LCSO: Investigation underway in North Fort MyersDriver arrested after fleeing police, causing multi-car crash in Fort Myers
NORTH FORT MYERS LCSO: Investigation underway in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident in North Fort Myers on Saturday.
FORT MYERS Driver arrested after fleeing police, causing multi-car crash in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Police Department has arrested a man accused of causing a multi-car crash in Fort Myers.
Chilly morning and a cool Saturday afternoon with lots of sunshine The Weather Authority says the weekend is starting off nice and chilly, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Regional Semifinals It’s the regional semifinal round of high school football in Southwest Florida. Check out the scores and highlights.
FORT MYERS BEACH New information on why FEMA put Fort Myers Beach on probation FEMA was sure to lay it out in a letter. Out of the five points listed, three areas need work on Fort Myers Beach to re-apply for the flood insurance discount.
CAPE CORAL Exclusive: Cape Coral Police Chief speaks out on hate crime incident New exclusive surveillance video shows the moment a Cape Coral home is vandalized. The suspects painted racial slurs on the wall in red paint. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday.
CAPE CORAL New police precincts coming to Cape Coral The Cape Coral Police Department is adding new precincts around the city. The reason? Growth.
Vietnam veteran’s unique service animal companion When we think of service animals, dogs usually come to mind, but it’s not just dogs that help people navigate through their challenges.
NAPLES Gulfshore Life’s Men and Women of the Year award honoree: John Cooney It’s one thing to be philanthropic and help our community. It’s another to provide so much help and want absolutely nothing in return, not even your name mentioned.
FORT MYERS Dunbar High principal named Lee County Principal of the Year Carl Burnside was the last to find out Friday morning that he was selected as Lee County Schools Principal of the Year for 2025.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach businesses excited for increased season traffic Those on Fort Myers Beach are excited for the town to return to normal. Businesses are ready to accept snowbirds and residents again.
CAPE CORAL Mom faces DUI charge after crash during pick-up at Oasis High School A crash in the pick-up line at Oasis High School led Cape Coral police to a DUI investigation.
Rethinking daily Asprin intake Many of us have heard the saying, “An aspirin a day keeps the doctor away,” but new research shows that taking aspirin every day might not be as good for you as we once thought.
NAPLES Embezzlement investigation in Naples WINK News is looking into claims of embezzlement in the Naples government.
NORTH FORT MYERS Where did the Shell Factory animals go? With the closure of The Shell Factory in September, people have been wondering where the animals went.
NORTH FORT MYERS LCSO: Investigation underway in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident in North Fort Myers on Saturday.
FORT MYERS Driver arrested after fleeing police, causing multi-car crash in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Police Department has arrested a man accused of causing a multi-car crash in Fort Myers.
Chilly morning and a cool Saturday afternoon with lots of sunshine The Weather Authority says the weekend is starting off nice and chilly, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Regional Semifinals It’s the regional semifinal round of high school football in Southwest Florida. Check out the scores and highlights.
FORT MYERS BEACH New information on why FEMA put Fort Myers Beach on probation FEMA was sure to lay it out in a letter. Out of the five points listed, three areas need work on Fort Myers Beach to re-apply for the flood insurance discount.
CAPE CORAL Exclusive: Cape Coral Police Chief speaks out on hate crime incident New exclusive surveillance video shows the moment a Cape Coral home is vandalized. The suspects painted racial slurs on the wall in red paint. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday.
CAPE CORAL New police precincts coming to Cape Coral The Cape Coral Police Department is adding new precincts around the city. The reason? Growth.
Vietnam veteran’s unique service animal companion When we think of service animals, dogs usually come to mind, but it’s not just dogs that help people navigate through their challenges.
NAPLES Gulfshore Life’s Men and Women of the Year award honoree: John Cooney It’s one thing to be philanthropic and help our community. It’s another to provide so much help and want absolutely nothing in return, not even your name mentioned.
FORT MYERS Dunbar High principal named Lee County Principal of the Year Carl Burnside was the last to find out Friday morning that he was selected as Lee County Schools Principal of the Year for 2025.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach businesses excited for increased season traffic Those on Fort Myers Beach are excited for the town to return to normal. Businesses are ready to accept snowbirds and residents again.
CAPE CORAL Mom faces DUI charge after crash during pick-up at Oasis High School A crash in the pick-up line at Oasis High School led Cape Coral police to a DUI investigation.
Rethinking daily Asprin intake Many of us have heard the saying, “An aspirin a day keeps the doctor away,” but new research shows that taking aspirin every day might not be as good for you as we once thought.
