Florida lawmakers to vote on revamped Governor backed immigration bill on ThursdayClewiston Animal Shelter improves but faces overcrowding challenges
Florida lawmakers to vote on revamped Governor backed immigration bill on Thursday The House and Senate are set to vote on a new immigration bill on Thursday. The bill aims to address illegal immigration and support federal mass deportation efforts.
CLEWISTON Clewiston Animal Shelter improves but faces overcrowding challenges The Clewiston Animal Shelter has made significant improvements, but there is still work to be done to bring conditions to a more humane level.
Collier County beachgoers react to Gulf of America name change The Gulf of Mexico has been officially renamed the “Gulf of America” following an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood Beach’s closure impacts local economy; businesses seek answers Business owners on Englewood Beach are growing increasingly anxious as they await the reopening of the beach, which has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Food truck park proposal on Estero Blvd divides Fort Myers Beach locals The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency recently voted on whether to transform a vacant lot on Estero Boulevard into a food truck park.
CCSO works with ICE to catch suspects in Southwest Florida State lawmakers are working on a new immigration bill. Here in Southwest Florida, one county has been following strict guidelines on illegal immigration for quite some time.
Burn ban in effect for Collier County The Board of County Commissioners has authorized a burn ban in Collier County.
FGCU FGCU’s Zavian McLean shares student athlete experience with podcast FGCU men’s basketball guard Zavian McLean shares what its like to be a Division I student athlete in his podcast “Truey Talks.”
Locals react to egg price increase Egg prices continue to soar. In fact, prices have gone up about 37% from where they were just one year ago, and the pricing and supply issues have started to impact Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Trump’s executive order on straws stirs debate in Fort Myers Beach President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to bring back plastic straws, reversing a previous plan to reduce plastic reliance in the federal government.
Charlotte County official’s usage of racial slur prompts calls for resignation Charlotte County Commissioner Stephen Deutsch is under scrutiny after a complaint surfaced last week alleging he used the N-word during a work meeting.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral woman finds hope with new ALS drug A breakthrough discovery of a drug offers new hope for patients with a genetic form of the disease.
Elevate Florida program to help homeowners strengthen properties against storms The Florida Dept. of Emergency Management announced the launch of its new “Elevate Florida” residential mitigation program.
Planning and Zoning Board approves proposed West County area development Homebuilder Maronda Homes received approval Feb. 10 from the Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Board to amend a previously approved development on 1,174 acres in the area of South Gulf Cove.
LEHIGH ACRES 3 charged for major theft organization targeting luxury vehicles Three men, one from Lehigh Acres, has been charged for their role in a major theft organization targeting luxury vehicles.
Florida lawmakers to vote on revamped Governor backed immigration bill on Thursday The House and Senate are set to vote on a new immigration bill on Thursday. The bill aims to address illegal immigration and support federal mass deportation efforts.
CLEWISTON Clewiston Animal Shelter improves but faces overcrowding challenges The Clewiston Animal Shelter has made significant improvements, but there is still work to be done to bring conditions to a more humane level.
Collier County beachgoers react to Gulf of America name change The Gulf of Mexico has been officially renamed the “Gulf of America” following an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood Beach’s closure impacts local economy; businesses seek answers Business owners on Englewood Beach are growing increasingly anxious as they await the reopening of the beach, which has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Food truck park proposal on Estero Blvd divides Fort Myers Beach locals The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency recently voted on whether to transform a vacant lot on Estero Boulevard into a food truck park.
CCSO works with ICE to catch suspects in Southwest Florida State lawmakers are working on a new immigration bill. Here in Southwest Florida, one county has been following strict guidelines on illegal immigration for quite some time.
Burn ban in effect for Collier County The Board of County Commissioners has authorized a burn ban in Collier County.
FGCU FGCU’s Zavian McLean shares student athlete experience with podcast FGCU men’s basketball guard Zavian McLean shares what its like to be a Division I student athlete in his podcast “Truey Talks.”
