“I grew up here, and then I left as soon as I possibly could,” says Future Bartenderz’ sole suds-slinger, Brian Costello, succinctly of his Orlando roots. “I lived in Chicago for a long time. When I was there I played in bands, put records out, went on tour. I was a writer, had a couple…
Even as the hopes for a ‘Hot Vax Summer’ turned into a daunting Delta-led part deux of the past summer, SeaWorld continued to see strong visitor numbers companywide. On August 5, when they released their Q2 results, things were looking up for the Orlando-based amusement park chain. The morning the earnings report was to be…
UPDATE: Disney announced their Genie app and the removal of FastPass. Our original story, written ahead of the announcement, is below. As Walt Disney World prepares for its 50th Anniversary celebration, the company is pushing forward with Disney Genie. This AI-based real-time vacation planning assistant was first announced in 2019. The app-based queue management service…
Orlando Legals Legal Public Notices AUCTION Extra Space Storage Š Store 8138 1001 Lee Rd. Orlando FL. 32810 Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated: August 27, 2021 @ 12:00 PM Thomas Hooker- Household Goods, Onaje Hanberry-Household Goods, Tiquilla…
E-commerce company Leafly has carved out a niche as one of the nation’s leading shopping sites for all things cannabis. Leafly and similar websites allow visitors to peruse the stock available at medical marijuana dispensaries, place orders online and pick up and pay for the goods at local storefronts. But Florida health regulators this year…
Orange County Public Schools more than doubled their daily record for COVID-19 cases among students on Monday. 238 new cases of coronavirus were reported among the county’s public school students on Monday which shattered the former single-day record of 97 cases set on Friday. All told the school district has had 898 confirmed cases of…
Orlando Shakes on Tuesday released the details of their 33rd “Homecoming” season of shows, and there looks to be something for everyone. Kicking off in September, the theater company will be returning to their Lowndes Shakespeare Center (indoors) home base, and staging seven plays, both classic and new: Every Brilliant Thing Sept. 22-Oct. 16 Intimate…
Enzian Theater is screening a cult-classic Godzilla film (not) just for the kids later this month. As part of the Enzian’s ongoing Peanut Butter Matinee Family Film series, one of the most outright bonkers of the early Godzilla films will return to Maitland’s big screen on Aug. 29: Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters, from 1968. “Massive…
Locals will have the chance to celebrate the life and art of musician Jim O’Rourke this weekend, during the “Jim O’Rourke: A Celebration of Life & Music” event at Will’s Pub. And, appropriately, it will be along the lines of an open mic affair. On Saturday, Aug. 21 from 4-7 p.m., “Jim’s family & friends…
The Jacksonville Jaguars released the future quarterback of the Orlando Predators today, waiving Tim Tebow and ending the former Florida star’s attempt to play tight end in the NFL. The Heisman Trophy-winning former Gators quarterback was unceremoniously dumped from the team’s roster, with the Jaguars confirming the move in a tweet that marked all of…
Venerable dive and Orlando institution Whiskey Lou’s Lounge is butting out: putting an end to smoking inside the bar. According to Bungalower, the move to go smoke-free indoors is part of a series of changes to the Milk District’s most cash-only bar. Itsa Chicken will be taking up residence in the bar’s kitchen and the…
Gov Ron DeSantis on Monday announced the opening of a state-supported site at Camping World Stadium in Orlando where up to 320 people a day can receive monoclonal antibody treatment to help fight COVID-19 infections. DeSantis, who promised that additional sites would open in the coming days, said he wanted to promote the availability of…
With more than 900 manatee deaths this year in Florida, conservation groups signaled Monday that they plan to file a lawsuit against the federal government over “critical habitat” areas for the sea cows. The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and the Save the Manatee Club filed a notice of intent to sue the…
Renting a home in Orlando has been a nightmare for quite some time. The average renter in the area is already cost-burdened — spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing — and recent studies have found the relative cost of housing to be less affordable than San Francisco. Even in this bleak…
German discount grocery chain Aldi has rapidly expanded throughout Central Florida since first moving into Orlando in 2008. While stores have crept all over the region for the supermarket brand, they haven’t forgotten about the one that brought them. A new Aldi is scheduled to open in Orlando later this week. The newest outpost of…
The NBA Experience at Disney Springs closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Given the room to think about reopening the space, it appears that both sides have agreed to close it permanently. Walt Disney World confirmed that the immersive professional basketball zone was done after just two years. All in all, the attraction was open…
You’ll never guess what the newest business coming to Mills 50 is. It’s… Well, yeah it’s… To be honest, we didn’t expect you to guess. The hip district will have yet another bar in the near future, with a new space opening up next to Ritzy Rags, just down the way from the former home…
More than 23,000 Floridians tested positive for coronavirus in a single day over the weekend. According to the Florida Hospital Association, 23,903 residents tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. That topped the previous one-day record (set the day before) of 22,783 positive tests. Hospitalizations also hit a new high. 13,747 Floridians were in the hospital…
