Things To Do In SW Florida

One of Florida’s earliest manmade tourists attractions, and the oldest marine attraction in the country, is Marineland Florida, located in northern Flagler County. It opened in 1938 for the purpose of collecting scientific data on sea mammals and other creatures, producing movies about them and letting the public view all that was going on.

Even before it opened, Marineland was making news. Here’s an Orlando Sentinel story from December 1937 with the headline, “Another Wonder For Florida: Marineland Takes Form South of St. Augustine”…

“There is indeed a surprise awaiting those who travel on the Ocean Boulevard, between Daytona Beach and St. Augustine, to find the new community of Marineland being erected about 20 miles south of St. Augustine in the extreme north end of Flagler County. Much steel is going up and a great activity is going on in preparing the grounds with the proper naturalistic setting.

“It seems that long ago someone had the dream of building an aquarium large enough to house the big sea creatures, seldom seen, in order to have controlled conditions whereby unusual moving pictures could be taken. It was their dream to arrange the conditions in such way that motion pictures could be taken of the mother porpoise suckling her young. of big sharks feeding, of sail fish and the dolphin, and many, many others of the some 85,000 underwater species, all in natural habitat unaware of being observed.” read more

By Karen Bennett, Bankrate.com

The thought of saving money may feel overwhelming, especially if you have nothing saved and struggle to afford necessities like rent and groceries.

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If you don’t have a healthy emergency fund, you’re not alone. In fact, only 30% of Americans would pay a $1,000 emergency expense from savings, a recent Bankrate survey found. Other survey respondents said they’d go into debt to afford such an expense through credit cards or personal loans.

Saving certainly isn’t easy and we won’t pretend it is — but here are some practical steps you can take to get started. read more

By KELVIN CHAN, Associated Press Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — The European Union on Friday accused TikTok of breaching the bloc’s digital rules with “addictive design” features that lead to compulsive use by children, in preliminary charges that strike at the heart of the popular video sharing app’s operating model.

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EU regulators said their two-year investigation found that TikTok hasn’t done enough to assess how features such as autoplay and infinite scroll could harm the physical and mental health of users, including minors and “vulnerable adults.” read more

TERRA CEIA — As the rising sun seeps through twisted mangroves, JP Clark’s fly fishing rod bends suddenly.

The clear, quiet waters of this hidden coastal flat splash to life. A 20-inch redfish shoots up from the shallows.

Clark and his brother, Steve, fish this secluded spot at the mouth of Tampa Bay every weekend. Some family time in nature, away from the clamor of city life, is the highlight of their week.

But early on a recent Saturday morning, their outing feels different. More depressing, the brothers say. More urgent.

The brothers learned recently that the mangrove forest just feet from their boat could one day be gone. Their favorite fishing spot sits within the private 328-acre Knott-Cowen tract in Manatee County, the location where a leading cruise company, SSA Marine, is proposing to build a multiberth cruise port.

“Look around. This is one of the last remaining natural places in the estuary,” Steve Clark, 52, says. “There’s already not much left. How much more of this do we have to destroy?” read more

By MATTHEW PERRONE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Telehealth company Hims & Hers said Thursday it will launch a cheaper, off-brand version of the weight-loss pill Wegovy, just weeks after drugmaker Novo Nordisk launched its highly anticipated reformulation of the blockbuster medication.

The announcement from Hims is the latest example of the company’s efforts to capitalize on the booming popularity of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy, which have revolutionized weight loss treatment in the U.S.

For years, Hims has sold compounded versions of the weight-loss drugs, which were initially only available as injections. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy is the first of the medications to become available in a pill format.

The Danish drugmaker responded to the news Thursday by vowing to sue Hims, calling the new product “an unapproved, inauthentic, and untested knockoff” of semaglutide, the chemical name for Wegovy.

“Novo Nordisk will take legal and regulatory action to protect patients, our intellectual property and the integrity of the U.S. gold-standard drug approval framework,” the company said in a statement. read more