Things To Do In SW Florida

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport saw its string of annual traveler growth snapped last year as some airlines serving Broward County encountered financial troubles, cut back service and flew passengers to other destinations.

Overall, passenger traffic was down 8.5% for 2025 to more than 32.2 million against the prior year’s 35.2 million, according to statistics posted by the airport for the full calendar year. Six of the airport’s “Top Ten” carriers flew fewer passengers to and from the airport last year than in 2024.

Among the contributing factors for the decline:

• Spirit Airlines, the financially-troubled Dania Beach-based discounter which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last August for the second time in a year, still ended up as the leader in market share at 28%. But it is now a smaller airline serving fewer destinations while operating a smaller fleet. The number of passengers carried fell by 18.3% from nearly 11.1 million  in 2024 to slightly more than 9 million last year. read more

Persistence and patience were the keys to the sale of a unique Orlando home.

You might remember Entrelagos, a 14,706-square-foot property with ornate wood carvings and metal railings with foliage throughout. It took nearly five years — and a price reduction of more than 50 percent to the original $25 million listing — to land its new owners.

When it first hit the market in 2021, listing agent Richard Dempsey with Saunders Real Estate said, “Almost every bit of the finishing on the interior of the property is done with woodwork that was hand-carved by Filipino artisans and then shipped to the site.”

A grand spiral staircase through a library was a focal point of the house, along with the flowers and leaves carved into multiple huge columns. Many of the interior doors had inlaid mother-of-pearl.

“The sellers had spent a lot of time and thought as to what exactly they wanted and fashioned it to their taste, for sure,” Dempsey said about the house after the sale closed.

Back in 2021, the home and an adjacent vacant lot were listed for $25 million, had a price reduction to $19.5 million in 2024, and just sold in January 2026 over two transactions for a combined $11 milllion, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.  read more

By PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department, citing the partial federal government shutdown, said Monday that it will not release the January jobs report on Friday as scheduled.

In a statement, the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said: “Once funding is restored, BLS will resume normal operations and notify the public of any changes to the news release schedule.’’ It is also postponing the December report on job openings, which was supposed to come out Tuesday.

The jobs report and other key economic statistics were previously delayed by a record 43-day government shutdown last fall.

Economists had expected the January jobs report to show that employers added 80,000 jobs last month, up from 50,000 in December.

The delay in data comes at a bad time. The economy is in a puzzling place.

Growth is strong: Gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — advanced from July through September at the fastest pace in two years.

But the job market is sluggish: Employers have added just 28,000 jobs a month since March. In the 2021-2023 hiring boom that followed COVID-19 lockdowns, by contrast, they were creating 400,000 jobs a month. read more

If you’re house hunting, last weekend’s record-breaking snowfall is a valid reason to put your search on ice. But winter weather doesn’t faze Desirae Allen, a real estate broker with Sound Realty in Valdez, Alaska. In a city that gets more than 300 inches of snow in a season, that’s just business as usual.

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“I’ve got a showing that all of a sudden came unexpectedly, and I haven’t got a guy over there to plow the driveway, ” she says. “I’ve got to tell the buyers, you know, ‘Grab your boots or grab your snowshoes — we’re going to wade our way in.’” read more

After 1,931 restaurant inspections across Central Florida in January, only 210 had no issues for the entire month, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Brevard had the highest percentage of restaurants with zero violations during routine food inspections at 17.4%. Seminole came in second with 14.3%, Osceola came third at 11.6% and Orange was in fourth place with 9.5%.

Lake and Volusia ranked at the bottom with 8.4% and 6.1%, respectively.

Orange County had the most restaurants with no violations at 78 out of 824 inspected. Brevard followed with 52 out of 299, then Seminole with 29 out of 203, Osceola with 23 out of 198, Volusia with 16 out of 264 and Lake with 12 out of 143.

