Things To Do In SW Florida

A Central Florida restaurant and a hotel dining area were shut down the week of April 14-20, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Orange County

The Wine Room On Park Avenue at 270 S. Park Ave. in Winter Park shut down on April 15. Inspectors found seven violations, four of which were labeled as high priority. Those violations included an employee touching their headphones and touching the food without washing their hands, an expired business license, and mac and cheese kept in a cooler in the basement area overnight above the required temperature. A second visit took place on April 16. Inspectors found a single violation for an expired business license. The Wine Room received an extension, and the restaurant met inspection standards.

Brevard County

A dining area within the Econo Lodge at 260 E. Merritt Island Causeway on Merritt Island shut down on April 18. Inspectors found five violations, of which two were a high priority for roach activity and flying insects. On the April 19, the hotel dining area remained under the emergency shutdown order after the first of two followup inspections that day. That one found four violations, with roach activity and flying insects still and issue. The hotel complied with the emergency order and had no issues on a second inspection on April 19. read more

Susie Hupp, a longtime writer for the Orlando Sentinel, has died. She was 96.

Hupp’s prolific run at the newspaper began in the 1970s, chronicling social events, including weddings, home tours, Arts Guild developments and far-flung vacations of Orlando residents.

“She started her career at the Sentinel doing the Tea Table Chatter [column],” daughter Marianne Gertner said. “She would tear it out of the typewriter and hand it to me, and I’d run it into the office.”

When her husband, Bill Hupp, died, she became a single parent to three teenagers. She took a full-time job at the Sentinel.

“She had no choice. To provide for her kids, she had to go to work,” Gertner said.

“She did say that she was really happy that she did go back to work because it changed her life,” said Sherry Davich, another daughter. “Being an introvert … being widowed. … I mean, at first, it was hard. But then she made such great friends. And she was so smart.”

“I think once she felt secure – and she always knew she was a good writer – she felt empowered. So when she became empowered, I think she felt equal to the men there,” Gertner said. read more

By MORIAH BALINGIT and SHARON LURYE of The Associated Press and DANIEL BEEKMAN of The Seattle Times

AUBURN, Wash. (AP) — After a series of lower-paying jobs, Nicole Slemp finally landed one she loved. She was a secretary for Washington’s child services department, a job that came with her own cubicle, and she had a knack for working with families in difficult situations.