Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
FORT MYERS Help identify driver of SUV related to Fort Myers shooting Police hope someone can help identify the driver of an SUV involved in the shooting on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard and Michigan Avenue.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: What needs to change to protect other young people? November 8, 2021, Jake Pfeiffer took his own life. His mom shared Jake’s story with WINK News in the hopes of saving another life.
FORT MYERS Man accused of fatal shooting of truck driver appears in court A man facing second-degree murder charges following an altercation with a pickup truck driver made an appearance in court.
NAPLES SUV crashes into Naples restaurant’s window; no injuries A popular Naples restaurant is cleaning up after an SUV partially crashed into it, but luckily, nobody was hurt.
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Rhett, Tag For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
WINK NEWS Recall issued for ground beef sold with possible E. coli at Walmart The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a recall for several ground beef products distributed from Pennsylvania to Walmart’s nationwide.
The Weather Authority Hotter and more humid this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mild Friday morning with dry afternoon conditions and isolated storms appearing in the evening.
PUNTA GORDA ‘Party’s Over’: Dirt biking ends at Barefoot Lake The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has made it clear, the party at Barefoot Lake is over.
Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
FORT MYERS Help identify driver of SUV related to Fort Myers shooting Police hope someone can help identify the driver of an SUV involved in the shooting on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard and Michigan Avenue.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: What needs to change to protect other young people? November 8, 2021, Jake Pfeiffer took his own life. His mom shared Jake’s story with WINK News in the hopes of saving another life.
FORT MYERS Man accused of fatal shooting of truck driver appears in court A man facing second-degree murder charges following an altercation with a pickup truck driver made an appearance in court.
NAPLES SUV crashes into Naples restaurant’s window; no injuries A popular Naples restaurant is cleaning up after an SUV partially crashed into it, but luckily, nobody was hurt.
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Rhett, Tag For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
WINK NEWS Recall issued for ground beef sold with possible E. coli at Walmart The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a recall for several ground beef products distributed from Pennsylvania to Walmart’s nationwide.
The Weather Authority Hotter and more humid this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mild Friday morning with dry afternoon conditions and isolated storms appearing in the evening.
PUNTA GORDA ‘Party’s Over’: Dirt biking ends at Barefoot Lake The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has made it clear, the party at Barefoot Lake is over.
MGN TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Amid continued backlash over Florida’s testing regimen, the state may stop holding back third grade students who fail the state’s standardized tests. If Florida lawmakers agree to the change, it would mark a major departure from a policy pushed into law by then-Gov. Jeb Bush who decried “social promotion” when he campaigned for governor. Bush vowed to end the practice as part of his A+ education law enacted in 1999. The law tied promotion to the fourth grade to how students did on a standardized reading test. A Senate panel on Wednesday voted in favor of suspending the policy until the state’s new standardized test is independently validated. The test is based heavily on Common Core standards and a rollout this month of an online version for middle and high school students has been marred by technical glitches. The vote on Wednesday came after a sharp debate, where both Democratic and some Republican legislators, argued that the state’s heavy reliance on the high-stakes test has gotten out of control. The Florida Legislature is considering bills that would roll back some testing requirements. “I think if we’re all honest with the people of Florida we would admit right now we have a train wreck on our hands with our educational system,” said Sen. Alan Hays, a Republican from Umatilla. Hays on Wednesday tried to get the Senate Appropriations Committee to halt school grades as well as all other requirements tied to the tests until an in-depth review was conducted. He also wanted to verify that school districts are capable of giving the tests online. Bush has been touting his education policies as he prepares for a likely presidential bid that is supported by many of Florida’s top elected Republicans, including the two leaders of the Legislature. Bush did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Florida expanded the use of standardized testing under Bush’s plan to grade schools. The A to F grades were used to offer rewards and impose sanctions. Students who failed the tests could be held back in third grade or not allowed to graduate from high school. Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future, a group started by Bush, contended that the policy of holding back third graders has been a success. “For more than a decade, Florida has placed a command focus on reading through early identification, intervention and retention as a last resort,” Levesque said in a statement. “The results have been transformative: our students outperformed the national average in every subgroup for fourth grade reading on the most recent Nation’s Report Card.” The number of required tests has grown over the last decade and they also took on more importance as they became part of the measurements used to evaluate teachers. Legislators entered this year’s session promising to rein in the number of tests after hearing complaints from parents, students and school officials. The Florida House has already passed a bill that scales back and eliminates some tests including one required of 11th graders. But the measure does not include the same provisions as the Senate legislation. GOP legislators in the House have also rejected changes pushed by Democrats, including one that calls for suspending the school-grading system as the state transitions to its new set of tests. The panel – which makes up nearly half of the 40-member Senate -instead agreed to a compromise that would suspend the third grade retention policy until the test is validated. A policy requiring 10th graders to pass the test for graduation would also be suspended. Sen. John Legg, a sponsor of the testing bill, said there would be no way to validate the test in time for when schools must decide whether to hold students back. Legg, however, pointed out that parents would still be told if a student did poorly on the reading test.