Things To Do In SW Florida

By DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer

Many children have gone back to school in the U.S., and the days are getting shorter, but there is still one more excuse to use the swimsuits and beach towels before packing them up: Labor Day.

Airports, highways, beaches and theme parks are expected to be packed for the long holiday weekend as a lot Americans mark the unofficial end of summer the same way they celebrated the season’s unofficial start: by traveling.

The Transportation Security Administration anticipates screening more than 17 million people between Thursday and next Wednesday — a record for the Labor Day period.

AAA says bookings for domestic travel are running 9% higher than last year for the holiday weekend, while international trips are down 4%.

American Airlines plans to have its largest Labor Day weekend operation ever and expects a 14% increase in passengers compared to last year.

If you are traveling to get a last blast of summer, here is a rundown of what you need to know. read more

By Joe Yerardi | NerdWallet

About 43 million Americans hold federal student loan debt and, for some, paying off that debt can be a burden. Many borrowers have access to programs that can pause or reduce their payments, but a new survey finds some borrowers may be forgoing the proper channels and stopping repayment entirely in hopes of student loan forgiveness.

Nearly one in three (31%) student loan borrowers have slowed the repayment of their loan(s) because they hope to see their loans reduced or forgiven by the federal government, according to a recent NerdWallet survey conducted online by The Harris Poll among more than 600 U.S. adults who currently have student loans. And nearly one in four (23%) have stopped their student loan payments altogether for the same reason.

Notably, the survey didn’t ask whether borrowers who slowed or stopped their repayments did so after entering into forbearance or deferment plans. Further, student loan delinquencies have remained largely unchanged since the COVID-19 payment pause ended last October, according to data from the New York Fed. This is likely due to a one-year “on-ramp” grace period set to expire Sept. 30, during which the Department of Education is not reporting any borrowers who miss payments as delinquent. read more

The owner of Central Florida’s Deseret Ranches, an undeveloped frontier so vast that its horizons appear to follow the earth’s curve, announced Monday its intentions to partner with the city of Orlando for urban growth across a staggering amount of ranchland in coming decades.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through its subsidiaries Farmland Reserve and Deseret Ranches, confirmed that it has filed an application with Orlando to voluntarily annex into the city limits 52,450 acres now under the land-use jurisdiction of Orange County government.

That amount of wet and wild ranchland property, for comparison, is eight times as large as the city of Winter Park, and is still virtually untouched by pavement, rooftops or even people. The annexation would increase the footprint of Orlando by nearly 60 percent.

The Deseret announcement blames a history of failed collaboration with Orange County in working toward a development planning framework like the two previous initiatives it has undertaken in Osceola County that now provide a blueprint for growth across nearly half of the ranch’s 300,000 acres. read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — Billionaire Jared Isaacman could make history for all the right reasons during his Polaris Dawn mission when the hatch opens on a SpaceX Crew Dragon and he ventures out into the vacuum of space.

He’s sold on its safety, especially the sheer amount of development time in the new extravehicular activity (EVA) suits all four members of the crew will have to wear during what would be the first commercial spacewalk in history.

“I mean absolutely extensive amount of time has gone into it,” he said during a press conference after arriving to KSC last week. “It is rightfully. Why would it be the riskiest part? Because you’re throwing away all the safety of your vehicle, right? And it now comes down to your suit becomes your spaceship.”

Isaacman and crewmates Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon are set to launch in the Crew Dragon Resilience atop a Falcon 9 rocket from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A early Tuesday targeting liftoff at 3:38 a.m. during a roughly four-hour window. read more

One big thing sets this Isleworth home apart from all the others — a 6,060-square-foot showstopper.

“I think obviously the dominant thing that everybody could see is going to be that it had a full NBA-sized, regulation basketball court indoors,” listing agent Danielle O’Quinn with Wemert Group Realty told GrowthSpotter. “That was a big sort of anomaly feature that you don’t find in most other properties.”

The home on Blanche Cove Dr in Windermere that was designed and built for NBA veteran Tony Snell and his family just sold for $13 million.

Snell was a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Bulls in 2013 and played nine years in the league. His wife, Ashley Snell, launched a self-titled athleisure clothing brand and has a store in Winter Park Village.

Stonebridge Custom Homes built the 14,856-square-foot residence (including the basketball court), which was finished in 2022.

“It’s a really well-designed home, so when I first saw it, it’s just very grand,” O’Quinn told GrowthSpotter. “The way I described it to a lot of people is as an anomaly type of property and home because it has such unique and custom features that were custom built for the people who designed it. It really is something you can’t find elsewhere.” read more