Things To Do In SW Florida

Brian Niemietz | New York Daily News

Online pharmaceutical brands Hims & Hers are introducing a weight-loss drug containing a compounded form of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, for a fraction of the price.

Both brands, owned by the same company headquartered in San Francisco, plan to provide a one-month supply of the GLP-1 injections for $199.

That same dose of Ozempic reportedly retails for nearly $1,000. Wegovy, a comparable product, is listed at $1,349, according to Quartz.

Hims & Hers shares were up 30% following the announcement. The company intends to provide branded GLP-1 medications to customers with subscriptions once a steady supply becomes consistently available.

The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t grant approval for compounded drugs, but allows them to be distributed with fewer restrictions when shortages arise, as is the case in this situation.

Regulators recommended in January that pharmaceutical customers “should not use a compounded drug if an approved drug is available to treat a patient.” read more

By Eliza Haverstock | NerdWallet

College graduation season is underway, and nearly 3.2 million students are slated to pick up their associate or bachelor’s degree diplomas this spring, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. When the cap tosses and festivities wrap up, it’ll be time for job applications, apartment leases — and student loan payments.

It can be challenging to navigate major bills and student debt repayment. This year, new payment plans may complicate matters further.

Investing time now to research repayment options can pay off, says Emma Crawford, a certified financial planner and student loans expert at Perk Planning, a registered financial advisory firm in Madison, Wisconsin: “It’s not easy, but it’s worth it because it can save them a lot of money in the long run.”

If you’re leaving campus this year and starting your first full-time job, here’s how to prepare for impending student loan bills and a new financial reality.

Complete student loan exit counseling

If you have federal loans, you must complete mandatory student loan exit counseling when you leave school. The process takes about 30 minutes and can be done online at StudentAid.gov. Exit counseling will ask you to update your contact information, walk you through how much you owe and explain the basics of student loan repayment. read more

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN (AP Business Writer)

Former Republican presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has purchased a minority stake in Buzzfeed, the digital publishing company that shut down its media outlet last year.

Shares of the company skyrocketed more than 50% before the market open on Wednesday.

Ramaswamy acquired a 7.7% stake in Buzzfeed, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Tuesday.

Ramaswamy said in the filing that he believes Buzzfeed’s stock is undervalued. He is looking to speak with the company’s board and management.

Buzzfeed has struggled to prop up sales since it went public in 2021. In late 2022 job cuts began rolling out with the company citing a poor digital advertising environment, then early last year announced that it was shutting down its Pulitzer Prize winning digital media outlet BuzzFeed News.

The corporate parent’s co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti said in a memo to staff at the time that in addition to the news division, layoffs would take place in its business, content, tech and administrative teams. read more

The decision has been a year in the making, but the Space Coast will officially become the home of STARCOM, the training headquarters for Space Force.

Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, both former Air Force facilities, were named in May 2023 the presumptive home for STARCOM, which stands for Space Training and Readiness Command. It’s one of three Space Force field command units, similar to an Air Force air command.

Sen. Marco Rubio confirmed the decision was made final posting congratulations on X.

“Great news for Florida! Patrick Space Force Base has received final approval to become the permanent headquarters for STARCOM, bolstering Florida’s growing leadership in space,” Rubio posted on Tuesday.

The Space Coast lost out on getting the Department of Defense’s U.S. Space Command headquarters in 2022, but STARCOM would bring a major addition to Space Force’s already sizable presence as the launch capital of the world.

STARCOM is “responsible for the deliberate development, education and training of space professionals in addition to the development of space warfighting doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures, and the operational test and evaluation of Space Force systems,” according to an Air Force press release. read more

Christi Carras and Stacy Perman | (TNS) Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — For 14 straight years, Ted Sullivan was consistently paid to pen stories for the screen. The Hollywood-based, 53-year-old TV writer and producer’s résumé boasts credits on hit shows such as “Riverdale” and “Star Trek: Discovery.”

Now, he spends seven to eight hours a day writing without pay, preparing for the unforeseeable moment that Hollywood studios start greenlighting projects and hiring writers again. He misses the picket lines of the WGA strike, which, to him, were the next best thing to working in a writers’ room, surrounded and supported by colleagues.

He hasn’t worked in a real writers’ room since the strike began.

“I feel like I’m in the worst ‘Twilight Zone’ ever,” Sullivan said, “where I wake up and I’m now 20 years old again writing spec scripts for free in my apartment.”

A year after Writers Guild of America members walked out in pursuit of higher wages, enhanced streaming residuals and limitations on the use of artificial intelligence, The Times checked in with multiple writers of varying experience levels spanning film and TV. read more