Cape Coral man faces 16 charges after fleeing multiple traffic stopsSanibel residents brace for traffic surge with new advisory and app aid
NORTH FORT MYERS Cape Coral man faces 16 charges after fleeing multiple traffic stops Marcus Selby, 24, is facing multiple charges after a dramatic series of events involving Cape Coral police and Florida Highway Patrol troopers.
SANIBEL Sanibel residents brace for traffic surge with new advisory and app aid Sanibel residents are bracing for increased traffic as the city issued a “heavy traffic advisory” for the entire week.
FGCU FGCU’s Casey Santoro battles back from Achilles injury FGCU women’s basketball player Casey Santoro is back on the floor after suffering an Achilles injury a season ago.
BABCOCK RANCH Heaviest Florida panther ever recorded located in Babcock Ranch Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists recently captured and collared the heaviest Florida panther ever recorded.
Lee County deputies using VR for safe high-risk training scenarios The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has taken a significant step forward in training by incorporating virtual reality technology.
NAPLES FC Naples signs local soccer star Joffre followed his dream across continents after graduating from Gulf Coast. Now he’s back on the professional soccer pitch in his hometown.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach businesses face floodplain compliance deadline Fort Myers Beach’s businesses face pressure to comply with floodplain regulations or leave the island by March 1.
NAPLES Persistent red tide bloom off Naples to Boca Grande raises concerns As the weather warms up, more people are heading to the beach. However, those with beach plans in Southwest Florida should be aware of the persistent red tide affecting the coastline.
FORT MYERS Community aids in search for missing pitbull after Lee County crash A crash on I-75 near Daniels Parkway in Lee County turned a routine drive into a heartbreaking search for a missing pet.
LEHIGH ACRES Community supporting Lehigh Acres church after destructive fire A massive fire recently burned the Christ at Crossroads Church in Lehigh Acres, and the community is rallying to support the church’s recovery.
FORT MYERS Kids battling cancer in Fort Myers receive cuddly companions from donor Children battling cancer in Fort Myers are finding comfort in a special friend thanks to a generous donor.
2 SWFL veterans find relief at Harry Chapin Food Bank Two veterans in Southwest Florida routinely receive vital support through local food distributions, highlighting a significant issue affecting many who have served our country.
Researchers found lasting effects from COVID-19 COVID-19 cases today are less severe than five years ago, but new research indicates severe infections may have lasting impacts on the heart.
PORT CHARLOTTE Connecting service dogs with veterans A 76-year-old veteran is transforming lives by connecting fellow veterans with support dogs, and the results have been life-changing.
Peace River Wildlife Center celebrates reopening Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda reopened at Ponce de Leon Park after being closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton flooded the center and its hospital that treats injured wildlife.
NORTH FORT MYERS Cape Coral man faces 16 charges after fleeing multiple traffic stops Marcus Selby, 24, is facing multiple charges after a dramatic series of events involving Cape Coral police and Florida Highway Patrol troopers.
SANIBEL Sanibel residents brace for traffic surge with new advisory and app aid Sanibel residents are bracing for increased traffic as the city issued a “heavy traffic advisory” for the entire week.
FGCU FGCU’s Casey Santoro battles back from Achilles injury FGCU women’s basketball player Casey Santoro is back on the floor after suffering an Achilles injury a season ago.
BABCOCK RANCH Heaviest Florida panther ever recorded located in Babcock Ranch Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists recently captured and collared the heaviest Florida panther ever recorded.
Lee County deputies using VR for safe high-risk training scenarios The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has taken a significant step forward in training by incorporating virtual reality technology.
NAPLES FC Naples signs local soccer star Joffre followed his dream across continents after graduating from Gulf Coast. Now he’s back on the professional soccer pitch in his hometown.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach businesses face floodplain compliance deadline Fort Myers Beach’s businesses face pressure to comply with floodplain regulations or leave the island by March 1.
NAPLES Persistent red tide bloom off Naples to Boca Grande raises concerns As the weather warms up, more people are heading to the beach. However, those with beach plans in Southwest Florida should be aware of the persistent red tide affecting the coastline.
FORT MYERS Community aids in search for missing pitbull after Lee County crash A crash on I-75 near Daniels Parkway in Lee County turned a routine drive into a heartbreaking search for a missing pet.
LEHIGH ACRES Community supporting Lehigh Acres church after destructive fire A massive fire recently burned the Christ at Crossroads Church in Lehigh Acres, and the community is rallying to support the church’s recovery.
FORT MYERS Kids battling cancer in Fort Myers receive cuddly companions from donor Children battling cancer in Fort Myers are finding comfort in a special friend thanks to a generous donor.
2 SWFL veterans find relief at Harry Chapin Food Bank Two veterans in Southwest Florida routinely receive vital support through local food distributions, highlighting a significant issue affecting many who have served our country.
Researchers found lasting effects from COVID-19 COVID-19 cases today are less severe than five years ago, but new research indicates severe infections may have lasting impacts on the heart.
PORT CHARLOTTE Connecting service dogs with veterans A 76-year-old veteran is transforming lives by connecting fellow veterans with support dogs, and the results have been life-changing.
Peace River Wildlife Center celebrates reopening Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda reopened at Ponce de Leon Park after being closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton flooded the center and its hospital that treats injured wildlife.
