Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
WINK NEWS Getting an inside look at the FEMA discount controversy Picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ian has been difficult for many and moving on can impact our wallets.
FGCU FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff playing for hometown team after labrum injury FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff is living the dream playing for the hometown team after he overcame a labrum injury.
LEHIGH ACRES Frustrated Lehigh parents want action after violent school fights go viral online Violence at a Lehigh Acres Middle school was captured and posted online.
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 Owners of Richards Building speak out over paint job of historic property The Richards Building in downtown Fort Myers, aged 101 years, recently underwent a controversial transformation with a fresh coat of white paint, defying a stop-work order and sparking public outrage.
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.
Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
WINK NEWS Getting an inside look at the FEMA discount controversy Picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ian has been difficult for many and moving on can impact our wallets.
FGCU FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff playing for hometown team after labrum injury FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff is living the dream playing for the hometown team after he overcame a labrum injury.
LEHIGH ACRES Frustrated Lehigh parents want action after violent school fights go viral online Violence at a Lehigh Acres Middle school was captured and posted online.
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 Owners of Richards Building speak out over paint job of historic property The Richards Building in downtown Fort Myers, aged 101 years, recently underwent a controversial transformation with a fresh coat of white paint, defying a stop-work order and sparking public outrage.
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.
MGN Online DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – A suicide bomber riding an empty livestock truck laden with explosives blew himself up Wednesday in a crowded district in the predominantly Kurdish town of Qamishli in northern Syria, causing massive destruction and killing 44 people in a new attack claimed by the Islamic State group. Residents and activists describe a huge explosion in the western district of the town Kurds have declared as the capital of their self-declared autonomous enclave in northern Syria. Hours after the early-morning explosion, rescue workers continued to search for survivors under the rubble of buildings, some of them totally leveled by the powerful blast. Most of the victims were civilians, who were lingering in the district that also houses a station for the Kurdish security forces. It was not immediately clear if any Kurdish fighters were among those killed. “Terror is all I saw among the residents when I first arrived. I was shocked at the extent of destruction in the homes and shops,” said Decile Husen, a 23-year old media activist who works with the Kurdish ANHA Hawar news agency, who got to the scene shortly after the 9.30 a.m. explosion. “One home was reduced to rubble. Nothing was left of it,” she said. Qamishli, near the Turkish border, is mainly controlled by Kurds but Syrian government forces are present and control the town’s airport. The Kurds, Syria’s largest ethnic minority, have carved out a semi-autonomous enclave in Syria’s north since the start of the civil war in 2011, where they run their own affairs. Kurdish officials said the IS militants targeted the town in retaliation for the ongoing offensive they lead against Manbij, an IS stronghold east of Qamishli. The predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces, backed by airstrikes and training from the U.S.-led coalition, have been the main force fighting IS on the ground in northern Syria. Kurdish forces have also been the most successful ground force in terms of reclaiming territory and towns from IS over the past two years. In recent weeks, the Islamic State group has come under increasing military pressure in Iraq and Syria, losing Fallujah in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria. Its fighters are currently being besieged in Manbij. In retaliation, the militant group has claimed a series of attacks it said were against members of the international coalition that have been fighting against it. The recent attacks in Germany and France were claimed by the group, which had urged its supporters around the world to take the war outside of Iraq and Syria. In a statement published by the IS-linked Aamaq news agency, the group said it carried out the attack in Qamishli, describing it as a truck bombing that struck a complex of Kurdish offices. In a later statement, it said the suicide bombing was in retaliation for the U.S.-led airstrikes in Manbij, threatening the Kurds specifically with more attacks. The extremist group has carried out several bombings in Kurdish areas in Syria in the past. Syrian state TV broadcast footage showing people running away from a mushroom of gray smoke rising over the town and others running amid wrecked or burnt cars. Other footage showed the damage reaching side streets. Residents were carrying bloodied bodies on stretchers away from the scene while some climbed over the rubble, clearly searching for survivors. Qamishli resident Suleiman Youssef, a writer, told The Associated Press by telephone that he heard the first explosion from a few miles away. He said the blasts leveled several buildings to the ground and many people were trapped under the rubble. “Most of the buildings at the scene of the explosion have been heavily damaged because of the strength of the blast,” he said. Initial media reports said the first explosion was followed by an explosives-packed motorcycle a few minutes later in the same area. But later reports and footage showed a massive flame erupting, apparently from a gas canister, after the initial explosion. Husen, the media activist and photojournalist, said fires erupted in some buildings and overturned cars. She said the explosives-laden vehicle was believed to be an empty livestock truck that went off in the main street, named after the nearby town of Amuda. The commander of the Kurdish security forces, Joan Ibrahim, vowed to avenge the “dirty” attack, which he said came in retaliation for the siege imposed by the SDF on Manbij. “We promise (our people) that we will take revenge from Daesh and its allies for martyrs, and wounded and for Qamishli,” Ibrahim said in a recorded video message posted on the security forces’ Facebook Page, using the Arabic acronym for IS.