Shell Factory & Nature Park announces online auction liquidation of remaining inventoryMore clouds than sun for your Wednesday
FORT MYERS Shell Factory & Nature Park announces online auction liquidation of remaining inventory Fans of the now-closed Shell Factory & Nature Park will have a final chance to own a piece of nostalgia with two virtual auctions.
the weather authority More clouds than sun for your Wednesday The Weather Authority is tracking an increased cloud coverage along with cooler conditions this Wednesday afternoon.
Web Exclusive: Rachel Cox-Rosen’s Construction Heads-Up As construction may dampen your commute, WINK News traffic anchor Rachel Cox-Rosen knows the best way to traverse the roadways in this web-exclusive feature.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘It’s devastating’: Neighbor reflects on fatal fire in Port Charlotte A devastating house fire Monday night in Port Charlotte has left one person dead and another hospitalized while neighbors mourn the possible loss of a beloved member of their community.
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Fort Myers get 15% increase on flood insurance discount WINK News is finding out what led to the city of Fort Myers going from just a 5% FEMA flood insurance discount to a 20% discount.
FORT MYERS Locals house California wildfire victims The effects of the California fires are being felt worldwide as people evacuate some are in southwest Florida.
LOVERS KEY Couple returns to Lovers Key condo post Ian While Hurricane Ian is long gone from Southwest Florida, many are still feeling its impacts.
EVERGLADES Biden signs Water Resources Development Act, its effect on SWFL President Biden recently signed into law the Water Resources Development Act with an aim to improve rivers and harbors across the country and provide for the conservation of water. Southwest Florida was included in that act. Putting the 240-page plan together took a lot of work, not just from state and federal lawmakers, but also […]
Turning business travel into a vacation Would work travel seem a little easier if you could turn it into a vacation? Two professors say they have proof that would help business travel.
The future of biometrics: Safer security or new AI risks? In 2021, the Transportation Service Agency (TSA) launched its new touchless identity solution in the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County airport.
CAPE CORAL Pelican Elementary resource officer saves infant A school resource officer at Pelican Elementary saved an infants’ life at a traffic stop in Cape Coral.
FORT MYERS Progress being made on City View Park in Dunbar More promises made by a city that has not kept its promises for the last six years have some neighbors concerned about the future of their community.
COLLIER COUNTY Seacrest hoops player hits a full court buzzer beater Seacrest Country Day School boys basketball player Hayden Fuller hits full court buzzer beater against Aubrey Rogers.
NAPLES Cutting-edge ACL surgery reducing reinjury risk by 80% Known for its game-changing orthopedic repair options, Naples-based Arthrex has done it again.
FORT MYERS Shell Factory & Nature Park announces online auction liquidation of remaining inventory Fans of the now-closed Shell Factory & Nature Park will have a final chance to own a piece of nostalgia with two virtual auctions.
the weather authority More clouds than sun for your Wednesday The Weather Authority is tracking an increased cloud coverage along with cooler conditions this Wednesday afternoon.
Web Exclusive: Rachel Cox-Rosen’s Construction Heads-Up As construction may dampen your commute, WINK News traffic anchor Rachel Cox-Rosen knows the best way to traverse the roadways in this web-exclusive feature.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘It’s devastating’: Neighbor reflects on fatal fire in Port Charlotte A devastating house fire Monday night in Port Charlotte has left one person dead and another hospitalized while neighbors mourn the possible loss of a beloved member of their community.
‘The sound of death’ Neighbors concerned by amount of crashes on Joel Blvd A woman is heartbroken from witnessing crash after crash outside her Lehigh Acres home.
Fort Myers get 15% increase on flood insurance discount WINK News is finding out what led to the city of Fort Myers going from just a 5% FEMA flood insurance discount to a 20% discount.
FORT MYERS Locals house California wildfire victims The effects of the California fires are being felt worldwide as people evacuate some are in southwest Florida.
LOVERS KEY Couple returns to Lovers Key condo post Ian While Hurricane Ian is long gone from Southwest Florida, many are still feeling its impacts.
EVERGLADES Biden signs Water Resources Development Act, its effect on SWFL President Biden recently signed into law the Water Resources Development Act with an aim to improve rivers and harbors across the country and provide for the conservation of water. Southwest Florida was included in that act. Putting the 240-page plan together took a lot of work, not just from state and federal lawmakers, but also […]
Turning business travel into a vacation Would work travel seem a little easier if you could turn it into a vacation? Two professors say they have proof that would help business travel.
The future of biometrics: Safer security or new AI risks? In 2021, the Transportation Service Agency (TSA) launched its new touchless identity solution in the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County airport.
