Voters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 ElectionPunta Gorda residents frustrated by hurricane debris delays
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Voters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election A lot can change in four years. During the 2020 election, many voters masked up as they cast their ballots, and the pandemic was at the top of many voters’ minds.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents frustrated by hurricane debris delays Many people in parts of southwest Florida feel like they’ve dealt with more than their fair share of storm damage lately.
Miracle Moment: A rosy outlook following surprise diagnosis It’s time for Miracle Moment. Today, we meet a toddler diagnosed with a disease without known prevention or cure.
Poll workers ready for Election Day rush in Collier County Poll workers gear up for a busy Tuesday in Collier County; some have been there for a while, and this year marks their first time working at a polling place for others.
CAPE CORAL Voters decide: Will Cape Coral City Council members stay or go? Stipends, Jaycee Park and new developments have been topics of concern in the City of Cape Coral for months now.
MATLACHA Lee County residents still dealing with damage from hurricanes Hurricane recovery has been an ongoing project here in Southwest Florida since Hurricane Ian.
FGCU Former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III makes PGA Tour After playing two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III is moving up to the PGA Tour.
Parents cast their votes for Lee County school superintendent With just hours now until the election, WINK News wants to highlight a few local races that haven’t gotten as much attention. One of them is the election of Lee County’s next superintendent of schools.
NORTH FORT MYERS Former Dollar General employee accused of stealing $7,000 in returns A woman has been arrested after defrauding a Dollar General in North Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Tropics and Red Tide; what happens if or when they interact? The Tropics are active despite the fact that there’s less than a month left in hurricane season. But how will a system interact with red tide?
CAPE CORAL Police investigate gunfire at Cape Coral rental home The bullet holes left behind by shots heard in a normally quiet Cape Coral neighborhood scared one woman into buying security cameras for her home.
CAPE CORAL Bimini Basin residents face housing challenges Time is running out for the families who live in one Cape Coral community to find places to call home.
Harris and Trump make a furious final push before Election Day A presidential campaign that has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts comes down to a final sprint across a handful of states on Election Day eve.
Using AI to detect pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. That’s due in part to the limited testing available for early detection.
the weather authority Tropical Storm Rafael forms in the Caribbean The Weather Authority meteorologists are monitoring the Caribbean as Tropical Storm Rafael has formed.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Voters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election A lot can change in four years. During the 2020 election, many voters masked up as they cast their ballots, and the pandemic was at the top of many voters’ minds.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents frustrated by hurricane debris delays Many people in parts of southwest Florida feel like they’ve dealt with more than their fair share of storm damage lately.
Miracle Moment: A rosy outlook following surprise diagnosis It’s time for Miracle Moment. Today, we meet a toddler diagnosed with a disease without known prevention or cure.
Poll workers ready for Election Day rush in Collier County Poll workers gear up for a busy Tuesday in Collier County; some have been there for a while, and this year marks their first time working at a polling place for others.
CAPE CORAL Voters decide: Will Cape Coral City Council members stay or go? Stipends, Jaycee Park and new developments have been topics of concern in the City of Cape Coral for months now.
MATLACHA Lee County residents still dealing with damage from hurricanes Hurricane recovery has been an ongoing project here in Southwest Florida since Hurricane Ian.
FGCU Former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III makes PGA Tour After playing two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III is moving up to the PGA Tour.
Parents cast their votes for Lee County school superintendent With just hours now until the election, WINK News wants to highlight a few local races that haven’t gotten as much attention. One of them is the election of Lee County’s next superintendent of schools.
NORTH FORT MYERS Former Dollar General employee accused of stealing $7,000 in returns A woman has been arrested after defrauding a Dollar General in North Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Tropics and Red Tide; what happens if or when they interact? The Tropics are active despite the fact that there’s less than a month left in hurricane season. But how will a system interact with red tide?
CAPE CORAL Police investigate gunfire at Cape Coral rental home The bullet holes left behind by shots heard in a normally quiet Cape Coral neighborhood scared one woman into buying security cameras for her home.
CAPE CORAL Bimini Basin residents face housing challenges Time is running out for the families who live in one Cape Coral community to find places to call home.
Harris and Trump make a furious final push before Election Day A presidential campaign that has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts comes down to a final sprint across a handful of states on Election Day eve.
