Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first timeDeadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
FORT MYERS Could a Ferris wheel in downtown Fort Myers work? Right now, there are talks to bring a Ferris wheel to downtown Fort Myers, but several things are still up in the air.
LITTLE HICKORY BAY Improving ‘Hell’s Gate’ safety, a notoriously dangerous waterway for boaters A push to make an area known as “Hell’s Gate” safer since it’s a dangerous stretch of water with several blind corners within Little Hickory Bay.
Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
WINK NEWS Getting an inside look at the FEMA discount controversy Picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ian has been difficult for many and moving on can impact our wallets.
FGCU FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff playing for hometown team after labrum injury FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff is living the dream playing for the hometown team after he overcame a labrum injury.
LEHIGH ACRES Frustrated Lehigh parents want action after violent school fights go viral online Violence at a Lehigh Acres Middle school was captured and posted online.
Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
FORT MYERS Students affected by COVID-19 able to graduate for the first time For many young people, COVID stripped away one of their greatest rites of passage: graduation.
Deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County Authorities are at the scene of a deadly crash on State Road 29 in Hendry County on Friday afternoon.
Celebrating Free Comic Book Day in SWFL JP Sports store manager Jonathan Powell said this is a generational event that brings families together to reminisce on comics and other hobby-related knickknacks.
FORT MYERS Group rescues dogs before getting put down in Lee County Our animal shelters are packed with amazing puppies who have the sole desire to be loved.
FORT MYERS FGCU student beats all odds and is able to graduate Nearly four years ago, Marisa Manning had her heart set on going to Florida Gulf Coast University but never thought she’d find her passion for studying parasites.
Victim in MLK Blvd. shooting identified as social media influencer The victim of the Martin Luther King Boulevard shooting has been identified as a local social media influencer.
FORT MYERS Could a Ferris wheel in downtown Fort Myers work? Right now, there are talks to bring a Ferris wheel to downtown Fort Myers, but several things are still up in the air.
LITTLE HICKORY BAY Improving ‘Hell’s Gate’ safety, a notoriously dangerous waterway for boaters A push to make an area known as “Hell’s Gate” safer since it’s a dangerous stretch of water with several blind corners within Little Hickory Bay.
Fixing failed back surgeries More than a million and a half people in the U.S. undergo back surgery each year. However, classic back surgery has one of the highest failure rates of any surgery.
WINK NEWS Getting an inside look at the FEMA discount controversy Picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ian has been difficult for many and moving on can impact our wallets.
FGCU FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff playing for hometown team after labrum injury FGCU pitcher Dylan Wolff is living the dream playing for the hometown team after he overcame a labrum injury.
LEHIGH ACRES Frustrated Lehigh parents want action after violent school fights go viral online Violence at a Lehigh Acres Middle school was captured and posted online.
Turtle Club beachfront restaurant relaunches in Naples After a series of private friends and family events this week, The Turtle Club will reopen May 5 and begin taking reservations again May 6.
Jimmie The Beef Guy opens in Fort Myers Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41.
SARASOTA Distressed endangered sawfish euthanized nearly a month after rescue Wildlife officials euthanized a distressed smalltooth sawfish that was rescued from Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys where it was swimming in circles.
Credit: WINK News. School districts across Southwest Florida have been keeping public databases on their websites tracking the number of students who test positive for the coronavirus within the school district. But there is one school district in the region where parents are concerned there is a lack of transparency for the number of confirmed cases in schools. A school district not providing a public database tracker is Lee County. The District has a different method of keeping parents informed by sending an email to them that confirms a student has tested positive. That email doesn’t include the number of students who have tested positive or where those students were during the school day, however. Parents we spoke to are worried about the vague email and the District not keeping track. “We, as parents, have a right to know where COVID is, kids were exposed,” said parent Jessica Jensen, who has children in the Lee County school district. Jensen would be the first to say she wants to know what happens behind closed doors, especially when those doors belong to the school district, where her two kids go to school. “I have one that’s in fifth grade and one that’s a senior.” It’s what Jensen and all the other parents in the school district can’t see that causes concern for her. “I understand the privacy of not releasing the child’s name, but I think they really do need to do a better job because this is a serious issue,” Jensen said. “Especially with the variants getting out of control.” We took Jensen’s question to the District. “Our priority is notifying a school community when a positive case is confirmed on campus and the letters we send home meet that commitment to transparency. Since we have not yet heard the state is going to use our data to pull together a weekly report of confirmed cases by school this year we are currently considering ways to report that information to our families in an easily accessible manner,” the School District of Lee County shared in a statement to WINK News. We also reached out to the Florida Department of Health in Lee County for COVID-19 numbers in the Lee County school district, but they have not responded to us at this time. Other districts have a COVID-19 dashboard. At this point, parents in Lee County want any kind of number. “I don’t know, and no one knows,” said Elizabeth Ortega, whose grandson goes to school in Lee County. “And I think it should be transparent.” Below is an example of the letter that would go out to parents, according to the district: Dear _____ School families and staff, We have been notified that an individual who has recently been on our campus has tested positive for COVID-19. The Florida Department of Health in Lee County (FDOH-Lee) has contacted those individuals that are directly impacted. Due to privacy concerns, the FODOH-Lee does not disclose the individual’s information. This incident will not affect the overall face-to-face instruction at our school and classes will resume as normal on Friday, August 13th. If you have any questions, please call the COVID-19 Hotline at (239) 356-2800 during business hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30. You may also visit the COVID-19 Notification page on our website. Thank you. The School District of Lee County