Things To Do In SW Florida

Four Central Florida restaurants shut down the week of April 7-13, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Orange

Pascale Bakery at 2469 S. Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando shut down on April 8. Inspectors found 22 violations, four of which were a high priority. Those violations included roach activity, raw food stored next to ready-to-eat food and nonfood-grade bags being used in direct contact with food. A second visit took place on April 11. Inspectors found 14 violations and issued an extension for the nonfood-grade bag violation. The restaurant requires a follow-up inspection, but there are no immediate threats to the public.

Hokkaido Chinese & Japanese Buffet at 12173 S. Apopka Vineland Road in Orlando shut down on April 9. Inspectors found 18 violations, five of which were a high priority. Those violations included food-contact surfaces not being properly sanitized, roach activity, nonfood-grade bags in direct contact with food and raw chicken stored over cheese and milk in the walk-in cooler. A second inspection took place the same day. Officials found nine violations and issued a time extension for a missing vacuum breaker, the lone remaining high-priority violation. The restaurant met inspection standards, though, and was allowed to reopen. read more

By SETH BORENSTEIN (AP Science Writer)

Climate change will reduce future global income by about 19% in the next 25 years compared to a fictional world that’s not warming, with the poorest areas and those least responsible for heating the atmosphere taking the biggest monetary hit, a new study said.

Climate change’s economic bite in how much people make is already locked in at about $38 trillion a year by 2049, according to Wednesday’s study in the journal Nature by researchers at Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. By 2100 the financial cost could hit twice what previous studies estimate.

“Our analysis shows that climate change will cause massive economic damages within the next 25 years in almost all countries around the world, also in highly-developed ones such as Germany and the U.S., with a projected median income reduction of 11% each and France with 13%,” said study co-author Leonie Wenz, a climate scientist and economist.

These damages are compared to a baseline of no climate change and are then applied against overall expected global growth in gross domestic product, said study lead author Max Kotz, a climate scientist. So while it’s 19% globally less than it could have been with no climate change, in most places, income will still grow, just not as much because of warmer temperatures. read more

SpaceX on Wednesday sent up the first of a pair of Space Coast rockets slated for launch over two days, both carrying batches of the company’s Starlink satellites.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the internet satellites for SpaceX’s growing constellation lifted off at 5:26 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A amid clear blue skies.

Merlin engine ignition and liftoff of Falcon 9! pic.twitter.com/GVID9qsdUk

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 17, 2024

It was the 12th flight of the first-stage booster that SpaceX said made a successful recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship Just Read the Instructions, although the feed of the live launch by SpaceX cut out about four minutes after liftoff.

This was the 28th launch from the Space Coast in 2024, with launch No. 29 targeting Thursday evening from neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Another Falcon 9 carrying more Starlink satellites is aiming for liftoff during four-hour window from 6:40-10:40 p.m. at Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 with a backup window Friday from 6:14-10:14 p.m. read more

By TOM KRISHER, STAN CHOE and MICHELLE CHAPMAN (AP Business Writers)

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is asking shareholders to restore a $56 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk that was rejected by a Delaware judge this year, and to shift the company’s corporate home to Texas.

The changes, to be voted on by stockholders at a June 13 annual meeting, could be a tougher sell than when it was first approved in 2018. The Austin, Texas, electric vehicle maker is struggling with falling global sales, slowing electric vehicle demand, an aging model lineup and a stock price that has tumbled 37% so far this year.

In January, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick ruled that Musk is not entitled to the landmark stock compensation that was to be granted over 10 years.

Ruling on a lawsuit from a shareholder, she voided the pay package, saying that Musk essentially controlled the board, making the process of enacting the compensation unfair to stakeholders. “Musk had extensive ties with the persons tasked with negotiating on Tesla’s behalf,” she wrote in her ruling. read more

With more room than its two sister ships, Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest vessel will feature several new and redesigned dining options when it arrives at Port Canaveral next spring.

Norwegian Aqua is the first of what the line is calling its Prima Plus class, 10% larger than 2021’s Prima and 2023’s Viva. The ship comes in at 1,056 feet long, 156,300 gross tons and a 3,571-passenger capacity based on double occupancy. That’s still smaller than the line’s popular Breakaway Plus class ships Escape, Joy, Bliss and Encore.

Still, the extra room means a shift of some returning venues found on Prima and Viva and the introduction of three new offerings.

At the top of the list is the line’s first dedicated Thai venue called Sukhothai, a specialty restaurant headed to Deck 17 with items such as Thai cashew chicken, salt and pepper prawns and Thai grilled steak salad. There also will be a variety of curries. The venue’s design comes from SMC Design firm out of London aiming to blend traditional and contemporary Thai elements, according to the line. read more