Things To Do In SW Florida

By CALEIGH WELLS

The massive tax and spending cut bill that Congress passed Thursday ends federal tax incentives for electric vehicles.

Buyers have until Sept. 30 to qualify for the federal tax credits on EVs before they are terminated. But experts say there are still strong financial reasons to consider buying the vehicles even without those incentives.

Before the bill passed, new electric vehicles came with a $7,500 federal tax credit, and used EVs included up to $4,000. Those incentives were originally designed to help make the vehicles more affordable. According to the latest data from Kelley Blue Book, the average purchase price of a new EV is roughly $9,000 higher in the United States than the average new gas-powered car. Used EVs on average cost $2,000 more than comparable gas cars.

Those credits, paired with other incentives in many states, helped bridge that price gap. Without them, Senior Policy Director Ingrid Malmgren of the nonprofit advocacy group Plug In America said they will become unaffordable to many lower- and middle-income Americans. read more

Education

Mairelys Lemus-Rojas was appointed head of digital scholarship at the University of Central Florida Libraries.

Engineering

Mike Murphy has joined Matern Professional Engineering, Maitland, as a senior project manager and mechanical engineer.

Hospitality

Michael Briggs was appointed managing director at The Alfond Inn at Rollins, Winter Park.

Law

Beth K. Roland has joined ShuffieldLowman as an attorney in the firm’s Orlando office.

Other

John Bill, partner with the Winter Park firm Godbold, Downing, Bill & Rentz, was appointed chairman of Friends of Casa Feliz, which operates the Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum in Winter Park.

Submit professional appointments, management-level promotions and significant awards for individuals, along with photos as .jpg attachments, to peopleonmove@orlandosentinel.com.

When the city of Apopka built an outdoor gun range for its police department in 1989, it did so on land in a mostly rural area.

But the city’s population has more than quadrupled since then — with nearly 62,000 residents by 2024 — and residential subdivisions have cropped up around the Cleveland Avenue facility.

As the number of homes increased so have noise complaints about the gun range. And the city’s police chief predicts more will come if another new subdivision, with about 115 homes, gets built nearby, as seems likely to happen.

“I get complaints all the time when we’re out there firing, and we’re just adding to the number of complaints we’re going to be getting with this,” Chief Michael McKinley said last week as the Apopka Development Review Committee briefly discussed the developer’s application for land-use changes and rezoning.

Still, the committee, which includes McKinley, recommended the city annex the property, as requested.

“I just want to make sure that future residents know that there is a law enforcement firearms range to the north of them,” McKinley said. “We are working on moving it, but we’re several years away,” he said. “And it is south of the direction that we shoot and that’s where the noise goes.” read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

Denny’s and Waffle House have removed surcharges that the two restaurant chains added to their menus when U.S. egg prices spiked earlier in the year.

Denny’s confirmed Thursday that it eliminated its egg surcharge on May 21. Waffle House said Wednesday on social media that it canceled its surcharge on June 2.

Waffle House instituted a 50-cent per egg surcharge in February at all of its 1,900 U.S. restaurants due to the soaring cost of eggs. Denny’s also put a surcharge in place in February, but it varied by location.

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By MATT OTT, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage fell for the fifth straight week to its lowest level since early April, an encouraging sign for potential buyers who have wrestled with rising home prices.

The long-term rate fell to 6.67% from 6.77% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.95%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, fell to 5.80% from 5.89% last week. A year ago, it was 6.25%, Freddie Mac said.

High mortgage rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers and reduce their purchasing power. That’s helped keep the U.S. housing market in a sales slump that dates back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from the rock-bottom lows they reached during the pandemic.

Last year, sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. They’ve remained sluggish so far this year, as many prospective homebuyers have been discouraged by elevated mortgage rates and home prices that have continued to climb, albeit more slowly. read more