Election Day crowds expected despite record early votingVoters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election
Election Day crowds expected despite record early voting Election Day is nearly upon us. At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the polls will be closed, and our team will bring you the results.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Voters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election A lot can change in four years. During the 2020 election, many voters masked up as they cast their ballots, and the pandemic was at the top of many voters’ minds.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents frustrated by hurricane debris delays Many people in parts of southwest Florida feel like they’ve dealt with more than their fair share of storm damage lately.
Miracle Moment: A rosy outlook following surprise diagnosis It’s time for Miracle Moment. Today, we meet a toddler diagnosed with a disease without known prevention or cure.
Poll workers ready for Election Day rush in Collier County Poll workers gear up for a busy Tuesday in Collier County; some have been there for a while, and this year marks their first time working at a polling place for others.
CAPE CORAL Voters decide: Will Cape Coral City Council members stay or go? Stipends, Jaycee Park and new developments have been topics of concern in the City of Cape Coral for months now.
MATLACHA Lee County residents still dealing with damage from hurricanes Hurricane recovery has been an ongoing project here in Southwest Florida since Hurricane Ian.
FGCU Former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III makes PGA Tour After playing two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III is moving up to the PGA Tour.
Parents cast their votes for Lee County school superintendent With just hours now until the election, WINK News wants to highlight a few local races that haven’t gotten as much attention. One of them is the election of Lee County’s next superintendent of schools.
NORTH FORT MYERS Former Dollar General employee accused of stealing $7,000 in returns A woman has been arrested after defrauding a Dollar General in North Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Tropics and Red Tide; what happens if or when they interact? The Tropics are active despite the fact that there’s less than a month left in hurricane season. But how will a system interact with red tide?
CAPE CORAL Police investigate gunfire at Cape Coral rental home The bullet holes left behind by shots heard in a normally quiet Cape Coral neighborhood scared one woman into buying security cameras for her home.
CAPE CORAL Bimini Basin residents face housing challenges Time is running out for the families who live in one Cape Coral community to find places to call home.
Harris and Trump make a furious final push before Election Day A presidential campaign that has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts comes down to a final sprint across a handful of states on Election Day eve.
Using AI to detect pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. That’s due in part to the limited testing available for early detection.
Election Day crowds expected despite record early voting Election Day is nearly upon us. At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the polls will be closed, and our team will bring you the results.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Voters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election A lot can change in four years. During the 2020 election, many voters masked up as they cast their ballots, and the pandemic was at the top of many voters’ minds.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents frustrated by hurricane debris delays Many people in parts of southwest Florida feel like they’ve dealt with more than their fair share of storm damage lately.
Miracle Moment: A rosy outlook following surprise diagnosis It’s time for Miracle Moment. Today, we meet a toddler diagnosed with a disease without known prevention or cure.
Poll workers ready for Election Day rush in Collier County Poll workers gear up for a busy Tuesday in Collier County; some have been there for a while, and this year marks their first time working at a polling place for others.
CAPE CORAL Voters decide: Will Cape Coral City Council members stay or go? Stipends, Jaycee Park and new developments have been topics of concern in the City of Cape Coral for months now.
MATLACHA Lee County residents still dealing with damage from hurricanes Hurricane recovery has been an ongoing project here in Southwest Florida since Hurricane Ian.
FGCU Former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III makes PGA Tour After playing two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III is moving up to the PGA Tour.
Parents cast their votes for Lee County school superintendent With just hours now until the election, WINK News wants to highlight a few local races that haven’t gotten as much attention. One of them is the election of Lee County’s next superintendent of schools.
NORTH FORT MYERS Former Dollar General employee accused of stealing $7,000 in returns A woman has been arrested after defrauding a Dollar General in North Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Tropics and Red Tide; what happens if or when they interact? The Tropics are active despite the fact that there’s less than a month left in hurricane season. But how will a system interact with red tide?
CAPE CORAL Police investigate gunfire at Cape Coral rental home The bullet holes left behind by shots heard in a normally quiet Cape Coral neighborhood scared one woman into buying security cameras for her home.
CAPE CORAL Bimini Basin residents face housing challenges Time is running out for the families who live in one Cape Coral community to find places to call home.
Harris and Trump make a furious final push before Election Day A presidential campaign that has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts comes down to a final sprint across a handful of states on Election Day eve.
Using AI to detect pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. That’s due in part to the limited testing available for early detection.
