Things To Do In SW Florida

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press Business Writer

CHELSEA, Mich. (AP) — Old Brick Farm, where Larry Doll raises chickens, turkeys and ducks, was fortunate this Thanksgiving season.

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Doll’s small farm west of Detroit had no cases of bird flu, despite an ongoing outbreak that killed more than 2 million U.S. turkeys in the last three months alone. He also avoided another disease, avian metapneumovirus, which causes turkeys to lay fewer eggs.

“I try to keep the operation as clean as possible, and not bringing other animals in from other farms helps mitigate that risk as well,” said Doll, whose farm has been in his family for five generations. read more

By ADRIANA MORGA

NEW YORK (AP) — Maybe your car broke down, your computer was stolen, or you had a surprise visit to urgent care. Emergencies are inevitable, but you can prepare to deal with them by building an emergency fund.

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“There are so many things that happen in our lives that we don’t expect and most of them require financial means to overcome,” said Miklos Ringbauer, a certified public accountant.

The industry standard is to save three to six months of expenses in an emergency fund. However, this can feel daunting if you live paycheck to paycheck or if you have debt. But if you’re in either of these situations, it’s even more crucial to build a financial safety net that can help you in times of crisis. read more

Are lower home insurance rates leading to cost reductions for Florida homeowners?

After insurance leaders in Florida spent the last year touting the revival of a healthy insurance market, the South Florida Sun Sentinel decided to find out whether policyholders have been affected in the only way most of us care about: Can we insure our homes for a lower price?

Insurers say the only way to find out is to shop your policy out on the open market.

So for this test, the Sun Sentinel recruited four homeowners — two each in south and central Florida — and four agents.

Each agent obtained quotes for two homeowners from insurance companies they are contracted to represent.

The results:

— Among 13 private-market insurers that provided quotes, only two — Edison and newcomer Ovation — offered to reduce premiums. Edison and Ovation both offered lower premiums to one of four participating homeowners while Ovation also offered a lower cost to another homeowner.

— Many of the quotes included $10,000 caps on water damage coverage and several capped roof coverage at the actual cash value, rather than replacement cost. These caps stem from insurers’ experience with high volumes of roof and water claims and heavy litigation connected to them. read more

Despite headline-grabbing return-to-office mandates by some employers, hybrid and remote work are here to stay.

Many employers are even perfecting their approach to flexible work arrangements. They’re making in-person time more strategic and purposeful, designating in-office days and taking steps to ensure new employees don’t feel isolated.

“They’re undoubtedly here to stay,” Johnny Taylor, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, said of remote and flexible work options. “It’s hard to put that genie back in the bottle.”

When employers adopted flexible work arrangements during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many found that employees were just as productive when working remotely. In the years since, they’ve discovered that hybrid and remote work options also improve morale and make it easier to recruit and retain employees, who are increasingly prioritizing flexibility.

Among U.S. workers who have jobs that can be performed remotely, the percentage who work a hybrid schedule has hovered between 51% and 55% since November 2022, according to Gallup. That’s up from 32% in 2019. The percentage who are exclusively remote has stayed between 26% and 29% in recent years, up from 8% in January 2019. read more

While SpaceX continues to test its Starship and Super Heavy rocket in Texas, Space Force officials in Florida are preparing for a first launch as early as mid-2026.

SpaceX is awaiting the completion of a pair of environmental impact statements for its plans to launch from both Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37.

“KSC is leading the way with (LC 39-A) and the partnership with SpaceX there to do the development work to be able to support Starship,” said Space Launch Delta 45 commander Col. Brian Chatman during a media discussion about the 100th launch of the year on the Space Coast. “Early- to mid-next year is when we anticipate Starship coming out here to be able to launch, and we’ll have the range rated to support at that time.”

Construction at the KSC site is moving ahead while SpaceX also builds out a Starship manufacturing facility nearby called the Gigabay to pump out the rocket stages for the 403-foot-tall behemoth. read more