Things To Do In SW Florida

By BRIAN WITTE

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s first-in-the-nation tax on digital advertising violated the Constitution, a federal appeals court says, because blocking Big Tech from telling customers about the tax violates the companies’ right to free speech.

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Supporters say Maryland needed to overhaul its tax methods in response to significant changes in how businesses advertise. The tax focuses on large companies that make money advertising on the internet such as Meta, Google and Amazon, who say they’re being unfairly targeted.

The ongoing legal fight is being watched by other states that are considering taxes for online ads. Maryland estimated the tax could raise about $250 million a year to help pay for a sweeping K-12 education measure. read more

By ROD McGUIRK

MELBOURNE, Austalia (AP) — Google has agreed to pay a 55 million Australian dollar ($36 million) fine for signing anticompetitive deals with Australia’s two largest telcos that banned the installation of competing search engines on some smartphones, the U.S. tech giant and Australia’s competition watchdog said.

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement it had commenced proceedings in the Australian Federal Court on Monday against the Singapore-based Google Asia Pacific division. The court will decide whether the AU$50 million ($36 million) penalty is appropriate. read more

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Media Writer

Changing its mind about keeping its name, the MSNBC news network said Monday it will become My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW for short, as part of its corporate divorce from NBC.

The TV network, which appeals to liberal audiences with a stable of personalities including Rachel Maddow, Ari Melber and Nicole Wallace, has been building its own separate news division from NBC News. It will also remove NBC’s peacock symbol from its logo as part of the change, which will take effect later this year.

The name change was ordered by NBC Universal, which last November spun off cable networks USA, CNBC, MSNBC, E! Entertainment, Oxygen and the Golf Channel into its own company, called Versant. None of the other networks are changing their name.

MSNBC got its name upon its formation in 1996, as a partnership then between Microsoft and NBC. Even back then, it was a puzzling moniker to many. But it stuck, even after the NBC partnership with Microsoft that produced it ended, and Versant CEO Mark Lazarus said in the initial days of the spinoff that it would stay, making Monday’s announcement an unexpected about-face. read more

Gene Caballero learned a hard lesson when he bought himself a Tesla, thinking it would be “the perfect upgrade” — and then discovered that it was hard to find an apartment in Nashville, Tennessee with sufficient electric vehicle chargers.

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“It’s become a headache constantly worrying about access,” says Caballero, who is a co-founder of lawn care platform GreenPal. “I wish I would have stuck with something more traditional.”

Ashley Carroll, CEO of business consulting firm Operations House in Philadelphia, spent $12,000 to join an upscale country club in the area. She hoped she and her husband would be able to make friends and do some networking. “This was a treat for us,” Carroll says. read more

Two Americans visiting Carnival Cruise Line’s new Bahamas private resort Celebration Key died on Friday, according to the Royal Bahamas Police and confirmed by the cruise line.

“Our lifeguards and medical team responded to two separate water emergency incidents at Celebration Key Friday — one in the lagoon and one at the beach,” reads a statement from the cruise line. “Sadly, both guests have passed away.”

One guest was sailing on the Mardi Gras out of Port Canaveral and one on Carnival Elation out of Jacksonville.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the guests and their families and our Care Team is providing assistance,” the cruise line stated.

The Royal Bahamas Police reported their investigations into both incidents on Grand Bahama, with the first happening shortly before noon Friday.

“Officers on duty at the location responded and discovered an unresponsive 79-year-old male on board a commercial vessel,” the police statement reads, “According to the initial report, the male became unresponsive while snorkeling at a beach. A lifeguard assisted him from the water, and CPR was administered, but to no avail. As a result, the male who is reported to be an American national was pronounced deceased by a medical doctor.” read more