Things To Do In SW Florida

One big thing sets this Isleworth home apart from all the others — a 6,060-square-foot showstopper.

“I think obviously the dominant thing that everybody could see is going to be that it had a full NBA-sized, regulation basketball court indoors,” listing agent Danielle O’Quinn with Wemert Group Realty told GrowthSpotter. “That was a big sort of anomaly feature that you don’t find in most other properties.”

The home on Blanche Cove Dr in Windermere that was designed and built for NBA veteran Tony Snell and his family just sold for $13 million.

Snell was a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Bulls in 2013 and played nine years in the league. His wife, Ashley Snell, launched a self-titled athleisure clothing brand and has a store in Winter Park Village.

Stonebridge Custom Homes built the 14,856-square-foot residence (including the basketball court), which was finished in 2022.

“It’s a really well-designed home, so when I first saw it, it’s just very grand,” O’Quinn told GrowthSpotter. “The way I described it to a lot of people is as an anomaly type of property and home because it has such unique and custom features that were custom built for the people who designed it. It really is something you can’t find elsewhere.” read more

NASA is keeping its two astronauts who flew in Boeing’s Starliner to the International Space Station safe on board until next year to fly home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon.

Starliner making its first crewed spaceflight arrived to the ISS on June 6, one day after launching from Cape Canaveral with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board for what was supposed to be about an eight-day stay. Now they won’t get home for at least eight months.

“NASA has decided that Butch and Sunny will return with Crew-9 in February and that Starliner will return uncrewed,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a press conference Saturday following an agency-level review of Starliner’s flight safety risk.

Dubbed the Crew Flight Test, Boeing has been trying to get Starliner certified to join SpaceX as one of two commercial providers to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS. SpaceX has been doing the job from the U.S. for more than four years, and now Starliner has an uncertain future.

While trying to dock with ISS, problems with Starliner emerged with it propulsion system, when five of 28 reaction control system thrusters failed on approach. The propulsion module also suffered several helium leaks. read more

Bu Robbie Sequeira, Stateline.org

When pandemic-era tenant protections expired, rents immediately soared, and eviction filings surged last year more than 50% over pre-pandemic levels in some U.S. cities.

These filings can cast long shadows. Simply being named in an eviction complaint, regardless of the outcome, can severely limit future housing options and prolong housing insecurity, according to a recent University of Michigan study.

The situation underscores a growing debate across the country: Should eviction records be shielded from public access to offer tenants a cleaner shot at finding another home?

In recent years, more states are saying, “yes — at least in some cases.”

Eviction filings are public court records. Landlords and property owners can buy databases of the records to screen potential tenants.

Property owners argue that sealing data on eviction filings — most of which are for nonpayment of rent — eliminates crucial insights into rental history. Housing advocates, however, warn that any filing can unfairly block renters from future housing because the outcome may not be an eviction. read more

René Bennett | (TNS) Bankrate.com

Saving isn’t always easy, but it pays off over time. It’s especially useful to have a solid savings foundation in place to protect yourself against economic uncertainty. And with the unemployment rate surging to 4.3 percent in August, the road ahead looks potentially rocky.

But how do you save more when money is tight? More than a third (34 percent) of working Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, according to Bankrate’s Living Paycheck to Paycheck Survey. Furthermore, 59 percent of people are uncomfortable with their amount of emergency savings, according to Bankrate’s Emergency Savings Report.

If you’re concerned about how much money is in your account, there’s no need to panic. There are simple ways to change your routine to boost your bank balance.

Key money saving tips

1. Automate your savings

To better organize your savings goals, start by getting a clear picture of your financial situation. Automating your savings is also a smart way to increase your savings. read more