Things To Do In SW Florida

By Kate Ashford, NerdWallet

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In recent weeks, 44% of Americans in households making $125,000 or more say they’ve put more cash aside to cover future expenses. That’s according to the Conference Board’s May Consumer Confidence report.

But are they investing it?

“Keeping money in cash forever isn’t a plan,” says Rebecca Palmer, a certified financial planner in Washington, D.C., and head of guidance for financial planning platform Fruitful.

“It’s actually postponing a plan,” she says.

More than a third (37.7%) of consumers expect stock prices to decline over the next 12 months, according to the report. That’s a more optimistic number than April’s 47.2%, but still higher than the 23.7% who expected a drop in January.

“There’s definitely a feeling of fear in the markets right now,” Palmer says. “A lot of people are feeling this, [and] it’s OK.” read more

The temptation must have been too great and/or the planets aligned.

On Friday the 13th, Universal Orlando announced a Halloween Horror Nights haunted house featuring a “Friday the 13th” icon. The maze will be called Jason Universe.

The event will “pay homage to the machete-wielding slasher in a horrifying haunted house that reawakens the legend,” reads a Universal news release.

Among the sights that will be seen: summer camp, Jason’s cabin, a forest and other moments from the character’s “heinous homicidal career.”

The first “Friday the 13th” film was released in 1980, followed by several Jason-driven sequels. Last year, a company named Horror Inc. announced it was launching a new round of entertainment options into its Jason Universe including games, immersive experiences, merchandise and other entertainment. Its key art is echoed in the Universal release, including the funky — some might note unlucky — “UN1V3RSE” styling of the logo.

A Jason Universe house will also appear at the HHN event at Universal Studios Hollywood. read more

Florida’s 50th launch of 2025 was planned to carry humans into space but instead ended up taking another batch of Starlink satellites into orbit.

SpaceX and Axiom Space remain on hold for any attempt to launch the Ax-4 mission from Kennedy Space Center, which had several options to fly this week, but was stymied by weather and then a liquid oxygen leak on the Falcon 9 booster. They await the all clear from NASA and Roscosmos, which were checking out repairs to an ongoing leak on the Russian side of the International Space Station.

Roscosmos announced Friday, though, the leak had been eliminated but was still monitoring pressure, so no new launch attempt date has been set yet by NASA or SpaceX. SpaceX, though, did successfully retest the problem booster with a wet dress rehearsal Thursday to ensure it no longer had a leak.

Meanwhile, SpaceX at 11:29 a.m. launched another Falcon 9 with 23 of its Starlink internet satellites from neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. read more

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 1.15 million power banks are under recall across the U.S. after some fires and explosions were reported by consumers.

According to a Thursday notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, electronics maker Anker Innovations is recalling certain “PowerCore 10000” power banks because the lithium-ion battery inside can overheat.

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An overheating battery can lead to “melting of plastic components, smoke, and fire hazards,” Anker wrote in an accompanying announcement. The company added that it was conducting this recall “out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety of our customers.” read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer sentiment increased in June for the first time in six months, the latest sign that Americans’ views of the economy have improved as inflation has stayed tame and the Trump administration has reached a truce in its trade fight with China.

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  Men hit by lightning plucked from mountain in a record-high Colorado helicopter rescues

• 
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• 
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  Reds pitcher Wade Miley accused in court documents of being drug supplier for the late Tyler Skaggs

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  Meta invests $14.3B in AI firm Scale and recruits its CEO for ‘superintelligence’ team

The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s closely watched consumer sentiment index, released Friday, jumped 16% from 52.2 to 60.5. The large increase followed steady drops that left the preliminary number last month at the second-lowest level in the nearly 75-year history of the survey. Consumer sentiment is still down 20% compared with December 2024. read more