LEHIGH ACRES FGCU softball team helps Habitat for Humanity build three homes The Florida Gulf Coast University softball team helped Habitat for Humanity build three homes Saturday.
ESTERO Home Base Golf Tournament helps SWFL Veterans Veterans hit the green at the Copperleaf Golf Course on Saturday. This was part of the Home Base golf tournament.
FORT MYERS At least one person dead after propane truck collides with golf cart Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that has left one person dead and another injured Saturday morning.
Scattered storms ahead for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking weekend temperatures in the low to mid-90s this weekend with a chance for scattered storms this afternoon.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 3 Thunderstorms tried to put a stop to week three of high school football on Friday Night, but gridiron action prevailed.
Man accused of plotting murder-for-hire denied bond A man suspected of being involved with a murder-for-hire plot will stay behind bars. Ryan Toranzo had his renewed motion to set bond denied today in Collier County Court.
LABELLE Two dead after crash on State Road 80 According to the Florida Highway Patrol, there was a crash on State Road 80 that has left at least one person dead Friday evening.
DeSoto County looks to recruit more teachers While it can sometimes be easy to fill a classroom with students, it is not so easy for teachers. Schools across the nation and locally in Southwest Florida are still dealing with the challenges of teacher shortages. With class back in session, so is teacher recruiting for DeSoto County schools. The assistant superintendent, Jake Reynolds, […]
IMMOKALEE ROAD Push for change after deadly crash on Immokalee Rd. We’re told the woman was driving with two kids in the car when a semi ran a red light and hit her Thursday morning.
FORT MYERS BEACH Mobi-Mats deployed on Fort Myers Beach A walkway to paradise! Brand new and blue, the Mobi-Mat is making things easier for Fort Myers Beachgoers.
NAPLES Women of Steel business conference inspiring and empowering women Focused, hardworking, empowered. These women have made a name for themselves as Women of Steel.
NAPLES Beloved Collier County bus driver retires after 20 years After 20 years of getting kids to school safely, a beloved Collier County bus driver is retiring.
Wade Wilson has new death row mugshot Convicted double-killer Wade Wilson has a new death row mugshot.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Sizzle Dining is back in SWFL It’s Sizzle Season! Local restaurants are ready to welcome new faces by offering exclusive menu deals to attract new customers.
LEHIGH ACRES FGCU softball team helps Habitat for Humanity build three homes The Florida Gulf Coast University softball team helped Habitat for Humanity build three homes Saturday.
ESTERO Home Base Golf Tournament helps SWFL Veterans Veterans hit the green at the Copperleaf Golf Course on Saturday. This was part of the Home Base golf tournament.
FORT MYERS At least one person dead after propane truck collides with golf cart Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that has left one person dead and another injured Saturday morning.
Scattered storms ahead for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking weekend temperatures in the low to mid-90s this weekend with a chance for scattered storms this afternoon.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 3 Thunderstorms tried to put a stop to week three of high school football on Friday Night, but gridiron action prevailed.
Man accused of plotting murder-for-hire denied bond A man suspected of being involved with a murder-for-hire plot will stay behind bars. Ryan Toranzo had his renewed motion to set bond denied today in Collier County Court.
LABELLE Two dead after crash on State Road 80 According to the Florida Highway Patrol, there was a crash on State Road 80 that has left at least one person dead Friday evening.
DeSoto County looks to recruit more teachers While it can sometimes be easy to fill a classroom with students, it is not so easy for teachers. Schools across the nation and locally in Southwest Florida are still dealing with the challenges of teacher shortages. With class back in session, so is teacher recruiting for DeSoto County schools. The assistant superintendent, Jake Reynolds, […]
IMMOKALEE ROAD Push for change after deadly crash on Immokalee Rd. We’re told the woman was driving with two kids in the car when a semi ran a red light and hit her Thursday morning.
FORT MYERS BEACH Mobi-Mats deployed on Fort Myers Beach A walkway to paradise! Brand new and blue, the Mobi-Mat is making things easier for Fort Myers Beachgoers.
NAPLES Women of Steel business conference inspiring and empowering women Focused, hardworking, empowered. These women have made a name for themselves as Women of Steel.
NAPLES Beloved Collier County bus driver retires after 20 years After 20 years of getting kids to school safely, a beloved Collier County bus driver is retiring.
Wade Wilson has new death row mugshot Convicted double-killer Wade Wilson has a new death row mugshot.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Sizzle Dining is back in SWFL It’s Sizzle Season! Local restaurants are ready to welcome new faces by offering exclusive menu deals to attract new customers.
