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For more than a decade, independent pharmacist Jay Patel has built a close and enduring relationship with his customers, who come to him for help in sickness and in health.

But now there are interlopers: Drug middlemen, companies known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that influence which medicines can be bought, where to buy them and at what cost.

Patel and other independent pharmacists say their businesses are threatened by the growing influence of these companies, tied to huge health care conglomerates. In a system that is opaque and complex, patients are steered to affiliated pharmacies, such as CVS and mail-order pharmacies, they say. Pharmacists face high fees and low reimbursement rates, so are unable to cover their costs.

That could put Patel — and other locally-owned pharmacists — out of business.

“I want to do what matters to the community. But how long can I sustain this?” said Patel, 48, who owns Savco Pharmacy in San Jose’s West San Carlos neighborhood. “We are at their mercy.” read more

By Tommy Tindall | NerdWallet

Is driving for Uber worth the money? I put this side hustle to the test and nervously drove strangers around northern Maryland for a couple days to find out.

Here’s what I earned:

• I made $143.73 over the course of three Uber “shifts” that totaled roughly 10 hours of active driving.
• I completed 10 trips, put 305 miles on my economical Uber rental and spent $38.80 on one tank of gas.
• Subtract the gas cost from $143.73, and I earned $104.93, or $10.49 an hour.
• Only $3 of my earnings were tips, which I found surprising — because I’m nice!

If you’re wondering, the minimum wage in Maryland handily beats my earnings at $15.00 per hour.

Uber wasn’t a lucrative side hustle for me, but it was an interesting experiment. Here are four things to keep in mind if you’re thinking about trying Uber. And if you want to watch all the ups and downs of this side hustle stress test, here’s a video of my experience.

Give yourself the flexibility to roam

During each of my three Uber “shifts,” I had the idea that I’d do rides relatively close to where I live. But the reality of living in a less populated area is that short, local trips can be few and far between. I found that to be the case even on a Friday evening in my suburban town, located roughly 50 minutes north of Baltimore.

I learned that to earn higher fares, you need to be open to where the Uber trip takes you. I left a lot of money on the table by skipping trips that would end too far from my home base. Uber works by matching riders with nearby drivers. As a driver, you have just a few seconds to accept a ride request when it comes in. I often took too long to decide when considering distance. read more

After Osceola County’s decision last month to opt out of offering tax incentives for affordable housing, Kissimmee has followed suit — joining others in Central Florida and around the state.

On Tuesday evening the City Council unanimously and without discussion voted to opt out of offering property tax exemptions under the Live Local Act — enacted in 2023 and amended in May with the goal of incentivizing developers to keep apartment rents low and boost stock of affordable housing.

Osceola and Kissimmee’s decision to opt out comes as as other cities and counties across the state — Pasco and Brevard counties — and in Central Florida — Lake County, Seminole County, Winter Park and Maitland — do the same.

After pushback from counties and municipalities statewide who said they were losing too much tax revenue to the tradeoff, the Legislature amended the law and allowed cities to opt out of the incentives for developers. Five developments in Osceola are set to receive roughly $80 million in tax exemptions in 2024, according the property appraiser’s office. read more

Walt Disney World is eliminating the virtual queue for Tron Lightcycle / Run, the roller coaster that opened at Magic Kingdom theme park last year.

As of Monday, a standby line — the more traditional, single-file queue  — will be used for the Tomorrowland ride, ending the virtual queue for that attraction. Visitors will have the Lightning Lane option in which they can pay for quicker access to the Tron ride and additional attractions.

Disney’s virtual queue system, which is free of charge, gives park guests two chances — at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. — to join the queue by using the My Disney Experience app.  Ride slots are limited. Future passengers are alerted by smartphone notification when it is time to physically arrive at the attraction.

Virtual queues remain in place for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, an indoor coaster that opened at Epcot in 2022, and for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the flume ride at Magic Kingdom that debuted this year.

dbevil@orlandosentinel.com

Disney: New villains show in, ‘Lightning McQueen’ out at Hollywood Studios read more