Things To Do In SW Florida

By Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times

Every year, Ventura County, California, resident Carlos Soto buys a Liverpool Football Club jersey for his son to celebrate the start of the soccer season. This year it was delivered with an additional bill of $107.

“The UPS guy said he couldn’t release it unless I paid more,” said Soto, who owns the Historia Bakery Cafe in Thousand Oaks. “Until this tariff thing started, I’ve never, ever had a bill on top of my purchase.”

Soto declined the payment and requested a refund for the jersey, which he bought from the team’s official website for around $150.

Since President Trump reversed a decades-old tariff policy in August known as de minimis, online shoppers like Soto are sometimes getting hit with high, unexpected extra charges.

De minimis used to allow goods valued at less than $800 to enter the country duty-free. The tariff exception applied to more than 1.30 billion packages sent to the U.S. from overseas in 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. read more

Four Central Florida restaurants as well as a food stand and a food truck shut down the week of Sept. 28 – Oct. 4, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Brevard

Shells of Melbourne at 1490 W. New Haven Ave. shut down on Oct. 1. Inspectors initially inspected the restaurant on Sept. 30, finding 36 violations, eight of which were a high priority. However, they only required a follow-up inspection for the restaurant on that day. On Oct. 1, the restaurant officially closed because of one high-priority violation for flying insects. A second inspection occurred on Oct. 2. There were 12 violations, two of which were high priorities that received time extensions. The restaurant met inspection standards and was allowed to reopen.

China Moon Lin LLC at 3085 SE. Jupiter Blvd., Suite  #2, shut down on Sept. 30. Inspectors found 11 violations, two of which were high priorities. Those violations included 33 spiders in the back of the kitchen and roach activity. Inspectors revisited the restaurant on Oct. 1. There were two violations, but none was a high priority. The restaurant met inspection standards. read more

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The global economy is holding up better than expected despite major shocks such as President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but the head of the International Monetary Fund says that resilience may not last.

“Buckle up,” Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech at a think tank Wednesday. “Uncertainty is the new normal and it is here to stay.”

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Her comments at the Milken Institute come on a day when gold prices hit $4,000 an ounce for the first time as investors seek safe haven from a weaker dollar and geopolitical uncertainty and before the IMF and World Bank hold their annual meetings next week in Washington. Trump’s trade penalties are expected to be in sharp focus when global finance leaders and central bankers gather. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street got back to rising on Wednesday, while the price of gold pushed further past $4,000 per ounce.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% a day after snapping a seven-day winning streak and set its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 1 point, or less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 1.1% to its own record.

Trading has been relatively muted recently following the U.S. government’s latest shutdown. The closure has delayed the release of several major economic reports that usually move the market. Stocks have been drifting without them or other signals to change expectations for cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, one of the major reasons the stock market has surged since April.

Another force that’s pushed the market to records is the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.

Advanced Micro Devices jumped another 11.4% to add to its rally from earlier in the week, when it announced an AI-related deal. AMD was the best performing stock in the S&P 500. read more

By Brian Womack, The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — Mary Kay wants to introduce you to your new personal styling guru: artificial intelligence.

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In a bid to appeal to younger makeup users, the storied North Texas-based brand has unveiled a new AI-powered digital service to help users pick the ideal foundation for their beauty routines, according to Lucy Gildea, chief brand and scientific officer. The service provides some simple technology tools to take the guesswork out of the process of selecting the right shade by just looking into a camera on a device. read more