Category Archives: Business

Streaming local: A cord-cutting guidebook for Central Florida

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Ready to break up with your cable provider? Paying too much for channels you don’t watch? Cord-cutting offers consumers the flexibility to pay for the channels they want, without subscribing to those they don’t. While signing up for purely entertainment-based services like Netflix and Disney+ is generally a pretty straightforward process, it can be a little bit more complicated to retain access to local news content after ditching a cable provider. Though all local channels can be picked up by digital HD antennas, direct browser or app streams are available for all major local networks, which each have their own in-house streaming services:

WKMG: News 6 has its own streaming service called News 6+, which streams live newscasts and events, and also shows highlights from News 6 broadcasts in between livestreams. This service can be accessed via browser at clickorlando.com/watch-live and through the Click Orlando app which is available for Apple and Android devices.

WOFL: FOX 35 uses the LiveNOW platform to stream news from Orlando during local news broadcasts. LiveNOW can be accessed via browser at fox35orlando.com/live or through the FOX 35 app. In between local news broadcasts, the stream will feature highlights from the national LiveNOW Fox service. The FOX 35 app supports AirPlay on Apple devices, making it possible to stream
content from this service on compatible devices like Apple TV.

WFTV: Channel 9 has a streaming news hub called WFTV Now that features several channels that include regular newscasts, breaking news, and 24/7 weather. All channels are accessible at wftv.com/video and inside the WFTV News App, which is available on Apple and Android platforms.

WESH: Channel 2 uses NowCast to stream local news broadcasts as they air on TV. In between broadcasts, the NowCast stream will air repeats of the most recent broadcast. This service is available at wesh.com/nowcast and inside the WESH app, which is available on Apple and Android platforms. The WESH app supports AirPlay on Apple devices, making it possible to stream content from this service on compatible devices like Apple TV.

In addition to accessing direct channel streams through apps and websites, select local channels (currently WESH and WFTV) can also be streamed directly to your TV with the NewsON app, which is compatible with Apple, Chromecast, Roku and Amazon streaming devices. More information on this service is available at newson.us.

For those looking for a more structured, all-in-one option that livestreams all content (not just news) from local channels, third-party subscriptions to Hulu with Live TV, fuboTV or YouTube TV work like cable and allow consumers to access full channel streams from networks that users choose individually. Plans that include live local TV options start at $54.99 per month. Sling TV is a less expensive option with plans starting at $30, but this service only includes live local streaming from FOX 35, with no other major local Central Florida channels currently available.

Florida: Urge Your Representative to Oppose the Misleading ‘Pet Protection Act’

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Adangerous Florida bill, misleadingly named the “Pet Protection Act” (S.B. 994 / H.B. 849), would nullify important reforms for animals.

Far from “protecting” companion animals, this bill would preempt new local retail sales bans for cats and dogs and stop local governments from enacting additional safeguards against puppy and kitten mills.

Commercial breeding mills prioritize profits over animals’ health and well-being. Pet stores are a common sales venue for puppies and kittens from these operations, and local efforts to ban such sales are an important tool in the fight to stop mill cruelty.

Please use the form below to send a message to your representative, urging them to oppose this harmful bill. Remember, personalizing your message will help it stand out.

Forbes releases billionaires list

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Forbes has announced its 35th annual list of the world’s richest people for 2021.

The publication said the list now encompasses 2,755 people who are billionaires, 660 more than the prior year, with a record-high number of new names to make the cut — 493, many of whom come from China and Hong Kong.

There were 250 who had dropped off but have made a comeback.

A vast majority of people who had been on the 2020 list are richer than they were the previous year.

Former Amazon CEO and current executive chairman Jeff Bezos is once again the richest man in the world with a net worth of $177 billion. In 2020 he was worth $113 billion when he was at the top of that year’s rankings, Forbes reported.

Here are the rest of the top 10 richest people in the world and their net worth and the companies they lead, or in some cases general ways they made their fortunes.

  1. Jeff Bezos, $177 billion, Amazon
  2. Elon Musk, $151 billion, Tesla
  3. Bernard Arnault and family, $150 billion, LVMH
  4. Bill Gates, $124 billion, Microsoft
  5. Mark Zuckerberg, $97 billion, Facebook
  6. Warren Buffett, $96 billion, Berkshire Hathaway
  7. Larry Ellison, $93 billion, software
  8. Larry Page, $91.5 billion, Google
  9. Sergey Brin, $89 billion, Google
  10. Mukesh Ambani, $84.5 billion, diversified

Super Bubble Evidence

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The Bull has been running hard for 10 years now. Indicators are clear that we are in what Jeromy Grantham, co-founder of Boston’s GMO, calls a “Super Bubble”. This has only happened 4 times in the last 100 years – 1929, 1972, 1989 in Japan and 2000. One indicator is certainly the Buffett Indicator which tracks the ratio of the value of all public stocks in the US and GDP. We are currently at 218% which is 70% above trendline.

