Things To Do In SW Florida

By Natalie Todoroff, Bankrate.com

When Jessye Kass Karlin asked for a raise, she didn’t just need one person to say “yes.” She needed eight.

Related Articles

• 
  What to know about Trump’s plan to give Americans a $2,000 tariff dividend

• 
  Everything you need for Thanksgiving dinner for $40? Turkey Day grocery deals

• 
  Surviving burnout, job fears and more: 5 tips from career coaches

• 
  Supreme Court extends its order blocking full SNAP payments, with shutdown potentially near an end

• 
  How a personal finance expert leverages holiday sales for household necessities

A director of programs at a women’s shelter in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Karlin was in her mid-20s, making around $60,000 per year. She sought a $20,000 salary increase and a new title: executive director. “I sort of had that role already but didn’t have the title or pay to honor the work that I was doing,” she tells me.

Karlin felt she was doing everything right, and then some. Before, the shelter had no formalized volunteer prep, so she created trainings focused on de-escalation tactics and dealing with trauma, as well as an official eight-hour onboarding process. During her tenure, Karlin also increased volunteer retention by almost 80% and boosted the shelter’s revenue. read more

By KEN SWEET, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Visa and Mastercard have proposed a settlement in their long-running legal dispute with merchants and retailers over how much they charge merchants to accept their cards.

Related Articles

• 
  Tribes that restored buffalo are killing some to feed people because of the shutdown

• 
  The timeline for SNAP benefits remains uncertain, even as the government is set to reopen

• 
  US bishops officially ban gender-affirming care at Catholic hospitals

• 
  Judge declines to dismiss sex trafficking case against real estate brothers

• 
  Jury awards $28M to family of a United Nations consultant killed in Boeing 737 Max crash in Ethiopia

The most important part of the settlement could directly impact how customers use their Visa- and Mastercard-issued credit cards, and may result in some consumers getting denied at the point-of-sale for purchases

Visa and Mastercard have been in litigation with a class-action group of merchants for nearly 20 years over the costs they impose on merchants to use their payment networks, known as interchange. A previous settlement was rejected by the judge overseeing the case last this year, requiring Visa and Mastercard’s lawyers to go back to the drawing board on the scope and size of the settlement. read more

By CHAN HO-HIM

BANGKOK (AP) — Apple said it has pulled two of China’s biggest gay dating apps, Blued and Finka, under pressure from Chinese authorities, in the latest sign of a tightening grip on the LGBTQ+ community.

Related Articles

• 
  Lawsuit challenges TSA’s ban on transgender officers conducting pat-downs

• 
  Supreme Court rejects call to overturn its decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide

• 
  LGBTQ+ youth’s mental health struggles are getting worse, according to a new survey

• 
  Come Out With Pride Orlando anticipates its biggest parade, festival Saturday

• 
  Judge upholds North Dakota’s ban on gender-affirming care for kids

An Apple spokesperson said in a statement that the company removed the two dating apps from China “based on an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China”, without further elaborating.

“We follow the laws in the countries where we operate,” the spokesperson told The Associated Press.

A check by The Associated Press on Tuesday found that the two apps are not available on Apple’s app store in China, although an “express” version of Blued could still be found. It was unclear what the difference is between the full and express versions or if an Android version might be available. read more

By KEN SWEET

NEW YORK (AP) — The White House says it is considering backing a 50-year mortgage to help alleviate the home affordability crisis in the country. But the announcement drew immediate criticism from policymakers, social media and economists, who said a 50-year mortgage would do little to resolve other core problems in the housing market, such as a lack of supply and high interest rates.

Related Articles

• 
  What to know about Trump’s plan to give Americans a $2,000 tariff dividend

• 
  Lawsuit challenges TSA’s ban on transgender officers conducting pat-downs

• 
  Trump pardons the husband of Republican supporter Rep. Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee

• 
  Judge adopts Utah congressional map creating a Democratic-leaning district for 2026

• 
  Speaker Johnson faces an unruly House as lawmakers return for shutdown vote

Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said on X over the weekend that a 50-year mortgage would be “a complete game changer” for homebuyers. FHFA is the part of the federal government that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy and insure the vast majority of mortgages in the country. read more

In a christening celebration complete with drone show magic, live music and plenty of signature fanfare, Disney Cruise Line officially welcomed the Disney Destiny to its fleet Monday night.

Godmother Susan Egan — who was the first to play Belle in Broadway’s “Beauty and the Beast” and voiced Megara in “Hercules” — helped officially launch the company’s third Wish-class ship and the cruise line’s seventh overall ship in Port Everglades.

While the ceremony did not feature actual champagne, it did include a large bottle of bubbly projected onto the side of the Destiny, which popped at exactly the moment Egan christened the 144,000-gross-ton ship, which can accommodate 4,000 passengers.

“It is a joy to be here with all of you on such a spectacular night,” she said. “I christen thee Disney Destiny. May God bless this ship and all who sail upon it.”

Leading up to that moment, the port side of the ship served as a screen for projected images choreographed to music and drones overhead, which took the shape of Disney characters and words in a 15-minute spectacle. The show featured a musical medley with references to “The Lion King,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Hercules” and “101 Dalmatians.” read more