Things To Do In SW Florida

Agreement to a cacophony of conditions covering everything from outdoor lighting to indoor window treatments helped the Winter Park Racquet Club get city approval for a controversial expansion project in its upscale neighborhood.

City commissioners Wednesday voted 4-1 to allow the club at 2111 Via Tuscany to tear down a two-story house fronting its campus and replace it with a larger single-story building.

The club founded in 1953 on the shores of Lake Maitland is in the neighborhood known as The Vias, where multimillion-dollar homes with manicured lawns line brick-surfaced streets. The proposal had irked many neighbors, whose concerns went beyond the specific construction project to encompass the number of club members, bright tennis court lights and pickleball noise. Yards across from the club displaying red signs stating: “Stop WPRC Commercial Expansion in Our Neighborhood.”

The project headed to commissioners with nine conditions that came out of Planning & Zoning Board meetings. But a couple hours before the commission met, a gathering of neighbors and club representatives agreed on 12 more — and commissioners added three — for a total of 24. That seemed to calm the opposition. read more

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis has dismissed a series of proposed constitutional amendments released last week by the Florida House to cut property taxes.

DeSantis, who has made a top priority of asking voters in the 2026 elections to slash property taxes for homeowners, said in an online post that the House approach was a “political game.” The House proposed seven measures for the ballot.

“Placing more than one property tax measure on the ballot represents an attempt to kill anything on property taxes,” DeSantis said late Wednesday on X. “It’s a political game, not a serious attempt to get it done for the people.”

DeSantis’ comment came in response to a post by Maria Peiro, who called the House proposals “half measures” and “confusing.”

Peiro unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for a South Florida congressional seat in 2016 and 2018.

Despite making appearances across the state, DeSantis had not previously responded to the House proposals, which were released Oct. 16. read more

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writer

Tesla is recalling more than 63,000 Cybertrucks in the U.S. because the front lights are too bright, which may cause a distraction to other drivers and increase the risk of a collision.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the recall includes certain Cybertrucks with a model year between 2024 and 2026. The vehicles were made between Nov. 13, 2023, and Oct. 11, 2025, with operating software versions prior to 2025.38.3.

The agency said that Tesla is not aware of any collisions, injuries, or fatalities related to the condition.

Tesla, which is run by billionaire Elon Musk, is issuing a free software update to correct the issue.

Earlier this month, federal regulators opened yet another investigation into Tesla’s self-driving feature after dozens of incidents in which the cars ran red lights or drove on the wrong side of the road, sometimes crashing into other vehicles and causing injuries.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a filing that it was looking into 58 incidents in which Teslas reportedly violated traffic safety laws while using the company’s so-called Full Self-Driving mode, leading to more than a dozen crashes and fires and nearly two dozen injuries. The new probe adds to several other open investigations into Tesla technology that could upend Musk’s plans to turn millions of his cars already on the road into completely driverless vehicles with a over-the-air update to their software. read more

By MATT OTT, AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil prices spiked Thursday after the U.S. announced massive new sanctions on Russia’s oil industry in an attempt to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and end Moscow’s brutal war on Ukraine.

U.S. benchmark crude jumped 6%, to $62 per barrel midday Thursday and analysts say if the situation remains static, U.S. consumers will soon be paying more at the pump.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said while it was difficult to predict with certainty because of the number of moving parts, consumers will likely see a bump in prices as early as next week, if not sooner.

“We’ll probably start to see motorists be impacted by the sanctions at the pump in the next couple days and it might take five days for that to be fully passed along,” De Haan said, adding that the full impact also depends on whether the Russian or U.S. positions change.

“Russia will feel pressure to come to the table in light of of the new developments or President Trump may react when he sees oil prices rising to levels that become uncomfortable, so I don’t think this is going to be very long lasting,” De Haan said. read more

By JOSH FUNK

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific delivered 7% growth in its third-quarter earnings Thursday as its CEO continues to make the case for the potential benefits of acquiring one of the railroad’s eastern rivals.

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The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad said it earned $1.79 billion, or $3.01 per share, in the quarter. That’s up from $1.67 billion, or $2.75 per share, a year ago. And without $41 million in merger costs the railroad would have made $3.08 per share but either number would have beat the Wall Street estimates of $2.97 per share. read more