According to Grantham, the Russell 2000 small cap stocks are down and not making any money right now. In a Bull market, the Russell index should be up 30%.

Americas Worst Fast Food Brand at it again with it’s employees

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Even though it’s a fairly big fast food brand, Jimmy John’s has had its share of controversies. For instance, the company was forced to cough up $1.8 million a few years ago in a settlement after concerns were brought up by several employees who cited the Fair Labor Standards Act. The workers said that they weren’t given overtime pay by the company (via Restaurant Dive).

The restaurant was also called out for forcing its employees to sign “a non-competition clause” that prevented its workers from joining the brand’s competitors for a period of two years after leaving Jimmy John’s, per The Huffington Post. This rule was applicable to the delivery workers and sandwich artists and was highly restrictive because it stated that former employees couldn’t work for any company that was getting 10 percent of its revenue from selling sandwiches.

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Security deposit alternatives offered for Florida renters

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As rents skyrocket, startup companies are touting what they consider to be a helpful solution to hefty security deposits pricing Floridians out of apartments.

Instead of forking over an upfront security deposit, tenants can agree to pay a monthly fee — typically about $25.

But there’s a catch: The money isn’t refundable at the end of the lease like a traditional security deposit, and renters are still on the hook for damage beyond ordinary wear and tear.

State lawmakers are considering legislation that would create regulations for such
agreements that offer security deposit insurance instead of a traditional lump-sum
deposit.

But advocates for Florida tenants have concerns. They say the proposed regulations lack important safeguards to protect renters from predatory practices.

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US inflation soared 7% in past year, the most since 1982

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Inflation jumped at its fastest pace in nearly 40 years last month, a 7% spike from a year earlier that is increasing household expenses, eating into wage gains and heaping pressure on President Joe Biden and the Federal Reserve to address what has become the biggest threat to the U.S. economy.

Prices have risen sharply for cars, gas, food and furniture as part of a rapid recovery from the pandemic recession that was fueled by vast infusions of government aid and emergency intervention by the Fed, which slashed interest rates. As Americans have ramped up spending, supply chains have been squeezed by shortages of workers and raw materials.

“Inflation ended 2021 very hot,” said Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide. Ayers and other economists say prices may cool off some as snags in the supply chain ease, but inflation will remain elevated throughout 2022.

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7 Times Rock Bands Were Sued By Album Cover Models

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One of the biggest controversies in rock music this year has been the lawsuit against Nirvana by Spencer Elden, who’s depicted as a baby on the cover of the band’s 1991 album Nevermind. But, this isn’t the first time a band has found themselves in this type of situation.

There have actually been a ton of lawsuits against bands over album artwork throughout musical history, but for the sake of keeping things related to the case of Nirvana and Elden, we’re focusing on the ones that were filed against bands by the people, or models, who’re actually featured on the covers.

Perhaps one of the most famous examples is The Rolling Stones’ 1978 album Some Girls, which marked their transition toward disco and funk rock, and also originally had some very famous faces on the cover in addition to the band members. The group of women and their family members sued the Stones, who ultimately decided to put out a different version of the cover with only the musicians’ faces instead.

“On the original album there were old-fashioned film stars, but because we were stupid and never got permission from them, we got stopped a lot from using them,” Mick Jagger later told Yahoo! of the artwork.

That’s a situation where the band didn’t actually ask permission to use the images, which is the same for several others on our list as well. However, Elden’s case is unique in that his parents were the ones who gave the band consent to use his photo on Nevermind, as he was only a baby during the photoshoot.

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Dow tumbles 900 points for worst day of year on fears of new Covid variant, S&P 500 drops 2.53%

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U.S. stocks dropped sharply on Friday as a new Covid variant found in South Africa triggered a global shift away from risk assets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 905.04 points, or 2.53%, for its worst day of the year, closing at 34,899.34. The S&P 500 lost 2.27% to close at 4,594.62, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.23% to finish at 15,491.66. The Dow was down more than 1,000 points at session lows.

Ocoee allows Chews A Puppy to bypass county pet sale ban

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The city of Ocoee’s reworked pet-sale ordinance was widely panned Tuesday night by more than two dozen animal welfare advocates who tried but failed to persuade city commissioners to stick with a county ordinance that will outlaw the retail sale of puppies, kittens and bunnies beginning next summer.

The hotly debated Ocoee ordinance passed 3-2 with Mayor Rusty Johnson leading the way to benefit a city pet shop.

The new rule allows one store — Chews A Puppy on West Colonial — to keep selling puppies and kittens after the county ban kicks in June 22.

Unless the county rule is overturned in court, Chews A Puppy would be the only pet shop lawfully permitted to sell puppies not only in Ocoee but also in Orange County and throughout most of Central Florida as Lake, Osceola and Seminole counties have adopted similar bans on retail pet sales.

Frustrated animal-welfare advocates, who lobbied for Orange County’s ban, vowed to keep fighting.

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