Cape Coral man accused of possessing child pornography7 people, 3 dogs displaced following house fire in Fort Myers
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man accused of possessing child pornography A Cape Coral man has been arrested after allegedly possessing several files of child pornography on devices.
fort myers 7 people, 3 dogs displaced following house fire in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Fire Department responded to a house fire that has left seven people and three dogs without a home.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral high school employee accused of inappropriate behavior with 2 students We now have new details about the arrest of a Cape Coral instructional support aide at Island Coast High School accused of inappropriate relations with students.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman reunites with husband’s ashes A Port Charlotte woman has been reunited with her husband’s ashes after struggling with U.S. Postal Service to find them.
Tim Aten Knows: The Avenue set to break ground on Fifth An upscale mixed-use redevelopment project — The Avenue — will begin construction this quarter on a nearly two-block area of Fifth Avenue South from the former longtime property of St. George & the Dragon restaurant.
Demolition begins on former Winn-Dixie grocery in Estero The walls of the former grocery store at the northwest corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Coconut Road started coming down last month after reaching an agreement with nearby residents who filed suit to stop the project.
TALLAHASSEE Gov. DeSantis to hold news conference at Florida Capitol Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference at the state capitol building.
WINK NEWS Web Exclusive: Rachel Cox-Rosen’s Construction Heads Up As construction may dampen your commute, WINK News traffic anchor Rachel Cox Rosen knows the best way to traverse the roadways in this web-exclusive feature.
the weather authority Near-record heat this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking more heat as near-record highs are to be expected this Friday afternoon.
FORT MYERS Sibling rivalry brewing between SWFL Super Bowl champions Philadelphia may be known as the city of brotherly love, but here in southwest Florida, there’s a brotherly rivalry brewing between two of our own.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers mother warns others after falling victim to ticket fraud A mother’s intended surprise turned into a disappointment when she paid for Savannah Bananas tickets but never received them. The tickets were meant to be a special gift for her son.
Legal expert weighs in on 17-year-old found not guilty of murder of mom Collin Griffith, a 17-year-old, has been found not guilty in the death of his mother, Catherine Griffith, who was fatally stabbed in the neck.
FORT MYERS $150K worth of equipment stolen from Lee Health Fort Myers police arrested a hospital employee accused of stealing more than 150 thousand dollars worth of medical equipment from Lee Health.
NAPLES Award-winning stylist to host event during Naples Automotive Experience On Friday, an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood stylist will host Forever Fabulous, a charity event with the St. Matthew’s House.
FORT MYERS Colonial and I-75 diverging diamond to be completed by spring The diverging diamond at Colonial Boulevard and Interstate 75 in Fort Myers is diverting drivers.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man accused of possessing child pornography A Cape Coral man has been arrested after allegedly possessing several files of child pornography on devices.
fort myers 7 people, 3 dogs displaced following house fire in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Fire Department responded to a house fire that has left seven people and three dogs without a home.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral high school employee accused of inappropriate behavior with 2 students We now have new details about the arrest of a Cape Coral instructional support aide at Island Coast High School accused of inappropriate relations with students.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte woman reunites with husband’s ashes A Port Charlotte woman has been reunited with her husband’s ashes after struggling with U.S. Postal Service to find them.
Tim Aten Knows: The Avenue set to break ground on Fifth An upscale mixed-use redevelopment project — The Avenue — will begin construction this quarter on a nearly two-block area of Fifth Avenue South from the former longtime property of St. George & the Dragon restaurant.
Demolition begins on former Winn-Dixie grocery in Estero The walls of the former grocery store at the northwest corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Coconut Road started coming down last month after reaching an agreement with nearby residents who filed suit to stop the project.
TALLAHASSEE Gov. DeSantis to hold news conference at Florida Capitol Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference at the state capitol building.
WINK NEWS Web Exclusive: Rachel Cox-Rosen’s Construction Heads Up As construction may dampen your commute, WINK News traffic anchor Rachel Cox Rosen knows the best way to traverse the roadways in this web-exclusive feature.
the weather authority Near-record heat this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking more heat as near-record highs are to be expected this Friday afternoon.
