Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior nightPolice: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
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.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
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.
Evacuees stand in line to enter Germain Arena, which is being used as a shelter in advance of Hurricane Irma, in Estero, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) ESTERO, Fla. (AP) With Hurricane Irma taking aim at Southwest Florida, thousands of desperate and frustrated people waited in line for hours Saturday to get inside Germain Arena in hopes of avoiding the storm’s wrath. Dogs barked and children cried in a line that wrapped halfway around the 8,400-seat venue before snaking through the parking lot. Ambulance sirens drowned out the chatter as medics assisted people overcome by the 84-degree heat. Almost 5,000 people were in the shelter when it was declared at full capacity around 9 p.m., Lee County spokeswoman Betsy Clayton said. Other, smaller shelters were still taking evacuees. More than 50,000 people statewide sought refuge at over 400 shelters, mostly schools, community centers and churches, but few if any scenes matched what happened at the arena. A westward shift of the eye’s projected path put the area in Irma’s crosshairs, sending residents in low-lying and other vulnerable communities scrambling to find safety. Christy Duda shook her head while looking at the line. Accompanied by her husband, two children, her parents and three dogs, she was worried about getting inside before the rain started. The brunt of the storm was expected by Sunday. Only two doors of the arena were open, causing a massive bottleneck. “There has to be a better way,” said Duda, of Fort Myers. “It’s an emergency, and it’s taking this long to get in?” Soon, the rain began falling hard and officials opened all the doors, filling the arena. Gov. Rick Scott said the state needed 1,000 nurses to volunteer at the shelters, particularly at sites that handle people with special needs. In Miami-Dade County, authorities had told the homeless on Friday they could voluntarily go to shelters or they would be involuntarily committed to mental hospitals. At least six were committed after refusing help. Elsewhere, the lines were shorter than at the arena and the atmosphere less tense. The number of people in shelters was just a fraction of more than 6 million residents who were warned to evacuate in Florida. On Florida’s Atlantic coast, more than 3,000 people were staying at Palm Beach Gardens High School, where the basketball gym’s floor was covered with mattresses and sleeping bags. People slept, talked, read or played with their cellphones Saturday morning. A group of American Red Cross volunteers sang “Happy Birthday” to Fran, an elderly woman who raised her arms and laughed. The forecast’s shift west had lessened the chance the area would face a direct hit. “Everybody has been very nice, very calm,” said Shaharazade DeCorday, who left her West Palm Beach cottage along the Atlantic coast. DeCorday said she picked the high school because it’s about 4 miles inland and has a three-story building in case flooding gets bad. “I just wish they had a TV,” she said, laughing. About 150 miles north, Judith and Steve Smith arrived at Odyssey Middle School in Orlando. They fled their manufactured home after seeing on TV that Irma was getting closer. Judith’s 89-year-old mother lives alone next door and they didn’t want to risk being trapped. The couple, both 69, called every hotel in town, and found no rooms. With their fuel tank emptying and the service stations closed, they decided to join hundreds filtering into Odyssey on Saturday morning. It was particularly tough for Judith’s mother. “She misses her home but she’s got to be safe,” Judith Smith said. Inside, a Venezuelan folk band strummed a bass guitar and two guitar-like instruments – a cuatro and a mandola – amid piles of blankets and bags of clothes. The shelter’s guests snapped photos and clapped along. “We will entertain if people need entertainment to keep their minds away from danger,” said Alejandro Mendoza, the band’s manager. “Upbeat music, relaxing music. Maybe salsa, at night. We didn’t bring drums, but we can find something.”