Orlando grungers Yeah, Sure drop surreal new music video and single
Orlando quartet yeah, sure dropped a new single on Friday, bursting with a blend of ’90s grunge and ’60s psychedelic rock that somehow fits perfectly in the equally hopeful and terrifying world that is 2021. “hello there” addresses the unrelenting presence of technology in our daily lives, paired with heavy, sludgy riffs alongside vocals delivered with a dreamlike…
SeaWorld Orlando is planning another coaster, and that’s a good sign for the company
In early summer, as theme parks around the globe sat closed and tens of thousands of hospitality workers faced unemployment, there was talk of the industry facing a drought of new investments to make up for the revenue lost due to the pandemic. Just weeks before the nation went into lockdown, Disney announced a new…
Legal Public Notices 1/27 issue
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: 1001 Lee Rd. Orlando, FL. 32810 (407) 489-3742, February 12th, 2021 @ 4:00 PM Paul…
Lake Ivanhoe among Orlando lakes closed due to toxic algae blooms and E. coli
Lake Ivanhoe is one of 10 lakes in the Orlando area that is under a “lake alert” for algae toxins, according to the City of Orlando. Lakes Ivanhoe, Copeland, and Sue were all placed under alert in the last few days because of algae bloom toxins found in the water; several others were closed back…
Orlando-based Darden Restaurants will give employees paid time off if they receive the COVID-19 vaccine
Darden Restaurants — Orlando-based owners of Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yardhouse and Bahama Breeze — announced on Tuesday that the company’s 175,000 team members across the U.S. would be given paid time off to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Darden joins a list of corporations that will pay for employees’ vaccinations, including Trader Joe’s, Dollar General,…
Walt Disney World moves to update the Jungle Cruise’s racist portrayal of indigenous people
The Jungle Cruise at both Disneyland and Orlando’s Walt Disney World will undergo major changes in order to update racist portrayals of African people. Since opening in 1955 (Disneyland) and 1971 (Walt Disney World), the innocuously titled Jungle Cruise ride included problematic descriptions of indigenous Africans as spear-shaking “savages” — or in Disney-speak “negative depictions of…
Blue Man Group may leave Orlando for good — has Universal outgrown them?
The pandemic has caused a lot of people to move out of the Orlando area, but three very recognizable men may now be joining that list. After a 13-year run in the City Beautiful, the Blue Man Group is rumored to be moving on. Industry analyst and writer Josh Young, known for his reliable insider…
Free COVID-19 testing at Barnett Park to continue through February
The free COVID-19 testing site at Barnett Park for Orange County residents will extend operations through February. The Barnett Park drive-through facility will continue to operate daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, through Feb. 28. No appointments are needed. PCR and rapid testing options (or both) are administered at this Orange…
Judge rules that Florida man who planned to ‘violently confront protesters’ in Tallahassee will remain in jail
A federal magistrate judge on Monday ordered a Tallahassee man accused of plotting to “violently confront” potential protesters at the Florida Capitol this month to be kept in jail until his trial. In a written ruling, Magistrate Judge Michael J. Frank also found probable cause for Daniel Baker’s Jan. 15 arrest, which came amid preparations…
Publix supermarkets will reopen online COVID-19 vaccination portal in Florida this week
Lakeland-based grocery giant Publix announced that the website where seniors can sign up to receive the COVID-19 vaccination at one of its many locations around Florida will reopen at 6 a.m on Wednesday, Jan. 27, and again at 6 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 29. Tomorrow’s sign-up window will be for time slots on Thursday and…
Orlando Americana act Beemo take over the Plaza Live’s Front Porch Series on Thursday
The current weekly run of the Plaza Live’s Front Porch Series is particularly heavy on roots music. And of the headliners set for this year, Orlando band Beemo are some of the best practitioners with a genteel Americana sound that weaves together folk, mountain and string traditions with a polished modern take. The show is…