CAPE CORAL Pelican Elementary resource officer saves infant A school resource officer at Pelican Elementary saved an infants’ life at a traffic stop in Cape Coral.
FORT MYERS Progress being made on City View Park in Dunbar More promises made by a city that has not kept its promises for the last six years have some neighbors concerned about the future of their community.
COLLIER COUNTY Seacrest hoops player hits a full court buzzer beater Seacrest Country Day School boys basketball player Hayden Fuller hits full court buzzer beater against Aubrey Rogers.
NAPLES Cutting-edge ACL surgery reducing reinjury risk by 80% Known for its game-changing orthopedic repair options, Naples-based Arthrex has done it again.
Courtesy Wiki Commons / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) – Voters’ eagerness for new blood in Bolivian politics and thinning patience with government corruption may make President Evo Morales’ current term in office his last. Partial results Monday and unofficial quick counts indicated Morales’ bid to extend his presidency by amending the constitution appeared headed toward defeat. Morales has governed for a decade. A “yes” vote in Sunday’s referendum would have let Bolivia’s first indigenous president seek a fourth term in 2019. Morales said in a brief televised news conference Monday that he was not giving up hope – calling celebrations by his opponents premature – and had faith in the slower-reporting countryside. “They don’t like us much in the city, but the first results give me hope,” he said. International observers did not report any serious irregularities and vote counting was slow but not unusually as paper ballots are manually counted. With 47 percent of polling stations reporting Monday afternoon, the “no” vote stood at 59 percent. Vote reporting is traditionally slow from the countryside, where Morales is most popular. Two unofficial quick counts by polling firms that looked at results from a sampling of polling stations said 52 percent voted “no.” One firm, Ipsos-Apoyo, counted ballots at one in 15 polling stations. Morales said that whatever happens, he will respect voters’ will. He said that if the ballot question loses, life will go on. “I won’t get desperate,’ he said. He blamed his disappointing showing on an opposition “smear campaign.” The referendum’s timing could not have been worse for Morales. He was stung this month by an influence-peddling scandal involving a former lover revealed by an opposition-aligned journalist and by a deadly incident of political violence. Morales has presided over an unprecedented economic boom as prices for raw materials soared just as he took office. He’s credited with spreading Bolivia’s natural resource wealth and empowering its indigenous majority. He built airports, highways and the pride of La Paz, an Austrian-built aerial tramway system. He also put a Chinese-built satellite into space. Gross domestic product per capita income rose by nearly one-third, according to the International Monetary Fund, and a new indigenous middle class was born. But the boom is over. Bolivia’s revenues from natural gas and minerals, making up three-fourths of its exports, were down 32 percent last year. Economists say Morales leaned heavily on extractive industries to pay for populist programs and failed to diversify the economy. The referendum also followed by days a political bombshell: A former lover of Morales was named sales manager of a Chinese company in 2013 that has obtained nearly $500 million in mostly no-bid state contracts. Morales denied any impropriety and his claim to have last seen the woman in 2007 was questioned when a picture of them together last year emerged. The case deepened doubts about the integrity of Morales’ governing Movement Toward Socialism, which has been wracked by scandals. Adding to Morales’ woes, six city workers died of smoke inhalation last week in El Alto, the teeming city adjacent to the capital of La Paz, in an attack blamed on pro-Morales agitators. The attackers torched documents that allegedly incriminated the previous mayor in payroll corruption. Eusebio Condori, a retired schoolteacher, said he voted “no” because the scandal and the deaths “confirm that this government doesn’t have a plan for Bolivia, only for itself.” A mother of three, Maria Espinoza, said she voted “no” because she believes in term limits. She echoed the complaint of others that too many jobs depend on political patronage. South America’s left has recently been sullied by scandal – and punished at the ballot box in Argentina and Venezuela – but Morales had personally remained unscathed. His movement has been discredited, however, by the skimming of millions from the government-managed Fondo Indigena, which runs agricultural and public works in the countryside. In addition, judicial corruption has been endemic and press freedom suffered as major news outlets were purchased by people friendly to the government. Critical media and environmentalists complained of harassment by the state. Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington, called the tight vote a surprising, major blow to Morales, who tallied more than 60 percent in his 2014 re-election. “While few can deny that Bolivia has seen impressive economic growth and social progress under Morales’ rule, many voters are sending a message that it is not enough. They are demanding clean government, accountability and more competitive politics,” Shifter said. Morales, who entered politics as a coca growers union leader, could now be motivated to groom a successor, he added. At his news conference, the president said it was too early for that. Bolivia’s constitution, enacted in Morales’ initial term, permits presidents and vice presidents to serve two consecutive terms. Morales’ first term was deemed by a high court not to have counted.