Things To Do In SW Florida

Vincent Tong, the voice actor who brings Kai to life in the “Lego Ninjago” TV series, visited Legoland Florida during the Winter Haven theme park’s Lego Ninjago Weekends event.

Tong was involved with exclusive meet-and-greets and held a special School of Spinjitzu class in the attraction’s Ninjago Land. He also took a spin on Ninjago the Ride.

Tong has participated in 84 episodes of “Ninjago” since 2019. Kai is the series’ ninja of fire and is accordingly considered hot-headed. The character is topped by brown, spikey, flame-like hair.

Tong has also been in 35 episodes of “Lego DreamZzz” as Logan plus given voice to Jack in “Polly Pocket,” as Steve Lombard in “My Adventures With Superman” and as Huckleberry Pie in “Strawberry Shortcake” productions.  His live-action self can be see as Levi in “An Unexpected Valentine” on Hallmark Channel.

Lego Ninjago Weekends includes big collaborative builds, “Lloyd’s Elemental Challenge,” the new Thunderfang Scavenger Hunt, the Whip Around Dance Party, character interactions with Master Wu, Kai, Sora, Zane, Lloyd and others.  This year’s version of the event wraps up with sessions this Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The activities are included with regular Legoland Florida admission. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The odds of further interest rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve dwindled last week as unemployment fell and more officials say they want to see how new policies from the White House affect the economy.

While Fed officials penciled in two rate cuts this year at their December meeting, economists and Wall Street investors are increasingly skeptical, with some predicting no reductions at all this year. On Friday, economists at Morgan Stanley said they now expect just one rate cut in 2025, and investors also expect just one — in July — according to pricing in futures markets.

Fewer cuts could translate into a longer period of elevated mortgage rates and high costs to borrow money for everything from autos to credit cards. Still, mortgage rates are closely tied to the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which can move independently of the Fed’s actions.

The shifting expectations come as Chair Jerome Powell heads to Capitol Hill for two days of testimony this week, beginning Tuesday, before House and Senate committees that oversee the central bank and the financial industry. Fed chairs are required by law to appear before Congress twice a year. read more

Boeing told its employees working on the NASA Artemis lunar program’s Space Launch System rocket they could be facing layoffs by April.

The move underscores the uncertainty facing the Artemis program under the Trump administration, although no specific modifications to the current Artemis plan have been disclosed.

“To align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations, today we informed our Space Launch Systems team of the potential for approximately 400 fewer positions by April 2025,” the company said in a media statement.

The company, which announced the potential layoffs on Friday, said it was required to give 60-day notices of involuntary layoffs to all impacted employees as part of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

“We are working with our customer and seeking opportunities to redeploy employees across our company to minimize job losses and retain our talented teammates,” the company stated.

Artemis team leaders say major changes under Trump could mean more delays read more

By Robbie Sequeira, Stateline.org

After nearly a month, the Eaton and Palisades wildfires that ravaged California have been contained. But for Southern California and state agencies, another challenge lies ahead: helping people find homes.

The wildfires levied significant long-term damage, with thousands of homes destroyed, billions in damages and a worsening of the state’s housing and homelessness crises. Even before the fires, California already had a shortage of 1.2 million affordable homes, with Los Angeles County alone facing a deficit of 500,000 units.

“This tragic loss will certainly make the housing crisis more acute in multiple ways,” said Ryan Finnigan, an associate research director at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley. “L.A. continues to need vastly more affordable housing, and people displaced from lost affordable units might need the most support to become stably housed again.”

Even those displaced from market-rate or high-end housing will face challenges in an already tight market, with thousands searching for housing at once — likely driving prices even higher for everyone. read more

Vanderbilt University, which hopes to raise $300 million to help fund a business school project in downtown West Palm Beach, served up a small portfolio of renderings Monday that shows how 7 acres of donated public land would be used for the project.

Last fall, commissioners for the City of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County each voted to grant the Nashville, Tennessee-based university 2 and 5 acres respectively that would be the South Florida home of Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Management.

Now, Vanderbilt has embarked on a campaign to raise $300 million to help pay for the $520 million project, which has wide support from the private sector and local elected officials. The school’s release of the renderings “aims to generate awareness and excitement for community philanthropic investment in the project,” the university said in a statement Monday morning.

“The images show that we are planning a unique learning and research environment that nurtures collaboration and innovation and is sustainable in all senses,” Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said. read more