Things To Do In SW Florida

The four private space travelers flying around the Earth’s poles this week had a vomit-filled first day in space, according to the man paying for the trip.

“The first few hours in microgravity weren’t exactly comfortable,” Chun Wang, a Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur said in a Fram2 mission update on X. “Space motion sickness hit all of us — we felt nauseous and ended up vomiting a couple of times.”

Fram2 launched Monday night from Kennedy Space Center sending SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience to space for the fourth time. The three- to five-day mission is taking humans on a polar orbit for the first time.

Wang said the ride to space was much smoother than anticipated, noting that only the final minute before the engines cut off on the second stage was significant.

“I barely felt any G-forces — it honestly felt like just another flight,” he posted. “I had imagined it would feel like being in an elevator that suddenly drops, but that sensation never came.”

Private SpaceX mission launches humans on 1st polar orbit read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are swinging again Wednesday in the final hours before President Donald Trump unveils the tariffs he promised as part of his “ Liberation Day,” which could drastically remake the global economy and trade.

The S&P 500 was up 0.5% in afternoon trading after rallying back from an early loss of 1.1%. It’s had a pattern this week of opening with sharp drops only to finish the day higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 154 points, or 0.4%, after erasing an initial fall of 360 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher, as of 12:43 p.m. Eastern time.

Financial markets around the world have been particularly shaky lately because of uncertainty about what Trump will announce in the event scheduled to begin after the U.S. stock market closes for the day. He has said he wants tariffs to make the global system more fair and to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States from other countries.

But tariffs also threaten to grind down growth for the U.S. and other economies, while worsening inflation when it may be stuck above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Much is still unknown about what Trump will say, including how big the tariffs will be, which countries will be hit and what kinds of products will be targeted. The announcement may also not even clear up all the uncertainty weighing on Wall Street, given that it may just provide a starting point for negotiations with other countries. read more

Florida is the state where the most people and the most properties will be at risk of experiencing “severe coastal flooding” by 2050, according to new analysis released on Wednesday.

Just 25 years from now, a total of 23,000 people and 17,000 homes in Florida will experience annual coastal flooding, with high tides or strong winds that whip ocean water onto land, including into areas that would have previously been unaffected, research by nonprofit Climate Central found.

“When we think about the fact that this is just within the next 25 years, this is a level of exposure that’s going to require a massive amount of planning and investment in coastal resilience,” said Kristina Dahl, vice president for science at Climate Central.

That Florida is especially vulnerable — with more homes and people than the next most at-risk states of New York, New Jersey and Louisiana — is in part because it has a long coast that lies almost at sea level. It it also reflects the state’s approach to zoning and planning, with high population density right in the areas most vulnerable to catastrophic damage. read more

By BERNARD CONDON, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Tesla sales fell 13% in the first three months of the year, another sign that Elon Musk’s once high-flying electric car company is struggling to attract buyers.

The double-digit drop is likely due to a combination of factors, including its aging lineup, competition from rivals and a backlash from Musk’s embrace of right wing politics. It also is a warning that the company’s first-quarter earnings report later this month could disappoint investors.

Tesla reported deliveries of 336,681 globally in the January to March quarter. The figure was down from sales of 387,000 in the same period a year ago. The decline came despite deep discounts, zero financing and other incentives.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected much higher deliveries of 408,000.

Dan Ives of Wedbush said in a note to clients that Tesla is seeing soft demand in the United States and China, as well as facing pressure in Europe.

“The brand crisis issues are clearly having a negative impact on Tesla…there is no debate,” he said. read more

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of White House hype and public anxiety, President Donald Trump is set on Wednesday to announce a barrage of what he calls reciprocal tariffs on friend and foe alike.

The new tariffs, coming on what Trump has named “Liberation Day,” are a bid to boost U.S. manufacturing and punish other countries for what he says are years of unfair trade practices. But by most economists’ assessments, the move threatens to plunge the economy into a downturn and upend decades-old alliances.

The White House is exuding confidence despite the political and financial gamble.

“April 2, 2025, will go down as one of the most important days in modern American history,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. She said the new tariffs would take effect immediately.

Details of Trump’s tariff plans were unclear hours before the president’s scheduled afternoon speech. The S&P 500 stock index was up slightly in Wednesday trading as investors hoped to have more certainty about his agenda. read more