Things To Do In SW Florida

Amy Arnott of Morningstar

Deciding where to live later in life isn’t an easy task. Many seniors prefer to stay in their own homes but may need help managing medical issues or day-to-day tasks. Others might move in with their adult children or family members.

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One potential solution is a continuing care retirement community, or life plan community.

A CCRC is a community living facility where retirees can access a spectrum of care as they age—care levels typically include independent living, assisted living, nursing care, and memory care. Most CCRCs also offer a range of amenities and activities, such as on-site fitness centers and groups for different hobbies. read more

For the first time in Florida, utility regulators are mulling how to handle data centers — the energy-guzzling facilities that house computer equipment needed to power artificial intelligence and other tech programs.

Data centers in other parts of the country have already skyrocketed some Americans’ electric bills, as utilities must rapidly build more power plants and transmission lines to compensate for the soaring demand. The issue has come up as part of the complex rate case of Florida Power & Light, giving state utility regulators the chance to set guardrails that could set a precedent for Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric.

When Florida Power & Light first filed its request to hike base rates, it asked to collect nearly $10 billion more from customers over the next four years. Embedded in that petition was also how it proposed to address data centers: It would require tech companies to pay a minimum bill representing 90% of their expected energy costs. That way, if a data center’s consumption fell short, residents wouldn’t be required to cover the gap incurred by the utility building up its infrastructure to accommodate the facility. read more

Mechanical birds, bears and princesses have chirped, growled and sung in Orlando’s theme parks for more than 50 years. The animatronic trend shows no signs of fading, as new figures arrive in new places at Walt Disney World, and Epic Universe introduces batches of lifelike characters.

The additions range from a planned electronic version of Walt Disney at Magic Kingdom to a lumbering Frankenstein’s monster figure that debuted with Epic in May.

“People still enjoy seeing lifelike figures of their heroes, villains and others come alive,” said Dennis Speigel, CEO of International Theme Park Services. “I think this is one area that continues to evolve, and I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet.”

Technological advances are enabling the improved illusion of the figures, said Brian Ott, show systems studio executive with Walt Disney Imagineering.

“The way that we can now simulate, the way that we now design, the way that we now can generate content for these and in style — like it is moving like the character that everybody sees and recognizes from the film … I think that’s really the appeal of like, ‘Wow, not only did I see Elsa on the ride, but I felt like it was Elsa. It moved, it performed, it looked at me,’” Ott said. read more

There have been hundreds of animatronic figures scattered across Walt Disney World over the past 54 years. Here are 10 notable ones that can be spied its theme parks in 2025.

• Country Bears Musical Jamboree, the reboot of an original Magic Kingdom attraction, added more twang and more Disney in the summer of 2024 but maintained an animatronic lineup that includes Big Al now singing “Remember Me” from “Coco.”

• Elsewhere in Frontierland, last year’s transformation of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was assisted by figures for the title character, Mama Odie, critters as band members and Louis, the trumpet-playing alligator, which was touted as one of the largest figures Imagineers has ever concocted.

• A very expressive Hondo Ohnaka animatronic gives instructions during the preshow for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

• The end of Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster at Hollywood Studios features Wheezy, an animatronic penguin performing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” read more

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is giving domestic automakers additional relief from tariffs on auto parts, extending what was supposed to have been a short-term rebate until 2030.

It’s part of a proclamation Trump signed Friday that also made official a 25% import tax on medium and heavy duty trucks, starting Nov. 1.

The action reflected the administration’s efforts to use tariffs to promote American manufacturing while also trying to shield the auto sector from the higher costs that Trump’s import taxes have created for parts and raw materials.

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