Preliminary report released for New Year’s Day plane crash at Naples AirportLCSO searching for family of wandering non-verbal teen in Lehigh Acres
naples Preliminary report released for New Year’s Day plane crash at Naples Airport The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report on a plane crash that involved four people at Naples Municipal Airport.
LEHIGH ACRES LCSO searching for family of wandering non-verbal teen in Lehigh Acres Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies are seeking the family members of a young boy found between the ages of 13 and 16 years old.
FORT MYERS Southwest Florida Ag Expo brings agriculture and fun to Fort Myers Fort Myers is holding the Southwest Florida Ag Expo, which promises a mix of agriculture, entertainment, and education this year.
CAPE CORAL Proposal to rename Seahawk Park in Cape Coral The City of Cape Coral Parks and Recreation Department has proposed renaming Seahawk Park to Seahawk Airfield at Festival Park.
Lee County student accused of making school threat A student from Cypress Lake High School is facing charges for making school threats.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Warm and breezy this Wednesday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a warm and breezy Wednesday with increased cloud coverage.
miami beach Gov. DeSantis annouces Freedom Boater Initative Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced several marine incentives boaters may take advantage of ahead of the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 2025 Miami Beach International Boat Show.
WINK NEWS Web Exclusive: Rachel Cox-Rosen’s Construction Heads Up As construction may dampen your commute, WINK News traffic anchor Rachel Cox Rosen knows the best way to traverse the roadways in this web-exclusive feature.
FORT MYERS Drivers react to newly opened intersection on Colonial Blvd. The dreaded drive through one of our busiest intersections has been the focus of several construction projects.
Dinosaur from Shell Factory finds new home in Saint James City marina A dinosaur has found a new home at the soon-to-be Nauti-Dolphin Marina in Saint James City, Florida. This prehistoric attraction is already drawing attention even though it’s the only thing currently on the property. Dean Zoner, owner of the Nauti-Dolphin Marina, acquired the dinosaur from the Shell Factory, a local business that was going out […]
Florida lawmakers to vote on revamped Governor backed immigration bill on Thursday The House and Senate are set to vote on a new immigration bill on Thursday. The bill aims to address illegal immigration and support federal mass deportation efforts.
CLEWISTON Community raises concerns about Clewiston Animal Services The Clewiston Animal Shelter has made significant improvements, but there is still work to be done to bring conditions to a more humane level.
Collier County beachgoers react to Gulf of America name change The Gulf of Mexico has been officially renamed the “Gulf of America” following an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood Beach’s closure impacts local economy; businesses seek answers Business owners on Englewood Beach are growing increasingly anxious as they await the reopening of the beach, which has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Food truck park proposal on Estero Blvd divides Fort Myers Beach locals The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency recently voted on whether to transform a vacant lot on Estero Boulevard into a food truck park.
naples Preliminary report released for New Year’s Day plane crash at Naples Airport The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report on a plane crash that involved four people at Naples Municipal Airport.
LEHIGH ACRES LCSO searching for family of wandering non-verbal teen in Lehigh Acres Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies are seeking the family members of a young boy found between the ages of 13 and 16 years old.
FORT MYERS Southwest Florida Ag Expo brings agriculture and fun to Fort Myers Fort Myers is holding the Southwest Florida Ag Expo, which promises a mix of agriculture, entertainment, and education this year.
CAPE CORAL Proposal to rename Seahawk Park in Cape Coral The City of Cape Coral Parks and Recreation Department has proposed renaming Seahawk Park to Seahawk Airfield at Festival Park.
Lee County student accused of making school threat A student from Cypress Lake High School is facing charges for making school threats.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Warm and breezy this Wednesday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a warm and breezy Wednesday with increased cloud coverage.
miami beach Gov. DeSantis annouces Freedom Boater Initative Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced several marine incentives boaters may take advantage of ahead of the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 2025 Miami Beach International Boat Show.
WINK NEWS Web Exclusive: Rachel Cox-Rosen’s Construction Heads Up As construction may dampen your commute, WINK News traffic anchor Rachel Cox Rosen knows the best way to traverse the roadways in this web-exclusive feature.
FORT MYERS Drivers react to newly opened intersection on Colonial Blvd. The dreaded drive through one of our busiest intersections has been the focus of several construction projects.
Dinosaur from Shell Factory finds new home in Saint James City marina A dinosaur has found a new home at the soon-to-be Nauti-Dolphin Marina in Saint James City, Florida. This prehistoric attraction is already drawing attention even though it’s the only thing currently on the property. Dean Zoner, owner of the Nauti-Dolphin Marina, acquired the dinosaur from the Shell Factory, a local business that was going out […]
Florida lawmakers to vote on revamped Governor backed immigration bill on Thursday The House and Senate are set to vote on a new immigration bill on Thursday. The bill aims to address illegal immigration and support federal mass deportation efforts.
CLEWISTON Community raises concerns about Clewiston Animal Services The Clewiston Animal Shelter has made significant improvements, but there is still work to be done to bring conditions to a more humane level.
Collier County beachgoers react to Gulf of America name change The Gulf of Mexico has been officially renamed the “Gulf of America” following an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood Beach’s closure impacts local economy; businesses seek answers Business owners on Englewood Beach are growing increasingly anxious as they await the reopening of the beach, which has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton.
FORT MYERS BEACH Food truck park proposal on Estero Blvd divides Fort Myers Beach locals The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency recently voted on whether to transform a vacant lot on Estero Boulevard into a food truck park.
