Cape Coral Puppy Bowl highlights shelter’s need for loving homesCaught on Camera: Car crashes into Lehigh duplex
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Puppy Bowl highlights shelter’s need for loving homes The Cape Coral Animal Shelter hosted its third annual Puppy Bowl late Sunday morning. The event aimed to highlight puppies in need of homes.
LEHIGH ACRES Caught on Camera: Car crashes into Lehigh duplex A car crashed into a duplex early Sunday morning in Lehigh Acres causing confusion for the building’s residents.
WINK News Photos of the Week Feb. 2 – Feb. 8 This Week’s edition features live music, some familiar faces wearing red and a fabulous charity event
FORT MYERS Colonial Boulevard continuous flow intersection opens Sunday in Fort Myers Drivers along Interstate 75 near Colonial Boulevard can expect changes soon.
the weather authority Sun and clouds with a stray shower possible The Weather Authority says sun and clouds overhead will lead to another day with above-average temperatures.
FORT MYERS LCSO offering youth boxing program The Lee County Sheriff’s Office youth boxing program is your kid’s golden ticket to mastering the art of self-defense.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man speaks on helping apprehend armed 13-year-old The man who helped apprehend an armed 13-year-old spoke on the incident.
NAPLES Naples Cars on Fifth event fuels $2M for local charity efforts For over two decades, car enthusiasts in Southwest Florida have gathered on Fifth Avenue in Naples.
MARCO ISLAND Caxambas Park boat ramp on Marco Island set to reopen Collier County announced the reopening of the Caxambas Park boat ramp on Marco Island.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Animal Shelter to host Puppy Bowl 3 ahead of big game Ahead of the big game on Sunday, Cape Coral Animal Shelter will be featuring its very own Puppy Bowl III.
FORT MYERS From the ballpark to the beach: the Minnesota Twins are back for Spring Training 1700 miles later the Twins truck is here and the team from Minnesota is ready to spend the next six weeks here in Fort Myers.
the weather authority Warm stretch continues throughout this weekend The Weather Authority says if you are a fan of the warmer weather, you are going to love this weekend.
SANIBEL Sanibel’s red tide raises health alerts and wildlife concerns With great weather in the forecast, it’s shaping up to be a perfect beach weekend. However, visitors to the barrier islands should exercise caution.
NAPLES Naples Automotive Experience raises funds for St. Matthew’s House The Naples Automotive Experience brought excitement and philanthropy to the community, raising money for St. Matthew’s House.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Puppy Bowl highlights shelter’s need for loving homes The Cape Coral Animal Shelter hosted its third annual Puppy Bowl late Sunday morning. The event aimed to highlight puppies in need of homes.
LEHIGH ACRES Caught on Camera: Car crashes into Lehigh duplex A car crashed into a duplex early Sunday morning in Lehigh Acres causing confusion for the building’s residents.
WINK News Photos of the Week Feb. 2 – Feb. 8 This Week’s edition features live music, some familiar faces wearing red and a fabulous charity event
FORT MYERS Colonial Boulevard continuous flow intersection opens Sunday in Fort Myers Drivers along Interstate 75 near Colonial Boulevard can expect changes soon.
the weather authority Sun and clouds with a stray shower possible The Weather Authority says sun and clouds overhead will lead to another day with above-average temperatures.
FORT MYERS LCSO offering youth boxing program The Lee County Sheriff’s Office youth boxing program is your kid’s golden ticket to mastering the art of self-defense.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man speaks on helping apprehend armed 13-year-old The man who helped apprehend an armed 13-year-old spoke on the incident.
NAPLES Naples Cars on Fifth event fuels $2M for local charity efforts For over two decades, car enthusiasts in Southwest Florida have gathered on Fifth Avenue in Naples.
MARCO ISLAND Caxambas Park boat ramp on Marco Island set to reopen Collier County announced the reopening of the Caxambas Park boat ramp on Marco Island.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Animal Shelter to host Puppy Bowl 3 ahead of big game Ahead of the big game on Sunday, Cape Coral Animal Shelter will be featuring its very own Puppy Bowl III.
