Things To Do In SW Florida

By Sara Rathner, NerdWallet

With a new year ahead and the holiday fanfare behind, this is a great time to set money goals, especially if you recently spent a lot on gifts and travel and want to get your finances in shape. You’d be in good company, too — according to a January 2024 survey from the Pew Research Center, of the 30% of Americans who made at least one New Year’s resolution, 61% had a goal that was money-related.

Right now, you may be highly motivated to solve every single one of your money issues in the next few months, but daily life is guaranteed to get in the way. Your financial to-do list, once so full of promise, can eventually get stuffed in the back of a drawer while you manage more pressing matters. The vast majority of New Year’s resolutions go unfulfilled.

So how can you improve your odds of success? It comes down to accepting that you won’t have the time or energy to complete every task to perfection. Creating a system where you can prioritize, plan ahead and hold yourself accountable can help. read more

By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A team of U.S. investigators including representatives from Boeing on Tuesday examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea while authorities were conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines.

All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air died in Sunday’s crash. Video showed the aircraft, without its landing gear deployed, crash-landed on its belly and overshoot a runaway at South Korea’s southern Muan International Airport before it slammed into concrete fence and burst into a flame.

The plane was seen having an engine trouble, and preliminary examinations also say the pilots received a bird strike warning from the ground control center and issued a distress signal as well. But many experts say the landing gear issue was likely the main cause of the crash.

The South Korean government has launched safety inspections on all the 101 Boeing 737-800s in the country. The Transport Ministry said authorities are looking at maintenance and operation records during five days of safety checks that are to run until Friday. read more

SpaceX put the final countdown in the books for the Space Coast early Tuesday, adding one more to the record pace of launches for the year.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 12:39 a.m.

The first-stage booster flew for the 16th time, having previously flown the Crew-6 mission among its 15 other flights. It made a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic.

It marked the 93rd orbital launch from either KSC or neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with all but five coming from SpaceX.

The pace of launches blew by 2023’s total of 72 back in October but fell short of the forecast of as many as 111 predicted in January.

For SpaceX, it flew 26 missions from KSC including two Falcon Heavy launches in 2024. It launched another 62 from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40.

United Launch Alliance flew the other five missions, sending up two of its new Vulcan rockets and two Atlas V rockets from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 41 while the final Delta IV Heavy launch took off from Space Launch Complex 37. read more

It will be a historic 2025 on the tourism front if for no other reason than the opening of Universal Epic Universe. It will be a big deal even by our theme park center-of-the-universe standards. The Orlando area hasn’t added a big from-the-ground-up park since Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 1998 and Universal’s Islands of Adventure in 1999.

Universal Orlando’s latest park is under construction a couple of miles southeast of its current attractions and near the Orange County Convention Center. Epic’s grand opening day is set for May 22.

The company has released many details over the months. Epic’s lands will include Dark Universe (classic monsters), How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, Super Nintendo World, Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic and Celestial Park, an entry of sorts with rides and restaurants. Spread across these lands will be multiple roller coasters, dark rides, shows, themed eateries, interactive moments and a sizable helping of immersion, that lingering attractions buzzword. read more

By Eliza Haverstock, NerdWallet

As of Dec. 16, federal student loan borrowers can once again enroll in two income-driven repayment plans — Paye as You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR), according to an Education Department spokesperson.

The department previously closed all new PAYE enrollment (and limited ICR enrollment) in July 2024. Under current Education Department guidance, the plans will accept enrollment until July 1, 2027. Like all income-driven repayment (IDR) options, these two plans base your monthly student loan payments on your income and family size and extend your repayment term from the standard 10 years to 20 or 25 years. After the repayment term, any remaining debt is forgiven.

The move to reopen the repayment plans is in response to lawsuits that blocked the newest income-driven repayment plan, Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE), and put 8 million borrowers in an indefinite payment pause. During this pause, or administrative forbearance, interest is not growing on borrowers’ balances and no payments are due — but borrowers aren’t earning any credit toward forgiveness. read more