Things To Do In SW Florida

By Rae Ellen Bichell, KFF Health News

Stacey Knoll thought the court summons she received was a scam. She didn’t remember getting any medical bills from Montrose Regional Health, a nonprofit hospital, after a 2020 emergency room visit.

So she was shocked when, three years after the trip to the hospital, her employer received court orders requiring it to start funneling a chunk of her paychecks to a debt collector for an unpaid $881 medical bill — which had grown to $1,155.26 from interest and court fees.

The timing was terrible. After leaving a bad marriage and staying in a shelter, she had just gotten full custody of her three children, steady housing in Montrose, Colorado, and a job at a gas station.

“And that’s when I got that garnishment from the court,” she said. “It was really scary. I’d never been on my own or raised kids on my own.”

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Warning that the time to build is quickly running out, the Central Florida Expressway Authority board unanimously agreed on Thursday to move forward with constructing a toll road — first proposed decades ago — between State Road 417 and the Orlando Sanford International Airport.

At a cost of more than $200 million, the two-lane thoroughfare would help alleviate traffic congestion in one of the fastest-growing areas of Seminole County and ease access to an expanding airfield, its supporters say.

“This is really critical, and the time is now or never,” said Christopher Maier, chair of the toll road agency’s 10-member board. “Because we keep growing and more rooftops are popping up. So let’s seize this opportunity right now.”

Construction of the roughly two-mile long roadway is still years away, as CFX must first figure out how to pay for the project. That includes spending an estimated $18.3 million acquiring existing houses and properties along the route.

Toll revenues are estimated to generate $48.1 million over 40 years for the project. But that’s less than a quarter of the total cost of $200.4 million. CFX’s master plan recommends toll revenues cover at least half the cost of a construction project, said Glenn Pressimone, the agency’s chief of infrastructure. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation has risen in three of the last four months and is slightly higher than it was a year ago, when it helped sink then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Yet you wouldn’t know it from listening to President Donald Trump or even some of the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve.

Trump told the United Nations General Assembly late last month: “Grocery prices are down, mortgage rates are down, and inflation has been defeated.”

And at a high-profile speech in August, just before the Fed cut its key interest rate for the first time this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said: “Inflation, though still somewhat elevated, has come down a great deal from its post-pandemic highs. Upside risks to inflation have diminished.”

Yet dismissing or even downplaying inflation while it is still above the Fed’s target of 2% poses big risks for the White House and the Federal Reserve. For the Trump administration, it could find itself on the wrong side of a potent issue: Surveys show that many Americans still see high prices as a major burden on their finances. read more

Average home insurance premiums in Florida increased by 1.5% over the first eight months of 2025 — an improvement over previous years but not the reduction that cost-burdened policyholders have been waiting for since reforms were enacted in 2022 and 2023.

Will prices ever come down? Insurance insiders are divided over the prospect.

Experts interviewed for this report concur that the potential for meaningful cost decreases depends on what happens to costs of reinsurance — insurance that insurers buy — as well as competition among a growing list of carriers, rebuilding cost inflation, and whether Mother Nature will prevent major storms from hitting the state in coming years.

According to a South Florida Sun Sentinel analysis of data released monthly by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the average cost to insure a single-family home increased from $3,691 in January to $3,747 in August.

Among 84 companies that reported data across all eight months, average premiums declined for policyholders of only 17 of them: read more

By ADRIANA MORGA, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — As the end of 2025 approaches, a viral TikTok trend is helping people achieve their wellness goals: “The Great Lock In” encourages participants to finish the year strong by fully focusing on their life goals from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31.

Many people focus on exercise or eating healthier. But the trend can also help you achieve your financial goals.

There are no set rules for “The Great Lock In.” The phrase “lock in” is popular on social media and it means to focus intensely on a task.

“Something I like about this particular trend is that it’s like New Year’s resolutions’ little sister,” said Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, financial therapist and founder of Mind Money Balance, a financial wellness podcast and blog.

For Julissa Mercedes, 28, one of her lock in goals is to build an $2,500 emergency savings fund.

“Having some liquid cash will make me feel a little bit safer,” said Mercedes, a San Diego resident who works in finance. Aside from building an emergency fund, Mercedes has three other goals: making a new friend, creating a morning routine, and picking up a new hobby. read more