Things To Do In SW Florida

Angela Silas lost 103 pounds over the last three years as the rent increased from $410 to $915 on her mobile home lot in Lake Runnymeade in St. Cloud after new owners purchased the park.

Silas said she has had to cut back on groceries and prefers to go hungry rather than giving her 14-year-old child or 38-year-old disabled husband less food.

“I feel like I have to penny pinch everywhere that I can and I’m going to take the hit first before my child,” Silas said through tears.

A bill filed by State House Rep. Paula Stark, whose district includes St. Cloud, aims to help mobile home owners like Silas dispute rent increases that leave them no choice except to pay up or undertake the arduous task of moving their home.

At a press conference Friday, Stark said HB 613 will encourage mediation of disputes between mobile homeowners, who often own the home but rent the land it’s on, and the park owner.

Stark said the bill also aims to tackle the affordable housing crisis, as raising lot rents at mobile home parks targets people who are typically low-income. read more

“The thing about any partnership,” says Kaleb Harrell, “is that it requires a willingness to do whatever needs to be done for the betterment of the team.”

And of the close-knit co-founders of Hawkers Asian Street Food, four friends whose interwoven friendship and family ties span decades, Harrell says Danny “Kin” Ho was the fiercest team player of all. And he will be fiercely missed.

Ho, 46, died Jan. 5 following a brief battle with a rare and acute form of leukemia.

He is survived by his wife, Ying Duong; daughter Everhett Ho, 7; son Emmett Ho, 19 months; parents Tim and Nim Yi Ho; a sister, Maggie Ho and a brother, James Ho.

His culinary legacy includes 15 Hawkers locations in seven states, a number set to grow in the next several years.

Born in Hong Kong, Ho emigrated to the States with his parents at age 2, settling in New York City’s Chinatown, where his father worked as a fishmonger.

“Kin grew up around food,” longtime friend and Hawkers Brand chef and co-founder Allen Lo said, and when he and his family relocated to Orlando in 1999, they purchased a building on Mills Avenue and opened Chinatown Restaurant & Market. read more

Jon Healey | Los Angeles Times (TNS)

As shocking as the in-flight blowout on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was last week, federal officials initially estimated that the problem that caused a gaping hole to open in the plane’s fuselage would be relatively easy to diagnose and fix.

On Tuesday, though, the Federal Aviation Administration said the process will take a bit longer than anticipated. For the time being, all planes configured the same way as Flight 1282 — a recently introduced update to the extremely popular Boeing 737 — will remain grounded.

That means more travelers on United and Alaska airlines will see their flights canceled in the days to come. Here’s what we know so far about the disruption in air travel, when it might end, and what the eventual return of these planes to service might mean for fliers — especially the nervous ones.

Which airplanes are affected?

Flight 1282 was on a custom version of the Boeing 737 Max 9, the latest in a series of revisions designed to enlarge the 737s so they could carry more passengers, and generate more revenue. The Max 9s are almost 9 feet longer than the 737 Max 8s that came out a few years previously, and when they carry the full complement of seats, they require an extra emergency exit between the wings and the tail. read more