Things To Do In SW Florida

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California is suing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain records revealing how the agency intends to carry out President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed mass deportation and detention plan.

The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, demands that ICE disclose contracts for commercial and charter flights as well as ground transportation and internal procedures necessary to deport noncitizen detainees, including those with unaccompanied children.

“The records sought, address a matter of great public concern,” the suit states. “Despite the critical role these flights play in the removal system — in many instances, serving as the mechanism for deportation — ICE Air remains shrouded in secrecy.”

The ACLU alleges that over the past few decades, the infrastructure of deportation flights has shifted from a government-run operation by the U.S. Marshals Service using federally owned planes to a “sprawling and opaque” network of flights on privately owned chartered aircraft. read more

Extreme Legacy, an engineering design and manufacturing firm, is looking to expand its manufacturing presence in Central Florida next year.

The Orlando-based company made its debut at IAAPA Expo this week at Orange County Convention Center.  It has purchased the intellectual property, proprietary information, existing customer base, service contracts and the catalog of attraction items manufactured and fabricated by Texas-based Extreme Engineering.

“We are able to hit the ground running,” Jaimie Enterkin, Extreme Legacy’s newly minted CEO, said from the floor of the trade show.

IAAPA Expo: SeaWorld teaming with Mack Rides for flying theater

“We’re hoping to take the success, the integrity of the products, the quality that has been produced by Extreme Engineering and elevate that and evolve that, open up to new markets, new customization, really, but continue with the quality of the products,”  she said.

Extreme Legacy’s product line includes family-friendly coasters, ziplines, climbing walls and shade structures.  Its headquarters is in Orlando, and its main plant is in Dallas. The company looks to expand its Orlando footprint in 2025. read more

No one likes to pay penalties to the IRS when they fail to follow IRS regulations. In this column I’ll explain some ways to minimize these penalties, and possibly even obtain a complete waiver.

If you receive a notice or letter from the IRS indicating you may be subject to penalties for not following IRS policies and procedures, you should take the following steps. If you don’ t understand the notice, or disagree with the information in the notice, immediately contact the IRS and ask for clarification. If there are errors in the notice, you should respond in writing, pointing out the errors.

Some common reasons why individuals receive notices are failing to file a return, sending the return in late, and underpaying the required passes due. If you ignore the notice, you will be subject to increased penalties and higher interest charges.

You should definitely respond as soon as possible if you owe penalties/and or interest. If you procrastinate, you will be subject to a 0.5% penalty of the amount of the underpayment for each month or part of a month associated with the underpayment. The underpayment penalty is capped at 25% of the unpaid amount. read more

By MATT OTT, AP Business Writer

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell again last week, remaining near seven-month lows.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claim applications fell by 6,000 to 213,000 for the week of Nov. 16. That’s fewer than the 220,000 analysts forecast.

However, continuing claims, the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits, rose by 36,000 to 1.91 million for the week of Nov. 9. That was higher than expected and the most in three years.

While the number of new people applying for jobless aid each week remains at historically healthy levels, some who are receiving benefits are finding it harder to land new jobs. That suggests that demand for workers is waning, even as the economy remains strong.

The four-week average of weekly claims, which quiets some of the weekly volatility, fell by 3,750 to 217,750.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs.

In response to some weakening employment data and receding consumer prices, the Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rate in September by a half a percentage point and by another quarter-point earlier this month. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just a few weeks ago, the path ahead for the Federal Reserve looked straightforward: With inflation cooling and the job market slowing, the Fed appeared on track to steadily cut interest rates.

In September, its officials predicted that they would reduce their benchmark rate four times next year, on top of three rate cuts this year.

Yet that outlook has swiftly changed. Several surprisingly strong economic reports, combined with President-elect Donald Trump’s policy proposals, have led to a decidedly more cautious tone from the Fed that could mean fewer cuts and higher interest rates than had been expected.

Fewer rate cuts would likely mean continued high mortgage rates and other borrowing costs for consumers and businesses. Auto loans would remain expensive. Small businesses would still face high loan rates.

In a speech last week in Dallas, Chair Jerome Powell made clear that the Fed isn’t necessarily inclined to cut rates each time it meets every six weeks. read more