Things To Do In SW Florida

From toilet accessories that monitor your health to bacteria-killing garbage disposals, this year’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show unveiled an array of new products aimed at the fast-growing wellness market.

Bill Darcy, CEO of the National Kitchen & Bath Association, said the use of AI and smart technology in home design isn’t a fad, according to a report in GrowthSpotter. “It’s going to be around for a while,” he said. “The technology and the wellness are more of an expectation. So a lot of the companies are focused on how their products are sustainable and smart, while also thinking about wellness and health and multi-generational living.”

Kohler has created an entire wellness division called Kohler Health to debut its new infrared saunas, cold plunge tubs and smart toilets, which were all showcased as part of The New American Home this year. The company also debuted its Dekoda device, which attaches to the side of the toilet bowl and uses light-based sensors to keep track of the users’ hydration and gut health. read more

Orlando has a plan its leaders hope will boost home ownership in Parramore, a neighborhood with nearly twice as many vacant residential lots as it has single-family homes.

The city council is expected to weigh incentives to encourage the construction of single-family homes sold at or below $375,000. The builders would receive rebates on impact and permit fees, while homebuyers would get $45,000 in down payment assistance, with a further $10,000 given to first responders.

The city council is set to vote on the package, called the Orlando Unlocked Open Door Program, on Monday.

“The goal for me is building more home ownership,” said City Commissioner Shan Rose. “Home ownership is about building generational wealth and bridging the wealth gap in our community.”

The Parramore area, just west of I-4, is one of the region’s poorest neighborhoods, with a 2020 city report finding that roughly half of households are below the poverty line. The report, which studied Parramore and neighboring Holden, estimated there were 151 owner-occupied housing units there, or less than 6% of the total housing units. read more

Winter Garden’s downtown, the envy of neighboring communities for its successful blend of charm and homegrown commerce, faces an uncertain future as nine commercial buildings, eight on West Plant’s red brick streets, have been sold for millions to a new owner.

Some shop owners in the buildings say they’ve been notified by the new owner/landlord that their leases will not be renewed.

“Despite every effort to communicate and explore possible solutions, we were not granted an extension or the opportunity to stay,” lamented a recent post on the Facebook page of Three Birds Café, which announced the popular lunch spot at 2 West Plant Street would close Feb. 26. “We were built on the belief that small, locally owned spaces are what gives Winter Garden its heart.”

The now-deleted social media post was later replaced by a different message, thanking patrons for their support.

A few customers staged a protest Friday outside the café but were shooed away by a Three Birds employee, who said the new landlord required demonstrators and media move 500 feet from the building, which is also home to Polka Dotz, a locally owned boutique. read more

It’s been just over a year since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. In that time, he’s moved at a breakneck pace to enact his campaign promises, rolling back environmental regulations and protections, overturning national vaccine guidance and health policy, executing full-forced immigration raids in cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, and, more recently, undertaking a bid to control Greenland, a semiautonomous region of Denmark, a NATO ally.

But perhaps more than anywhere else, Trump’s return to office has been felt in the economic sector.

Through executive power and with a Republican-controlled Congress on his side, the second-term president has implemented far-reaching economic changes, from levying steep tariffs on U.S. trading partners to slashing funding for federal programs and Democratic-run states. In response, the stock market has careened and then recovered to historic heights, home sales hit a 30-year low, and the labor market remains sluggish.

Now January inflation data is here, and we’re getting a glimpse at how that economic policy is affecting Americans’ pocketbooks everywhere from the grocery store to the gas pump. read more

By PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump still has options to keep taxing imports aggressively even after the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs he imposed last year on nearly every country on earth.

The Justices didn’t buy the president’s sweeping claims of authority to impose tariffs as he sees fit. But Trump can reuse tariff powers he deployed in his first term and can reach for others, including one that dates back to the Great Depression.

“Their decision is incorrect,” Trump said Friday, calling the Supreme Court justices who ruled against his tariffs “fools and lapdogs” during a press conference. “But it doesn’t matter because we have very powerful alternatives.”

Indeed, the president has already said he will impose a 10% global tariff under a trade law that allows such duties for 150 days. After that, they can only be extended by Congress.

Trump also said he would use a range of other laws and regulations to impose new tariffs, though most of those statutes would require a legal process before duties could be imposed. And he pointed to his ability to use licenses to restrain imports, but offered few details. read more