Vehicle pursuit in Charlotte County ends in crash A pursuit between the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and a vehicle on Interstate 75 ended in a crash.
Red tide looms off Southwest Florida coastline Beware of the beach! Red tide is making its way towards Southwest Florida once again.
FORT MYERS BEACH $1.2 million approved for repairs for FMB and Sanibel schools This hurricane season left an expensive mess at Fort Myers Beach Elementary and the Sanibel school, but who’s paying the $1.2 million price tag?
FORT MYERS Teen carjacks woman after escaping mental health facility A teenager accused of carjacking a woman in a church parking lot on Friday had just escaped from a facility where he was being held under the Baker Act, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Teachers union raises issues with Lee County School District after arbitration Being a teacher is just like any other profession. Teachers need to take days off, get sick, and sometimes cover for co-workers.
LABELLE LaBelle Animal Shelter hoping to raise money to avoid property being sold The owner of Animal Rescue Inc. in LaBelle is doing everything she can to prevent the shelter from disappearing in a matter of months.
County settlement allows Links of Naples golf course to redevelop into homes Collier County residents are vocalizing their concerns over the commissioner’s decision to develop housing on the Naples Golf Course.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers mayor weighs in on possible city hall relocation With Lee Memorial Hospital scheduled to close in 2027, discussions over what will replace the building are in full swing and whether Fort Myers City Hall is the right choice.
Toys for Tots: A 77-Year tradition of service and holiday cheer Toys for Tots aims to bring gifts to children and their families who may not be able to afford them for the holidays.
Inside the mind of accused CEO gunman WINK News is learning more about the man accused of shooting and killing a health insurance CEO on a New York City sidewalk last week, and breaking down what he may think of himself based on the writings he left behind.
1 dead after crash on Airport-Pulling Road in Collier County The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal crash involving a sedan and pick-up truck that occurred near Airport Pulling Road.
bonita springs Prostate cancer treatment aims to freeze further development When it comes to cancer treatment, several options come to mind, such as chemotherapy, surgery, and or radiation; however, there is another option that may prove to be as effective.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers man convicted of sexually assaulting teenager A Fort Myers man has been convicted of several charges, including the sexual assault of a 17-year-old teenager.
Red tide advisory issued for Clam Pass and Barefoot Beach The Florida Department of Health issued a red tide advisory after presence of the algae bloom was found near Clam Pass and Barefoot Beach in Collier County.
FORT MYERS RSW offering remote parking for the holidays Southwest Florida International Airport, RSW, is offering passengers RSWRemote, a reserved holiday parking option.
Vehicle pursuit in Charlotte County ends in crash A pursuit between the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and a vehicle on Interstate 75 ended in a crash.
Red tide looms off Southwest Florida coastline Beware of the beach! Red tide is making its way towards Southwest Florida once again.
FORT MYERS BEACH $1.2 million approved for repairs for FMB and Sanibel schools This hurricane season left an expensive mess at Fort Myers Beach Elementary and the Sanibel school, but who’s paying the $1.2 million price tag?
FORT MYERS Teen carjacks woman after escaping mental health facility A teenager accused of carjacking a woman in a church parking lot on Friday had just escaped from a facility where he was being held under the Baker Act, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Teachers union raises issues with Lee County School District after arbitration Being a teacher is just like any other profession. Teachers need to take days off, get sick, and sometimes cover for co-workers.
LABELLE LaBelle Animal Shelter hoping to raise money to avoid property being sold The owner of Animal Rescue Inc. in LaBelle is doing everything she can to prevent the shelter from disappearing in a matter of months.
County settlement allows Links of Naples golf course to redevelop into homes Collier County residents are vocalizing their concerns over the commissioner’s decision to develop housing on the Naples Golf Course.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers mayor weighs in on possible city hall relocation With Lee Memorial Hospital scheduled to close in 2027, discussions over what will replace the building are in full swing and whether Fort Myers City Hall is the right choice.
Toys for Tots: A 77-Year tradition of service and holiday cheer Toys for Tots aims to bring gifts to children and their families who may not be able to afford them for the holidays.
Inside the mind of accused CEO gunman WINK News is learning more about the man accused of shooting and killing a health insurance CEO on a New York City sidewalk last week, and breaking down what he may think of himself based on the writings he left behind.
1 dead after crash on Airport-Pulling Road in Collier County The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal crash involving a sedan and pick-up truck that occurred near Airport Pulling Road.
bonita springs Prostate cancer treatment aims to freeze further development When it comes to cancer treatment, several options come to mind, such as chemotherapy, surgery, and or radiation; however, there is another option that may prove to be as effective.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers man convicted of sexually assaulting teenager A Fort Myers man has been convicted of several charges, including the sexual assault of a 17-year-old teenager.
Red tide advisory issued for Clam Pass and Barefoot Beach The Florida Department of Health issued a red tide advisory after presence of the algae bloom was found near Clam Pass and Barefoot Beach in Collier County.
