Things To Do In SW Florida

Only one Central Florida restaurant was forced to shut down temporarily the week of Aug. 13-19, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Peanuts Sports Bar located at 421 Flagler Ave., in New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County was forced to close on Aug. 17 when officials found 17 violations, including seven deemed high priority.

Those violations included roach and rodent activity, a stop-sale on food due to temperature abuse, an improperly stored toxic substance and a missing vacuum breaker.

Officials revisited the restaurant on Aug. 18. They found nine violations, two of which were time extensions for dish machine sanitizer not being at the proper strength and the missing vacuum breaker.

The restaurant requires a follow-up inspection but was allowed to reopen.

Complaints and warnings

Orange County had the top spot for most warnings and other complaints in Central Florida, with 47.

Volusia had 25, Brevard had 27, Lake had 11, Osceola had 15 and Seminole had 10. Warnings given with required follow-up inspections could lead to a business being shut down if problems remain. read more

TALLAHASSEE — A federal appeals court this week will hear arguments in a fight about a 2022 Florida law that placed restrictions on how race-related issues can be addressed in workplace training, part of what Gov. Ron DeSantis dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act.”

Attorneys for the state want the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a preliminary injunction that Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued last year to block the workplace-training part of the law. Walker agreed with businesses and a consultant that the restrictions violated the First Amendment.

While the law also placed restrictions on how race-related issues can be addressed in the state education system, the appeal only deals with the part focused on workplace training.

That part lists eight race-related concepts and says that a required training program or other activity that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such individual (an employee) to believe any of the following concepts constitutes discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin.” read more

Tram service is returning to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot theme parks some time in September, Walt Disney World says.

The transportation system that carries visitors from the parking lots to the front gates was suspended when the resort reopened from its four-month pandemic shutdown in 2020. Park-goers have walked that span when the trams were not in operation.  The open-air rides returned to Magic Kingdom in late 2021, then at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in early 2022.

In December 2021, Disney said that tram service would return to all four parks over 2022.  In the meantime, there has been resurfacing, renumbering and renaming of some of the lots.

Disney has not announced a precise date for the return of the Epcot and Hollywood Studios trams.

The standard parking fee for Disney parks is currently $25 for cars and motorcycles or $30 for oversized vehicles such as RVs and buses. Preferred parking is available for $45 to $50 per day.  Standard theme park parking is included for registered guests at Disney World hotels and for some annual passholders. read more