Things To Do In SW Florida

Nominations are now open for the Orlando Sentinel’s 2025 Top Workplaces program, which seeks to identify and recognize Central Florida’s top companies and what employees say makes them great places to work.

Any company, nonprofit, public organization or government agency with 35 or more employees in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Sumter, Polk, Brevard, Volusia, Flagler or Marion counties may participate in Top Workplaces. Participation is free, and there is no obligation to purchase any product or service.

Company owners or workers may nominate themselves at OrlandoSentinel.com/nominate or by calling 407-428-2696. The deadline for entries is March 7, and winners will be announced in the fall.

The Top Workplaces process involves having employees evaluate their companies with a short, 25-question survey. Companies will be surveyed through mid-May.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Sentinel is partnering with Energage as the program’s survey firm.

Pennsylvania-based Energaged conducts Top Workplaces surveys for media in 65 markets nationwide and surveyed more than 2 million employees at more than 8,000
organizations in the past year. read more

SpaceX’s delay in getting its new Crew Dragon spacecraft to fly to the International Space Station has meant a longer stay on board for the pair of NASA astronauts that flew up on Boeing’s Starliner last summer but were left behind when it flew home without crew because of safety concerns.

Now, Elon Musk has said President Trump has asked SpaceX to bring home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams “as soon as possible,” according to a post on X Musk made on Tuesday.

“We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long,” Musk posted.

Already Williams and Wilmore were assigned to come home with SpaceX instead as part of the Crew-9 mission’s return flight.

Boeing Starliner astronauts remain busy on ISS, but ‘eventually we want to go home’

The Crew-10 mission that was supposed to fly up in February to relieve Crew-9 on board, though, has been delayed by at least a month as SpaceX’s new fifth Crew Dragon spacecraft was not yet ready to fly, according to both SpaceX and NASA officials. read more

By Abby Badach Doyle, NerdWalllet

With stylish features and floor plans, many of today’s manufactured homes break the old “mobile home” stereotype — without breaking the bank.

On average, new manufactured homes cost about a third of the price of site-built homes, reports the Manufactured Housing Institute, a trade group. Factory construction lowers material and labor costs, and a federal building code makes inspections more efficient.

Lesli Gooch, CEO of the MHI, says manufactured homes are an attractive choice for many buyers, from entry-level buyers to retirees.

“It’s affordable, but it’s also turnkey,” she says.

However, obstacles remain. In some cities, zoning restrictions limit or ban where manufactured homes can be placed. And it’s harder to find a mortgage for amounts below $150,000, so buyers have fewer lender choices for traditional financing.

On Jan. 6, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, alleging that the company trapped some borrowers in manufactured home mortgages they couldn’t afford. Vanderbilt Mortgage is a unit of Clayton Homes, the nation’s largest manufactured home builder. read more

As billions of dollars in government assistance flow into Los Angeles County in the aftermath of its devastating wildfires, attempts to pilfer those funds are all but inevitable.

When disaster strikes, history shows fraud is sure to follow, as earnest efforts to expeditiously cut through red tape leave openings for bad actors. So far, roughly $750 million in federal funds already have been set aside, including $33 million paid to residents impacted by the wildfires and $550 million to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

California has earmarked another $2.5 billion for recovery efforts, including funding for shelters for evacuees, hazardous waste removal and expedited building permits.

County officials already are gearing up for a fight against those who would try to exploit the situation as early estimates of total damages climb toward $250 billion.

“We’re about to have billions of dollars of federal money descend on Los Angeles County; there are people who look at that as the opportunity of a lifetime to rip it off,” said newly elected District Attorney Nathan Hochman before offering a warning at a press conference last week. “We will go after you if you want to, in any way, rip off the money that is destined for true wildfire victims.” read more