Lee Commissioners award over $41.6M for rehabilitation of affordable housing unitsDefense rests without Trump testifying in hush money case
WINK NEWS Lee Commissioners award over $41.6M for rehabilitation of affordable housing units The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to award more than $41.6 million in Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery funds.
New York (AP) Defense rests without Trump testifying in hush money case The defense rests its case without ex-President Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money case. Closing arguments are expected next Tuesday.
IMMOKALEE Immokalee girls robotics team competes at VEX Worlds The Immokalee High School girls robotics team got to compete and learn at the VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Police Department launches drone program The Cape Coral Police Department has officially launched its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program.
BUCKINGHAM Airplane crashes after veering off runway at Buckingham Airport An airplane veered off the Buckingham Airport runway during takeoff, according to the FAA incident report, leaving it damaged.
FORT MYERS Premier Mobile Health Services adds 6th Lee County location in Fort Myers The Premier Mobile Health Services has added its sixth Lee County mobile clinic location in Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS FDOT discusses plan to close Caloosahatchee Bridge for construction The Florida Department of Transportation held a news conference regarding the closure of the Caloosahatchee Bridge to speed up a construction project on the bridge.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Auburn running back Brian Battie on ventilator after weekend shooting in Florida, coach says Auburn running back Brian Battie has been hospitalized following a weekend shooting in Sarasota, Florida, where his brother was killed and three others injured.
nokomis Port Charlotte man killed in park shooting in Sarasota The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal shooting that involved a man from Port Charlotte on Sunday.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Cooler and less humid morning ahead of a hot afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking dry conditions with high Tuesday afternoon temperatures and isolated showers developing inland.
WINK NEWS Miracle Monday: A home away from home An expecting couple received an unexpected surprise as a family welcomed twins into the world—two months early.
FORT MYERS The future of the Fort Myers yacht basin The Fort Myers yacht basin is lacking in the “yacht” part right now or any boat for that matter. It’s been that way since Hurricane Ian hit 19 months ago.
VENICE BEACH Diving duo makes prehistoric discovery Half a mile off Venice Beach, deep below the surface of the water, two divers, Blair Morrow and Alex Lundberg, found a sign of prehistoric times buried in the sand.
Commissioner reacts to state attorney ruling in death of Christopher Jordan On Monday, the detective who fired the fatal shot that killed Christopher Jordan in his Fort Myers home went back to work.
PORT CHARLOTTE Is Sunseeker Resort losing money? It’s a place designed to bring in people and a lot of money to Charlotte County. The Sunseeker Resort opened on December 15 and features 785 rooms, 20 different food and beverage places, and 60,000 square feet of convention space.
WINK NEWS Lee Commissioners award over $41.6M for rehabilitation of affordable housing units The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to award more than $41.6 million in Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery funds.
New York (AP) Defense rests without Trump testifying in hush money case The defense rests its case without ex-President Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money case. Closing arguments are expected next Tuesday.
IMMOKALEE Immokalee girls robotics team competes at VEX Worlds The Immokalee High School girls robotics team got to compete and learn at the VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Police Department launches drone program The Cape Coral Police Department has officially launched its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program.
BUCKINGHAM Airplane crashes after veering off runway at Buckingham Airport An airplane veered off the Buckingham Airport runway during takeoff, according to the FAA incident report, leaving it damaged.
FORT MYERS Premier Mobile Health Services adds 6th Lee County location in Fort Myers The Premier Mobile Health Services has added its sixth Lee County mobile clinic location in Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS FDOT discusses plan to close Caloosahatchee Bridge for construction The Florida Department of Transportation held a news conference regarding the closure of the Caloosahatchee Bridge to speed up a construction project on the bridge.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Auburn running back Brian Battie on ventilator after weekend shooting in Florida, coach says Auburn running back Brian Battie has been hospitalized following a weekend shooting in Sarasota, Florida, where his brother was killed and three others injured.
nokomis Port Charlotte man killed in park shooting in Sarasota The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal shooting that involved a man from Port Charlotte on Sunday.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Cooler and less humid morning ahead of a hot afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking dry conditions with high Tuesday afternoon temperatures and isolated showers developing inland.
WINK NEWS Miracle Monday: A home away from home An expecting couple received an unexpected surprise as a family welcomed twins into the world—two months early.
FORT MYERS The future of the Fort Myers yacht basin The Fort Myers yacht basin is lacking in the “yacht” part right now or any boat for that matter. It’s been that way since Hurricane Ian hit 19 months ago.
VENICE BEACH Diving duo makes prehistoric discovery Half a mile off Venice Beach, deep below the surface of the water, two divers, Blair Morrow and Alex Lundberg, found a sign of prehistoric times buried in the sand.
Commissioner reacts to state attorney ruling in death of Christopher Jordan On Monday, the detective who fired the fatal shot that killed Christopher Jordan in his Fort Myers home went back to work.
PORT CHARLOTTE Is Sunseeker Resort losing money? It’s a place designed to bring in people and a lot of money to Charlotte County. The Sunseeker Resort opened on December 15 and features 785 rooms, 20 different food and beverage places, and 60,000 square feet of convention space.
