Things To Do In SW Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Two weeks after a container ship collided with a bridge and shut down the Port of Baltimore, effects continue to ripple through the maritime industry. The News Service had these questions for Michael Rubin, president and CEO of the Florida Ports Council, about port safety in the Sunshine State:

Q: After the Baltimore collision, are you looking at all the Florida ports for how ships come in and out to ensure safety and security?

RUBIN: It’s a continuing investment that we work with the Army Corps of Engineers. Some of our channels, obviously, there’s a bridge in Tampa, which had a similar incident over 40 years ago. And then there’s a bridge in Jacksonville, where some of the smaller cargo vessels go underneath.

So, it’s a continual review by, you know, the (harbor) pilots into that. The pilots do a great job of making sure those vessels stay on line and on track coming through those navigational harbors if there’s a bridge there. Obviously, it’s a difficult lesson and you hope you don’t have — and I feel for those six families (of people who died in Baltimore) — and you hope you don’t have any significant loss of life in those. But it’s one of those hard lessons you learn. read more

The storied career of the Delta family of rockets had to wait a little longer than planned to turn the page on its final chapter, but the last of its kind lifted off on the Space Coast on Tuesday.

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy, the largest and most powerful version of Delta rockets, launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37 at 12:53 p.m. Dubbed the NROL-70 mission, the classified payload is for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The rocket had come within four minutes of the countdown clock hitting zero back on March 28, but teams discovered an issue with a pipeline of gaseous nitrogen used to supply the inert gas needed for safe operations on liftoff that took several days to remedy before ULA and its customer were OK to try again.

The first Delta rocket attempted a liftoff in May 1960 when Dwight Eisenhower was president. They’ve been responsible for launching Mars rovers, space telescopes, solar probes, weather satellites and more during a 63-year-run. read more

Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures is using virtual reality to help folks get back to nature.

The Kissimmee attraction can now be walked through via the metaverse, where at-home viewers – represented by avatars – can virtually sit in an airboat, walk through the butterfly enclosure, take in educational talks and, if equipped with a VR headset, play a gem-mining game.

Nick Romeo, director of marketing, sales and events, said they are dubbing it a metadventure, a mashup of Metaverse and adventure. The activity is accessed through the attraction website – bcairboats.com – via laptop or cell phone.

“You get to take an airboat ride. Then you’ll go into our butterfly enclosure. … There’s a little sign, you click on it and my marketing manager is in there and he talks about the butterflies,” Romeo said.

“I also have somebody in our education area who’s my curator of education. And if you click on that, she’ll talk to you about native snakes and that kind of stuff,” he said. “It’s not only a game, it also has an educational aspect.” read more

By BRIAN WITTE (Associated Press)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday he plans to meet with members of Congress this week to discuss support for rebuilding the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which has blocked the main shipping channel at Baltimore’s port for nearly two weeks.

“I’m going to be spending part of this week with our delegation going down and meeting with leaders and ranking members in the Congress and letting them know that this issue is not partisan. This is a patriotic responsibility to be able to support one of this country’s great economic engines,” Moore said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an opportunity to support a port that is directly responsible for the hiring of tens of thousands of people.”

As Maryland lawmakers reached the end of their legislative session Monday, a measure authorizing use of the state’s rainy day fund to help port employees had strong support and was expected to pass.

The bridge collapsed March 26 after being struck by the cargo ship Dali, which lost power shortly after leaving Baltimore, bound for Sri Lanka. The ship issued a mayday alert with just enough time for police to stop traffic, but not enough to save a roadwork crew filling potholes on the bridge. read more