Things To Do In SW Florida

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation shut down four Central Florida dining venues for health code violations during the week from Jan. 18-24.

Orange

Checkers at 10500 W. Colonial Dr. in Ocoee shut down on Jan. 21. Inspectors found five violations, one of which was a high priority after inspectors found 12 live roaches on site. A followup inspection on Jan. 22 continued to find live roaches, but a second inspection that day cleared the restaurant to reopen.

Brevard

Beachside Hotel And Suites at 3901 N. Atlantic Ave. in Cocoa Beach shut own on Jan. 21 when inspectors found seven violations including one that was high priority. That was for evidence of rodent activity after inspectors found nearly 30 droppings around the premises. Inspectors returned on Jan. 22 finding no violations and the restaurant was allowed to reopen.

Peacock Indian Kitchen Inc. at 600 Brevard Ave. in Cocoa shut down on Jan. 20 after inspectors found nine violations including two deemed high priority. Those were for rodent activity with more than 50 droppings in various locations and for a missing vacuum breaker on the mop sink faucet. A second inspection was held Jan. 21 resulting in five violations including the missing vaccum breaker, but the restaurant received a time extension to remedy that, and inspectors allowed the venue to reopen. read more

In one of the most expensive land deals in Polk County history, Pulte has locked down the site for its fifth vacation home resort community and will start construction in the next 30 days.

Pulte paid $51.8 million in cash last week for the 288-acre site at the intersection of U.S. 17-92 and Ernie Caldwell Boulevard, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.  Melissa Rodriguez, with RockMel Investments, represented the seller, Standard Sand & Silica.

All of the Standand Sand & Silica land holdings were annexed into the City of Davenport in Oct. 2024 as part of a 1,600-acre expansion that extended the city limits over 2 miles north to the boundaries of Providence. The 15-parcel assemblage has been in the Carnes family since 1949 and was previously used for citrus farming and sand mining operations. It has since been rezoned to a Planned Unit Development that will bring thousands of new homes and apartments, as well as commercial development and industrial uses, to the long-vacant land. read more

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon said it’s closing all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations, as the online behemoth focuses on its grocery delivery, Whole Foods Market and a new “supersized” store concept.

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The Seattle-based online retailer said Tuesday in a blog post that it plans to convert some of those soon-to-be shuttered locations into Whole Foods Market stores. The company operates 57 Amazon Fresh stores and 15 Amazon Go stores.

“While we’ve seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven’t yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion,” the company said in the post. read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Pinterest plans to lay off under 15% of its workforce, as part of broader restructuring that arrives as the image-sharing platform pivots more of its money to artificial intelligence.

In a Tuesday securities filing, San Francisco-based Pinterest said it was making these cuts to support “transformation initiatives” — which include reallocating the company’s resources to AI-focused roles and prioritizing AI-powered products. It said it was also working to reshape its “sales and go-to-market approach.”

Beyond the coming layoffs, Pinterest said it will reduce office space. The company expects to complete its restructuring plan by the end of September, incurring pretax charges of $35 million to $45 million.

Pinterest’s job cuts are expected to impact hundreds of workers. As of the end of last year, Pinterest had a total headcount of about 5,200 employees, the company confirmed to The Associated Press.

Like other tech and social media companies, Pinterest has accelerated its integration of AI recently, particularly in consumer-facing offerings. In October, the company introduced AI-powered updates to users’ in-platform “boards” and unveiled Pinterest Assistant, which is also powered by AI and gives users shopping recommendations. read more

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writer

UPS is planning to cut up to 30,000 operational jobs this year as the package delivery company continues with its turnaround efforts and reducing the number of Amazon shipments that it handles.

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Chief Financial Officer Brian Dykes said during the company’s conference call on Tuesday that the job cuts will be made through a voluntary buyout offer for full-time drivers and through attrition.

UPS is also looking to close 24 buildings in the first half of the year and is evaluating additional buildings to close later in the year, he added. read more