Timucua Arts Foundation kicks off 2021 in-person live concerts with Jon Roniger and the Good for Nothin’ Band
This show kicks off the 2021 return to live-audience performances at the Timucua Arts Foundation. But if the thought of public gatherings, even in Timucua’s cultural haven, still gives you a rightful shiver, take some comfort and don’t expect to arrive and see the venue packed out like the picture below. Besides a new Acoustic…
American Airlines has too much wine, and they want to deliver it to your house
You might not be traveling anywhere anytime soon, but American Airlines is here to help you get through the pandemic without ever having to leave your home. In June, airlines stopped selling alcohol on planes as a precaution to ensure adequate mask-wearing on flights. That left them with quite a lot more booze to store…
Monster Jam returns to Orlando’s Camping World Stadium in February
Monster Jam is coming! (Yes, really.) Grave Digger and monster truck comrades like Zombie, Scooby-Doo! and Monster Energy are coming back to Orlando’s — pandemic? can’t hear you over the roar of the engines — outdoors Camping World Stadium on the weekend of Feb. 27-28, for two days’ worth of daredevil stunts and speed contests. (And, we’re guessing,…
Florida lawmakers don’t want you to call this new proposal to collect online sales tax a new sales tax
A proposal that could pump more than $600 million a year in tax dollars into coronavirus-damaged state and local coffers got off to a quick start Monday in the Florida Senate. But backers of the proposal (SB 50), which drew unanimous support from the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee, just don’t want anyone calling tax…
Orlando-area Bagel Kings offer free bagel and coffee to first responders this week
Orlando Bagel King locations are offering free coffee and bagels to first responders this week. From Jan. 25-31, Central Florida first responders — police, firefighters, paramedics — can stop into Bagel King, flash their work ID and grab a bagel with cream cheese and coffee, on the house. The gratis coffee and bagel is available for pick-up or dine…
International blues star Ana Popović comes to Winter Park’s New Standard on Wednesday to shred the patriarchy
In terms of female representation, the blues makes rock music look like an egalitarian promised land, especially when it comes to leading roles. But Serbian dynamo Ana Popović packs the skills and cred to tilt the scales back toward the ladies. With blazing guitar virtuosity and a long list of international honors, she runs with…
The Falcon’s Metal Mondays resumes its monthly pace tonight in Thornton Park
Metal Mondays, the Falcon’s long-running monthly heavy-metal night, reemerged from the pandemic freeze just last month and it’s a welcome return — if anything, just because headbanging to heavy metal is much nicer than the headbanging against the wall we’ve all been doing this past year plus. Be it black, death, thrash, sludge, doom, progressive or just…
Leslye Gale’s O-Town Lowdown on Magic 107.7 for Monday, Jan. 25, 2021
Every morning on Magic 107.7 FM, Leslye Gale discusses the most interesting Orlando Weekly stories of the day on “Chad & Leslye.” Check out Leslye’s picks today. Ahead of a scheduled Orlando opening in March, fast-casual Chicago hot-dog chain Portillo’s has parked its “Beef Bus” food truck in Lake Eola. – LINK Central Florida’s Gatorland…
DeSantis is bummed the Senate flipped because Florida will get aid money that he ‘would have voted against’
With Georgia swinging the U.S. Senate to Democratic control, Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed disappointment but acknowledged the change could mean more federal aid for Florida. “I told my wife, when the results came in, I was like, you know, what this is going to mean now is as a governor, they’re going to try to…
Due to security concerns, Florida Legislature will not approve outdoors meetings
Despite what some Senate Democrats would like, lawmakers will not head outside for committee meetings as the weather gets warmer. “We have all that (Capitol) plaza, all the room of the portico, the new stuff. We could have lobbyists meetings; we could have public meetings out there,” state Sen. Loranne Ausley said during a Democratic…
Disney pulled the plug on Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, and nobody seemed to notice
