League Club of Naples awards record $683K in grants to Collier, Lee nonprofitsFriday’s Furry Friends: Holly, Slim
League Club of Naples awards record $683K in grants to Collier, Lee nonprofits At a mid-April breakfast event, the 35 area nonprofit agencies—chosen from a record number of applicants—were awarded grants from the women’s volunteer organization in areas ranging from arts education, to fighting hunger and homelessness, to providing bikes and wheelchairs to children in need
Tim Aten Knows: Chick-fil-A drive-thru proposal faces criticism in Naples Chick-fil-A is proposing a drive-thru restaurant at the site of the former Red Lobster restaurant on U.S. 41 in Naples, but the project is facing early criticism.
NAPLES Friday’s Furry Friends: Holly, Slim For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Collier County Domestic Animal Services to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Dust Devil spotted spiraling in Fort Myers A dust devil was spotted and recorded by a WINK News viewer on Hanson Street in Fort Myers.
Warm, dry and breezy afternoon after a comfortable morning The Weather Authority is tracking a comfortable Friday morning start with dry and breezy afternoon conditions expected.
NAPLES Event held in Naples for National Crime Victims Week The City of Naples and Project HELP held an event in Baker Park for National Crime Victims Week.
NAPLES 25-acre brush fire off I-75 in Collier County lowers air quality The Greater Naples Fire Rescue responded to a 25-acre brush fire at Mile Marker 96 on I-75 in the Picayune Strand State Forest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral softball coach arrested for alleged inappropriate conduct with student released on bond A former Cape Coral volunteer softball coach arrested for alleged sexual contact with a student was released from jail on bond.
FORT MYERS A prom like no other at Golisano Children’s Hospital Logan Stryker may be a little young for high school prom, but he’s the prom king of Golisano Children’s Hospital.
FORT MYERS Group protests death of Christopher Jordan Their messages were aimed at the Fort Myers police department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney Amira Fox.
FORT MYERS A least 3 cars involved in crash near Top Golf Way and Challenger Blvd. It happened near Top Golf Way and Challenger Boulevard in Fort Myers.
Hendry County Fired deputy charged with crimes had troubled past in law enforcement A local police officer resigned in lieu of termination after dozens of disciplinary actions against him, so how was he hired at another SWFL law enforcement agency?
New resolution could help fend off FEMA’s threat to pull flood insurance discount Some United States representatives are taking matters into their own hands to help those threatened by more expensive flood insurance.
NAPLES Local group rallies in solidarity with Israel Passover week is an important time for the Jewish community, but hostages are still being held.
From Verot to The Show: Blaze Alexander is living his MLB dream Former Bishop Verot star Blaze Alexander is now living his MLB dream as he got called up to join the Arizona Diamondbacks.
League Club of Naples awards record $683K in grants to Collier, Lee nonprofits At a mid-April breakfast event, the 35 area nonprofit agencies—chosen from a record number of applicants—were awarded grants from the women’s volunteer organization in areas ranging from arts education, to fighting hunger and homelessness, to providing bikes and wheelchairs to children in need
Tim Aten Knows: Chick-fil-A drive-thru proposal faces criticism in Naples Chick-fil-A is proposing a drive-thru restaurant at the site of the former Red Lobster restaurant on U.S. 41 in Naples, but the project is facing early criticism.
NAPLES Friday’s Furry Friends: Holly, Slim For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Collier County Domestic Animal Services to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Dust Devil spotted spiraling in Fort Myers A dust devil was spotted and recorded by a WINK News viewer on Hanson Street in Fort Myers.
Warm, dry and breezy afternoon after a comfortable morning The Weather Authority is tracking a comfortable Friday morning start with dry and breezy afternoon conditions expected.
NAPLES Event held in Naples for National Crime Victims Week The City of Naples and Project HELP held an event in Baker Park for National Crime Victims Week.
NAPLES 25-acre brush fire off I-75 in Collier County lowers air quality The Greater Naples Fire Rescue responded to a 25-acre brush fire at Mile Marker 96 on I-75 in the Picayune Strand State Forest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral softball coach arrested for alleged inappropriate conduct with student released on bond A former Cape Coral volunteer softball coach arrested for alleged sexual contact with a student was released from jail on bond.
FORT MYERS A prom like no other at Golisano Children’s Hospital Logan Stryker may be a little young for high school prom, but he’s the prom king of Golisano Children’s Hospital.
FORT MYERS Group protests death of Christopher Jordan Their messages were aimed at the Fort Myers police department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney Amira Fox.
FORT MYERS A least 3 cars involved in crash near Top Golf Way and Challenger Blvd. It happened near Top Golf Way and Challenger Boulevard in Fort Myers.
Hendry County Fired deputy charged with crimes had troubled past in law enforcement A local police officer resigned in lieu of termination after dozens of disciplinary actions against him, so how was he hired at another SWFL law enforcement agency?
