Gunshots heard in a Cape Coral neighborhoodTracking the Tropics: Patty forms in North Atlantic, tracking Caribbean development
CAPE CORAL Gunshots heard in a Cape Coral neighborhood Neighbors have reported hearing multiple gunshots in the early hours of the morning in Cape Coral.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Tracking the Tropics: Patty forms in North Atlantic, tracking Caribbean development An area in the Southwestern Caribbean has a high, 80% chance of developing over the upcoming week.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Warm weekend with spotty showers, daylight saving time ends tonight The Weather Authority says Saturday is starting nice and dry with some passing clouds and pleasant conditions.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 11 The Lehigh Lightning beat the Sarasota Sailors in a Monday night matchup to earn their first win of the season in week 11.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man files injunction against city over Jaycee Park A Cape Coral man has filed an injunction against the City of Cape Coral over the renovation of Jaycee Park.
CAPE CORAL Brothers gain highest Boy Scout award for repairing food pantry General Manager of the Adventist Community Services Alexandra Berru said she couldn’t be more grateful for the twin brothers.
2 Vietnam veterans raise $20,000 for monument in Naples Two Vietnam veterans raised over $20,000 to create a Vietnam monument at Cambier Park in Naples.
BONITA SPRINGS Lee County to pick up debris on Estero and Hickory boulevards After three weeks of hard work clearing mountains of sand from Estero and Hickory boulevards, Lee County crews are ready to switch gears to storm debris collection along these main county roads.
SANIBEL Are our habitats on the brink of a slow collapse? For two years, Sanibel Island’s delicate ecosystems have been battered by unrelenting storm surges, leaving behind dead trees and tainted freshwater pools.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres driver wants more safety measures for State Road 82 A Lehigh Acres man wants other drivers to know to pay attention. He also wants the county, city or state to put some more patrols out here.
SANIBEL What beaches are experiencing red tide issues now? Parts of Southewst Florida are dealing with red tide. But it’s not impacting Sanibel or beachgoers there.
NAPLES Naples Police Department begins celebrations of 100 years of service The City of Naples Police Department will hit 100 years of service in November of 2025, and they are now beginning their year of celebrations.
ESTERO FGCU students and professor weigh in on upcoming election As the nation gears up for a pivotal election, a question lingers among young voters. Will students turn out to vote?
New procedure helping disc pain Neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain and arm pain can all be caused by a herniated disc. If left untreated, this can become debilitating and lead to nerve damage.
FORT MYERS Final weekend for early voting The clock’s winding down on early voting. This is the final weekend to cast your ballot. If you haven’t voted yet, you may have to wait in line on Election Day.
CAPE CORAL Gunshots heard in a Cape Coral neighborhood Neighbors have reported hearing multiple gunshots in the early hours of the morning in Cape Coral.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Tracking the Tropics: Patty forms in North Atlantic, tracking Caribbean development An area in the Southwestern Caribbean has a high, 80% chance of developing over the upcoming week.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Warm weekend with spotty showers, daylight saving time ends tonight The Weather Authority says Saturday is starting nice and dry with some passing clouds and pleasant conditions.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 11 The Lehigh Lightning beat the Sarasota Sailors in a Monday night matchup to earn their first win of the season in week 11.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man files injunction against city over Jaycee Park A Cape Coral man has filed an injunction against the City of Cape Coral over the renovation of Jaycee Park.
CAPE CORAL Brothers gain highest Boy Scout award for repairing food pantry General Manager of the Adventist Community Services Alexandra Berru said she couldn’t be more grateful for the twin brothers.
2 Vietnam veterans raise $20,000 for monument in Naples Two Vietnam veterans raised over $20,000 to create a Vietnam monument at Cambier Park in Naples.
BONITA SPRINGS Lee County to pick up debris on Estero and Hickory boulevards After three weeks of hard work clearing mountains of sand from Estero and Hickory boulevards, Lee County crews are ready to switch gears to storm debris collection along these main county roads.
SANIBEL Are our habitats on the brink of a slow collapse? For two years, Sanibel Island’s delicate ecosystems have been battered by unrelenting storm surges, leaving behind dead trees and tainted freshwater pools.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres driver wants more safety measures for State Road 82 A Lehigh Acres man wants other drivers to know to pay attention. He also wants the county, city or state to put some more patrols out here.
SANIBEL What beaches are experiencing red tide issues now? Parts of Southewst Florida are dealing with red tide. But it’s not impacting Sanibel or beachgoers there.
NAPLES Naples Police Department begins celebrations of 100 years of service The City of Naples Police Department will hit 100 years of service in November of 2025, and they are now beginning their year of celebrations.
ESTERO FGCU students and professor weigh in on upcoming election As the nation gears up for a pivotal election, a question lingers among young voters. Will students turn out to vote?
