HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy in Lodi, FL

Powerful Hurricane Idalia walloped parts of Florida and other states in the Southeast just as the summer travel season nears its unofficial end with the busy Labor Day weekend.

The advice for travelers who are in affected areas right now is clear: Pay attention to local guidance.

But what should travelers be doing about plans to travel to Florida and other affected areas for the holiday weekend?

CNN Travel spoke with experts about how to handle upcoming plans:

Should travelers cancel Labor Day weekend plans in Florida?

No, says AAA Travel’s Paula Twidale, with the caveat that the situation requires monitoring.

“We encourage consumers to keep travel plans,” but to monitor the storm’s effects, and look for airline waivers for re-booking, “if necessary,” said Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel.

Rescheduling makes sense for hard-hit areas, according to Clint Henderson, managing editor at travel site The Points Guy.

We’ll know more soon about when it’s safe to return, “but for now, if you have a trip scheduled for anywhere near the storm path, it may be better to reschedule,” Henderson said.

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, which represents two popular beach spots, said in an emailed statement Wednesday afternoon that the destination “fared well and saw minimal damage.” Access was temporarily restricted to Pinellas County’s barrier islands, but it has since been restored.

The tourism organization recommends that visitors contact their accommodations to find out when properties will be open and accepting guests.

Videos show damage caused by Hurricane Idalia

What about coastal areas in Georgia and the Carolinas?

That same advice about checking with your accommodations goes for other areas that have been impacted by the storm, which made landfall Wednesday morning in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast and moved across northern Florida and into Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The historic city of Savannah, Georgia, a popular tourist destination, was bracing for wind and rain Wednesday as Idalia moved through.

The city and surrounding area have plans in place to help reopen for business “as quickly as possible,” Joseph Marinelli, president of Visit Savannah, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The weather for Thursday afternoon into the Labor Day weekend is looking amazing for Savannah and Tybee Island Beach, and I can assure you that Savannah and the 28,000 employees of our tourism economy will be working hard to provide a memorable getaway experience for the holiday weekend,” Marinelli said.

Can I rebook my flight to Florida or other affected states?

Most U.S. airlines have rolled out waivers that will allow many passengers with imminent travel plans in affected areas to change their flights without penalty.

“The rules vary by airline, but you’ll generally have to rebook in the same cabin and meet specific date requirements to qualify for the waiver,” said Phil Dengler, co-founder of The Vacationer.

And passengers who experience cancellations, significant delays or schedule changes are entitled to prompt cash refunds, according to Department of Transportation rules.

“If your airline offers you a travel credit, insist on the cash refund,” said Dengler.

American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit and United have all issued flexible travel policies.

Video above: These tips can help you deal with flight delays, cancellations

Tampa International Airport, which closed in advance of the storm, fully reopened Thursday morning.

What if you’re nervous about flying to a place outside the affected areas but still too close for personal comfort – and your flight isn’t canceled?

“It’s up to the airline’s discretion. If your flight is operating without a significant change, you’re not entitled to a cash refund,” said Scott Keyes, founder of travel site Going.

“Most full-service airlines will allow you to cancel and get the full amount paid back in travel credit to be used in the next 12 months, as long as you hadn’t booked a basic economy ticket,” Keyes said.

How can I rebook my hotel?

Henderson recommends checking your hotel’s website to see if your stay may be impacted. Not all hotels are offering refunds, but some are, he said. “It never hurts to ask.”

And if you booked with a third-party site such as Expedia, you’ll need to make changes through them, he said.

Expedia Group, which includes a variety of booking sites including Expedia.com, Hotels.com and Vrbo.com, told CNN Travel this week it was working with its hotel partners to implement a flexible policy for affected areas.

“The flex policy can be accessed when you engage with a virtual agent once you log into your account or provide your itinerary number to the virtual agent,” a company spokesperson said. Customer service portals on Expedia and Hotels.com can provide information and assistance.

Natural disasters do not override Vrbo vacation rental cancellation policies that guests agree to when booking with hosts, according to Expedia Group.

“Guests that need to cancel or make changes to a booking outside of the cancellation policy window should work directly with the host,” the company spokesperson said. “We always encourage hosts to do what they can to work with guests in these cases.”

And some credit cards have trip delay and cancellation insurance that could get refunds for travelers who paid with those cards, Henderson said.

Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing corporation, encourages travelers making plans during hurricane season (from June through November, with the peak from mid-August to mid-October) to find out in advance from hotels, airlines and car rental companies about their refund policies, how they keep guests informed about approaching storms and what actions they would take in the event of a storm.

The risk your flight will be canceled and trip ruined because of a hurricane – even in peak season in the Gulf of Mexico and the Southeast’s Atlantic – is still pretty low, said Keyes. Still there are measures travelers can take just in case.

He advised “remembering your refund rights under federal law, taking stock of the travel protections automatically provided to you by your credit card, and if you feel there’s a gap, purchasing additional travel insurance can be prudent.”

What about cruises sailing from Florida?

About a dozen ships were impacted through slight port-of-call adjustments because of hurricanes Idalia and Franklin, said Cruise Critic’s Editor-in-Chief Colleen McDaniel.

Port Everglades and the Port of Miami were operating as usual on Wednesday, while several other Florida ports, including Port Canaveral, JaxPort (Jacksonville) and Port Tampa Bay were temporarily closed, McDaniel said Wednesday morning.

“Conditions change quickly because of hurricanes, and they will reopen when it’s deemed safe,” she said.

Affected passengers should be looking for text messages from cruise lines and ports as well as monitoring social media sites such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Cruise Critic offers an explainer on what to know about cruising during hurricane season.

The FIA's Single-Seater Financial Regulations Director (F1-FE), Federico Lodi explains how increased capacity within the FIA is helping to reduce timescales, ensure clarity and make the rules even more robust going forward.

Can you give us an overview of how the FIA Formula 1 Financial Regulations are applied and how teams make their submissions? Federico Lodi, FIA Single-Seater Financial Regulations Director: We are effectively in the third year of application. The first full cycle of review took place in 2022 based on the 2021 submission and overall it was a positive experience for us and for the teams. We're now quite far into the 2023 review of the 2022 submissions.

The process works like this: in advance of the full submission, there is an interim submission that is mandated for the 30th of June of the season then in progress, so for the 2022 season, teams would have sent us their interim submission in June of last year and the full submission on March 31 this year. The interim submission is really just to allow teams to understand where they are in their projected spending, and for us to try to anticipate any discussion that may take place as a result. So there is a little bit of preparatory work that is done before the full data is submitted.

Where are we at now with the 2023 process? FL: All of the teams made their full submissions by March 31 and the first month after that deadline is dedicated to an in-depth review of the information submitted. And when we talk about submission it's not just a few spreadsheets. Each submission is composed of a 150-200 page document, so there is a lot of documentation to go through. So, the first month is usually dedicated to a detailed review of all the documentation to perhaps identify areas that require a little bit more in-depth analysis. We then identify follow-up questions and request more documentation, if needed, in preparation for our planned arrival at their facility. This is where we basically undertake an on-site audit and this usually starts at the beginning of May. And from then onwards we basically spend months on the road, visiting one team after another and basically rubber stamping their submission.

At the end of the 2022 process, the FIA voiced a desire to speed up the process. What has changed for this year? FL: It's clear that there is an interest from the stakeholders to have a quick outcome. We, as the FIA, understand these requirements, so we have strengthened the department, and now we have 10 full-time employees working on Formula 1 financial regulation. This is a significant increase over last year, when it was just four.

However, it is still clear that it's difficult to commit to a rigid timeline, as there are many variables that need to be taken into account. First, there are the findings themselves - what we identify and what we need to dig into further. On top of that, we also have to take into account the fact that we do the review with the support of the team, and obviously, the finance department of the team is also busy with running its business; they may also have a reporting commitment to their shareholders for example. So, while we need to work as quickly as possible, for us the most important thing is not to undermine the robustness of the process.

How quick can it become? FL: Simply, the more everyone becomes accustomed to the regulation, the more you become accustomed to the process, the more we are structured, clearly the time will be reduced. But, we have to be realistic, because I don't think that it will be feasible to finalise the review after one month or 45 days. It also depends on the findings, because if you need to open a formal investigation, it takes time. There are lawyers involved, advisory boards, so the process is a long one. But we have a clear target in mind to do it quicker.