Jan. 24 marked the end of an era for Disney Parks. This weekend, Disney pulled the plug on Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. The move came just a month before the ninth anniversary of the interactive dispersed attraction that will be remembered for its historic role in the evolution of themed entertainment. Spread across the…
American Hotel and Lodging Association proposes turning more than 50,000 U.S. hotels into vaccination sites
As the greatest vaccination effort in generations begins in earnest, corporations, reliant on a quick recovery, are stepping up to help health officials speed up the rollout. In the U.S., which leads the world in overall cases and deaths, more companies are joining in the effort. In recent weeks Starbucks, Publix, Microsoft and dozens more…
Maitland Audubon Center’s 2020 rehabilitation numbers soar as 784 raptors are taken in for care
The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland rehabilitated 784 raptors in 2020 and was able to release 54 percent of these birds back into the wild. Since its founding in 1979, the Center has released thousands of raptors —birds of prey like hawks, owls, vultures, falcons or eagles — including over 600 bald eagles. The Center…
Portillo’s Beef Bus rolls into downtown Orlando to sling Chicago-style hot dogs and more through Jan. 30
Ahead of a scheduled Orlando outpost opening in March, fast-casual Chicago hot-dog chain Portillo’s has parked its “Beef Bus” food truck in Lake Eola. The Bus will be stationed on the 200 block of East Central Boulevard by the fountain through Jan. 30, serving up Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef, cheese fries and more. The…
Florida judge rules that, yes, the Nestle corporation can continue to draw water for bottling from Ginnie Springs
Rejecting arguments by the Suwannee River Water Management District, an administrative law judge has backed renewing a permit for a North Florida business to pipe hundreds of thousands of gallons of spring water a day to a nearby bottling plant. Judge G.W. Chisenhall this week issued a 44-page order recommending that the district approve the…
Orlando’s Gatorland adds kookaburra to its ‘kooky’ family of animals
Gatorland welcomed Marshall the laughing kookaburra to its park Wednesday, adding yet another animal to its ever-growing family. Marshall is 2 years old and comes from a “loving South Florida home,” according to Gatorland’s press release. According to National Geographic, kookaburras are a symbol of Australia’s birdlife, and get their “laughing” descriptor from their “manic…
Stephanie Murphy announces new legislation barring QAnon adherents from holding federal security clearances
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Winter Park, is introducing legislation to bar QAnon conspiracy theory adherents from obtaining or holding on to federal security clearances. QAnon ride-or-dies are having a tough week. Their entire world came crashing around them Great Pumpkin-style when Donald Trump did not, in fact, lead the arrests of every single Democratic attendee…
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz throws Twitter shade at Senate President Wilton Simpson, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried
Hours before Wednesday’s presidential inauguration, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz sent social media aflutter by trolling toward the 2022 election cycle. Responding to a Sun Sentinel report that his name was being tossed around as a potential Republican primary challenger to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Gaetz tweeted that the only statewide Florida office he’d consider seeking…
Frontyard Festival launches outdoor ‘Sunday Brunch’ performance and dining series in downtown Orlando
The organizers of the Frontyard Festival in downtown Orlando are launching a new performance series combining two elements a lot of people have been missing: live music and brunch. On Feb. 7, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will debut the first “Sunday Brunch on the Yard,” an outdoors dining event where brunch…
State Rep. Sabatini begins crusade to get Florida highway named after Donald Trump
Even being in quarantine for possible COVID-19 exposure couldn’t stop Anthony Sabatini from fanboying over Donald Trump one last time! On Wednesday — the day Trump slunk ignominiously out of the White House for the final time — State Rep. Sabatini, R-Howey-in-the-Hills, promised to “propose an amendment in the Florida House to rename U.S. Highway 27 the (ahem) “President Donald J.…
Dochi, maker of fine Japanese mochi donuts, is opening a shop in Mills 50
