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As the city considers a crackdown on nightlife, Orlando bar owners and staff weigh their options
The battle for downtown
City of Orlando passes new ordinance restricting nightlife downtown
Orlando City Council on Monday passed two controversial new measures restricting nightlife in downtown Orlando. Despite a putative cooling-off period for further discussions between council members and stakeholders after a contentious January meeting when the measures were first brought up (and unanimously passed as a first read), City Council approved both proposal rules. The first…
Legal Public Notices 3/22/23
Orlando Legals Legal Public Notices Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated: April 4th, 2023 at the times and locations listed below. The personal goods stored therein by the following: 12:00 PM Extra Space Storage 610 Rinehart Rd. Lake Mary,…
Florida lawmakers consider year-round school schedule for students
The plan’s sponsor suggests it could help students recover from learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic
Lake Eola’s missing swan babies were actually swiped by raccoons
The swan saga comes to an unpleasant end
Milk District restaurant MX Taco announces imminent closure at end of March
“All the best, Orlando.” With those oddly hopeful words, Milk District restaurant MX Taco signed off on the announcement of its imminent closure Monday via social media. While it won’t be a complete shutdown — the same social media post promised that MX would be staging various pop-up events in the coming months — it’s still the end of…
Bryson Tiller’s ‘Back and I’m Better Tour’ stops in Orlando in May
After a six year break, Bryson Tiller is “back and better,” and he’s ready to hit the road on a North American tour starting in May. Tiller’s “Back and I’m Better” tour will take in 25 cities beginning on May 4 in San Diego. The tour plans to stop in major markets including Boston, Detroit,…
Girls Rock Camp invites Orlando musicians to submit songs for a fundraiser mix tape
Long before the era of the Spotify playlist, the mix tape roamed the earth as the best way to compile beloved songs onto a single album. Now Orlando Girls Rock Camp wants to revisit that halcyon era and are inviting local musicians to submit songs for their upcoming tape compilation. Dubbed the “OGRC Friends and…
Op-ed: ‘I fight for a world where those with MS get every opportunity to live a full and fulfilling life’
Warriors come in all shapes and sizes. They walk among us, often unseen and battling invisible demons. But one thing remains constant — warriors never quit. They adapt and fight the good fight. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis over five years ago, officially turning my life upside down. My identity and sense of self…
Florida Republicans want to legalize ‘Back the Blue’ flags for homeowners with HOAs
Bill sponsor James Buchanan, R-Osprey, said the measure was inspired by a “Blue Line Club” club of homeowners in his district
Proposal to ban abortion at six weeks in Florida advances, amid emotional debate
The Senate Health Policy Committee approved the measure, after lengthy and often-emotional testimony and debate
New tenant protections in Orange County could be threatened, under Florida housing proposal
Critics say the preemption bill only benefits landlords, not Florida renters
Lawmakers debate repealing Florida’s film and entertainment office
Some argue lawmakers should consider more than just the return on investment, as many incentive programs provide other benefits
Florida House bill expands private school vouchers to all students, including home-schooled students
Home-schooled students who receive the vouchers would be classified as participating in a ‘personalized education program’ under the bill
Orlando Weekly’s 5 biggest headlines of the week
The news that kept us on our toes
Essential new Orlando noise-rock band Warm Frames play Uncle Lou’s on Tuesday
Sooner or later the cycles of pop music mandate that the old guard be swept out to sea and replaced by the new (though somehow that doesn’t seem to involve certain boomer icons, but maybe that’s just the liquidity of retirement funds sloshing around). While, for many, obsolescence can be painful, there’s an undeniable thrill…
Looks like we now know the address of Shaq’s upcoming Big Chicken restaurant in Orlando
The slam dunk of chicken into fryers, Shaq-style, is looming ever closer for Orlando. If their official website is anything to go by (and it usually is!), we now know the Orlando address of Big Chicken — the Shaquille O’Neal-owned fast casual concept — opening soonish in the City Beautiful. First announced back in 2022, Shaq’s Big…
Orlando psych-rock band Someday River release ambitious new single ‘I’ll Wait’
We’re a bit late writing about this one, but this month saw the release of a keening and ornate new single by Orlando psych-rock band Someday River. “I’ll Wait” is the first teaser from an upcoming full-length album promised by the band. It’s a delicate and dizzying number bursting with hypnotic and lush melodies aplenty.…
Florida trans youth can no longer start gender-affirming care, as treatment ban takes effect
Children who have begun to socially transition but have not started puberty blockers would be ineligible for treatment
Giant African land snail invasion puts part of Florida under quarantine
The snails pose threats to parts of the agriculture industry and human health
Last Monkee standing Micky Dolenz will play the hits and ‘Headquarters’ in Orlando
Micky Dolenz, the final member of the Monkees still with us, is coming to Orlando to pay tribute to the music he is indelibly associated with. And despite the show’s April 1 date, this is no April Fools’ prank. Dolenz plays Orlando as part of a tour celebrating the outlier Monkees album Headquarters, the one…
Matt and Kim are ‘Almost Ready’ to play Orlando this summer
Energetic indie-pop duo Matt and Kim are heading out on the aptly-named “Matt and Kim” tour late this summer, and there will be an Orlando stop on the run. Matt and Kim hit the road starting on Sept. 7 in California and make their way to Florida for three shows mid-month: in St. Pete, Fort…