FORT MYERS From the ballpark to the beach: the Minnesota Twins are back for Spring Training 1700 miles later the Twins truck is here and the team from Minnesota is ready to spend the next six weeks here in Fort Myers.
the weather authority Warm stretch continues throughout this weekend The Weather Authority says if you are a fan of the warmer weather, you are going to love this weekend.
SANIBEL Sanibel’s red tide raises health alerts and wildlife concerns With great weather in the forecast, it’s shaping up to be a perfect beach weekend. However, visitors to the barrier islands should exercise caution.
NAPLES Naples Automotive Experience raises funds for St. Matthew’s House The Naples Automotive Experience brought excitement and philanthropy to the community, raising money for St. Matthew’s House.
Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva. (CBS photo) For new Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva, the way of looking at government is fairly simple: Get as much of it as possible out of the way so businesses and people are free to make their own decisions and pay less taxes. “The greater the government involvement in something, the less there is true free market, the less that there’s competition and the price goes up,” the Miami Lakes Republican said recently, referring in this case to health care and education. “A lot of these things are complicated because we make them complicated. That’s why the free market manages to do complicated things in ways that baffle us,” he added during an appearance at The Associated Press annual legislative conference. Oliva, 46, will have the speaker’s gavel Tuesday when Florida lawmakers convene for their annual 60-day legislative session. His top two priorities are two issues that drive the annual state budget: health care and education spending. In both cases, Oliva said he will push for changes that corral spending on such programs as Medicaid and public schools — the latter in a way where the “money is following the child” allowing for more school choice. “Can a child get an education that they deserve to have? If they can’t, can those dollars follow them to somewhere that they can? It’s really that simple,” Oliva said. On the sensitive health care issue of abortion, Oliva issued an apology recently after using the word “host body” to describe a pregnant woman in an interview with Miami’s WFOR television station. In the apology, Oliva said he was attempting to use neutral medical terms to discuss a controversial topic — but instead drew much criticism. “The reaction undoubtedly shows it had the exact opposite effect. I apologize for having caused offense, my aim was the contrary,” he said in the statement. “I strongly believe both mother and child have rights and the extent and balance of those rights remain in question.” Rep. Kionne McGhee, the House Democratic leader, said in a tweet he likely will disagree “100 percent” with Oliva on the abortion issue but added he thinks the speaker is “a principled and respectful person who is committed to fair treatment of others.” The Cuban-American Oliva grew up in Hialeah helping build his family business, Oliva Cigar. He was first elected in a 2011 special election and has worked closely with former Speaker Richard Corcoran, another GOP conservative. Oliva is the first speaker from the Miami area since now-U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. “You’ve got someone who is conservative, who is principled, who is willing to tear down the top-down structure and is willing to share power with his colleagues,” said GOP Rep. Ray Rodrigues said in nominating Oliva for speaker. On another high-profile issue, Oliva said he is cautious about allowing medical marijuana to be smoked. Competing House and Senate bills permitting smokable pot have cleared committees, but it’s not clear when an agreement might be struck. Oliva said one issue is whether and how much qualifying children would be allowed to smoke medical pot. “We should treat it is a medicine. I’ve been in the smoke business my entire life and I’ve never heard anyone say it’s good for you,” he said. “We would like to have something on the governor’s desk. The devil in the details is that there are two chambers, and people have to come to an agreement.” Oliva also says he supports purchasing a new state plane for Gov. Ron DeSantis to quickly travel around Florida. The previous plane was sold by former Gov. Rick Scott, a multimillionaire who had his own private plane. DeSantis has been using a hand-me-down aircraft that was forced to make an emergency landing in January due to a mechanical problem. “The governor of a state like this has to be responsive to the entire state,” Oliva said “I think it’s absolutely necessary that a governor have a way to get around a state.”