TALLAHASSEE (CBS) Governor DeSantis signs AI and vape bills Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed 28 bills, including a measure requiring disclaimers on certain political ads created using artificial intelligence and a bill about regulation of vape products.
ESTERO Gold Star Golf Tournament honors fallen veteran Behind each putt and swing of a golf club at the Gold Star Golf Tournament is someone who knew John Wirka Junior.
NEW YORK (AP) How TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time. What’s now in question is whether it will be around much longer and, if so, in what form?
FORT MYERS Man wanted for armed robbery at Fort Myers convenience store Crime Stoppers is asking the public for help identifying an armed robber who held up a convenience store Saturday morning.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Rifles, inappropriate texts and Donut shop debacle This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a scary mall trip, an inappropriate coach, and a Dunkin Donuts assault.
The Weather Authority: Sunny Saturday with a nice breeze; fire danger increases Warm temperatures for your Saturday with a nice breeze into the afternoon.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas was surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society raises concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
TALLAHASSEE (CBS) Governor DeSantis signs AI and vape bills Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed 28 bills, including a measure requiring disclaimers on certain political ads created using artificial intelligence and a bill about regulation of vape products.
ESTERO Gold Star Golf Tournament honors fallen veteran Behind each putt and swing of a golf club at the Gold Star Golf Tournament is someone who knew John Wirka Junior.
NEW YORK (AP) How TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time. What’s now in question is whether it will be around much longer and, if so, in what form?
FORT MYERS Man wanted for armed robbery at Fort Myers convenience store Crime Stoppers is asking the public for help identifying an armed robber who held up a convenience store Saturday morning.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Rifles, inappropriate texts and Donut shop debacle This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a scary mall trip, an inappropriate coach, and a Dunkin Donuts assault.
The Weather Authority: Sunny Saturday with a nice breeze; fire danger increases Warm temperatures for your Saturday with a nice breeze into the afternoon.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas was surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society raises concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
The balloons, ribbons and pomp and circumstance of the latest grocery store grand opening in Cape Coral were absent last week. Sprouts Farmers Market opened Oct. 4 at 1800 NE Pine Island Road off Pondella Road and tried to do so quietly out of respect for those who suffered from Hurricane Ian, vice president of operations Lucas Larson said. Word began to spread via social media, and when the doors opened at noon that day, there was a line of about 30 people waiting to get inside. Sprouts intended to open Oct. 6, two days later. “We are open,” Larson said. “We had the opportunity to accelerate the opening to try and serve the community here. We were running off the generators for the first couple of days.” Sprouts was able to sell groceries to Cape Coral and surrounding area residents during a week of widespread power outages and grocery shortages following Hurricane Ian, Larson said. “When Hurricane Ian hit, we brought our team together to serve the community,” he said. “We saw it Tuesday when people started coming through the doors. There were multiple customers coming in without power. They wanted to feel the cool air conditioning.” Sprouts also had to be sensitive to the needs of the store’s 75 employees. Many of them were without power when the store opened. “We have 75 team members right now in varying levels of impact,” Larson said. “Everyone’s got their house, and everyone’s physically doing well. We had a few team members with certainly power outage and some with damage to their homes. No one was displaced or had to leave the area. They’ve all done really well.” Known for its fresh produce department, Sprouts began selling more dry goods its first few days of operations, Larson said. “Just in our few days, there’s some change in shopping patterns,” Larson said. “I will say quite a few customers have been looking for protein items and meats, things they can take home and put on a gas or propane grill. We’ve been supporting them with that. As the power gets on, we’ll see more of a normal shopping pattern return.” “Citrus and apples and bananas. Things that are easy to eat – they’re certainly buying those. Cut fruit.” This is the 35th Sprouts store in Florida. It joins locations in Naples and Estero in Southwest Florida, with at least two more in the planning stages for Fort Myers, one of which is expected to open in 2023. The new Cape Coral store did not suffer any damage other than to some signage outside. “As the storm was crossing the state, we already had plenty of merchandise in the building,” Larson said. “We have a distribution center in Orlando. That was able to get quite a bit of product down to us. We had to work around floodwaters and traffic issues.” “Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted. We’re trying to help the customers get what they need. That’s why we made the effort to open early. We wanted to get out and serve the community as quick as we could. Additionally, a couple of other things we’re looking to do, we have a Sprouts community foundation. We’re going to donate $250,000 to support disaster relief in Florida. It’s a combined effort with the Red Cross.” Sprouts also combined to deliver 45,000 healthy snacks on Saturday to distribution sites in Naples and Cape Coral for those in need.