Regarding the new staff. How difficult has it been to hire staff with the right background? FL: It's massively complicated. Everyone in our department is a former auditor. That's not a problem, the pool of auditors is quite large. The challenge is to find someone with a sporting background and then a motor sport background and finally knowledge of Formula 1 because it is specific. We struggled initially, so we have decided to take another approach and we are training them internally on the specificities of F1.

Were there other things that you learned from last year's process that have changed with this year?FL: Definitely. I think that in year one, there was a little bit of uncertainty, because it was the first time a financial regulation had been brought into professional motorsport. Also, I think that for the teams it was a little bit challenging, because the regulations are objectively complicated, because the businesses we have to regulate are complicated.

When we are talking about organisations with 1000 employees, undertaking engineering activities, manufacturing activities, with commercial and racing arms. So the business is complicated. Now, after last year I am confident that the doubts everyone had last year are clarified. So hopefully, going forward, we will have less and less difference of interpretation in respect of the regulations. Even if they are still discussing how to interpret things on a weekly basis.

You mentioned that last year's process opened up different interpretations and that there should be less going forward but did the process highlight any aspect of the regulations that needs to be tweaked?FL: Well, of course, the regulations are not cast in stone. And it's clear that there are some tweaks that need to be made. And we are constantly trying to evolve the regulations. It's a learning process for everyone. So we are trying, on a yearly basis, to improve the regulatory framework.

Obviously, these differences of interpretation have led to changes to the regulation or clarification for the sake of clarity. So, it is an evolving process. We have the Financial Advisory Committee that is composed of a representative of the FIA, a representative from FOM and one representative from each of the teams and that body is there to discuss and propose amendments to the regulations to be tabled at the F1 Commission and then the final step is the World Motor Sport Council.

Going back to interpretations, based on how last year's audits went, have you noticed an increase in the amount of consultation you are being asked for by teams? FL: Last year the numbers of clarification requests varied significantly from team to team. I think this is another lesson everyone learned from last year. What we have seen after last year, is that now, almost all the teams are very forthcoming and are now trying to discuss with us any doubts they have beforehand. This is another aspect that will hopefully reduce the risk of misunderstanding.

In the end, are you happy with the integrity of the financial regulations and did last year's application of them demonstrate their robustness? FL: Yes, I think so. As the regulator, if we see a breach, we have to do our job. I understand that maybe for the fans the timing was not ideal, but rules are there to be respected and we have to do what we have to do. Unfortunately, if there is a breach there regulations will find it and there are consequences.

Sharks have been made villains in most stories, whether it’s fact or fiction. But as the planet’s climate and oceans rapidly change, these boneless, aquatic, apex predators are also misunderstood victims — under severe environmental pressure yet historically capable of incredible adaptation.

Video above: Florida water hits hot tub level and may have set world record for warmest seawater

Sharks are among the most endangered marine animals on the planet, with 37% of the world’s shark and ray species threatened with extinction, primarily due to overfishing, coupled with habitat loss and the climate crisis, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.

And as ocean temperatures climb, researchers say many sharks are beginning to change their behaviors — shifting where they live, what they eat and how they reproduce — which could cause cascading effects for the rest of the marine ecosystem.

“Sharks and rays are fascinating species that have been misunderstood and underappreciated for far too long,” Heike Zidowitz, shark and ray expert at the World Wildlife Fund-Germany, told CNN, noting that they are essential for the health of the oceans.

“If these beautiful animals were to be wiped out from our oceans, it would not only be a heartbreaking loss, it would trigger ocean imbalances with ecosystem consequences that we cannot yet imagine.”

The oceans are heating to record levels this year — a shocking temperature increase that shows no sign of ceasing. Rising ocean surface temperatures began to alarm scientists in March. Temperatures then skyrocketed to record levels in April, leaving scientists scrambling to analyze the heat’s potentially dire ripple effects.

As with most creatures, sharks need certain conditions to thrive. With the climate crisis impacting the temperatures and acidity of the oceans, these agile ocean creatures are sheering off their normal paths and traveling to unknown, often taxing, territories.

Valentina Di Santo, an ecophysiologist and biomechanist who studies swimming performance in fish, said temperature changes play a dominant role in the ways they breathe, digest food, grow and reproduce.

For sharks in particular, these physiological processes speed up as ocean temperatures get warmer, doubling in speed every 10 degrees, according to Di Santo’s research.

