Cover Story
Bad Bunny reaches global status, ushering in a new era of reggaeton
If you’re lucky, you’ll catch his Orlando concert this week at Amway Center
Tonstartssbandht talk new music and love letters to Orlando ahead of Thursday’s show at Will’s Pub
Tonstartssbandht, the dream-pop project of Orlandoan siblings Andy and Edwin White, have had a strange few months (just like every other band everywhere, it seems). There have been amazing highs — new album Petunia out on Mexican Summer, vinyl reissues forthcoming on Fire Talk Records — and disappointing lows — tours delayed, delayed again and even scuttled. But, as we…
Legal Public Notices 3/30/2022
Orlando Legals Legal Public Notices Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below at the property indicated: April 8th, 2022 at the times and location listed below. The personal goods stored therein by the following: 12:00 PM Extra Space Storage 1101 Marshall Farms Rd, Ocoee 34761 (407) 516-7221 Todd Schlott – Household Goods.…
Las Vegas rapper Baby Keem captivated a full house at Orlando’s Beacham
Last week, Baby Keem filled every inch of the Beacham with his singular vibes. Baby Keem is known for his lyricism and his musical kinship with cousin Kendrick Lamar. What should easily overshadow those credentials is his showmanship, which he displayed full force during the show. Keem confidently stepped into the light and commanded complete…
Orlando Weekly’s website has a brand new look
Orlando Weekly today launched its brand new website at the same old location — orlandoweekly.com — showcasing the same award-winning local journalism, but with a sleeker, more user-friendly design. Hosted by Foundation, the new site is just plain faster, more responsive, and features friendlier URLS for sharing. But readers will also notice quite a few improvements,…
Brews Around the Zoo returns to Central Florida Zoo this April
One of Central Florida Zoo’s most popular adults-only events is returning from a COVID-19 lull, back in its traditional spot on the calendar. Brews Around The Zoo was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, and it was pushed back to fall in 2021. The rain-or-shine event will be back on April 9 for visitors…
Mayday Parade, Waterparks bring together generations of bummed out kids at Orlando’s Sad Summer Festival
Magnolia Park, Waterparks and Mayday Parade might seem like quintessential “sulking inside” music. But a new fest coming to Orlando will give you the opportunity to take that sad boi schtick outdoors. Sad Summer Festival will stop by the Orlando Amphitheater for one day only this July. The Orlando stopover is the traveling teen-punk fest’s…
Icon Park asks Orlando Freefall operators to suspend all ride operations on their property following Missouri teen’s death
After the fatal death of 14-year-old Tyre Sampson, Icon Park has asked the Slingshot Group to stop ride operations for both the Orlando Freefall and the Orlando Slingshot. In a statement published on the park’s website, the International Drive hotspot says that they expect top-level performance from their ride operators. “Icon Park’s mission is to provide…
Comedian and Oscars survivor Amy Schumer to bring ‘Whore Tour’ to Orlando this summer
Fresh off cohosting a rather unique installment of the Oscars (and emerging unscathed!), comedian Amy Schumer has confirmed plans for a stand-up tour set for this summer and stretching into the fall. Schumer, who introduced herself at the Oscars as “I’m Amy Schumer, or as they know me in Hollywood, ‘Melissa McCarthy said no.” — before going…
Kissimmee resident claims $2 million prize from scratch-off
62-year-old Jesùs Betancourt Pizzaro of Kissimmee woke up a millionaire from all of our gas station dreams. Pizzaro won a $2 million prize on a scratch-off ticket purchased in Orlando. He bought his 100X The Cash scratch-off at the Wawa located at 14876 Narcoossee Road. Pizzaro opted to take his winnings as a one-time, lump sum…
Icon Park attendee who recorded teen’s fall speaks out
An Orlando man who witnessed and recorded the deadly incident on Icon Park’s FreeFall tower ride last week spoke to reporters about the accident. Identified only as Ivan, he was the source of the gruesome video that showed 14-year-old Tyre Sampson’s fall from the thrill ride. That very same video circulated widely following Sampson’s death,…
Lawsuits planned against Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
LGBTQ-advocacy groups and federal education officials Monday condemned Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing a bill that will bar instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in early school grades, with one organization pledging to file a lawsuit. In part, the measure (HB 1557) will prohibit instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through…
Cupid’s Hot Dogs’ first location outside of California opens in Orlando
