Things To Do In SW Florida

By CORA LEWIS

NEW YORK (AP) — Paul Safarik, 32, of Lincoln, Nebraska, has worked in the food industry since he was 21, delivering for quick service restaurants like Raising Cane’s and stocking groceries at stores like Trader Joe’s. With his earnings, Safarik, who has Down syndrome, recently bought a treadmill to stay active when the weather’s bad and helped cover the cost of braces for his teeth.

That’s unusual, financially speaking, and it’s thanks in part to a little-known savings account called an ABLE account, which lets people people with disabilities save money beyond the $2,000 asset limit that’s linked to benefits like Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. Without the account, Safarik could have risked losing government assistance if he had more than $2,000 in assets saved at one time in a given month.

“With this ABLE account, we don’t have to worry as much,” said Deb Safarik, 71, Paul’s mother, with whom he lives. “It’s nice that he can work and save, and not have that be held against him.” read more

With egg prices at a record high, shoppers know the pain of trying to buy eggs and finding only empty shelves or horrifying prices. But do you know how it’s hitting your favorite weekend breakfast spot?

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Apple announced Monday that it plans to invest more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, including plans to hire 20,000 people and build a new server factory in Texas.

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN

Lawsuits filed against cryptocurrency platforms during President Joe Biden’s administration continue to fall away as the administration of President Donald Trump has projected a much more lenient stance on cryptocurrency markets.

By MATT SEDENSKY, AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — HIRING: Park ranger. SEEKING: Nuclear submarine engineer. WANTED: Sled dog musher.

If they seem unlikely postings, they probably are. But a laid-off federal worker can dream.

Axed from jobs not easily found outside government, thousands of federal workers caught in President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting efforts now face a difficult search for work.

“If you’re doing, say, vegetation sampling and prescribed fire as your main work, there aren’t many jobs,” says Eric Anderson, 48, of Chicago, who was fired Feb. 14 from his job as a biological science technician at Indiana Dunes National Park.

All the years of work Anderson put in — the master’s degree, the urban forestry classes, the wildfire deployments — seemed to disappear in a single email dismissing him.

He’s hoping there’s a chance he’s called back, but if he isn’t, he’s not sure what he’ll do next. He was so consumed with his firing that he broke a molar from grinding his teeth. But he knows he’s caught in something larger than himself, as the new administration unfurls its chaotic cost-cutting agenda. read more