Bay Street Yard set to open in late MayAetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ+ customers
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
Aetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ+ customers Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the health insurer of discriminating against LGBTQ+ customers in need of fertility treatment.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
LEHIGH ACRES Chaotic lake getting fence and security Now, with all the negative attention it has gotten, some think putting up a fence is a great way to keep that bad activity out.
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
FORT MYERS Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
FORT MYERS Could a Ferris wheel in downtown Fort Myers work? Right now, there are talks to bring a Ferris wheel to downtown Fort Myers, but several things are still up in the air.
LITTLE HICKORY BAY Improving ‘Hell’s Gate’ safety, a notoriously dangerous waterway for boaters A push to make an area known as “Hell’s Gate” safer since it’s a dangerous stretch of water with several blind corners within Little Hickory Bay.
Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
Aetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ+ customers Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the health insurer of discriminating against LGBTQ+ customers in need of fertility treatment.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
LEHIGH ACRES Chaotic lake getting fence and security Now, with all the negative attention it has gotten, some think putting up a fence is a great way to keep that bad activity out.
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
FORT MYERS Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
FORT MYERS Could a Ferris wheel in downtown Fort Myers work? Right now, there are talks to bring a Ferris wheel to downtown Fort Myers, but several things are still up in the air.
LITTLE HICKORY BAY Improving ‘Hell’s Gate’ safety, a notoriously dangerous waterway for boaters A push to make an area known as “Hell’s Gate” safer since it’s a dangerous stretch of water with several blind corners within Little Hickory Bay.
Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
Ted Cruz (R) and Beto O’Rourke (D). – Photo by AP. Ted Cruz (R) has been confirmed as winner of Texas Senate race. Cruz was the incumbent candidate challenged be Beto O’Rourke (D). Cruz won with 50.9 percent of the total vote at more than 3.1 million votes in favor. In a close race, O’Rourke received 48.4 percent of the total vote with more than 3 million votes in favor of him. Polls have closed across the state of Texas, where Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke is challenged Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in an unexpectedly close Senate race. O’Rourke is vying to be the first Democrat elected to statewide office since 1994. Some polls in the state closed at 8 p.m., with the rest of the state at 9. The candidates were dead even with about 73 percent of the vote counted as of 9:45 p.m. Exit polls indicated Texas voters were relatively split about what they think the most important problem is facing the country. Over a third of voters said health care is the most important problem. Two-thirds of those voters went for O’Rourke. Of the third of voters who believe that immigration is the most important problem, about three-quarters support Cruz. Almost a quarter of voters things the economy is the country’s biggest problem, and among them, the majority voted for Cruz. Voters who believed that the nation’s economy is in a good place supported Cruz while those who felt the economy is poor supported O’Rourke. When asked whether tax laws passed last year affected their personal finances, the majority who were impacted positively supported Cruz and the majority impacted negatively supported O’Rourke. Twenty-two percent of voters in Texas were voting in a midterm for the very first time. These voters leaned towards O’Rourke by 7 points, while return voters favored Cruz by 6 points. Young voters overwhelmingly supported O’Rourke, 71 to 29 percent. Voters aged 30-44 leaned towards him 51 to 47. Voters over 45 favored Cruz 58 to 41. College graduates split their votes evenly between the two Senate candidates, while those without a degree voted for Cruz 53 to 46 percent. White evangelicals favored Cruz with 83 percent of their votes, while those not in this group supported O’Rourke by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Cruz emerged on the national political scene in 2012 as a Tea Party star. He orchestrated a government shutdown in 2013 and was the runner-up for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election. However, while he gained national attention, these high-profile actions may have backfired back home. Enter Beto O’Rourke, a charismatic El Paso-area congressman with an ability to attract a large and passionate following — and an extremely large campaign war chest. O’Rourke, who has visited every county in Texas during his campaign, raised more than $38 million in the final quarter before the election, an unprecedented amount for a Senate race. O’Rourke and his followers believe that a progressive congressman can win the hearts of voters in deep-red Texas. Although Cruz led O’Rourke in the polls, the fact that the race was so close concerned national Republicans and excited Democrats. National Democrats have dreamed of a blue Texas for years, thanks to changing demographics and increased urbanization. The CBS News Battleground Tracker rated the race as “lean Republican.” When did polls close in Texas? Polls closed at 7 p.m. Central Time (8 p.m. ET) across most of Texas. Portions of west Texas closed at 7 p.m. Mountain Time (9 p.m. ET). A judge ordered nine polling places in Harris County to remain open one hour later. Harris County, which includes most of the Houston metro area, is a Democratic stronghold and also the home turf of Ted Cruz. Texas Senate candidates Beto O’Rourke (D) A 46-year-old El Paso, Texas, native, Robert “Beto” O’Rourke entered the national political stage in 2012 after defeating the incumbent Democratic Representative Silvestre Reyes and winning a seat in Congress, campaigning on a platform that included LBGT rights and liberalization of drug laws. As a congressman, O’Rourke supported increased accountability for the Customs and Border Protection agency, including the establishment of protocols to report deaths and use of force at the U.S.’s southern border. His Senate campaign has ignited grassroots passions among liberals who’ve long been outnumbered at the voting booth in deep-red Texas. Prior to entering politics, O’Rourke co-founded Stanton Street Technology, a internet services and software company. He served as a city councilman in El Paso from 2005 to 2011, following in his father’s footsteps. O’Rourke attended Columbia University in New York, where earned a B.A. in English literature and played in a punk rock band that toured the U.S. and Canada during summer breaks. He is married to Amy Hoover Sanders and father of three. Ted Cruz (R) Sen. Ted Cruz, 47, become involved in national politics in 1999 as a domestic policy advisor on the George W. Bush presidential campaign. He worked on Bush’s legal fight over the 2000 Florida presidential recount and served as associate deputy attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice. Cruz returned to Texas in 2003 to serve as solicitor general, then went into private law practice. He won his Senate seat in 2012 after defeating the GOP lieutenant governor in a primary that the Washington Post called “the biggest upset” that year. His fervent conservative views made him a polarizing figure. Cruz lost a bitterly fought race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination to Donald Trump, but they overcame that history to campaign together at a rally last month. Cruz received a B.A. in public policy from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and went on to earn his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He married Bush economic advisor and Goldman Sachs investment manager Heidi Nelson Cruz in 2001; the couple has two children.