The U.S. Department of Education is “deeply concerned” about Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order seeking to ban school mask mandates and is ready to help districts directly, the federal agency said in a letter to the governor Friday. “Florida’s recent actions to block school districts from voluntarily adopting science-based strategies for preventing the spread of…
When the Foreigner — chef Bruno Fonseca’s intimate 10-seat chef’s tasting concept — opens in Audubon Park this Christmas, it’ll encompass the design strokes of one the city’s best architectural houses. GDPdesignbuild, the firm behind such projects as Tori Tori, Domu and Golden Hour Wine, will design the 954-square-foot space at 3124 Corrine Drive, situated…
Sanford’s Theater West End have announced a min-season of three live productions they’ll be putting on to finish off 2021. And any lack in sheer number of shows is more than made up for by the marquee value of what they’ll be staging. The mini-season kicks off on Aug. 27 with a long weekend run…
A 31-year-old man from Seminole, Florida was arrested this week for threatening to blow up the homes of Walt Disney World executives. According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Steven Jordan created a Twitter account on Aug. 8 and used it to make threats against several companies. Before the account was suspended by Twitter, Jordan…
The Museum of Illusions in ICON Park already brings you “Tricks” (of the eye) aplenty, but come October they’ll be giving attendees the Halloween “Treats” side of the equation as well. Every Wednesday in October from 5-8 p.m., the Museum is encouraging guests to come in full costume, and in return candy will be there…
A Florida mom was fatally shot by her toddler while taking part in a Zoom call on Wednesday. According to the Altamonte Springs Police Department, 21-year-old Shamaya Lynn was on a conference call when her child found the loaded weapon. Co-workers called police after hearing the gunshot and seeing Lynn fall out of frame. When…
Cruises are steadily making their way back in Florida. Outside of Norwegian, who won the right to ask for proof of vaccination in court, many are operating around the rules set by Florida and the CDC. A recent Carnival cruise to Belize might offer a glimpse into the near future. The ship reported 27 cases…
The trend in recent years has been toward unending surveillance. Phones, smart microphones, cameras in doorbells and the ever-present traffic cams have brought just about every corner of modern life under the eye of someone, with any pushback on it seen as crank behavior. In such a grim landscape, even a minor bit of resistance…
Orange County is suspending all county-run youth sports leagues effective immediately. Mayor Jerry Demings announced the move during a regular briefing on Thursday, noting that the COVID-19 positivity rate in the county was above 20 percent. The previous benchmark for removing mask mandates and social distancing guidelines in the county was five percent. While vaccination…
A new restaurant is set to feed hungry Epcot attendees and it promises to be out of this world. Space 220 — you can probably guess the theme — will open its airlock in mid-September. Located in the orbit of the Mission: SPACE attraction at the Epcot theme park, Space 220 is a collaboration between Executive Chef Marc Kusche and Disney…
SeaWorld’s first-ever Howl-O-Scream is finally taking shape. The inaugural haunted attraction at SeaWorld Orlando shared the last of its attractions and announced a one-day flash sale. To the growing list of elemental haunts, SeaWorld added a frightening, oceanic attraction called Waters’ Edge Inn. The crumbling hotel sits alongside a body of water that appears to…
In hopes of providing relief to hospitals dealing with a surge of coronavirus cases, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced the opening of a mobile unit in Jacksonville to provide monoclonal antibody treatment to people with COVID-19. DeSantis, who has rejected ideas such as requiring masks in schools, said monoclonal antibody treatment “is the best…
A report released Thursday by AARP shows that Florida had the nation’s highest percentage of nursing homes reporting new COVID-19 infections among staff members during a four-week period in June and July. The Florida facilities also had the second-lowest worker vaccination rate in the nation. In addition, the AARP report showed that Florida lagged in…
Orlando chicken-wing enthusiasts will have something to cluck out in the near future, as New England-based chain Wing It On! just announced an upcoming second planned location in Apopka. The new Apopka franchise, with no location announced as of this writing, is part of the wing-slingers’ aggressive expansion strategy, with a targeted goal of 25 or…
Police officers from the Orlando Police Department and Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot and killed a 73-year-old veteran who was having a mental health crisis on Thursday morning. Though the man’s name has not been released, officials have revealed that they were called to a residential neighborhood just west of the Orlando International Airport…
Nas’ new album, King’s Disease 2, could end up being the best hip-hop record of the summer, and Tampa fans will have a chance to hear it live and in person this fall when the Queens MC headlines Gasparilla Music Festival (GMF) in October. GMF announced its phase one lineup this morning, and the 47-year-old…
