Things To Do In SW Florida

Jeff Ostrowski | (TNS) Bankrate.com

Mortgage rates broke below the 7% barrier this week, according to Bankrate’s latest lender survey. It was the first time since February that the average 30-year rate was in the sub-7 range. The reason: optimism that the Federal Reserve might cut rates in the near future.

The 30-year mortgage rate fell to 6.92%. The 15-year rate fell to 6.92% and the 30-year jumbo to 6.92%.

The 30-year fixed mortgages in this week’s survey had an average total of 0.28 discount and origination points. Discount points are a way for you to reduce your mortgage rate, while origination points are fees a lender charges to create, review and process your loan.

Monthly mortgage payment at today’s rates

The national median family income for 2024 is $97,800, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the median price of an existing home sold in May 2024 was $419,300, a record, according to the National Association of Realtors. Based on a 20% down payment and a 6.92% mortgage rate, the monthly payment of $2,214 amounts to 27% of the typical family’s monthly income. read more

Education

Harold Dorrell Briscoe was appointed dean of Religious Spiritual Life at Rollins College, Winter Park.

Health care

Stacy Jemtrud was appointed chief nursing officer at Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital.

Other

Christina Carrier was appointed vice president of finance at Lift Orlando, a community development organization.

Tara Gilbert was appointed director of economic viability at Lift Orlando, a community development organization.

Submit professional appointments, management-level promotions and significant awards for individuals, along with photos as .jpg attachments, to peopleonmove@orlandosentinel.com.

By Anna Helhoski | NerdWallet

Despite the prevalence of TikTok videos and recent articles detailing stories of individual college graduates struggling to find good jobs, the data tells a different story.

After all, the overall labor market is stronger than it’s been in decades. And Zoomers who recently graduated from college are certainly better off, in most respects, than previous generations of new grads.

“If you’re a recent college grad, right now things aren’t booming with opportunities like they were a couple years ago,” says Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at Indeed Hiring Lab. “But it’s still really a relatively solid labor market. And hopefully, fingers crossed, the market stays strong for a couple years. And that gives you more opportunity to find a job as opposed to hanging your hat for the first six months after you graduate.”

When you compare the labor markets faced by Zoomers with previous generations, recent college grads now are better off than their older counterparts: Zoomer grads are earning much higher salaries today than Gen X did in the mid-1990s. Inflation may eat away at Gen Z’s high wages, but it doesn’t touch the stagflation of the 1970s and 1980s that baby boomer college graduates encountered. read more

NASA and Boeing completed tests on the ground looking to mirror conditions that led to problems with the CST-100 Starliner that still awaits the go to bring home a pair of astronauts from the International Space Station.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams docked Starliner at the ISS back on June 6 on the Crew Flight Test mission one day after launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

What was originally planned to be just an eight-day stay on board the ISS has stretched to more than six weeks because of issues with helium leaks and thruster shutdowns on Starliner’s propulsion module as it approached the station.

While NASA has signed off on Starliner as safe enough to get its two NASA astronauts home in case of an emergency, it’s taking its time to look into as much data as possible about the thrusters and helium leaks before giving them the green light to come home and complete the CFT mission.

After docking, the helium lines were shut down, so no more leaking has occurred, but it will begin again once it undocks. NASA has said the spacecraft, though, has ample helium supply to make the trip home. As far as the reaction control thrusters, which are needed for small position corrections, NASA was able to get four of the five that failed on approach back online, although at lower power levels. read more

Chapter 7

Central Florida individuals and businesses that have filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code include:

NDO Transport Corp., 2377 Josefina Drive, Kissimmee. Filed: July 12. Assets: $50,000. Liabilities: $183,654. Major creditors: Banco Chase, Indianapolis, $31,914; Chase, Wilmington, Del., $25,580; Internal Revenue Service, Atlanta, $12,417. Creditors meeting: Aug. 30.

Applied Masonry Inc., 2739 Bass Lake Blvd., Orlando. Filed: July 15. Assets: $2,500. Liabilities: $31,470. Major creditors: Truist Bank, Orlando, $13,714; Truist Bank, Wilson, N.C., $13,637; Michael Jackowski, Orlando, $2,790. Creditors meeting: Aug. 29.

Chapter 11

Central Florida individuals and businesses that have filed for reorganization and protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code include:

1027 Fantasy LLC also known as Adventure Island, 212 Pasadena Place, Suite A, Orlando. Filed: July 14. Assets: $1,000,001-$10 million. Liabilities: $1,000,001-$10 million. Major creditors: Not available. Creditors meeting: Aug. 12. read more