Elevate Kava Bar, offering an alternative nightlife experience, to open near FGCUHope Card program protects victims of domestic violence in Lee County
ESTERO Elevate Kava Bar, offering an alternative nightlife experience, to open near FGCU University Village near Florida Gulf Coast University will soon be home to a new kava bar.
Hope Card program protects victims of domestic violence in Lee County Lee County has implemented the Hope Card Program, a new statewide initiative to help victims of domestic violence.
Woman in custody following Charlotte County fatal shooting According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a woman is in custody after a fatal shooting at a home in Charlotte County.
NCH offers new process to improve blood flow Getting a stent to improve blood flow to the heart is a very common procedure. In some cases, the issue comes back as scar tissue forms around the stent.
92.5 FOX News launches 10th annual ‘10,000 for the Troops’ campaign in support of deployed U.S. military personnel Sun Broadcasting’s 92.5 FOX News Radio announced the launch of its 10th annual “10,000 for the Troops” campaign, which is in partnership with the Military Support Program at Lee Memorial Health Systems.
FORT MYERS Tired of traffic trouble spots? Now is your chance to weigh in on changes Voice your thoughts on what Southwest Florida roads need improving.
Punta Gorda Council discusses proposed new $16M City Hall Punta Gorda City Council got sticker shock Dec. 4 when they learned that a new City Hall building with a design chosen by former council members would cost close to $16 million.
Department of Labor seeks to distribute $4.7M in wages owed to Florida workers With year-end approaching, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor is working to return $4,737,110 in wages it recovered to almost 7,500 Florida workers who earned them.
GLADES COUNTY Florida panther struck by vehicle in Glades County; 32nd death in 2024 A 7-to-8-month-old panther was killed by a vehicle in Glades County, increasing the death toll of the endangered species to 32 for 2024.
FORT MYERS Commissioner Hamman: Caloosahatchee bridge project to be completed soon The pedestrian walkway project on the Caloosahatchee bridge in Fort Myers is on schedule and is expected to be completed before Christmas Day.
WINK NEWS Citizens Property Insurance passes important milestone in depopulation program This is a sign our insurance crisis in Florida is recovering. Citizens, designed to be Floridian’s last resort insurer, is shrinking.
WINK NEWS Expect warmer temperatures for your Thursday plans The Weather Authority is tracking increased temperatures. Thursday is in the 50s, and the warming trend is continuing into the weekend.
WINK NEWS Smoke from prescribed burns this Thursday The Weather Authority is tracking smoke in the air Thursday morning. If you notice smoke, it’s likely from recent prescribed burns.
LEHIGH ACRES Firefighters break open submerged car in Lehigh Acres Firefighters break open a submerged car and appear to rescue someone stuck inside in Lehigh Acres overnight.
FORT MYERS Stem donor meets recipient at Florida Gulf Coast University An FGCU student is giving the gift of life this holiday season. FGCU senior Zoe Horowitz met the person who received her stem cell donation.
ESTERO Elevate Kava Bar, offering an alternative nightlife experience, to open near FGCU University Village near Florida Gulf Coast University will soon be home to a new kava bar.
Hope Card program protects victims of domestic violence in Lee County Lee County has implemented the Hope Card Program, a new statewide initiative to help victims of domestic violence.
Woman in custody following Charlotte County fatal shooting According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a woman is in custody after a fatal shooting at a home in Charlotte County.
NCH offers new process to improve blood flow Getting a stent to improve blood flow to the heart is a very common procedure. In some cases, the issue comes back as scar tissue forms around the stent.
92.5 FOX News launches 10th annual ‘10,000 for the Troops’ campaign in support of deployed U.S. military personnel Sun Broadcasting’s 92.5 FOX News Radio announced the launch of its 10th annual “10,000 for the Troops” campaign, which is in partnership with the Military Support Program at Lee Memorial Health Systems.
FORT MYERS Tired of traffic trouble spots? Now is your chance to weigh in on changes Voice your thoughts on what Southwest Florida roads need improving.
Punta Gorda Council discusses proposed new $16M City Hall Punta Gorda City Council got sticker shock Dec. 4 when they learned that a new City Hall building with a design chosen by former council members would cost close to $16 million.
Department of Labor seeks to distribute $4.7M in wages owed to Florida workers With year-end approaching, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor is working to return $4,737,110 in wages it recovered to almost 7,500 Florida workers who earned them.
GLADES COUNTY Florida panther struck by vehicle in Glades County; 32nd death in 2024 A 7-to-8-month-old panther was killed by a vehicle in Glades County, increasing the death toll of the endangered species to 32 for 2024.
