Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to registerExclusive: Florida Warriors president talks misunderstanding with city
LEE COUNTY Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to register WINK News Anchor Corey Lazar goes on patrol with Lee County Deputies in search of transient sex offenders who don’t register.
FORT MYERS Exclusive: Florida Warriors president talks misunderstanding with city On Friday, the president of Florida Warriors Hockey got a letter saying that starting July 1, his program’s rink access at the Fort Myers Skatium would be cut from 48 hours a month to only eight hours a month.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) 3 law officers killed, 5 others wounded trying to serve warrant in North Carolina, authorities say Three law enforcement officers serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded Monday in a shootout at a Charlotte, North Carolina, home, police said.
CAPE CORAL Multiple units fighting structure fire in Cape Coral Several fire rescue trucks are responding to a structure fire at a commercial building in Cape Coral.
NORTH FORT MYERS North Fort Myers residents concerned over abandoned boat A day out in the water turned into an alarming discovery for one North Fort Myers family.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers first responders stress safety after rollover crash Fort Myers fire department officials are pointing to safety and awareness following a recent rollover crash on Palm Beach Blvd. and Oasis Way.
NAPLES FSU pitcher Jacob Marlowe’s determined heart is on the mound Former Barron Collier ace, now FSU pitcher Jacob Marlowe is recovering from two open heart surgeries in five days.
Contrasting Lee, Collier and Charlotte homicide rates to nationwide numbers The Wall Street Journal says nationwide homicide rates have dropped by 20% compared to the numbers from 2023.
New program to make life more manageable for Parkinson’s patients A new program, backed by research, was created using the power of spin cycling to redefine the fight against Parkinson’s.
Medicaid class action gets go-ahead A federal judge has cleared the way for a class-action lawsuit that alleges Florida did not properly inform people before dropping them from the Medicaid program after a COVID-19 public health emergency ended.
FORT MYERS New downtown Fort Myers parking options coming soon Two new spots are coming for you to park on nights and weekends in downtown Fort Myers, but you’ll still have to pay.
LEHIGH ACRES Caught on Camera: Family ‘sucker-punched’ in Lehigh Acres brawl A woman is speaking out about a conflict she was involved in at Barefoot Lake.
Miracle Moment: Christina Soriero Doctors diagnosed 22-year-old Christina Soriero with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma when she was just 18. A time in her life when the only thing she should have been dealing with was senioritis and getting ready for life after high school.
DeSantis signs bill impacting new mothers and jury duty Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill that will impact new mothers and their eligibility to serve on jury duty.
Genesis of Naples breaking ground on new car dealership A genesis—or new beginning—is under way for Genesis of Naples. The local franchise plans to break ground this summer on a new and expanded luxury auto dealership in North Naples.
LEE COUNTY Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to register WINK News Anchor Corey Lazar goes on patrol with Lee County Deputies in search of transient sex offenders who don’t register.
FORT MYERS Exclusive: Florida Warriors president talks misunderstanding with city On Friday, the president of Florida Warriors Hockey got a letter saying that starting July 1, his program’s rink access at the Fort Myers Skatium would be cut from 48 hours a month to only eight hours a month.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) 3 law officers killed, 5 others wounded trying to serve warrant in North Carolina, authorities say Three law enforcement officers serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded Monday in a shootout at a Charlotte, North Carolina, home, police said.
CAPE CORAL Multiple units fighting structure fire in Cape Coral Several fire rescue trucks are responding to a structure fire at a commercial building in Cape Coral.
NORTH FORT MYERS North Fort Myers residents concerned over abandoned boat A day out in the water turned into an alarming discovery for one North Fort Myers family.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers first responders stress safety after rollover crash Fort Myers fire department officials are pointing to safety and awareness following a recent rollover crash on Palm Beach Blvd. and Oasis Way.
NAPLES FSU pitcher Jacob Marlowe’s determined heart is on the mound Former Barron Collier ace, now FSU pitcher Jacob Marlowe is recovering from two open heart surgeries in five days.
Contrasting Lee, Collier and Charlotte homicide rates to nationwide numbers The Wall Street Journal says nationwide homicide rates have dropped by 20% compared to the numbers from 2023.
New program to make life more manageable for Parkinson’s patients A new program, backed by research, was created using the power of spin cycling to redefine the fight against Parkinson’s.
Medicaid class action gets go-ahead A federal judge has cleared the way for a class-action lawsuit that alleges Florida did not properly inform people before dropping them from the Medicaid program after a COVID-19 public health emergency ended.
FORT MYERS New downtown Fort Myers parking options coming soon Two new spots are coming for you to park on nights and weekends in downtown Fort Myers, but you’ll still have to pay.
LEHIGH ACRES Caught on Camera: Family ‘sucker-punched’ in Lehigh Acres brawl A woman is speaking out about a conflict she was involved in at Barefoot Lake.
