Naples community unites, raises over $360,000 at annual breast cancer walkCollier County chase on I-75 ends in arrest after PIT maneuver
NAPLES Naples community unites, raises over $360,000 at annual breast cancer walk The annual fundraiser that’s been making strides in Southwest Florida toward fighting breast cancer is happening.
Collier County chase on I-75 ends in arrest after PIT maneuver A high-speed chase on Interstate 75 ended when Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrested a driver following a PIT maneuver near Mile Marker 101 in Collier County.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Clouds and sun with seasonal temperatures for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking clouds and sun on Saturday with only a chance for a few showers.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 9 Check out southwest Florida high school football teams in action with several district titles on the line in week nine.
CLEWISTON Remembering Ja’yhanna Johnson; Loved ones pay final respects to teen killed at party A family is paying their final respects to a teen, gone too soon. Sixteen year old Ja’yhanna Johnson was a cheerleader, and had a strong sense of faith.
Former FBI agent speaks on deadly deputy-involved shooting A former FBI agent said that deputies appeared to take the steps they could before jumping to lethal force.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs residents petitioning to stop demolition of school Bonita Springs residents have a little more than 200 signatures on their online petition to prevent the demolition of Bonita Springs Elementary School.
Nicotine pouch trend grows amongst teens The number of teens using tobacco products is at a 25-year low, but at the same time, kids are ditching cigarettes, and many are picking up another habit: nicotine pouches.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda funeral home supports community during Milton Two years ago, Hurricane Ian came and turned the Johnson Funeral Home in Punta Gorda into rubble.
FORT MYERS Drive-thru-only Starbucks enters construction phase while traffic concerns grow It looks like a construction zone for the time being, but soon it will be a one-of-a-kind Starbucks in Fort Myers.
Charlotte County releases body-cam footage of fatal deputy-involved shooting Charlotte County has released the body and dashcam video of the deputy-involved shooting incident that occurred on Wednesday afternoon on Sandy Pine Drive.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte teen arrested accused of posting threat to school According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a Port Charlotte middle school student has been arrested following a school shooting threat made on TikTok.
Amendment 6: Repeal of public campaign financing Florida helps to fund the campaigns of all statewide office candidates. That includes governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner. If passed, amendment six will take away that funding.
PGD seeks restaurant operator for Air Center, offers incentives After plans fell through to open a Rosati’s Pizza franchise at PGD Air Center at Punta Gorda Airport, Charlotte County Airport Authority is seeking bids for a full-service restaurant and bar that also provides catering.
FORT MYERS BEACH Margaritaville on Fort Myers Beach to reopen after Milton shutdown Just in time for the weekend, we’ve got some exciting news from Margaritaville Beach Resort in Fort Myers Beach.
NAPLES Naples community unites, raises over $360,000 at annual breast cancer walk The annual fundraiser that’s been making strides in Southwest Florida toward fighting breast cancer is happening.
Collier County chase on I-75 ends in arrest after PIT maneuver A high-speed chase on Interstate 75 ended when Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrested a driver following a PIT maneuver near Mile Marker 101 in Collier County.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Clouds and sun with seasonal temperatures for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking clouds and sun on Saturday with only a chance for a few showers.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 9 Check out southwest Florida high school football teams in action with several district titles on the line in week nine.
CLEWISTON Remembering Ja’yhanna Johnson; Loved ones pay final respects to teen killed at party A family is paying their final respects to a teen, gone too soon. Sixteen year old Ja’yhanna Johnson was a cheerleader, and had a strong sense of faith.
Former FBI agent speaks on deadly deputy-involved shooting A former FBI agent said that deputies appeared to take the steps they could before jumping to lethal force.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs residents petitioning to stop demolition of school Bonita Springs residents have a little more than 200 signatures on their online petition to prevent the demolition of Bonita Springs Elementary School.
Nicotine pouch trend grows amongst teens The number of teens using tobacco products is at a 25-year low, but at the same time, kids are ditching cigarettes, and many are picking up another habit: nicotine pouches.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda funeral home supports community during Milton Two years ago, Hurricane Ian came and turned the Johnson Funeral Home in Punta Gorda into rubble.
FORT MYERS Drive-thru-only Starbucks enters construction phase while traffic concerns grow It looks like a construction zone for the time being, but soon it will be a one-of-a-kind Starbucks in Fort Myers.
Charlotte County releases body-cam footage of fatal deputy-involved shooting Charlotte County has released the body and dashcam video of the deputy-involved shooting incident that occurred on Wednesday afternoon on Sandy Pine Drive.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte teen arrested accused of posting threat to school According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, a Port Charlotte middle school student has been arrested following a school shooting threat made on TikTok.
Amendment 6: Repeal of public campaign financing Florida helps to fund the campaigns of all statewide office candidates. That includes governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner. If passed, amendment six will take away that funding.
PGD seeks restaurant operator for Air Center, offers incentives After plans fell through to open a Rosati’s Pizza franchise at PGD Air Center at Punta Gorda Airport, Charlotte County Airport Authority is seeking bids for a full-service restaurant and bar that also provides catering.
