Things To Do In SW Florida

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa cut the ribbon on a new gaming area with 350 slot machines Thursday on the same day that the gambling destination reopened the Fresh Harvest Buffet.

These upgrades are complemented by a complete renovation of the hotel’s West Tower, a project comprised of 240 smoke-free rooms.

All of these improvements totaled $65 million and came from guest demand, said Steve Bonner, president of the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa. In reopening the buffet and unveiling the new slot area, these projects happened in a quick eight-week time span.

“I couldn’t go anywhere in Tampa Bay without someone asking me about the buffet. ‘When’s the buffet opening?’ they asked. It’s open,” he said during an interview in the new slot area. “Seven weeks ago, they were serving pizza right where we’re standing, and the buffet hadn’t been open for four years.”

The latest expansion follows a massive $700 million project in 2019 that included the new 14-story East Tower with 562 hotel rooms, three pools, a spa and salon, a huge casino expansion and the addition of Elvis Presley’s iconic 24-karat gold leaf plated 1928 Kimball grand piano to the lobby. read more

By CORA LEWIS

NEW YORK (AP) — If you live in a part of the world prone to wildfires, floods, blizzards, tornadoes, or earthquakes, there are ways you can make sure you’re financially prepared for disaster, beyond insurance.

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Like most presidents, Donald Trump faces an economy that seldom bends to political ambitions.

The Republican has promised strong growth, high tariffs, income tax cuts and booming oilfields. But despite the solid job market and low 4.1% unemployment rate, he has to contend with headwinds like inflation, a budget deficit, increased tensions over trade, the fallout from his plans to curtail immigration and a persistent wealth gap.

Each of these issues could help to shape how voters feel about a president they returned to the White House with the specific goal of fixing the economy.

For his part, Trump wants to blame all the challenges before him on his predecessor, Joe Biden, who in turn blamed Trump in 2021 for the problems his own administration had to tackle.

“This begins with confronting the economic chaos caused by the failed policies of the last administration,” Trump told the World Economic Forum on Thursday.

Here are five economic forces that could shape the first year of Trump’s presidency: read more

TALLAHASSEE — Despite retirees continuing to reduce the size of the labor force and a slight bump in the number of Floridians out of work, the state’s unemployment rate held steady in December.

The Florida Department of Commerce on Friday released a report that said the unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in December, unchanged from November. The national unemployment rate in December was 4.1 percent.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan statistical area had the state’s lowest unemployment rate in December at 2.8 percent, followed by the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin and Naples areas at 2.9 percent.

Among others, the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Panama City and Jacksonville areas had 3 percent rates in December.

The highest rate was in the Homosassa Springs area at 4.8 percent. The Sebring area was at 4.5 percent and The Villages area was at 4.4 percent.

Jimmy Heckman, the Department of Commerce’s chief of workforce statistics and economic research, attributed the state’s employment picture to its population growth, which has boosted demand for goods and services. read more

By ALEXA ST. JOHN

DETROIT (AP) — While President Donald Trump took aim at the electric vehicle industry this week, there is still optimism about the industry’s future in Michigan, a state retooling from America’s most recognizable auto hub to its number one destination for electric vehicle investment.