Credit: via WINK News. Peppering lawyers for the state and the Florida Chamber of Commerce with questions, some Florida Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday of arguments that the court should reject a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational use of marijuana by people 21 or older. Justices have until April 1 to decide whether the proposal – bankrolled by the state’s largest medical marijuana operator, Trulieve – should go before voters in November 2024. The case also could have broader implications for attempts to change the Florida Constitution, Wednesday’s arguments indicated. RELATED: Cannabis curiosity: answering marijuana questions Lawyers for Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office and the Florida Chamber of Commerce argued that the proposed marijuana amendment would be misleading to voters and fails to address a single subject as required under state law. But an attorney representing Smart & Safe Florida, a political committee backing the proposal, said the court’s own “roadmap” was used to draft the measure. Jeffrey DeSousa, chief deputy solicitor general in Moody’s office, said Florida law requires proposed amendments to be “clear and unambiguous.” “The attorney general opposes ballot placement because we think, in several ways, this ballot summary is misleading,” DeSousa told the justices. DeSousa pointed to a part of the proposal that says the state’s currently licensed operators, known as medical marijuana treatment centers, “and other state-licensed entities” would be allowed to participate in the industry. The summary doesn’t explain that the Legislature would have to create a process for more “entities” to join the market, he argued. “What’s really going on here is that the ballot summary is playing on a desire of voters to see greater competition in the marketplace. There have been public complaints that the market is monopolized and thereby raising prices,” DeSousa said. But Chief Justice Carlos Muniz pressed him on the issue. “If you read it literally, what it’s telling people is that there might be two entities licensed in the state other than these medical marijuana treatment centers. … Is that really relative to the competitive landscape?” Muniz asked. He asked DeSousa to “walk through the thought process” of a voter. “I’m in there and I think the idea of allowing recreational use is good, but I would vote no because the Legislature might not authorize entities other than MMTCs (medical marijuana treatment centers) to sell? I mean, who are you trying to protect?” Muniz asked. DeSousa said “some subset of voters” who are “apathetic about recreational marijuana use” would “like to see more competition in the marketplace … and so they’ll support it under the idea that this will lower prices there.” The state lawyer also focused on part of the ballot summary that says the proposal “applies to Florida law; does not change, or immunize violations of, federal law.” DeSousa argued that is misleading because it doesn’t specify that marijuana remains illegal under federal law. RELATED: Florida recreational marijuana proposal tops 635,000 signatures “I think that it is a very easy circumstance for voters to be confused about this,” DeSousa said. But Justice John Couriel pushed back. “Help me understand what this does to inject confusion,” he said. “Because it uses the word ‘allows’…'” DeSousa began.. “Come on. It says it applies to Florida law,” the justice interrupted. “We can’t not read the context of the whole statement. … I mean, come on. Where’s the hidden ball? It says on the face of this that it applies to Florida law.” DeSousa said “there is at least ambiguity” in the ballot summary. Justice Charles Canady also weighed in. “I don’t know how a voter, when it says, ‘does not immunize violations of federal law,’ how a voter could be confused by that. I’m baffled by the argument,” Canady said. Samuel Salario, an attorney for the Florida Chamber, also faced questions. The business group has a long history of opposing proposed ballot initiatives and has backed efforts making it more difficult to amend the Constitution. “The Constitution is not the place for impulsive policy change. Legislation on tough questions is the constitutional province of the Legislature,” Salario said. He said the proposal violates a requirement that amendments address only a single subject because it would both “immunize sanctions” for marijuana use and give the state’s current medical marijuana operators “effective regulatory capture” over the cannabis market. But the argument drew pushback. “If a measure is to have a oneness of purpose under our case law, does that mean that it can never, with one change to the organic law of the state, both permit something or remove penalties for something without speaking to the market implications of that?” Couriel asked. “I’m not suggesting that,” Salario conceded. Canady probed further. “Your fundamental position here is that this is just not a proper subject for the initiative process … There’s really no way that the citizens could act in this arena through the initiative process, effectively,” Canady said. “Say their primary purpose is to have the commercial sale of marijuana for personal use … Is there any way they could accomplish that effectively in your view?” “I think that if you are talking about an amendment that would combine the decriminalization or legalization …,” Salario began. “So they couldn’t,” Canady interrupted. “They are distinct ideas that are not connected,” Salario said. “It seems like this is turning the single-subject requirement into not anything other than a straightjacket,” Canady responded. John Bash, an attorney who represents the Smart & Safe political committee, told the justices that “commercial sales go hand-in-hand with possession.” The amendment’s sponsors “did a conscientious job” of relying on the court’s own “roadmap” in recent marijuana-related rulings, Bash argued, noting that the court has been reluctant to strike ballot initiatives over the years. “If there was ever a case not to do it, it’s the one where the ballot sponsor looked at the court’s precedents, tried to follow them scrupulously and even adopted the language that this court said is the roadmap,” Bash said. He also said voters will have an understanding of what the proposed amendment would do and know that the “federal proscription on marijuana is not at issue here.” The questions from the conservative court – which includes five justices appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who opposes the proposal – appeared to buoy proponents of the measure. “It appears that at least some members of the court believe the analysis advanced by the Attorney General’s Office and the Florida Chamber of Commerce constrain the citizens’ amendment process to the point that no proposal could ever reach the ballot,” attorney John Lockwood, who represents cannabis companies but is not involved in the Supreme Court case, told The News Service of Florida in an email.