FORT MYERS BEACH Margaritaville on Fort Myers Beach to reopen after Milton shutdown Just in time for the weekend, we’ve got some exciting news from Margaritaville Beach Resort in Fort Myers Beach.
MGN OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (CNN) When John Haygood, a 10-year-old boy with autism, was arrested last week at school, he kept repeating that he didn’t know what was happening, as seen in shaky cellphone video taken by his mother. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t understand,” he cried out. In the video, his hands are cuffed as two officers escort him to the back seat of a police car. His mother, Luanne Haygood, followed behind them while recording the incident on her phone. In the video, John appears distraught, and yells some profanities. Luanne is heard in the video speaking to the officers, “Excuse me, do you have any paperwork or anything you can say to me?” John, a student at Okeechobee Achievement Academy, was arrested at the school last week for felony battery against a paraprofessional in an October incident, allegedly punching and kicking his paraprofessional, which left scratches and marks, according to an incident report from the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office. The incident occurred after John was being disruptive in class, throwing paper balls around the classroom and hitting other students, the report said. His paraprofessional asked him to go to time out. When John refused, the paraprofessional attempted to remove him, and that’s when John attacked, the report said. The report also noted that John had allegedly made threats to kill the paraprofessional in a previous incident. On Nov. 1, the paraprofessional requested to pursue criminal charges since John “had been given plenty of opportunities to change his behavior and has not,” the report said. Autism spectrum disorder is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how a person behaves and interacts with others, communicates, and learns. Many people with autism, for instance, are hypersensitive to and dislike being touched, as well as might be upset by a slight change in a routine. In October, John was expelled from the Academy and has been completing his schoolwork from home since then, according to CNN affiliate WPBF. Last Wednesday, he returned to the Academy to take a standardized test, but “was not being compliant and refused to test,” the incident report said. After John was given time to test, the arresting officer notified Luanne that John had an active warrant and had to be placed under arrest, the incident report said. The arresting officer asked John if he would be willing to walk to the patrol car, and John replied, “Don’t touch me. I don’t like to be touched,” according to the incident report. He can be heard making similar comments in the video. John was then handcuffed and transported to a juvenile detention center, where he spent the night. The next day, John appeared in court on charges of assaulting his paraprofessional, was then released, and is now scheduled to appear in court again on May 11, WPBF reported. Luanne said she was never warned of any warrants for his arrest or imminent problems with law enforcement. “When it happened I was angry, like really? He’s been out of school for six months; he could have been arrested at any time,” Luanne said. “The school could have let me know, the police officers could have let me know. And then try to act like he’s dangerous and you got to get him off this campus and he has an arrest warrant and I had to make sure it was real.” Luanne said police “were gentle with him,” but expressed dismay that a child with autism could be taken into custody. “They’re being treated as criminals rather than children with special needs,” she said. On Tuesday, Luanne posted to her Facebook page that she obtained copies of police records for John. The incident report noted that Luanne thought the charges against her son were dropped. Additionally, the school district sent a statement to CNN on Friday indicating that the paraprofessional requested to drop the charges. “I pressed charges in order to get the ball rolling to get his mother to realize he needs additional help. I think it is now understood the additional help is needed,” the paraprofessional wrote about John in a copy of the request to drop charges. Yet, state prosecutor Ashley Albright said that the charges have not been dropped. Once the paraprofessional filed to press charges, the legal process was set into motion. “In any criminal case, it’s the state of Florida versus whoever is being charged,” said Albright, who met Wednesday with the paraprofessional who pressed the charges. Albright added that instead of pursuing any criminal charges, this case will be approached “nonjudicially.” “In this case, we are not seeking to give him a criminal record or anything of that nature,” Albright said about John. “The goal is to get the Department of Juvenile Justice and the state of Florida to provide some additional assistance and counseling for him.” The school district sent the following statement to CNN in response to John’s arrest: “It has been district procedure to invite students in to take the Florida Standards Assessment. The district would not invite someone to one of our campuses for the sole purpose to arrest. The district routinely assists students by providing services from our board certified behavioral analyst, licensed mental health counselors, school social workers, and psychologists. “As a team, these individuals develop interventions, conduct assessments, and offer support both at school and in the home in order to assist students and families. “The district is unable to provide specific information as to both current and past incidents regarding this or any other student due to educational laws and rules. It is our hope that we can continue to work with all families to help their students improve both behaviorally and academically.” Ann Abramowitz, a professor of psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, with no firsthand knowledge of the situation, said the sequence of events didn’t provide her with enough information to comment on John’s incident. However, various students with autism tend to benefit from certain types of carefully planned disciplinary strategies, compared to other types of discipline. Those strategies include maintaining a calm and orderly environment, maintaining a schedule for the student, and preventing any outbursts of distress, anger or aggression, she said. “Keep kids engaged to prevent outbursts, because once outbursts occur, they can be very challenging to manage and can lead to situations where it exceeds the school’s capacity to manage the behavior,” Abramowitz said, adding that “I can’t really think where being put in handcuffs would be helpful to a child, and of course it just seems intuitively obvious that it could be traumatic.”