Things To Do In SW Florida

A bill that would have made windstorm coverage by Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. available to anyone who wants it has been withdrawn from being considered during the just-started legislative session.

Rep. Hillary Cassel, who filed the 143-page bill in December, withdrew it last Friday on the eve of the session, which started on Tuesday.

During a brief phone interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Cassel said she is “working with the speaker’s office on continuing the conversation about that bill.”

The concept requires “in-depth analysis” beyond what can be laid out in a legislative bill, she said.

Rep. Anna Eskamani, co-sponsor of the bill with South Florida-based representatives Christine Hunschofsky and Marie Paule Woodson, said she understood that the bill was withdrawn while Cassel requests funding for a feasibility study, possibly in conjunction with Florida State University.

“This is a good bill and an important step in addressing Florida’s property insurance crisis, and there is bipartisan agreement to that point too,” said Eskamani, who represents a section of eastern Orange County. “My understanding is that steps are being taken to further study the policy concepts within the bill, and I will do my part to ensure that the state moves in the direction of providing universal storm coverage for our constituents.” read more

Firefly Aerospace released video Tuesday showing the historic touchdown of its Blue Ghost lunar lander.

The Cedar Park, Texas-based commercial company was making its first trip to the moon with help from NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

While fellow Texas company Intuitive Machines managed a soft landing in 2024 under the program, that company’s lander named Odysseus tipped to one side, and NASA was not able to glean as much from its on-board experiments as it could have had the lander stayed upright.

Blue Ghost did just that, nailing the landing early Sunday to begin a 14-day mission with 10 NASA payloads on board that will remain active during the lunar day.

The released video shows the spacecraft as it maneuvered away from surface hazards that were identified during its descent from lunar orbit.

The company stated the lander touched down within the planned target radius located in Mare Crisium, which is in the northeast quadrant of the face of the moon as seen from the northern hemisphere. read more

By MARÍA VERZA and MEGAN JANETSKY

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president said Tuesday the country will respond to the 25% tariffs imposed by the United States with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, with details to come.

Mexico will announce the targeted products and other measures Sunday at an event in Mexico City’s central plaza, a delay that suggests Mexico hopes to de-escalate the trade war set off by U.S. President Donald Trump.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said she and Trump had agreed to have a call this week, most likely Thursday, “so we are going to wait.” Mexico’s government has said since January it had a plan ready for this scenario.

“There is no motive or reason, nor justification that supports this decision that will affect our people and our nations,” Sheinbaum added.

China and Canada responded immediately with measures Tuesday.

Some 80% of Mexico’s exports go to the United States, part of more than $800 billion in trade between the countries last year.

Sheinbaum called “offensive, defamatory and without support” the White House allegations that Mexican drug traffickers persist because of “an intolerable relationship” with the Mexican government. Trump has said he’s targeting Mexico to force it to crack down on migrants and drugs entering the U.S. read more

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will soon get to fly home from the International Space Station having flown up on Boeing’s Starliner, but headed home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon.

The duo joined SpaceX Crew-9 commander Nick Hague on Tuesday for a pre-departure news conference from the space station having been on board just shy of nine months.

They arrived on June 6, 2024 aboard Starliner for what was supposed to be as short as an eight-day stay, but because NASA opted to send Starliner home without crew for safety reasons, the duo will have remained on the station for more than nine months.

Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov flew up on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom back in September, leaving free two seats for Williams and Wilmore for the ride home after Crew-9’s planned six-month stay on the station.

“We just feel fortunate and thankful though that we have seats and we’ll be coming home, riding the plasma,  splashing down in the ocean, so that’s what we’re looking forward to,” Wilmore said. read more

By JOSH BOAK, PAUL WISEMAN and ROB GILLIES, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s long-threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico went into effect Tuesday, putting global markets on edge and setting up costly retaliations by the United States’ North American allies.

Starting just past midnight, imports from Canada and Mexico are now to be taxed at 25%, with Canadian energy products subject to 10% import duties.

The 10% tariff that Trump placed on Chinese imports in February was doubled to 20%, and Beijing retaliated Tuesday with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of U.S. farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would slap tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. Mexico didn’t immediately detail any retaliatory measures.

The U.S. president’s moves raised fears of higher inflation and the prospect of a devastating trade war even as he promised the American public that taxes on imports are the easiest path to national prosperity. He has shown a willingness to buck the warnings of mainstream economists and put his own public approval on the line, believing that tariffs can fix what ails the country. read more