A California hot dog institution is opening its first East Coast location in Orlando, and wiener fans can get their first taste this week. Cupid’s Hot Dogs’ first location outside of California sits at 1515 Lee Road. They opened today and are offering a 30-day deal on combo meals. For the first month or so…
Florence + the Machine bring ‘Dance Fever’ to Orlando’s Amway Center this September
Florence and the Machine will bring a different fever to Orlando this September. They are set to play at the Amway Center on September 23. Brooklyn-born singer King Princess will have fans letting loose before Florence Welch & Co. take the stage. The band’s new album Dance Fever was recorded in London when Welch and…
Halloween Horror Nights fans hope Universal isn’t playing wicked games with this year’s rumored lineup
The last cold weather of the season may have just passed, but Halloween plans are already well underway in Orlando. The grandee of Orlando’s Halloween events is Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando. This year’s dates have been confirmed, and fans have been busy posting the annual speculation maps with strong rumors about this year’s…
Ron DeSantis signs Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill into law, drawing backlash from Orlando politicians and Disney
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state’s controversial bill barring discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools into law on Monday. The bill, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by its opponents, specifically bars discussion of the topics between kindergarten and third grade. The vague bill text and other mentions of age appropriateness in…
Father of teen who died from Icon Park fall found out via gruesome social media videos
The father of the 14-year-old who died after falling off of Icon Park’s freefall tower ride found out when video of the child’s horrific fall spread on social media. The child, who been identified as Tyre Sampson of St. Louis, fell from the ride as it dropped on Thursday evening. He was taken to an…
Florida COVID-19 death toll tops 73,000
More than 73,000 Florida residents have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic started in early 2020, according to a report issued Friday by the state Department of Health. The report said 73,027 residents had died as of a Thursday count. That was up from 71,860 in a report issued March 11. Because of lags in…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bill opening school curriculum, library books up to public scrutiny
Calling it a move toward “curriculum transparency,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a bill that will intensify scrutiny of school library books and instructional materials and impose 12-year term limits on school board members. Lawmakers approved the measure (HB 1467) during the legislative session that ended March 14. Under the bill, school boards will…
The Zombies invade Orlando’s Plaza Live in April
Zombies are set to invade Orlando on April 1, and that’s no April Fool’s prank! Well, “The” Zombis are coming to Orlando with a storming catalog of psych-pop masterpieces from the 1960s up through the present day. This is a show worth taking note of. Longtime Zombies Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent will be anchoring…
Busch Gardens Tampa insists it’s not killing off Kumba as park continues to expand
After a two-year delay, Busch Gardens Tampa was finally able to open their highly anticipated Iron Gwazi coaster earlier this month. With that project now welcoming guests, the park is looking at its next significant investments. In late 2019, public documents showed the park was moving forward with an update to the long-dormant Rhino Rally…
Florida fines Medicaid vendor over $9 million for delayed payments
Florida fined its largest Medicaid payment vendor nearly $9.1 million over software problems that delayed payments for nearly three months for tens of thousands of health-care claims for the state’s sickest and neediest children, the government’s health regulator said Wednesday. In a letter to the CEO of Sunshine State Health Plan Inc. of Tampa, the…
Florida man suspected in theft of helicopter ammunition brass from Alabama Army base
The thief, wearing camouflage gear and gloves, crept through the woods onto the Army base in southern Alabama where most of the U.S. military’s helicopter pilots train. His objective: Collecting sandbags he had filled with used 30 mm brass shell casings from the attack helicopters flying and firing over the base’s range during practice missions.…
Camille, the Vietnamese tasting-menu-only concept, goes brick-and-mortar this fall in Orlando’s Baldwin Park
Since taking up residency at the Neighbors in East End Market as part of Domu Lab’s chef incubator program, Camille — chef Tung Phan’s modern Vietnamese tasting-menu-only concept — has wowed the city’s gastro-cognoscente with impeccably crafted dishes. But the goal has always been to find a permanent home for the concept and, come this fall,…
Vote-by-mail restrictions would unnecessarily burden voters, groups suing to overturn law say
