Things To Do In SW Florida

By Stephanie Armour, KFF Health News

On his way to an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stopped by the home of podcaster Gary Brecka. The two spent time in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and tried some intravenous nutrition drips that Brecka, a self-avowed longevity and wellness maven, sells and promotes on his show, “The Ultimate Human.”

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Then the podcast taping started, and Kennedy — who was also on the mic — took aim at Big Pharma’s influence on federal health policy. read more

By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law new regulations for a type of cryptocurrency, a major milestone for an industry that has spent heavily to strengthen its legitimacy and political might.

The GENIUS Act sets initial guardrails and consumer protections for stablecoins, which are tied to assets like the U.S. dollar to reduce price volatility compared with other forms of cryptocurrency. It passed both the House and Senate with wide bipartisan margins.

The new law is meant to bolster consumer confidence in the crypto industry, which has quickly become a major power player in Washington thanks to massive campaign donations and spending on lobbying. Its passage comes as Trump had repeatedly pledged to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.”

“For years you were mocked and dismissed and counted out,” Trump told crypto industry executives at a White House bill signing attended by about 200 people, including several top GOP lawmakers. “This signing is a massive validation of your hard work and your pioneering spirit.” read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

The debate over whether Coca-Cola should use high-fructose corn syrup or cane sugar in its signature soda obscures an important fact: Consumers are increasingly looking for Coke with no sugar at all.

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Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, which was introduced in 2017, uses both the artificial sweetener aspartame and the natural sweetener stevia in its recipe. It’s one of Coke’s fastest-growing products, with global case volumes up 14% in the first quarter of the year. By comparison, the company’s total case volumes were up 2%.

PepsiCo also noted Thursday that 60% of its sales volumes in major markets in the second quarter came from low- or no-sugar drinks. read more

By JOSH FUNK

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Anyone firing up the grill this summer already knows hamburger patties and steaks are expensive, but the latest numbers show prices have climbed increasingly fast.

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  Recent Central Florida bankruptcies

And experts say consumers shouldn’t expect much relief soon either.

The average price of a pound of ground beef rose to $6.12 in June, up nearly 12% from a year ago, according to U.S. government data. The average price of all uncooked beef steaks rose 8% to $11.49 per pound.

But this is not a recent phenomenon. Beef prices have been steadily rising over the past 20 years because the supply of cattle remains tight while beef remains popular. read more

The bankruptcy estates of defunct regional airline Silver Airways and its Caribbean affiliate Seaborne Virgin Islands are now down to this: With their assets auctioned off, the trustee overseeing both has asked a Fort Lauderdale judge to green-light the conversion of the companies’ Chapter 11 reorganization cases to Chapter 7 liquidations.

“Each of the Debtors’ estates are administratively insolvent,’ wrote Soneet Kapila, the trustee appointed last month by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Peter Russin, in a motion to the court.

Kapila wrote that “the cost of the chapter 11 cases increases each day” as more requests for repayments arrive from creditors who say they are owed money since Silver and Seaborne filed for protection from creditors at the end of last year.

“As such there has been a substantial and continuing loss or diminution to the estates,”Kapila said.

“There is no likelihood of rehabilitation,” Kapila added. “The sale of substantially all the assets of the Debtors has been approved by this Court and each of the sale transactions has closed.” read more