ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
LEE COUNTY, Fla.- What’s between your child’s head and the ground matters when it comes to preventing concussions on the field. WINK News was the first to investigate the safety of all football helmets at schools in Southwest Florida. In September we revealed the ratings of helmets used at public schools in Charlotte and Collier counties. Now we have the types of helmets in play in Lee County. A former Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Earnest Graham spent nine years in the NFL as a running back. Known as a bruiser, he made his fair share of hard hits and got hit hard in return. The current North Fort Myers football head coach doesn’t think he ever suffered a concussion but says the subject back then was taboo. “I would have been pulled to the side, you know, would have been look at for precautionary measures, but I never got diagnosed,” said Graham. “Before you kind of go ahead, get right back in the game.” Graham says times have changed. The discussion over concussions in the sport is at all levels of play including high school. Researchers at Virginia Tech looked at the role football helmets play in preventing injuries by re-creating the hits players take. What they found was that the design of a helmet can reduce the risk of a concussion. Each helmet received one of six ratings: 5-stars: best available 4-stars: very good 3-stars: good 2-stars: adequate 1-star: marginal NR: not recommended We spoke to the man in charge of the study Doctor Stefan Duma. He tells us that the basic difference between the helmets is the amount of padding. He also says any helmet rated two stars and below should be replaced. We took that rating system and looked at all makes and models of helmets at Lee County high schools. At North Fort Myers where Graham coaches 89 percent of helmets were rated four and five. But we found 15 rated as a one, for marginal. Graham says that is unacceptable. He says there are more kids than helmets and they will look into switching these out if they’re being used. There were eight schools in the district with 98 percent of helmets rated four or better. Three schools with 84 percent. Island Coast had all three stars rated good. Many of the helmets weren’t rated. Doctor Duma says they didn’t look at helmets older than 2011 but that doesn’t mean they’re unsafe. We checked with those schools with large numbers of not rated helmets, like Cape Coral High School. They say all of their helmets were purchased brand new in 2011 and 10 new helmets are purchased every year. They’re also reconditioned every year by the manufacturer. That’s the same for all schools. It doesn’t hurt to ask your child or your child’s coach what helmet they are wearing. Click here to see your child’s school in Lee County: http://cdn2.winknews.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/lee_county_helmet_safety_database.pdf Click here to see our report on Charlotte and Collier counties. The helmet ratings for those schools are at the bottom. Click here for Virginia Tech’s rating report.