An elections bill recently approved by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature would impose additional burdens on voters trying to submit mail-in ballots at drop boxes, attorneys for plaintiffs in a constitutional challenge to a 2021 elections law argued in a brief filed Wednesday. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Monday ordered attorneys in the lawsuit…
Florida fights against allowing DNA testing for Orange County Death Row inmate
In a case involving a man who has been on Death Row for more than four decades, Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office and the inmate’s lawyers are battling in the Florida Supreme Court about allowing DNA testing of evidence. The dispute is unusual, at least in part, because Moody’s office is objecting to an agreement…
Suspected Sanford mosque killer believed he was protecting property of Julius Caesar
The suspected killer of a maintenance man at Sanford’s Husseini Islamic Center has been shot by police in Indian River County. According to authorities, 38-year-old Ahmed Raslan is suspected of killing an as-yet unnamed 59-year-old worker at the mosque on Thursday morning. Social media posts from the suspect indicate he thought he was going to…
14-year-old dies after fall from tower ride at Orlando’s Icon Park
A 14-year-old has died after falling from Icon Park’s recently opened freefall tower ride. Authorities were called to the park on International Drive late Thursday night, following the incident. Video from before the ride leaves the ground show riders questioning if the ride has a seatbelt. (It does not.) As it lifts off, a voice…
Charlie Crist, local representatives speak out against ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Orlando
Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist said that the “Don’t Say Gay” bill is wrong, unconscionable and hurts Florida’s students, teachers and LGTBQ community at a panel on Wednesday. Crist was joined at the “Say Gay” panel discussion by Orlando-area State Reps. Anna Eskamani and Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, LQBTQ+ activists and UCF students to speak…
Universal Orlando reveals dates for this year’s Halloween Horror Nights event
Universal Orlando on Thursday revealed the dates for this year’s installment of Halloween Horror Nights, the 31st iteration of this storied fright-fest. HHN will be going down this year for a long haul of 43 nights, from Sept. 2 through the big day on Oct. 31. The theme park promises HHN will feature “10 new, movie-quality…
New monument at Orlando’s Lake Lorna Doone Park honors first interracial Little League baseball game played in the South
A monument honoring the first interracial Little League baseball game played in the South was unveiled at Lake Lorna Doone Park on Thursday. The monument called “Barrier Breakers” celebrates a game between the Pensacola Jaycees and the Orlando Kiwanis from 1955. Players who were a part of the historic game were present. The bronze monument is of…
Tampa Bay Rays’ Taylor Walls supports Ron DeSantis’ anti-transgender grandstanding
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t make many new friends — outside of the hooting rube-o-sphere he calls his base — when he decided to declare a new winner in a women’s college swimming race because the actual champion was transgender. But he can count on support from one corner of the Trop at least. Tampa…
Markeith Loyd appeals death sentence to Florida Supreme Court
Twice-convicted murderer Markeith Loyd is appealing his death sentence. Loyd filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Florida on March 19. He was sentenced to death for killing Orlando Police Department Lt. Debra Clayton. Loyd killed the officer when she attempted to apprehend him in a Walmart parking lot in 2017. Loyd was being…
Hillsborough County man dies after crashing into 11-foot alligator in road
A 59-year-old Hillsborough County man died last night after his vehicle struck an 11-foot alligator laying in the road. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, John Hopkins car struck the alligator at approximately 12:30 a.m., while driving eastbound on C.R. 672, about two miles west of C.R. 39 in Lithia. “The front of Hopkins’ vehicle…
Florida boaters urged to look carefully for manatees as they seek out new sources of food
Manatee experts are pointing to concerns about boating collisions as the struggling sea cows migrate from an unorthodox feeding area in the Indian River Lagoon. As temperatures go up, boaters are being advised to watch for slow-moving manatees that continue to die at a higher-than-normal rate, mostly because of starvation, despite the feeding effort near…
Gov. Ron DeSantis eyeing $40 million conservation deal
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet next week are expected to consider nearly $40 million in land deals that would help keep more than 17,000 acres from future development. Targeted sites range from 2.85 acres of hardwood hammocks in the Florida Keys to 932 acres of ranchland in Hardee County to a 3,610-acre parcel…
