TALLAHASSEE (CBS) Governor DeSantis signs AI and vape bills Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed 28 bills, including a measure requiring disclaimers on certain political ads created using artificial intelligence and a bill about regulation of vape products.
ESTERO Gold Star Golf Tournament honors fallen veteran Behind each putt and swing of a golf club at the Gold Star Golf Tournament is someone who knew John Wirka Junior.
NEW YORK (AP) How TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time. What’s now in question is whether it will be around much longer and, if so, in what form?
FORT MYERS Man wanted for armed robbery at Fort Myers convenience store Crime Stoppers is asking the public for help identifying an armed robber who held up a convenience store Saturday morning.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Rifles, inappropriate texts and Donut shop debacle This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a scary mall trip, an inappropriate coach, and a Dunkin Donuts assault.
The Weather Authority: Sunny Saturday with a nice breeze; fire danger increases Warm temperatures for your Saturday with a nice breeze into the afternoon.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas was surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society raises concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
TALLAHASSEE (CBS) Governor DeSantis signs AI and vape bills Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed 28 bills, including a measure requiring disclaimers on certain political ads created using artificial intelligence and a bill about regulation of vape products.
ESTERO Gold Star Golf Tournament honors fallen veteran Behind each putt and swing of a golf club at the Gold Star Golf Tournament is someone who knew John Wirka Junior.
NEW YORK (AP) How TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time. What’s now in question is whether it will be around much longer and, if so, in what form?
FORT MYERS Man wanted for armed robbery at Fort Myers convenience store Crime Stoppers is asking the public for help identifying an armed robber who held up a convenience store Saturday morning.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Rifles, inappropriate texts and Donut shop debacle This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a scary mall trip, an inappropriate coach, and a Dunkin Donuts assault.
The Weather Authority: Sunny Saturday with a nice breeze; fire danger increases Warm temperatures for your Saturday with a nice breeze into the afternoon.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas was surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society raises concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
MGN Online WASHINGTON (AP) – Electronic cigarettes have surpassed traditional smoking in popularity among teens, the government’s annual drug use survey finds. Even as tobacco smoking by teens dropped to new lows, use of e-cigarettes reached levels that surprised researchers. The findings marked the survey’s first attempt to measure the use of e-cigarettes by people that young. Nearly 9 percent of eighth-graders said they’d used an e-cigarette in the previous month, while just 4 percent reported smoking a traditional cigarette, said the report released Tuesday by the National Institutes of Health. Use increased with age: Some 16 percent of 10th-graders had tried an e-cigarette in the past month, and 17 percent of high school seniors. Regular smoking continued inching down, to 7 percent of 10th-graders and 14 percent of 12th-graders. “I worry that the tremendous progress that we’ve made over the last almost two decades in smoking could be reversed on us by the introduction of e-cigarettes,” said University of Michigan professor Lloyd Johnston, who leads the annual Monitoring the Future survey of more than 41,000 students. E-cigarettes often are described as a less dangerous alternative for regular smokers who can’t or don’t want to kick the habit. The battery-powered devices produce vapor infused with potentially addictive nicotine but without the same chemicals and tar of tobacco cigarettes. The survey didn’t ask about repeat use, or whether teens were just experimenting with something new. But between 4 percent and 7 percent of students who tried e-cigarettes said they’d never smoked a tobacco cigarette, noted University of Michigan professor Richard Miech, a study senior investigator. “They must think that e-cigarettes are fundamentally different,” he said. E-cigarettes began to appear in the U.S. in 2006 but this was the first year that the Monitoring the Future survey asked teens about them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that during 2013, 4.5 percent of high school students had tried e-cigarettes during the prior month, a tripling since 2011. The CDC reported last week that 10 states permit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. The Food and Drug Administration has proposed regulating e-cigarettes, including banning sales to minors; there is no timetable for final rules. Other findings from the survey, funded by NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse: -Marijuana use appeared to level off after recent increases, with 6.5 percent of eighth-graders reporting past-month use, 17 percent of 10th-graders and 21 percent of 12th-graders. Nearly 6 percent of 12th-graders reported daily use. -Fewer teens are trying synthetic marijuana, highly dangerous drugs known by such names as K2 and Spice. About 6 percent of seniors said they had used fake pot this year, down from 8 percent last year and 11 percent in 2012. -Abuse of prescription painkillers is dropping. Six percent of high school seniors reported using the narcotics without medical supervision in the past year, down from 9.5 percent in 2004. -Nearly 1 in 5 12th-graders reported binge drinking, defined as five or more drinks in a row in the previous two weeks. That’s down from 1 in 4 high school seniors in 2009.