NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
lehigh acres LCSO: Lehigh Acres shooting investigation underway The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
Lee County mother continuing fight to get children a bus stop The school district already told her she lives too close to the school to qualify for a bus route but she has not given up.
NORTH NAPLES Grant Thornton Invitational returns to Tiburon Golf Club Stars on the PGA and LPGA Tours are back in Southwest Florida for the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club.
FORT MYERS Black Flag brings classic punk energy to The Ranch in Fort Myers Legendary punk band Black Flag made their mark in Southwest Florida during the Fort Myers stop of their “First Four Years” tour.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
lehigh acres LCSO: Lehigh Acres shooting investigation underway The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
Lee County mother continuing fight to get children a bus stop The school district already told her she lives too close to the school to qualify for a bus route but she has not given up.
NORTH NAPLES Grant Thornton Invitational returns to Tiburon Golf Club Stars on the PGA and LPGA Tours are back in Southwest Florida for the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club.
FORT MYERS Black Flag brings classic punk energy to The Ranch in Fort Myers Legendary punk band Black Flag made their mark in Southwest Florida during the Fort Myers stop of their “First Four Years” tour.
Photo by WINK News. Many Lee County parents knew it was a possibility that their children could be sent home and forced to quarantine. It’s happening to entire classrooms after just one reported case at Mariner High School in Cape Coral. Greg Guminski got the call most parents have been dreading. His daughter had been exposed to COVID-19 and was now being asked to quarantine for 14 days. “I had a lot of questions: How did they decide? Who decided? Who was the person who had the positive test?” he asked. Without any answers from the Department of Health, Guminski had to figure out how to break the news to his twelfth-grade daughter. “She [was] crying her eyes out in bed, because she couldn’t be in school, she didn’t know if she could go back to school,” Guminski said. Madison wasn’t happy, to say the least. “I can’t have any interaction with my parents, any interaction with my sister, any interaction even with animals I have to sit in my room,” she said. Guminski wasn’t satisfied so he kept calling the Department of Health until he got a return call. “Because we had all these questions, she dug deeper, and come to find out my daughter was not in the room where the person had the virus,” Greg said, relieved. Madison was also excited because that meant she could go back to school. “For them to then tell me I wasn’t even near the person who had COVID and was perfectly fine,” she said. But if Greg Guminski never would’ve called, neither of them would’ve known. “Our daughter would be quarantined right now for no reason,” said Guminski. So now Madison is back at school, back at work, and most importantly, playing volleyball again. Her father, however, still isn’t okay with how the situation played out, although his daughter is safe. “I can’t believe the confusion of who is exposed is happening,” said Greg. “Who is exposed that they don’t know about? And who do they think was exposed that wasn’t? I mean this kind of confusion just can’t be happening.” The Department of Health decides who must quarantine not individual school districts. They provided the following statement: When an individual is determined to be COVID positive, FDOH Lee immediately does a preliminary assessment of individuals thought to be an exposure to a case in collaboration with the school district in an effort to quickly eliminate them from the school and reduce the risk of further exposures to others. The contact tracing involves interviewing the case as well as those reported to have contact with the case. During the course of these interviews, new information becomes available that can change whether or not someone is deemed a contact. This is not a “mistake”, but rather the outcome of thorough contact investigation that generated additional information that allowed the person to be able to excluded as a contact. In order to protect the privacy of Floridians, the Department is unable to provide certain details regarding case information.