Things To Do In SW Florida

By Jae Bratton | NerdWallet

In the list of things you want to be doing around the holidays, fending off scam artists has to be at the bottom. And yet, the holidays can be a prime time for scammers hoping to take advantage of the busy season. One fraudulent transaction is easily overlooked in a bank statement full of gift purchases, and there may not be time to dispute suspicious charges when you’re hosting out-of-town guests.

Research-based advisory firm Javelin Strategy & Research defines an identity fraud scam as a tactic that a criminal uses to steal someone’s personal information for the purpose of illegal financial gain. Consumers lost $43 billion in 2022 to these scams, according to Javelin’s 2023 Identity Fraud Study.

If there’s good news, it’s that there were fewer reported victims of identity fraud in 2022 as compared with 2021, with a 17% decrease in the amount of money lost to scams. The bad news is that scammers have become more sophisticated in their methods and have a new tool in their arsenal: artificial intelligence. AI programs can be used to generate scam emails, text messages or audio recordings that mimic the speech of loved ones. read more

The Space Florida board of directors voted Tuesday to approve retired Space Force Col. Robert Long as its next president and CEO with an annual salary of $350,000.

That’s a $25,000 bump over retiring Space Florida CEO Frank DiBello, who has been leading the state’s aerospace economic development entity since 2009.

“As this meeting wraps up, Robert Long is ready to sign the contract,” said board member Rodney Cruise, who was a member of the search committee and led contract negotiations after the board identified Long as their prime choice among three finalists.

The board led by chair Lt. Gov. Jeannette Nunez met for less than 10 minutes for an update on the negotiations and unanimously approved Long’s hire.

“As we start this new era in history, I’m really excited to work closely with Col. Long … to further promote growth in Florida’s aerospace industry,” Nunez said. “We have a lot of exciting work to accomplish.”

Long was the commander for Space Launch Delta 30 and the Western Launch and Test Range at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It’s a similar role to the Space Launch Delta 45 group leader who oversees launches from the Space Coast. read more

A crew of 6,000 workers, eight million pounds of concrete, and miles and miles worth of construction cable.

That’s what can be found currently on the 750-acre property that will one day hold Universal’s largest theme park, Epic Universe, a company leader says.

“Right now we have got like 85 buildings under construction,” Jeff Polk, the Vice President and General Manager of Epic Universe said at the I-4 Commercial Conference in Lakeland on Friday. “It’s very heavily under construction. I think we have enough cable on the ground to get you to the West Coast and back.”

And while work continues there with an expectation to open by summer 2025, construction crews are expected to descend upon another nearby Universal-owned piece of land soon, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

Polk said that Catchlight Crossings, the company’s 1,000-unit affordable housing project, will break ground in the next 60 days.

“We are investing heavily not only in new parks, new things to bring people here, but investing in infrastructure for our own team members,” Polk said. “One of the things we are really focusing on is affordable housing… and we think this is going to be a game-changer in terms of how we can deliver, from a corporate standpoint, a better contribution to what our community needs in the space of affordable housing.” read more