National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Preseason preparationsTemporary closures planned for Cape Coral athletic fields
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Preseason preparations With less than a month until the official start of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated May 5th to May 11th National Hurricane Preparedness Week.
CAPE CORAL Temporary closures planned for Cape Coral athletic fields Three athletic fields in Cape Coral will temporarily close in May and another in June.
FORT MYERS Influencer shooting victim ‘Hood Fishing’ is stable and recovering A local internet star injured during a shooting in broad daylight on Fort Myers Street is still recovering from what happened.
NAPLES $8K reward offered for information on 2 brothers wanted in fatal stabbing More money is up for grabs if you’re able to help police find two brothers who allegedly stabbed two men in Collier County.
NEW YORK Trump fined $1K for gag order violation in hush money case as judge warns of possible jail time The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial has fined him $1,000 for violating his gag order and has sternly warned the former president that additional violation could result in jail time.
Exclusive: More than 100 American Flamingos counted in Florida Audubon Florida has revealed the numbers of flamingos in the state to WINK News, in advance of an official statement scheduled for later Monday.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested after police respond to shooting outside Cape Coral home A man has been taken into custody after a reported shooting in a Cape Coral neighborhood where a car was found with at least one bullet hole.
Charlotte County home sellers had 2nd highest profit margin in Q1 While nationwide profit margins for home sales decreased 55%, in Charlotte County the profit margin for sellers rose to 103.1% for the first three months of the year.
FORT MYERS Second teen accused in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller to face charges as an adult A second teen will face adult charges in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller.
FORT MYERS Man accused of murder in Fort Myers will be in court for arraignment The man accused of shooting and killing a man near Roberto Clemente Park in Fort Myers is scheduled to be in court today.
FORT MYERS Black bear sighted in downtown Fort Myers parking lot captured, relocated Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission tranquilized and captured a Florida black bear spotted in downtown Fort Myers on Monday morning.
LEHIGH ACRES 2 ATVs ticketed at Barefoot Lake after owner bars public Two ATVs were issued tickets at Barefoot Lake and towed away over the weekend after the property owner decided to bar the public.
WINK NEWS Hot and dry Monday afternoon before isolated storms pop up this evening On Monday morning, the weather is starting mild and humid with temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Firefighters respond to dumpster fire at FGCU San Carlos Park Fire District responded to a dumpster fire Sunday afternoon.
FORT MYERS FGCU students affected by Covid celebrate first commencement ceremony Graduation is a right of passage from school to the real world, but for these students, reality hit them in 2020.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Preseason preparations With less than a month until the official start of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated May 5th to May 11th National Hurricane Preparedness Week.
CAPE CORAL Temporary closures planned for Cape Coral athletic fields Three athletic fields in Cape Coral will temporarily close in May and another in June.
FORT MYERS Influencer shooting victim ‘Hood Fishing’ is stable and recovering A local internet star injured during a shooting in broad daylight on Fort Myers Street is still recovering from what happened.
NAPLES $8K reward offered for information on 2 brothers wanted in fatal stabbing More money is up for grabs if you’re able to help police find two brothers who allegedly stabbed two men in Collier County.
NEW YORK Trump fined $1K for gag order violation in hush money case as judge warns of possible jail time The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial has fined him $1,000 for violating his gag order and has sternly warned the former president that additional violation could result in jail time.
Exclusive: More than 100 American Flamingos counted in Florida Audubon Florida has revealed the numbers of flamingos in the state to WINK News, in advance of an official statement scheduled for later Monday.
CAPE CORAL Man arrested after police respond to shooting outside Cape Coral home A man has been taken into custody after a reported shooting in a Cape Coral neighborhood where a car was found with at least one bullet hole.
Charlotte County home sellers had 2nd highest profit margin in Q1 While nationwide profit margins for home sales decreased 55%, in Charlotte County the profit margin for sellers rose to 103.1% for the first three months of the year.
FORT MYERS Second teen accused in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller to face charges as an adult A second teen will face adult charges in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller.
FORT MYERS Man accused of murder in Fort Myers will be in court for arraignment The man accused of shooting and killing a man near Roberto Clemente Park in Fort Myers is scheduled to be in court today.
FORT MYERS Black bear sighted in downtown Fort Myers parking lot captured, relocated Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission tranquilized and captured a Florida black bear spotted in downtown Fort Myers on Monday morning.
