Things To Do In SW Florida

Four Central Florida restaurants and a food truck shut down the week of March 31-April 6, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Orange

Maryland Fried Chicken at 9710 E. Colonial Drive in Orlando shut down on April 2. Inspectors found 23 violations, five of which were a high priority. Those violations included flying insects, an expired business license, a missing vacuum breaker and food held at the wrong temperatures. Officials conducted two more inspections on April 3, but the restaurant hadn’t complied with the emergency order. On April 4, inspectors conducted two more inspections. The first of those inspections had 11 violations and the facility remained closed. The second inspection had 10 violations, with only one high priority for a missing vacuum breaker. The restaurant received a time extension. Maryland Fried Chicken needs a follow-up inspection, but it is currently open.

La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant at 3090 Aloma Ave., Suite 150 in Winter Park shut down on April 3. On April 2, inspectors found 24 violations, six of which were a high priority, but only issued the restaurant a warning. The restaurant did not receive an emergency order until April 3, when inspectors found two violations, one of which was a high priority for roach activity. There was a second inspection the same day which noted four violations. On April 4, the restaurant met inspection standards after having one violation that wasn’t a high priority. read more

Discount carrier Spirit Airlines, which is struggling to return to profitability, announced Monday it is furloughing 260 pilots as it moves to defer the deliveries of new Airbus jetliners and adjust staffing amid the continuing grounding of planes for engine inspections.

“Unfortunately, we had to make the difficult decision to furlough pilots given the grounded aircraft in our fleet and our deferral of future deliveries,” said CEO Ted Christie in a statement made public early Monday.

The furloughs will start Sept. 1, the company said.

Ryan Muller, who chairs the Spirit contingent of the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents the airline’s cockpit crews, called the forthcoming furloughs “deeply troubling.”

He said the Spirit pilots’ master executive council is “exploring voluntary measures that could mitigate” the number of furloughs or the need for them.

Christie said in the company statement, “We are doing everything we can to protect team members while balancing our responsibility to return to positive cash flow and thrive as a healthy company with long-term growth prospects.” read more

A staffer works on finishing details inside the Rainforest gallery in the new “Life” exhibit at the Orlando Science Center, Thursday, April 4, ahead of next week’s soft-opening to the public. The $13.5 million expansion will include 300 animals from 100 species, presented in the three ecology zones of a rainforest, a swamp and the ocean. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

Shannon Zimmerman, curator of conservation and welfare, walks past the entrance signage in the new “Life” exhibit at the Orlando Science Center, Thursday, April 4, ahead of next week’s soft-opening to the public. The $13.5 million expansion will include 300 animals from 100 species, presented in the three ecology zones of a rainforest, a swamp and the ocean. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

A school of lookdown fish swim by as a staffer works on finishing details at the tropical reef inside the Ocean gallery in the new “Life” exhibit at the Orlando Science Center, Thursday, April 4, ahead of next week’s soft-opening to the public. The $13.5 million expansion will include 300 animals from 100 species, presented in the three ecology zones of a rainforest, a swamp and the ocean. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) read more

Home insurance rates in Florida far outpaced inflation over the 18 months that ended on Dec. 31, but the rate of increase slowed in the fourth quarter of 2023 to its lowest point of the period.

And many insurance insiders are optimistic that rates will continue to stabilize this year and next, barring a big costly you-know-what.

According to an analysis by the South Florida Sun Sentinel of publicly released data by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the statewide average premium to insure a single-family house increased by 23.9% — from $2,798 at the end of June 2022 to $3,466 at the end of December 2023.

But the quarter-to-quarter growth rate fell to 2.6% in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. That’s down from a high of 4.8% between the first and second quarters of last year.

The average statewide premium to insure a condo unit increased by 22.9% over the 18-month period, from $1,343 to $1,650. But the rate of increase similarly fell to 2.1% in the final quarter of last year after peaking at 5.9% between the first and second quarters of 2023. read more

A new type of SpaceX rideshare program made its first launch from the Space Coast on Sunday evening coupled with a land recovery of its first-stage booster that brought a sonic boom to parts of Central Florida.

A Falcon 9 rocket on the Bandwagon-1 mission carrying 11 spacecraft to a mid-inclination orbit lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 7:16 p.m.

This marked the 14th flight of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing a little more than eight minutes after liftoff at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. It was the 294th time SpaceX has managed a landing of a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy booster.

Liftoff of Bandwagon-1! pic.twitter.com/wdf6ZaCA91

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 7, 2024

SpaceX had warned one or more sonic booms might be heard and felt in Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Indian River, Seminole, Volusia, Polk, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee counties depending on weather and other conditions.

SpaceX has flown 10 rideshare flights under its Transporter program, but those go to sun-synchronous orbit, which is at about 90 degrees inclination to the Earth. The new Bandwagon program aims to send satellites to a 45-degree inclination at a range of 341-372 miles altitude. read more