20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta GordaLehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry
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.
ESTERO Crews battle brushfire near Alico Road and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
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.
ESTERO Crews battle brushfire near Alico Road and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
What happens to the kids arrested for making threats against their school or classmates? Two years after the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, law enforcement in Southwest Florida has investigated more than 400 school threats. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office investigated at least 380 school threats, according to data WINK News collected between Feb. 14, 2018, and Nov. 19, 2019. In 2019 alone, law enforcement in Lee County arrested at least 25 children, some as young as 12 years old. Comparatively, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said it has investigated 65 school threats since Parkland, and Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office investigated three school threats. Nearing the first anniversary in February 2019, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno promised anyone making threats, real or fake, will suffer severe consequences. This came with the launch of the Fake Threats, Real Consequences campaign in conjunction with the Lee County School District. “These individuals will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible,” Marceno said in the joint press conference with State Attorney Amira Fox, Commissioner Brian Hamman, and Superintendent Greg Adkins. To that end, LCSO went on to post some students’ mug shots along with their name and birthday on social media. “Our goal is to be proactive, and we will take a zero-tolerance stance on any and all threats,” Marceno said during that same 2019 press conference. But did those tactics work and stop other kids from making similar threats? WINK News asked to sit down with Sheriff Marceno, but Lt. Anita Iriarte with LCSO Public Affairs responded to our request saying, “We are respectfully declining.” At that same press conference in 2019, State Attorney Amira Fox doubled down on Marceno’s words. “It is not funny, it is not a prank. We do not see it as a prank; we see it as a threat,” Fox said. “When any situation like this occurs, all hands are on deck.” Six months later, she reiterated how seriously her office takes threats like these. “We don’t know if we are dealing with just a jokester who is really, really dumb, immature or if we are dealing with someone who is going to go into a school and actually shoot it up. We take it like it is number two,” Fox said in an interview with WINK News in August 2019. But that still doesn’t answer what is happening to these kids after they face a judge. WINK News contacted Fox’s office to find out how those kids were punished. Citing F.S. 119.07(1), Assistant State Attorney Jody Brown said that information is considered confidential and exempt from public records. Brown wrote in an email: “The dispositions and case notes are specifically exempted by 119.07(1). Please refer to Florida Statute 985.04(2) for a review of the materials that may be disclosed in a juvenile case. Your request will be considered closed since I have nothing I am able to provide.” WINK News asked for an on-camera interview with State Attorney Fox, she declined. In order to get a glimpse at whether the people in charge of keeping kids safe are following through on their promises, WINK News had to reach out to families directly. No parents felt comfortable enough to talk on camera, but three parents spoke to WINK News by phone, explaining their child’s situation and the outcome. Two of the three said the whole process was far from rehabilitative, and one even said their child is “worse” now since transferring to an alternative school. “I haven’t been able to find any data to show what happens with them,” said criminal justice expert and former police officer Dr. Dave Thomas. He said there are a number of things that could happen to a kid who goes through the system. “A lot of times what I see happen is the state will withhold adjudication and put them in a ‘program’ of some sort, some sort of diversion program. And as a result, that kid has to basically, for that year, has to be clean and work off his record,” Thomas said. Kids can also spend 21 days in juvenile detention. Ultimately though, without the sheriff or the state attorney reporting back on their very public promise, the community does not know if it’s doing the student or society more harm than good. “We’ve been in this whole thing of not rehabilitating with these kids and, ‘let’s just lock them up and lock them up.’ And the cycle just continues,” Thomas said.