South Florida waters hit hot tub level and may have set world record for warmest seawater

“An increase in metabolic rates means that sharks are using more energy to just be alive and swim,” Di Santo told CNN. “Every activity needs extra energy. An increase in digestion rates often mean that they absorb fewer nutrients as digestion becomes less efficient and they possibly need to eat more frequently.”

Sharks always seem to be on the hunt, maneuvering their way through the water in search of new fish or other sharks to eat. But research has shown that warming oceans have pushed many fish populations northward to cooler waters, which has disrupted the ocean’s availability of food. Some fish species are not able to find new, suitable habitats, which causes a decline in their population. Overfishing also intensifies the issue by pushing fish stocks to drop.

Di Santo said understanding the interplay between predator and prey behavior is critical when considering how sharks respond to the climate crisis.

“It is important to consider that sharks are very much tuned in the behavior of their prey,” Di Santo said. “Therefore, it is not surprising that they may track the geographic shifts of their preferred food sources.”

Di Santo also said that sharks respond to ocean warming in two ways: shifting their latitudinal range or choosing deeper, cooler waters to enhance their physiological processes.

A climate vulnerability assessment from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that sharks off the Northeast coast have a high likelihood of shifting their distributions or expanding into new habitats to follow preferable ocean conditions.

“These small-scale movements can be just as crucial for their survival as poleward relocations,” Di Santo said. But “the shift in depth has been found to be more pronounced than the latitudinal shift,” and some temperate species are already exhibiting seasonal shifts toward deeper waters.

As the climate crisis escalates, sharks’ paths will only become further strained, Zidowitz said, which could ultimately close off vast swaths of the ocean to sharks.

But sharks also have “a remarkable history of survival,” Di Santo said, having withstood all five major mass extinction events in the last 400 million years. It’s the never-before-seen compounding consequences of overfishing, climate change, prey scarcity and habitat destruction that has shark experts worried about whether they can adapt and survive these huge planetary changes.

Zidowitz said progress on conservation to protect shark species is “too slow to keep pace” with the numerous threats they face, yet she remains hopeful.

“If we can find the last remaining refuges around the world where the most threatened sharks and rays live, and work together with local communities, we can bend the curve towards their recovery,” Zidowitz said.

The planet’s coldest, saltiest ocean waters are heating up and shrinking, report finds

Party City plans to close over 30 stores in the US following its bankruptcy filing in January.

The party-supplies retailer said it planned to close 22 stores in February, according to documents filed in bankruptcy court in February.

In April, the retailer announced that it would close another nine stores in California, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Michigan. Four more stores – in California, Texas, and Massachusetts – have now joined the list, A&G Real Estate Partners, the real-estate advisor auctioning the stores, announced Tuesday.

Party City had already closed and vacated 28 stores in 13 states prior to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 18, and it is now asking the court to release it from those leases, Retail Dive reported. The chain operated 823 retail locations, 770 of which were company-owned, according to court documents filed in January.

The retailer has struggled since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Sales lagged during lockdowns, and supply-chain disruptions in the years since have hampered inventory levels and helium has been in short supply, Reuters reported.

Here's a list of the stores closing so far:

California

Georgia

Iowa

Illinois

Indiana

Louisiana

Massachusetts

Michigan

Missouri

New Jersey

New York

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Texas

West Virginia

Correction: February 20, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misidentified the state home to one of the announced Party City closings. Party City said it would auction off 12 stores in six states, not seven, including a location at 1510 N West Ave. in Jackson, Michigan, not Jackson, Mississippi.

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A former career finance man-turned-bakery-owner has created a bread that affects blood sugar at the same level as an apple. No, really.

Robert Kovacs, owner of Orlando’s Bakery in Lodi, has been developing his low-carb, low-glycemic bread for about six years. The bread sits at a 39 on the glycemic scale (on par with that of an apple) and was created with diabetics in mind.

Kovacs claims his creation is a game changer in the world of low-carb breads – something that will allow diabetics to reintroduce the normally carb-heavy food back into their diet.

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“I had one young man come to me – he’s a Type 1 diabetic – and say he hasn’t had bread for 12, 13 years. He tried it and he came back 90 minutes later saying the pump didn’t pump any insulin,” Kovacs says.

Lounging on a high top chair at the counter of Orlando’s Bakery, Kovacs has a passion for his bread. He’s eager to talk, spread the word, like a man sitting on a socially-conscious goldmine.