Locals react to egg price increase Egg prices continue to soar. In fact, prices have gone up about 37% from where they were just one year ago, and the pricing and supply issues have started to impact Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Trump’s executive order on straws stirs debate in Fort Myers Beach President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to bring back plastic straws, reversing a previous plan to reduce plastic reliance in the federal government.
Charlotte County official’s usage of racial slur prompts calls for resignation Charlotte County Commissioner Stephen Deutsch is under scrutiny after a complaint surfaced last week alleging he used the N-word during a work meeting.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral woman finds hope with new ALS drug A breakthrough discovery of a drug offers new hope for patients with a genetic form of the disease.
Elevate Florida program to help homeowners strengthen properties against storms The Florida Dept. of Emergency Management announced the launch of its new “Elevate Florida” residential mitigation program.
Planning and Zoning Board approves proposed West County area development Homebuilder Maronda Homes received approval Feb. 10 from the Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Board to amend a previously approved development on 1,174 acres in the area of South Gulf Cove.
LEHIGH ACRES 3 charged for major theft organization targeting luxury vehicles Three men, one from Lehigh Acres, has been charged for their role in a major theft organization targeting luxury vehicles.
CenturyLink (CREDIT: WINK News) Trying to work from home without an internet connection is nearly impossible. That’s the reality for people who have gone a month without a way to get on the web. Yadi Mendez was fired because she couldn’t perform her job without internet access. “It’s the type of job you can’t do on a laptop,” Mendez said. “It’s impossible. Yeah, you can check your email, but it requires multiple screens, multiple websites and you’re on the phone a lot. It required a dedicated space and all my equipment.” She was working from home for a Chicago-based company. It was supposed to be a fresh start after she lost her job a year ago due to the pandemic. She started this new role a week before Ian struck and was without power for nine days. When the lights came back on, the internet didn’t. So she spoke to CenturyLink to see when that might change. First, it was 30 to 40 hours and then there was no time frame at all. “They could at least give a timeframe, like, hey we’re working in this zip code or this quadrant in Cape Coral that feeds this area, you know with this anticipated date,” Mendez said. “They’re just flat out saying it could take weeks, months or into the first quarter.” Because it could be until 2023, Mendez was let go by her employer. Xfinity van. (CREDIT: WINK News) “I was already suffering from depression, anxiety, insomnia and all that really escalated,” Mendez said. “At this point, I’m like what am I going to do?” Xfinity workcrews are nearing full restoration of services. Excluding the barrier islands, Lee County has 98% of customers restored. Charlotte County is a 96% while Collier is at 99%. Both Xfinity and CenturLlink have set up hotspot locations around Southwest Florida. But Xfinity customer Bill Stanton is skeptical. “Am I going to sit there all day long with the car running and the air on? You know I can go in with a full tank of gas and come out with nothing,” Stanton said. “I know I’m not the only one in this situation. That lost potentially or not getting paid because they don’t have internet at home.” The latest numbers from Centurylink shows that there are 2,620 outages in Lee County north of the Caloosahatchee River, with estimated full restoration by the end of February. South of the Caloosahatchee, there are 1,180 outages, with full restoration expected by mid-December. Xfinity said it still has four WiFi plans deployed across Charlotte and Lee counties. Those are located at: Cape Coral: Walmart Supercenter at 1619 Del Prado Blvd S. Fort Myers: Walmart Supercenter at 17105 San Carlos Blvd. Port Charlotte: Walmart Neighborhood Market (Charlotte Square) at 2150 Tamiami Trail. Punta Gorda: Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association at 2001 Shreve Street. The van is located in the parking lot. CenturyLink said it has WIFI at the following locations: 3445 Sanibel Captiva Rd., Sanibel 906 Country Club Blvd., Cape Coral 4001 Palm Tree Blvd, Cape Coral 4195 Kings Hwy, Port Charlotte 10546 Tipton Dr., Bokeelia (Pine Island) The network is “CTL-QF Free WiFI”, no password required.