Things To Do In SW Florida

The Tribute Store is back in business at Universal Studios theme park and organizers have gone nutty for nutcrackers.

The highly themed, seasonal merchandise stop known as the Holiday Market begins in a woodwork shop, travels through a wintery Harry Potter scene then past color-coordinated garland (pink for Hello Kitty goods, green for Grinch, etc.) in a town center scene and then, boom, it’s nutcracker mania.

There are hundreds of figures, large and small, all manner of colors and designs, tucked away in the store section dubbed Earl & Gerg’s Nutcracker Lodge and Emporium & Museum & Car Wash. Phil Daley, project supervisor of the visual merchandise department, walked us through the nuttiness.

Collecting nutcrackers

In the store’s backstory, Daley says, “Earl the Squirrel and Gerg the Llama, our holiday characters for Universal, have pretty much gone around the world and collected all of these nutcrackers and collected them together in a roadside attraction.”

In real life, Universal had large nutcrackers sprinkled amongst attractions as part of a scavenger hunt last year. read more

By JOSH BOAK and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — This holiday season isn’t quite so merry for American shoppers as large shares are dipping into savings, scouring for bargains and feeling like the overall economy is stuck in a rut under President Donald Trump, a new AP-NORC poll finds.

The vast majority of U.S. adults say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Roughly half of Americans say it’s harder than usual to afford the things they want to give as holiday gifts, and similar numbers are delaying big purchases or cutting back on nonessential purchases more than they would normally.

It’s a sobering assessment for the Republican president, who returned to the White House in large part by promising to lower prices, only to find that inflation remains a threat to his popularity just as it did for Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. The poll’s findings look very similar to an AP-NORC poll from December 2022, when Biden was president and the country was grappling with higher rates of inflation. Trump’s series of tariffs have added to inflationary pressures and generated anxiety about the stability of the U.S. economy, keeping prices at levels that many Americans find frustrating. read more

By COREY WILLIAMS

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. has stepped up technology in its popular F-150 pickup to combat the ever-evolving techniques car thieves have at their disposal.

It is the latest cat-and-mouse move that the automaker hopes will help customers avoid the costly and frustrating process that occurs when vehicles are swiped and includes a feature that won’t allow an engine to start even if a key fob is in the pickup.

Motor vehicle thefts recently have been on the decline in the U.S. after several years of increases. Still, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that more than 850,000 vehicles were stolen in the U.S. in 2024, pegging losses at $8 billion.

But thefts dropped 23% during the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, according to an analysis by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Ford’s F-150 was in the top 10 of most stolen models.

“F-150s have been the bestselling vehicle for decades, so there are a lot of them on the road,” said Christian Moran, Ford Secure general manager. “Thieves do like to go after pickup trucks. They also like to go after the contents that are often in pickup trucks. Oftentimes, there are people who have thousands of dollars worth of tools and products in the back that are valuable above and beyond what the vehicle is worth.” read more

As the Stardust Racers roller coaster sped downward in its first descent last September, Kevin Rodriguez Zavala was flung forward, his head slamming into the seat in front of him repeatedly. Blood from his wounds splattered his girlfriend, who tried to hold him back while screaming for help.

Dr. Anna Marshall, a vacationing medical doctor standing in line to board the Epic Universe ride, said that when the coaster returned and stopped, she heard someone screaming and ran to help. The ride staff seemed “frozen,” she later told sheriff’s deputies. And she was shocked by Zavala’s condition.

He was unconscious and one of his legs was “was completely broken in half and resting on the back of the chair,” the doctor said. The 32-year-old would be pronounced dead at a hospital later that night.

The new details about Zavala’s Sept. 17 death, including what witnesses saw that night, were released Thursday by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which wrapped up its investigation and determined the death was accidental and that no criminal charges were warranted. read more

SpaceX and United Launch Alliance are combining for a busy week of rocket launches on the Space Coast.

Watch Falcon 9 launch 29 @Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida https://t.co/CuHgfe46z8

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 11, 2025

First up Thursday evening was SpaceX’s planned Starlink 6-90 mission with 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:01 p.m.

This was the 16th flight of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.

The launch sets a turnaround record between launches at SLC-40, coming 2 days, 2 hours, 44 min since the Dec. 9 NROL-77 mission.

The rocket pads will be quiet for a few days, but get busier Sunday night through early Friday, Dec. 19, with four more potential launches, including three that could fly within 15 hours from Sunday-Monday.

SpaceX plans to be back on SLC-40 for the Starlink 6-82 mission with another 29 Starlink satellites targeting liftoff during a launch window that runs from 9:43 p.m.-1:43 a.m. Dec. 15. This will be the ninth flight of the first-stage booster, which will aim for a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic. read more