THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Cooler and less humid morning ahead of a hot afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking dry conditions with high Tuesday afternoon temperatures and isolated showers developing inland.
WINK NEWS Miracle Monday: A home away from home An expecting couple received an unexpected surprise as a family welcomed twins into the world—two months early.
FORT MYERS The future of the Fort Myers yacht basin The Fort Myers yacht basin is lacking in the “yacht” part right now, or any boat for that matter. It’s been that way since Hurricane Ian hit.
VENICE BEACH Diving duo makes prehistoric discovery Half a mile off Venice Beach, deep below the surface of the water, two divers, Blair Morrow and Alex Lundberg, found a sign of prehistoric times buried in the sand.
Commissioner reacts to state attorney ruling in death of Christopher Jordan On Monday, the detective who fired the fatal shot that killed Christopher Jordan in his Fort Myers home went back to work.
PORT CHARLOTTE Is Sunseeker Resort losing money? It’s a place designed to bring in people and a lot of money to Charlotte County. The Sunseeker Resort opened on December 15 and features 785 rooms, 20 different food and beverage places, and 60,000 square feet of convention space.
NORTH PORT North and SB lanes shut down near Mile Marker 195 due to brush fire North Port Fire Rescue said to expect significant delays. They recommended drivers take an alternate route.
FORT MYERS Roundabout incoming for Winkler and Challenger intersection A new roundabout is coming to the City of Fort Myers at the intersection of Challenger Boulevard and Winkler Avenue.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach church selling two acres of land Pastor Sean Critser’s congregation voted unanimously on Sunday to sell the front two acres of the church’s property for $4 million.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Boaters at a loss with boat ramp closed There have been no boats coming out of the Punta Rassa boat ramp since 2022, after Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida.
Realtor stops thief trying to steal and sell land Imagine someone pretends to be you and sells your home or land right from underneath you. Deed or property fraud happens more often than you think.
NORTH FORT MYERS Body cam footage of woman and her dog rescued from Prairie Preserve Pines A woman and her exhausted dog fight to survive while trapped in the elements and oppressive Florida heat.
NAPLES Local surgeon removing cancer through the mouth Surgery to remove cancers in the head and neck can sometimes leave patients with negative impacts long after the cancer is gone. But a new approach is cutting back on damage.
CAPE CORAL Byron Donalds holds town hall in Cape Coral From flood insurance to pythons and rebuilding from Ian nearly two years later, Southwest Florida has a lot on its plate.
Naples Airport move study finds 4 possible sites There’s a study looking at the possibility of moving the Naples Airport.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Cooler and less humid morning ahead of a hot afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking dry conditions with high Tuesday afternoon temperatures and isolated showers developing inland.
WINK NEWS Miracle Monday: A home away from home An expecting couple received an unexpected surprise as a family welcomed twins into the world—two months early.
FORT MYERS The future of the Fort Myers yacht basin The Fort Myers yacht basin is lacking in the “yacht” part right now, or any boat for that matter. It’s been that way since Hurricane Ian hit.
VENICE BEACH Diving duo makes prehistoric discovery Half a mile off Venice Beach, deep below the surface of the water, two divers, Blair Morrow and Alex Lundberg, found a sign of prehistoric times buried in the sand.
Commissioner reacts to state attorney ruling in death of Christopher Jordan On Monday, the detective who fired the fatal shot that killed Christopher Jordan in his Fort Myers home went back to work.
PORT CHARLOTTE Is Sunseeker Resort losing money? It’s a place designed to bring in people and a lot of money to Charlotte County. The Sunseeker Resort opened on December 15 and features 785 rooms, 20 different food and beverage places, and 60,000 square feet of convention space.
NORTH PORT North and SB lanes shut down near Mile Marker 195 due to brush fire North Port Fire Rescue said to expect significant delays. They recommended drivers take an alternate route.
FORT MYERS Roundabout incoming for Winkler and Challenger intersection A new roundabout is coming to the City of Fort Myers at the intersection of Challenger Boulevard and Winkler Avenue.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach church selling two acres of land Pastor Sean Critser’s congregation voted unanimously on Sunday to sell the front two acres of the church’s property for $4 million.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Boaters at a loss with boat ramp closed There have been no boats coming out of the Punta Rassa boat ramp since 2022, after Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida.
Realtor stops thief trying to steal and sell land Imagine someone pretends to be you and sells your home or land right from underneath you. Deed or property fraud happens more often than you think.
NORTH FORT MYERS Body cam footage of woman and her dog rescued from Prairie Preserve Pines A woman and her exhausted dog fight to survive while trapped in the elements and oppressive Florida heat.
NAPLES Local surgeon removing cancer through the mouth Surgery to remove cancers in the head and neck can sometimes leave patients with negative impacts long after the cancer is gone. But a new approach is cutting back on damage.
CAPE CORAL Byron Donalds holds town hall in Cape Coral From flood insurance to pythons and rebuilding from Ian nearly two years later, Southwest Florida has a lot on its plate.
Naples Airport move study finds 4 possible sites There’s a study looking at the possibility of moving the Naples Airport.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Florida is confronting an uproar over whether the state’s highway patrol is requiring troopers to meet ticket quotas for drivers, including millions of tourists each year who crowd its interstate highways. Top state officials insist quotas are not allowed, but the second-highest ranking official in the Florida Highway Patrol resigned on Monday amid an ongoing review. Lt. Col. Michael Thomas stepped down after it was discovered he sent an email in late May that encouraged troopers to write two tickets an hour. In his letter announcing his early retirement, Thomas called the email a “grave error” and said he was taking responsibility for his actions. “This error has negatively impacted the patrol’s image, which was never the intent, but I feel it is in the best interest of the patrol that I retire,” wrote Thomas, who earned $131,000 a year in his job as deputy director. Col. Gene Spaulding, the highway patrol director, said that while the email was sent with the goal of “providing enhanced public safety” it was still “inappropriate to request a specific number of citations from our members.” The Florida Highway Patrol is responsible for monitoring state highways, including interstates 10, 95 and 75 that link Florida to the rest of the country Thomas had been with the Florida Highway Patrol for 30 years. His last day on the job will be Sept. 1. His resignation marked the second at the Florida Highway Patrol this month related to traffic tickets. Maj. Mark Welch of Tallahassee’s Troop H resigned after he told troopers they weren’t writing enough tickets. His email became public because the Tampa Bay Times reported that Welch had told troopers under his command via email that “the patrol wants to see two citations each hour,” adding that it’s not a quota. Welch resigned hours after Attorney General Pam Bondi called his actions “reckless” and “stupid” during a public meeting with top officials in the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. When drivers pay their ticket fine, the money doesn’t go back to the Florida Highway Patrol. Instead the money is turned back over to cities and counties where the ticket was written In his retirement letter, Thomas contended that no trooper has been disciplined or threatened due to how many tickets are written. Still he said in his personal opinion that it was “detrimental” to call goals a “quota.” Data provided by the department shows that the number of tickets written by troopers has been falling the last three years. Troopers wrote nearly 935,000 tickets in 2014, but that dropped to 749,000 in 2016. During the same time the Florida Highway Patrol has struggled to fill all of its trooper positions. As of the end of June, there were 162 vacancies, according to Beth Frady, a spokeswoman for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The department is authorized to have nearly 2,000 troopers statewide. State legislators and Gov. Rick Scott agreed this year to boost the starting pay of troopers and to give a 5-percent raise. Scott wants to give troopers another raise next year.