New resolution could help fend off FEMA’s threat to pull flood insurance discount Some United States representatives are taking matters into their own hands to help those threatened by more expensive flood insurance.
NAPLES Local group rallies in solidarity with Israel Passover week is an important time for the Jewish community, but hostages are still being held.
From Verot to The Show: Blaze Alexander is living his MLB dream Former Bishop Verot star Blaze Alexander is now living his MLB dream as he got called up to join the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In this Jan. 26, 2018 photo, Matt Chappell, left, talks with Dr. Christopher Schiessl during an appointment at a medical center in San Francisco. For more than a decade, the strongest AIDS drugs could not fully control Chappell’s HIV infection. Now his body does it by itself, thanks to the first gene editing experiments in people. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) For more than a decade, the strongest AIDS drugs could not fully control Matt Chappell’s HIV infection. Now his body controls it by itself, and researchers are trying to perfect the gene editing that made this possible. Scientists removed some of his blood cells, disabled a gene to help them resist HIV, and returned these “edited” cells to him in 2014. So far, it has given the San Francisco man the next best thing to a cure. “I’ve been off medications for three and a half years,” he said. He even was able to keep the virus in check despite cancer treatments last year that taxed his immune system. Chappell was lucky, though. Only a few of the 100 others in those experiments were able to stay off HIV drugs for a couple years; the rest still need medicines to keep HIV suppressed. Now researchers think they can improve the treatment and are trying again to tackle HIV by doctoring DNA. New studies to test these tweaked approaches in people are getting underway. “Gene therapy techniques have advanced greatly,” said Dr. Otto Yang of the UCLA AIDS Institute, one place working on this. “A lot of people are thinking it’s the right time to go back.” They include Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is funding some of the new studies. He doesn’t think the technique will become common because millions of people do well on existing treatments. But he says it could help those who can’t easily control the virus, and should be pursued because it holds potential for a cure. “They’re very bold, innovative techniques, mostly to try and cure people,” he said. “It’s worth trying because the science is there.” ONE MAN’S CURE GAVE HOPE Only one person is known to have been cured of HIV infection, a man who had a cell transplant a decade ago from a donor with natural immunity to the virus. The donor lacked a common gene that makes an entryway HIV uses to infect T cells, immune system soldiers in the blood. The transplant gave the recipient that protection, but procedures like that are too risky and impractical for wide use. Scientists have been trying to find a way to create similar immunity by altering some of a patient’s own cells. They use a gene editing tool called zinc finger nucleases, which cut DNA at a precise spot to disable the HIV entryway gene. The California company that makes the editing tool, Sangamo Therapeutics, sponsored the initial studies. “It worked, the T cells were edited,” said Sangamo’s president, Dr. Sandy Macrae. But it didn’t work quite well enough: The altered T cells were outnumbered by T cells that were not altered and could still be infected. Now, Dr. John Zaia at City of Hope, a research center in Duarte, California, is trying the approach with a twist. He’s using blood stem cells — parent cells that produce many others. Once a stem cell is altered the benefit should multiply and last longer, Zaia said. THE SILVER LINING Though the initial gene editing experiments were disappointing, there was a silver lining. Patients in those studies had a big drop in the number of cells where HIV lurked in a dormant state — the so-called reservoir of silent disease. At Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sekaly is trying to capitalize on that drop. His study will try the same gene editing — disabling the gene that makes the HIV entryway — while keeping patients on strong antiviral medicines for at least a year before discontinuing them. “As long as we’re not able to get rid of this reservoir, we’ll never be able to stop treatment,” he explained. The hope is that the medicines plus the altered cells will knock down the virus and reduce the reservoir to a point where the body can control any residual disease by itself, as Chappell seems to be doing. PROTECT AND ATTACK University of Pennsylvania scientists are trying a two-part approach: Besides knocking out the gene for the HIV entryway, they’re adding a gene to help T cells recognize and kill HIV. This second part is called CAR-T therapy, a treatment approved last year for treating cancer. The new study’s leader, scientist James Riley, is encouraged that some patients at Penn who were in the early studies kept HIV suppressed for nearly a year without drugs. “You’d never know they were sick” even though the virus could still be detected, Riley said. “At some point you’re going to have confidence that it’s not going to come back.” Chappell’s doctor, Christopher Schiessl at One Medical, a health clinic in San Francisco, hopes that’s the case for Chappell. Although he’s doing well now, Chappell is showing signs that his immune system may be weakening, Schiessl said. Chappell is optimistic, and believes gene therapy ultimately will provide a long-term solution. “If we’re going to cure HIV,” he said, “this is how it’s going to happen.” ___ Marilynn Marchione can be followed on Twitter: @MMarchioneAP ___ This Associated Press series was produced in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.