Things To Do In SW Florida

Universal Orlando is making fresh “Harry Potter”-related pushes in its theme parks with a new wave of interactive wands and the conjuring of Butterbeer Season.  There’s wand-related news for Epic Universe as well.

Four new “second generation” wands, now on sale, can be connected to Universal Play within the official Universal Orlando Resort app. They will provide enhanced experiences — such as illuminations and vibrations — to the spells that are cast in specified locations across the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attractions at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure theme parks.

The new wands, now on sale, come with the ability to be personalized with wizard name, lead to exclusive adventures and build House Points, a daily competition among Hogwarts’ wizards.  The wand designs are designated as redwood, pine, spruce and silverlime, and they have been selling for $85.

Universal has expanded the number of magic locations for the wands in five new locations within Wizarding World. In Hogsmeade, on the Islands of Adventure park, users can set off effects at the Owl Post (pixies hide behind packages) and the Duelling Club Tent, where an abandoned dummy can come to live.  At Diagon Alley, located in Universal Studios park, spiders are involved at Ariadne’s Spinners as well as a dementor at Knockturn Alley Staircase. Also in the alley, a spell can alter the storminess of the night sky. read more

Congress began grappling in earnest with the future of NASA’S Artemis program last week amid indications the moon may lose out to Mars under President Trump’s new administration.

The Space Coast’s new representative in the U.S. House, Mike Haridopolos, led the U.S. House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee in a hearing weighing the rising costs of Artemis’ Space Launch System rocket against the threat of losing to China in a new race to return to the moon.

“We stand at a crossroads. The world is watching, and our competitors, like communist China, are racing to beat us there,” Haridopolos, who chairs the subcommittee, said during opening remarks. “We cannot afford to fall behind. This is an opportunity to prove that America still leads the world in exploration and innovation.”

While no NASA official came to the hearing, it did feature two witnesses discussing how long to stick with the current Artemis program, which has many critics including Trump’s close advisor and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. read more

SpaceX announced Monday its plans to launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center later this year while building out more $1.8 billion in infrastructure in Florida to support two launch sites.

“SpaceX was founded with the ultimate mission of making humanity multiplanetary, and Starship is the vehicle that will enable us to become a spacefaring civilization,” said Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s vice president of launch. “Through this significant expansion of Starship production and launch capabilities in Florida, we’re taking a big step toward achieving this goal, and we are grateful to our partners across the state for their ongoing support.”

Previously dubbed “Project Hinton” by Space Florida, the massive investment is projected to bring 600 jobs with average wages of $93,000 a year to the region by 2030.

The news counters several rounds of bad space-related employment news in recent months including layoffs at Boeing and Blue Origin coupled with workforce reductions at NASA under President Trump’s purge of federal government agencies. read more

By FERNANDA FIGUEROA

As 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada are set to take effect on Tuesday, Hispanic-owned businesses and companies that depend on cross-border trade are already passing higher prices onto consumers and preparing to sharply reduce imports.

By DIDI TANG and MICHELLE L. PRICE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to invest $100 billion in the United States, President Donald Trump said Monday, on top of $65 billion in investments the company had previously announced.