Things To Do In SW Florida

Emma Nelson | Star Tribune (TNS)

Inflation is cooling after a hot start to 2024, but it’s still higher than policymakers would like.

One culprit: The cost of auto insurance.

Consumer Price Index data released Wednesday showed U.S. inflation rose 3.3% year-over-year in May compared to a 3.4% bump in April. While some price increases that consumers feel most — food, gas, utilities — held flat or dropped month-over-month, other necessities, including housing and medical care, were still on the rise.

Motor vehicle insurance jumped a whopping 20.3% over last year.

After plummeting in 2020 as pandemic lockdowns kept drivers off the road — and insurance companies returned premiums to policyholders — the average cost of full car insurance has reached about $165 a month nationwide and $157 in Minnesota, according to personal finance website ValuePenguin. Industry experts point to a variety of reasons for the price increases, including rising repair costs for more complex cars, more frequent and serious crashes, severe weather and an uptick in consumer litigation. read more

“CineSational: A Symphonic Spectacular” is now ready for Universal Studios visitors and being staged on select nights on and above the theme park’s lagoon.

“This is a journey for our guests through memorable movie moments but utilizing the emotional power of cinematic music, and that is the thread, The music is the story here,” Michael Aiello, senior director of entertainment creative development at Universal Orlando, said before a Thursday evening preview.

“You’re going to experience all of the amazing brands that Universal Orlando has to offer, both in present day, our past with brands like ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Ghostbusters,’” he said. “But then we also have brands that lean into where we’re going in our future, like ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and the Universal Monsters.”

What it isn’t

“It’s not a drone show,” Aiello emphasized. Yeah, but there’s definitely 600 or so of the flying units looming above the park.

“It was important for us as a creative team to ensure that the drones were a texture that’s not any different than our fountains and our lasers and our pyro.” Aiello said. “And it is a texture. It is there to serve the story and to expand our story when we want it to.” read more

NASA said Friday that the Boeing Starliner and its crew will now return to Earth from the International Space Station no earlier than Saturday, June 22.

“The extra time allows the team to finalize departure planning and operations while the spacecraft remains cleared for crew emergency return scenarios within the flight rules,” NASA said on its Kennedy Space Center blog.

The Starliner’s test mission launched on June 5 from KSC with astronauts Butch Whitmore and Suni Williams. During its journey to the ISS, helium leaks were found in the spacecraft’s thruster system.

Earlier in the week, NASA said its teams were continuing to assess what impacts, if any, the five small helium leaks would have on Whitmore’s and Williams’ return to Earth. At that time, the space agency scheduled Starliner’s return for Tuesday, June 18, “pending weather and spacecraft readiness.”

NASA has said that engineers had determined the helium leaks shouldn’t impact Starliner’s return. The agency said the craft had enough helium for 70 hours of free flight time when only seven hours would be required as part of its journey home. read more

In a previous column, I pointed out that in the wake of rule changes under the SECURE Act of 2019 and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, there are updated rules regarding missed required minimum distributions (RMDs) associated with IRA accounts.

Fortunately, the penalties associated with missed RMDs have been reduced. In 2023, they were reduced from 50% to 25%. The new regulations also specified that if the missed RMD was reported in a “timely” manner, the penalty would be reduced to 10%. A timely manner was defined as when a beneficiary inherited an IRA in 2023 or later, the penalty would only be 10% of the missed RMD if the beneficiary filed IRS Form 5329 by the end of the second calendar year following the year for which the RMD was missed.

Procedures have been finalized so that individuals who have missed RMDs for acceptable reasons can apply for a complete waiver of penalties. In a recent newsletter, IRA expert Ed Slott has documented these procedures, which I’ll discuss below.

In order to file for a waiver, you have to first take the missing distributions. Then, you should file a separate Form 5329 for each year you missed an RMD. You can enclose all the separate Form 5329s in one filing. The justification for filing a waiver can be the same for each year you file a 5329. read more

Construction

David W. Wright was hired as safety director at T&T Construction Management Group Inc., Casselberry.

Todd Watson was promoted to Florida division manager at Robins & Morton and will be working in the company’s Orlando office.

Education

Kim Dove was appointed executive director of facilities management at Seminole State College of Florida.

Law

Daniel N. May has joined ShuffieldLowman as an associate in the firm’s Orlando office.

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