Jessica Lang pauses and places her hand on the door in a moment of grief after dropping off flowers with her daughter Summer at Youngs Asian Massage parlor where four people were killed, Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in Acworth, Ga. At least eight people were found dead at three different spas in the Atlanta area Tuesday by suspected shooter Robert Aaron Long. Lang, a local resident who lives nearby, said she knew one of the victims. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) A white gunman was charged Wednesday with killing eight people at three Atlanta-area massage parlors in an attack that sent terror through the Asian American community, which has increasingly been targeted during the coronavirus pandemic. A day after the shootings, investigators were trying to unravel what might have compelled 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long to commit the worst mass killing in the U.S. in almost two years. This booking photo provided by the Crisp County Sheriff’s Office shows Robert Aaron Long on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Long was arrested as a suspect in the fatal shootings of multiple people at three Atlanta-area massage parlors, most of them women of Asian descent, authorities said. (Crisp County Sheriff’s Office via AP) Long told police that Tuesday’s attack was not racially motivated. He claimed to have a “sex addiction,” and authorities said he apparently lashed out at what he saw as sources of temptation. But those statements spurred outrage and widespread skepticism given the locations and that six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent. The shootings appear to be at the “intersection of gender-based violence, misogyny and xenophobia,” state Rep. Bee Nguyen said, the first Vietnamese American to serve in the Georgia House and a frequent advocate for women and communities of color. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said that regardless of the shooter’s motivation, “it is unacceptable, it is hateful and it has to stop.” Authorities said they didn’t know if Long ever went to the massage parlors where the shootings occurred but that he was heading to Florida to attack “some type of porn industry.” “He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction, and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places, and it’s a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate,” Cherokee County sheriff’s Capt. Jay Baker told reporters. Sheriff Frank Reynolds said it was too early to tell if the attack was racially motivated – “but the indicators right now are it may not be.” The Atlanta mayor said police have not been to the massage parlors in her city beyond a minor potential theft. “We certainly will not begin to blame victims,” Bottoms said. The attack was the sixth mass killing this year in the U.S., and the deadliest since the August 2019 Dayton, Ohio, shooting that left nine people dead, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. It follows a lull in mass killings during the pandemic in 2020, which had the smallest number of such attacks in more than a decade, according to the database, which tracks mass killings defined as four or more dead, not including the shooter. The killings horrified the Asian American community, which saw the shootings as an attack on them, given a recent wave of assaults that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States. The virus was first identified in China, and then-President Donald Trump and others have used racially charged terms to describe it. The attacks began when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor near Woodstock, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Atlanta, authorities said. Four died: 33-year-old Delaina Ashley Yaun, 54-year-old Paul Andre Michels, 44-year-old Daoyou Feng and 49-year-old Xiaojie Tan, who owned the business. Yaun and her husband came to the spa on a date, her mother, Margaret Rushing, told WAGA-TV. Yaun leaves behind a 13-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter. Her half-sister, Dana Toole, said Yaun’s husband locked himself in a room and wasn’t injured. “He’s taking it hard,” Toole said. “He was there. He heard the gunshots and everything. You can’t escape that when you’re in a room and gunshots are flying – what do you do?” The manager of a boutique next door said her husband watched surveillance video after the shooting and the suspect was sitting in his car for as long as an hour before going inside. They heard screaming and women running from the business, said Rita Barron, manager of Gabby’s Boutique. The same car was then spotted about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away in Atlanta, where a call came in about a robbery at Gold Spa and three women were shot to death. Another woman was fatally shot at the Aromatherapy Spa across the street. Long was arrested hours later by Crisp County deputies and state troopers. He refused to stop on a highway and officers bumped the back of his car, causing him to crash, Sheriff Billy Hancock said. Officers found Long thanks to help from his parents, who recognized him from surveillance footage posted by authorities and gave investigators his cellphone information, which they used to track him, said Reynolds, the Cherokee County sheriff. “They’re very distraught, and they were very helpful in this apprehension,” he said. President Joe Biden said the FBI briefed him and noted that Asian Americans are concerned about a recent rise in violence, which he has previously condemned. “I think it is very, very troublesome, but I am making no connection at this moment to the motivation of the killer,” Biden said in the Oval Office. Vice President Kamala Harris expressed support to the Asian American community after the “tragic” shooting and offered condolences to the victims’ families. “We’re not yet clear about the motive. But I do want to say to our Asian American community that we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged all people,” said Harris, the first Black and South Asian woman in that position. Over the past year, thousands of incidents of abuse have been reported to an anti-hate group that tracks incidents against Asian Americans, and hate crimes in general are at the highest level in more than a decade. “While the details of the shootings are still emerging, the broader context cannot be ignored,” Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta said in a statement. “The shootings happened under the trauma of increasing violence against Asian Americans nationwide, fueled by white supremacy and systemic racism.” Nico Straughan met Long when he moved to the area in seventh grade, saying Long brought a Bible to school every day and was “super nice, super Christian, very quiet.” “I don’t know what turn of heart he might have had, but he went from one of the nicest kids I ever knew in high school to being on the news,” Straughan said. “I mean, all my friends, we were flabbergasted.” The American Psychiatric Association does not recognize sex addiction in its main reference guide for mental disorders. While some people struggle to control their sexual behaviors, it’s often linked to other recognized disorders or moral views about sexuality, said David Ley, clinical psychologist and author of “The Myth of Sex Addiction.” “These sexual behaviors getting this label are a symptom, not a cause,” Ley said. Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington, Sudhin Thanawala in Woodstock, Georgia, Michael Warren, Jeff Amy and Ben Nadler in Atlanta, Jeff Martin in Marietta, Georgia, and Anila Yoganathan in Cherokee County, Georgia, contributed to this story.