Things To Do In SW Florida

By Robbie Sequeira, Stateline.org

Over the past few months, Celina Damian’s phone has been ringing off the hook with one bewildered, anxious question after another: “What kind of loan is this?” “Am I in default?” “Will the government really take my wages?”

“Sometimes they just don’t know where to start,” said Damian, California’s student loan servicing ombudsperson.

“I’m talking to borrowers from all ages, from new borrowers to — I have 80-, 90-year-old borrowers,” she said.

The federal government last month restarted collections on defaulted loans. State student loan ombudspersons such as Damian have become some of the only sources of contact for worried borrowers lost in a tangle of conflicting information at the federal level about their loan status and repayment options.

The U.S. Department of Education began collecting on defaulted student loans in May for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Federal student loans issued by the U.S. Department of Education come with fixed rates, set repayment plans and borrower protections. Private servicers handle billing, repayment-plan enrollments and defaults. read more

By SHAWN CHEN, Associated Press Technology Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Disney and Universal have filed a copyright lawsuit against popular artificial intelligence image-generator Midjourney on Wednesday, marking the first time major Hollywood companies have enter the legal battle over generative AI.

Filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, the complaint claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios to generate and distribute “endless unauthorized copies” of their famed characters, such as Darth Vader from Star Wars and the Minions from Despicable Me.

“Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism. Piracy is piracy, and whether an infringing image or video is made with AI or another technology does not make it any less infringing,” the companies state in the complaint.

The studios also claimed the San Francisco-based AI company ignored their requests to stop infringing on their copyrighted works and to take technological measures to halt such image generation. read more

The Associated Press

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Google has offered buyouts to another swath of its workforce across several key divisions in a fresh round of cost cutting coming ahead of a court decision that could order a breakup of its internet empire. The Mountain View, California, company confirmed the streamlining that was reported by several news outlets.

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It’s not clear how many employees are affected, but the offers were made to staff in Google’s search, advertising, research and engineering units, according to The Wall Street Journal. Google employs most of the nearly 186,000 workers on the worldwide payroll of its parent company, Alphabet Inc. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation picked up a bit last month as higher prices for groceries and some imported goods were largely offset by cheaper gas, travel services, and rents.

Consumer prices increased 2.4% in May compared with a year ago, according to a Labor Department report released Wednesday. That is up from a 2.3% yearly increase in April. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% for the third straight month. Economists pay close attention to core prices because they generally provide a better sense of where inflation is headed.

The cost of groceries, toys and games, and large appliances rose, which could reflect the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Yet the price of new and used cars, clothes, air fares, and hotel rooms all dropped from April to May.

On a monthly basis, overall prices ticked up just 0.1% from April to May, down from 0.2% the previous month, with inflationary pressures appearing muted. Core prices also dropped to 0.1% from 0.2%. read more

Regional South Florida airline Silver Airways ceased flying early Wednesday, stranding passengers around the state, throwing hundreds of employees out of work and infuriating a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge who thought a turnkey deal was in place to sell the financially troubled airline to a private investment firm.

The unexpected grounding — which is permanent — came shortly before midnight Tuesday with the last flight arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from Tallahassee.

Seaborne Airlines, an affiliated carrier that serves the U.S. Virgin Islands, will continue to operate.

CEO Steven Rossum notified about 350 of the company’s remaining employees via email late Tuesday that the company was going out of business..

“It is with a heavy heart that I share the difficult news that, after months navigating through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, our journey at Silver Airways is coming to an end for most of us,” he wrote. “Wexford Capital—our DIP lender—has informed us they will no longer support operations or, except for a few, retain our employees. As a result, Silver Airways will cease operations on Wednesday June 11 and begin the wind-down process. A small group will be asked to stay on temporarily to assist with asset management and records. Those individuals will be contacted directly.  Seaborne will continue to operate as scheduled.” read more