Miracle Moment: Christina Soriero Doctors diagnosed 22-year-old Christina Soriero with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma when she was just 18. A time in her life when the only thing she should have been dealing with was senioritis and getting ready for life after high school.
DeSantis signs bill impacting new mothers and jury duty Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill that will impact new mothers and their eligibility to serve on jury duty.
Genesis of Naples breaking ground on new car dealership A genesis—or new beginning—is under way for Genesis of Naples. The local franchise plans to break ground this summer on a new and expanded luxury auto dealership in North Naples.
The US Capitol building in Washington. (AP photo) A decades-long movement to reshape the American political map took a further step Thursday as the House of Representatives approved a bill to make the nation’s capital the 51st state. Voting along party lines with minority Republicans in opposition, the House approved the bill 216-208. That’s likely the easy part, though. The proposal faces a far tougher fight in the Senate, where simple Democratic control of the chamber won’t be enough. The legislation proposes creating a 51st state with one representative and two senators, while a tiny sliver of land including the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall would remain as a federal district. Instead of the District of Columbia, the new state would be known as Washington, Douglass Commonwealth – named after famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who lived in Washington from 1877 until his death in 1895. An identical statehood bill passed the House in 2020, but it quickly died in the then-Republican-controlled Senate. Now, with the 2020 elections leaving Democrats in control of both chambers and the White House, Republican senators may resort to a filibuster to stymie the statehood bill. For lifelong statehood proponents like Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington’s long-serving and nonvoting delegate in the House, Thursday’s vote was a culmination of a life’s work. “My service in the Congress has been dedicated to achieving equality for the people I represent, which only statehood can provide,” Norton said at a Wednesday news conference. “My life as a third-generation Washingtonian has marched toward this milestone.” The measure has received strong support from President Joe Biden’s White House, which released a statement Tuesday calling Washington’s current status “an affront to the democratic values on which our Nation was founded.” The White House praised Washington as worthy of statehood, with “a robust economy, a rich culture, and a diverse population of Americans from all walks of life who are entitled to full and equal participation in our democracy.” The bill is certain to face GOP pushback, given that the proposed 51st state would be overwhelmingly Democratic. That opposition was on display during Thursday morning’s floor debates in advance of the vote. The country’s founding fathers, “never wanted D.C. to be a state and then specifically framed the constitution to say so,” said Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice. “This is absolutely against what our founders intended and it ought to be soundly rejected.” But Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerald Connolly pointed out that Kentucky was once a part of Virginia, and was carved out as a state by a simple act of Congress. Connolly argued that the federal district was a theoretical concept when first conceived, not a community with a higher population than two U.S. states. “When the constitution was written, this place didn’t exist,” he said. “When people say this is not about race and partisanship, you can be sure it’s about race and partisanship.” During a March hearing by the House oversight committee, a succession of GOP representatives claimed D.C. was unfit for statehood while calling the entire effort a cynical Democratic power play. Opponents proposed a variety of alternatives, from absolving Washingtonians of federal taxes to “retroceding” most of D.C. back into Maryland. Contenting that Congress lacks the authority to change D.C.’s status is a frequent point of attack against the proposal – even though every state other than the original 13 was admitted to the union via congressional vote. Statehood opponents say D.C. is a special case that requires special steps. Zack Smith, a legal fellow at the Heritage Institute, a conservative think tank, testified before Congress last month that since D.C.’s creation and limitations are enshrined in Article I of the Constitution, its status can only be changed through a constitutional amendment. He also argued that D.C. shouldn’t be made a state at all and that the Founding Fathers “intended this to be a federal district outside the jurisdiction of any one state.” If the measure were to become law, Smith predicted a wave of lawsuits that would cloud the new state’s actions and any congressional legislation it touched. “You’re basically looking at a lot of litigation,” Smith told The Associated Press. “Every legislative act of this new state would be called into question. … Things would be in a state of flux for years.” D.C. has long chafed under its relationship with Congress, which has the power to essentially veto or alter any local laws. Its population is larger than that of Wyoming or Vermont and its estimated 712,000 residents pay federal taxes, vote for president and serve in the armed forces, but they have no voting representation in Congress. The limitations of D.C.’s reality were put in stark relief last summer during a series of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and against general police brutality. After a night of widespread vandalism, President Donald Trump usurped D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s authority and called in a massive multiagency federal force to downtown. The law enforcement forces cleared peaceful protesters from a public street so Trump could pose for a photo outside a church. Ravi Perry, head of Howard University’s political science department, said the events of the summer of 2020 were a crucial turning point for the perception of the D.C. statehood push, intertwining the issue with the country’s ascendant racial justice movement. As recently as 2018, nationwide polls had shown the majority of Americans to be lukewarm at best on the topic, but those poll numbers changed dramatically in the past two years, he said. “People have started to see D.C. statehood as the racial justice issue that it is,” said Perry, who is also on the board of the pro-statehood group D.C. Vote. “There’s been a major sea change, and a lot of that has been motivated by Trumpism.”