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 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.
PUNTA GORDA ‘Party’s Over’: Dirt biking ends at Barefoot Lake The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has made it clear, the party at Barefoot Lake is over.
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 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.
PUNTA GORDA ‘Party’s Over’: Dirt biking ends at Barefoot Lake The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has made it clear, the party at Barefoot Lake is over.
Lisa Szymanski saw her father alive for the last time in 1964. Staff Sergeant Lawrence Woods went missing in action that year after his plane was shot down during the Vietnam War. “When the plane went down seven got out and one didn’t and that was my dad. One witness said someone — which I know now as was my father — parachuted out and he was on fire,” said Szymanski. For fifty years, Szymanski, her siblings, and her mom never knew exactly what happened. Staff Sgt. Lawrence Woods Szymanski only knew her dad through old photographs. “I remember going to bed with his picture and then one night she [mom] caught me and she said you can’t keep doing this…” Szymanski said. “What would he have looked like? What would he be doing?” Szymanski said. Szymanski moved forward, marrying a military man, Steven. It wasn’t until decades later, she got a call. “It was like it just happened,” Szymanski said. In 2013, a team working with the government to find missing servicemen unearthed Sgt. Woods’ remains. The team finally brought Szymanski’s dad’s remains home nearly half a century after his plane went down. Green Berets buried Sgt. Woods at Arlington National Cemetery. “If it wasn’t for people like them families like me we wouldn’t have closure,” Lisa Szymanski said. “Because we know they’re not forgotten,” said Steven Szymanski. Sadly, Lisa Szymanski’s fathers’ story is not unique. More than 1500 Americans are still missing in action dating back to World War II. A group here in Southwest Florida is trying to help find our missing servicemen. Dr. Alison Elgart is part of that team from Florida Gulf Coast University working to help families like Szymanski’s. The team didn’t work on Woods’ case but they will soon leave on a mission to recover the remains of three World War II airmen. “If they are there — we will find them,’ said Dr. Alison Elgart. Dr. Elgart said their team of seventeen will travel to the hills of Germany. “We will be digging! And possibly digging pretty deeply,” Dr. Elgar said. Dr. Elgart brings a toolbox of experience in archaeology and history, using the tiniest of details to identify remains. “I look at their teeth and try to find out things about them by their teeth,” Dr. Elgart said. Sometimes, there is little left for teams to use to identify the remains. Cases like Sgt. Woods can be especially difficult because decades later, witnesses have moved away or passed on. “The one witness, he was still alive he was 94 years old said the whole village moved out because they believe if a person is to die tragically like that their soul can’t rest,” Szymanski said. Another member of the team, Dr. Heather Walsh-Haney, a forensic anthropologist, brings the experience of a crime scene investigator to the mission. What may look like junk or trash to the average person can provide a treasure trove of clues for Dr. Walsh-Haney. “[We hope to be] finding life support equipment and pieces of the plane, where we can say we’re in the right spot. But now we’re also focusing on finding what could be left and that would be skeletal and dental remains, Dr. Heather Walsh-Haney said. The Florida Gulf Coast University team will only have a month to unearth the remains. There’s no guarantee they will find any remains or artifacts at all; yet, if they find them, a meticulous process ensues. The team will likely snap hundreds of photos, piece together bones, and test DNA to match remains with their loved ones. It’s a mission with a personal meaning for team member and recent graduate, Dee Lopez. “Just knowing that if something were to happen, since I do still have a younger brother that’s active, there are people out there who care,” said Florida Gulf Coast University alum and lab coordinator Dee Lopez. Team members say while their mission to find remains, it’s also to find hope and help for families still wondering what happened to their loved ones. For families like the Szymanskis, the search delivered closure, even if decades later. “There [are] more people out there I really believe with all my heart maybe not all, but a lot of them will be found,” Szymanski said. ______ The FGCU team will head to Germany next month. They will also blog during their journey. Click here for more information.