Things To Do In SW Florida

A staffer works on finishing details inside the Rainforest gallery in the new “Life” exhibit at the Orlando Science Center, Thursday, April 4, ahead of next week’s soft-opening to the public. The $13.5 million expansion will include 300 animals from 100 species, presented in the three ecology zones of a rainforest, a swamp and the ocean. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

Shannon Zimmerman, curator of conservation and welfare, walks past the entrance signage in the new “Life” exhibit at the Orlando Science Center, Thursday, April 4, ahead of next week’s soft-opening to the public. The $13.5 million expansion will include 300 animals from 100 species, presented in the three ecology zones of a rainforest, a swamp and the ocean. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

A school of lookdown fish swim by as a staffer works on finishing details at the tropical reef inside the Ocean gallery in the new “Life” exhibit at the Orlando Science Center, Thursday, April 4, ahead of next week’s soft-opening to the public. The $13.5 million expansion will include 300 animals from 100 species, presented in the three ecology zones of a rainforest, a swamp and the ocean. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) read more

Home insurance rates in Florida far outpaced inflation over the 18 months that ended on Dec. 31, but the rate of increase slowed in the fourth quarter of 2023 to its lowest point of the period.

And many insurance insiders are optimistic that rates will continue to stabilize this year and next, barring a big costly you-know-what.

According to an analysis by the South Florida Sun Sentinel of publicly released data by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the statewide average premium to insure a single-family house increased by 23.9% — from $2,798 at the end of June 2022 to $3,466 at the end of December 2023.

But the quarter-to-quarter growth rate fell to 2.6% in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. That’s down from a high of 4.8% between the first and second quarters of last year.

The average statewide premium to insure a condo unit increased by 22.9% over the 18-month period, from $1,343 to $1,650. But the rate of increase similarly fell to 2.1% in the final quarter of last year after peaking at 5.9% between the first and second quarters of 2023. read more

A new type of SpaceX rideshare program made its first launch from the Space Coast on Sunday evening coupled with a land recovery of its first-stage booster that brought a sonic boom to parts of Central Florida.

A Falcon 9 rocket on the Bandwagon-1 mission carrying 11 spacecraft to a mid-inclination orbit lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 7:16 p.m.

This marked the 14th flight of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing a little more than eight minutes after liftoff at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. It was the 294th time SpaceX has managed a landing of a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy booster.

Liftoff of Bandwagon-1! pic.twitter.com/wdf6ZaCA91

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 7, 2024

SpaceX had warned one or more sonic booms might be heard and felt in Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Indian River, Seminole, Volusia, Polk, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee counties depending on weather and other conditions.

SpaceX has flown 10 rideshare flights under its Transporter program, but those go to sun-synchronous orbit, which is at about 90 degrees inclination to the Earth. The new Bandwagon program aims to send satellites to a 45-degree inclination at a range of 341-372 miles altitude. read more