Black bear spotted in downtown Fort MyersCar with bullet holes towed away from Cape Coral home after police search car, home
FORT MYERS Black bear spotted in downtown Fort Myers A Florida black bear had been spotted in downtown Fort Myers early Monday morning. FWC is responding to relocate the bear.
CAPE CORAL Car with bullet holes towed away from Cape Coral home after police search car, home A Mercedes with at least one bullet hole has been towed from a Cape Coral home.
WINK NEWS Hot and dry Monday afternoon before isolated storms pop up this evening On Monday morning, the weather is starting mild and humid with temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Firefighters respond to dumpster fire at FGCU San Carlos Park Fire District responded to a dumpster fire Sunday afternoon.
FORT MYERS FGCU students affected by Covid celebrate first commencement ceremony Graduation is a right of passage from school to the real world, but for these students, reality hit them in 2020.
PUNTA GORDA Motorcycle crash leaves 1 dead One person has died after a motorcycle crash in Charlotte County.
LEE COUNTY Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to register WINK News Anchor Corey Lazar goes on patrol with Lee County Deputies in search of transient sex offenders who don’t register.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Know your risk Hurricane season starts on June 1st, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated the week of May 5 through May 11 as National Hurricane Preparedness Week. Each day, Meteorologist Lauren Kreidler will be highlighting ways to stay prepared ahead of this year’s hurricane season.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Stay alert – chance of showers and storms on Sunday Hot, humid, and more rain for parts of Southwest Florida on Sunday.
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.
FORT MYERS Black bear spotted in downtown Fort Myers A Florida black bear had been spotted in downtown Fort Myers early Monday morning. FWC is responding to relocate the bear.
CAPE CORAL Car with bullet holes towed away from Cape Coral home after police search car, home A Mercedes with at least one bullet hole has been towed from a Cape Coral home.
WINK NEWS Hot and dry Monday afternoon before isolated storms pop up this evening On Monday morning, the weather is starting mild and humid with temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Firefighters respond to dumpster fire at FGCU San Carlos Park Fire District responded to a dumpster fire Sunday afternoon.
FORT MYERS FGCU students affected by Covid celebrate first commencement ceremony Graduation is a right of passage from school to the real world, but for these students, reality hit them in 2020.
PUNTA GORDA Motorcycle crash leaves 1 dead One person has died after a motorcycle crash in Charlotte County.
LEE COUNTY Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to register WINK News Anchor Corey Lazar goes on patrol with Lee County Deputies in search of transient sex offenders who don’t register.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Know your risk Hurricane season starts on June 1st, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated the week of May 5 through May 11 as National Hurricane Preparedness Week. Each day, Meteorologist Lauren Kreidler will be highlighting ways to stay prepared ahead of this year’s hurricane season.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Stay alert – chance of showers and storms on Sunday Hot, humid, and more rain for parts of Southwest Florida on Sunday.
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.
MGN CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) – Marcus Weaver spent nearly three years talking openly about forgiving the man who shot him, killed his friend and caused untold suffering. As a Christian opposed to capital punishment, he considered forgiveness “a no-brainer” and didn’t want to see the gunman executed. But by the time James Holmes was convicted in the chilling 2012 attack on a Colorado movie theater that left 12 people dead and 70 injured, Weaver had changed his mind about the punishment. “I feel the sentence that he may get, which is the death penalty, is the only penalty that fits the crime that he committed that night,” Weaver said, standing in front of the courthouse where he listened to the tragic and gruesome testimony of fellow moviegoers that ultimately spurred his change of heart. “What do you do to someone who does something as heinous and cowardly as the shooter did and walk into a theater and shoot at an unarmed crowd? It kind of, like, conflicts you.” Jurors began deliberating Thursday whether Holmes, 27, should spend the rest of his life in prison or die by lethal injection. In closing arguments, District Attorney George Brauchler played a recording of a 911 call with gunshots and screams in the background as the victims’ pictures disappeared one by one from a courtroom TV screen. “For James Eagan Holmes, justice is death,” he said. “Death.” Defense attorney Tamara Brady said that the massacre was heartbreaking but that Holmes’ schizophrenia was the sole cause. “The death of a seriously mentally ill man is not justice no matter how tragic the case is,” she said. “Please, no more death.” Weaver’s complicated evolution suggested that for some, there are no easy answers, not even for those who most want to see Holmes punished. Holmes’ victims don’t agree on what sentence is appropriate for the former neuroscience graduate student. Nor is there a consensus about whether it will ease their pain and loss. Robert Sullivan said death would be the only just punishment for the man who killed his 6-year-old granddaughter, Veronica. But Lonnie Phillips, whose daughter, Jessica Ghawi, 24, died in the attack, worries about the decades of appeals that typically come with a death sentence. “If I had my way, he would go to prison the rest of his life and not have to go through the appeals process where we have to look at his face and hear his name again,” Phillips said. “We want him behind us.” In convicting Holmes last month of murder, the jury rejected claims that he was so mentally ill he couldn’t tell right from wrong. For Weaver, who took a shotgun blast to the arm and whose friend Rebecca Wingo was killed, the issue of whether Holmes should die has always been complex. Immediately after the shooting, Weaver, who works for an organization that helps ex-convicts find jobs, clung to his belief that people can change. “I see it all the time in my work,” said Weaver, who speaks to schools, prisons and church groups across the country about overcoming obstacles. He believed Holmes should get a life sentence without parole, especially if he were willing to plead guilty and spare everyone a long and agonizing trial. But prosecutors rejected a plea offer, and the case dragged on for more than three years, revealing gut-wrenching new details at every turn. Weaver heard a stream of heartbreaking stories from other survivors and listened in horror as prosecutors described Holmes’ meticulous plans to kill as many as he could. When Weaver took the stand and glanced over at Holmes, looking vacant behind the defense table, he saw no sign of remorse in his eyes. He said that when he realized many victims wanted Holmes executed, “I kind of had to let my stance go.” “What I did was just prayed about it and left it up to the Lord, and I just moved ahead and let him carry the burden,” he said. “And then the burden was on the jury of 12.” While he now backs a death sentence for Holmes, Weaver said he still forgives him. “It’s really stretched my faith. People ask, ‘Why did you forgive him?’ I say, ‘Well, I didn’t want to carry his bag of rocks around for three years,'” Weaver said. “I had to let him go. It wreaks havoc on your life when you’re conflicted over something you have no control over anyway.”