Things To Do In SW Florida

Q: The neighbor above my condo apartment recently took up the drums. He likes to practice in the middle of the day, which is a problem since I work from home. To make matters worse, he seems to practice at random times, so I cannot even plan around it. It is interfering with my work and is getting under my skin. What can I do? — Anonymous

A: Apartment living has both advantages and sacrifices. There is no yard to mow or house to maintain, but you must live close to people with differing interests and schedules. Making this choice of lifestyle requires both patience and consideration of others. Apartment dwellers should have more patience for random noises and heavy footsteps and consideration for their neighbors. Playing the drums in an apartment, even in the middle of the day, takes things too far.

Give your neighbor the benefit of the doubt. Since he is only practicing in the middle of the day, he may think no one is home to hear him play. Your first step is to chat with him, letting him know you work from home and that his practice is making things hard for you. Hopefully, this will resolve the problem. However, if it does not, your next step is to speak with your property manager. Playing the drums, or loud music, is most likely not allowed by your community’s rules. The property manager should have the tools and skills to get him to stop. You can also speak to your board of directors about this. read more

By MATT OTT (AP Business Writer)

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits jumped last week but remain low overall, even as the Federal Reserve has furiously raised interest rates to beat down inflation and cool the labor market.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for jobless claims for the week ending April 29 rose by 13,000 to 242,000 from 229,000 the previous week. The weekly claims numbers are considered a proxy for layoffs.

The four-week moving average of claims, which flattens some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 3,500 to 239,250.

Overall, 1.81 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended April 22, about 38,0000 fewer that the previous week.

American workers are enjoying unusual job security despite rising interest rates, economic uncertainty and fears of a looming recession.

As expected, in its ongoing inflation fight, the Fed on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate another quarter point. One of the Fed’s goals in raising interest 10 times in the past 14 months is to cool the job market and stifle rising wages. Until very recently, there was very little evidence the central bank’s actions were working on the labor market. But cracks may be starting to show. read more

TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers late Wednesday gave final approval to a bill giving the state the power to inspect the monorail at Disney World, the latest salvo in the feud between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the theme park giant.

DeSantis vowed to end Disney’s power to self-inspect its monorail system as part of his push to end what he calls the corporation’s “special privileges” in Florida.

Under the bill, Disney would be required to submit an annual safety plan to the Florida Department of Transportation with on-site visits every three years to ensure compliance in addition to other periodic evaluations, according to FDOT’s rules for such systems.

State inspections are needed to ensure Disney World visitors are safe, said Rep. Shane Abbott, R-DeFuniak Springs.

“FDOT is looking at inspecting this so we know what issues do arise,” he said. “What this is important for is we don’t know what we don’t know right now.”

The nearly 15-mile monorail averages an estimated 150,000 passengers a day. read more

TALLAHASSEE — Nearing the end of a legislative session filled with debates about transgender issues, Florida lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at requiring people to use bathrooms that line up with their sex assigned at birth.

The Republican-controlled Senate voted 26-12 to approve the bill (HB 1521), with the House following a short time later by passing it in an 80-36 vote. The measure is ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it.

The bill passed Wednesday would apply to the use of bathrooms at facilities such as public schools, colleges, universities, state and local government buildings, prisons and jails. An earlier version of the bill also would have applied to health care facilities and businesses such as restaurants, but those places were taken out of the final version.

In the bill, lawmakers included an overall finding that “females and males should be provided restrooms and changing facilities for their exclusive use, respective to their sex, in order to maintain public safety, decency, decorum and privacy.” read more