Things To Do In SW Florida

By nearly every metric, it’s getting harder to buy a home in the United States.

In Tampa Bay, the median home price shot up about 14% to $398,000 in just the past four years, according to data from Florida Realtors. Wages have not kept up, leaving more would-be buyers trapped renting.

Across the country, the median age of first-time buyers is now 40, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. That’s a far cry from 1980s, when most first-time buyers were in their late 20s.

This month, President Donald Trump voiced his support for a potential fix: a 50-year mortgage.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump compared the idea to the creation of the 30-year mortgage under President Franklin Roosevelt. That innovation helped make homeownership the norm in the United States.

The logic is simple — if you lengthen the life of the loan from 30 years to 50, then the monthly payment will drop, lowering the barrier to entry for prospective home buyers.

But the longer it takes to pay down the interest, the higher the total costs will be at the end of the loan period. Plus, these loans would likely come with higher interest rates. read more

Billionaire and two-time space traveler Jared Isaacman has a new date set to appear before a Senate committee now that he’s been renominated by President Trump to become the next NASA administrator.

Isaacman had already been set for a full Senate vote with bipartisan support back in May to succeed the role last held by former Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who left at the end of Biden administration. Trump, who at the time was in a spat with Isaacman ally Elon Musk, pulled his nomination.

Isaacman made his fortune with Shift4, a credit card processing company, and also founded Lakeland-based Draken International, which trains fighter pilots. He funded two missions to space, flying on SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft leading the Inspiration4 flight in 2021 and on last year’s Polaris Dawn flight.

Now, though, the renominated entrepreneur is slated to return to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Dec. 3 for a new confirmation hearing.

“This is a critical moment for @NASA as it works to deploy the historic funding secured in the One Big Beautiful Bill to beat China back to the moon and bolster U.S. leadership in space,” Committee Chair Sen. Ted Cruz posted to X on Tuesday after meeting with Isaacman. “I know @rookisaacman is committed to having American astronauts return to the lunar surface and to developing the capacity to reach Mars.” read more

Epic Universe, Central Florida’s newest theme park and the latest expansion of Universal Orlando Resort, has captured four Thea Awards, the worldwide honors given by the Themed Entertainment Association.

Epic Universe, which opened to the public in May, was saluted for outstanding achievement in the Thea Awards theme-park category. Its How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk area won in the theme park land category.  Epic’s Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, a dark ride, was recognized in the attraction category and its immersive Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry was celebrated as an outstanding ride experience.

In addition, Dale Mason, retired vice president and executive art director at Universal Destinations & Experiences, received the Buzz Prize Award, which TEA recognizes for “a lifetime of distinguished achievements.”

Winners were announced at a TEA gathering held at Epic Universe on Tuesday evening.

“The Thea Awards represent industry excellence, and this year’s winners and their collective work delight millions of guests around the world while pushing the boundaries of presentation, creativity and innovation,” Matt Barton, international board president of TEA and CEO of CurtainUp Ltd., said in a news release. read more

By MARC LEVY

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday that it will loan $1 billion to help finance the restart of the nuclear power plant on Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island that is under contract to supply power to data centers for tech giant Microsoft.

The loan is in line with the priorities of President Donald Trump’s administration, including bolstering nuclear power and artificial intelligence.

For Constellation Energy, which owns Three Mile Island’s lone functioning nuclear power reactor, the federal loan will lower its financing cost to get the mothballed plant up and running again. The 835-megawatt reactor can power the equivalent of approximately 800,000 homes, the Department of Energy said.

The reactor had been out of operation for five years when Constellation Energy announced last year that it would spend $1.6 billion to restart it under a 20-year agreement with Microsoft to buy the power for its data centers.

Constellation Energy renamed the functioning unit the Crane Clean Energy Center as it works to restore equipment including the turbine, generator, main power transformer and cooling and control systems. It hopes to bring the plant back online in 2027. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and KEN SWEET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator on Tuesday released new guidelines for the agency’s supervision of the financial system, earning praise from industry trade groups and criticism from her predecessor.

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In a set of sweeping changes, the principles call for bank examiners to focus on material financial risks and to “not become distracted from this priority by devoting excessive attention to processes, procedures, and documentation.” The guidelines are set out in a memo originally distributed to Fed employees Oct. 29 but released Tuesday. read more