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.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., right, speak to reporters just before House and Senate tax bill conferees meet to work on the sweeping overhaul of the nation’s tax laws, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. Democrats are objecting to the bill and are asking that a final vote be delayed until Senator-elect Doug Jones of Alabama is seated. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Lawmakers from hard-hit states such as Florida are demanding tens of billions of dollars of hurricane relief and rebuilding funds as part of another temporary Washington spending bill to keep the government from shutting down over Christmas. Hurricane money is one of many pressing items as GOP leaders Wednesday evening unveiled an opening bid in the party’s strategy to avert a government shutdown next weekend. Plenty of hurdles remain, though, and a shutdown that could strike just before Christmas isn’t out of the question. The measure released by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., would keep the nondefense agencies of the government open through Jan. 19 while passing a huge Pentagon spending bill covering the entire 2018 budget year ending on Sept. 30. The leadership-sponsored measure, however, doesn’t contain hurricane relief demanded by many Republicans and has already been declared dead on arrival in the Senate by top Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York. Congress last week passed a two-week stopgap spending bill, called a continuing resolution in Washington-speak. This “CR” bought time for negotiations on the party’s signature tax bill, but talks with Democrats such as Schumer on the budget, disaster aid, children’s health and other leftovers aren’t going as smoothly. The measure unveiled by Frelinghuysen fulfills a gambit proposed by some Republicans to try to force the Senate to pass a huge full-year Pentagon spending bill along with the temporary funding needed to avert a shutdown. The defense measure, which would award the Pentagon with a $73 billion budget hike, is a top priority for the GOP’s legion of defense hawks. That move won’t fly, however, with Senate Democrats emboldened by Tuesday’s surprise win in the Alabama Senate race. And the idea ran into a buzz-saw of opposition from hurricane-state lawmakers at Wednesday’s GOP meeting, who were upset after Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told them the hurricane relief package wasn’t ready. “I can tell you, there are a lot of us from these disaster-affected states who are not going to support a CR absent supplemental relief being taken care of before Christmas,” said Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla. Driving the House GOP’s moves is the party’s endgame goal, at least for December – to freeze Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California out of the negotiations and deny her the leverage to win protections for immigrants commonly called “Dreamers” as part of the year-end measure. These are immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children and were given protections by former President Barack Obama – only to be reversed by Trump back in September. But Schumer can’t be frozen out, despite the hopes of some House conservatives. Even GOP hard-liners acknowledge that Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., could bounce the House measure right back with a bipartisan measure that the House might have little choice but to accept. That could include flood aid and a bipartisan, Pelosi-backed reauthorization of a popular children’s health insurance program known as CHIP. Frelinghuysen’s bill contains a GOP-drafted CHIP measure. “The Senate will strip out the defense piece, predictably, and send it back to us,” said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. Another complication for the year-end package is the potential addition of subsidies for low-income people participating in the Affordable Care Act. That’s a demand of Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate from Maine who won a pledge from Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to retain such market-stabilizing “cost-sharing” subsidies – which help with out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and co-payments – in exchange for her commitment to support the tax measure. Some liberal media observers have opined that Collins got snookered and that the promise won’t be honored by House Republicans. “I am confident that the agreement that I negotiated will be honored,” Collins said Wednesday. “The mechanics of doing it still need to be worked out but all you cynics in the press will have to be eating crow come Dec. 31.”