What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride alongThe Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
The Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida A rainy Saturday evening across much of southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Lee Health Touch-A-Truck event educates families on Trauma Awareness On Saturday morning, sirens were ringing to celebrate Lee Health Trauma Center’s 30 years of service and to provide the public with trauma education and prevention methods.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (CBS) CDC says bird flu viruses “pose pandemic potential,” cites major knowledge gaps Bird flu continues to appear to pose a “low risk to the general public” for now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. But the agency’s scientists ran into roadblocks investigating a human case of this “pandemic potential” virus this year, they said in a new report.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
Aetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ+ customers Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the health insurer of discriminating against LGBTQ+ customers in need of fertility treatment.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
LEHIGH ACRES Chaotic lake getting fence and security Now, with all the negative attention it has gotten, some think putting up a fence is a great way to keep that bad activity out.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
FORT MYERS Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
The Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida A rainy Saturday evening across much of southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Lee Health Touch-A-Truck event educates families on Trauma Awareness On Saturday morning, sirens were ringing to celebrate Lee Health Trauma Center’s 30 years of service and to provide the public with trauma education and prevention methods.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (CBS) CDC says bird flu viruses “pose pandemic potential,” cites major knowledge gaps Bird flu continues to appear to pose a “low risk to the general public” for now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. But the agency’s scientists ran into roadblocks investigating a human case of this “pandemic potential” virus this year, they said in a new report.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
Aetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ+ customers Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the health insurer of discriminating against LGBTQ+ customers in need of fertility treatment.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
LEHIGH ACRES Chaotic lake getting fence and security Now, with all the negative attention it has gotten, some think putting up a fence is a great way to keep that bad activity out.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
FORT MYERS Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
MGN Scott Wilson is not a scientist. He’s a pastor and a fisherman with a passion for the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes where he spends most of his time off. “I’ve grown up on this chain of lakes since I was 4 years old, and I love this part of Florida more than anywhere else,” he said, getting choked up as he tried to get the words out. Wilson claims since 2012, he’s seen an excessive amount of chemical spraying done near his fish camp. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission does maintenance control throughout Florida to keep populations of invasive plants, or weeds, low. “Invasive plants degrade and diminish Florida’s conservation lands and waterways. Decaying plants in lakes release nutrients that help algae to grow,” said Carli Segelson, a spokesperson for FWC. QUIZ: Test your knowledge on the SWFL water crisis Reports from the agency show thousands of pounds and gallons of various chemicals are applied in waterways all over the state. FWC contracts with licensed pesticide operators to conduct the spraying, which Wilson feels is leading to the problem. He thinks the contractors are over-spraying and not communicating with each other, leading to massive sections of open water which were once filled with lush vegetation. When he took to Facebook to complain about how much spraying he has seen, a scientist in Southwest Florida came up with a hypothesis. “Glyphosate and other herbicides are one of the things that I think could be leading to an excess of nutrients in the water. And the excess of nutrients in the water leads to all kinds of harmful algae blooms,” said Dr. James Douglass. Douglass, an ecologist who normally studies seagrass in salt-water, has not conducted any research on the chemical herbicide glyphosate. He said he’d like to team up with a freshwater researcher at the University to see how much impact the chemical glyphosate may have on algae blooms if he can get funding. READ MORE: Thousands claim weed killer causes cancer His interest sparked the attention of a nature documentarian who shot video from Wilson’s boat. That video was shared by consumer advocate Erin Brockovich and went viral. Within a month more than 150,000 people have signed an online petition calling on the state to stop spraying chemicals in the water to control weeds. Further research needed The interaction between the glyphosate and cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, was studied at Bowling Green University in Ohio almost a decade ago. “We showed that one, that the glyphosate was not inhibitory to the cyanobacteria,” explained Bowling Green Professor Dr. Michael McKay. “… the glyphosate didn’t kill the cyanobacteria and two, they seemed to be able to acquire enough phosphorus for them to grow from the glyphosate alone.” MORE: Bowling Green University professors explain research project DOCUMENT: Full 2009 Study The two researchers were not able to secure more funding to study the effects of glyphosate on cyanobacteria further, but say more research is needed. “In your case, it’s [glyphosate] being applied directly to lakes or rivers, so it’s quite a different application with different effects,” said Dr. McKay. His colleague, professor of biological sciences Dr. George Bullerjahn, agrees. “That’s where I would like to see more research,” he said. “Is glyphosate application as an herbicide to control aquatic weeds– is that tipping the balance in favor of cyanobacteria which is unaffected by the glyphosate?” But FWC claims there is a lot of research that goes into determining how to control invasive plants in Florida. “Research has shown that keeping populations of these plants at low levels [Maintenance Control], reduces the build-up of decaying plant material and therefore less nutrients are released into the system,” said Segelson, adding that the agency partners with universities to find the most environmentally effective solutions. “[If you don’t control the weeds] you end up with very low oxygen concentrations in your lakes and you end up with fish kills if these plants are not controlled. Another thing they do is harbor insect larvae, in particular, mosquito larvae,” said Dr. Jason Ferrell, the director for the University of Florida’s center for aquatic invasive plants. PDF: Rounding up the evidence In an interview with WINK News, Dr. Ferrell emphasized that the chemicals being used in the water have gone through rigorous EPA approvals. “This is not DDT. This is not Agent Orange. It’s things that are very sound and have been investigated thoroughly for decades,” he said. After a television station in West Palm Beach ran a segment regarding the push to ban aquatic weed spraying, Ferrell wrote an open-letter to share his perspective. In it, Ferrell claimed the solution to the algae crisis is “incredibly complex” and one that scientists and legislators “differ over which path to take.” “Though we all agree that something needs to be done, our data and experiences teach us that stopping the management of invasive plants will have a number of negative consequences that will surely outweigh the positives,” he said. MORE: Full the full letter from Dr. Jason Ferrell