Things To Do In SW Florida

Orange County Regional History Center will play host to multiple public events in December, including sessions that look back at Cypress Gardens and return to the early days of Orlando’ s Colonial Plaza shopping center.

On Dec. 5, the downtown Orlando museum’s Lunch & Learn session is titled “The Legacy of Cypress Gardens.”  Jeremy Hileman, assistant curator of collections, will guide participants through the origins of the Winter Haven attraction, its famed ski shows and its large gardens.  Cypress Gardens opened in 1936 and is now the site of Legoland Florida theme park.  Admission is $5 ($17 with pre-ordered lunch option).

On Dec. 6, a former history center Lunch & Learn ventures out of downtown for “Colonial Plaza and the Era of the Malls.” It will be held at the Nook on Robinson, a tavern that’s one block south of the shopping complex, which opened in 1956. The session, set for a 7 p.m. start, will be led by history center historian Rachel Williams.  The session looks at suburban grown and retail in Central Florida. read more

By THALIA BEATY

NEW YORK (AP) — “Times are tough. We take care of us.”

In early November, Kashish Ali posted those words to her Instagram story as part of a yearslong practice she’s had to fundraise for food and drop it off at community fridges in Atlanta, where she’s from, and now in New York, where she lives. Ali, who is 32 and a first generation Pakistani immigrant, estimated that her friends and family have trusted her with thousands of dollars over the past couple of years.

For her, it’s a practice of giving back and creating connection. It’s also part of a growing interest in grassroots efforts to meet community needs that many call “ mutual aid.” Often, mutual aid just comes down to neighbors helping neighbors, and as many face high prices, cuts to government programs and political uncertainty, organizers say interest has swelled. Donating effort or time to mutual aid organizing is also another way to mark GivingTuesday, which falls on Dec. 2 this year, and has become a major day to support nonprofits. read more

The Space Coast’s record rocket train of 2025 kept rolling with the first launch of December early Monday.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 with 29 of the company’s Starlink satellites lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 2:44 a.m. marking the first of at least five planned launches on the Space Coast in the next two weeks.

This was the fourth launch of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed in the Atlantic.

It marked the 102nd launch from either KSC or neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station this year, with SpaceX responsible for all but seven of them. SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin combined to surpass the 2024 record of 93 launches last month, and the Space Coast is on target to come close to 110 launches before the  end of the year.

SpaceX has another launch planned for Tuesday, as a Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-95 mission with 29 Starlink satellites aims to lift off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 during a launch window that runs from 3:16-7:16 p.m. and a backup Dec. 3 from 2:50-6:50 p.m. This will be the 25th flight for the first-stage booster, which is scheduled for a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks gave back some of last week’s rally, as bitcoin fell again on Monday.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.5% and broke a five-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 427 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite dipped 0.4%.

Last week’s rally was largely due to rising hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate next week to help shore up the slowing job market. Such hopes are still high, with traders betting on a roughly 85% chance the Fed will cut at its next meeting, according to data from CME Group.

But yields for longer-term Treasurys nevertheless rose in the bond market Monday. It was part of a worldwide climb for yields after the head of the Bank of Japan hinted at a possible hike to interest rates there.

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