Things To Do In SW Florida

The planned streaming service Venu Sports has been scrapped before it ever started.

TALLAHASSEE — With a major grower set to exit the business, Florida’s struggling citrus industry saw little change Friday in a production forecast for the hurricane-damaged growing season.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released an updated forecast that kept projections for orange and grapefruit production the same as in a December forecast. The December numbers were the first projections after Hurricane Milton pounded citrus-growing areas in October.

Meanwhile, Friday’s forecast lowered projections for specialty crops, mostly tangerines and tangelos, by about 14 percent.

The forecast projected Florida will produce 12 million 90-pound boxes of oranges and 1.2 million boxes of grapefruit this season. It projected 300,000 boxes of specialty fruits, down from an estimate of 350,000 boxes in December.

Overall, the industry is facing a harvest in the 2024-2025 season that would be 19.64 percent lower than what was projected before Milton hit the state. It also would be 33 percent below the 2023-2024 harvest, which itself was a 94-year low — and would be the lowest overall since the 1918-1919 growing season. read more

By BERNARD CONDON

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump family business released a voluntary ethics agreement Friday that allows it to strike deals with private foreign companies, a move that could help outside actors try to buy influence with the new administration.

Disney Cruise Line announced Friday that three of its future ships in its expansion to a fleet of 13 in the next seven years will be smaller than all but its two original vessels.

DCL just welcomed its newest ship, Disney Treasure, sailing out of Port Canaveral as the sixth in the fleet with a sister ship in the Wish class, Disney Destiny, headed to Port Everglades at the end of 2025. It also has the Disney Adventure, which is its own class of ship, headed to Singapore before the end of the year, which will grow the fleet to eight.

Friday’s announcement revealed details for four more ships that have been ordered by DCL to be delivered between 2027-2031. The first would be a fourth sister ship in the Wish class while the last three will be a new class, which has yet to be named.

Review: Disney Treasure cruise ship leans into adventure for unique feel

The new class of ships will be delivered in 2029, 2030 and 2031, and have a passenger capacity of around 3,000, which is about 1,000 fewer than the Wish class and older Dream class vessels, according to a press release. read more

By Sally French, NerdWallet

Big hotel brands are adding vacation rental properties to their portfolios, creating new options for large groups and families.