do In SW Florida

By Bruce Finley, Denver Post

Frontier Airlines has hit more turbulence for troubles that, despite relatively low fares, have shaken relations with travelers.

A new analysis of the nation’s 10 major airlines ranked Frontier last, citing high rates of “bumping” passengers involuntarily off flights, customer complaints, and fees for bags and changed flights. This seventh-annual report found that all airlines deteriorated in their performance with overall complaints increasing in 2022 by 87%. But Denver-based Frontier’s reported data from 2022 showed that company gate agents denied boarding for more than 6,000 passengers against their wishes, an average of more than 16 every day and roughly 1 out of every 3,752 travelers, according to the report by “The Points Guy,” a travel information website. And Frontier led also in the rate of complaints with 22.6 for every 100,000 travelers in 2022 — more than twice the number of complaints reported by Spirit, the second-to-last carrier in that category. read more

Downtown Orlando’s Ace Cafe has closed, the restaurant revealed on a Facebook post Sunday.

The London-based chain opened in a 35,000-square-foot space at 100 W. Livingston St. in 2017. The only North American location of the chain held motorcycle events and concerts at the venue near Interstate 4.

A specific closing date or reason for the shuttering were not included in the Facebook post, and a representative for the business could not be reached for comment. But a sign on the door Tuesday said the business had permanently closed its doors.

“The iconic building, rich with history, has seen it all,” the Facebook post said. “If those walls could talk, they would have some pretty epic stories to tell. As we say goodbye, we hope that you share the same sentiment and have happy memories of good times spent at the Ace with friends and family.”

Ace Cafe kept a packed calendar of events, including its weekly Thursday “Bike Night” as well as car enthusiast meet-ups. Its May calendar included gatherings like “Mini Cooper Meet,” “Porsche Night” and “Cars & Coffee.” read more

Three Central Florida restaurants shut down in the week of May 21-26, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Volusia County

Half Wall #3 at 1889 State Road 44 in New Smyrna Beach shut down on May 22.

Inspectors found 16 violations, five of which were a high priority. Those violations included food not being sold within a week of opening or preparation, rodent activity, single-use gloves not being changed out and food held at the wrong temperatures.

Officials revisited the restaurant on May 23. They found five violations and issued time extensions for two high-priority violations. Those violations were for food held at the wrong temperatures.

The restaurant met inspection standards.

La Fiesta Cantina Nsb at 114 Flagler Ave in New Smyrna Beach shut down on May 23.

Inspectors found 23 violations, 10 of which were a high priority. Those violations included rodent activity, a stop-sale on food, undercooked food, flying insects and dented food cans.

Officials revisited the restaurant on May 24. They found five violations and issued time extensions for two high-priority violations. Those violations included flying insects and food not in their commercial packaging. read more

By MATT O’BRIEN (AP Technology Writer)

Scientists and tech industry leaders, including high-level executives at Microsoft and Google, issued a new warning Tuesday about the perils that artificial intelligence poses to humankind.

“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the statement said.

Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist known as the godfather of artificial intelligence, were among the hundreds of leading figures who signed the statement, which was posted on the Center for AI Safety’s website.

Worries about artificial intelligence systems outsmarting humans and running wild have intensified with the rise of a new generation of highly capable AI chatbots such as ChatGPT. It has sent countries around the world scrambling to come up with regulations for the developing technology, with the European Union blazing the trail with its AI Act expected to be approved later this year. read more