Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village DriveJake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people
ESTERO Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
NORTH NAPLES ‘It’s all about connection,’ Statement Peace makes jewelry with sustainability in mind The brand Statement Peace, once started inside founder Jessica Lee’s home, is now in 2,700 stores across the country
Pine Manor 2 arrested for firing gun at birthday party in Pine Manor A party ended with two people behind bars.
FORT MYERS Shooting investigation on busy Fort Myers street Police are conducting a shooting investigation that involves a traffic crash near Michigan Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
FGCU New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis ready to build on department’s success New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis talks about the department’s future amid the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
FORT MYERS More middle-aged women being treated for acne You probably thought you broke up with it after high school, but acne is rearing it’s ugly blackheads in adult women.
Lee County student ran up and hit teacher in head, report shows The report says a 13-year-old student ran up and smacked a teacher in the head because multiple classmates offered him money to do so.
NAPLES Collier Planning Commission continues discussion for apartments near Fiddler’s Creek The developer of Fiddler’s Creek wants to build hundreds of luxury apartments on a slice of a 600 acre-plus property known as section 29.
CAPE CORAL Fatigue sets in for third day of FEMA hearings Flying several hours to come to a FEMA code compliance hearing in Cape Coral is the reality for John Gasparini from Maryland.
ESTERO Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
NORTH NAPLES ‘It’s all about connection,’ Statement Peace makes jewelry with sustainability in mind The brand Statement Peace, once started inside founder Jessica Lee’s home, is now in 2,700 stores across the country
Pine Manor 2 arrested for firing gun at birthday party in Pine Manor A party ended with two people behind bars.
FORT MYERS Shooting investigation on busy Fort Myers street Police are conducting a shooting investigation that involves a traffic crash near Michigan Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
FGCU New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis ready to build on department’s success New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis talks about the department’s future amid the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
FORT MYERS More middle-aged women being treated for acne You probably thought you broke up with it after high school, but acne is rearing it’s ugly blackheads in adult women.
Lee County student ran up and hit teacher in head, report shows The report says a 13-year-old student ran up and smacked a teacher in the head because multiple classmates offered him money to do so.
NAPLES Collier Planning Commission continues discussion for apartments near Fiddler’s Creek The developer of Fiddler’s Creek wants to build hundreds of luxury apartments on a slice of a 600 acre-plus property known as section 29.
CAPE CORAL Fatigue sets in for third day of FEMA hearings Flying several hours to come to a FEMA code compliance hearing in Cape Coral is the reality for John Gasparini from Maryland.
MGN COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. – A Golden Gate Estates man has spent the last three years fighting to get a suspension off his driver’s license for something he never did. In 2012, Dean Meyers went to renew his driver’s license when he discovered it had been suspended. When he asked the clerk at the Department of Motor Vehicles counter, he was told his license was suspended due to unpaid toll tickets, but that did not make sense to him. So, Meyers contacted SunPass to ask for billing records for the unpaid tickets. A short time later, Meyers received a bill in the mail and a picture of an SUV with his license plate driving through the toll booth. The only problem was the SUV was not his, and the plate on the vehicle was supposed to be registered to a white Mustang Meyers had lost the year before in a traffic accident. “Back in 2011, our vehicle was in an accident…He [Meyers’ son] was sitting at a red light and was hit from behind by a drunk driver…and the car was totaled.” Meyers said his insurance company, Progressive towed the car to their lot in Saint Petersburg, and he never saw the car or the car’s plate again. The Mustang was an extra car for the family, so they had no need to renew the plate. However, what Meyers did not know at the time was the plate was stolen from Progressive’s lot. “Whoever stole it, put it on some SUV and was driving around the state of Florida going through SunPass tolls not paying the tickets, and thus my license got suspended.” Meyers said he never received a bill in the mail because he moved from Saint Petersburg to Southwest Florida not long after, and the bills were never forwarded. Once Meyers realized what had happened, he contacted Progressive and had them send him a letter acknowledging the plate was stolen. He sent that letter to SunPass, hoping the company would waive the fee, but that did not happen. Instead, he tells us he spent three years fighting with several different toll agencies in the state to clear his name. “I had to start with SunPass, then I had to go to the police, then I had to go to Progressive, I had to go to the collection agencies, I had to go to an attorney, I had to go to the Miami court system and finally when the Miami court system denied our hearing, I had to go to you,” Meyers said referring to WINK News Call for Action. “She [his wife] has to take her time to drive me everywhere, for any faucet of my life, to get my diabetes medication, to go to Home Depot, to go see my children, anything. So it’s been extremely frustrating.” WINK News Call for Action contacted Progressive, who is working with Meyers to pay off the unpaid toll bills, since the plate was stolen from their lot. They tell us they worked with Mr. Meyers in 2012 and thought that the problem had been resolved. In fact, they said had Mr. Meyers called them back to explain he still needed help, they say they would have stepped in again and sooner to solve the problem for good. Progressive also sent us this statement: There’s no doubt this has been a frustrating experience for Mr. Meyers. His plates were stolen after his vehicle was totaled and someone proceeded to rack up fines and tolls while illegally using those plates. Each time Mr. Meyers has contacted us, we’ve responded and helped as requested. Recently, we were notified that Mr. Meyers hadn’t used the documentation we gave him to prove he wasn’t in possession of the plates when the infractions occurred, but to help him resolve the matter, we’ve agreed to pay all fines and tolls to put the matter to rest. We also reached out to SunPass after Mr. Meyers contacted us and sent them the letter from Progressive saying the license plate was stolen. They sent us this email explaining why they could not forgive the tickets. “SunPass procedurally requires legal documentation releasing liability of a toll payment (divorce decrees, police reports, official motor vehicle records, etc) this covers us when we need to issue any credit adjustments. Mr. Myers [sic] was advised in 2012 that we needed a police report that said the tag was stolen.” While Meyers said he sent the initial crash report to SunPass, what SunPass really needed was a police report documenting the stolen plates. It is a document that does not exist. We recently learned that Progressive reached out to SunPass on their own and SunPass sent us another update: “…although the customer did not get the police report, we did work directly with Progessive to get a clear, original copy of the letter. We have therefore waived the fees owed to the Turnpike. We are closing this matter.” The easiest way to avoid having something like this happen to you is to make sure you cancel a car’s plate if that vehicle is involved in an accident and you do not plan to register the plate to another vehicle.