Things To Do In SW Florida

A political titan has filed a provocative bill he says will reduce insurance costs in Florida — and the insurance industry doesn’t like his proposals.

One provision would roll back recent restrictions on fees that attorneys can collect when they sue insurers. Another provision would require insurers to publicly disclose their companies’ subsidiaries and affiliates and all of the ways their executives benefit from them.

The proposals are in similar bills filed in the state House and Senate this week. The House bill was filed by Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola.

The Senate bill was filed by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Crestview, a longtime heavyweight in Florida politics and father of former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Don Gaetz was reelected to the state Senate last fall after an eight-year absence. Last year, he campaigned on promises to fix an insurance system that has continued to raise costs for homeowners while saving significant money avoiding legal costs.

“Floridians pay far more for property insurance than anyone anywhere else in the nation,” the two lawmakers were quoted in a news release as saying. “Admittedly, Florida is a high-risk market, but we believe there are steps the Legislature can take to improve how rates are set and how individual claims can be processed faster and fairer.” read more

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — OpenAI says its board of directors has unanimously rejected a $97.4 billion takeover bid by Elon Musk.

“OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition,” said a statement Friday from Bret Taylor, chair of OpenAI’s board.

OpenAI attorney William Savitt in a letter to Musk’s attorney Friday said the proposal “is not in the best interests of OAI’s mission and is rejected.”

By Jeff Ostrowski, Bankrate.com

For borrowers in today’s expensive housing market, getting approved for a mortgage can be a challenge. Mortgage rates have soared from pandemic-era lows, home values are near record highs and home price appreciation is outpacing wage growth.

All of that means there’s no guarantee a lender will approve your mortgage application. Here’s a look at how lenders decide to extend credit, and some common reasons why mortgage applications get rejected.

How does mortgage underwriting work?

Mortgage underwriting is the process of verifying and analyzing the financial information you provide your lender — all with the goal of giving you an answer of yes, no or maybe. As part of the application, you hand over bank statements, W-2s and other tax documents, recent pay stubs and any additional documentation the lender requires.

Dispense with any stereotypes about the old days of lending or the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life”, when a banker determined your creditworthiness by the firmness of your handshake and the crispness of your shirt. In most cases, a loan officer or mortgage broker will collect your information and submit it to an underwriting software system. Loans that will be sold to Fannie Mae, for example, use Desktop Underwriter (DU), while loans sold to Freddie Mac leverage Loan Product Advisor (LPA). read more

CORAL GABLES — When an armed shooter enters a store, there is little time to react.

But a virtual reality program that mimics actual workplaces is training employees to think quickly and save lives.

The founding director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Jeremy Bailenson, discussed the applications of virtual and augmented technology as keynote speaker for the University of Miami’s first Miami XR conference  last Friday.

“The (active shooter) simulation allows them to practice decision-making, hiding, escaping, or responding to threats in a safe, controlled setting,” Bailenson said. “By interacting with the scenario in real time, they develop muscle memory and situational awareness, improving their ability to react under stress.”

Bailenson co-founded the company Strivr to implement VR training in the workplace. His product Armed Attack has been used by hundreds of thousands of people at companies such as Verizon, Bank of America and Walmart. Most corporations are involved in developing a custom simulation, modeling the digital backdrops after real locations. read more

For all the ways Colorado’s cannabis industry has evolved over the decade-plus since legalization, one thing that remains largely the same is the consumer buying experience.

Typically, enthusiasts go to a dispensary in person and chat with a budtender, who helps them select the flower, edibles or concentrates that seem suitable to their needs. Many customers buy brands they are familiar with, but because inventory often rotates, price and potency tend to be the primary drivers in decision-making for new products.

This has become customary for shoppers in Colorado, but Denverite Damon Brooks thinks there are better – and more convenient – ways for customers to try new things. That was the inspiration behind GreenDoor, which he founded in 2024 with his partner Samantha Barela.

GreenDoor is an e-commerce platform that seeks to reimagine the marijuana shopping experience by acting as a conduit between dispensaries and customers. Brooks and Barela curate experiential boxes filled with marijuana products and other lifestyle items to take the legwork out of shopping and introduce new brands to local consumers. read more