Things To Do In SW Florida

Hotelier Harris Rosen laugh with students in a Pre-K class at Tangelo Park Elementary School after he asked them “Who wants to be in the hotel business?” on Oct., 1, 2008. Rosen was asking the students what they wanted to be when they grow up and specifically asked about a few professions. (Sentinel archive)

Legendary hotelier Harris Rosen in front of the Rosen Medical Center, a one-of-a-kind clinic and wellness center for his employees and their families, located at The Rosen Inn, photographed Feb. 22, 2018. The Rosen Inn is the original property he purchased that started his Central Florida empire of hotels and convention space. (Joe Burbank/Sentinel archive)

Hotelier Harris Rosen at his office on International Drive, on Aug. 19, 2011. Rosen Hotels & Resorts has announced plans to triple the size of its in-house associate medical facility, which provides direct care to employees so the company can save on medical costs. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Sentinel archive)

Legendary Central Florida hotelier Harris Rosen takes an inaurgural swim in the newly renamed Rosen YMCA Aquatic Center, July 24, 2018. The landmark swim facility on International Drive was saved from bankruptcy by Rosen in the 1990s; he swims there everyday. (Joe Burbank/Sentinel archive) read more

Another private company will soon try its hand at sticking a landing on the moon for NASA.

Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace was one of several companies that won contracts under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which aims to pay companies to provide a ride to the moon for its experiments.

Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh was the first company to launch under the program with its Peregrine lunar lander this past Janaury atop a United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. That spacecraft ultimately didn’t make it to the moon.

Intuitive Machines finally releases moon landing shots as mission nears conclusion

A month later, though, Houston-based Intuitive Machines completed the deal with a mostly successful landing of its Nova-C lander Odysseus, making it the first commercial company to ever land on the moon.

Both of those companies have more missions planned to the moon under NASA’s CLPS program, but Firefly is likely to be next up with is Blue Ghost lander, which had completed environmental testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory last month. read more

By JOSH BOAK and FATIMA HUSSEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has big plans for the economy — and a big debt problem that will be a hurdle to delivering on them.

Trump has bold ideas on tax cuts, tariffs and other programs, but high interest rates and the price of repaying the federal government’s existing debt could limit what he’s able to do.

Not only is the federal debt at roughly $36 trillion, but the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will easily exceed spending on national security.

The higher cost of servicing the debt gives Trump less room to maneuver with the federal budget as he seeks income tax cuts. It’s also a political challenge because higher interest rates have made it costlier for many Americans to buy a home or new automobile. And the issue of high costs helped Trump reclaim the presidency in November’s election.

“It’s clear the current amount of debt is putting upward pressure on interest rates, including mortgage rates for instance,” said Shai Akabas, executive director of the economic policy program at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “The cost of housing and groceries is going to be increasingly felt by households in a way that are going to adversely affect our economic prospects in the future.” read more

More than 41,000 attendees made it to last week’s IAAPA Expo, a record number for the event, the Orlando-based International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions reports.

The Expo hosted 1,100 exhibitors and 27,000 buyers from 20,000 buying companies at Orange County Convention Center, IAAPA says.

Jakob Wahl, CEO of IAAPA, said the rise in attendance coincides with members’ improved outlook for the industry.

“The summer was a little flat, and then, in talking to many operators, they had at a very strong autumn. … You see an enthusiasm on the show floor,” Wahl said during the event.

“We are slightly above last year. Which would be great because I didn’t think that in the summertime we were that optimistic, considering where the industry stood,” he said.

The Expo, held annually in November in Orlando, has evolved beyond the usual theme parks and manufacturers, he said.

“You see more and more of those additional attractions coming. You see shopping malls coming. You see you see ski resorts,” Wahl said. “You have some newbies right now, and that’s great because our industry gets broadened.” read more