Things To Do In SW Florida

By STEPHEN GROVES, ALI SWENSON and SUSAN HAIGH

WASHINGTON (AP) — The crises at the heart of the government shutdown fight in Washington were coming to a head Saturday as the federal food assistance program faced delays and millions of Americans were set to see a dramatic rise in their health insurance bills.

The impacts on basic needs — food and medical care — underscored how the impasse is hitting homes across the United States. Plans by the Trump administration to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Saturday were halted by federal judges, but the delay in payouts will still likely leave millions of people short on their grocery bills.

It all added to the strain on the country, with a month of missed paychecks for federal workers and growing air travel delays. The shutdown is already the second longest in history and entered its second month on Saturday,.

“This is more than a crisis,” said the Rev. John Udo-Okon, who runs the Word of Life Christian Fellowship International food pantry in the Bronx, where hundreds more people than usual lined up in the New York City borough as early as 4 a.m. Saturday to collect groceries. “Right now, you can see the desperation, you can feel the frustration that the people are going through.” read more

After a year of construction, the site of Orlando’s last New American Home showcase is organized chaos, but Alair Homes Partner Daniel Kennerly insists that everything is absolutely on schedule.

“We broke ground Oct. 4 of last year on a 16,000-square-foot house, and on Nov. 10, we expect to be picture-ready,” Kennerly told GrowthSpotter.

The ultra-modern estate overlooking Lake Osceola in Winter Park will be unveiled in February at the International Builders Show, and during the show, up to 5,000 people will tour the property. The 43rd edition of the National Association of Home Builders’ The New American Home will be the last in Orlando. The IBS will relocate permanently to Las Vegas after next year’s convention.

Right now, multiple crews are working simultaneously throughout the house in a race to meet the approaching deadline. In the kitchen, they’re installing cabinets, while the tile is going up in the bathrooms and on the infinity pool. Glass railings are being attached to all the stairways and balconies, and slatted wood cladding is going up on the walls, with siding on the exterior. read more

Almost three-fourths of respondents in a new survey of Central Florida businesses expressed confidence about their prospects for the rest of the year — but that sentiment tumbled from a year earlier.

Results from the business conditions survey for the third quarter that came out last week showed 72% had confidence in the outlook for their own businesses in the current quarter compared to 86% for the same period in 2024. The dip comes amid economic tumult worldwide, with resurgent inflation and gyrating tariffs that, some businesses said in the survey, are beginning to hit their bottom lines.

But Neil Hamilton, vice president of research and strategy at the Orlando Economic Partnership who oversees the survey, said even with the drop in confidence levels he views the results as promising.

“There’s a lot of noise right now but they can only go by what they see in their own business and one in four cite their recent performance as the primary driver of their optimism going forward,” Hamilton said. “That’s despite the national headwinds — the headwinds being political uncertainty and increasing inflation which we saw in this last quarter. read more

By Nicholas Takahashi, Bloomberg News

Carmakers around the world are planning to scale back production after an export freeze on a Chinese semiconductor company based in Netherlands threatened to disrupt the industry’s supply chains.

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By ALEX VEIGA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The number of U.S. homes that typically change hands as people relocate for work, retire or trade-up for more living space hasn’t been this low in nearly 30 years.

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About 28 out of every 1,000 homes changed hands between January and September, the lowest U.S. home turnover rate going back to at least the 1990s, according to an analysis by Redfin.

The home turnover rate represents the number of homes sold, divided by the total number of existing sellable properties. While sales data show whether more or fewer homes are selling in a given period, the home turnover rate helps illustrate how homeowners are staying put longer. read more