ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Credit: WINK News Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday vetoed a congressional redistricting plan passed by the Legislature and said he was calling lawmakers back to Tallahassee in April to draw lines without a “racially gerrymandered” district in North Florida. DeSantis, who had previously announced he would veto the redistricting plan (SB 102), called a special session from April 19 to April 22. DeSantis told reporters a map passed by the Legislature this month violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. “Clearly, this is the Legislature and in this case the governor’s prerogative, since I have to put my signature on it, to do this (create a congressional map),” DeSantis said. “We are not going to have it drawn by a court. I think we all agree that we have to work through this.” “The approach that the legislator took was defective and there I guess understandable zeal to comply with what they believe the Florida constitution required, they forgot to make sure what they were doing complied with the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution,” said DeSantis. The governor’s legal team argues that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits state legislatures from using race as the predominant factor motivating their decision to place a significant number of voters within or without a particular district unless they can prove that it would serve a compelling state interest. The governor’s lawyer further states that there is no compelling state interest in District 5, because the district, as drawn, does not have enough Black voters to be a majority-minority district. The governor’s lawyer expanded on that argument in a memo. He said the North Florida District, currently represented by black congressmen Al Lawson, does not have enough black voters to designate it as a majority-minority district under the voting rights act. So race should not be the primary factor in drawing the district. “This is a district that has historically been a black congressional district has been in the hands of black legislators for at least 20 years or more and I think this is an issue that really race is involved is part of the motivation,” said Peter Bergersen, a professor of political science and public administration. “I think this is going to be an issue or question that is going to be resolved by the federal courts.” DeSantis said he would leave it up to legislative leaders to decide if other topics would be added to the special session. This year’s regular session ended March 14, and lawmakers have faced requests to deal with issues such as problems in the state’s property-insurance market. “I would love to have property insurance. I’d love to have data privacy, I’d love to have constitutional carry (of handguns). There’s a lot of great things,” DeSantis said. “But you know, we just went through a legislative session where they failed to deliver on some of those priorities.” Lawmakers redrew political boundaries this year as part of the once-a-decade reapportionment process. Maps for state House and state Senate districts have drawn relatively little controversy, but DeSantis targeted the congressional map. Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, and House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, issued a joint statement that said they looked forward to crafting a congressional map that can be supported by lawmakers and DeSantis. “For the first time in nearly a century, the Legislature’s (state House and Senate) maps were not challenged by a single party, and earlier this month were declared valid by the Florida Supreme Court,” the joint statement said. “Unlike state legislative maps, the congressional map requires approval by the governor, and Gov. DeSantis has vetoed the legislation we passed earlier this month. Our goal is for Florida to have a new congressional map passed by the Legislature, signed by the governor and upheld by the court if challenged. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to exhaust every effort in pursuit of a legislative solution.” DeSantis has focused, at least in part, on revamping Congressional District 5, which stretches from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee and was designed in the past to help elect a Black candidate. Democrat Al Lawson, who is Black, holds the seat. A memo from Ryan Newman, DeSantis’ general counsel, said the Legislature’s approach to redrawing District 5 would violate the Equal Protection Clause because it “assigns voters primarily on the basis of race but is not narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling state interest.” DeSantis, who has taken the unusual step for a governor of pushing his own map designs, said that “certainly most conservative lawyers who look at these issues, you know, agree with this analysis.” He has argued District 5 should be condensed in the Jacksonville area. Lawson issued a statement Tuesday that said DeSantis had “made it clear that his ultimate objective was to cut the number of African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans serving in Congress, so today’s veto is no surprise.” Lawson also alluded to the history of the Equal Protection Clause, which took effect after the Civil War. “The fact that DeSantis justifies his goal to create racial disparities in congressional representation by citing the constitutional amendment created following the Civil War for the very purpose of remedying those same disparities is absurd and will be soundly rejected by any credible judge,” Lawson said. Another issue in the debate about the new congressional map has been the “Fair Districts” constitutional amendments, which voters passed in 2010 to try to prevent gerrymandering. DeSantis contends that the way lawmakers have interpreted the Fair Districts amendments doesn’t comply with the U.S. Constitution. Trying to satisfy DeSantis, lawmakers passed an unusual plan (SB 102) that included a primary congressional map and a backup map. The primary map took a similar approach to a plan DeSantis crafted to revamp District 5 and place it in the Jacksonville area. The Legislature’s backup map would be more in line with what the Senate originally proposed, keeping District 5 closer to its current configuration. But the DeSantis administration has taken issue with both proposals. Under the Legislature’s primary map, an effort to maximize the Black voting population of District 5 resulted in neighboring District 4 taking on “a bizarre doughnut shape that almost completely surrounds District 5,” according to Newman’s memo. DeSantis said he understood the intent of the backup plan to follow previous directions from the state Supreme Court about a need to maintain majority-minority districts or prevent the diminishment of historically performing minority districts. But, DeSantis said he didn’t understand the justification for the primary proposal. The new lines must be in place by mid-June, ahead of congressional qualifying for the August primary and November General Election. Proposals pushed by DeSantis could be more favorable to Republicans than the Legislature’s plans. Based upon 2020 voting patterns, the Legislature’s proposals would make 18 of the 28 congressional seats favorable to Republicans. Currently, Republicans hold a 16-11 edge in the delegation, which is adding a seat because of the state’s population growth over the past decade. Under designs pushed by DeSantis, 20 seats would lean toward the GOP. Amid the uncertainty, lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts calling on judges to draw congressional districts. DeSantis said he anticipates the courts will put the lawsuits on hold as lawmakers prepare to meet in the special session. Submit Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved. 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