Things To Do In SW Florida

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Uncertainty over the economy and tariffs is forcing retailers to pull back or delay plans to hire seasonal workers who pack orders at distribution centers, serve shoppers at stores and build holiday displays during the most important selling season of the year.

American Christmas LLC, which creates elaborate holiday installations for commercial properties such as New York’s Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, plans to hire 220 temporary workers and is ramping up recruitment nearly two months later than usual, CEO Dan Casterella said. Last year, it took on 300 people during its busy period.

The main reason? The company wants to offset its tariff bill, which Casterella expects to be as big as $1.5 million this year, more than double last year’s $600,000.

“The issue is if you overstaff and then you underperform, it’s too late,” Casterella said. ”I think everyone’s more mindful now than ever. ”

Holiday hiring could fall to 2009 levels

Online behemoth Amazon Inc. said Monday it intends to hire 250,000 full-, part-time and seasonal workers for the crucial shopping period, the same level as a year ago. read more

By HUIZHONG WU, Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — China did not back down Monday in a back-and-forth with the U.S. over trade, calling for U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw his latest threat of a 100% tariff and other export control measures announced over the weekend.

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In the latest escalation of the trade war between the two nations, Trump issued the tariff threat on all Chinese imports into the U.S. after China placed stricter restrictions Thursday on rare earths, a vital resource used in electronics. read more

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners last week approved a residential project that would help redesign a deadly stretch of road in unincorporated Clermont.

Lakeshore Preserve is a proposed 149-home subdivision designated for 94.56 acres south of Lakeshore Drive and west of Autumn Avenue. The project’s site plan calls for lots ranging in size from 65 feet to 120 feet wide, including six lots on Lake Nellie.

Given its proximity to Lakeshore Drive and CR 561, significant safety improvements were included with the potential development of Lakeshore Preserve, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

“The county had been looking to develop to improve that intersection with a roundabout, but lacked the funding,” said Bill Ray, a consultant to Winter Park developer Integrative Development Group.  “We’re coming forward to assist with the funding of that, to get these transportation improvements completed concurrent with construction of the project and not at some ambiguous time in the future when the county gets the funding to move forward.” read more

By KELVIN CHAN, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — iPhone users have a new tool to combat the scourge of nuisance phone calls: a virtual gatekeeper that can screen incoming calls from unknown numbers.

It’s among the bevy of new features that Apple rolled out with last month’s release of iOS 26. The screening feature has been getting attention because of the ever-increasing amount of robocalls and spam calls that leave many phone users feeling harassed.

Here’s a run-through of the new function:

How to activate call screening

First, you’ll need to update your iPhone’s operating system to iOS 26, which is available to the iPhone 11 and newer models.

To switch call screening on, go into Settings–Apps—Phone. Scroll down and you’ll find a new option: Screen Unknown Callers.

You’ll be presented with three choices. The Never option lets any unknown call ring through, while Silence sends all unidentified numbers directly to voicemail. What you want to tap is the middle option: Ask Reason for Calling.

If the option isn’t there, try restarting your phone. read more

By Miriam Fauzia, The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — Ever wonder what your dog is trying to say? Well, a University of Texas at Arlington researcher is aiming to turn barks, howls and whimpers of man’s best friend into intelligible speech — a kind of Rosetta Stone of woof.

Computer scientist Kenny Zhu has built what he says is the world’s largest video and audio catalog of canine vocalizations. In papers published this year, Zhu and his colleagues at the university report potential phonemes — the smallest units of sound — and word-like patterns that could one day be turned into full sentences understandable to humans.

“The ultimate goal is to make a translator where you can talk freely with your pet,” said Zhu, a professor of computer science and engineering at UT Arlington. “We can already do instantaneous communication between human languages. Perhaps in the future we can do the same with animals.”

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