Things To Do In SW Florida

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — Months after an alarmist review from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General, hundreds of construction workers seem out to prove their critics wrong as progress picks up steam on the Artemis program’s mobile launcher 2, the platform atop which future versions of the powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch.

Taking shape on a patch of concrete at KSC just north of the massive Vehicle Assembly Building, ML2’s steel structure is part of NASA’s current battle plan to support SLS launches beginning with Artemis IV currently on the schedule for late 2028.

NASA OIG audits have warned of rising costs and growing delays for all facets of the Artemis program, and its future, including the Artemis II crewed flight planned for next year and the Artemis III moon landing in 2026, could be redefined by the direction of the incoming Trump administration.

“Our marching orders haven’t changed, and we can’t really speculate what the new administration is going to do,” said Darrell Foster, the ML2 project executive with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems based at KSC. “We know what our priorities are right now. We know what our mission is right now, and we’re staying focused on that.” read more

The customers came from far and wide on a sunny November morning. They strolled past raw buffalo ice cream, raw chocolate milk and camel milk, grabbed raw cottage cheese, raw butter, raw lemon yogurt, all labeled “not for human consumption” or “for pet consumption only.” Some requested raw milk in their coffee orders at the truck next door.

They were gym rats, granola moms, young couples, Donald Trump supporters, single men trying to be healthier, and immigrants from countries where raw milk is a way of life, not a forbidden fruit. Some were trying raw dairy for their first time. Others came prepared, speeding out of the store with giant coolers so that the milk would not rapidly spoil when exposed to the warm South Florida air. One man wore a hat that said “in raw we trust.”

Tucked away in a far-west corner of Broward County, the Southwest Ranches farmer’s market has quickly become a hot spot for the state’s raw dairy consumers, even though Florida law forbids the sale of raw milk to humans. Customers come despite the legal barriers, risks of illness and warnings from public health officials not to consume unpasteurized milk. And they are not alone: Raw milk has surged in popularity across the state and the rest of the country over the last few years, a trend in part driven by online influencers within rightwing, anti-establishment circles of the web. read more

By JILL COLVIN and ROB GILLIES

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders.

The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.

Trump made the threats Monday in a pair of posts on his Truth Social site in which he railed against an influx of illegal migrants, even though southern border apprehensions have been hovering near four-year lows.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he wrote, complaining that “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” even though violent crime is down from pandemic highs. read more

Hotelier Harris Rosen laugh with students in a Pre-K class at Tangelo Park Elementary School after he asked them “Who wants to be in the hotel business?” on Oct., 1, 2008. Rosen was asking the students what they wanted to be when they grow up and specifically asked about a few professions. (Sentinel archive)

Legendary hotelier Harris Rosen in front of the Rosen Medical Center, a one-of-a-kind clinic and wellness center for his employees and their families, located at The Rosen Inn, photographed Feb. 22, 2018. The Rosen Inn is the original property he purchased that started his Central Florida empire of hotels and convention space. (Joe Burbank/Sentinel archive)

Hotelier Harris Rosen at his office on International Drive, on Aug. 19, 2011. Rosen Hotels & Resorts has announced plans to triple the size of its in-house associate medical facility, which provides direct care to employees so the company can save on medical costs. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Sentinel archive)

Legendary Central Florida hotelier Harris Rosen takes an inaurgural swim in the newly renamed Rosen YMCA Aquatic Center, July 24, 2018. The landmark swim facility on International Drive was saved from bankruptcy by Rosen in the 1990s; he swims there everyday. (Joe Burbank/Sentinel archive) read more

Another private company will soon try its hand at sticking a landing on the moon for NASA.

Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace was one of several companies that won contracts under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which aims to pay companies to provide a ride to the moon for its experiments.

Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh was the first company to launch under the program with its Peregrine lunar lander this past Janaury atop a United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. That spacecraft ultimately didn’t make it to the moon.

Intuitive Machines finally releases moon landing shots as mission nears conclusion

A month later, though, Houston-based Intuitive Machines completed the deal with a mostly successful landing of its Nova-C lander Odysseus, making it the first commercial company to ever land on the moon.

Both of those companies have more missions planned to the moon under NASA’s CLPS program, but Firefly is likely to be next up with is Blue Ghost lander, which had completed environmental testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory last month. read more