Things To Do In SW Florida

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

Business travel to the U.S. fell 9% in April as companies and workers grappled with economic uncertainty and anger over the Trump administration’s tariffs and border policies.

The National Travel and Tourism Office released preliminary figures Thursday showing the number of airline and ship passengers who entered the country last month using business visas.

The Middle East was the only region that saw higher business travel to the U.S., with arrivals up 9.4% compared to April 2024. But that didn’t make up for big losses from other regions; the number of business travelers from Western Europe fell 17.7%, for example.

The new government data didn’t include people coming from Canada for business or who traveled by land from Mexico. Mexican arrivals by air for those holding business visas were down 11.8%, the government said.

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Chapter 7

Central Florida individuals and businesses that have filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code include:

DT Diesel LLC, 4550 Colony Road, New Smyrna Beach. Filed: May 8. Assets: $4,350. Liabilities: $146,039. Major creditors: TD Bank, Lewiston, Maine, $80,000; U.S. Small Business Administration, Fort Worth, Texas, $66,000; Florida Power & Light, Miami, $39. Creditors meeting: June 10.

TNLG LLC doing business as Nemetz Roofing, 215 Cessna Blvd., Port Orange. Filed: May 9. Assets: $274,190. Liabilities: $608,362. Major creditors: Altus Receivables Management, Itasca, Ill., $183,100; Samson MCA LLC, Pomona, N.Y., $142,000; American Builders & Contractors Supply Co., St. Petersburg,  $102,005. Creditors meeting: June 11.

Chapter 11

Central Florida individuals and businesses that have filed for reorganization and protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code include:

American Forklift Rental & Supply LLC, 5387 LB McLeod Road, Orlando. Filed: May 8. Assets: $1,280,342. Liabilities: $890,938. Major creditors: Florida Department of Revenue Bankruptcy Unit, Tallahassee, $35,000; Orange County Tax Collector, Orlando, $18,000. Creditors meeting: June 9. read more

By KELVIN CHAN

LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators accused TikTok on Thursday of breaching digital content rules because it’s not being transparent enough about ads shown to users of the video sharing app.

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TikTok’s ad repository isn’t up to the standards required by the bloc’s Digital Services Act, known as the DSA, the 27-nation EU’s executive Commission said in preliminary findings from its investigation.

The Commission said ad databases are vital for researchers to detect scam ads as well as so-called hybrid threat campaigns, coordinated information operations and fake ads, “including in the context of elections.” read more

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. edged above 6.8% this week, returning to where it was just three weeks ago.

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The rate increased to 6.81% from 6.76% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.02%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose. The average rate ticked up to 5.92% from 5.89% last week. It’s down from 6.28% a year ago, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including global demand for U.S. Treasurys, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions and bond market investors’ expectations about the economy and inflation. read more

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writer

Dick’s Sporting Goods is buying the struggling footwear chain Foot Locker for about $2.4 billion, the second buyout of a major footwear company in as many weeks as business leaders struggle with uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

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Dick’s said Thursday that it expects to run Foot Locker as a standalone unit and keep the Foot Locker brands, which include Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS and Japanese sneaker brand atmos.

“Sports and sports culture continue to be incredibly powerful, and with this acquisition, we’ll create a new global platform that serves those ever evolving needs through iconic concepts consumers know and love, enhanced store designs and omnichannel experiences, as well as a product mix that appeals to our different customer bases,” Dick’s CEO Lauren Hobart said in a statement. read more