Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the legExclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
NAPLES Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
GOLDEN GATE Collier commissioners approve agreement for golf complex in Golden Gate Collier commissioners unanimously approved a long term lease and operating agreement to reopen the Golden Gate golf course Tuesday.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
NAPLES Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
GOLDEN GATE Collier commissioners approve agreement for golf complex in Golden Gate Collier commissioners unanimously approved a long term lease and operating agreement to reopen the Golden Gate golf course Tuesday.
Credit: WINK News After this hectic week in the vaccine rollout process, Lee Health CEO Dr. Larry Antonucci says, if you want to get vaccinated you should. Even after Johnson & Johnson vaccine use was halted, Lee Health has 500 doses of the vaccine sitting unused. WINK News wants asked medical leaders if this pause in use will push us further away from our vaccination goals. More than 460 new COVID-19 cases and six more deaths were reported on Friday in Southwest Florida. “Today, we have 106 patients with COVID that are in our hospitals. And only a few weeks ago, we were down in the 50 and 60 range,” Dr. Antonucci said. Dr. Barry Bloom is a professor of public health at Harvard. “Cases have been overall in the country of plateauing, when they should be going down as vaccines are being rolled out,” said Dr. Bloom. The rise is due in part to the spread of variants and COVID fatigue. This at a time when vaccinations are crucial. “We know the only way we’re going to knock this disease out is by getting the population vaccinated,” said Dr. Antonucci. Dr. Stephanie Stovall is the medical director for pediatric infection prevention at Lee Health and an Epidemiologist. “We are taking the J&J pause seriously. We did stop as soon as we heard about it, and we no longer administer doses,” Dr. Stovall said. Stoval says that now those 500 J&J doses will just have to sit and wait in Lee Health’s freezers. Each day that goes by brings those doses closer and closer to their expiration date. “Not continuing vaccination puts a lot more people at risk from COVID, for clotting problems, as well as other problems,” said Dr. Bloom. Dr. Barry Bloom says that because the Jonhson & Johnson vaccine was expected to have a big impact on our vaccination goals. “As of the present, that’s only been available in small amounts, about 5% of all the vaccines given, but the anticipation was that it would be scaled up and become available more widely than the other vaccines,” Dr. Bloom said. Still, while we wait to hear if the pause is permanent or just temporary, we won’t have to wait long to get more vaccines to the state of Florida. “We anticipate that in a very few weeks, we’re going to have more vaccine in the state than we’re actually going to need,” said Dr. Antonucci. But, for now, just be prepared to roll your sleeve up more than once. Lee Health expects this new shipment of 1500 more COVID-19 vaccine doses next week.