NAPLES Increasing amount of homeless seniors in SWFL Saint Matthew House told Wink News that 20% of the people they shelter are over 60 years old.
NAPLES Man suspected of threatening pickelballers with machete A man has been arrested after authorities say he chased a group of pickleball players off a Naples court. “I don’t know. It just seemed like he snapped,” said William Nehrkorn, father of one of the pickleball players. 53-year-old Pelican Marsh maintenance worker Joseph Devalle ran toward Nehrkorn’s son and friends, not with a paddle […]
NAPLES Turtle Club in Naples reopens Following a 19-month closure because of Hurricane Ian, the Turtle Club has reopened.
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
SANIBEL Bones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers A husband and wife found what appeared to be bones. What type and where they came from is being investigated.
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
Reverse shoulder replacement offers new approach to pain management Shoulder replacement is the third most common replacement in the US, following hip and knee replacement.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli leaders have approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah Israeli leaders approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, and Israeli forces were striking targets in the area, officials announced Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal.
FORT MYERS Middle school tech worker uses CPR skills to save pickleball player’s life It was the right place, at the right time, and that right place was near the pickleball court.
EVERGLADES Big Sugar’s lawsuit for control over Lake Okeechobee water A local non-profit is calling one lawsuit a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the design and intended use of the Everglades Agriculture Area (EAA) Reservoir.
NAPLES Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day program returns to Jewish Federation of Greater Naples Sunday was a day to remember the six million men, women and children lost in the Holocaust.
NAPLES Increasing amount of homeless seniors in SWFL Saint Matthew House told Wink News that 20% of the people they shelter are over 60 years old.
NAPLES Man suspected of threatening pickelballers with machete A man has been arrested after authorities say he chased a group of pickleball players off a Naples court. “I don’t know. It just seemed like he snapped,” said William Nehrkorn, father of one of the pickleball players. 53-year-old Pelican Marsh maintenance worker Joseph Devalle ran toward Nehrkorn’s son and friends, not with a paddle […]
NAPLES Turtle Club in Naples reopens Following a 19-month closure because of Hurricane Ian, the Turtle Club has reopened.
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
SANIBEL Bones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers A husband and wife found what appeared to be bones. What type and where they came from is being investigated.
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
Reverse shoulder replacement offers new approach to pain management Shoulder replacement is the third most common replacement in the US, following hip and knee replacement.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli leaders have approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah Israeli leaders approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, and Israeli forces were striking targets in the area, officials announced Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal.
FORT MYERS Middle school tech worker uses CPR skills to save pickleball player’s life It was the right place, at the right time, and that right place was near the pickleball court.
EVERGLADES Big Sugar’s lawsuit for control over Lake Okeechobee water A local non-profit is calling one lawsuit a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the design and intended use of the Everglades Agriculture Area (EAA) Reservoir.
NAPLES Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day program returns to Jewish Federation of Greater Naples Sunday was a day to remember the six million men, women and children lost in the Holocaust.
A general view of the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee. (Photo: AP) Democrats, voting rights advocates and the county officials responsible for running elections in Florida appeared powerless to halt moves by Republican lawmakers Tuesday to tighten the ways in which citizens can cast ballots. As Florida gears up for another round of elections in 2022 – headlined by nationally watched races for governor and U.S. Senate – the changes could be far from inconsequential in a state famous for razor-thin contests. A final Senate committee on Tuesday endorsed a measure that Republicans argue will make voting more secure by enacting new voter ID and signature requirements, restricting who can return completed ballots and placing new rules on ballot drop boxes – unnecessary changes, Democrats contend, that will only complicate the voting process. Florida Republicans are making the push even as neighboring Georgia faces a backlash over its new voting restrictions, which limit ballot drop boxes, impose tougher ID requirements and prohibit giving food and water to people in line. “A lot’s been said about this bill, and I understand that elections are controversial and I understand that there’s a fear we are trying to take away the right of people to vote. I also want you to know that is not the motivation of the bill,” said Sen. Dennis Baxley, the Republican bill sponsor. A similar House bill cleared its final committee Monday. Both versions now head for floor votes in chambers controlled by Republican majorities before negotiations begin to align the bills. The House bill, unlike the Senate’s, would ban groups from distributing food and water to voters waiting in line. The stakes could not be higher in a state that had been mired in election fiascos before touting itself as a national model last year. Millions of so-called absentee voters participated during the pandemic, casting ballots by mail or submitting their ballots at drop boxes outside elections offices or at early voting sites. In all, some 4.8 million Floridians voted by mail in November, a record number that accounted for about 44% of the 11 million votes cast. In the end, Florida Democrats outvoted Republicans by mail by 680,000 more absentee ballots. President Donald Trump still won Florida by about 3%, but the Democratic advantage prompted alarm among Republicans who long had the upper hand in absentee voting. “The right to vote should be encouraged, never imperiled. The right to vote should be promoted, not discouraged. We should feel that so many of the provisions in this bill don’t have any necessity behind them,” said Sen. Gary Farmer, the top Democrat in his chamber. The proposals would require those who use ballot drop boxes to present an ID before they can submit their completed ballot – a requirement that does not apply to ballots delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. They would also limit who can return absentee ballots for voters who cannot physically do so themselves, to prevent so-called “ballot harvesting” by groups who Republicans fear could tamper with ballots or not deliver them – assertions that Democrats and voter rights groups have called unfounded. “I think they are trying to complicate voting, they are tying to confuse voters. None of this was ever a concern before,” said Patricia Brigham, the president of the League of Women Voters of Florida. “One must wonder who do they want voting and who don’t they want voting,” Brigham added. “Who are they disenfranchising here?” Civil rights groups contend that the proposals, if signed into law, could reduce electoral participation by Black voters and those who are not regular voters. The new rules, if enacted, would require anyone conducting once-routine transactions, like updating registration information, to submit an identification number, such as a partial Social Security number. They would also limit what information elections officers use to match signatures, by requiring them to use the most recent ink signature on file, instead of using an array of previous signatures that might capture some of the variances in how people sign their names. That could lead to more ballots being rejected, according to elections officials. During Tuesday’s Senate committee hearing, a lone Republican voted against the proposal, noting that the group representing the state’s 67 county elections supervisors oppose the bill.