Kids wear masks in school Credit: WINK News Pointing to “serious doubts” about the lawsuit, an appeals court Friday put on hold a circuit judge’s ruling that said Gov. Ron DeSantis overstepped his constitutional authority in a July 30 executive order aimed at preventing school mask mandates. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal reinstated a stay of the ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper, clearing the way for the state to try to block school districts from requiring students to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was a blow to a group of parents who filed the lawsuit and argued that children would be harmed by DeSantis’ executive order. While the panel said it would issue a full written explanation later, the one-paragraph order Friday expressed skepticism about the parents’ case. “Upon our review of the trial court’s final judgment and the operative pleadings, we have serious doubts about standing, jurisdiction and other threshold matters,” the order said. “These doubts significantly militate against the likelihood of the appellees’ (parents’) ultimate success in this appeal.” A School District of Lee County spokesman said in a statement: “The School District continues to monitor all applicable cases as they move through the court systems. It is our position that we are following the FLDOH Emergency Rule, as we explained in our letter to the Commissioner of Education earlier this week. For now, nothing has changed and the mask requirement remains in place. DeSantis said Wednesday he expected the stay to be reinstated and to ultimately win the lawsuit. “But what we found is, you know, in the trial courts in Tallahassee, state and federal, we typically lose if there’s a political component to it, but then in the appeals court, we almost always win,” the governor said. The order was part of a flurry of legal activity after a Sept. 2 ruling by Cooper against DeSantis, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, the Department of Education and the State Board of Education. The DeSantis administration appealed that ruling, a step that led to an automatic stay while the case was pending at the appeals court. But the parents’ attorneys asked Cooper to vacate the stay, a request that he granted Wednesday. The DeSantis administration quickly returned to the appeals court with an emergency motion to reinstate the stay — which led to Friday’s order. In their motion to reinstate the stay, attorneys for the state argued that they will ultimately prevail in the underlying issues in the lawsuit. They contended, in part, that Cooper violated constitutional separation of powers and delved into policy and political issues about whether schools should be allowed to require masks. “The adequate level of safety in schools and other public settings is a political question reserved entirely for elected representatives who are publicly accountable,” the motion said. “Therefore, in finding irreparable harm (from a stay of his ruling), the trial court should not have substituted its own health policy preferences or risk assessments for those of the governor or, more importantly, the state health officer and surgeon general.” But in a response Thursday night, attorneys for the parents said a potential stay would create “the very real prospect of irreparable harm” and pointed to the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus that has caused a spike in COVID-19 cases during the past two months. “The evidence clearly shows that children have become infected exponentially since the spread of the delta variant this summer,” the filing said. “This daily possible exposure to a more contagious COVID strain — the delta variant — in a school setting which allows parents to opt-out their children from wearing masks without any medical reason is an irreparable harm to appellees’ (the plaintiffs’) children. Appellees’ children have the option of either staying at home to avoid COVID, or they must go to school, which schools cannot require masks pursuant to the executive order, and expose themselves to COVID on a daily basis. Either option presents an irreparable harm to appellees’ children.” The parents filed the lawsuit Aug. 6, about a week after DeSantis issued the executive order. Following the executive order, the Florida Department of Health issued a rule that said parents should have the right to opt out of student mask requirements. While DeSantis argues parents should be able to decide whether their children wear masks, 13 districts bucked the executive order and Department of Health rule, only allowing students to forgo masks if their parents present documented medical reasons. That has led to Corcoran pursuing financial penalties against districts that have approved such policies. In siding with the parents, Cooper in the Sept. 2 ruling said DeSantis overstepped his authority, He also cited a new state law known as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which deals with parents’ right to control health and educational decisions for their children. Cooper said Corcoran and the Department of Education improperly imposed financial penalties on districts that enacted mask mandates without giving the districts due process. “The law of Florida does not permit the defendants to punish school boards, its members, or officials for adopting face mask mandates with no parental opt-outs if the schools boards have been denied their due process rights under the Parents’ Bill of Rights to show that this policy is reasonable and meets the requirements of the statute,” Cooper wrote. In the motion to reinstate the stay Wednesday night, the state’s lawyers pushed back against the judge’s conclusions involving the Parents’ Bill of Rights. “According to its plain terms, the Parents’ Bill of Rights limits governmental authority and protects the inherent rights of parents,” the motion said. “Thus, the governor could not possibly have violated the Parents’ Bill of Rights by protecting parents’ rights. Most assuredly, the Parents’ Bill of Rights does not grant any authority to local school districts that did not previously exist.” Friday’s order was issued by Judges Stephanie Ray, Harvey Jay and Adam Tanenbaum. Ray and Jay were appointed to the Tallahassee-based appeals court by former Gov. Rick Scott, while Tanenbaum was appointed by DeSantis. From the emergency motion conclusion: “Although the trial court enjoined Appellants from taking any action to effect a blanket ban on face mask mandates with no parent opt-out by local school districts, the burden for vacating the automatic stay under Rule 9.310(b)(2) is more stringent. Appellees were required to demonstrate compelling circumstances to override the deference afforded to government entities acting in the public good. Appellees failed to meet this burden and the trial court erred in finding they did. Further, because Appellants are likely to succeed on appeal and irreparable harm will result if the status quo is not maintained, this Court should grant this Emergency Motion and reinstate the stay pending this Court’s review.” https://winknews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021-2685_Motion_464151_MO26202D20Motion20To20Stay.pdf