Caught on Camera: Firefighters respond to dumpster fire at FGCUFGCU students affected by Covid celebrate first commencement ceremony
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.
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 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.
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.
courtesy of the Miami Herald MIAMI (AP) – For Julius Woods, his World War II service as a teenager in the U.S. Navy feels like another time, another life. So many years later, he didn’t expect it to be a big deal to anyone. Too much going on in the present century, and all that. But somebody – actually a few somebodies – became intrigued by his participation in the war, and now Honor Flight South Florida is flying him and 77 other veterans to Washington to visit the World War II Memorial and see the changing of the guard at Arlington Cemetery. The trip has come as a surprise. “All along you go around being a nobody and then somebody takes the time to notice,” Woods said. “It makes you feel real good.” Woods is 90 years old but easily looks a decade younger. He’s still in uniform – as a security guard at Belle Meade Island off Biscayne Boulevard, where he shows up for work at 6 a.m. and puts in a full eight-hour day. In the afternoons he has “a second job, but it doesn’t pay,” he jokes: He picks up his great-grandkids after school as needed. Denise Palacios, a Belle Meade resident, nominated Woods for Honor Flight South Florida, a nonprofit that flies veterans to the nation’s capital to visit memorials for free, The residents have raised enough money to pay for his daughter to accompany him, too. After Palacios heard about Woods’ war experience from her neighborhood running buddies, she decided to nominate him for Honor Flight. She wanted him to get his due. “He’s very special and such a hero,” Palacios said. “He deserves to be honored in every which way possible.” Woods is taking the attention in stride, though he does enjoy showing off the special Honor Flight T-shirt and tote bag that he plans to wear when he boards the charter flight at Miami International Airport. Among the other veterans on the trip: a 100-year-old who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and two vets who are 98. Honor Flight began in May 2005, when six small planes flew from Springfield, Ohio, to Washington with 12 veterans aboard. In less than a dozen years, the idea blossomed to include an Honor Flight Network of 130 hubs. About 160,000 war veterans have been flown to Washington; the South Florida hub, which serves from Monroe County to Boca Raton, sponsors three flights a year. “It’s a recognition of their heroism,” said Beverley Engler, local Honor Flight manager of communications. “These were just humble guys who went out and literally saved the world. It’s quite amazing what they did, and they deserve the recognition.” Woods doesn’t think of himself as a hero. He says he did what he had to do. Son of a sharecropper, Woods was living with his aunt and two younger siblings in Daytona Beach when he voluntarily enlisted soon after Pearl Harbor. He hoped for the Army. Instead he was sent to the Navy. Even now he shakes his head at that assignment: “I was afraid of the water.” At the time, the Navy mirrored society at large: It was segregated. When Woods was sent on to the USS Mervine, a destroyer tasked with escorting troops to the European war theater, “all that was left for us (blacks) were the jobs of cooks or serving the officers.” The captain, however, insisted that everyone regardless of race or rank receive training, and he learned to fire the 20mm and 40mm guns. Woods didn’t really know how to cook, but during the 30-day crossing he managed to learn a trick or two. “They weren’t too fussy,” he said of his fellow sailors. “They just ate what you cooked.” When he returned stateside, he was immediately assigned to the USS Van Valkenburgh, where he served in the Pacific until the end of the war. As a Seaman First Class, “I had my bars and I was really excited, but I was also scared to death.” Among its duties, the Van Valkenburgh took part in the battle of Iwo Jima, bombarding and firing its guns as Marines landed and eventually wrested control of the island from the Japanese. “I was in the gun room pushing up the ammunition, just pushing it up (on deck),” he said. “There was a lot of noise and movement, all the guns overhead, but you had your orders and that’s what you did.” After the war he returned to Florida. Segregation remained the rule, a bitter pill to swallow for the black troops who had fought for their country. Woods remembers how a teller called the police when he tried to get change for a $50 bill at his local bank. When two officers showed up and found out what had happened, one of them, also freshly out of the service, told Woods he shouldn’t put up with the discrimination.. Escorted by the police, Woods closed his account and opened another one in a bank across the street. “But it really hurt me,” he admitted. “On the ship everyone was like brothers, You looked out for each other.” Woods went on to trade school on the GI bill. He moved to Miami, married, had two children and bought a three-bedroom house in what is now Miami Gardens. He did a brisk business repairing TVs and automobile radios before becoming a security guard and then a plant manager for a plate glass company. In retirement, bored and hoping for extra income, he returned to security work. When people ask him how he stays so upbeat and young-looking, he is quick with his answer. “Anything I can do something about, I do. If I can’t, I don’t carry it on my shoulders.”