LEHIGH ACRES 2 ATVs ticketed at Barefoot Lake after owner bars public Two ATVs were issued tickets at Barefoot Lake and towed away over the weekend after the property owner decided to bar the public.
WINK NEWS Hot and dry Monday afternoon before isolated storms pop up this evening On Monday morning, the weather is starting mild and humid with temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Firefighters respond to dumpster fire at FGCU San Carlos Park Fire District responded to a dumpster fire Sunday afternoon.
FORT MYERS FGCU students affected by Covid celebrate first commencement ceremony Graduation is a right of passage from school to the real world, but for these students, reality hit them in 2020.
FILE – In this Feb. 11, 2005 file photo, trays of printed social security checks wait to be mailed from the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Management services facility in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Bradley C. Bower, File) Social Security recipients will get a modest 1.3% cost-of living-increase in 2021, but that might be small comfort amid worries about the coronavirus and its consequences for older people. The increase amounts to $20 a month for the average retired worker, according to estimates released Tuesday by the Social Security Administration. That’s a little less than this year’s 1.6% cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. The COLA affects the personal finances of about 1 in 5 Americans, including Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees, some 70 million people in all. The economic fallout from the virus has reduced tax collections for Social Security and Medicare, likely worsening their long-term financial condition. But there’s been no real discussion of either program in the personally charged election contest between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. “It’s very difficult to talk about anything policy-wise,” said Mary Johnson, an analyst with the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League. “We are looking at a period where there are growing inadequacies in Social Security benefits, particularly for people with lower-to-middle benefits.” With the just-announced COLA, the estimated average Social Security payment for a retired worker will be $1,543 a month next year. A typical couple’s benefits would increase $33 to $2,596 per month. “The guaranteed benefits provided by Social Security and the COLA increase are more crucial than ever as millions of Americans continue to face the one-two punch of the coronavirus’s health and economic consequences,” said AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins. But Diana LaCroix, of Omaha, Nebraska, says her COLA doesn’t cushion rising health care costs most years. And she has new responsibilities. Her youngest daughter and two grandsons moved in with her this summer after the daughter’s landlord decided to sell the house they were renting. LaCroix, retired from customer service jobs, is now buying diapers some days as she scrounges for good deals on hand sanitizer. “Something’s got to give,” she said. “Something’s got to change.” People 65 and older went for Trump in 2016, but this election some polls show Biden even with Trump among older voters, or ahead. Trump has kept his promise not to cut Social Security benefits, but this summer he sent confusing signals with a plan to temporarily suspend collection of certain taxes that fund the program. While the White House staff said it was a limited measure that would have no lasting impact, Trump kept hinting to reporters that he had much bigger tax cuts in mind. Early in the year, he told an interviewer he wanted to tackle “entitlements,” or benefit programs, in a second term. Biden has a Social Security plan that would revamp the COLA and peg it to an inflation index that more closely reflects changes in costs for older people, particularly health care. That’s been a priority for advocates. He would also increase minimum benefits for lower-income retirees, addressing financial hardship among the elderly. The former vice president would raise Social Security taxes by applying the payroll tax to earnings above $400,000 a year. The 12.4% tax, equally distributed among employees and employers, currently only applies to the first $137,700 of a person’s earnings. The tax increase would pay for Biden’s proposed benefit expansions and also extend the life of program’s trust fund by five years, to 2040, according to the nonpartisan Urban Institute. Jane Whilden lives in a household that leans heavily on Social Security. The southern New Jersey resident retired early from a local government job to serve as the main caregiver for her family, including her mother and her husband, a retired trucker. The program should be at the top of the list for the presidential candidates, she said. “Everybody’s getting older, and we need to know what’s going on,” said Whilden. “I haven’t heard what they’re going to do. You just hear all sorts of negative things.” The COLA is only part of the annual financial calculation for seniors. Medicare’s “Part B” premium for outpatient care usually gets announced in the fall as well. That amount generally increases, so at least some of any additional Social Security raise goes to health care premiums. The Medicare premium for 2021 has not been released yet, but there’s been concern that some emergency actions the government took in response to the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a big jump. That prompted Congress to pass recent election-year legislation that limits next year’s premium increase but gradually collects the full amount later on under a repayment mechanism. “There’s a lot of uncertainty with regard to the effect of the coronavirus on the cost of the premium for next year,” said Casey Schwarz, a policy expert with the Medicare Rights Center advocacy group. The Medicare monthly premium is now $144.60.