LEHIGH ACRES FGCU softball team helps Habitat for Humanity build three homes The Florida Gulf Coast University softball team helped Habitat for Humanity build three homes Saturday.
ESTERO Home Base Golf Tournament helps SWFL Veterans Veterans hit the green at the Copperleaf Golf Course on Saturday. This was part of the Home Base golf tournament.
FORT MYERS At least one person dead after propane truck collides with golf cart Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that has left one person dead and another injured Saturday morning.
Scattered storms ahead for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking weekend temperatures in the low to mid-90s this weekend with a chance for scattered storms this afternoon.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 3 Thunderstorms tried to put a stop to week three of high school football on Friday Night, but gridiron action prevailed.
Man accused of plotting murder-for-hire denied bond A man suspected of being involved with a murder-for-hire plot will stay behind bars. Ryan Toranzo had his renewed motion to set bond denied today in Collier County Court.
LABELLE Two dead after crash on State Road 80 According to the Florida Highway Patrol, there was a crash on State Road 80 that has left at least one person dead Friday evening.
DeSoto County looks to recruit more teachers While it can sometimes be easy to fill a classroom with students, it is not so easy for teachers. Schools across the nation and locally in Southwest Florida are still dealing with the challenges of teacher shortages. With class back in session, so is teacher recruiting for DeSoto County schools. The assistant superintendent, Jake Reynolds, […]
IMMOKALEE ROAD Push for change after deadly crash on Immokalee Rd. We’re told the woman was driving with two kids in the car when a semi ran a red light and hit her Thursday morning.
FORT MYERS BEACH Mobi-Mats deployed on Fort Myers Beach A walkway to paradise! Brand new and blue, the Mobi-Mat is making things easier for Fort Myers Beachgoers.
NAPLES Women of Steel business conference inspiring and empowering women Focused, hardworking, empowered. These women have made a name for themselves as Women of Steel.
NAPLES Beloved Collier County bus driver retires after 20 years After 20 years of getting kids to school safely, a beloved Collier County bus driver is retiring.
Wade Wilson has new death row mugshot Convicted double-killer Wade Wilson has a new death row mugshot.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Sizzle Dining is back in SWFL It’s Sizzle Season! Local restaurants are ready to welcome new faces by offering exclusive menu deals to attract new customers.
LEHIGH ACRES FGCU softball team helps Habitat for Humanity build three homes The Florida Gulf Coast University softball team helped Habitat for Humanity build three homes Saturday.
ESTERO Home Base Golf Tournament helps SWFL Veterans Veterans hit the green at the Copperleaf Golf Course on Saturday. This was part of the Home Base golf tournament.
FORT MYERS At least one person dead after propane truck collides with golf cart Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that has left one person dead and another injured Saturday morning.
Scattered storms ahead for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking weekend temperatures in the low to mid-90s this weekend with a chance for scattered storms this afternoon.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 3 Thunderstorms tried to put a stop to week three of high school football on Friday Night, but gridiron action prevailed.
Man accused of plotting murder-for-hire denied bond A man suspected of being involved with a murder-for-hire plot will stay behind bars. Ryan Toranzo had his renewed motion to set bond denied today in Collier County Court.
LABELLE Two dead after crash on State Road 80 According to the Florida Highway Patrol, there was a crash on State Road 80 that has left at least one person dead Friday evening.
DeSoto County looks to recruit more teachers While it can sometimes be easy to fill a classroom with students, it is not so easy for teachers. Schools across the nation and locally in Southwest Florida are still dealing with the challenges of teacher shortages. With class back in session, so is teacher recruiting for DeSoto County schools. The assistant superintendent, Jake Reynolds, […]
IMMOKALEE ROAD Push for change after deadly crash on Immokalee Rd. We’re told the woman was driving with two kids in the car when a semi ran a red light and hit her Thursday morning.
FORT MYERS BEACH Mobi-Mats deployed on Fort Myers Beach A walkway to paradise! Brand new and blue, the Mobi-Mat is making things easier for Fort Myers Beachgoers.
NAPLES Women of Steel business conference inspiring and empowering women Focused, hardworking, empowered. These women have made a name for themselves as Women of Steel.
NAPLES Beloved Collier County bus driver retires after 20 years After 20 years of getting kids to school safely, a beloved Collier County bus driver is retiring.
Wade Wilson has new death row mugshot Convicted double-killer Wade Wilson has a new death row mugshot.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Sizzle Dining is back in SWFL It’s Sizzle Season! Local restaurants are ready to welcome new faces by offering exclusive menu deals to attract new customers.
This Aug. 5, 2017, file photo provided by the Fresno County Sheriff’s office shows a car in the middle of Kings River near Fresno, Calif. Authorities on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, will attempt to recover the bodies of two Thai exchange students believed to be inside the car that plunged off a cliff more than a month ago in Central California and became lodged in a dangerous river. FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE VIA AP, FILE FRESNO, Calif. (CBS) A recovery team using a helicopter and a winch on Friday dragged a car from the middle of a dangerous California river where it had been stranded for more than a month and freed two bodies inside believed to be a pair of exchange students from Thailand. The car had crashed through a guardrail and plunged 500 feet over a cliff in the Sierra Nevada into the Kings River below, authorities said. Records show the car was a rental car belonging to two Thai exchange students — Pakapol Chairatnathrongporn, 28, and Thiwadee Saengsuriyarit, 24 — who were enrolled as exchange students at the University of South Florida, CBS affiliate KGPE reports. After weeks of planning and waiting for the river water to calm, a helicopter lowered members of the recovery team into the gorge. They used a hand winch to drag the car close to the bank and free the two bodies, authorities said. The remains have been sent to the coroner’s office for a positive identification, Fresno County Sheriff spokesman Tony Botti said. In a statement directed to the students’ families, he added this has been a difficult time for them. “Hopefully you may now move forward in the healing process,” Botti said. On July 26, the exchange students were driving a rented car on curvy Highway 180 along a steep canyon 75 miles east of Fresno when it crashed and became lodged on boulders in the middle of the river. The slow pace to launch the recovery had prompted emotional pleas to authorities from relatives traveling in from Asia. But only now has the river – with thundering rapids fed by massive amounts of snowmelt high in the Sierra Nevada – calmed enough to make conditions safe for the recovery team, officials said. Investigators linked the car with the students who had planned to visit Kings Canyon National Park, famous for its sweeping mountain vistas and giant sequoia trees. Earlier this month, Pakapol Chairatnathrongporn’s mother told CBS affiliate KGPE through a translator that her last conversation with her son was full of gratitude. Pakapol told her about the soccer match he enjoyed at Levi’s Stadium. “He couldn’t have come to watch the game if his mom didn’t send him to study in the U.S. and he was thanking her for that,” said Supin Chairatnathrongporn’s translator. Both students attended the University of South Florida, working on their masters degrees, KGPE reports. They decided to take a trip to California during summer break, checking into a Reedley motel on July 25 but would never return. Friday’s recovery effort did not include a second car in the same stretch of the river believed to hold a missing couple from China. Publicity of the first stranded car and the trail of wreckage led investigators to the white car submerged nearby. Authorities have linked it with married couple Yinan Wang, 31, and Jie Song 30, missing seen since early August. The river’s flow has to drop even more before it’s safe for the second recovery, officials said.