Best of Orlando 2024: Local Notables

Orlando table tennis: When candidates for office bat away every tough question they get from reporters in an election year

Best It's Funny Because It Hurts: Rauce Padgett

It was a head-scratcher when Real Radio 104.1 FM personality Rauce Padgett was fired from his post on the drive-time "Jim Colbert Show." In other times, Padgett's off-kilter humor and surrealist non sequiturs (had his corporate bosses never seen his video, "If Orlando Was a Movie"??) would be highly sought-after by FM brass. Padgett has bounced back admirably, with hit Fringe show 10 Sketches With Rauce and Joel and a return to the airwaves in the "Good Sauce" podcast/weekly radio show. We await his Tom and Dan-esque supremacy.

facebook.com/raucepadgettcomedy

Best Press: Andrea Montanez in The Cut

The subheadline was pure poetry: "Andrea Montanez went head-to-head with Pablo Escobar. Now, she's taking on Ron DeSantis." Orlando-area trans activist Montanez, now a field organizer with the National LGBTQ Task Force, among a myriad of other undertakings, was profiled in New York magazine online offshoot The Cut back in June. It's a great piece of long-form that captures Montanez's constant blur of motion, following her from meeting to meeting, facing down anti-trans bigots in the state house and never losing hope. (And yes, it's true: Montanez was a cartel cop once upon a time in Colombia. Do not mess with her.)

thecut.com

Best Community Organization Fighting Wage Theft When the State Isn't: Farmworker Association of Florida

Florida used to have a state department that would go after employers accused of violating minimum wage requirements, but thanks to former Gov. Jeb Bush, the department was abolished in 2002 with no replacement. Florida's State Attorney General is allowed to pursue those law-breakers, but in business-friendly Florida, generally doesn't go after these cases today. In the absence of that enforcement, some community organizations like the Farmworkers Association in Apopka join federal efforts to go after minimum wage violators and other wage thieves. It's an inspiring effort by locals to fill in the gaps, all to support local workers in getting the money they're owed after a boss refuses to pay up.

1264 Apopka Blvd., Apopka, 407-886-5151, floridafarmworkers.org

Best Public Health Crisis Comeback Icons: Lake Eola swans

It's no secret Lake Eola's avian residents endure quite a bit: littered living quarters, sticky-fingered raccoons, popcorn overdoses and more. And this year, our celebrity swans were tested yet again. City officials announced in February several swans had died from bird flu. The lake's walking loop went into a quasi-quarantine (guests were asked to avoid the birds), but that didn't stop these tough-as-nails creatures from overcoming the outbreak — and looking good while doing it. HONK!

Best Orlando Celeb: Noodle

Keep your Carrot Top, your *NSYNCers and Magic players, even your Wesley Snipes. The celeb we're hungriest to meet has long silky beige hair and the roundest, bluest eyes; he's about 12 inches tall, and he's never been fed in his entire life. He's Noodle, Orlando's most photogenic webcat (he's got competition, but we said what we said). Whether you find him on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, you'll fall in love with Noodle and his siblings Squid, Haku and Atlas — not to mention his evil alter-ego, Needles. Noodle's mom, Rebecca Salinas, is an accomplished painter in her own right; her ever-growing canvas of popular webcats is mind-boggling.

instagram.com/friendly.noodles, tiktok.com/@friendly.noodles, youtube.com/@friendlynoodles

Best Buried Hatchet: DeSantis v. Disney

After several grueling months of power moves, pettiness and not-so-magical language, Gov. DeSantis and Disney finally put their feud to bed. Stemming from disagreements over DeSantis' "Don't Say Gay" bill back in 2022, the battle for control of Disney's oversight district settled, solidifying a "long-term partnership" between the two. Will it stick? Who knows. Will we forget DeSantis once loved Disney World so much he got married there? No way!