Those of you who went cuckoo when Dochi opened on the second floor of East End Market back in February, prepare to lose your minds. The shop specializing in mochi donuts will open a permanent space in Mills 50 and, get this, they’re aiming for a Valentine’s Day opening. (SWOOOOOOOOOON) Dochi will take over the…
Theatre UCF returns to live performances in February
Theatre UCF will return to the stage with three new, outdoor shows starting in February. The trio of performances — “Songs of Inspiration,” Scaramouch in Naxos and The Grumpiest Boy in the World — will be split between the UCF Performing Arts Center Courtyard and the Orlando Shakes’ new courtyard performance space in Loch Haven Park. Songs of Inspiration…
Former Florida Republican House hopeful and Proud Boy arrested for role in Capitol attack
Gabriel Garcia, a South Florida man who ran unsuccessfully for the Florida House last year, was arrested Tuesday for taking part in the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Garcia challenged Rep. Daniel Perez, who is in line to become a future House speaker, in a Republican…
Florida House set to take up overkill ‘anti-protest’ bill pushed by Republicans
With backing from Republican leaders, a House panel next week will take up a controversial proposal that, at least in part, is aimed at cracking down on violent protests. The House Criminal Justice & Public Safety Subcommittee is slated Jan. 27 to take up the bill (HB 1), sponsored by Miami-Dade County Republican Juan Alfonso…
Susuru Yatai will open inside downtown Orlando’s Bumby Arcade Food Hall
If you’ve been to Fukuoka, Japan, you may have indulged in the street fare served at the city’s yatai. Those food stalls serve everything from noodles to grilled meats to takoyaki and, later this year, local Japanese restaurant Susuru will bring one to downtown Orlando. Susuru Yatai will set up inside the Bumby Arcade food…
Orlando concert promoter Norsekorea Presents retires after 10 years
Sadly, January marks the retirement of a long-trusted Orlando concert organizer. After 10 years of solid, culture-shaping work, Norsekorea Presents is hanging it up. And, unfortunately, it’s a loss that’ll lower our scene’s average. In a concert promotion spectrum bookended by strictly-business corporate giants on one side and undistinguished pretenders on the other, the true…
Fernwood String Quartet will perform world premieres of works by living Orlando composers on Saturday
Like the visionary Alterity Chamber Orchestra in which its members also play, the Fernwood String Quartet — comprised of Julia Gessinger (violin), Andreas Volmer (violin), Daniel Cortes (viola) and Hanrich Claassen (cello) — are among the Orlando vanguard doing the vital work of keeping classical music a living, breathing, now genre by shining light on the art of living composers.…
Central Florida resident and Proud Boy organizer Joe Biggs charged in Capitol riot
This afternoon, federal authorities arrested a Central Florida resident and organizer with the far-right white nationalist gang the Proud Boys on charges related to the deadly storming of the U. S. Capitol. According to an affidavit from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ormond Beach native Joseph Randall Biggs, 37 was one of the first to enter…
Florida Gov. DeSantis promises to put an end to COVID-19 vaccine ‘tourism’
Gov. Ron DeSantis is working on guidelines meant to stop COVID-19 vaccination “tourism” in Florida. Appearing at two news conferences Tuesday, DeSantis said he wants to make sure the state’s COVID-19 vaccine supply is being directed to Florida residents. “That can include people who live here half the year, but it’s not for people just…
CityArts plans a major overhaul of their courtyard space in downtown Orlando
CityArts and the Downtown Arts District are poised to begin an ambitious overhaul of their outdoor courtyard space in downtown Orlando. The end result will be a renovated, extended and radically different public plaza, wrapping around the north end of the CityArts building on Magnolia Street. Fundraising for the project is already underway, with the…
Palm Beach rapper Wifisfuneral brings his distinctive emo-trap sound to Orlando’s Soundbar on Friday
Although only 23 years old, young Palm Beach rapper Wifisfuneral has lived and done a lot. He’s had a life of upheaval, battled drug addiction, and was a nationally signed artist before he could even buy an innocent beer. But all that has added up to a compelling figure whose emo-trap sound is delivered distinctively…
