Black bear tranquilized after running through parking lot in downtown Fort Myers2 ATVs ticketed at Barefoot Lake after owner bars public
FORT MYERS Black bear tranquilized after running through parking lot in downtown Fort Myers A Florida black bear had been spotted in downtown Fort Myers early Monday morning. FWC will relocate the bear.
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.
CAPE CORAL Car with bullet holes towed away from Cape Coral home after police search car, home A Mercedes with at least one bullet hole has been towed from a Cape Coral home.
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.
PUNTA GORDA Motorcycle crash leaves 1 dead One person has died after a motorcycle crash in Charlotte County.
LEE COUNTY Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to register WINK News Anchor Corey Lazar goes on patrol with Lee County Deputies in search of transient sex offenders who don’t register.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Know your risk Hurricane season starts on June 1st, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated the week of May 5 through May 11 as National Hurricane Preparedness Week. Each day, Meteorologist Lauren Kreidler will be highlighting ways to stay prepared ahead of this year’s hurricane season.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Stay alert – chance of showers and storms on Sunday Hot, humid, and more rain for parts of Southwest Florida on Sunday.
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
The Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida A rainy Saturday evening across much of southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Lee Health Touch-A-Truck event educates families on Trauma Awareness On Saturday morning, sirens were ringing to celebrate Lee Health Trauma Center’s 30 years of service and to provide the public with trauma education and prevention methods.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (CBS) CDC says bird flu viruses “pose pandemic potential,” cites major knowledge gaps Bird flu continues to appear to pose a “low risk to the general public” for now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. But the agency’s scientists ran into roadblocks investigating a human case of this “pandemic potential” virus this year, they said in a new report.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
FORT MYERS Black bear tranquilized after running through parking lot in downtown Fort Myers A Florida black bear had been spotted in downtown Fort Myers early Monday morning. FWC will relocate the bear.
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.
CAPE CORAL Car with bullet holes towed away from Cape Coral home after police search car, home A Mercedes with at least one bullet hole has been towed from a Cape Coral home.
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.
PUNTA GORDA Motorcycle crash leaves 1 dead One person has died after a motorcycle crash in Charlotte County.
LEE COUNTY Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to register WINK News Anchor Corey Lazar goes on patrol with Lee County Deputies in search of transient sex offenders who don’t register.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Know your risk Hurricane season starts on June 1st, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated the week of May 5 through May 11 as National Hurricane Preparedness Week. Each day, Meteorologist Lauren Kreidler will be highlighting ways to stay prepared ahead of this year’s hurricane season.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Stay alert – chance of showers and storms on Sunday Hot, humid, and more rain for parts of Southwest Florida on Sunday.
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
The Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida A rainy Saturday evening across much of southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Lee Health Touch-A-Truck event educates families on Trauma Awareness On Saturday morning, sirens were ringing to celebrate Lee Health Trauma Center’s 30 years of service and to provide the public with trauma education and prevention methods.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (CBS) CDC says bird flu viruses “pose pandemic potential,” cites major knowledge gaps Bird flu continues to appear to pose a “low risk to the general public” for now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. But the agency’s scientists ran into roadblocks investigating a human case of this “pandemic potential” virus this year, they said in a new report.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
(Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP) A year after the COVID-19 outbreak temporarily shuttered much of the economy and plunged the nation into debates over masks and lockdowns, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis convened a hand-picked panel of health experts at his state Capitol on Thursday to help validate the actions he took against the pandemic. One by one, the experts provided vindication for DeSantis, whose insistence on lifting lockdowns, reopening schools and undermining mask mandates came under scrutiny as the public health crisis unfolded. The Republican’s handling of the virus will no doubt be a key issue when he faces reelection next year. The experts he convened hailed from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions but their views have been rebuked by many mainstream scientists, including U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who last year called the anti-lockdown, pro-herd immunity push “nonsense.” Thursday’s panel echoed the governor’s assertions that lockdowns and mask mandates did little to slow the spread of the virus – and might have even done more harm than good by damaging people’s mental health and stoking fear among some to not seek medical help at the risk of exposing themselves to the virus. “I think the lockdowns were the single biggest public health mistake,” said Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor at Stanford Medical School, who helped write the Great Barrington Declaration – a petition that contends that lockdowns and other measures have spawned a host of unintended consequences that could adversely affect long-term public health. The declaration’s two other writers, Dr. Martin Kulldorff of Harvard University and Professor Sunetra Gupta of Oxford University, also joined the governor during Thursday’s roundtable. Also taking part was Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist who had no formal experience in public health or infectious diseases when then-President Donald Trump tapped him last summer as a key pandemic adviser. Atlas later resigned. “It’s obvious by now that these lockdowns and contact tracing and masks were not able to prevent a resurgence of the disease during the winter,” said Kulldorff, a professor of medicine at Harvard. At one time Florida was among the epicenters of the disease, prompting DeSantis a year ago to shutter businesses and call for social distancing. As the Florida economy hemorrhaged jobs, he pushed to reopen the economy. He then moved to reopen schools. “The data could not be clearer that our state has fared far better than many others, particularly those that imposed harsh lockdowns on their residents,” DeSantis said in a statement after the roundtable. Researchers have amassed troves of data about the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 121 million worldwide and killed nearly 2.7 million. In the United States, the pandemic has been responsible for the deaths of at least 538,000 people, including more than 32,000 in Florida. Some studies indicate that masks and limiting group activities such as indoor dining can help slow the spread of the coronavirus, but less clear is why states with greater government-imposed restrictions have not always fared better than those without them. California and Florida have drawn particular scrutiny because of their similar results despite differing approaches. Despite California’s more cautious tack in reopening, its COVID-19 case rate was similar to that of Florida, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death rates for both states ranked near the middle. New York, which like California has been relatively stringent in restrictions, has had one of the worst records in deaths per capita after it was the nation’s early coronavirus epicenter. Some researchers cautioned against interpreting data too simplistically. “There are a range of other factors that have to be taken into consideration to understand why death rates are different in very different parts of the country,” said Professor Glenn Morris, the director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida. Despite assertions by the governor’s panelists that masks, social distancing and contact tracing have been ineffective, Morris contends that those measures are in fact slowing the spread of COVID-19. “It doesn’t make sense not to use every tool that we have to slow disease transmission, prevent deaths and long-term complications, and limit the opportunities for further coronavirus evolution, which is resulting in the emergence of new strains and strain variants that are transmitted more quickly and can cause more severe disease,” he said in an email to The Associated Press. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a potential Democratic rival in the governor’s race, chided DeSantis for “elevating disinformation.” “We don’t need a roundtable to know that expanding vaccine access is what must be done to save lives and jobs,” Fried tweeted. While DeSantis is gradually lowering the age criteria for access to coronavirus vaccines – it now stands at 60 years old – his critics are urging him to do so more quickly. Watch a replay below or click here.