Things To Do In SW Florida

Q: Our landlord recently sold the house we have been renting. The sale happened in the middle of the month, and now the new owner wants us to pay him for the remainder of the month even though we have already paid the prior landlord for the whole month. And he wants us to pay the water bill, even though we never have in the past. What are our rights? — Aaron

A: When you rent a home, you are, in effect, renting from whoever happens to be the current owner of the property. Your landlord can sell the property, but that does not change the lease terms you agreed to. This means the rent and other terms remain the same, but you will need to pay your rent to the new owner.

Usually, when a landlord sells a property, they get a written statement from the tenant confirming the lease agreement’s terms, that there are no outstanding issues, and that the rent is paid current through the end of the month. The new owner will, in effect, “stand in the shoes” of the prior owner. As the tenant, you will look to the new owner to perform all of the landlord’s obligations under the lease. read more

With more attractions in the mix, there will be more souvenir merchandise in the coming months in Central Florida. Not that we’re lacking T-shirts in these parts and parks, but it can still be fun to browse through stores, find clever designs but then think “but when would I actually wear that?”

On a recent afternoon, we blitzed through a handful of stores representing future productions, current special events and related shows.

Land dollars

At Universal CityWalk, there’s the Epic Universe preview center, a standalone store devoted to Universal Orlando’s theme park that’s set to open next year. The merch surrounds a big model of Epic, showing off its lands, rides and adjacent hotel, the Grand Helios.

In the store, four of the five lands have specific merchandise now on sale, including Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, Super Nintendo World and Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. (Celestial Park is odd land out right now.) The foursome also have themed portals as photo ops. read more

By ERIC TUCKER and DAVID KLEPPER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iranian hackers sought to interest President Joe Biden’s campaign in information stolen from rival Donald Trump’s campaign, sending unsolicited emails to people associated with the then-Democratic candidate in an effort to interfere in the 2024 election, the FBI and other federal agencies said Wednesday.

There’s no indication that any of the recipients responded, officials said, and several media organizations approached over the summer with leaked stolen information have also said they did not respond. Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign called the emails from Iran “unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity” that were received by only a few people who regarded them as spam or phishing attempts.

The emails were received before the hack of the Trump campaign was publicly acknowledged, and there’s no evidence the recipients of the emails knew their origin.

The announcement is the latest U.S. government effort to call out what officials say is Iran’s brazen, ongoing work to interfere in the election, including a hack-and-leak campaign that the FBI and other federal agencies linked last month to Tehran. read more

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will open Wild Oasis, a rainforest-inspired realm inside the Jungala area of the theme park, in spring of 2025, the attraction has announced.

Wild Oasis elements will include an interactive water-play area, a climbing canopy, animal encounters and a reimagined drop tower with digital and sound effects.

“It’s been five years since guests last stepped foot in the tucked away realm of Treetop Trails in the Jungala area of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, and we are thrilled to breathe new life into this corner of the park with the development of this realm,” Stewart Clark, president of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, said in a news release.

The theme park’s most recent addition is Phoenix Rising, an inverted roller coaster that debuted in the Pantopia land in July.  Its Skyride gondola ride reopened earlier this year.  Busch Gardens closed its long-running Scorpion coaster, also in Pantopia, and has not yet announced a replacement.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is owned by Orlando-based United Parks & Resorts, which also operates SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove and Aquatica water park. read more