Things To Do In SW Florida

Christine Benz, the director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar has written an excellent book, which I recommend highly. The book, “How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful and Wealthy Retirement” (Harriman House), is based on interviews with leading experts in all phases of retirement.

What makes her book different from most retirement planning guides is that she doesn’t focus only on the financial aspects of retirement. She interviews knowledgeable individuals who are able to discuss quality-of-life issues that are crucial to happiness in old age, including establishing important relationships.

For example, in the closing chapter, she interviews a physician who gave up a high-paying position to focus on lessons he learned about living a productive life from individuals who were at the end of their lives.

Many of the experts whom Benz interviewed, and others who have recommended this book, have written their own books that I have recommended because of their expertise. These authors include Ed Slott, Wade Pfau and Mary Beth Franklin, who have also written excellent retirement planning books. read more

After 1,520 restaurant inspections across Central Florida in December, only 156 had no issues for the entire month, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Brevard had the highest percentage of restaurants with zero violations during routine food inspections at 21.6%. Orange came in second with 13.1%, Seminole came third at 9.8% and Volusia was in fourth place with 7.3%.

Lake and Osceola ranked near the bottom with 2.8% and 2%, respectively.

Orange County had the most restaurants with no violations at 79. Brevard followed with 35, Seminole with 20, Volusia with 14, Osceola with five and Lake with three.

BREVARD
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen #119, 116 W. Merritt Island Causeway, Merrit Island
Dunkin Donuts, 695 N. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach
Next Level Arcade, 600 N. Courtenay Parkway, Merritt Island
Mr. Delicious Pizza, 1950 Viera Blvd. Unit 101, Rockledge
Milpa Tacos Y Tortillas, 207 Brevard Ave., Cocoa
Scoops Old Fashion Ice Cream, 3720 Curtis Blvd., Port St. John
Aces, 74 N. Orlando Ave., Cocoa Beach
Death By Hummuscide, 225 King Street Unit B, Cocoa
Tropical Smoothie Cafe, 1520 S. Babcock St., Suite A, Melbourne
Pineapples, 1434 Pineapple Ave., Melbourne
Wendy’s 7959, 4150 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne
Momo’s Scoops Ice Cream, 1024 Highway A1A, Suite 146, Satellite Beach
Keep It Local Brevard LLC, 902 Florida Ave., Cocoa
Celo’s Shawarma Factory, 7954 N. Wickham Road, Suite 121, Melbourne
Subway, 1024 Highway A1A #162, Satellite Beach
Mimmo’s Pizza & Ristorante, 325 Merritt Island Causeway, Suite L, Merritt Island
First Watch Restaurants, 1900 W. New Haven Ave., Melbourne
Chuck E. Cheese, 2250 Coastal Lane, West Melbourne
Five Guys Famous Burgers And Fries, 225 Palm Bay Road, Suite 182, West Melbourne
IHOP 36-183, 3755 Cheney Highway, Titusville
321 Sippin, 5015 Babcock St. NE, Palm Bay
321sprinkles, 631 Washburn Road, Melbourne
321 Sippin, 631 Washburn Road, Melbourne
Victory Casino Cruises Victory I A La Carte, 180 Christopher Columbus Dr., Cape Canaveral
O’Brian’s Cafe Inc, 119 E. Merritt Ave., Merritt Island
Dueling Chefs Smoke N. Grille, 688 S. Park Ave., Titusville
Rich BBQ, 2641 Palm Bay Road NE, Palm Bay
Pompano Grill, 110 N. Brevard Ave., Cocoa Beach
The Fat Snook, 2464 S. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach
The Health Bar, 209 Crockett Blvd., Merritt Island
Flavour Boards, Inc., 1643 Cypress Ave., Melbourne
Reel Cajun Cookin, 660 Tucker Lane, Vin 0493, Cocoa
Casa Coquina Del Mar Bed And Breakfast, 4010 Coquina Ave., Titusville
Tijuana Flats, 7181 Lake Andrew Dr., Suite 101, Melbourne
Tracy’s Cafe LLC, 803 S. Babcock St., Melbourne read more

After a record year of launches, SpaceX kicked things off again with the first mission of 2025 on Friday night.

Watch Falcon 9 launch the @Space42ai Thuraya 4 mission to orbit https://t.co/4H732oMbwQ

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 4, 2025

A Falcon 9 on the Space42 Thuraya 4 mission carrying a communications satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:27 p.m.

The first-stage booster for this mission made its 20th flight and will aim for a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

SpaceX in 2024 flew 88 times from its Space Coast pads at Canaveral and neighboring Kennedy Space Center, accounting for all but five of the Space Coast’s 93 total launches for the year.

It flew another 46 from California setting a new company record of 134 orbital missions for the year, although it was shy of the company’s projected target of 12 launches a month, or 144 total.

The pace for 2025 is expected to be greater, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. read more

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the privacy-minded company of deploying its virtual assistant Siri to eavesdrop on people using its iPhone and other trendy devices.

Actor Chris Evans strikes a heroic pose over “The Sword in the Stone” feature near the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel at Magic Kingdom theme park recently. Evans was vacationing with family and friends at Walt Disney World, the resort says.  Evans has a couple of superhero roles on his resume, including Captain America in 10 films, most recently in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.”  He also played Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) in “Fantastic Four” films and as a cameo in last year’s “Deadpool and Wolverine.” Evans also gave voice to Buzz Lightyear in 2022’s “Lightyear” film.

dbevil@orlandosentinel.com