Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
FORT MYERS Help identify driver of SUV related to Fort Myers shooting Police hope someone can help identify the driver of an SUV involved in the shooting on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard and Michigan Avenue.
FORT MYERS Owners of Richards Building speak out over paint job of historic property The Richards Building in downtown Fort Myers, aged 101 years, recently underwent a controversial transformation with a fresh coat of white paint, defying a stop-work order and sparking public outrage.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: What needs to change to protect other young people? November 8, 2021, Jake Pfeiffer took his own life. His mom shared Jake’s story with WINK News in the hopes of saving another life.
FORT MYERS Man accused of fatal shooting of truck driver appears in court A man facing second-degree murder charges following an altercation with a pickup truck driver made an appearance in court.
NAPLES SUV crashes into Naples restaurant’s window; no injuries A popular Naples restaurant is cleaning up after an SUV partially crashed into it, but luckily, nobody was hurt.
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Rhett, Tag For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
WINK NEWS Recall issued for ground beef sold with possible E. coli at Walmart The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a recall for several ground beef products distributed from Pennsylvania to Walmart’s nationwide.
The Weather Authority Hotter and more humid this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mild Friday morning with dry afternoon conditions and isolated storms appearing in the evening.
Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
FORT MYERS Help identify driver of SUV related to Fort Myers shooting Police hope someone can help identify the driver of an SUV involved in the shooting on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard and Michigan Avenue.
FORT MYERS Owners of Richards Building speak out over paint job of historic property The Richards Building in downtown Fort Myers, aged 101 years, recently underwent a controversial transformation with a fresh coat of white paint, defying a stop-work order and sparking public outrage.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: What needs to change to protect other young people? November 8, 2021, Jake Pfeiffer took his own life. His mom shared Jake’s story with WINK News in the hopes of saving another life.
FORT MYERS Man accused of fatal shooting of truck driver appears in court A man facing second-degree murder charges following an altercation with a pickup truck driver made an appearance in court.
NAPLES SUV crashes into Naples restaurant’s window; no injuries A popular Naples restaurant is cleaning up after an SUV partially crashed into it, but luckily, nobody was hurt.
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Rhett, Tag For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
WINK NEWS Recall issued for ground beef sold with possible E. coli at Walmart The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a recall for several ground beef products distributed from Pennsylvania to Walmart’s nationwide.
The Weather Authority Hotter and more humid this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mild Friday morning with dry afternoon conditions and isolated storms appearing in the evening.
FILE: Cuban soldiers supported by T-34 tanks attacking near Playa Giron. April 19, 1961. CREDIT: Rumlin, via Wikimedia Commons. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en The soldiers of the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion left their youth and innocence behind on this tropical paradise 58 years ago. The 67 idealists prepared for battle here, only to find defeat and incarceration after their CIA-sponsored invasion of Cuba fell apart. They were the elite of Assault Brigade 2506, and on Saturday, 18 of the graying veterans returned for a walk into the past and a look at an exhibit of the invasion. “We lost the battle,″ said Mirto Collazo, 62, after walking through the exhibit in the Useppa Island historical society’s museum, right here in Southwest Florida. “But after 37 years, we keep the spirit alive with our hopes for a free Cuba.″ Some were killed and most of the others were imprisoned in Cuba after the 1961 invasion met stiff resistance. Made up of Cuban exiles, the invasion force lost 104 members and more than 1,100 were jailed for 22 months until the Kennedy administration paid more than $50 million in food, medicine and cash for their release. But they said the worst part was that their invasion served only to strengthen Fidel Castro and his newly installed communist government. The role of Useppa in the invasion had been hidden in classified documents and the memories of the men who started their training on the lush and tropical island near Fort Myers on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The camouflage that Collazo wore in the invasion is part of the exhibit. He looked at his combat gear _ about 12 sizes too small for him today _ and wiped tears from his eyes. While on Useppa, Collazo and the others went through rigorous screening by CIA agents. They came in groups and were sent on to Guatemala or Panama for training in secret camps. Some became Brigade leaders. Others became radio operators trained to know top secret CIA codes. Still others in the “Useppa Group″ became covert infiltrators who landed weeks before the invasion force to try and gain popular support and perform sabotage missions. “Here is where we sat and talked about how we were going to be home by December and eating roast pork for Christmas,″ said Jorge Rubio as he walked up a hill overlooking the shoreline. Instead, most were in prison that December. Promised air cover and bombings were stopped shortly after they started. Supply ships were sunk, leaving the exile invaders without critical equipment, ammunition and other necessities. “When you go into battle thinking you will win, thinking you will be backed up, thinking you have righteousness on your side, you can die for the cause but you can’t lose,″ said Ramon Conte, a top leader and the last brigade member to be released by Cuba after more than 25 years. The men from the Useppa Group walked around like kids at a playground. Some got up after lunch and made speeches in what was once their mess hall. “We cannot leave Useppa without mentioning those who didn’t make it, but will always be with us,″ Jorge Gutierez said. A roll call of the brigade’s dead was taken. With each name, the veterans bellowed a resounding “Present!″