Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the legExclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
GOLDEN GATE Collier commissioners approve agreement for golf complex in Golden Gate Collier commissioners unanimously approved a long term lease and operating agreement to reopen the Golden Gate golf course Tuesday.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
GOLDEN GATE Collier commissioners approve agreement for golf complex in Golden Gate Collier commissioners unanimously approved a long term lease and operating agreement to reopen the Golden Gate golf course Tuesday.
Workers prepare to take down the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on May 19, 2017, in Lee Circle in New Orleans. (CNN) The city of New Orleans is set to remove its fourth and final Confederate-era monument. Unlike the first three statues, the monument to Gen. Robert E. Lee is coming down during the day. Streets near the city’s Lee Circle — where the monument has stood for 133 years — were blocked off by early Friday in preparation for the dismantling that’s scheduled to begin sometime before 5 p.m. CT. The city started removing the public landmarks in late April, after the New Orleans City Council voted in 2015 to remove the four Confederate markers. Recent court rulings cleared the way for the monuments to be removed and relocated following heated public debate and legal fights. The effort to remove New Orleans’ monuments is part of a nationwide debate over Confederate symbols, which some argue represent slavery and injustice and others say represent history and heritage. The issue gained momentum after the 2015 massacre of nine black parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina, by a self-described white supremacist who prosecutors said posed for photos with the Confederate battle flag. Workers prepare to take down the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on May 19, 2017, in Lee Circle in New Orleans. Onlookers — including some supporting the removal and those opposing it — gathered outside the barricaded area throughout the morning. A few men had a heated exchange after someone took an American flag from a Lee monument supporter, CNN affiliate WVUE reported. Tempers cooled when police recovered the flag and returned it. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is due to give remarks Friday afternoon about the city’s efforts to remove the four Confederate monuments. Landrieu, the city’s first white mayor since 1978, is in his final term presiding over a city that is 60% African-American. The statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in New Orleans’ Lee Circle, seen here in 2015, has stood for 133 years. The Lee statue, erected in 1884 in honor of the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, is arguably the most prominent of the four because of its location at Lee Circle, a major traffic hub at the edge of the Lower Garden District and the Central Business District. The city’s famed Uptown streetcar line wraps around the circle, and nearly all Carnival parades traverse it near the end of their route. First removal in daylight The statues were erected decades after the Civil War to celebrate the “lost cause of the Confederacy,” a movement recognized across the South as promoting white supremacy, according to a news release from the mayor’s office. Friday’s removal — in daylight, with the timing announced a day beforehand — contrasts with the first three, which happened in the dark of night or early morning with little notice. The city had kept quiet about the timing of the earlier ones, citing what it said were threats that some had made toward contractors who would do the work. A summary of the first three: • April 24: Contractors wearing masks and tactical vests in light of the threats removed an obelisk commemorating the Battle of Liberty Place. The obelisk marked a deadly fight between the Crescent City White League, a group opposed to the city’s racially integrated police force, and state militia after the Civil War. • May 11: A 6-foot statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis was removed from its pedestal as dozens of people — those opposed to the removal, as well as those backing it — looked on. The statue, which stood for 106 years, had been atop a roughly 12-foot column and depicted Davis with his right arm outstretched with palm turned upward. It towered over the street also named after him. • Wednesday: The equestrian statue of Confederate Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, who died in New Orleans in 1893, came down in the early morning after standing 102 years. The statues will be put into storage while the city looks for a suitable place to display them, the mayor has said. Private funding raised by the city will pay for the removal of the landmarks, Landrieu’s office has said. The area that formerly housed the Jefferson Davis statue will soon feature an American flag, the city announced Thursday night. Backlash over the removals Backlash against removing New Orleans’ Confederate monuments has been building. The Louisiana Legislature is considering a measure that would hinder local governments from removing war memorials, including those from the Civil War. The bill would allow local governments to take down a memorial only if voters approve the action at “an election held for that purpose.” Efforts to remove Confederate statues are underway in other parts of the South, including in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a Robert E. Lee statue is scheduled to be removed. That sparked protests, including one Saturday in which torch-carrying demonstrators were led by white nationalist Richard Spencer. The event was criticized for evoking images of the Ku Klux Klan, and a counter-protest was held on Sunday night.