BREVARD

4th St. Fillin Station, 382 N. Orlando Ave., Cocoa Beach
ACT Catering LLC, 607 Florida Ave., Cocoa
Arby’s, 4705 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne
Asian Wok, 8530 N. Wickham Road #110, Melbourne
Atlantic Ocean Grille, 401 Meade Ave., Cocoa Beach
Ben and Jerry’s Melbourne, 1800 W. Hibiscus Blvd. # 118, Melbourne
Blue Quad A100 at USSA Space Coast Complex, 5800 Stadium Parkway, Melbourne
Cafe Marina Wine and Deli, 2137 N. Courtenay Parkway, Unit 31, Merritt Island
Chez Quan’s, 1470 Aurora Road, Melbourne
Chick-fil-A at Palm Bay Road FSR, 835 Palm Bay Road, West Melbourne
Chili’s Bar & Grill Melbourne Ch403, 955 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne
Chipotle Mexican Grill #4661, 455 E. Merritt Island Causeway, Merritt Island
Coconuts on the Beach, 2 Minutemen Causeway, Cocoa Beach
Country Cookin Diner, 2301 SR 524, Unit 100, Cocoa
Denny’s #7952, 1245 N. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach
First Watch, 795 E. Merritt Island Causeway, Merritt Island
Fowl Mouth, 2 N. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach
From Chef 2 Table, 1790 Florida A1A, Satellite Beach
Hotdogs & Whatknotts LLC, 2850 S. Hopkins Ave., Titusville
The Inn at Cocoa Beach, 4300 Ocean Beach Blvd., Cocoa Beach
Keke’s Breakfast Cafe #304080, 7171 Lake Andrew Dr. #102, Melbourne
Koko Restaurant, 24 N. Orlando Ave., Suite A, Cocoa Beach
Margarita Island Mexican Kitchen and Bar, 777 E. Merritt Island
Causeway, Unit G15, Merritt Island
Melbourne Seafood Station, 31 E. New Haven Ave., Melbourne
Morel’s Bar & Grill, 1921 Robert J Conlan Blvd. NE, Palm Bay
Nourish 321-Ssa, 8225 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne
Olive Tree Greek Grill, 5481 Lake Andrew Dr., Melbourne
Peace in the Garden Cafe, 397 Barton Blvd., Rockledge
Pizza Company, 868 N. Banana River Dr., Merritt Island
Pizza Hut, 3214 Lake Washington Road, Melbourne
Pizza Hut, 65 Bulldog Blvd., Melbourne
Real Jamaican Jerk Center, 50 S. Orlando Ave., Vin 7279, Cocoa Beach
Red Quad at USSA Space Coast Complex, 5800 Stadium Parkway, Melbourne
Sagi and Kiquo’s Hot Dogs, 3085 Jupiter Blvd., Palm Bay
Salsas Mexican Restaurant, 5675 N. Atlantic Ave., Suite 119-121, Cocoa Beach
Sergio’s Tacos, 76 South Orlando Ave., Cocoa Beach
Simple Life Food, 3280 Suntree Blvd., Suite 105, Melbourne
Sprengergarten – Tavern, 2835 Eber Road, West Melbourne
Sprengergarten – Ballroom, 2835 Eber Road, West Melbourne
The Heidelberg Restaurant and Heidi’s Jazz Club, 7 N. Orlando Ave., Cocoa Beach
The Soup Shop, 145 Palm Bay Road NE, Suite 100, West Melbourne
Tropical Smoothie Cafe, 3682 N. Wickham Road, Suite E, Melbourne
Troy Anatolian Kitchen, 2 N. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach
Twisted Tides Inc, 211 E. Cocoa Beach Causeway, Cocoa Beach
Uncle Vito’s Pizzeria, 8020 N. Wickham Road, Suite 102, Melbourne
USSA Space Coast Complex, 5800 Stadium Parkway, Melbourne
Venpaca Cafe Express, 5005 Port Saint John Parkway, Cocoa
Village Timeout, 607 Florida Ave., Cocoa
Waffle House, 4005 W. Eau Gallie Blvd., Melbourne
Well Muddoes Bahamian Delight and Takeaway, 1384 Malabar Road, Suite
4, Melbourne
Wendy’s 8558, 8440 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral
White Quad B100 at USSA Space Coast Complex, 5800 Stadium Parkway, Melbourne read more