Things To Do In SW Florida

By Jeff Ostrowski, Bankrate.com

Much to the chagrin of would-be homebuyers, property prices just keep rising. It seems nothing — not even the highest mortgage rates in nearly 23 years — can stop the continued climb of home prices.

Prices increased once again in December, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which reports that median existing-home prices were up 4.4% over last year — the sixth month in a row of year-over-year jumps. In another reflection of ongoing increases, the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index showed a 4.8% jump in October that represented the ninth month in a row of gains.

So much for the idea that a “housing recession” would reverse some of the outsized price gains in homes. The U.S. housing market had finally started slowing in late 2022, and home prices seemed poised for a correction. But a strange thing happened on the way to the housing market crash: Home values started rising again.

Mike King helped persuade skeptical neighbors in Sweetwater West five years ago to sign onto a mammoth sewer project — at their personal expense — to protect the delicate Wekiwa Springs from septic-system pollution.

The gated community of more than 180 homes was the first of 17 neighborhoods in Orange County near the springs to buy into a septic-to-sewer conversion, a multiphase project originally estimated to cost $123 million.

But now, more than two years after bulldozers rolled in, King and many other residents have regrets.

“It’s been a nightmare in so many ways for people who live here and invested here,” he said this week, pointing out a sod-less section of a neighbor’s lawn, an unpaved half-lane of street in front of his home and other shoddy work.

The trouble in Sweetwater West is a black eye for the county’s septic-to-sewer conversion efforts, in a neighborhood which officials hoped would become a “showroom” to persuade other neighborhoods to join in.

The projects are intended to improve water quality in the Wekiva River and Wekiwa Springs, diagnosed 15 years ago as impaired by nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from thousands of septic systems in Orange, Lake and Seminole counties. Homes with septic tanks push those chemicals into the springs with every toilet flush. read more

Elijah, a baby okapi born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in October, is now within sight of theme park visitors.

The young animal has joined his mother on DAK’s Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. Elijah is the 14th birth of this endangered species at Animal Kingdom and the first since 2012, the company says.

His mom is Zelda, and his dad is Elombe.

Elijah has had a bit of a growth spurt. He was 46 pounds at birth but now weighs in at 165 pounds.

The new Animal Kingdom resident was named after longtime WDW cast member Elijah “Slack” Johnson. He started working at Magic Kingdom in 1974 and moved to Animal Kingdom’s horticulture department when that park opened in 1998.

The striped okapis are native only to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are rarely seen in the wild, Disney says. (It’s a natural camouflage thing.) The birth of baby okapi Elijah was made possible through cooperation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan.

Although it’s been more than a decade since an okapi was born at Animal Kingdom theme park, an okapi eventually named Beni was born at the nearby Animal Kingdom Lodge in 2022. Beni and Elijah have the same father, making them half-brothers. Park guests may also spy okapis during the Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction. read more

The SkyRide is returning to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay after a multiyear absence from the theme park.

The suspended gondola attraction, which glides over multiple lands and animal habitats, is scheduled to return to service Friday. It has not been in operation since the pandemic shutdown of 2020. The park, part of Orlando-based SeaWorld Entertainment, confirmed its eventual return last summer.

The attraction had been part of the Busch Gardens lineup since its opening in 1974. It currently moves over the park’s Serengeti Plain and into the Stanleyville area about 50 feet above the ground.

Busch Gardens is charging $5 (atop regular park admission) for SkyRide trips, although annual passholders ride for free. Tickets are purchased only at the boarding stations in Stanleyville and Cheetah Hunt Plaza.

Universal’s Epic move could prompt Disney to up its game, too, experts say

There is no height requirement, although visitors under 56 inches tall may not ride alone. They must be accompanied by a rider taller than 56 inches and at least 14 years old. read more

By DAVID BAUDER (AP Media Writer)

NEW YORK (AP) — On Friday, the National Press Club is offering solace — and a free meal — by giving recently laid-off journalists tacos in recognition of a brutal stretch that seems to offer bad news daily for an already struggling industry.

For anyone who works in the news media, the list is intimidating — and unremitting.

The news website The Messenger folded on Wednesday after being in operation since only last May, abruptly putting some 300 journalists out of work. The Los Angeles Times laid off more than 100 journalists in recent weeks, Business Insider and Time magazine announced staff cuts, Sports Illustrated is struggling to survive, the Washington Post is completing buyouts to more than 200 staffers. The Post reported Thursday that The Wall Street Journal was laying off roughly 20 people in its Washington bureau; there was no immediate comment from a Journal representative. Pitchfork announced it was no longer a freestanding music site, after digital publications BuzzFeed News and Jezebel disappeared last year. read more