Things To Do In SW Florida

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Golf caddies, blackjack dealers and house painters are among the jobs covered under the Trump administration’s preliminary list of occupations not required to pay income tax on their tips under Republicans’ new tax cuts and spending bill.

A bit more unexpected? Podcasters and social media influencers will also be excluded from forking over a portion of their tips, according to the list released Tuesday by the Treasury Department.

The provision in the law signed by President Donald Trump in July eliminates federal income taxes on tips for people working in jobs that have traditionally received them. It’s temporary and runs from 2025 until 2028. It applies to people who make less than $160,000 in 2025.

The Yale Budget Lab estimates that there were roughly 4 million workers in tipped occupations in 2023, which amounts to roughly 2.5% of all jobs.

The administration was required to publish a list of qualifying occupations within 90 days of the bill’s signing. The full list of occupations is located on the Treasury Department website. read more

By Madyson Fitzgerald, Stateline.org

This year, comprehensive privacy laws are going into effect in eight states to regulate how businesses handle digital information and to give consumers more protections over their personal data.

The laws in Delaware, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Tennessee have taken effect already this year, according to a database from the International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Westin Research Center. Maryland’s privacy law, signed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore last year, will go into effect Oct. 1.

Privacy laws enacted in Indiana, Kentucky and Rhode Island will go into effect next year.

Several other states are considering comprehensive privacy bills during this year’s legislative sessions. They include Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

When a person visits a website, applies to a job or logs into an online portal, they may be sharing their personal information. Comprehensive privacy laws can apply to a wide range of companies that participate in this kind of data collection. read more

By Brooks Johnson, The Minnesota Star Tribune

Typically, when some product becomes too expensive, people buy less of it.

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Not so with beef. Despite record high prices for the red meat — thanks to a record low number of cattle raised for slaughter — demand for the fresh protein keeps rising.

Folks are more interested in a Jucy Lucy than following the law of supply and demand, it seems.

A recent report from CoBank said the “remarkably steady allure of beef, even at current prices” stems from “heightened interest in dietary protein, changing health perceptions surrounding beef and the availability of restaurant-quality beef at retail grocery stores.” read more

By JAMIE STENGLE and RIO YAMAT, Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Families of some of the 346 people killed in crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners held photos of their dead loved ones Wednesday outside a federal court in Texas, where a judge was hearing arguments on the U.S. government’s motion to dismiss a felony conspiracy charge against the aerospace company in connection with the twin disasters.

U.S. District Chief Judge Reed O’Connor set aside time for relatives of the crash victims to speak during the hearing. Some traveled from countries in Europe and Africa to pursue what could be their final opportunity to demand that the company face criminal prosecution for the crashes off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia.

“My daughter died on a new airplane that was defective and that was in operation because they weren’t complying with regulations and because of fraud,” said Nadia Milleron, a Massachusetts resident whose 24-year-old daughter, Samya Stumo, was among the 157 passengers and crew members killed in the Ethiopia crash. “I don’t want any other any other family member to lose their loved ones because of this kind of fraud.” read more

By DAVID McHUGH, AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Parliament’s trade committee said Wednesday he has “doubts” about aspects of the EU’s trade deal with the Trump administration and predicted the deal could be amended during the legislative approval process.

“A lot of questions are there, and I guess there will be some amendments,” said committee chairman Bernd Lange, adding that “myself and also some colleagues of mine have doubts about the deal.”

Lange stopped short of outright opposing the agreement struck July 27 between the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and U.S. President Donald Trump. The deal imposes a 15% tariff on European goods while lowering EU tariffs on U.S. cars and industrial goods to zero; some EU goods including aircraft, cork and generic pharmaceuticals, were exempted from the 15% rates.

The deal has had a mixed reception in Europe, with business associations saying it imposes high costs that will impede exports to the U.S. Von der Leyen says that it will lower a painful 27.5% tariff on autos and bring stability and predictability for businesses. read more