FILE – In this Feb. 2, 2107 file photo, Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch, right, escorted by former New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte walks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Despite strong endorsements from some gun rights advocates, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has a sparse appeals court record on gun policy, one that leaves his view on how far the Second Amendment extends a judicial mystery. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) (AP) Despite strong endorsements from some gun rights advocates, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has a slim appeals court record on the subject – a record that leaves his views a mystery on how far constitutional firearms rights extend. The National Rifle Association notes favorably a 2012 case in which Gorsuch wrote for the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that “the Supreme Court has held the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own firearms and may not be infringed lightly.” Taken with his conservative leanings, originalist views on interpreting the Constitution and comparisons to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, that leads many gun owners to believe Gorsuch would protect their interests. “He has an impressive record that demonstrates his support for the Second Amendment,” Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement endorsing the nominee. However, Gorsuch has not ruled on major Second Amendment cases. “We don’t know, for instance, if he believes people have a right to carry guns in public. We don’t know what he thinks about restrictions on assault weapons or high-capacity magazines,” said Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of “Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America.” “Those are the big issues that are likely to come before the Supreme Court with regards to the Second Amendment,” Winkler said. “And on those issues Gorsuch is a Second Amendment mystery.” The case cited by the NRA involved a man who appealed his conviction of being a felon in possession of a gun, saying he didn’t know he was considered a felon due to a misunderstanding over his deferred prosecution in a previous robbery case. Although he had signed documents indicating he would be considered guilty of a felony, the state judge told him, among other things, “If I accept your plea today, hopefully you will leave this courtroom not convicted of a felony and instead granted the privilege of a deferred judgment, which means you will be supervised by the Department of Probation for a period of two years.” Miguel Games-Perez was arrested less than a year later with a pistol that had an obliterated serial number. Gorsuch was on a three-judge panel that found the government had only to prove that Games-Perez knew he had a gun, not that he knew he was prohibited from having one. Gorsuch said the panel was bound by precedent. “Our duty to follow precedent sometimes requires us to make mistakes. Unfortunately, this is that sort of case,” Gorsuch wrote. Games-Perez later asked the full appeals court to hear the case, a request that was denied in a 6-4 decision. Gorsuch dissented, saying the full court could reconsider its precedent. He wrote that due to the “repeated misstatements from the court itself, Mr. Games-Perez surely has a triable claim he didn’t know his state court deferred judgment amounted to a felony conviction.” Some groups favoring more stringent gun laws refer to the same case when arguing that Gorsuch is unfit for the Supreme Court. “Judge Gorsuch’s views are so outside the mainstream that he has gone out of his way to side with felons over public safety,” Peter Ambler, executive director of Americans for Responsible Solutions, said in a statement opposing Gorsuch’s nomination. And not all gun rights advocates are enthusiastic to endorse Gorsuch – because of another case. Larry Pratt, executive director emeritus of Gun Owners of America, said the case that gave him pause involved a police officer in New Mexico disarming Daniel Rodriguez, a convenience store employee who had a pistol tucked into his waistband. The man turned out to be a convicted felon, but Pratt said the officer had no way of knowing that at the time because the man wasn’t accused of a crime and the officer didn’t question him beforehand. Gorsuch sided with the appeals panel to uphold the man’s conviction. Ultimately, Pratt said, Gorsuch’s judicial philosophy and overall record helped earn an endorsement. “We’re going to support him with this caveat of our concern because of the Rodriguez case. And part of it’s a practical matter that if Gorsuch were to be turned down, it’s not likely, politically, that the next one would be any better,” Pratt said. J. Adam Skaggs, litigation director for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Americans for Responsible Solutions Foundation, said in a telephone interview that Gorsuch has “a very thin paper trail, but the few cases where he has ruled on gun issues raise a lot of questions.” In a 2010 case, Skaggs said Gorsuch relied on procedural grounds in rejecting the appeal of a man charged with possessing a gun after being convicted of domestic violence rather than “conceding the point that convicted domestic abusers don’t enjoy the same Second Amendment rights as law abiding citizens.” “Instead, he went out of his way to resolve the case on a complicated procedural ground,” Skaggs said. Still, Winkler, the law professor, said it’s difficult to know how Gorsuch would rule in the most important Second Amendment cases because his track record is so limited. “He’s only decided a few cases with Second Amendment overtones and none of them are the major decisions on the important issues of the day,” Winkler said. “Nothing in his path tells use what he understands the scope of the Second Amendment to be.”