Hope for the Holidays turkey distribution event in Collier CountyUnincorporated Lee County to keep FEMA discount
NAPLES Hope for the Holidays turkey distribution event in Collier County A Naples nonprofit is expected to feed nearly 2,000 families.
Unincorporated Lee County to keep FEMA discount According to the Lee County Government, residents in unincorporated Lee County will keep their discount.
New blue-light system to be implemented to flag red-light runners Green means go, red means stop and blue means you just ran a red light.
New Punta Gorda City Council accepts city manager’s resignation Punta Gorda’s new City Council accepted City Manager Greg Murray’s resignation Nov. 20 and agreed to pay toward hurricane repairs and provide several months of rent abatement to business owners who lease space at city-owned Herald Court. Debi Lux was named mayor and Greg Julian vice mayor by the new-look Council, which saw three incumbents […]
Vehicle catches on fire after crash at intersection of Alico and Oriole Rd. A vehicle caught on fire after a crash at the intersection of Alico Rd. and Oriole.
NAPLES A first look inside the Gulfshore Playhouse What does it take to become a candidate for Gulfshore Life’s Men and Women of the Year?
WINK NEWS Best time to shop for Black Friday Long gone are the days of people camping out overnight, waiting for their favorite store to open after Thanksgiving.
WINK NEWS Thanksgiving events across Southwest Florida Thanksgiving in Southwest Florida is a blend of tradition, offering both classic holiday gatherings and unique local events.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Social media influencer arrested for theft at Cape Coral Target The Cape Coral Police Department arrested a woman accused of stealing items worth nearly $500 from a Target.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers woman pleads guilty to possessing loaded firearm as person with felony convictions Fort Myers woman pleaded guilty to possessing a loaded firearm and ammunition as a person with felony convictions.
CAPE CORAL What’s next for Cape Coral City Council after repealing stipend? The City of Cape Coral elected five new council members Wednesday night, and their first motion was to repeal the controversial self-imposed stipend.
FORT MYERS California man pleads guilty to distributing drugs to Lee County A California man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl to Lee County.
Holiday events scheduled in Lee County throughout December It is the most wonderful time of the year, as Lee County is preparing for several Christmas and holiday-themed events in December.
FORT MYERS BEACH 34th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship begins on Fort Myers Beach The resilience of the Southwest Florida community is on display Thursday morning in the form of sand on Fort Myers Beach.
the weather authority Decreasing humidity and mostly sunny skies for your Thursday The Weather Authority is tracking a cold front dropping humidity and temperatures on this Thursday afternoon.
NAPLES Hope for the Holidays turkey distribution event in Collier County A Naples nonprofit is expected to feed nearly 2,000 families.
Unincorporated Lee County to keep FEMA discount According to the Lee County Government, residents in unincorporated Lee County will keep their discount.
New blue-light system to be implemented to flag red-light runners Green means go, red means stop and blue means you just ran a red light.
New Punta Gorda City Council accepts city manager’s resignation Punta Gorda’s new City Council accepted City Manager Greg Murray’s resignation Nov. 20 and agreed to pay toward hurricane repairs and provide several months of rent abatement to business owners who lease space at city-owned Herald Court. Debi Lux was named mayor and Greg Julian vice mayor by the new-look Council, which saw three incumbents […]
Vehicle catches on fire after crash at intersection of Alico and Oriole Rd. A vehicle caught on fire after a crash at the intersection of Alico Rd. and Oriole.
NAPLES A first look inside the Gulfshore Playhouse What does it take to become a candidate for Gulfshore Life’s Men and Women of the Year?
WINK NEWS Best time to shop for Black Friday Long gone are the days of people camping out overnight, waiting for their favorite store to open after Thanksgiving.
WINK NEWS Thanksgiving events across Southwest Florida Thanksgiving in Southwest Florida is a blend of tradition, offering both classic holiday gatherings and unique local events.
CAPE CORAL Caught on Camera: Social media influencer arrested for theft at Cape Coral Target The Cape Coral Police Department arrested a woman accused of stealing items worth nearly $500 from a Target.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers woman pleads guilty to possessing loaded firearm as person with felony convictions Fort Myers woman pleaded guilty to possessing a loaded firearm and ammunition as a person with felony convictions.
CAPE CORAL What’s next for Cape Coral City Council after repealing stipend? The City of Cape Coral elected five new council members Wednesday night, and their first motion was to repeal the controversial self-imposed stipend.
FORT MYERS California man pleads guilty to distributing drugs to Lee County A California man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl to Lee County.
Holiday events scheduled in Lee County throughout December It is the most wonderful time of the year, as Lee County is preparing for several Christmas and holiday-themed events in December.
FORT MYERS BEACH 34th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship begins on Fort Myers Beach The resilience of the Southwest Florida community is on display Thursday morning in the form of sand on Fort Myers Beach.
the weather authority Decreasing humidity and mostly sunny skies for your Thursday The Weather Authority is tracking a cold front dropping humidity and temperatures on this Thursday afternoon.