New procedure helping disc pain Neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain and arm pain can all be caused by a herniated disc. If left untreated, this can become debilitating and lead to nerve damage.
FORT MYERS Final weekend for early voting The clock’s winding down on early voting. This is the final weekend to cast your ballot. If you haven’t voted yet, you may have to wait in line on Election Day.
Night falls at the the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, with the deadline to fund the government approaching. Republicans in the Senate are poised to stall a must-pass funding bill as they force a debate on rolling back the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for some workers. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) The Senate passed a stopgap spending bill Thursday that avoids a short-term shutdown and funds the federal government through Feb. 18 after leaders defused a partisan standoff over federal vaccine mandates. The measure now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. Earlier in the day, congressional leaders announced they had finally reached an agreement to keep the government running for 11 more weeks, generally at current spending levels, while adding $7 billion to aid Afghanistan evacuees. Once the House voted to approve the measure, senators soon announced an agreement that would allow them to vote on it quickly. “I am glad that in the end, cooler heads prevailed. The government will stay open and I thank the members of this chamber for walking us back from the brink of an avoidable, needless and costly shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 69-28. The Democratic-led House passed the measure by a 221-212 vote. The Republican leadership urged members to vote no; the lone GOP vote for the bill came from Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger. Lawmakers bemoaned the short-term fix and blamed the opposing party for the lack of progress on this year’s spending bills. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the measure would, however, allow for negotiations on a package covering the full budget year through September. “Make no mistake, a vote against this continuing resolution is a vote to shut government down,” DeLauro said during the House debate. Before the votes, Biden said he had spoken with Senate leaders and he played down fears of a shutdown. “There is a plan in place unless somebody decides to be totally erratic, and I don’t think that will happen,” Biden said. Some Republicans opposed to Biden’s vaccine rules wanted Congress to take a hard stand against the mandated shots for workers at larger businesses, even if that meant shutting down federal offices over the weekend by blocking a request that would expedite a final vote on the spending bill. It was just the latest instance of the brinkmanship around government funding that has triggered several costly shutdowns and partial closures over the past two decades. The longest shutdown in history happened under President Donald Trump — 35 days stretching into January 2019, when Democrats refused to approve money for his U.S-Mexico border wall. Both parties agree the stoppages are irresponsible, yet few deadlines pass without a late scramble to avoid them. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Democrats knew last month that several Republicans would use all means at their disposal to oppose legislation that funds or allows the enforcement of the employer vaccine mandate. He blamed Schumer for not negotiating and for ignoring their position. If the choice is between “suspending nonessential functions” or standing idle while Americans lose their ability to work, “I’ll stand with American workers every time,” Lee said. Lee and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., authored an amendment that prohibited federal dollars being spent to implement and enforce a series of vaccine mandates put in place by the Biden administration. The amendment went down to defeat with 48 yes votes and 50 no votes. But having the vote opened the door to taking up the full spending bill immediately. Lee said millions were being forced to choose between an unwanted medical procedure and losing their job. “Their jobs are being threatened by their own government,” Lee said. “Let’s give employers certainty and employees peace of mind that they will still have a job this new year,” Marshall urged before the vote. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., countered that the federal government should be using every tool to keep Americans safe and that is why the Biden administration has taken steps to urge employers to make sure their workers are fully vaccinated or test negative before they come to the workplace. “No one wants to go to work and be worried they might come home to their family with a deadly virus,” Murray said. The White House sees the vaccinations as the quickest way to end a pandemic that has killed more than 780,000 people in the United States and is still evolving, as seen Wednesday with the country’s first detected case of a troubling new variant. Courts have knocked back against the mandates, including a ruling this week blocking enforcement of a requirement for some health care workers. For some Republicans, the court cases and lawmakers’ fears about a potentially disruptive shutdown were factors against engaging in a high-stakes shutdown. “One of the things I’m a little concerned about is: Why would we make ourselves the object of public attention by creating the specter of a government shutdown?” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a GOP leader. The administration has pursued vaccine requirements for several groups of workers, but the effort is facing legal setbacks. A federal judge this week blocked the administration from enforcing a vaccine mandate on thousands of health care workers in 10 states. Earlier, a federal appeals court temporarily halted the OSHA requirement affecting employers with 100 or more workers. The administration has also put in place policies requiring millions of federal employees and federal contractors, including military troops, to be fully vaccinated. Those efforts are also under challenge. Polling from The Associated Press shows Americans are divided over Biden’s effort to vaccinate workers, with Democrats overwhelmingly for it while most Republicans are against. Some Republicans prefer an effort from Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., to vote to reject the administration’s mandates in a congressional review action expected next week, separate from the funding fight. Separately, some health care providers protested the stopgap spending measure. Hospitals say it does nothing to shield them from Medicare payment cuts scheduled to go into effect amid uncertainty about the new omicron variant. _____ Associated Press staff writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.