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📰 The Swan King, a dark day for the Knights, and free tickets
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📰 The Swan King, a dark day for the Knights, and free tickets

Take a look at these iconic Orlando residents.

(DON'T) 'STOP LOOKING AT ME, SWAN' ⛲️

We’ve been digging into downtown Orlando all month long in our Neighborhood Spotlight series. Today we’d like you to meet the person who cares for one of downtown’s greatest treasures.

Tremayne Sirmons has 40 pet swans. Okay, they technically don’t belong to him, but it’s up to him and six other volunteers with the Lake Eola Swan Habitat Field Team to make sure those spry swans at Lake Eola get the care they need.

Sirmons shared some tips with us on what not to feed the swans, gave us a few pointers on how to handle their “bad rap” (read: feistiness), and clued us in on their names. Next time you’re at Lake Eola, instead of yelling out that generic Billy Madison quote, you can make it personal — “Stop looking at me, Jill!”

Find out more about Sirmons (including his favorite swans) and learn how you can volunteer with him on the field team over on our website.

LAST CALL TO SEE OUR NEW LOOK FIRST 💁‍♀️

We're getting a new look you guys, and we want you to take it for a test drive. As a special perk, Pulptown members got to test our newsletter redesign first. Now we’d love feedback from more of our readers (that's you!). Just visit the “Account details” section of your account page, check "Help us test new features!" and save your changes. Then your Pulptown newsletter will arrive in your inbox with a fancy new design (don’t worry, you’ll get the same awesome content) and we’ll ask you for your feedback. *|IF:ISTESTER|* Already seeing our newsletter redesign? Tell us what you like or don’t like by hitting reply, and we’ll use your thoughts to make it even more fun to read every morning. *|END:IF|*

DARK DAYS FOR THE KNIGHTS? 🎆

On Wednesday UCF students got a much-awaited preview of their new downtown campus, but a state investigation into misspending tens of millions of dollars in operating funds is casting a pall over what should be a bright moment for the school.

Back this summer, Florida’s auditor general found that the university budgeted $38 million in leftover operating funds to build Trevor Colbourn Hall. (That money’s from tax dollars, and it’s restricted for stuff like teaching, research, student services, libraries, and maintenance.) A deeper dive into the books uncovered that the school had improperly spent or planned to spend more than $84.7 million of leftover operating funds since 2013.

On Wednesday, state Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, who chairs the state house’s higher education appropriations subcommittee, actually proposed shutting down UCF saying, “If it was a private business that I owned, I would shut it down.”

While shuttering the nation’s second-largest public university is likely, well, just some extra-spicy political shade, the heat is on. Lawmakers are subpoenaing more than a dozen UCF employees, President Dale Whittaker, and former Chairman Marcos Marchena, who resigned from the school’s Board of Trustees yesterday.

In other news…

  • Surprise, surprise? Orlando’s Deepwork Capital leads the state when it comes to investing in tech. The VC firm has invested more than $10 million in 13 companies since 2015. (Orlando Sentinel)
  • Powermouse. A law written half a century ago gives Disney the right to build a nuclear power plant. Now, lawmakers are wondering whether that’s a good idea. (Orlando Sentinel)
  • Not cool. Police are trying to track down some jerk thieves who smashed the windows at the Wells’ Built Museum of African-American history and swiped some Magic gear. But, the museum’s security company offered to upgrade their system, and the Magic have already stepped up to make a new donation. (Fox 35)

OUR PARTNER EVENTS

🎉 Saturday, Feb. 23: Grab your tickets to The All-Star Soccer Ball and celebrate all-stars in our community, hosted by The Orlando City Soccer Foundation (SeaWorld)

Want to partner with us? Here’s how that works.

IN AND AROUND TOWN 🆕

TODAY
🥪 Learn Orlando’s history over a quick lunch – we’ll see you there! (Downtown)
🧘🏻‍♀️ Namaste under the stars (SoDo)
🍻 Through Sunday Don’t miss Rockpit Brewing’s soft opening (SoDo)
🛍 Through Sunday Get your antiquing on (Mt. Dora)
💃 Through Sunday Feel the heat at Orlando Ballet’s latest show (Ivanhoe)
🎉 Through Sunday Head to Boxi Park for opening weekend (Lake Nona)


SATURDAY
🎉 Attend the 5th annual Indie-Folkfest (Loch Haven)
🌶 Orlando Chili Cook-Off is back (East Colonial)
🧘🏻‍♀️ Grab your partner for this Thai massage + wine date (Thornton Park)
🎶 Check out Matt and Kim at The Beacham (Downtown)


SUNDAY
🇨🇳 Celebrate the Year of the Pig with a parade and festival (Mills 50)
🌽 Kick back and relax with some vegan soul food (SoDo)
🍦 Go ahead, eat ice cream for breakfast. It’s a thing (Delaney Park)
🍾 Mingle with singles at this boozy brunch (Lake Nona)


MONDAY
🧘🏻‍♀️ Namaste in Shavasana? (Thornton Park) 🆕
🎸 If you’re even a little bit of a Jimi Hendrix fan, watch this film (Maitland) 🆕
🎥 Talk about a winning combo: Harry Potter + (Orlan) Doughnuts (East Colonial) 🆕
❓ Honestly, who remembers the ‘90s better than you? (Sanford) 🆕
🗣 Remember Carol Burnett? She’s in town (Downtown) 🆕


TUESDAY
🧀 Learn how to make the prettiest charcuterie plate at the party (Ivanhoe) 🆕
🍦 Ice cream doughnut sandwiches are back! (Delaney Park) 🆕
❓ How well do you know your Disney and Pixar films? (Downtown) 🆕
🗣 Get to know our history on a walking tour of Orlando (Downtown) 🆕
🎉 Grab your friends for some dirty bingo action (Thornton Park) 🆕
🎓 Got questions about UCF and diversity of students? (Ovideo) 🆕
🎮 Geek over video games? Check out this trivia night (Ovideo) 🆕


Going to one of these? Take us with you! Email a pic to hello@pulp.town or tag #pulptown on Instagram. See more upcoming events on our events page, and COMING SOON add your own events with a Pulptown membership.

SO ABOUT THIS WEEKEND 🎉

There’s a lot going on this weekend. If we had to shape your itinerary, we’d recommend making it to RockPit Brewing or Boxi Park for their opening weekends, attending the annual Indie-Folkfest, Nude Nite and Orlando Chili Cook-off, and kicking off the Year of the Pig at the fest on Mills 50 on Sunday.

We’ll see you out there, Orlando!

Til Monday,

— Pulptown

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