Things To Do In SW Florida

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, MAE ANDERSON and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

At a difficult time for America, Super Bowl advertisers ask viewers to take care of themselves and others — and maybe even crack a smile.

Ring shows how neighbors can use their doorbell cameras to find lost pets. A Budweiser Clydesdale protects a bald eagle chick from the rain. Novartis touts a blood test that can detect prostate cancer. Toyota reminds viewers to wear their seatbelts.

Mister Rogers is invoked twice: Lady Gaga sings his classic “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” in a tearjerker for Rocket Companies while the National Football League uses “You Are Special” to promote its work with youth sports organizations.

America is uneasy. U.S. consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since 2014 in January. The killings of two protesters by federal officers in Minneapolis last month led to widespread outrage. And winter weather has been brutal across much of the country.

“There is a collective trauma. Everybody is stressed out. It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s something that’s impacting everyone,” said Vann Graves, the executive director of the Brandcenter at Virginia Commonwealth University. read more

By JOSH BOAK

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wants to keep home prices high, bypassing calls to ramp up construction so people can afford what has been a ticket to the middle class.

Trump has instead argued for protecting existing owners who have watched the values of their homes climb. It’s a position that flies in the face of what many economists, the real estate industry, local officials and apartment dwellers say is needed to fix a big chunk of America’s affordability problem.

“I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes, and they can be assured that’s what’s going to happen,” Trump told his Cabinet on Jan. 29.

That approach could bolster the Republican president’s standing with older voters, a group that over time has been more likely to vote in midterm elections. Those races in November will determine whether Trump’s party can retain control of the House and Senate.

“You have a lot of people that have become wealthy in the last year because their house value has gone up,” Trump said. “And you know, when you get the housing — when you make it too easy and too cheap to buy houses — those values come down.” read more

By KEN SWEET and CORA LEWIS

NEW YORK (AP) — Rent can eat up an entire paycheck at the start of the month, so a growing number of renters are turning to a financial product that promises relief by letting them split the bill — for a price.

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So-called “rent now, pay later” services have emerged over the past few years as housing costs climb and paychecks grow less predictable, particularly for lower-income and gig-economy workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, rents have jumped nearly 28% in past five years.

Companies such as Flex, Livble and, more recently, Affirm, say breaking rent into multiple payments can help renters manage cash flow. But consumer advocates warn the products typically function like short-term loans, layering fees onto already strained budgets and, in some cases, carrying triple-digit effective interest rates — raising questions about whether they ease financial pressure or deepen it. read more

Orange County commissioners are expected to discuss Tuesday a revised contract with destination-marketing agency Visit Orlando that addresses a scathing July audit of its use of taxpayer money — but not everyone is certain the revisions will do the trick.

An amended pact was yanked from the commission agenda last month after some commissioners protested they hadn’t had sufficient time to look over the proposed changes hammered out by county staff and Visit Orlando, which primarily operates on tourist-tax revenue.

Since then, the proposed revisions have been revised some more.

But Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad protested again last week — noting that as of Thursday she hadn’t seen a final draft. She sent an email to County Administrator Byron Brooks asking to delay the discussion, which he mostly rebuffed.

The tension underscores the high stakes surrounding the Visit Orlando contract, which funnels a staggering $100 million annually to the agency to promote Central Florida’s tourism industry. read more

Longtime developer Gary Hasson is working to breathe new life into a Winter Garden property that for decades played an important role in one of the largest citrus operations in the county.

Hasson, owner of Crown Property Holdings, is transforming 3.7 acres consisting of 1061, 1063 and 1065 Tildenville School Road — and its five existing buildings — into a mixed-use development with entertainment, office, retail, restaurant and meeting space called the Old Packing House. He bought the land in May 2018 for about $2.1 million.

“When I saw this building, I saw immediately this was going to be an amazing market and mixed-use development,” he told GrowthSpotter. “And I also wanted to have a great family-oriented space and I wanted to keep the historical significance of the old packing house.

“I come from Orange County, California, and my family was in the citrus industry over in California, so I was very familiar with the citrus industry and always had very fond memories of it.”

The packing house was built in 1909 and used by the South Lake Apopka Citrus Growers Association. The organization was a collective of farmers attracted to fertile land near the shores of Lake Apopka. At one point, the group oversaw the largest citrus operation in Orange County, but in the early 1990s processing at the facility was phased out. read more