FORT MYERS Sibling rivalry brewing between SWFL Super Bowl champions Philadelphia may be known as the city of brotherly love, but here in southwest Florida, there’s a brotherly rivalry brewing between two of our own.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers mother warns others after falling victim to ticket fraud A mother’s intended surprise turned into a disappointment when she paid for Savannah Bananas tickets but never received them. The tickets were meant to be a special gift for her son.
Legal expert weighs in on 17-year-old found not guilty of murder of mom Collin Griffith, a 17-year-old, has been found not guilty in the death of his mother, Catherine Griffith, who was fatally stabbed in the neck.
FORT MYERS $150K worth of equipment stolen from Lee Health Fort Myers police arrested a hospital employee accused of stealing more than 150 thousand dollars worth of medical equipment from Lee Health.
NAPLES Award-winning stylist to host event during Naples Automotive Experience On Friday, an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood stylist will host Forever Fabulous, a charity event with the St. Matthew’s House.
FORT MYERS Colonial and I-75 diverging diamond to be completed by spring The diverging diamond at Colonial Boulevard and Interstate 75 in Fort Myers is diverting drivers.
File photo. Credit: MGN A prominent Florida eye doctor once accused of bribing Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey received a 17-year sentence Thursday for stealing $73 million from Medicare by persuading elderly patients to undergo excruciating tests and treatments they didn’t need for diseases they didn’t have. Dr. Salomon Melgen was convicted of 67 crimes including health care fraud, submitting false claims and falsifying records in patients’ files. Prosecutors showed that between 2008 and 2013, he became the nation’s highest-paid Medicare doctor, building his practice by giving elderly patients unnecessary eye injections and laser blasts on their retinas that some compared to torture. Melgen was ordered to pay $42.6 million in restitution to Medicare and could be ordered to pay more in the future. The sentencing came after four days of hearings spread over December and January, with prosecutors arguing he stole $136 million but his attorneys insisting the proven total was $64,000. U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra said the evidence shows the theft was at least $73 million. Marra could have given the Harvard-trained, Dominican-born physician a life sentence. Prosecutors had been seeking 30 years. Defense attorneys sought less than 10 and argued that Melgen should be released immediately with a sentence of time served. They plan to appeal the conviction. Melgen has been in custody since his April 28 conviction. Separately, in November a federal jury in New Jersey hung after a 2 ½-month trial where prosecutors tried to prove Melgen’s gifts to Menendez were actually bribes. In return, they said, Menendez interceded with Medicare officials investigating his practice, obtained visas for Melgen’s foreign mistresses, and pressured the State Department to intervene in a business dispute he had with the Dominican government. Menendez and Melgen denied wrongdoing, saying the European and Dominican vacations and other gifts were tokens of their longtime friendship. After a judge threw out some of the charges, prosecutors decided Jan. 31 not to retry the bribery case. During Melgen’s two-month Medicare fraud trial, prosecutors argued that any doctor could make occasional billing mistakes, but Melgen’s were too numerous to be honest. For example, Melgen frequently billed Medicare for tests and treatment on the fake eyes of one-eyed patients, as if they were real. Prosecutors also pointed to tests that should take five minutes or more, yet were done in seconds, making them useless for diagnosis, but enabling Melgen to bill Medicare up to several hundred dollars each, for as many as 100 patients a day. The doctor pocketed millions more by splitting single-use vials of an expensive eye drug into four doses – there was enough extra medicine in each – and billing the government separately for each injection, they said. Melgen’s attorneys argued that this cost the government no extra money, as Medicare would have purchased four vials if he had followed the instructions. Melgen became politically active in 1997, after treating Florida Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles, who appointed him to a state board. He was soon hosting Democratic fundraisers at his 6,500-square-foot (605-square-meter) North Palm Beach home, and eventually became friends with Menendez. Melgen paid for trips he and the senator took to France and to the doctor’s home at a Dominican resort. Menendez reimbursed Melgen $58,500 after the trips became public knowledge.