FORT MYERS RSW offering remote parking for the holidays Southwest Florida International Airport, RSW, is offering passengers RSWRemote, a reserved holiday parking option.
FILE – In this Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, a poll worker talks to a voter before they vote on a paper ballot on Election Day in Atlanta. In addition to their nationwide efforts to restrict voting access, Republican lawmakers in some key states are seeking greater control over the local mechanics of elections, from voter registration to certifying results. It’s part of a broader GOP campaign to limit access to the ballot and challenge outcomes. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File) Partisan takeovers of election boards. Threats to fine county election officials and overturn results. Even bans on giving water to voters while they stand in line. In addition to their nationwide efforts to limit access to the ballot, Republican lawmakers in some states are moving to gain greater control over the local mechanics of elections, from voter registration all the way to certifying results. The bills, which have already become law in Georgia and Iowa, resurrect elements of former President Donald Trump’s extraordinary campaign to subvert his loss, when his backers openly floated the notion of having legislatures override the will of the voters and launched legal challenges against measures that made it easier to vote during the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s an overreach of power,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of the Georgia chapter of the voting advocacy group Common Cause. “They’re definitely trying to do an upheaval of our election system.” In a step widely interpreted as a way to check Georgia’s Democratic strongholds, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill Thursday to give the GOP-dominated Legislature greater influence over a state board that regulates elections and empowers it to remove local election officials deemed to be underperforming. Other states are moving in similar directions. In Iowa, after left-leaning counties sent voters absentee ballot applications in 2020, a recently signed law would bar election workers from sending the forms out unless requested and threatens to fine officials for violating rules. A South Carolina proposal would give lawmakers new oversight of the members appointed to the currently independent State Election Commission. In Arizona, a Republican proposal that has since died would have allowed the Legislature to overturn election results and appoint its own Electoral College representatives. The Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy group that supports expanded voter access, tallied more than 250 restrictive proposals in the states, many of them intended to roll back voting methods that were expanded because of the pandemic. That includes early and mail voting options, both of which were popular among voters who sought to avoid virus transmission at crowded polling places. Republicans have said the bills are meant to shore up public confidence in elections, though members of the GOP have been the leading voices spreading baseless claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent. There is universal agreement among experts that the election, in which Republicans performed well in congressional and state legislative races, was free of widespread problems. Georgia’s new law is among the most consequential for future elections. The measure will allow the Legislature to select the chair of the state election board and make the elected secretary of state a nonvoting member of the panel, essentially sidelining the chief election officer who was picked by voters. The board could then remove local election officials and replace them. “This bill is a tragedy for democracy, and it is built on the lie of voter fraud,” Lauren Groh Wargo, chief executive of the group Fair Fight Action, which advocates for greater voter participation, said on a call with reporters. “It means that radical, right-wing legislators, if they don’t like how elections are being run in Quitman or Lowndes or Fulton or Dougherty counties, they can wholesale replace those election administrators and put folks from the other side of the state in charge.” The new law also forbids local officials from taking financial grants to help run their elections, narrows the window in which voters can request an absentee ballot and requires an ID to vote absentee by mail. It limits where ballot drop boxes can be placed and when they can be accessed. Another new rule that affects both in-person early voting and Election Day voting would prohibit anyone except poll workers from handing out water to voters in line. Georgia confirmed President Joe Biden’s victory with three statewide counts of nearly 5 million ballots, and there was no evidence of problems. “They are tweaking the laws however they can to make it harder and to put up barriers for voters to stumble on,” Georgia state Sen. Jen Jordan, a Democrat from Atlanta, said at an event sponsored by the progressive group The NewDEAL. “They also are kind of putting in this backstop, if you will. If that is not going to stop voters at the local level, then they are going to make sure they can come in and take over these local election boards.” The GOP is also cracking down on methods that counties used to increase participation and make voting easier during the pandemic. Republicans in Texas, which already has some of the most stringent election laws in the country, are moving to effectively ban curbside voting, a method used in the last election by liberal-leaning Harris County, which includes Houston. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, earlier this month signed a GOP bill that closes voting sites at 8 p.m. rather than 9 p.m., shortens the window for early voting window by nine days, imposes new restrictions on mail and absentee voting, and threatens civil fines and criminal charges against local officials who depart from state election law or guidance. “This is a total takeover of elections by the state,” said Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, who was sued by the Trump campaign for mailing absentee ballot applications with some information already filled out to registered voters. “We did everything we could to increase participation and engagement in the democratic process, and evidently some people thought that more people participated than they wanted and they decided to put limitations on it.” Eliza Sweren-Becker, voting rights and elections counsel at the Brennan Center, said it’s disheartening to see Republicans target the local election officials who worked to boost turnout and ensure polling places would be safe during the pandemic. “It’s really a shame because our local election officials, in many ways, were heroes last year, and to see them attacked by their state lawmakers is really unfortunate,” she said.