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A 49-year-old Sanford woman is suing the company that owns Epic Universe, claiming she suffers from permanent injuries after riding the new Stardust Racers roller coaster last April.

It’s the same ride that 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala rode shortly before he died on Sept. 17.

In her lawsuit, Sandi Streets said her head “shook violently and slammed into her seat’s headrest” for the entire duration of the two-minute ride, which includes more than a dozen twists, drops and turns and speeds of nearly 65 mph.

Streets is seeking damages of more than $50,000. Universal Orlando declined to comment.

Streets’ lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, the same day attorney Ben Crump and his legal team held a press conference in downtown Orlando to demand that Stardust Racers stay closed until an investigation is completed on how Zavala lost consciousness while riding the roller coaster and later died.

According to Crump, witnesses saw Zavala’s head slam repeatedly on a metal bar during the ride. The Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled Zavala’s death as accidental and the result of blunt force trauma. read more

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday approved a $1.5 billion settlement between artificial intelligence company Anthropic and authors who allege nearly half a million books had been illegally pirated to train chatbots.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued the approval in San Francisco federal court Thursday after the two sides worked to address his concerns about the settlement, which will pay authors and publishers about $3,000 for each of the books covered by the agreement. It does not apply to future works.

A Monday filing sought to convince the judge that the parties have set up a system designed to get out robust notice to all authors and publishers covered by the agreement, ensuring they get their cut of the pot if they want to sign off on the settlement or opt out to protect their legal rights moving forward.

They also tried to assure him that the author and publishers group that cobbled the deal together are not doing any “back room” dealings that would hurt lesser-known authors. read more

Sunbeam Products is recalling more than a million of its Oster French door-style countertop ovens because the doors can swing shut unexpectedly, posing a burn hazard to users.

The recall, announced Sept. 25, includes 1,290,000 ovens sold over the past decade at retail stores in the United States.

Sunbeam said it has received 95 reports so far of the spring-loaded doors unexpectedly closing and burning users. Two users reported second-degree burns, the company said.

The model numbers include TSSTTVFDXL, TSSTTVFDDG, TSSTTVFDMAF and TSSTTVFDDAF. A label found on the back of the oven includes the model number. “Oster” is engraved on the front bottom right of the oven.

“Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled countertop ovens and contact Sunbeam Products to receive a free repair kit,” Sunbeam wrote in its recall.

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By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage ticked up this week, ending a four-week slide that brought down borrowing costs for homebuyers to the lowest level in nearly a year.

The rate rose to 6.3% from 6.26% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.08%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also edged higher. The average rate rose to 5.49% from 5.41% last week. A year ago, it was 5.16%, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The yield was at 4.19% in midday trading Thursday, up from 4.16% late Wednesday.

Starting in late July, mortgage rates mostly declined in the lead-up to the Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated decision last week to cut its main interest rate for the first time in a year amid growing concern over the U.S. job market. read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Business Writer

Starbucks said Thursday it’s closing hundreds of stores in the U.S., Canada and Europe and laying off 900 nonretail employees as it focuses more of its resources on a turnaround.

The Seattle coffee giant said store closures would start immediately. Starbucks said affected baristas will be offered severance packages and transfers to other locations where possible.

The company wouldn’t give a number of stores that are closing, but the bulk of the closures appear to be in the U.S. and Canada. Starbucks said it expects to have 18,300 North American locations when its fiscal year ends on Sunday. As of June 29, the company had 18,734 locations.

In a research note Thursday, TD Cowen analyst Andrew Charles estimated Starbucks will close around 500 North American stores in its fiscal fourth quarter.

In a letter to employees in Europe, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said some locations in the U.K., Austria and Switzerland will also be closing. Starbucks didn’t say how many stores will be impacted on those nations, either. read more