Things To Do In SW Florida

Florida is once again giving back some of the tax money it collects to residents.

As usual, the annual “sales tax holidays” are going into effect — periods during which sales tax isn’t levied on certain types of spending.

New this year: A one-year elimination of the tax on residential property and flood insurance premiums.

House Bill 7073, signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, had support from Democrats and Republicans. No one in the state Senate or the state House of Representatives voted against it.

The total of the tax relief is $1.07 billion, the governor’s office said. By contrast, the total state budget as passed by the Legislature totals $117.46 billion, an amount that’s likely to come down somewhat when DeSantis acts on the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

He said Tuesday that would happen “probably in the not-too-distant future.” He’s been using the time since the Legislature passed the budget on March 8 to travel the state and tout his support for popular provisions in the spending plan, generating many days of positive publicity. read more

A pair of NASA astronauts were ready to go, but a single valve caused a scrub of their ride on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on Monday night. The next shot to fly won’t be until at least May 17.

“I know everybody was eager to see a launch,” said NASA’s Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the Space Operations Mission Directorate during a Monday night news conference after the scrub. ” … But all I want to say first is that good things are worth waiting for, and we’ll get a chance to see that rocket and spacecraft lift off the pad here soon.”

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were strapped into Starliner sitting atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station but with just over two hours before the planned liftoff, teams called off the launch attempt.

ULA scrubs attempt of 1st Boeing Starliner mission with humans

The reason was a technical issue with a valve within the upper Centaur stage on ULA’s rocket designed to regulate pressure on a liquid oxygen tank. read more

By HALELUYA HADERO, MICHELLE CHAPMAN and BARBARA ORTUTAY (AP Business Writer)

TikTok and its Chinese parent company filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new American law that would ban the popular video-sharing app in the U.S. unless it’s sold to an approved buyer, saying it unfairly singles out the platform and is an unprecedented attack on free speech.

In its lawsuit, ByteDance says the new law vaguely paints its ownership of TikTok as a national security threat in order to circumvent the First Amendment, despite no evidence that the company poses a threat. It also says the law is so “obviously unconstitutional” that its sponsors are instead portraying it as a way to regulate TikTok’s ownership.

“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide,” ByteDance asserts in the lawsuit filed a Washington appeals court. read more

After 2,509 restaurant inspections across Central Florida in April, only 259 had no issues for the entire month, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Seminole had the highest percentage of restaurants with zero violations during routine food inspections at 16.8%. Brevard second at 15.7%, Lake at 11.7% and Orange at 8.4%.

Volusia and Osceola ranked near the bottom at 8.9% and 6.7%, respectively.

Orange County had the most restaurants with no violations at 137 out of 1,438. Seminole was in second place with 33 out of 196 and Brevard was third with 30 out of 191.

BREVARD

Lena’s Cafe, 3101 N. Hwy A1A, Melbourne
Bacco Wine Cafe, 4100 North Wickham Road, Suite 108A, Melbourne
Cuizine Restaurant & Lounge, 1790 Highway A1A Suite 105-108, Satellite Beach
Chef Junior & Kitchen on Wheels, 660 Tucker Lane, Cocoa
Fresh Wingz & Thingz, 3280 Suntree Blvd. Suite 105, Vin 8034, Melbourne
The Soup Shop, 4100 Wickham Road #104, Melbourne
Nautical Cafe, 205 A Ocean Ave., Melbourne Beach
District Kitchen, 1462 Hwy A1A, Melbourne
Nonno Sunshine Subway Inc, 26 S. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach
Around the World in 7 Days, 688 S. Park Ave., Titusville
Sprengergarten – Tavern, 2835 Eber Road, West Melbourne
Harris Wickham, 150 Wickham Road, Melbourne
40 South, 3280 Suntree Blvd. Suite 105, Suntree
Econo Lodge, 260 E. Merritt Island Causeway, Merritt Island
Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Resort, 1550 N. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach
Seaglass Inn, 514 Ocean Ave., Melbourne Beach
Rocco’s Italian Deli & Market, 1 S. Orlando Ave., Cocoa Beach
Rockledge Country Club, 1591 S. Fiske Blvd., Rockledge
El Heredero Inc, 3486 S. Hopkins Ave., Titusville
Shaws Bar B Que, 1452 Garden Road, Rockledge
Tipico Latino Restaurante, 566 Barton Blvd. #1, Rockledge
Lizard Creek Smokehouse LLC, 3280 Suntree Blvd. Suite 105, Melbourne
Sonic Drive-In, 650 Cheney Hwy, Titusville
Dueling Chefs Smoke N. Grille, 688 S. Park Ave., Titusville
Nini’s Restaurant, 147 5 Ave., Indialantic
Five Guys Burgers and Fries, 500 E. Merritt Island Causeway, Merritt Island
Bonefish Grill, 2251 Town Center Ave. Suite #129, Viera
Venpaca Cafe, 2520 S. Washington Ave. Unit 100, Titusville
Keep it Local Brevard LLC, 902 Florida Ave., Cocoa
Ferreri’s Pizza, 3589 Cheney Highway, Titusville read more

The Walt Disney Co. swung to a loss in its second quarter because of restructuring and other charges, but adjusted profit topped expectations and theme parks continued to strengthen.

Wall Street reacted negatively to the report with the company’s stock down 9.5% to $105.39 at closing.

Revenue at Disney’s domestic theme parks rose 7%, while its theme parks overseas reported a 29% increase.

The company reported more spending by guests at Walt Disney World because of higher ticket prices, while Disneyland guests boosted their spending due to ticket prices and hotel room rates.

Overseas, Hong Kong Disneyland benefited from the opening of World of Frozen, which includes rides based on the popular “Frozen” movies, in November.

Similar to many tourist destinations, Disney is continuing to adjust to post-pandemic travel.

“While consumers continue to travel in record numbers, and we are still seeing healthy demand, we are seeing some evidence of a global moderation from peak post Covid travel,” Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said during the call. read more