Community supporting Lehigh Acres church after destructive fireKids battling cancer in Fort Myers receive cuddly companions from donor
LEHIGH ACRES Community supporting Lehigh Acres church after destructive fire A massive fire recently burned the Christ at Crossroads Church in Lehigh Acres, and the community is rallying to support the church’s recovery.
FORT MYERS Kids battling cancer in Fort Myers receive cuddly companions from donor Children battling cancer in Fort Myers are finding comfort in a special friend thanks to a generous donor.
2 SWFL veterans find relief at Harry Chapin Food Bank Two veterans in Southwest Florida routinely receive vital support through local food distributions, highlighting a significant issue affecting many who have served our country.
Researchers found lasting effects from COVID-19 COVID-19 cases today are less severe than five years ago, but new research indicates severe infections may have lasting impacts on the heart.
PORT CHARLOTTE Connecting service dogs with veterans A 76-year-old veteran is transforming lives by connecting fellow veterans with support dogs, and the results have been life-changing.
Peace River Wildlife Center celebrates reopening Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda reopened at Ponce de Leon Park after being closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton flooded the center and its hospital that treats injured wildlife.
Dolphin found dead in Collier County amid red tide warnings Red tide is affecting multiple beaches in Collier County, and most recently, a dolphin was found dead in an area that turned up positive samples for red tide from Collier County Pollution Control.
Fort Myers riverfront condo One breaks ground Almost 20 years have passed since the last riverfront condominium project rose along the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers.
Former Hendry County deputy found guilty after knocking handcuffed man unconscious A former Hendry County Sheriff’s Office deputy could face prison time for his use of unreasonable force on a man who was being held for a domestic violence call.
1 killed in Collier County crash, FHP investigating The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a single-vehicle crash on I-75 at the 97-mile marker in Collier County.
Lehigh Acres Man arrested for crashing into Lehigh Acres duplex, damages several vehicles The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man accused of crashing his vehicle into a Lehigh Acres duplex.
Pedestrian killed while attempting to cross Hancock Bridge Parkway The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a deadly crash involving a pedestrian attempting to cross Hancock Bridge Parkway in Lee County.
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 Warm with a few showers this Monday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking the continuing stretch of warmer conditions along with a few rain showers this Monday.
DeSoto County teen sentenced to life in prison for killing 17-year-old at fair A teenager will face sentencing Monday for shooting and killing another teenager at the DeSoto County Fair.
LEHIGH ACRES Community supporting Lehigh Acres church after destructive fire A massive fire recently burned the Christ at Crossroads Church in Lehigh Acres, and the community is rallying to support the church’s recovery.
FORT MYERS Kids battling cancer in Fort Myers receive cuddly companions from donor Children battling cancer in Fort Myers are finding comfort in a special friend thanks to a generous donor.
2 SWFL veterans find relief at Harry Chapin Food Bank Two veterans in Southwest Florida routinely receive vital support through local food distributions, highlighting a significant issue affecting many who have served our country.
Researchers found lasting effects from COVID-19 COVID-19 cases today are less severe than five years ago, but new research indicates severe infections may have lasting impacts on the heart.
PORT CHARLOTTE Connecting service dogs with veterans A 76-year-old veteran is transforming lives by connecting fellow veterans with support dogs, and the results have been life-changing.
Peace River Wildlife Center celebrates reopening Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda reopened at Ponce de Leon Park after being closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton flooded the center and its hospital that treats injured wildlife.
Dolphin found dead in Collier County amid red tide warnings Red tide is affecting multiple beaches in Collier County, and most recently, a dolphin was found dead in an area that turned up positive samples for red tide from Collier County Pollution Control.
Fort Myers riverfront condo One breaks ground Almost 20 years have passed since the last riverfront condominium project rose along the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers.
Former Hendry County deputy found guilty after knocking handcuffed man unconscious A former Hendry County Sheriff’s Office deputy could face prison time for his use of unreasonable force on a man who was being held for a domestic violence call.
1 killed in Collier County crash, FHP investigating The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a single-vehicle crash on I-75 at the 97-mile marker in Collier County.
Lehigh Acres Man arrested for crashing into Lehigh Acres duplex, damages several vehicles The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man accused of crashing his vehicle into a Lehigh Acres duplex.
Pedestrian killed while attempting to cross Hancock Bridge Parkway The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a deadly crash involving a pedestrian attempting to cross Hancock Bridge Parkway in Lee County.
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 Warm with a few showers this Monday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking the continuing stretch of warmer conditions along with a few rain showers this Monday.
DeSoto County teen sentenced to life in prison for killing 17-year-old at fair A teenager will face sentencing Monday for shooting and killing another teenager at the DeSoto County Fair.
FILE – This Feb. 18, 2014 shows Lexy, a therapy dog at Fort Bragg, N.C. A study released on Monday, June 17, 2019 suggests that over thousands of years of dog domestication, people preferred dogs that could pull off the ”puppy dog” eyes look. And that encouraged the evolution of the facial muscle behind it, researchers propose. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz, File) What’s behind those hard-to-resist puppy dog eyes? New research suggests that over thousands of years of dog domestication, people preferred pups that could pull off that appealing, sad look. And that encouraged the development of the facial muscle that creates it. Today, pooches use the muscle to raise their eyebrows and make the babylike expression. That muscle is virtually absent in their ancestors, the wolves. “You don’t typically see such muscle differences in species that are that closely related,” said Anne Burrows of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, an author of the study released Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dogs differ from wolves in many ways, from having shorter snouts, smaller sizes and more expressive faces. And unlike wolves, dogs heavily rely on human eye contact, whether to know when someone’s talking to them or when they can’t solve a problem, like hopping a fence or getting out the door. Burrows and her colleagues examined the eye muscles in the cadavers of six dogs and two wolves. They found dogs have a meaty eye muscle to lift their eyebrows and make puppy dog eyes. But in wolves, the same muscle was stringy or missing. The scientists also recorded 27 dogs and nine wolves as each stared at a person. Pet pooches frequently and intensely pulled back their eyebrows to make sad expressions, while the wolves rarely made these faces, and never with great intensity. The researchers believe dogs, over their relatively short 33,000 years of domestication, used this eye muscle to communicate, possibly goading people to feed or care for them — or at least take them out to play. And people, perhaps unwittingly, obliged. Dog experts not involved with the study were impressed. “The implications are quite profound,” said Brian Hare from Duke University and who edited the article. Hare wrote in an email that these muscles almost certainly developed because they gave dogs an advantage when interacting with people, and people have been unaware of it. “The proof has been in their puppy dog eyes all this time!” he said. Evan MacLean at the University of Arizona called the findings fascinating, but cautioned that the muscle difference could be an indirect effect of other changes rather than a specific response to human influence. Clive Wynne of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University said: “Kudos to the researchers for thinking of a cool way to investigate an important aspect of dogs’ success” with humans. But he noted in an email that the study has a few snags, particularly the small sampling — only five dog breeds were examined and videos were mainly of Staffordshire bull terriers — and the lack of background information about each animal. “Did these wolves regularly meet people bearing gifts that might be worth asking for with an endearing face?” he asked. Burrows said she planned follow-up studies to examine more breeds.