Things To Do In SW Florida

By Elizabeth Aldrich, NerdWallet

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) believe Medicare benefits will be reduced under the current administration, according to a recent NerdWallet survey. For some, a reduction in benefits could be coming as soon as next year — along with a bigger price tag.

Medicare Part B premiums are estimated to increase by $21.50 to $206.50 next year according to the Medicare Trustees — one of the bigger premium hikes in Medicare history. Medicare Part D prescription drug plans can increase premiums by as much as $50, up from last year’s $35 cap set by the government. And many of the largest private insurers are pulling back on their Medicare offerings or exiting the market entirely due to lack of profitability.

Consumers have one major defense against rising costs, shrinking provider networks and disappearing benefits: Medicare’s fall open enrollment period. Each year from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, you can add, drop or switch Medicare plans.

“This is the most important open enrollment period in Medicare’s 60-year history,” says Melinda Caughill, co-founder of 65 Incorporated, which offers Medicare guidance. “Everybody should be reviewing their plan.” read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

The J.M. Smucker Co. is suing Trader Joe’s, alleging the grocery chain’s new frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are too similar to Smucker’s Uncrustables in their design and packaging.

In the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in federal court in Ohio, Smucker said the round, crustless sandwiches Trader Joe’s sells have the same pie-like crimp markings on their edges that Uncrustables do. Smucker said the design violates its trademarks.

Smucker also asserted that the boxes Trader Joe’s PB&J sandwiches come in violate the Orrville, Ohio-based company’s trademarks because they are the same blue color it uses for the lettering on “Uncrustables” packages.

Trader Joe’s boxes also show a sandwich with a bite mark taken out of it, which is similar to the Uncrustables design, Smucker said.

“Smucker does not take issue with others in the marketplace selling prepackaged, frozen, thaw-and-eat crustless sandwiches. But it cannot allow others to use Smucker’s valuable intellectual property to make such sales,” the company said in its lawsuit. read more

By TOM MURPHY, AP Health Writer

CVS has finished buying customer prescription files from hundreds of closed Rite Aid drugstores and is now running 63 of the defunct chain’s locations.

The company said Wednesday that it is operating former Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. It also has transferred customer prescription files from 626 pharmacies in 15 states to nearby CVS locations.

CVS Health did not say how much it spent on the stores and prescription files.

Rite Aid recently announced on its website that its stores have closed. The company said in May that it was seeking bankruptcy protection and would look to sell substantially all of its assets.

Philadelphia-based Rite Aid once ran more than 4,000 stores mostly on the East Coast. It initially filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2023 after struggling with debt and posting annual losses for several years.

The chain emerged from that Chapter 11 reorganization in 2024 as a private company. It said then that it had less debt, was more efficient and now operated a “rightsized store footprint.” read more

Five Central Florida restaurants shut down the week of Oct. 5-11, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Orange

Little Saigon Restaurant at 1106 E. Colonial Dr. in Orlando shut down on Oct. 6. Inspectors found 12 violations, two of which were high priorities for raw food stored over unwashed produce and roach activity. Officials revisited the restaurant the next day. They found nine violations and issued a time extension for raw food stored over unwashed food. The restaurant met inspection standards.

Okayama Sushi & Hibachi at 2320 S. Kirkman Road shut down on Oct. 3. Inspectors found eight violations, two of which were high priorities for roach activity and operating without a business license. A second inspection occurred on Oct. 6. There were three violations, two of which were the same high priorities from the previous inspection. A third and final inspection took place the same day. There were no violations, and the restaurant met inspection standards. read more

San Mateo County social worker Aldo Quintero and his wife, Liza, make respectable salaries in their government jobs, but in a region with a median home price of $1.4 million and a county where the figure reaches $2.2 million, a home for the couple and their two kids in the community they serve was out of reach.

For years, Quintero commuted an hour-plus across the Bay from Hayward, and though they later found a small rental in the San Mateo County town of Belmont, their pay wasn’t enough for them to afford a home of their own.

“Even as I got raises and better-paying jobs, it’s like I couldn’t catch up to where prices were,” said Quintero, who earns $144,000 not including benefits.

Each year, the Quinteros entered a program sponsored by the county for its employees — a lottery awarding 20 loans of up to $100,000 toward the purchase of a home in San Mateo County. In 2023, they won. Along with the loan, they scraped together their savings plus money from their family to put in an offer of $780,000 for a two-bedroom, one-bath condo in Foster City, just a 10-minute drive from work and their children’s school. read more