Things To Do In SW Florida

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Business Writer

Dozens of people rallied outside the Michigan headquarters of WK Kellogg Co. Tuesday, demanding that the company remove artificial dyes from its breakfast cereals in the U.S.

Kellogg, the maker of Froot Loops and Apple Jacks, announced nearly a decade ago that it would remove artificial colors and ingredients from its products by 2018.

The company has done that in other countries. In Canada, for example, Froot Loops are colored with concentrated carrot juice, watermelon juice and blueberry juice. But in the U.S., the cereal still contains artificial colors and BHT, a chemical preservative.

On Tuesday, activists said they were delivering petitions with more than 400,000 signatures asking WK Kellogg to remove artificial dyes and BHT from their cereals. Protesters said there was evidence that artificial dyes can contribute to behavioral issues in children.

“I’m here for all the mothers who struggle to feed their kids healthy food without added chemicals,” said Vani Hari, a food activist who previously pressured Kraft Heinz to remove artificial dyes from its macaroni and cheese. read more

By ALEXANDRA OLSON and CLAIRE SAVAGE, AP Business Writers

NEW YORK (AP) — Just how much of a setback was the COVID-19 pandemic for U.S. working women?

Although women who lost or left their jobs at the height of the crisis have largely returned to the workforce, a recent finding points to the price many paid for stepping back: In 2023, the gender wage gap between men and women working full-time widened year-over-year for the first time in 20 years, according to an annual report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Women working full time earned 83 cents on the dollar compared to men in 2023, down from a historic high of 84 cents in 2022. The Census Bureau called it the first statistically significant widening of the ratio since 2003.

Economists trying to make sense of the data say it captures a complicated moment during the disjointed post-pandemic labor market recovery when many women finally returned to work full-time, especially in hard-hit low-wage industries where they are overrepresented like hospitality, social work and caretaking. read more

Walt Disney World has revealed the list of celebrity narrators for Candlelight Processional, part of the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays, which begins Nov. 29.

Among the readers are three newbies: Nico Santos (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “Superstore,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”), Tituss Burgess (Sebastian in Broadway’s “The Little Mermaid,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) and Ralph Macchio (“The Karate Kid” movies, Netflix’s “Cobra Kai”).

Among the familiar returning voices and faces are Neil Patrick Harris, Edward James Olmos, Josh Gad, Gloria Estefan and Jodi Benson.

Candlelight Processional features a mass choir, live orchestra and narrator of the Christmas story, performed three times nightly at the theme park’s American Adventure Theater.  Show times this year have been moved up 15 minutes from previous seasons. Candlelight will begin at 5 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.

The full list of narrators, subject to change, includes:

• Nov. 29-30: Josh Gad read more

Walt Disney World is sharing its first peek at Bakso, a baby Sumatran tiger born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park recently.

“Tigers are in steep decline in the wild, so it is very special to welcome a new baby here at Disney, the first in seven years,” Dr. Natalie Mylniczenko, one of Disney’s veterinarians, said in a post on the official Disney Parks Blog. “Tiger births are rare in managed care and take a lot of planning and coordinating by our animal care team and the Species Survival Plan.”

There are fewer than 600 Sumatran tigers worldwide in the wild and in managed care, Disney says.

Bakso, a male, is the offspring of second-time mom Sohni and dad Conrad, who both live at Animal Kingdom. His birth was meticulously planned in cooperation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. They used hormone experts, frequent blood tests, weekly ultrasounds and other techniques to help bring about a successful birth.

Sohni’s pregnancy was announced last month via the Instagram account of Dr. Mark Penning, vice president for Disney’s Animals, Science & Environment. read more

NASA has officially given SpaceX the next two missions to the International Space Station under its Commercial Crew Program with Boeing’s Starliner still potentially available for a late visit in 2025 if it achieves certification.

NASA announced updated crew rotation plans Tuesday including a crew assignment for Crew-10, the program’s next flight up to the station targeting February.

Crew-10 will be commanded by NASA astronaut Anne McClain making her second trip to space. She’ll be joined by rookie pilot Nichole Ayers, the first of the 2021 astronaut class to get a space assignment. Also flying with be Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi making his second trip to space and rookie Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

It went ahead and pulled the trigger to give Elon Musk’s company the second planned mission of 2025 with Crew-11 targeting no earlier than July, with its crew to be announced at a later date.

That summer target launch for Crew-11 still opens the door for Boeing’s beleaguered spacecraft to slot in at the end of the year, but NASA has to find a path forward to certify Starliner for regular missions working with what ended up being an incomplete Crew Flight Test mission this summer. read more