Things To Do In SW Florida

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of air travelers are facing potential flight cancellations and delays this weekend, the peak of summer travel, as thunderstorms threaten the East Coast, West Coast and points in between.

Nearly 270 U.S. flights were canceled early Friday, according to flight tracking service FlightAware, and more than 1,100 U.S. flights were delayed. It’s been a terrible week for United Airlines and it is leading all major domestic carriers again Friday both canceled and delayed flights.

Staying calm — and knowing your rights — can go a long way if your flight is canceled, experts say. Here’s some of their advice for dealing with a flight cancellation:

MY FLIGHT WAS CANCELED. WHAT NEXT?

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the DOT and Federal Aviation Administration were “working closely with airlines to help minimize flight disruptions resulting from extreme weather” heading into the July Fourth holiday.

But if your flight is cancelled, most airlines will rebook you for free on the next available flight as long as it has seats, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. read more

Black engineers and “Game of Thrones” fans are the latest groups canceling Orlando events and attributing their decisions to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s political climate.

The National Society of Black Engineers’ 50th conference would have brought up to 15,000 visitors to the Orange County Convention Center in 2024 and generated millions of dollars in economic impact, the group’s CEO Janeen Uzzell said Friday.

Instead, it’ll be held in a different city that will be announced next week, she said.

The Con of Thrones, which typically draws 3,000 to 4,000 fans of the “Game of Thrones” books and television shows, also announced this week it was pulling the plug on a gathering planned for this Aug. 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.

Organizers cited “increasingly anti-humanitarian legislation” in the state.

“It’s becoming an inhospitable place to be part of any marginalized group,” said Melissa Anelli, CEO of Mischief Management, the company putting on the event. “They have laws that say you can’t even talk about being gay in school. That is absurd.” read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Apple becomes the first publicly traded company valued at $3 trillion.

The Supreme Court has blocked President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief plan, saying his administration lacked authorization under the HEROES Act to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt per borrower.

Some 43 million borrowers won’t see a cent of the debt cancellation promised by the White House last year. Under current guidance from the Education Department, borrowers must get ready to resume student loan payments starting in October on their full student loan balance.

The White House has not yet said it will pursue cancellation via another legal route, but activists are calling on Biden to pursue a plan B. On Friday afternoon, Biden’s official Twitter account called the ruling “unthinkable” and said he would have more to say later in the day. But a Plan B is far from guaranteed, and there is no timeline yet. Take steps to prepare for repayment now.

“Now that we have the decision, we can move forward,” says Betsy Mayotte, president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors. “There are a lot of borrowers who have been in limbo waiting to see what was going to happen.” read more

An appellate court ruling Friday could clear the way for online sports betting to return in Florida.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., threw out a lower court ruling that had halted the $2.5 billion pact between the state and the Seminole Tribe of Florida that briefly allowed gambling on phones and computers within the state’s borders in 2021.

Bob Jarvis, a law professor and gambling expert at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, said he expected the Tribe to kick off sports betting again within the next month.

“I’m sure they’ll try to do it even faster,” Jarvis said. “They will certainly be up in time for the new NFL season.”

The lawsuit by brick-and-mortar casinos and gambling parlors “had been a huge hurdle, and had been the reason that we did not have sports gambling in Florida,” Jarvis said. “That’s been swept away by the court. And they swept it away unanimously.”

The court stated that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act “does not prohibit a gaming compact … from discussing other topics, including those governing activities outside Indian lands[.]’ In fact, IGRA expressly contemplates that a compact ‘may’ do so where the activity is ‘directly related to’ gaming.” read more