Universal Orlando Resort unveiled five more themed haunted houses on Thursday that are set to feature in this year’s Halloween Horror Nights 30th anniversary. The five newly-announced original haunts join five other houses — based on properties ranging from The Haunting of Hill House to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to “Beetlejuice — for a grand total of 10. The…
4 Rivers Smokehouse has announced the opening of a new Orlando restaurant in the SoDo neighborhood set for early 2022. This will be 4 Rivers’ sixth Smokehouse outpost in the greater Orlando area, and it will be located at 3200 S. Orange Ave. in the former Freddy’s Frozen Custard space. 4 Rivers promises to go big…
Former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg is providing Matt Gaetz’s investigators with a trove of information. According to a new report, the disgraced Florida official is offering transaction records, messages with sex workers, photos and videos to the team looking into whether the congressman participated in sex trafficking. ABC News reports that Greenberg has…
About 86 percent of the 56,172 inpatient hospital beds in Florida were occupied Wednesday as the state continues to struggle with a surge in COVID-19 cases, according to data updated by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Of the 48,414 beds in use, 15,449 were occupied by patients with COVID-19, the data reported…
Two school districts that faced pressure from Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran about their attempts to require students to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic have given vastly different responses to the state. Alachua County is moving forward with requiring students to have doctors’ notes to avoid wearing masks, while Leon County backed away from a…
Nearly all of Florida is still in the “cone of uncertainty” for Tropical Storm Fred. As the storm passes over Hispaniola, the National Hurricane Center still has Central Florida in its representation of a potential path for the storm. The storm is expected to weaken as it moves over that Caribbean island, with both the…
Orange County didn’t go as far as some school districts in Florida with mask requirements for its students, essentially offering a strong suggestion to mask up in school and requiring students who wanted to opt out to bring a note from their parents. That burden seems to be working as intended, as the district reported…
A Leon County circuit judge has scheduled a hearing Friday in a lawsuit filed by parents challenging an executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis that seeks to prevent school districts from requiring students to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Attorneys for a dozen parents from Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Alachua, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties…
State Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran is looking to enforce Gov. Ron DeSantis’ threat to withhold the salaries of school officials in Alachua and Leon counties if they don’t comply with a state rule aimed at allowing parents to decide whether children wear masks in school. DeSantis issued an executive order on July 30 seeking to…
Premieres Wednesday: Bake Squad — Four expert bakers vie to provide a client with the best dessert in a reality competition that’s also the perfect insurance policy. Because if you’re planning a gay wedding and one of these culinary wizards refuses to participate, you’ve got three left who might not be Nazis. (Netflix) Five Bedrooms…
OPENINGS: Norman’s, the much-anticipated restaurant from Norman Van Aken, is now slated to open at the Dellagio Town Center in Dr. Phillips early next year … Tabla, the top-notch Indian restaurant with locations near Universal Studios and on Park Avenue in Winter Park, will open an outpost this winter in the old Rubio’s Coastal Grill…
Sadly, the Orlando music community just lost one of its longtime pillars. Local musician Jim O’Rourke is as original a gangster as it gets around here. According to owner Will Walker, he was the first person to play live music at Will’s Pub — no, the old one, at Loch Haven. Nearly everyone who’s anyone…
Our selections of the best stuff to do this week. Wednesday, Aug. 11Nathan Mosher Is InjuredL.A. native and comedian Mosher presents an encore of his Orlando Fringe fave one-man show for one night only at the Abbey. First time around, Mosher actually had a broken knee, adding an extra layer to the title, but this…
It’s getting bad out there again, guys. Be safe. Zeta, Sunstrife, 430 Steps, the Rottens: Venezuela’s Zeta have been one of the hottest imports to the Sunshine State in recent years, and Orlando promoter Montgomery Drive has been their biggest advocate here in Central Florida. Now based in South Florida, the band’s avant-garde punk rock…
On paper, George McClellan was as good a commander as the U.S. had available in 1861. But he was reluctant to attack despite his numerical and tactical advantages. So in November 1862, President Lincoln removed Little Mac as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Thus began the procession of Lincoln’s failed generals — Ambrose Burnside,…
Orlando Legals Legal Public Notices AUCTION Extra Space Storage Ð Store 8138 1001 Lee Rd. Orlando FL. 32810 Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated: August 27, 2021 @ 12:00 PM Thomas Hooker- Household Goods, Onaje Hanberry-Household Goods, Tiquilla…
On July 10, Orlando stage manager Blue Estrella posted on Facebook voicing her frustration with Mad Cow Theatre over her delayed paycheck for their production of Hound of the Baskervilles, joining an illustrious fraternity of local artists who claim they’ve been ignored or intimidated when asking for their contracted compensation from one of the region’s…