Disney’s Hall of Presidents temporarily closes to add in Joe Biden animatronic figure
Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom has temporarily closed the doors of its Hall of Presidents attraction to add a Joe Biden figure. As spotted by WDW News Today, the plug was pulled suddenly on the Hall last night, with little fanfare besides a note about “refurbishment” going up on the Walt Disney World website (which,…
We went to the 2021 Inauguration in Washington, D.C., and here’s what we saw
Empty streets, determined stragglers, and so many soldiers
If you’re worrying about HIV at the moment, you’re worrying about the wrong virus
Love, sex, and relationship advice from Dan Savage. Q: I could really use your advice. I recently found my boyfriend’s HIV meds while I was house-sitting for him and went into his cupboard for a multivitamin. We’ve been dating for a year and I had assumed he was negative. I’m negative myself and on PrEP…
Readers let loose on Florida’s COVID vaccine rollout and state pre-emption of local home rule
¶ Seeing red Earlier this week, we reported on a curious coincidence: that the common trait of the 12 counties that are part of Florida’s growing COVID-19 vaccination partnership with the Publix supermarket chain is that each county is safely Republican. Deep-red Bay, Citrus, Collier, Escambia, Flagler, Hernando, Marion, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, St. Johns, Volusia…
Things to do in Orlando, Jan. 20-26
A selection of safe, socially distanced, and virtual events around Orlando. Thursday, Jan. 21Front Porch Series: Big Ron Betts TrioThe Plaza Live is holding a series of outdoors, weekly “weekend warm-up” shows starring a stellar cast of local musicians. This week’s headliner are the blues ragers Big Ron Betts Trio. 6 p.m., $15-$80. Plaza Live,…
Concert picks this week: Wifisfuneral, Fernwood String Quartet and more
If you go out, respect everyone’s distance, for all our sakes. Big Ron Betts Trio: Last week, the Plaza Live’s Front Porch Series launched its latest string of outdoor concerts, a strong weekly stand filled with accomplished local talent that will run through the end of March. The next edition will feature veteran local bluesman…
Perla’s Pizza opens soon, a new tenant in the old Proper & Wild space, DoshiBox delivers packed Korean lunches, and more
Our weekly roundup of local food news
With a little help from the taxpayers, Winter Park Playhouse plans to bounce back stronger on the other side of this pandemic
The pandemic delivered a gut punch to the performing arts in 2020, with many Central Florida stages canceling their in-person seasons or even closing down completely. But with the new year, our local theater community is showing some promising signs of life, and the return of Winter Park Playhouse is a prime example. The Orlando…
Valencia College adjuncts are taking care of each other as the Orlando college continues challenging their efforts to unionize
Tony Anaya, an 84-year-old former adjunct professor at Valencia College, wasn’t planning to submit his letter of resignation to the college last September. After working in Valencia College’s Global Languages department for nearly two decades and helping design its Continuing Education International program, Anaya says the college failed to provide the technological accommodations he needed…
‘Euphoria’ teases its return to HBO with a special between-seasons episode, ‘F*ck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob’
Streaming premieres you won’t want to miss this week. Premieres Wednesday: C.B. Strike: Lethal White — Tom Burke is back as the private investigator J.K. Rowling brought into the world when she was writing as Robert Galbraith. Hmmmm, which joke do I go with here: the one about Rowling being a trans author after all?…
University of Central Florida welcomes ‘But Before Bone Is Skin,’ an art exhibition interrogating the construction of the self
As part of the partnership between the University of Central Florida and the National Endowment for the Arts, the campus is currently participating in a “Big Read” of Tayari Jones’ acclaimed 2011 novel Silver Sparrow. Hailed by the Guardian as “moving, intimate and wise” and “part Bildungsroman, part homage to 1980s Atlanta,” Silver Sparrow tells…
It’s not unity Republicans want now, no matter what they say. It’s surrender.
The people who tried to overturn an election want to sing Kumbaya now? Hard pass.