Struggling for more than six months, people did get extra help from the federal government, but that’s over now. Unemployed Floridians have to survive on $275 a week maximum – if they qualify for benefits. Around the country, Florida has one of the lowest weekly benefit amounts (the only states that pay less are Arizona, Louisiana and Mississippi) and for the shortest time: 12 weeks. Some lawmakers want to change that. What would it take? To put it simply, lawmakers vote it in and the governor has to sign off. Having the money to do it will be more difficult. To understand why, we have to look back in time. In 1998, $275 became the maximum weekly benefit for up to 26 weeks. Then in 2011, when Rick Scott is governor, work begins on the new unemployment website. Still battling the Great Recession, he also signs off on a plan to slash payments from 26 to 12 weeks. The goal was to cut down costs for employers, bring more of them to the state and create jobs. While people did get back to work then, almost 10 years later and in the midst of a pandemic, jobs are hard to come by. “Our state is hospitality and tourism, and those businesses have been destroyed with this,” said Bonnie Armstrong of Naples. Since March, almost 4 million people have applied for unemployment in Florida. If you’re lucky enough to be eligible, people like Armstrong, Sam Harrison, Carlos Leal and Cynthia Cox say the struggle doesn’t end there. They’ve battled glitches, endless hours on the phone, and weeks – or even months – of waiting, all for $275 a week at most. “They say that it’s an internal error,” Harrison said. “You can’t have people waiting for months for money that they’ve worked all their lives to have,” Leal said. Both Harrison and Leal waited months before receiving payments, and it took the help of WINK News contacting the Department of Economic Opportunity to get them. “It’s hard. It’s hard. Nobody can live off of $125,” Cox said. In April, Sen. Randolph Bracy (D-Orlando) requested legislators hold a special session to address the low max benefit amount, but they denied it. He’ll push at least one bill in the next session for higher, longer-lasting benefits. “I think it’s irresponsible to, one, have a website like this in place. But also to not be able to give a good safety net for people when a crisis happens,” said Bracy. “I would think it should be an average that most states have, and so I’ve put forth I believe 475 to 600 range,” he said. Back to 1998: The Department of Labor says based on inflation, what might have cost you $100 then costs $160 today. Since then, the state minimum wage has gone up more than $3, but benefit payments haven’t followed the same path. “They could have and should have adjusted the maximum benefit amount so that as items became more expensive, as housing became more expensive, that amount went up,” said Ryan Barack, a labor and employment lawyer at Kwall, Barack, Nadeau PLLC located in Clearwater. Barack said not raising the weekly benefit amount over the years has caused people to suffer. “The business interests dominate the Florida legislature, and as a result, they were able to keep this rate artificially low,” he said. Those business interests are fought for by the Chamber of Commerce, who said changes to unemployment benefits need to consider the state’s job creators going through an unprecedented downturn: The pandemic-driven recession has been difficult for both displaced employees and closed businesses alike, as both try to make ends meet until doors can fully reopen. Unemployment compensation provides an important safety net for Floridians who find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own, but ultimately the cost is borne by employers and the consumers of their goods and services. The Florida Chamber will review all proposals to ensure we have a healthy unemployment compensation system that provides the needed benefits while balancing the impact of proposed increases to Florida’s job creators who are also weathering this unprecedented downturn. – Carolyn Johnson, Director of Business, Economic Development and Innovation Policy WINK News asked Gov. Ron DeSantis if he plans on raising benefits, but his office never got back to us. Dane Eagle, the new executive director of the Department of Economic Opportunity and a former legislator, said it isn’t up to him. “All I can do is make sure I’m at the table providing the accurate data so that they have the right decision, but I’m gonna leave that up to them,” he said when asked his opinion. Meanwhile, your struggle hasn’t stopped. “I’ve been borrowing from people I can, I’ve been living off my savings. My savings is now gone and I have to sell my house,” Harrison said. “I don’t think it’s going to turn into everybody staying on unemployment forever and trying to milk the system. We all want to go back to work. We’re hard-working, and I’m ready. I’m ready to go back to work,” Armstrong said. Remember, a new max benefit is just that – a maximum. How much someone gets in unemployment would still be based on their regular earnings. “There are societal and institutional costs we all end up bearing if we don’t help people in these times,” Barack said. “And that’s really, from a purely selfish standpoint, it benefits people to help their neighbor, and to help keep the system in a way where when they need those benefits, they are available to them just like they’re available to their neighbors when they need it.” As for lawmakers in our area, only one – Rep. Spencer Roach (R-Dist. 79) – told WINK News outright he supports an increase. If you want to reach out to your local legislator, here is their contact information: Rep. Spencer Roach – spencer.roach@myfloridahouse.gov Rep. Michael Grant – Michael.Grant@myfloridahouse.gov Rep. Ray Rodrigues – Ray.Rodrigues@myfloridahouse.gov Rep. Bob Rommel – Bob.Rommel@myfloridahouse.gov Rep. AnaMaria Rodriguez – AnaMaria.Rodriguez@myfloridahouse.gov Sen. Kathleen Passidomo – Passidomo.Kathleen@flsenate.gov Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto – Benacquisto.Lizbeth@flsenate.gov Sen. Ben Albritton – Albritton.Ben@flsenate.gov Find your Representative Find your Senator For ongoing updates on unemployment, follow WINK News Investigative Reporter Sara Girard on Twitter and Facebook. She also updates the WINK News FAQ: Unemployment Resources page as information is received.