He says the bread has a small but dedicated following. He doesn’t yet sell 1,000 loaves a week, but those who know come back, he says, even when the product is sold out – once, twice, three times – to get their hands on a loaf. His speaks with a cadence that's somehow both even and urgent when describing product.

The topic is weighty and scientifically complicated, but when it comes to bread, he’s ready to talk.

The science of bread making

Kovacs started developing his bread in 2012, when he heard about a diabetic-friendly flour being developed in Europe. He bought the patent and brought it to the U.S., and in 2016 began producing it large-scale. He also has been working with Ingredion, a starch manufacturer, which makes a high amylose resistant corn starch perfect for his purposes. The advanced flour and corn starch are two of the mechanisms he uses to make sure the bread won't cause a spike in blood sugar.

Never heard of high amylose resistant corn starch? Let’s back up. In layman's terms, starches are either made of amylose or amylopectin (both are types of polysaccharides). Foods that are high in amylose are digested slower than other foods, making them less likely to increase blood glucose or insulin – a win for diabetics, whose pancreases don’t react to blood sugar increases normally. A resistant starch is not fully broken down and absorbed, which is what gives it its name – it resists digestion.

So, the high amylose resistant starch is comparatively good for people wanting to maintain steady blood sugar levels, though that’s not the only feather in the health-conscious cap of this bread.

Ready for more jargon? Resistant starches typically fall into one of four categories: RS1 through RS4. To be considered RS1 or RS2 starches, no chemical modification can take place – only physical (grinding, pounding, etc.). Kovacs uses only RS2 starches in his bread, so they haven’t been chemically modified. According to Kovacs, many other low-carb bread manufacturers use RS4 starches, making them chemically modified and, therefore, less natural.

“That’s why we feel we are in a league of our own, and that the product is truly revolutionary in the marketplace right now,” he says after slugging through a few minutes of technical talk.

The ‘European standpoint’

But a healthy starch does not good bread make, and Kovacs needed to turn healthy into tasty – a task he didn’t take lightly. According to Kovacs, diets that emphasize losing weight by cutting carbs, like the Atkins Diet, fail because carb substitutes frankly don’t taste good.

“The European standpoint is, there are many, many low carb/zero carb products, but in the food business, taste is king,” Kovacs says.

His point is – you can find no-carb bread out there, but it won’t taste as good as his, which comes in two varieties: traditional and whole grain. He knows the flavor is good because most of his taste tests were done by the harshest critics of all – kids.

“We wanted to get an unfiltered, honest opinion about the product,” he says. “Actually, juvenile diabetes is exploding in this country. I think offering tasty alternatives for children is perhaps even more important than for adults.”

So why has no one else tried the methods he has to achieve healthy, delicious bread?

“In the bakery business, innovation happens on a very small mom and pop level – the Orlando’s level,” Kovacs asserts. Big box manufacturers are looking for sure bets, he says, and aren’t willing to sink a million dollars into a project like this.

Currently, his bread is manufactured large-scale at Alma Baking and can be found at Orlando's Bakery, select ShopRites, Uncle Giuseppe's Marketplaces (their biggest retail partner) and other niche health stores. It will also soon be found at Maywood Marketplace in Maywood.

The baker

Kovacs' father and grandmother had diabetes, but his persistence in developing a bread that people can enjoy sacrifice-free goes deeper than that. The Bergen County native used to work in the field of finance, but when the stock market crashed in ’08, he entered a “very dark period” of his life.

He also worked a bit in property development and was once hired to build out a bakery in Orlando, Florida. This trip sparked a desire in Kovacs to enter the bakery business. He came back and bought Orlando’s in 2017 – meaning his focus on the low-carb bread predates him even owning a bakery.

When asked if buying Orlando’s and developing the bread pulled him out of that “dark” time, he shrugs.

“I’m from a finance background," he says. "That’s very far removed from even the real economy or society. I wanted to have that positive connection to people, and I thought this was a very forward thinking, great product.”

As he speaks, one of his workers whizzes by, the scent of a fresh loaf of bread following him, and tosses back a knowing glance.

“He really needed a change,” he says.

Kovacs smiles sheepishly at him, clearly more comfortable talking about the product than his personal life, and comments, “It’s also only two points on the Weight Watcher’s scale.”