Hotter and drier day ahead with isolated storms staying inlandGov. DeSantis to hold news conference in Cape Canaveral
the weather authority Hotter and drier day ahead with isolated storms staying inland The Weather Authority is tracking a hot and dry Tuesday morning with inland isolated storms expected in the afternoon.
Cape Canaveral Gov. DeSantis to hold news conference in Cape Canaveral Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference in Cape Canaveral.
WINK News Lee County School Board to hold a transportation workshop With one month left for the academic year, parents’ concerns have turned to frustration as buses struggle to get kids to and from school.
Readying for hurricane season with Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday Hurricane season is rapidly approaching as Floridians prep for potential storms with the upcoming Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday.
NAPLES Increasing amount of homeless seniors in SWFL Saint Matthew House told Wink News that 20% of the people they shelter are over 60 years old.
NAPLES Man suspected of threatening pickelballers with machete A man has been arrested after authorities say he chased a group of pickleball players off a Naples court. “I don’t know. It just seemed like he snapped,” said William Nehrkorn, father of one of the pickleball players. 53-year-old Pelican Marsh maintenance worker Joseph Devalle ran toward Nehrkorn’s son and friends, not with a paddle […]
NAPLES Turtle Club in Naples reopens Following a 19-month closure because of Hurricane Ian, the Turtle Club has reopened.
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
SANIBEL Bones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers A husband and wife found what appeared to be bones. What type and where they came from is being investigated.
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
Reverse shoulder replacement offers new approach to pain management Shoulder replacement is the third most common replacement in the US, following hip and knee replacement.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
the weather authority Hotter and drier day ahead with isolated storms staying inland The Weather Authority is tracking a hot and dry Tuesday morning with inland isolated storms expected in the afternoon.
Cape Canaveral Gov. DeSantis to hold news conference in Cape Canaveral Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference in Cape Canaveral.
WINK News Lee County School Board to hold a transportation workshop With one month left for the academic year, parents’ concerns have turned to frustration as buses struggle to get kids to and from school.
Readying for hurricane season with Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday Hurricane season is rapidly approaching as Floridians prep for potential storms with the upcoming Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday.
NAPLES Increasing amount of homeless seniors in SWFL Saint Matthew House told Wink News that 20% of the people they shelter are over 60 years old.
NAPLES Man suspected of threatening pickelballers with machete A man has been arrested after authorities say he chased a group of pickleball players off a Naples court. “I don’t know. It just seemed like he snapped,” said William Nehrkorn, father of one of the pickleball players. 53-year-old Pelican Marsh maintenance worker Joseph Devalle ran toward Nehrkorn’s son and friends, not with a paddle […]
NAPLES Turtle Club in Naples reopens Following a 19-month closure because of Hurricane Ian, the Turtle Club has reopened.
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
SANIBEL Bones found on Sanibel concern beachgoers A husband and wife found what appeared to be bones. What type and where they came from is being investigated.
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
Reverse shoulder replacement offers new approach to pain management Shoulder replacement is the third most common replacement in the US, following hip and knee replacement.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
FILE- This Sept. 13, 2017, file photo, a patient is transported from The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills after a loss of air conditioning due to Hurricane Irma in Hollywood, Fla. Nine elderly patients died after being kept inside a nursing home that turned into a sweatbox when Hurricane Irma knocked out its air conditioning for three days, even though just across the street was a fully functioning and cooled hospital. Still, even with those facts, it’s far from clear whether the deaths will result in a criminal prosecution. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) After 11 nursing home residents died in the sweltering heat of hurricane-induced power outages, Florida’s nursing home industry is now on a collision course with Gov. Rick Scott. Days after Hurricane Irma ravaged the state, Scott used his emergency powers to put in place new rules that require nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have generators capable of providing backup power for four days. The Republican governor, who normally brags about eliminating regulations on businesses, gave nursing homes 60 days to comply. Nursing home officials say they can’t. They say it’s not just the multimillion dollar price-tag that will come with acquiring large generators for hundreds, maybe thousands, of homes. During a daylong summit by the industry Friday, engineers and contractors and others who operate nursing homes said it will be practically impossible to purchase, install and get permits to put generators and supplies of fuel in place by the November deadline. “Compliance with the rule is impossible and time is running out,” said Steve Bahmer, president and CEO of LeadingAge Florida, an association that represents both nursing homes and assisted living facilities. So far, the Scott administration isn’t backing down. Justin Senior, the state’s top health care regulator, said the state will “aggressively” enforce the mandate, which calls for fines for those homes that fail to comply. Senior showed up at the nursing home industry summit to explain the logic behind the rule. He said that Irma’s unpredictable path showed that is no longer acceptable for nursing homes to merely say they plan to evacuate patients when a storm is looming. “Evacuation plans generally fell through,” said Senior, the secretary for the Agency for Health Care Administration. “There was no place to run; there was no place to hide.” Police in Hollywood are currently investigating why the 11 patients died after Irma knocked out air-conditioning at a nursing home there, even though just across the street was a fully functioning and cooled hospital. The latest death reported is that of 94-year-old Alice Thomas, who died Thursday, and police said they are treating that as part of their criminal investigation of the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills and its employees. Eight patients died on Sept. 13, three days after Irma knocked out the home’s air conditioning. Three have died this week. Overall, 145 patients were taken from the home. The dead have ranged from 78 to 99 years old. No one has been charged. The state has suspended the home’s license. The home has filed a lawsuit trying to overturn the state’s actions. Senior, who called the deaths “painful” and “haunting,” said he was aware of some of the industry’s complaints, but he had a strong warning: “We think very strongly of the cost of not complying with this rule is greater than the cost of compliance,” Senior said. Senior did tell the nursing homes that the generators do not have to be large enough to cool their entire building. Instead, he said, they need to be large enough to keep patients safe in a cooled environment. The tough stance that the Scott administration is taking with the nursing home industry runs counter to the governor’s usual attitude toward regulation, especially in the health care field. Scott, a multimillionaire who never ran for office before getting elected in 2010, once ran the nation’s largest chain of hospitals before he was forced out of his job as the head of Columbia/HCA. The industry could challenge Scott’s decision to put the emergency rule in place since it is not currently a requirement under state law. Kristen Knapp, a spokeswoman for one nursing home trade group, the Florida Health Care Association, said the group was “exploring all of its options.” Bahmer called a possible legal challenge “absolutely the last consideration.”