Arrest warrant issued for woman who led police on chase through Orlando airport on motorized suitcase
A woman who led a bike cop on a chase through Orlando International Airport while riding a motorized suitcase failed to appear for her court case on Wednesday. An arrest warrant has been issued for 32-year-old Chelsea Alston of New Jersey, who was captured on police body cam riding her suitcase throughout the airport after…
The ‘Disney Walkout’ that wasn’t: mass action against ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill fizzles at Walt Disney World
An action on behalf of LGBTQ employees of The Walt Disney Company was hyped for a week by organizers, who hoped to pressure Disney to protect its LGBT employees in the wake of Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill. But when the time came to walk out at Orlando’s Walt Disney World, no rally was…
Gov. Ron DeSantis declares Florida swimmer winner over trans champion
Gov. Ron DeSantis waded further into gender politics Tuesday, issuing a proclamation that said a swimmer from Sarasota is the nation’s best “female” in the 500-meter freestyle after she finished second last week to a transgender athlete at the NCAA championship. DeSantis’ proclamation said University of Virginia swimmer Emma Weyant is “the rightful winner” of…
Milk District storefront crashes prompt effort to make Robinson Street safer
Police tape still drapes the boarded-up entrance to the Milk District Spot on Robinson Street. In January, a car veered off the road and smashed into the storefront, leaving behind a chaotic scene of bricks and destruction. Then, in early March, a car jumped the curb on the same block and swiped the Bull and…
‘Bridgerton’ is back, baby, so get your best Regency Era Netflix-binge pants ready
Brand-new streaming shows you won’t want to miss this week. Premieres Wednesday: Bloods — Sky TV’s sitcom about London paramedics returns for a second season of wacky responses to 999 calls. Wow, who knew a single English punk band could keep an emergency service so busy? (I know, I know; you don’t have to write…
Orlando rapper GAY-Z figures prominently on They Hate Change’s new Jagjaguwar single
Tampa next-gen rap duo They Hate Change are breaking out big and, in a nice bit of sister city alliance, Orlando’s DJ GAY-Z figures prominently in their first major campaign. After they all shared a bill at Stonewall Bar in January 2020, a friendship was born. That bond is now officially creative in a high-profile…
Free Will Astrology: Your horoscope for the week of March 23-29
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Carib people from Suriname quote their mysterious Snake Spirit as follows: “I am the force of the spirit of the lightning eel, the thunder ax, the stone. I am the force of the firefly; thunder and lightning have I created.” I realize that what I’m about to say may sound…
Orlando concert picks this week: Ward Davis, Double First Cousins, Punk for a Purpose, Portrayal of Guilt
The Round Up Tour: Of all genres, country music is way up there when it comes to needing an update. But as it always does, it’s been happening in the underground. This limited tour is a great example and sampler of the queer country movement that’s been building long-overdue momentum. Leading this historical charge is…
Orange County Animal Services is looking for fosters for an influx of bottle babies
Welcome to kitten season!
Orlando Rep. Anna Eskamani is just one of the voices in Jaimz Dillman’s production of ‘The Vagina Monologues’
When Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues debuted off-off-Broadway in 1996, the titillating title alone was enough to brand it as edgy political theater. A quarter-century later, after being name-checked on Sex and the City and performed at countless celebrity fundraisers, one would hope our society has evolved enough that a collection of speeches about female…
Things to do in Orlando this week: Soft Kill, Steve-O, Garth Brooks, Silkroad Ensemble
Our selections of the best things to do and see this week. Wednesday, March 23 LeyaAn evening of beautiful and ethereal harp-driven dream-pop sounds from NYC duo Leya presented in the very fitting environs of the Timucua Arts House (we’ll be sitting on converted pews, for heaven’s sake). Late last year, Leya packed out an…
Grilled Cheezus stretches out on Mills Ave, Mount Dora has a new pizza bar, Taste of Oviedo happens Saturday and more food news
OPENINGS + CLOSINGS: Fredster’s featuring Adrian’s Bar & Grill has opened inside Maitland Square at the corner of Keller Road and Fennell Street in the old Silly Grape space. The restaurant and live music venue is a joint venture between Fred Badalli, leader of local band Soul Funktion, and Adrian Mann, former co-owner of Dexter’s…
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson defended some bad people. Republicans think that should keep her off the Supreme Court
In defense of public defenders
