Boaters with rifles seen in Cape Coral canal Car flips, one sent to hospital after two car crash in Fort Myers
CAPE CORAL Boaters with rifles seen in Cape Coral canal On an average day, it’s pretty common to see people fishing or swimming in a canal. One neighbor in Cape Coral saw something unusual in his backyard Friday afternoon.
FORT MYERS Car flips, one sent to hospital after two car crash in Fort Myers A crash involving at least two vehicles sent one person to the hospital.
The Weather Authority: Clouds, sunshine, wind, and the possibility of a brief shower for your Sunday Clouds and occasional sunshine this Sunday. A few brief showers are possible late in the afternoon and this evening.
TALLAHASSEE (CBS) Governor DeSantis signs AI and vape bills Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed 28 bills, including a measure requiring disclaimers on certain political ads created using artificial intelligence and a bill about regulation of vape products.
ESTERO Gold Star Golf Tournament honors fallen veteran Behind each putt and swing of a golf club at the Gold Star Golf Tournament is someone who knew John Wirka Junior.
NEW YORK (AP) How TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time. What’s now in question is whether it will be around much longer and, if so, in what form?
FORT MYERS Man wanted for armed robbery at Fort Myers convenience store Crime Stoppers is asking the public for help identifying an armed robber who held up a convenience store Saturday morning.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Rifles, inappropriate texts and Donut shop debacle This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a scary mall trip, an inappropriate coach, and a Dunkin Donuts assault.
The Weather Authority: Sunny Saturday with a nice breeze; fire danger increases Warm temperatures for your Saturday with a nice breeze into the afternoon.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas was 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 raises 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.
CAPE CORAL Boaters with rifles seen in Cape Coral canal On an average day, it’s pretty common to see people fishing or swimming in a canal. One neighbor in Cape Coral saw something unusual in his backyard Friday afternoon.
FORT MYERS Car flips, one sent to hospital after two car crash in Fort Myers A crash involving at least two vehicles sent one person to the hospital.
The Weather Authority: Clouds, sunshine, wind, and the possibility of a brief shower for your Sunday Clouds and occasional sunshine this Sunday. A few brief showers are possible late in the afternoon and this evening.
TALLAHASSEE (CBS) Governor DeSantis signs AI and vape bills Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed 28 bills, including a measure requiring disclaimers on certain political ads created using artificial intelligence and a bill about regulation of vape products.
ESTERO Gold Star Golf Tournament honors fallen veteran Behind each putt and swing of a golf club at the Gold Star Golf Tournament is someone who knew John Wirka Junior.
NEW YORK (AP) How TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time. What’s now in question is whether it will be around much longer and, if so, in what form?
FORT MYERS Man wanted for armed robbery at Fort Myers convenience store Crime Stoppers is asking the public for help identifying an armed robber who held up a convenience store Saturday morning.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Rifles, inappropriate texts and Donut shop debacle This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a scary mall trip, an inappropriate coach, and a Dunkin Donuts assault.
The Weather Authority: Sunny Saturday with a nice breeze; fire danger increases Warm temperatures for your Saturday with a nice breeze into the afternoon.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas was 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 raises 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.
Credit: WINK News. It is the last day of school in Lee County. And for thousands of kids, that means a break from middle-of-the-night, wake-up calls and long, dark bus rides. MORE: Why are so many kids in Lee County waiting for the bus in the dark? Autumn is a student at Estero High School. She wakes up at 4:00 a.m. Because to get to school, she has to make it to her bus stop before 5:00 a.m. “The bus typically picks me up at like 5:00 to 5:05 a.m.,” Autumn said. ‘And then I get to school at 6:30 a.m.” We followed along and waited with her. That day, her bus was almost 30 minutes late. And when it arrived, a substitute driver was behind the wheel. She has to drive a complicated route from south Fort Myers through Fort Myers Beach to Bonita Springs. They traveled for an hour before more kids got on. After roughly 90 minutes, she arrived at Estero High. Autumn said she feels like her route does not make sense. “We just go everywhere,” Autumn said. Autumn wishes the district could just split her route into two, but she also has an idea of why that can’t happen. “Because the school system does not have enough buses,” Autumn said. Actually, the School District of Lee County doesn’t have enough drivers. “It’s a simple math problem,” explained Roger Lloyd, Lee County Public Schools’ director of transportation operations. “If you have 751 routes, and you don’t have 751 drivers, you’re going to struggle to get kids to and from school on time.” Lloyd said the district is currently down to 725 drivers, which is 26 less than what they need to be at full staff. “The bottom line is we have late buses,” Lloyd said. He said the district is doing what it can to make the job more appealing, partly by bumping up the starting salary for a regular driver to roughly $16 per hour. “We’re trying our best to be competitive,” Lloyd said. The problem is a quick search on job site Glassdoor shows they can make a lot more money driving for other companies. MORE: Truck Driver Salaries In Florida With school bus drivers already taking on more routes, things get even trickier when they call in sick, and the others have to pick up the slack. “Even this morning on the radios they were like, ‘Hey, guys, there’s a shortage of buses today, and bus drivers, be nice and pick up other people’s kids,'” Autumn told us about the day we followed her bus. The district could not provide the number of drivers who call out per day because they say it varies, but Autumn said she has a substitute driver at least once a month. “It’s sort of stinks having to have a sub because they don’t know your route,” Autumn said. “They don’t know where they’re going.” Autumn does not mind when it is her regular driver. Normally, she just sleeps. But when there is a sub, she often has to stay up and help with directions. “Every 10 minutes I’d have to wake up and be like, ‘What? Yeah, sure, you turn this way,'” Autumn said. Lloyd said they do not recommend drivers take directions from riders, but the high school students can be helpful. He said having a substitute can add an extra 20 to 30 minutes to the ride because they are not familiar with the route. “And I can tell you that it does stress my drivers out showing up late,” Lloyd said. “Because they build relationships with the kids, and then the kids are sitting there waiting, and they don’t want their kids waiting 10, 15, 20 minutes for them.” Without those spots filled, Lloyd said it affects the whole department. “Every problem kind of compounds, and it’s a domino effect,” Lloyd said. “There’s no tougher job than being a bus driver, a sub bus driver probably even more so.” So bus rides stay long, and kids like Autumn just have to wait it out. Lloyd said the average bus ride for a student is 35 minutes long, and they try to keep routes to no more 70 minutes long. We asked the school district how many kids ride the bus for an hour or longer, and the public records department said they are still working on getting us a cost estimate for that information.