Things To Do In SW Florida

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster will be permanently closed at Universal Studios theme park in 2025, Universal Orlando officials confirmed Friday.

The bright orange coaster debuted in 2009 with an extensive playlist of songs that passengers could choose to listen to during the ride.

The ride will shut down in early September of 2025 “to make way for a new experience,” according to a Universal statement shared with the Orlando Sentinel. There were no further details.

Rockit had been the subject of discussion online and among theme park fans, and talk intensified after documents filed with the South Florida Water Management District by Universal indicated that the company intends to dismantle the ride.

Orlando’s theme parks in review, 2024: Reviving and recycling

The coaster’s design includes an immediate 90-degree lift hill that then sends riders down the equivalent of 17 stories and into a twisted loop that runs toward the back of Universal Studios before a return trip over the queue and through a circular pattern that travels near Universal CityWalk.  Early on, the design — as seen from above — was touted as resembling a treble clef. read more

The Space Coast could be seeing another new rocket fly soon as the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday issued a launch license for Blue Origin’s New Glenn.

An FAA statement said Jeff Bezos’ rocket company had “met all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements” for its heavy-lift rocket, which is set up for its debut mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 36.

“The FAA is committed to enabling the success of the U.S. commercial space transportation industry without compromising public safety,” Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation Kelvin B. Coleman said. “By working closely with Blue Origin, the FAA issued this new launch license well in advance of the statutory deadline for the historic maiden flight of New Glenn.”

Jeff Bezos prepares to close the gap in his space race With Elon Musk

The Part 450 commercial license is good for five years, allowing launches of New Glenn as well as return landings of its first stage on a ship stationed downrange in the Atlantic, similar to how SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets’ first stages land on droneships. read more

By Kimberly Palmer, NerdWallet

The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.

The start of a new year can bring a surge of motivation around setting new goals, including financial resolutions.

One way to help those goals become reality, financial experts say, is to make them as specific as possible. Then, track your progress, while allowing flexibility for unexpected challenges.

“It’s easier to track progress when we know where we are going,” says Sylvie Scowcroft, a certified financial planner and founder of The Financial Grove in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

That’s why she encourages her clients to set clearly defined goals, often related to paying off a specific debt, saving a certain amount per month or improving their credit score.

Here are more tips from financial experts about crafting 2025 financial goals: read more

By MICHELLE L. PRICE

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House.

The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies.

The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer, a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. read more

Some tech industry leaders are pushing the incoming Trump administration to increase visas for highly skilled workers from other nations.