Things To Do In SW Florida

The four crew members of Polaris Dawn can breathe easy again after having vented the entire atmosphere of their SpaceX Crew Dragon so its commander and billionaire Jared Isaacman along with crewmate and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis could venture outside the spacecraft and perform the first commercial spacewalk Thursday.

The duo performed the historic feat, each connected by a 12-foot-long tether, in less than two hours, each outside the spacecraft for a little more than 10 minutes.

Crewmates Scott Poteet and Anna Menon remained inside the Dragon, but all four had to wear SpaceX’s new extravehicular activity (EVA) suits because the spacecraft does not have an airlock — so they were all subjected to the vacuum of space.

Isaacman led the way opening the forward hatch of Dragon as it orbited 460 miles above the planet.

“Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, it sure looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman said amid cheers from SpaceX headquarters during the company’s livestream of the event. read more

PALM HARBOR — They drove, windows down, past the big box stores. Past the other roadside motels and hotels, where other families lived.

When they pulled up to the modest house on Guardian Avenue, Richard Rodriguez took a deep breath. He was 52, with kind, tired eyes. He didn’t want to get his hopes up.

It had been four years since the last time he’d toured a place for rent, when he and his family came to Florida in 2020.

At the time, the move made sense. He’d found a 3-bed, 2-bath for $1,285 a month, less than what they paid in Pennsylvania. His two boys shared a room with a video game console. His daughters filled theirs with Hello Kitty decor. And Rodriguez and his wife, TonieMarie, had a bedroom of their own.

A year in, their rent more than doubled. Housing costs across the Tampa Bay region soared during the pandemic, and Rodriguez’s work as an events DJ dried up.

After the eviction, they took refuge at a roadside motel. Nobody said a word as they rolled air mattresses out under ceilings stained with smoke. That was the night that life on the hamster wheel began. read more

Q: We live in a small condominium. Our board just told us that we need to pay extra each month for the next few years to cover the cost of renovations, including the little gym near the lobby. They did not ask us if we were OK with this or put it up for a vote. We never use the gym. Can they make us pay for this? — Henri

A: In condominium associations, regular assessments, also called dues, and special assessments, serve distinct purposes and are handled differently.

Regular dues are recurring charges collected from unit owners to cover routine operational expenses and maintenance costs, typically charged monthly, quarterly, or annually as part of the association’s operating budget.

In contrast, special assessments are additional, non-recurring charges to fund unexpected repairs, major renovations, or emergency expenses not covered by regular dues.

If your association follows the correct procedure, they can pass a special assessment to pay for these unexpected expenses.

Where I practice law in Florida, unless your association’s declaration documents say otherwise, your board can pass a special assessment without a full vote of all the owners. Your board must notify the owners in advance that the board will vote on the issue at a meeting open to the public. read more