NAPLES Embezzlement investigation in Naples WINK News is looking into claims of embezzlement in the Naples government.
NORTH FORT MYERS Where did the Shell Factory animals go? With the closure of The Shell Factory in September, people have been wondering where the animals went.
A couple gets their temperature checked as they enter a restaurant on Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami, on June 9, 2020. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES A day after Miami-Dade County’s mayor announced business restrictions and closings due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, he revised the emergency order to allow gyms and fitness studios to remain open. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Monday that starting Wednesday, restaurants will be limited to takeout and delivery service, and gyms, banquet halls and short-term vacation rentals like those available on Airbnb will be closed. Bars are already closed statewide and restaurants were limited to 50% capacity indoors. Gimenez on Tuesday revised the restrictions to say gyms and fitness studios will be allowed to remain open after a “very productive virtual meeting just now with our medical experts and the County’s Wellness Group,” the mayor tweeted. “We arrived at a compromise to keep gyms & fitness studios open. All doing activities inside must wear a mask or do strenuous training outside staying 10 feet apart w/out mask.” Like much of the state, Miami-Dade’s restaurants had reopened with capacity and social-distancing restrictions in mid-May, while gyms reopened about a month ago. During that time, the county’s daily rate for confirmed cases skyrocketed from about 300 a day to more than 2,000. Miami-Dade County now has more than 1,600 hospitalized coronavirus patients, double what it had two weeks ago. Of those, 331 are in intensive care and 168 are on ventilators, figures that have also doubled. Miami-Dade has been the state’s hardest-hit area along with its South Florida neighbors, Broward and Palm Beach counties. They have also seen recent spikes. Dr. David De La Zerda, a pulmonologist at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital, said if the new infection rate isn’t slowed, his hospital soon won’t have enough rooms or ventilators and the staff will be stretched thin. “COVID patients require more nurses, more respiratory therapists. The nurses need to check on them more often,” De La Zerda said. Gimenez blamed his county’s spike on young adults visiting restaurants and other indoor gathering spots without wearing masks and not practicing social distancing. He also blamed the recent protests over the death of George Floyd while he was being arrested by Minneapolis police. People under 35 are significantly less likely to die from COVID-19 than those over 65, but they can spread the disease to their older family members, co-workers and friends. “We can tamp down the spread if everyone follows the rules, wears masks and stays at least 6 feet apart,” he said in a statement. “If you don’t have to go out, remember, you are safer at home.” Gimenez, a Republican, is running to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. She said Gimenez reopened the county too soon “just to please” President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. “This is failed leadership. Our community deserves better,” she wrote Monday on Twitter. Miami-Dade’s announcement came shortly after Florida recorded 6,336 new confirmed cases statewide, raising the total to 206,447 since the state’s outbreak was first identified March 1. The state says 3,880 people have died from the virus. Over the last week, about 43 Floridians a day have died of the disease, up from 30 a day three weeks ago but still below the 60 a day recorded in early May. Hospitalizations are up about 40% statewide over the last two weeks. Part of the reason for the spike in the raw number of infections is more people are being tested: 45,000 a day, about double the figure of a month ago. But the positivity rate for tests is increasing far quicker: for the past week it has been more than 18%, four times higher than a month ago when the weekly average stood at 4.6%. A month ago, the state was averaging about 1,500 new confirmed coronavirus cases a day. Gov. DeSantis, speaking at a Monday news conference at The Villages, the mammoth retirement community northwest of Orlando, said while he wants to get the positivity rate back to its earlier levels, he echoed Gimenez in saying much of the increase is among younger people who are less likely to die. The median age for those testing positive statewide has dropped from the mid-50s to the mid-30s, he said. He said 21 is the No. 1 age for testing positive in Florida, an age where the death rate is near zero unless the person has underlying health issues like heart disease or diabetes. He said that has helped keep the daily death toll below the early May peak when nursing homes were seeing many deaths. “From a clinical perspective, a thousand cases under the age of 30 is going to be less significant than 50 cases in a long-term care facility,” he said. Since the outbreak began, an average of 30 Floridians has died per day from COVID-19, which makes it one of the state’s biggest killers. Using 2018 Florida Health Department statistics, the last year available, coronavirus’ daily death toll would rank sixth behind heart disease (128 deaths a day), cancer (123), stroke (36), accidental injury (34) and chronic lung disease (33). But coronavirus is easily the state’s deadliest infectious disease, killing nearly three times more Floridians than flu/pneumonia (8 a day), AIDS (2) and viral hepatitis (1) combined. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.