Things To Do In SW Florida

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy in 2025 was filled with contradictions, as growth was healthy while hiring slowed, inflation stayed elevated and unemployment rose.

Last year’s odd outcomes raise a host of questions for the upcoming year: Will a growing economy eventually boost the sluggish job market? Or are last year’s weak job gains a sign of a stumbling economy that could get worse?

There is another uncomfortable possibility: The economy could keep growing without much hiring, as technology — particularly artificial intelligence — enables more companies to step up their production of goods and services without adding more workers, leading to a “jobless expansion.”

Adding to the complications, the six-week government shutdown last fall disrupted the collection and publication of economic data, leaving policymakers at the Federal Reserve with a cloudier view of the economy that will only slowly clear up this year.

“2026 begins at a time when it is hard to say how 2025 ended,” Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Santander, an investment bank, said in a note to clients. read more

By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY

Many people start the new year thinking about ways to improve their health, be more organized and manage their finances. Experts say there is one area that touches on each of those resolutions — home care.

Early and routine home maintenance goes beyond fixing visible damage. It helps ensure a healthy living environment, extends the life of a home and can protect its long-term value, according to real estate professionals. Planning ahead for regular upkeep and for unexpected emergencies can reduce the risk of costly repairs later and help spread expenses more evenly throughout the year.

According to research by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, about three-quarters of existing homes are expected to still be in use in 2050.

“Maintaining the homes that we have is really essential to protecting our health and our well-being,” said Amanda Reddy, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing, an organization that researches and advocates for reducing housing-related health disparities. read more

The Trump administration closed NASA’s largest research library Friday, a facility that houses tens of thousands of books, documents and journals — many of them not digitized or available anywhere else.

Jacob Richmond, a NASA spokesperson, said the agency would review the library holdings over the next 60 days and some material would be stored in a government warehouse while the rest would be tossed away.

“This process is an established method that is used by federal agencies to properly dispose of federally owned property,” Richmond said.

The shutdown of the library at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is part of a larger reorganization under the Trump administration that includes the closure of 13 buildings and more than 100 science and engineering laboratories on the 1,270-acre campus by March 2026.

“This is a consolidation not a closure,” said NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens. The changes were part of a long-planned reorganization that began before the Trump administration took office, she said. She said that shutting down the facilities would save $10 million a year and avoid another $63.8 million in deferred maintenance. read more

By MATT O’BRIEN and JOSH FUNK, Associated Press Business Writers

The U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country early Saturday has also disrupted Caribbean travel at a busy travel time for the region.

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No airline flights were crossing over Venezuela on Saturday, according to FlightRadar24.com. And major airlines canceled hundreds of flights across the eastern Caribbean region and warned passengers that the disruptions could continue for days after the Federal Aviation Administration imposed restrictions. read more

The Space Coast’s first launch of the year came after midnight Sunday, the first of what could be four launches in the next 10 days, all from SpaceX.

A Falcon 9 lifted off on the Starlink 6-88 mission with 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:48 a.m. amid its launch window that opened at midnight.

This was the first flight of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed in the Atlantic.

Space Coast launch schedule

The next three missions by SpaceX are similar, all with payloads of 29 Starlink satellites, all from SLC-40, and all landing downrange on one of its two droneships stationed out of Port Canaveral.

Next up will be the Starlink 6-96 mission targeting Wednesday from 1:55-5:55 p.m. using a booster flying for the 29th time. After that will be the Starlink 6-97 mission on Jan. 10 from 1:34-5:34 p.m. with a booster flying for the 25th time. And then the Starlink 6-98 mission on Jan. 14 using a booster for the 13th time. read more