Things To Do In SW Florida

By VANESSA GERA and KERSTIN SOPKE, Associated Press

SCHOENEICHE, Germany (AP) — The U.S. government is on a global egg hunt, seeking exports from countries in Europe and elsewhere to ease a severe shortage that has caused egg prices at grocery stores to hit record highs.

Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden are among the nations the U.S. Department of Agriculture approached to address the shortage brought on by a bird flu outbreak, according to European industry groups.

But supplying Americans with eggs would be complicated for foreign producers — and not because of political tensions over the myriad import tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed or threatened to impose on his nation’s top trading partners.

Even if they were eager to share, European countries don’t have many surplus eggs because of their own avian flu outbreaks and the growing domestic demand ahead of Easter.

One of the biggest obstacles, however, is the approach the United States takes to preventing salmonella contamination. U.S. food safety regulations require fresh eggs to be sanitized and refrigerated before they reach shoppers; in the European Union, safety standards call for Grade A eggs to be sold unwashed and without extended chilling. read more

Aquatica, SeaWorld Orlando’s water park, is gearing up its springtime event named Aloha to Summer Celebration.

The programming will include sand-castle artists, a family-friendly dance party and games such as cornhole and ring toss (with prizes), all preceded by a welcome celebration with leis and tropical punch.

Aloha to Summer eats will include limited-time island-inspired options such as teriyaki pineapple burgers and ponzu pork dumplings. There’s also a new Tex-Mex menu at the water park’s Kookaburra Kitchen plus tropical sweets such as Hawaiian crumble Dippin’ Dots.

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The festivities, included with regular Aquatica admission, will be available on Saturdays and Sundays between March 29 and May 11. The park’s usual array of slides, lazy rivers and splash areas also will be in operation.

Once Aloha to Summer wraps up, Aquatica will say hello to AquaGlow, its after-hours, neon-driven, separately ticketed event.

For more information, go to aquatica.com. read more

By Holden Lewis, NerdWallet

Want to be a successful home buyer this spring and summer? Act decisively and swiftly, whether your market is hot or cool.

That’s the advice from real estate agents in Boston (a hot, fast-selling market where buyers tussle over scarce houses) and in Dallas (a cooler, slower-selling market where competition isn’t so frenzied).

We’re entering the time of year when the sales pace picks up even in sedate housing markets. Around 4 million existing homes will be sold in 2025, and roughly half of them will change hands from April through August.

In the five years since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, demand has exceeded supply in most housing markets. That imbalance still exists in the hotter markets of New England, the Upper Midwest and much of California. The shortfall has eased (but not gone away) in some cities, notably in Florida, Texas, the Gulf coast and the Pacific Northwest — those are the cooler markets.

Real estate agents’ advice this homebuying season is consistent, no matter the temperature of the local market: Treat the search like a job. Get preapproved for a mortgage. read more

More than $100 million in state grant funding has been left unclaimed by My Safe Florida Home program applicants, and grant hopefuls are urged to immediately take steps to claim $10,000 for home-hardening projects.

The money is being reallocated from homeowners who completed their inspections and paperwork but did not follow through by completing their projects and requesting their grant, according to a memo released Wednesday by Senate President Ben Albritton.

The memo said that Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis notified the Senate that the program can reopen grant applications to distribute $103 million. That would cover about 10,300 new grants.

Albritton’s memo stated that the application portal will reopen through April 30 for homeowners who have already had an inspection.

On Thursday, Patronis’ office sent out a news release urging homeowners who have completed their home inspections to reenter the accounts they created on the program’s website, MySafeFlHome.com, and submit their ages and incomes on a prioritization survey. That information is needed to ensure that senior citizens and low-income homeowners are prioritized for grants, the release said. read more