Things To Do In SW Florida

David Lightman | (TNS) McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Will Donald Trump’s plans to impose steep taxes on foreign goods and services mean more inflation? It sure looks that way.

Though inflation has slowed considerably, polls consistently show voters are frustrated about high prices. The cost of living increased at its highest rate in 40 years during 2022.

Trump keeps hammering away at the Biden administration — and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris — saying their policies helped elevate cost of living. They’re the reason, he says, that people are paying $5 a gallon for gasoline, the $4 a carton for a dozen eggs and so on.

Prior to the holiday weekend, the campaign sent an email saying, “As Americans hit the road this Labor Day weekend, they have Kamala Harris to thank for sky-high prices.” A Trump ad in battleground states charges “two-thirds of Americans are struggling to make ends meet.”

Higher tariffs, higher prices?

Trump’s plans for the economy include higher tariffs, or taxes on foreign imports. He’s suggested a 10% tariff on imports from other countries, with tariffs reaching 60% tariff on all imports from China. read more

TALLAHASSEE — The amount of land in Florida dedicated to growing citrus continues to shrink.

Reports issued last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Florida had 17 percent fewer acres used for growing oranges, grapefruit and other citrus than in 2023, though the harvest during the 2023-2024 growing season was valued 6 percent higher than the previous season.

A preliminary federal Commercial Citrus Inventory report found 274,705 acres in Florida continued to be used for citrus production, down from 332,256 acres when the annual survey was conducted in 2023.

Hendry County was down 12,374 acres, the largest acreage loss over the past year. Polk County, which has more commercial acres than any other county, saw a drop from 60,131 acres to 58,516 acres.

Citrus land has been dwindling for more than two decades as the industry has faced pressure from residential and commercial growth, increased foreign competition, hurricane damage in 2004, 2005, 2017 and 2022, and the effects of citrus greening disease, which has decimated groves. read more

Elaine S. Povich | (TNS) Stateline.org

Grace McGovern, a 24-year-old bartender and server at a downtown Boston brewery, recalls one recent customer vividly. He was very rude.

It was a slow night, and she only had one table, a large group led by a man who “kept touching my lower back and my leg and making jokes,” she told Stateline.

It rankled her, but she smiled and laughed along with him, knowing that much of her pay for the night would come from whatever tip he and his companions left her.

Now, McGovern has turned her irritation to action, and is advocating for a referendum that would raise the hourly rate for workers who earn tips up to the standard minimum wage.

“Men will still be creepy,” said McGovern, who is the state’s organizer for One Fair Wage, a national nonprofit seeking to end all pay below minimum wage. “But [if the referendum passes], I’m no longer relying on their money to make a full minimum wage for the day.”

In Massachusetts, the minimum wage is $15 an hour for most workers, but $6.75 an hour for tipped workers, as long as their tips bring them up to at least $15 an hour. Under the ballot measure, employers would pay $15 an hour and tipping would still be allowed. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers posted fewer job openings in July than they had the previous month, a sign that hiring could cool in the coming months.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that there were 7.7 million open jobs in July, down from 7.9 million in June and the fewest since January 2021. Openings have fallen steadily this year, from nearly 8.8 million in January.

Layoffs also rose to 1.76 million, the most since March 2023, though that level of job cuts is roughly consistent with pre-pandemic levels, when the unemployment rate was historically low. Layoffs have been unusually low since the pandemic as many employers have sought to hold onto their workers.

Overall, Wednesday’s report painted a mixed picture of the job market. On the positive side, total hiring rose in July, to 5.5 million, after it had fallen to a four-year low of 5.2 million in June. And the number of people who quit their jobs ticked up slightly, to about 3.3 million. The number of quits is seen as a measure of the job market’s health: Workers typically quit when they already have a new job or when they’re confident they can find one. read more

Blue Origin has only 40 days to go to be ready for its first launch of its heavy lift New Glenn rocket, but has a lot of boxes to tick before liftoff.

That includes a test fire in the coming days of the rocket’s second stage, which the company rolled out to the pad Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36.

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company is targeting Oct. 13 for liftoff of NG-1, a mission to send a pair of satellites built by fellow rocket company RocketLab on a mission for NASA to Mars called ESCAPADE, which stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers.

“We’re looking forward to firing up those two BE-3Us on New Glenn’s second stage in a few days,” the company posted on X after the hardware’s trip to the pad.

When it launches, the second stage and its engines will be tasked with deploying the twin ESCAPADE spacecraft on an 11-month trip to the Red Planet where they will study Mars’ plasma and magnetic fields.

The launch, though, will be the culmination of years of development for New Glenn, which is constructed at Blue Origin’s nearby factory on Merritt Island. read more