Things To Do In SW Florida

By ADRIANA MORGA

NEW YORK (AP) — Did you buy a new pink dress to watch the Barbie movie, only to never wear it again? An Oura ring because your favorite TikTok influencer had it? A new pair of baggy jeans because ’90s fashion is making a comeback?

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Niche trends fueled by social media can influence your shopping decisions. Participating often brings some happiness and a sense of community, but the problem comes when you do it so often that you’re not using your money to achieve your financial goals, or worse, you get into debt, said Erika Rasure, chief financial wellness advisor for Beyond Finance, a financial services company. read more

Members of Florideah Swamp Fest team from Orlando, Fla., ride past the judges table while competing in the Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster event at Cranes Roost Park, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Thirty teams, chosen from more than 300 applications, competed on custom, rollercoaster-themed tandem bicycles across a 300-foot obstacle course over water with drops as high as six feet. Teams were judged on creativity, showmanship and distance. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for the Orlando Sentinel) Members of GWagon team from Orlando, Fla., fall into the lake while competing in the Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster event at Cranes Roost Park, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Thirty teams, chosen from more than 300 applications, competed on custom, rollercoaster-themed tandem bicycles across a 300-foot obstacle course over water with drops as high as six feet. Teams were judged on creativity, showmanship and distance. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for the Orlando Sentinel) Spectators react as a team competes in the Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster event at Cranes Roost Park, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Thirty teams, chosen from more than 300 applications, competed on custom, rollercoaster-themed tandem bicycles across a 300-foot obstacle course over water with drops as high as six feet. Teams were judged on creativity, showmanship and distance. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for the Orlando Sentinel) A map shows the course layout for Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster, which lands at Cranes Roost Park in Altamonte Springs on Sept. 27. (Courtesy of Red Bull) Orlando-based professional wakeboarder and Red Bull athlete Guenther Oka speaks about Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster during a press event at Cranes Roost Park in Altamone Springs on Aug. 6, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel) Members of the Born to Thrive Coaster team from Orlando, Fla., crash, while competing in the Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster event at Cranes Roost Park, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Thirty teams, chosen from more than 300 applications, competed on custom, rollercoaster-themed tandem bicycles across a 300-foot obstacle course over water with drops as high as six feet. Teams were judged on creativity, showmanship and distance. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for the Orlando Sentinel) Members of Indymegasaurus team from Oveido, Fla., fall into the lake while competing in the Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster event at Cranes Roost Park, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Thirty teams, chosen from more than 300 applications, competed on custom, rollercoaster-themed tandem bicycles across a 300-foot obstacle course over water with drops as high as six feet. Teams were judged on creativity, showmanship and distance. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for the Orlando Sentinel) The Mad Bikers team crashes while competing in the Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster event at Cranes Roost Park, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Thirty teams, chosen from more than 300 applications, competed on custom, rollercoaster-themed tandem bicycles across a 300-foot obstacle course over water with drops as high as six feet. Teams were judged on creativity, showmanship and distance. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for the Orlando Sentinel) Seminole County Comissioner Jay Zembower speaks about Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster during a press event at Cranes Roost Park in Altamone Springs on Aug. 6, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel) Members of GWagon team from Orlando fall into the lake while competing in the Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster event at Cranes Roost Park on Saturday in Altamonte Springs. Thirty teams, chosen from more than 300 applications, competed on custom, rollercoaster-themed tandem bicycles across a 300-foot obstacle course over water with drops as high as six feet. Teams were judged on creativity, showmanship and distance. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for the Orlando Sentinel) Celebrity judges Dwight Howard, left, Meagan Ethell, center, and Zack Fairhurst show their scores for a team competing in the Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster event at Cranes Roost Park, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Thirty teams, chosen from more than 300 applications, competed on custom, rollercoaster-themed tandem bicycles across a 300-foot obstacle course over water with drops as high as six feet. Teams were judged on creativity, showmanship and distance. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for the Orlando Sentinel) The Lauwe Knaks are seen during Red Bull Stalen Ros 2024, The Hague, The Netherlands on Sept. 7, 2024. The event lands in Central Florida as Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster, representing the first time the European event comes stateside. (Marcel van Hoorn/Red Bull Content Pool) Orlando-based professional wakeboarder and Red Bull athlete Guenther Oka, left, stands with public officials, from left, Seminole County Comissioner Jay Zembower, Altamonte Springs Mayor Pat Bates, Jason Siegel, president and CEO of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission, and Guilherme “Gui” Cunha, Seminole County’s director of economic development and tourism gather during a press event for Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster at Cranes Roost Park in Altamone Springs on Aug. 6, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel) Altamonte Springs Mayor Pat Bates speaks about Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster during a press event at Cranes Roost Park in Altamone Springs on Aug. 6, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel) A decorated tandem bicycle demonstrates the idea behind Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster during a press event at Cranes Roost Park in Altamone Springs on Aug. 6, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel) Jason Siegel, president and CEO of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission, speaks about Red Bull Tandem Rollercoaster during a press event at Cranes Roost Park in Altamone Springs on Aug. 6, 2025. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)

MERRITT ISLAND — Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has sunk $3 billion to build up its manufacturing plant and launch pad on the Space Coast in the last decade. On Friday, it invited visitors for a rare media tour of the plant where it constructs its heavy-lift New Glenn rockets while touting its latest addition: the facility where the company will construct its Blue Moon lander to take astronauts back to the lunar surface.

“We have to win this space race. This is the reason why we’re so invested,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos, chair of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, who persuaded Blue Origin to open the factory floor of its massive Brevard County facility. “You can’t help but be confident after seeing firsthand what’s happening here at Blue Origin.”

Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are the competing commercial companies to give NASA working human landing systems for its Artemis program. SpaceX’s Starship is contracted to be the lander for both Artemis III and IV, while Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 lander is tapped to fly on Artemis V. read more

By Redd Brown, Bloomberg News

Lisa Reich studied hard to become a forensic accountant. She worked in the field for eight years, and enjoyed interacting with her clients. But the divorce cases she often dealt with were becoming depressing.

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One day, she wandered into a local travel agency looking to book a trip and got chatting — they offered her a role as an independent contractor that day.

“I’m working half the hours and making quadruple my salary,” said Reich, 42, who started her own agency in 2021 and said her annual sales have been around $3 million to $3.5 million for the past three years.

“When I was moving fields, my mother said to me ‘You’ve got a master’s in accounting, what am I going to tell the family?’” said Reich. “She’s eating her words now.” read more