Things To Do In SW Florida

Jarrell Dillard, Jonnelle Marte | Bloomberg News (TNS)

After years of mostly steady decline, the Black homeownership rate in the US saw its largest jump on record in the early days of the pandemic. Now, soaring borrowing costs and home prices threaten to erode those gains.

Black Americans — who for decades in the mid-20th century were shut out of swaths of the housing market by redlining and other racist practices — are disproportionately likely to be first-time buyers. And newcomers face a particular disadvantage in this market: They haven’t benefited from rising home equity, so they may need to come up with larger down payments.

And that may prove an especially big hurdle in a demographic group where the median household income is lower than the national average.

Black buyers must navigate a drastically different landscape than in 2020, when mortgage rates had not yet climbed to their recent highs and federal stimulus checks were helping many consumers feel flush. That year, Black homeownership jumped to nearly 46%, the highest since 2010, according to Census Bureau data, and held close to that rate in 2021 and 2022. read more

Disney on Thursday appealed the decision by a federal judge to throw out its lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis and state officials over control of the special governing district at Disney World.

The entertainment giant on Wednesday indicated it would challenge the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee. The case will move to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

Disney sued claiming that it had faced government retaliation after it opposed a law pushed by DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature to limit instruction in public schools about sexual orientation and gender identity, which critics derided as “don’t say gay.”

The dispute led DeSantis and lawmakers to replace Disney’s self-governing Reedy Improvement District with a board appointed by the governor.

“The reality is the Florida Legislature has every right to change special districts; they’ve always had that right,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Jacksonville on Thursday. “And what’s happened since [is] there’s been accountability.” read more

By Anna Helhoski | NerdWallet

With the federal minimum wage mired at $7.25 an hour since 2009, many cities and states have been taking it upon themselves to set the bar higher. And sometimes, higher again.

In fact, minimum wage earners in 22 states and 38 cities and counties got a pay bump on Jan. 1.

Today, the highest minimum wages, by state and Washington, D.C., are in D.C. ($17), Washington ($16.28), California ($16), Connecticut ($15.69) and New Jersey ($15.13). In addition, New York, Massachusetts and Maryland all have minimum wages of $15.

On the more local level, 58 cities and counties have minimum wages set higher than their state’s wage. All of the top 10 are in the West, and the top three cities are close neighbors:

1. Tukwila, Washington: $20.29.
2. Seattle: $19.97.
3. SeaTac, Washington: $19.71.
4. West Hollywood, California: $19.08.
5. Mountain View, California: $18.75.
6. Emeryville, California: $18.67.
7. Sunnyvale, California: $18.55.
8. Denver: $18.29.
9. San Francisco: $18.07.
10. El Cerrito, California: $17.92.

This year’s state and local minimum wage increases are estimated to impact 9.9 million workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute, which tracks minimum wage changes.

Of those 22 state increases on Jan. 1, 14 were due to automatic inflation adjustments. Two other places have automatic adjustments on July 1 each year: Washington, D.C., and Oregon. But the state with the highest increase as of Jan. 1 was Hawaii: a $2 increase to $14, representing a 28% bump. read more

Fresh details from Universal Orlando about its upcoming Epic Universe theme park are the latest flex in the long-running competition for tourism dollars by entertainment titans, including standing champion Walt Disney World, which industry analysts predict could soon strike back.

Universal’s Epic announcements confirm big news such as the park’s lands being themed to Nintendo, “How to Train Your Dragon,” Harry Potter and Universal’s classic monsters. And they unveil finer details such as restaurant names and the speed of the racing roller coaster.

The batch of facts intensified the buzz about the park, set to open next year. And it has some watchers wondering if a Disney countermove is coming soon.

At least one expert thinks Universal’s expansion will prompt the long-awaited “fifth gate” – another Disney World theme park. Industry observers also say the gap between Orlando’s biggest park operators appears to be thinning.

“There’s an 800-pound gorilla in the room, but there’s also a 600-pound gorilla in the room. We’ve watched that gorilla grow from little gorilla to big gorilla,” said Martin Lewison, associate professor of business management at Farmingdale State College in New York. read more