Things To Do In SW Florida

SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 rocket early Tuesday with the full OK from the Federal Aviation Administration weeks after a second stage failure on the Crew-8 launch that grounded the rocket.

A Falcon 9 carrying 23 Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 2:10 a.m. marking the 70th launch from all providers for the year from the Space Coast.

Liftoff of Falcon 9! pic.twitter.com/WRuvT58Pr1

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 15, 2024

Its first-stage booster flew for the 11th time making a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.

Rare SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch sends NASA probe to explore Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa

The Falcon 9 launch came just under 14 hours after the company’s powerhouse Falcon Heavy launched NASA’s Europa Clipper mission from nearby Kennedy Space Center.

The company also sent up a Starlink mission from its California launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base hours early Wednesday. read more

By Anna Helhoski, NerdWallet

You’ve heard a lot of campaign promises this election cycle, but the ones most directly impact your finances are tax cuts and credits.

Vice President Kamala Harris is looking to:

• Expand the Child Tax Credit.
• Tax the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
• Expand the tax deduction for new small businesses.
• Expand the earned income tax credit.
• Expand and make permanent the tax credit enhancements for Affordable Care Act plans.
• Tax cuts that incentivize home builders to build affordable homes.

Former President Donald Trump wants to:

• Extend the soon-to-expire 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
• End taxes on overtime and Social Security.
• Applying across-the-board tariffs on all foreign imports; 60% on China; and 100% tariffs on cars made in Mexico.
• Lower the corporate tax rate by one point to 20%. In his first term, he cut corporate tax rates from 35% to 21%.
• Implement R&D tax credits for businesses in their first year — a reversal of his policy in the 2017 tax cuts.
• Replace income taxes with his new import tariffs.

Both candidates want to end tax on tips.

The undercurrent during the election is the looming expiration of 2017 tax cuts at the end of 2025. Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst with the Tax Foundation (a nonpartisan think tank), says the uncertainty of the future of those cuts is a big problem for both candidates.

“It would be a win to get some stability and certainty back into the tax code there, to get the permanence, even if it’s not necessarily what everyone wants, that would be a win,” says Watson. “The fact that we are seeing interest on the Hill for both candidates to do that would be a win. But I mean, that does really require more detail on how that might work.”

As far as how the candidates are tackling all aspects of tax code, Amy Hanauer, executive director of the left-leaning think tank Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says, “The big picture is the Harris approach raises more revenue; it raises it primarily from the wealthiest and corporations. The Trump approach puts us deeper in debt and gives a lot more away to wealthy people and corporations. Both of them, I think, have some proposals that would help middle class families on the tax side. But the Harris approach gives us more revenue to pay for things that middle class families might want.” read more

By Eliza Haverstock | NerdWallet

As the Nov. 5 election looms, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump offer starkly different visions for student loan policy at a time when the topic is top of mind for voters.

More than one in five student loan borrowers (22%) say that student loan forgiveness is one of the most important issues when choosing a presidential candidate, according to a recent NerdWallet survey conducted online by The Harris Poll. Both parties are thinking about the issue: 43% of Democrats and 30% of Republicans say student loan repayment will impact their vote, per the recent 2024 EdAssist by Bright Horizons Education Index.

The official Democratic and Republican platforms, along with past statements, actions and related policy documents, indicate how each candidate may approach student loans if elected to the White House.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, would likely continue to champion the student loan efforts started under President Biden, who has erased $168.5 billion in student loan debt for 4.76 million borrowers while in office. His administration did so largely by improving existing student loan forgiveness programs. read more

Island H2O Water Park will have a Taylor Swift-themed event that coincides with the singer’s concert appearances in South Florida this weekend.

The Kissimmee attraction’s Eras Splash Bash will be from 5-7 p.m. Saturday. It will be held after regular operating hours, so shorter waits are anticipated. (Early access to the water park for event-goers will begin at 2 p.m.)

The family-friendly Taylor takeover will include trivia contests, a foam party and a costume competition, all set to a Swift soundtrack. Visitors will have access to the water slides, lazy river and wave pool.

Friendship bracelets and non-alcoholic Swiftie drinks will be available for purchase. The attraction is planning Instagrammable photo spots.

Competitors in the costume contest, themed to the eras of Taylor Swift, will be eligible to win a 2025 season pass to the water park.

Swift’s live performances are scheduled for Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Admission to the Splash Bash is $20. Folks who purchase a season pass for $59.99 can also attend the Swift event. Season passes include admission to the attraction through Oct. 27 and when the park reopens in March. The passes include free parking at the attraction and other benefits. read more

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I need your help resolving a car rental damage claim. I recently rented a car from Enterprise in Phoenix. The rental car had a small dent in one of the doors. I took a photo of it to document the damage.

When I returned the car, an agent did a walk-around with me and said the vehicle was good to go. Eight weeks later, I received a damage claim from Enterprise. The date of loss was three days after I returned the car.

I sent Enterprise the photos of the existing damage, but the company is insisting that I am still responsible. Can you help me get Enterprise to drop this $1,391 claim, please?

— Stacey Wall, Crestview, Florida

ANSWER: Technically, Enterprise is right. You are responsible for a car while it’s in your possession, including any dings or dents. But if you have evidence that your car was damaged before you rented it, this should be enough for Enterprise to drop its damage claim. Clearly, this didn’t happen on your watch.

You did the right thing by taking “before” photos of your rental, but it looks like you missed a few things. You want to take both “before” and “after” images of the car to show there’s no damage.If there is damage, you need to request a different car. If no other car is available, you should note the damage to the vehicle in writing and get a supervisor to sign the form. It appears you only had the “before” images, which showed the preexisting damage. They were timestamped, but this apparently didn’t matter to Enterprise. Its records must have shown that the car was undented before your rental. read more