Things To Do In SW Florida

A revamped version of a congressional NASA authorization act moving through the U.S. Senate would add two more years of life to the International Space Station among a slew of new directives for the nation’s space agency.

The NASA Authorization Act of 2026 passed the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation committee with bipartisan support Wednesday, setting up a full vote in the chamber.

Spearheaded by chairman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the 200-plus page document spells out what Congress expects NASA to do with itself in the coming years and builds on previous NASA authorization bills. A final version would need to also be passed by the U.S. House and signed by the president.

Among the major shifts in the bill is extending the life of the space station from 2030 to 2032, giving the agency time to ensure a commercial replacement is in place before the current plan to deborbit the station and have it burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

“It is the intent of Congress to ensure an orderly transition from the ISS to commercial low-Earth-orbit destinations without a gap in continuous United States human presence in low-Earth orbit.” read more

By Kate Ashford, NerdWallet

Recently, a listener of NerdWallet’s Smart Money podcast submitted a question about budgeting for long-term care for her father-in-law:

We are looking at how we can have him move closer to us into an independent/assisted living situation. We would like to build a budget to help him understand what type of living situation he could afford and for how long.

All the best,Senior Living is Confusing

Let’s tackle the question step by step.

How much does assisted living cost?

Assisted living costs vary wildly, depending on where you live. The national median cost of an assisted living community was $70,800 per year in 2024, and a semi-private room in a nursing home was $111,325, according to the Genworth and CareScout Cost of Care survey. Home health aides cost a median of $34 an hour.

The survey is a great place to start. You can dig in by state and look at numbers for a variety of care scenarios, including home health aides, adult day care and nursing homes.

“That helps them get a more realistic viewpoint,” says Amy Goyer, AARP’s national family and caregiving expert. But then they should look at their costs locally, she says, because “in their part of the state it can be much more or much less.” read more

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and MATT OTT, AP Business Writers

American consumers pulled back their spending to start 2026, extending the malaise in retail sales that began late last year.

Related Articles

• 
  The Savings Game: Avoiding IRS penalties

• 
  Customs and Border Protection official says new process for tariff refunds could be ready in 45 days

• 
  China’s 10-passenger electric aircraft, the Matrix, hints at how big flying taxis can be

• 
  Beyond Meat drops the ‘Meat’ from its name as it expands to plant-based drinks and snacks

• 
  Congress’ updated NASA directive seeks to extend space station life to 2032

Retail sales fell 0.2% in January, following a flat reading in December, according to the Commerce Department’s report issued on Friday. January’s figure came in below the forecasts of economists, who were expecting another flat reading, The report was delayed because of the 43-day government shutdown.

The January retail figure was weighed down by a sales decline at motor vehicle and auto parts dealerships. Gas stations also saw a drop in business, reflecting lower gas prices in January, though the intensifying war in the Middle East is driving up prices in recent days. The national average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline was $3.32 Friday; a week ago, it was $2.98, AAA said read more

By PAUL WISEMAN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — American employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs last month, a sign that the labor market remains under strain. The unemployment rate blipped up to 4.4%.

Hiring deteriorated from January, when companies, nonprofits and government agencies added a healthy 126,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists had expected 60,000 new jobs in February.

Revisions also cut 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls.

The surprisingly weak employment picture in February adds to the economic uncertainty over the war with Iran, which has caused oil prices to surge and saddled business and consumers with unforeseen costs.

“The job market is struggling in the face of so many headwinds,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Companies are going to be even more reluctant to hire this spring until the war ends and they can see consumers still spending. It’s a tense time for the U.S. economy.” read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil shot to its highest price since 2023 after surging again Friday because of the Iran war, and a weak update on the U.S. job market knocked stocks lower to cap Wall Street’s worst week since October.

The S&P 500 dropped 1.3% after a report showed U.S. employers cut more jobs last month than they created and after oil prices spiked above $90 per barrel. The combination of a weak economy and high inflation is a worst-case scenario for investors because the Federal Reserve has no good tool to fix both problems at the same time.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged as many as 945 points before finishing with a loss of 453, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.6%.

“You can’t sugarcoat this report,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. “A negative payrolls number combined with a big jump in oil prices will have traders worrying about stagflation risks.”

Stagflation is what economists call the miserable mix of a stagnating economy with high inflation, and a separate report released Friday added to the sourness after showing that U.S. retailers made less money in January than economists expected. It raised the disconcerting possibility that spending by U.S. households, the main engine of the economy, may be stretched near its maximum. read more