FORT MYERS Commissioner Hamman: Caloosahatchee bridge project to be completed soon The pedestrian walkway project on the Caloosahatchee bridge in Fort Myers is on schedule and is expected to be completed before Christmas Day.
WINK NEWS Citizens Property Insurance passes important milestone in depopulation program This is a sign our insurance crisis in Florida is recovering. Citizens, designed to be Floridian’s last resort insurer, is shrinking.
WINK NEWS Expect warmer temperatures for your Thursday plans The Weather Authority is tracking increased temperatures. Thursday is in the 50s, and the warming trend is continuing into the weekend.
WINK NEWS Smoke from prescribed burns this Thursday The Weather Authority is tracking smoke in the air Thursday morning. If you notice smoke, it’s likely from recent prescribed burns.
LEHIGH ACRES Firefighters break open submerged car in Lehigh Acres Firefighters break open a submerged car and appear to rescue someone stuck inside in Lehigh Acres overnight.
FORT MYERS Stem donor meets recipient at Florida Gulf Coast University An FGCU student is giving the gift of life this holiday season. FGCU senior Zoe Horowitz met the person who received her stem cell donation.
MGN WASHINGTON (AP) – Internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile now must act in the “public interest” when providing a mobile connection to your home or phone, under rules approved Thursday by a divided Federal Communications Commission. The plan, which puts the Internet in the same regulatory camp as the telephone and bans business practices that are “unjust or unreasonable,” represents the biggest regulatory shakeup to the industry in almost two decades. The goal is to prevent providers from slowing or blocking web traffic, or creating paid fast lanes on the Internet, said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. The 3-2 vote was expected to trigger industry lawsuits that could take several years to resolve. Still, consumer advocates cheered the regulations as a victory for smaller Internet-based companies which feared they would have to pay “tolls” to move their content. Net neutrality is the idea that websites or videos load at about the same speed. That means you won’t be more inclined to watch a particular show on Amazon Prime instead of on Netflix because Amazon has struck a deal with your service provider to load its data faster. Opponents, including many congressional Republicans, said the FCC plan constitutes dangerous government overreach that would eventually drive up consumer costs and discourage industry investment. Republican FCC Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Ajit Pai, who voted against the plan, alleged that President Barack Obama unfairly used his influence to push through the regulations, calling the plan a “half-baked, illogical, internally inconsistent and indefensible document.” Michael Powell, a former Republican FCC chairman who now runs the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, warned that consumers would almost immediately “bear the burden of new taxes and increased costs, and they will likely wait longer for faster and more innovative networks since investment will slow in the face of bureaucratic oversight.” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said he would pursue industry-friendly legislation, although it was unlikely that Obama would sign such a bill. The FCC’s five commissioners are expected to testify before a Senate panel March 18. “One way or another, I am committed to moving a legislative solution, preferably bipartisan, to stop monopoly-era phone regulations that harm Internet consumers and innovation,” Thune said in a statement this week. It’s not true that consumers would see new taxes right away. The Internet Tax Freedom Act bans taxes on Internet access, although that bill expires in October. While Congress is expected to renew that legislation, it’s conceivable that states could eventually push Congress for the ability to tax Internet service now that it has been deemed a vital public utility. “Read my lips. More Internet taxes are coming. It’s just a matter of when,” Commissioner Pai said. For years, providers mostly agreed not to pick winners and losers among Web traffic because they didn’t want to encourage regulators to step in and because they said consumers demanded it. But that started to change around 2005, when YouTube came online and Netflix became increasingly popular. On-demand video became known as data hogs, and evidence began to surface that some providers were manipulating traffic without telling consumers. By 2010, the FCC enacted open Internet rules, but the agency’s legal approach was eventually struck down. FCC officials are hoping to erase the legal ambiguity by no longer classifying the Internet as an “information service” but a “telecommunications service” subject to Title II of the 1934 Communications Act. That would dramatically expand regulators’ power over the industry by requiring providers to act in the public’s interest and enabling the FCC to fine companies found to be employing “unreasonable” business practices. The FCC says it won’t apply some sections of Title II, including price controls. That means rates charged to customers for Internet access won’t be subject to preapproval. But the law allows the government to investigate if consumers complain that costs are unfair. Also at stake Thursday was Obama’s goal of helping local governments build their own fast, cheap broadband. Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Wilson, North Carolina, have filed petitions with the agency to help override state laws that restrict them from expanding their broadband service to neighboring towns. The FCC approved these petitions, setting a precedent for other communities that might want to do the same. Nineteen states place restrictions on municipal broadband networks, many with laws encouraged by cable and telephone companies. Advocates of those laws say they are designed to protect taxpayers from municipal projects that are expensive, can fail or may be unnecessary.