Things To Do In SW Florida

By KELVIN CHAN, AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — Planning an international trip? Travelers should prepare for the possibility of extra scrutiny of their phones when crossing borders, especially when entering the United States.

The Canadian government warned travelers in a recent travel advisory that U.S. border agents are entitled to search your electronic devices and “don’t need to provide a reason when requesting a password to open your device.”

Some recent cases have made travelers nervous about their privacy, such as when a Brown University professor with a U.S. visa was deported to Lebanon after border agents found a photo of Hezbollah’s leader on her phone.

“While 100% privacy may be impossible in these situations, there are a few things you can easily do that make it much harder for someone to see your private data even with physical access to your device,” said Patricia Egger, head of security at encrypted service Proton Mail.

Here are tips on protecting your device privacy while travelling: read more

After years of staying mostly quiet about a cancer-linked chemical in county drinking water wells, Seminole officials have launched an aggressive effort to get the polluters to clean up what they say is rapidly expanding contamination.

Lawyers hired by the county say the concentration of 1,4-dioxane in the underground water supply —while currently posing no threat to residents — will grow to dangerously high levels in coming years as a toxic plume originating from a defunct telecommunications plant continues its spread west of I-4 into the northwest side of the county. This will come as Seminole’s population and demands for water will grow.

That’s according to a legal petition filed this month in the wake of a state Department of Environmental Protection report in February that for the first time definitively laid the blame for the contamination on General Dynamics, Siemens and MONI Holdings, owners and former operators of the factory site off Rinehart Road.

Seminole agrees with the DEP’s general findings, which are based on extensive chemical fingerprinting of wells tapping the Floridan Aquifer.  However, the county says the state report — done in coordination with the Florida Geological Survey — does not go far enough in mandating that the global companies pay to clean up the mess on Seminole’s side. read more

Sheryl Rowling of Morningstar

Beyond the emotional strain of a “gray divorce,” managing your finances is critical.

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The first step is hiring an experienced divorce attorney. Although it might be tempting to avoid legal fees, going without professional guidance could cost you more in the long run. Additionally, understanding the key financial and tax issues that come with gray divorce is essential.

1) How to budget after divorce

The cash flow you had while you were married supported one household. After a divorce, that available income stream will need to fund two households. At best, you can expect your income to be cut in half. read more

As political tensions continue to run high, predictions that Canadian travelers would shun Central Florida are becoming a reality, with hotel bookings down and airlines scaling back flights in response to lower demand.

Sandra Pappas, who owns a Disney-focused travel agency in Canada, said she started noticing the downturn in February. That’s when President Donald Trump unleashed threats to impose sweeping tariffs and make the nation the 51st state.

“Unfortunately, there has been a huge drop-off, more for future travel,” said Pappas, who runs Click the Mouse. “It’s quieter than we’ve ever seen, except for COVID.”

She estimated requests for travel quotes to Orlando’s theme parks are down more than 50%. To adapt, her business is pivoting to other Disney-themed vacations, such as Disneyland Paris and Disney cruises departing from Vancouver.

The impact could be considerable. About 3.3 million Canadians visited Florida in 2024, making them the top source of international tourists and about 2% of total travelers, according to state tourism numbers. read more

By NG HAN GUAN

YIWU, China (AP) — The trade war between the world’s two largest economies is escalating as China on Friday slapped a 125% tariff on U.S. goods in response to President Donald Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese products.

Caught in the crosshairs are businesses that are part of the more than $582.4 billion trade between the countries, with Chinese exporters making up the bulk of that exchange.

Here’s what some of them had to say. Most of them spoke in the eastern city of Yiwu, known as home to the world’s largest wholesale market:

Jiang Jiayu, owner of Yiwu Jiayu Festive Supplies Co.

American customers would normally be placing their Christmas orders at this time of year, she said, but right now, there is no sign of them. U.S. customers make up about 10% of Jiang’s business. She said she didn’t understand the purpose of Trump’s tariffs.

“Can the U.S. produce what China, or Yiwu is producing now? Ordinary people are the ones who will get hurt the most by the tariffs,” she said. “I don’t think he can continue his behavior for long.” read more