FILE – Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington on March 9, 2020. Musk said Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, his planned $44 billion takeover of Twitter should move forward if the company can confirm some details about how it measures whether user accounts are ‘spam bots’ or real people. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) Donald Trump recounted his assassination attempt in vivid detail and promised the largest deportation in U.S. history during a high-profile return to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — a conversation that was plagued by technical glitches. “If I had not turned my head, I would not be talking to you right now — as much as I like you,” Trump told X’s owner Elon Musk. Musk, a former Trump critic, said the Republican nominee’s toughness, as demonstrated by his reaction to last month’s shooting, was critical for national security. “There’s some real tough characters out there,” Musk said. “And if they don’t think the American president is tough, they will do what they want to do.” Trump returns to X The rare public conversation between Trump and Musk, which spanned more than two hours Monday night and was overwhelmingly friendly, revealed little new about Trump’s plans for a second term. The former president spent much of the discussion focused on his recent assassination attempt, illegal immigration and his plans to cut government regulations. In case you missed the original recording. Skip the beginning part. https://t.co/Ksm6UqdIq6 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024 Still, the online meeting underscored just how much the U.S. political landscape has changed less than four years after Trump was permanently banned by the social media platform’s former leadership for spreading disinformation that sparked the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress and undermined the very foundation of the American democracy. Such disinformation has thrived at X under Musk’s leadership, although it was largely ignored during his conversation with Trump save for a passing Trump reference to a “rigged election.” Trump supporters frustrated by tech delays The session was intended to serve as a way for the former president to reach potentially millions of voters directly. It was also an opportunity for X, a platform that relies heavily on politics, to redeem itself after some struggles. It did not begin as planned. With more than 878,000 users connected to the meeting more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time, the interview had not yet begun. Many users received a message reading, “Details not available.” Trump’s team posted that the “interview on X is being overwhelmed with listeners logging in.” And once the meeting began, Musk apologized for the late start and blamed a “massive attack” that overwhelmed the company’s system. Trump’s voice sounded muffled at times. Trump supporters were openly frustrated. “Not available????? I planned my whole day around this,” wrote conservative commentator Glenn Beck. “Please let Elon know we can’t join,” billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted. Ahead of the event, Musk posted on the platform that X was conducting “some system scaling tests” to handle what was anticipated to be a high volume of participants. Harris campaign mocks livestream glitches The rocky start was reminiscent of a May 2023 social media conversation between Musk and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Republican governor was using the social media platform as a way to officially announce his presidential bid, a disastrous rollout marred by technical glitches, overloaded by the more than 400,000 people who tried to dial in. Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, noted that Trump mocked DeSantis at the time. “Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!” Trump wrote in a message reposted by Harris’ campaign Monday. Once the interview ended, Harris’ campaign responded with a statement saying, “Trump’s entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself — self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024.” Bitter rivals to unlikely allies Monday’s meeting highlighted the evolving personal relationship between Trump and Musk, two of the world’s most powerful men, who have shifted from being bitter rivals to unlikely allies over the span of one election season. Musk, who described himself as a “moderate Democrat” until recently, suggested in 2022 that Trump was too old to be president again. Still, Musk formally endorsed Trump two days after his assassination attempt last month. During their talk, Trump welcomed the idea of Musk joining his next administration to help cut government waste. Musk volunteered to join a prospective “government efficiency commission.” “You’re the greatest cutter,” Trump told Musk. “I need an Elon Musk — I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts. I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states.” Even before his endorsement, the tech CEO had already been working privately to support a pro-Trump super PAC. The group, known as America PAC, is now under investigation by election officials for alleged misleading attempts to collect data from voters. Meanwhile, Trump has softened his criticism of electric vehicles, citing Musk’s leadership of Tesla. And on Monday, at least, Trump returned to Musk’s social media platform in force. The former president made at least eight individual posts in the hours leading up to the Musk interview. How Musk uses X to amplify his views globally Long before he endorsed Trump, Musk turned increasingly toward the right in his posts and actions on the platform, also using X to try to sway political discourse around the world. He’s gotten in a dustup with a Brazilian judge over censorship, railed against what he calls the “woke mind virus” and amplified false claims that Democrats are secretly flying in migrants to vote in U.S. elections. Musk has also reinstated previously banned accounts such as the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Trump, who was kicked off the platform — then known as Twitter — two days after the Jan. 6 violence, with the company citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.” By November 2022, Musk had bought the company, and Trump’s account was reinstated, although the former president refrained from tweeting until Monday, insisting that he was happier on his own Truth Social site, which he launched during the ban. Trump’s audience on X is legions larger than on Truth Social, which became a publicly traded company earlier this year. Trump has just over 7.5 million followers on Truth Social, while his mostly dormant X account is followed by 88 million. Musk’s account, which hosted the interview, has more than 193 million followers. In a reminder that the world was watching, the chat prompted a preemptive note of caution from Europe. Thierry Breton, a French business executive and commissioner for internal market of the European Union, warned Musk of possible “amplification of harmful content” by broadcasting his interview with Trump. In a letter posted on X, Breton urged Musk to “ensure X’s compliance” with EU law, including the Digital Services Act, adopted in 2022 to address a number of issues including disinformation. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung urged the EU to “mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the U.S. Presidential election.” Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina.