DeSantis to hold press conference in Tallahassee with update on MiltonTS Milton continues to organize and strengthen in the SW Gulf, heading east
TALLAHASSEE DeSantis to hold press conference in Tallahassee with update on Milton Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference with an update on preparations for Tropical Storm Milton, which is expected to become a hurricane in less than 24 hours.
TS Milton continues to organize and strengthen in the SW Gulf, heading east Tropical Storm Milton continues to strengthen in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, and it is predicted it to reach hurricane status in less than 24 hours.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY NHC has bumped up Milton’s peak intensity forecast to 120mph The Weather Authority is tracking Tropical Storm Milton, the latest named storm which will lead to a week of heavy rain for southwest Florida beginning Sunday.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents loading up on sandbags ahead of Milton With Tropical Storm Milton developing in the tropics and heavy rain expected Sunday, people in Charlotte County are getting prepared by loading up their cars with sandbags.
NORTH FORT MYERS Debris from Helene has neighbors worrying about Milton While many are still trying to pick up the pieces left from Hurricane Helene, residents in North Fort Myers still have a lot of leftover debris piling up.
Free sandbag locations available ahead of this weekend’s heavy rainfall The Weather Authority has been tracking a potential rainmaker that will impact our area from Sunday through Wednesday.
FEMA urging Florida residents to prepare for Milton FEMA is monitoring Milton which is set to become a Category 3 Hurricane as it makes landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
DeSantis declares state of emergency in 35 Florida counties ahead of Milton In an X post on Saturday evening, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 35 Florida counties ahead of Milton.
SANIBEL Sanibel residents preparing for Tropical Storm Milton Another tropical system is taking aim at Florida. The devastation from Helene is still fresh on the minds of Sanibel residents, and they aren’t wasting time preparing.
PORT CHARLOTTE Charlotte County opens resource center for those affected by Helene Charlotte County has opened a multi-agency resource center at the Port Charlotte Town Center to help those affected by Helene.
High-speed chase leads to PIT maneuver in Lee County A high-speed pursuit between a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and a vehicle ended in a PIT maneuver in Lee County.
FORT MYERS Farmer Mike’s 10th Annual Fall Festival kicks off in Lee County Saturday marks the start of the 10th Annual Fall Festival at Farmer Mike’s in Fort Myers and Bonita Springs.
The Weather Authority answers your questions about storm surge Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water generated by a storm, over and above the predicted astronomical tide.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 7 Week seven was action packed for high school football teams all over southwest Florida. WINK News has the highlights and scores.
Baby girl born during Hurricane Helene A stork managed to fly through Hurricane Helen’s strong winds. Baby Addison Grace Hayes was born during the storm’s peak at Health Park Medical Center in Lee County.
TALLAHASSEE DeSantis to hold press conference in Tallahassee with update on Milton Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference with an update on preparations for Tropical Storm Milton, which is expected to become a hurricane in less than 24 hours.
TS Milton continues to organize and strengthen in the SW Gulf, heading east Tropical Storm Milton continues to strengthen in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, and it is predicted it to reach hurricane status in less than 24 hours.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY NHC has bumped up Milton’s peak intensity forecast to 120mph The Weather Authority is tracking Tropical Storm Milton, the latest named storm which will lead to a week of heavy rain for southwest Florida beginning Sunday.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents loading up on sandbags ahead of Milton With Tropical Storm Milton developing in the tropics and heavy rain expected Sunday, people in Charlotte County are getting prepared by loading up their cars with sandbags.
NORTH FORT MYERS Debris from Helene has neighbors worrying about Milton While many are still trying to pick up the pieces left from Hurricane Helene, residents in North Fort Myers still have a lot of leftover debris piling up.
Free sandbag locations available ahead of this weekend’s heavy rainfall The Weather Authority has been tracking a potential rainmaker that will impact our area from Sunday through Wednesday.
FEMA urging Florida residents to prepare for Milton FEMA is monitoring Milton which is set to become a Category 3 Hurricane as it makes landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
DeSantis declares state of emergency in 35 Florida counties ahead of Milton In an X post on Saturday evening, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 35 Florida counties ahead of Milton.
SANIBEL Sanibel residents preparing for Tropical Storm Milton Another tropical system is taking aim at Florida. The devastation from Helene is still fresh on the minds of Sanibel residents, and they aren’t wasting time preparing.
PORT CHARLOTTE Charlotte County opens resource center for those affected by Helene Charlotte County has opened a multi-agency resource center at the Port Charlotte Town Center to help those affected by Helene.
High-speed chase leads to PIT maneuver in Lee County A high-speed pursuit between a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and a vehicle ended in a PIT maneuver in Lee County.
FORT MYERS Farmer Mike’s 10th Annual Fall Festival kicks off in Lee County Saturday marks the start of the 10th Annual Fall Festival at Farmer Mike’s in Fort Myers and Bonita Springs.
The Weather Authority answers your questions about storm surge Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water generated by a storm, over and above the predicted astronomical tide.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 7 Week seven was action packed for high school football teams all over southwest Florida. WINK News has the highlights and scores.
Baby girl born during Hurricane Helene A stork managed to fly through Hurricane Helen’s strong winds. Baby Addison Grace Hayes was born during the storm’s peak at Health Park Medical Center in Lee County.
MGN ELMAU, Germany (AP) – Acknowledging military setbacks, President Barack Obama said Monday the United States still lacks a “complete strategy” for training Iraqi forces to fight the Islamic State. He urged Iraq’s government to allow more of the nation’s Sunnis to join the campaign against the violent militants. Nearly one year after American troops started returning to Iraq to assist local forces, Obama said the Islamic State remains “nimble, aggressive and opportunistic.” He touted “significant progress” in areas where the U.S. has trained Iraqis to fight but said forces without U.S. assistance are often ill-equipped and suffer from poor morale. IS fighters captured the key Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi last month, prompting Defense Secretary Ash Carter to lament that Iraqi troops lacked “the will to fight.” That was a strikingly negative assessment of a military that has been the beneficiary of billions in U.S. assistance dating back to the war started during the administration of U.S. President George. W. Bush in 2003. Still, Obama indicated that simply increasing the number of Americans in Iraq would not resolve the country’s issues. The U.S. currently has about 3,000 troops there for train-and-assist missions. “We’ve got more training capacity than we have recruits,” he said at the close of a two-day Group of Seven meeting at a luxury resort tucked in the Bavarian Alps. G-7 leaders invited Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to join them Monday for talks on the security situation in the Middle East. Obama and Abadi also met one-on-one shortly before the president departed for Washington. In both public and private, Obama urged Abadi and his Shiite-led government to allow more Sunnis to fight the Islamic State. The White House has long blamed Iraq’s sectarian divisions for stoking the kind of instability that allowed the militants to thrive. “We’ve seen Sunni tribes who are not only willing and prepared to fight ISIL, but have been successful at rebuffing ISIL,” Obama said by the U.S. government. “But it has not been happening as fast as it needs to.” In Washington, the highest-ranking Sunni in Iraq’s government said Sunni tribes are still receiving insufficient training and inferior weapons compared to the national army. Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri put the onus for fixing that on Baghdad, saying it should provide clear assurances that the tribes will receive the necessary weapons. “Guarantees create confidence, and we need confidence,” al-Jabouri told a small group of reporters, speaking through an interpreter. An early opponent of Bush’s war in Iraq, Obama withdrew U.S. forces in late 2011 and has vowed that he won’t send Americans back into combat there. The U.S., along with coalition partners, is launching airstrikes in both Iraq and Syria, but is banking on local ground forces to supplement that effort. A six-week U.S. combat training course instructs Iraqi forces in how to shoot, communicate and move about on the battlefield. They are also given individual military equipment. Col. Steve Warren, Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Monday that the U.S. wants to be able to increase the number of Iraqi troops being trained, but to do that the Iraq government has to increase the number of troops it provides. As of June 4, the U.S. had trained 8,920 Iraqi troops at the four sites, and 2,601 more are undergoing training, Warren said. Beyond Iraq’s sectarian divisions, senior defense officials said, training is hindered because Iraqi security forces have difficulty getting to training sites. Not only are they consumed with fighting, but there are also risks in the travel itself, from Islamic State fighters to roadside bombs and blocked roads. Some Republicans in the U.S. say the Islamic State’s strength is a result of what they see as Obama’s muddled and ineffective strategy. The president was sharply criticized in August for saying the U.S. didn’t have an overall strategy for fighting the Islamic State, and his comments Monday about plans for training the Iraqis sounded similar. “We aren’t winning the fight against ISIL because we don’t have a winning plan,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said. “The president can’t delay anymore, especially as ISIL continues to make major gains.” The campaign against the Islamic State was one of several security issues on the agenda during the G-7 talks. Leaders also spent significant time discussing the crisis in Ukraine, where the West alleges Russia continues to sow instability. In a joint statement, the leaders vowed to keep sanctions in place until a fragile peace agreement is fully implemented. They also said sanctions could increase if Russia escalates its aggression, despite the fact that the economic penalties have done little to change Vladimir Putin’s approach so far. Until last year, Russia had joined the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan in the bloc of leading industrial nations. But those nations kicked Russia out last year as part of its punishments for actions in Ukraine.