Things To Do In SW Florida

TALLAHASSEE — As the Florida House and Senate prepare to negotiate a new state budget, among the big issues they will face is a push by Senate President Ben Albritton, a citrus grower, to help the state’s struggling citrus industry.

The Senate on Friday released a proposed $117.36 billion budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year that includes $200 million directed toward the citrus industry. That would come on top of $200 million that the Senate has approved in a bill (SB 110) that Albritton has dubbed the “rural renaissance” to bolster rural communities.

The citrus-industry proposal includes $125 million for new tree plantings, an amount that Albritton isn’t sure is enough for an industry facing its lowest seasonal production in a century because of deadly citrus greening disease, damaging hurricanes and encroaching development.

“If and when we get this proposal across the line, again, we have to work with our (House) partners, whatever the number is at the end, maybe $125 million, we’ll see,” Albritton, R-Wauchula, told reporters last week. “But we’ll know pretty quickly what the appetite (from growers) to participate in this … program will be. As I moved around the industry, and talked to friends of mine, there appears to be a pretty solid appetite for it.” read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” is fast approaching, and stock markets from Wall Street to Wellington, New Zealand, are falling Monday in advance of it.

In New York, the S&P 500 was down 0.8% following one of its worst losses of the past couple of years on Friday. It’s on track to finish the first three months of the year with a loss of 5.9%, which could make this its worst quarter in nearly three years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 111 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.7% lower.

The U.S. stock market’s drops followed a sell-off that spanned the world earlier Monday as worries build that tariffs coming Wednesday from Trump will worsen inflation and grind down growth for economies. Trump has said he’s plowing ahead in part because he wants more manufacturing jobs back in the United States.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index dropped 4%. South Korea’s Kospi sank 3%, and France’s CAC 40 fell 1.6%. In New Zealand, the NZX 50 slipped a more modest 0.1%. read more

An Atlanta-based developer has purchased the multifamily site in downtown Clermont’s mixed-use Lumberyard District and is moving to redevelop the Lake County site.

PENLER paid $7.4 million to longtime owners Wolfe & Wallace Properties for the 7.2-acre parcel next to Victory Pointe Park and the South Lake Trail. PENLER has secured a $45.7 million construction loan from Mississippi-based Renasant Bank.

The Lumberyard District is the site of a former lumber mill, and historic themes will play out in its two-phase redevelopment. The first phase will include the development of 262 apartments across four multifamily buildings. The second phase will include commercial construction of mixed-use and live-work buildings, along with another 130 dwelling units and two-story parking garage.

Wolfe & Wallace will grade the entire 12.3-acre district and build the interior roads as part of the first phase.

PENLER Managing Partner Brian Metzler told city officials the apartments would use Hardie Board siding for the exterior finish as an homage to the lumber mill. The developer also requested and received a height waiver from the city to allow for 9-foot ceilings on all floors and a pitched roof. read more

SpaceX has two rockets at two pads set for launch in the next two days on the Space Coast.

First up is a Falcon 9 carrying 28 Starlink satellites targeting a 3:25 p.m. liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Backup are available through 7:10 p.m. or on Monday during a four-hour window that opens at 2:57 p.m.

The first-stage booster is making its 17th flight and will aim for a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed downrange in the Atlantic.

This would be the 25th launch on the Space Coast in 2025, with all but one coming from SpaceX.

The 26th could come late Monday night on what would be SpaceX’s second human spaceflight of the year after Crew-10’s launch earlier this month.

That Falcon 9 is set to launch four people on the Fram2 private mission headed for what would be the first polar orbit for humans in history.

They are set to climb on board the Crew Dragon Resilience making its fourth trip to space and lift off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A  at 11:20 p.m. with backups early Tuesday at 12:30 a.m. and 2:26 a.m. More backups are available beginning Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning at the same times. read more

OSLO, Norway (AP) — A private European aerospace startup said Sunday it successfully completed the first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle from Norway.

Isar Aerospace, which is headquartered in Munich, said it launched its Spectrum rocket from the island of Andøya in northern Norway.

The 28-meter (92-foot)-long Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle specifically designed to put small and medium satellites into orbit. The rocket lifted off from the pad at 12:30 p.m. (1030 GMT) Sunday and flew for about 30 seconds before the flight was terminated, Isar said.

“This allowed the company to gather a substantial amount of flight data and experience to apply on future missions,” Isar said in a news release. “After the flight was terminated at T+30 seconds, the launch vehicle fell into the sea in a controlled manner.”

The launch was subject to various factors, including weather and safety, and Sunday’s liftoff followed a week of poor conditions, including a scrubbed launch on Monday due to unfavorable winds and on Saturday for weather restrictions. read more