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.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
LEHIGH ACRES Chaotic lake getting fence and security Now, with all the negative attention it has gotten, some think putting up a fence is a great way to keep that bad activity out.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
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.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
LEHIGH ACRES Chaotic lake getting fence and security Now, with all the negative attention it has gotten, some think putting up a fence is a great way to keep that bad activity out.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
wikipedia / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Frustration on the field turned into tears in the locker room and led to the most impassioned speech in school history, maybe even college football lore. The Promise. It’s been seven years since Tim Tebow delivered a heartfelt apology following a 31-30 home loss to Mississippi, a stunning upset that ended Florida’s undefeated season and spearheaded the team’s run to a second national championship in three years. Tebow’s pledge remains as much a part of the Gators’ past as Steve Spurrier’s kick, Ike Hilliard’s stop-and-pop, or Jarvis Moss’ block. It might even have more staying power than any of those highlight-reel plays. After all, it’s memorialized on a plaque outside the football facility. And with the third-ranked Rebels (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) returning to Gainesville on Saturday for the first time since that shocker on Sept. 27, 2008, Tebow and several of his former teammates reflected on The Promise and what it meant to the Gators then and still signifies now. Tebow “was the type of person who approached the game with the kind of passion unlike anyone else,” former Florida receiver Riley Cooper said Thursday. “It kind of rubbed off on you. When he said it, he knew we weren’t going to lose again. He wasn’t going to let us. It was like, ‘This is what we’re going to do and here’s how we’re going to do it.'” Tebow’s words came long after the final seconds ticked off the clock, but long before the Gators came to grips with the outcome. Florida looked like it would eke out a victory after trailing twice in the fourth quarter. But Tebow was stopped on a fourth-and-1 run at the Ole Miss 32-yard line with 41 seconds remaining. The Rebels had 10 guys near the line of scrimmage and stuffed the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner in the backfield. Tebow, the Gators and more than 90,000 fans were in disbelief. “Agonizing,” Tebow recalled last week. “I’m sure there were a lot of people yelling at the time. Probably a lot of Florida fans, too.” There was plenty of angst to go around. Jonathan Phillips had an extra point blocked with 3:28 remaining that would have tied the game. Major Wright got beat on an 86-yard touchdown pass from Jevan Snead to Shay Hodge. Percy Harvin and Aaron Hernandez fumbled. So did Tebow. And the offensive line collapsed on the all-important fourth-down play. Tebow admittedly cried afterward. He remembers sitting down against a wall and talking to coach Urban Meyer about “What we did wrong. Why did this happen?” Tebow eventually collected himself and was about to walk into the postgame news conference when his parents showed up. He hugged them and got emotional again. So he stepped to the podium with his eyes watering, his voice cracking and offered “what I felt in my heart.” “To the fans and everybody in Gator Nation, I’m sorry,” Tebow said that day. “I’m extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida never has done here. I promise you one thing: A lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season. You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push somebody the rest of the season. “You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God bless.” After that, Tebow walked away. Teammates saw Tebow’s speech later that night. “Guys were still kind of feeling the same way,” former Florida receiver Louis Murphy said. “… We really felt like we were supposed to win the national championship that year, which we ended up doing.” The Gators responded by winning their final eight regular-season games by a combined 317 points. They followed that run by beating Alabama in the SEC title game and then knocking off Oklahoma in the Bowl Championship Series title game. Not everyone gave Tebow as much credit as the masses. “It wasn’t all what it was made out to be,” former Gators receiver Percy Harvin said. “It wasn’t anything more than one of the leaders on the team just standing up and saying, ‘Enough is enough. We’re not going to lose any more games.’ It came from Tebow so it got all kinds of hype and bulletin board. “But he’s the quarterback and he deserved the credit. Yeah, I’ll say he’s the quarterback so he gets everything. Being that he stood up in front of the team and said, ‘Look, I’m going to put this on my back. We’re going to win the rest of these games.’ I give him credit for that.” Meyer gave Tebow so much credit that he had the speech engraved on a plaque before the next season, Tebow’s senior year. “I can’t say that was the reason we won out,” Murphy said. “I can’t say that. But it definitely was a pivotal time in our season. We knew we couldn’t lose any more. That’s how we approached it.”