Things To Do In SW Florida

By LEA SKENE and BRIAN WITTE (Associated Press)

BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warned Thursday of a “very long road ahead” to recover from the loss of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as the Biden administration approved $60 million in immediate federal aid after the deadly collapse.

Massive barges carrying cranes streamed toward the site to begin the challenging work of removing twisted metal and concrete as a first step toward reopening a key shipping route blocked by the wreckage of the span.

Moore promised that “the best minds in the world” were working on plans to clear the debris, move the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge from the channel, recover the bodies of the four remaining workers presumed dead and investigate what went wrong.

“Government is working hand in hand with industry to investigate the area, including the wreck, and remove the ship,” said Moore, a Democrat, who said quick aid is needed to “lay the foundation for a rapid recovery.” President Joe Biden has pledged the federal government would pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge. read more

TALLAHASSEE — Retiree MaryAnn Kaesberg went to her library in Seminole County recently to research stocks and mutual funds like she usually does, only to find the popular Morningstar Sustainalytics research website was blocked.

A librarian told her it was because the state had added Morningstar to a list of companies prohibited from doing business with Florida because of policies that boycott Israel or list companies doing business in the West Bank as high-risk.

“Morningstar cannot continue its service with our library as they have been placed on Florida’s ‘Scrutinized Companies that boycott Israel’ list by the state of Florida,” library officials told Kaesberg in an email.

Library officials confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel that Morningstar told them it made the decision to cancel the district’s $10,400 a year subscription when it was up for renewal in January because of the decision to place it on the “scrutinized companies” list.

“I have never heard of this list. We cannot imagine why the publication is being scrutinized. Are they censoring adults as well as children in Florida?” Kaesberg told the Sentinel. “I am not sure if their other products are causing them to be scrutinized. This is an expensive publication, which has been offered for years by the library. I miss having access to it.” read more

The Delta family of rockets have been responsible for launching Mars rovers, space telescopes, solar probes, weather satellites and more during a 63-year-run that began when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president.

It has one more to go as United Launch Alliance aims to send up the final Delta IV Heavy rocket on the NROL-70 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37, but a Thursday attempt was scrubbed with just under four minutes to go before liftoff because of an issue with the gaseous nitrogen pipeline that provides pneumatic pressure to the vehicle.

Late Thursday, ULA said fixes to the system were not to a confidence level for a Friday launch attempt, and a new launch date would be decided in the future.

“It’s a bittersweet moment for us. This is such an amazing piece of technology,” said ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno. “It’s the most metal of rockets setting itself on fire before it goes to space.”

The way the propellant flows ahead of liftoff gives a massive fireball on the launch pad. read more

Q: I am buying a house and have been warned about the various scams, especially those involving wires. I spoke with the closing agent, and they will not accept a check to buy my new home. How can I protect myself when sending a wire? — Nick

A: Whenever large sums of money are involved, scammers seem to come out of the woodwork. Throughout my career, there seems to be a never-ending variety of scams to watch out for.

Despite the dangers, bank wires remain the preferred, and often only, method of closing escrow on your real estate transaction. This is partly because checks, even certified or bank checks, can be stopped or easily counterfeited.

“Hard” funds, such as those sent by wire transfer, are required at closing so the escrow agent can pay the seller, lender, and other parties without delay.

Due to the large sums involved, criminals are constantly developing methods to trick people into redirecting the wire transfer to their accounts rather than the escrow agent. A persistent scam involves the fraudster hacking into one of the participants’ unsecured email accounts. read more

By MATT O’BRIEN (AP Technology Writer)

U.S. federal agencies must show that their artificial intelligence tools aren’t harming the public, or stop using them, under new rules unveiled by the White House on Thursday.

“When government agencies use AI tools, we will now require them to verify that those tools do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people,” Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters ahead of the announcement.

Each agency by December must have a set of concrete safeguards that guide everything from facial recognition screenings at airports to AI tools that help control the electric grid or determine mortgages and home insurance.

The new policy directive being issued to agency heads Thursday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget is part of the more sweeping AI executive order signed by President Joe Biden in October.

While Biden’s broader order also attempts to safeguard the more advanced commercial AI systems made by leading technology companies, such as those powering generative AI chatbots, Thursday’s directive will also affect AI tools that government agencies have been using for years to help with decisions about immigration, housing, child welfare and a range of other services. read more