Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to registerThe Weather Authority: Stay alert – chance of showers and storms on Sunday
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.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
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.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
Photo via USDA ATLANTA (CNN Money) Here’s an issue Republicans and Democrats agree on: Ending the “barbaric” practice of school lunch shaming. A school lunch costs around $2.35. When a kid doesn’t have enough money, many schools require cafeteria workers to take a kid’s tray of hot food away and throw it in the trash. Children are then handed a cold cheese sandwich — or they are forced to go hungry with no food at all. In some cases, penniless kids are even forced to wear stamps, stickers or wristbands that mark them having unpaid lunch debt. “No one believes we do this to kids,” says Jenny Ramo, executive director of New Mexico Appleseed, a nonprofit that works to eliminate poverty. It’s “barbaric.” A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate recently introduced the Anti-Lunch Shaming Act of 2017 to curb the worst of these shaming practices. “We want schools to work with parents, not target the student, to address outstanding lunch payments,” says Republican Congressman Rodney Davis of Illinois, a co-sponsor of the bill. How to help: Call Congress The bill in Congress specifically forbids schools from “public identification or stigmatization” of kids who don’t have enough money for lunch. That means no more stamping a kid’s hand, forcing them to wear a colored wristband or do extra “chores” when they have run up debt in the school cafeteria. Cafeteria workers would also be banned from taking a tray of hot food away once a kid has been served in the lunch line. “Call your member of Congress about lunch shaming,” urges Ned Adriance, Senator Tom Udall’s press secretary. He says members of Congress are “listening more than they ever have” to constituent calls. “We can’t expect our kids to succeed in the classroom if they are hungry,” said Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico who introduced the bill. In April, New Mexico became the first state to ban all lunch shaming. The state’s representatives in Washington want action at the national level, as well. How to help: Call a school near you While many applaud the federal bill as a good “first step,” they worry it doesn’t go far enough. Schools could still refuse to serve kids who can’t pay or offer them a cold cheese sandwich, says Ramo. In contrast, the New Mexico state bill prevents schools from offering lesser quality meals to kids with debt. In addition to fundraising sites like GoFundMe and SchoolLunchFairy, some schools like the Austin School District accept donations to pay for needy kids’ school lunch debt right on the district website. Or people can call or write to their the food service manager of their local district. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees school breakfast and lunch programs, is requiring that all districts have a written policy in place by July 1 detailing whether the school will hand out cold cheese sandwiches or take other action once a child’s debt hits a certain amount. Local input could make a difference in shaping those policies, advocates say. Some ask: Why are parents so negligent? School lunch directors like Matt Antignolo of the Lamar Consolidated School District near Houston say that some parents may be gaming the system, but the vast majority of students running up these debts are poor and come from families that lack education. The households are either right above the cut-off line for aid or they meet the qualifications for free lunches but don’t apply. Joyce Melbourne is an elementary school teacher in Florida who paid out of her own pocket for one of her student’s lunches when the child received the dreaded cheese sandwich. “Her eyes were filled with tears. All the other students had pizza and she had the thickest cheese sandwich I’ve ever seen in my life,” Melbourne told CNNMoney. She says a lunch lady sniped at her, asking whether she was going to do this every day since the child owed so much money. “I knew that as one of my brightest students, I needed her to finish her day on a positive note,” Melbourne replied. It turns out the the problem was that the young girl’s parents were not proficient in English. Melbourne asked a translator to work with the family to fill out the paperwork. The student was able to get on the free meal program, but Melbourne can see how other students could miss out for years if someone didn’t intervene. “Children should not be punished because their parents can’t pay,” Melbourne says.