Things To Do In SW Florida

CAPE CANAVERAL  — A tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to lead NASA.

Jared Isaacman, 41, CEO and founder of a card-processing company, has been a close collaborator with Musk ever since buying his first chartered flight with SpaceX. He took along contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits.

If confirmed, Isaacman will replace Bill Nelson, 82, a former Democratic senator from Florida who was nominated by President Joe Biden. Nelson flew aboard space shuttle Columbia in 1986 – on the flight right before the Challenger disaster — while a congressman.

Isaacman said he was honored to be nominated and would be “grateful to serve.” “Having been fortunate to see our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history,” he said via X. read more

By Kate Ashford, NerdWallet

Each year, Medicare comes with a new set of prices, new plan ratings and sometimes new regulations. What you’ll pay may be different from last year, and your network and prescription drug coverage may change, depending on your plan. Here’s how Medicare looks in 2025.

Plan ratings have gone down

The average Medicare Advantage star rating in 2025 is 3.92 out of 5, weighted by enrollment, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This is down from an average star rating of 4.07 in 2025 and represents the third year in a row that ratings have declined. Ratings also dropped for Medicare Part D plans, which have an average rating of 3.06 stars in 2025, weighted by enrollment. That’s down from an average of 3.34 stars in 2024.

It’s that sentimental time of year when folks drag out their tattered stockings, beloved ornaments and other remembrances of holidays seasons past.

Theme park fans have annual favorites too, like Candlelight Processional at Epcot, “O Wondrous Night” stage show at SeaWorld Orlando and the appearance of Max the dog during “Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular” at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.

But Central Florida attractions have rolled out new activities for our holiday inspection. After all, old faves have to start somewhere. Here’s a sampler of fresh fare, right out of the oven.

Ball game

The Epcot International Festival of the Holidays has expanded to include an 8-foot-tall gingerbread Spaceship Earth. And it twinkles. It took 240 pounds of honey dough to make the sphere, Disney says, and there are six different sizes of triangles involved.

The structure is set up inside CommuniCore Hall, another new Epcot hotspot, where visitors also can buy a SSE-inspired triangular piece of gingerbread at the Experimental Prototype Cookies of Tomorrow counter. They go for $10. read more

Rosen Hotels & Resorts’ new CEO Frank Santos vowed Tuesday to sustain the vision of the company’s late founder, ruling out a sale of the business and pledging to continue its much-lauded commitment to charitable giving.

Santos, a longtime associate of founder Harris Rosen, will take the leadership reins. His promotion comes about a week after Rosen’s death.

“He left me with pretty clear directions of what the future would look like,” said Santos, who worked with Rosen for nearly four decades. “We have no intention, and definitely not under my watch would any of our properties be sold.”

Rosen’s charitable foundations will also be fully supported, Santos announced.

Rosen died Nov. 25 at the age of 85. The hospitality titan opened his first hotel in 1974, purchasing a 256-room Quality Inn on International Drive. Over the decades, Rosen’s empire grew to become Florida’s largest independent hotel chain with seven properties and more than 6,300 rooms. The company employs more than 4,000 people. read more