Things To Do In SW Florida

By Eliza Haverstock | NerdWallet

May 1 was supposed to be “college decision day” for high school seniors across the country. But months of Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) errors and financial aid offer delays have left scores of students unsure of their post-secondary plans, or whether they can afford college at all.

Nationwide, FAFSA completion is down about 17% from this time last year, according to the National College Attainment Network. Schools are now scrambling to get financial aid offers out. As of May 7, roughly 28% of institutions had yet to begin assembling financial aid packages for accepted applicants, according to a poll by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).

Most persistent FAFSA errors have largely been resolved, including an issue that prevented students in mixed-citizenship status families from submitting the form. However, some students may now face college decision deadlines without all of their financial aid offers on the table. read more

After the launch of Apollo 11 from Cape Kennedy in 1969, Orlando’s Roman Catholic bishop said he should be the bishop of the moon. That was never made official, but now at least one of the diocese’s Central Florida schools has its own “moon tree.”

St. Peter Catholic School in DeLand received Wednesday a loblolly pine sapling from a seed that flew around the moon during NASA’s Artemis I mission in 2022. The school was one of only 50 chosen across the U.S. to receive the trees so far. It’s part of NASA’s Artemis Moon Trees initiative to spark interest in the space program.

The sapling was planted during a ceremony with school Principal Charlotte Funston, daughter of a former NASA engineer, sporting her father’s NASA lab coat for the event.

“You are living history and you need to remember this moment because there are no other moon trees here except ours,” Funston told her students. “You can tell your children, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren about this.”

The Diocese of Orlando was formed in 1968 and covered a 13-county region including Brevard County. When Apollo 11 launched, Bishop William Borders noted that the Catholic Church’s 1917 Code of Canon Law gave jurisdiction to any newly discovered territory to the diocese from which the expedition began. As such, he said his diocese should be ministering to the moon. read more

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday as their much-delayed flight to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner looks like it may finally happen Saturday.

The duo are slated to climb back aboard the capsule and fly atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 12:25 p.m., with a backup launch opportunity on Sunday. ULA said the weather forecast calls for 90% good conditions at the launch site for both days, although the weather also has to be clear along the launch corridor in the event of an emergency abort.

Dubbed the Crew Flight Test, the mission marks the first human spaceflight for Starliner as Boeing tries to play catchup to SpaceX as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX launched its first crewed test flight of its Crew Dragon on May 30, 2020, so Starliner’s launch will come just over four years since that flight.

Welcome back! @NASA_Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived back at @NASAKennedy‘s Launch and Landing Facility aboard T-38 jets, ahead of the agency’s @BoeingSpace Crew Flight Test. pic.twitter.com/qmQye8RKmQ read more

TALLAHASSEE — A measure (SB 556) that will allow banks to delay withdrawing money if employees believe that seniors or “vulnerable” adults could be getting financially exploited has been signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Supporters said during this year’s legislative session that the bill was needed because of widespread scams that involve seniors withdrawing money from their bank accounts.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, includes a finding that “many persons in this state, because of age or disability, are at increased risk of financial exploitation and loss of their assets, funds, investments, and investment accounts. The Legislature further finds that specified adults in this state are at a statistically higher risk of being targeted for financial exploitation, regardless of diminished capacity or other disability, because of their accumulation of substantial assets and wealth compared to younger age groups.”

The law, which the governor signed Tuesday and takes effect Jan. 1, allows banks to delay disbursing money if certain steps are taken. read more

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)

DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is urging the owners of about 84,000 older vehicles to stop driving them because their Takata air bag inflators have an increased risk of exploding in a crash and hurling dangerous metal fragments.

Wednesday’s urgent request comes after one person in a Nissan was killed by an exploding front-passenger inflator, and as many as 58 people were injured since 2015.

“Due to the age of the vehicles equipped with defective Takata air bag inflators, there is an increased risk the inflator could explode during an air bag deployment, propelling sharp metal fragments which can cause serious injury or death,” Nissan said in a statement.

Nissan said the “do not drive” warning covers certain 2002 through 2006 Sentra small cars, as well as some 2002 through 2004 Pathfinder SUVs, and 2002 and 2003 Infiniti QX4 SUVs. Owners can find out if their vehicles are affected by going to nissanusa.com/takata-airbag-recall or infinitiusa.com/takata-airbag-recall and keying in their 17-digit vehicle identification number. read more