Florida Senate proposal would prevent local governments from removing Confederate monuments
People responsible for taking down, damaging or removing monuments or memorials would be open to civil lawsuits
R+B Music Experience brings Tyrese, Xscape, El DeBarge and more to Orlando
It’s like a mixtape in real life
Florida House panel approves bill that would allow anyone to challenge books taught in schools
Opponents are characterizing it as enabling book bans
Amendment to make school board races partisan could go to Florida voters in 2024
If the amendment passes, partisan school-board races would begin in 2026
The Brick Convention is a can’t-miss proposition for Central Florida LEGO enthusiasts
Get ready for a blockbuster … errr, block-builder weekend. The Orlando Brick Convention — purported to be the first of its kind locally — aims to bring together LEGO obsessives of all ages for a hands-on and “minds-on” experience. Expect to encounter LEGO masters, see LEGO city builds and displays of all sorts, build your…
Stardust Video hosts a night of solo guitar explorations with Eli Winter, Fast Preacher and Jonas Van den Bossche
The general idea of guys with guitars at a coffee shop makes me shudder, too. But this is anything but that. Instead, this high-quality bill features a trifecta of guitarists all operating on interesting fringes. The experimental folk music of Chicago’s Eli Winter is at once familiar and strange, like a shimmering dream. The avant-garde…
Florida’s six-week abortion ban bill gets its first hearing this week
The debate will come after lawmakers last year passed a measure to prevent abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy
Kyuramen opening near UCF, World Famous House of Mac now open in Sodo, the return of Spanish River Grill
The crispiest Orlando food news
Can Ted Lasso stay chipper in the face of Nate’s betrayal? Find out in Season 3 on Apple TV+
What’s new on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video and the rest
Comedian Kevin James Thornton headlines the Orlando Improv Thursday
Maybe it’s a good thing that we live in such a fractured media landscape, because without today’s firehose of, ahem, “content,” a multidimensional talent like Kevin James Thornton might never have come to our attention. Thornton’s AutoTuned TikTok anecdotes about his fundamentalist Christian childhood and tales of the far-distant and exotic “Niiiiiiiine-tieeeees” have won him…
Joey Fatone and Ryan Cabrera throw a celebrity karaoke party at Gilt on Friday
Join N*SYNCer and Fat One’s Hot Dogs CEO Fatone and Rubix Groove mainman turned solo artist (and Mr. Alexa Bliss) Ryan Cabrera for a night of karaoke at Gilt Nightclub. Doubling as a St. Patrick’s Day bash — because why not, ’tis the season — and with a live band in the house, the admission…
The HVNZ play their first show on an Orlando stage at the Iron Cow this week
Central Florida band the HVNZ have been emerging with flair over the past year or so with a stylish string of singles and videos. But it’s not until this upcoming Orlando show that they’ll finally make their official stage debut. Fronted by Nik Talbot of standout garage-rock duo the Dull Blades, the Space Coast trio…
Street Fever and Ani Christ to play Clan of Xymox afterparty at Will’s Pub Thursday
In the world of electronic music, Idaho’s Street Fever lives down the dark alley where all the BDSM clubs are. More dance than industrial, their seductive sound mines an impressive spectrum of beat styles, from techno to breaks, and dresses it all up in black like synthwave’s goth cousin. Opening the show — which is now the…
Ataj Moroccan Restaurant is a draw for those with a nose for Berber-y scents
Moroccan out in Celebration
Free Will Astrology: ‘For those who escape hell, nothing much bothers them after that’
Your horoscope for the week of March 16-22
Rollins Museum of Art’s ‘One Act of Kindness’ explores the borderlands where cultural connection can happen
The exhibition One Act of Kindness: A World of Difference at Rollins Museum of Art highlights four pieces by four artists: Guillermo Galindo, Patrick Martinez, Monte Olinger and Joe Wardwell. Together the works explore a range of material and experimental approaches while also engaging concepts of empathy, legibility and immigration. Artist/composer Galindo’s sculpture is described…
They Might Be Giants to ‘Flood’ Orlando with top-shelf art-pop this week
Would you like to spend “an evening with” those debonair gents of alt-rock They Might Be Giants? The oddball pop duo are en route to the City Beautiful, playing classic album Flood from start to finish on stages across the country nightly. The twosome of John Flansburgh and John Linnell make their long-awaited return to…
Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival offers up art for all tastes this weekend
“How much art can you take?” memorably asked SSD back in 1982. And though their interrogative shriek was surely rhetorical, it’s a question the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival has been asking the local community for over 60 years. And that same community has consistently answered, “More!” So how about three full days packed with…
Dutch goth-pop legends Clan of Xymox get tunefully dour in Orlando this week
The wait for Dutch goth-pop legends Clan of Xymox has been agonizing. It had already been ages since they played here, and then the pandemic knocked it back three more years. Now, they’ll finally be making their first Orlando appearance in about 15 years, give or take a generation or so. But maybe that means…
Patrick Hagerman releases a quartet of new singles ahead of performance at Southern Fried Sunday anniversary
With his evocative and versatile live prowess, Patrick Hagerman has been a notable riser in the Orlando Americana scene in recent years. But that’s almost exclusively been on stage. His recorded catalog has thus far remained nascent and secondary. However, the folk troubadour has recently dropped a trove of four new singles: “Daffodils,” “Canisteo Catholic,”…