Using AI to detect pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. That’s due in part to the limited testing available for early detection.
the weather authority Tropical Storm Rafael forms in the Caribbean The Weather Authority meteorologists are monitoring the Caribbean as Tropical Storm Rafael has formed.
U.S. retail sales jumped by a record 17.7% from April to May, with spending partially rebounding after the coronavirus had shut down businesses, flattened the economy and paralyzed consumers during the previous two months. The Commerce Department’s report Tuesday showed that retail sales have retraced some of the record-setting month-to-month plunges of March (8.3%) and April (14.7%) as businesses have increasingly reopened. Still, the pandemic’s damage to retail sales remains severe, with purchases still down 6.1% from a year ago. The virus-induced recession not only diminished spending in most sectors of the economy. It has also accelerated shifts in where people shop and what they buy. The changes have in many cases intensified the financial strain on traditional physical stores and boosted online purchases. Sales at non-store retailers, which include internet companies like Amazon and eBay, rose 9% in May after posting growth of 9.5% in April. Clothiers achieved a stunning 188% monthly gain, but that was not enough to offset a 63.4% drop over the past 12 months. Retail sales account for roughly half of all consumer spending, which fuels about 70% of total economic activity. The rest of consumer spending includes services, from cellphone and internet contracts to gym memberships and child care. Last month’s bounce-back comes against the backdrop of an economy that may have begun what could be a slow and prolonged recovery. In May, employers added 2.5 million jobs, an unexpected increase that suggested that the job market has bottomed out. Nearly 80% of small retailers and restaurants tracked by the scheduling tool Homebase that were closed in mid-April have since reopened. Yet these smaller businesses remain under pressure. Their stresses in part reflect changes emerging as social distancing has become essential and shopping habits evolve. One such retailer, CPW, a women’s clothing store, has been in business for 30 years on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. A three-month shutdown resulting from the virus sent the store’s sales sinking 20% to 30% even as the owner, Linda Wolff, packed and delivered orders to customer homes. Though CPW reopened for curbside pickup a week ago, Wolff said she hasn’t rung up a single such sale. “This is my heart and soul,” she said. “I am exhausted from all the worrying.” Some national chains, by contrast, say they have so far avoided their worst fears, a sign of how the damage from the shutdowns has varied widely across the retail landscape. Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette has said that his company’s reopened stores are regaining 50% of their typical business. Teen retailer American Eagle Outfitters is faring even better, averaging roughly 95% of its normal sales levels. But analysts caution that some of the gains thus far probably reflect the impact of temporary government aid and expanded unemployment benefits in the face of a deep recession. The jobless rate is a historically high 13.3% by the government’s standard measure and an even worse 21.2% by the broadest gauge of unemployment. For now, Americans are spending disproportionately more on essentials and less on luxuries. “Our wants and our needs have changed permanently until we find a health fix,” said Stacy Widlitz, president of SW Retail Advisors, a retail consultancy. “Shoppers are focusing on comfort, home and well-being.” The lockdowns sent many mall-based chains further into peril. These retailers furloughed workers, slashed costs to preserve dwindling cash reserves and, in the cases of Nieman Marcus, J.Crew and JC Penney, filed for bankruptcy protection. These troubles have contrasted with renewed strength for Walmart, Target and Home Depot, which were deemed essential businesses from the start and were allowed to remain open. For a group of 35 non-essential retailers, including department stores and jewelry chains, combined losses reached $2.5 billion for the three-month period that ended in May, according to GlobalData Retail. That compares with their combined profit of $8.9 billion in the year-ago period. Far better off were essential retailers, including dollar chains, discounters and food stores. For that group, profits reached $8.9 billion for the quarter, down only slightly from $9.1 billion from the year-ago period. Some of these companies had invested heavily in their online operations. Coresight Research, a retail research firm, expects between 20,000 and 25,000 stores in the United States to close this year, about 60% of them in malls. That’s up from the firm’s previous estimate in mid-March of 15,000 closings, and it would surpass the record 9,000 stores closures last year. In the past week, Zara, Children’s Place and Signet Jewelers all announced hundreds of store closures and stressed the rising importance of their online presence. “The retail sector was already overstored before COVID reared its ugly head,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail consultancy. “This is a forced rightsizing.” ___ D’Innocenzio reported from New York. (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)