Election Day crowds expected despite record early votingVoters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election
Election Day crowds expected despite record early voting Election Day is nearly upon us. At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the polls will be closed, and our team will bring you the results.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Voters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election A lot can change in four years. During the 2020 election, many voters masked up as they cast their ballots, and the pandemic was at the top of many voters’ minds.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents frustrated by hurricane debris delays Many people in parts of southwest Florida feel like they’ve dealt with more than their fair share of storm damage lately.
Miracle Moment: A rosy outlook following surprise diagnosis It’s time for Miracle Moment. Today, we meet a toddler diagnosed with a disease without known prevention or cure.
Poll workers ready for Election Day rush in Collier County Poll workers gear up for a busy Tuesday in Collier County; some have been there for a while, and this year marks their first time working at a polling place for others.
CAPE CORAL Voters decide: Will Cape Coral City Council members stay or go? Stipends, Jaycee Park and new developments have been topics of concern in the City of Cape Coral for months now.
MATLACHA Lee County residents still dealing with damage from hurricanes Hurricane recovery has been an ongoing project here in Southwest Florida since Hurricane Ian.
FGCU Former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III makes PGA Tour After playing two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III is moving up to the PGA Tour.
Parents cast their votes for Lee County school superintendent With just hours now until the election, WINK News wants to highlight a few local races that haven’t gotten as much attention. One of them is the election of Lee County’s next superintendent of schools.
NORTH FORT MYERS Former Dollar General employee accused of stealing $7,000 in returns A woman has been arrested after defrauding a Dollar General in North Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Tropics and Red Tide; what happens if or when they interact? The Tropics are active despite the fact that there’s less than a month left in hurricane season. But how will a system interact with red tide?
CAPE CORAL Police investigate gunfire at Cape Coral rental home The bullet holes left behind by shots heard in a normally quiet Cape Coral neighborhood scared one woman into buying security cameras for her home.
CAPE CORAL Bimini Basin residents face housing challenges Time is running out for the families who live in one Cape Coral community to find places to call home.
Harris and Trump make a furious final push before Election Day A presidential campaign that has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts comes down to a final sprint across a handful of states on Election Day eve.
Using AI to detect pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. That’s due in part to the limited testing available for early detection.
Election Day crowds expected despite record early voting Election Day is nearly upon us. At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the polls will be closed, and our team will bring you the results.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Voters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election A lot can change in four years. During the 2020 election, many voters masked up as they cast their ballots, and the pandemic was at the top of many voters’ minds.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents frustrated by hurricane debris delays Many people in parts of southwest Florida feel like they’ve dealt with more than their fair share of storm damage lately.
Miracle Moment: A rosy outlook following surprise diagnosis It’s time for Miracle Moment. Today, we meet a toddler diagnosed with a disease without known prevention or cure.
Poll workers ready for Election Day rush in Collier County Poll workers gear up for a busy Tuesday in Collier County; some have been there for a while, and this year marks their first time working at a polling place for others.
CAPE CORAL Voters decide: Will Cape Coral City Council members stay or go? Stipends, Jaycee Park and new developments have been topics of concern in the City of Cape Coral for months now.
MATLACHA Lee County residents still dealing with damage from hurricanes Hurricane recovery has been an ongoing project here in Southwest Florida since Hurricane Ian.
FGCU Former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III makes PGA Tour After playing two seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, former FGCU golfer Frankie Capan III is moving up to the PGA Tour.
Parents cast their votes for Lee County school superintendent With just hours now until the election, WINK News wants to highlight a few local races that haven’t gotten as much attention. One of them is the election of Lee County’s next superintendent of schools.
NORTH FORT MYERS Former Dollar General employee accused of stealing $7,000 in returns A woman has been arrested after defrauding a Dollar General in North Fort Myers.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Tropics and Red Tide; what happens if or when they interact? The Tropics are active despite the fact that there’s less than a month left in hurricane season. But how will a system interact with red tide?
CAPE CORAL Police investigate gunfire at Cape Coral rental home The bullet holes left behind by shots heard in a normally quiet Cape Coral neighborhood scared one woman into buying security cameras for her home.
CAPE CORAL Bimini Basin residents face housing challenges Time is running out for the families who live in one Cape Coral community to find places to call home.
Harris and Trump make a furious final push before Election Day A presidential campaign that has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts comes down to a final sprint across a handful of states on Election Day eve.
Using AI to detect pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. That’s due in part to the limited testing available for early detection.
Credit: WINK News. UPDATE: After this story aired, a representative from DEO responded with the following statement in an email. “The Reemployment Assistance program currently has 22 staff members dedicated to investigating Reemployment Assistance fraud. This does not include other areas within the Department, such as the Office of Inspector General, that also investigates Reemployment Assistance fraud. Additionally, it also does not include external entities; such as federal, state, and local law enforcement, that assist the Department in Reemployment Assistance fraud investigations.” “Each Reemployment Assistance fraud investigation is unique, so processing times vary.” “The Department takes Reemployment Assistance fraud very seriously, and the prevention of fraud continues to remain a high priority for the agency.” Two Floridians had money stolen from them — swiped right from the state’s unemployment system. We spoke to the two victims who both reported their stolen unemployment benefits to the police, their credit card companies and Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. But that was months ago, and both Michelle Kelley and Ken Okel still have no money and no updates. Since then, trying to reach DEO over the phone has been impossible, and they need the cash to get by in the meantime while they try to get back to work. “I’ve been stolen.” Those are the words Kelley emailed WINK News after she says someone hacked into her unemployment account, took her money and locked her out. “I didn’t get any notification to my email, my Gmail address, anything saying that my password had been changed,” Kelley said. Kelley hasn’t been able to claim her benefits since April, but she’s watched as the crooks spend her money and try to file taxes in her name. “I’ve even found out like transactions, the address and what date, how much money,” Kelley said. “If I can do that, why can’t they?” Okel explained to us how he realized someone had taken money owed to him. “March 2, I log into my account, and I noticed an alert that says there’s been a payment of $6,000,” Okel said. “I’m like, ‘Whoa, what is this?’ And then, I noticed the payment information is not me; it’s for someone else.” “I was having to go into my account all hours of the day and keep changing things back,” Okel said. Somehow the bad guys gave up, and Okel has been claiming his benefits, but that $6,000 is still gone. “It’s been a very frustrating situation because we trust the state to be good stewards of our information,” Okel said. “And I’m not sure if that’s happened. People may be doing that. But from my perspective, I know nothing.” Neither Kelley nor Okel have any idea if or when they’ll get their money or what DEO is doing to fix it. “If they could give us an idea that, ‘Hey, we have this many investigators, we’re working this fast. We’re trying to get this. Be patient with us,’ I think people are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt,” Okel said. The clock is ticking for Kelley and her 4-year-old son. “It’s starting to get kind of stressful now, but, I mean, I’ll make it happen,” Kelley said. “I mean, I’m a mom, I got to do it, you know.” Kelley said she needs the money to get her truck fixed so that she can get to work and get off these benefits. WINK News asked DEO how long it takes for them to resolve this kind of fraud and who’s working on it.