The Weather Authority: Mostly sunny skies and above-average heatBay Street Yard opens for Memorial Day weekend
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Mostly sunny skies and above-average heat Most of Southwest Florida will be rain-free, hot, and sunny today.
FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard opens for Memorial Day weekend On Saturday, the new business opened its doors to the public.
FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother stole more than $1 million through fraud, authorities say Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother stole more than $1 million through fraud, authorities say
PORT CHARLOTTE CCSO: 2-year-old boy shot in the hand by 4-year-old Charlotte County Fire-EMS said they treated the two-year-old boy, who had a gunshot injury to the hand.
NCAA, Power Five approve settlement sets stage for schools to pay players NCAA and Power Five conferences agree on settlement that will allow schools to pay student athletes and share revenue.
FORT MYERS Placing flags to honor the fallen on Memorial Day weekend This weekend is much more than just a backyard barbecue and some time off work. It allows us to remember our nation’s heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
SANIBEL The beach is back on Sanibel and Captiva for Memorial Day weekend Businesses on Sanibel and Captiva told WINK News they’re ready for the wave of tourism.
The Weather Authority: Here’s what to expect for your Memorial Day weekend Hot and humid weather for your holiday weekend. The UV index will be an 11!
WINK NEWS Honoring fallen soldiers at Memorial Day events across Southwest Florida Memorial Day, a day of remembrance for those who have died in the military, honors those who have served in the armed forces.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres neighbor accuses construction company of mistakenly tearing up lot Along 27th Street West in Lehigh Acres, neighbors knew it was only a matter of time before the lots next to them were developed.
FORT MYERS ECS softball celebrates first state championship Evangelical Christian School honors state champion softball team with parade on campus.
SANIBEL Sanibel hosts annual hurricane seminar to prepare for upcoming season With a very active Atlantic hurricane season ahead, they’re not taking anything for granted.
Teen’s killer out of jail after 8 months A teenager charged with manslaughter after accidentally shooting and killing his girlfriend is now out of jail after serving less than a year.
Miles apart: local mother hopes to reunite brothers from Haiti to the U.S. The process of adopting a child is different for everyone, but Michelle Reed’s passion has always been to adopt children into her family.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Downtown Fort Myers Richards Building goes in foreclosure An update on the historic Richards Building in downtown Fort Myers: it’s going into foreclosure.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Mostly sunny skies and above-average heat Most of Southwest Florida will be rain-free, hot, and sunny today.
FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard opens for Memorial Day weekend On Saturday, the new business opened its doors to the public.
FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother stole more than $1 million through fraud, authorities say Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother stole more than $1 million through fraud, authorities say
PORT CHARLOTTE CCSO: 2-year-old boy shot in the hand by 4-year-old Charlotte County Fire-EMS said they treated the two-year-old boy, who had a gunshot injury to the hand.
NCAA, Power Five approve settlement sets stage for schools to pay players NCAA and Power Five conferences agree on settlement that will allow schools to pay student athletes and share revenue.
FORT MYERS Placing flags to honor the fallen on Memorial Day weekend This weekend is much more than just a backyard barbecue and some time off work. It allows us to remember our nation’s heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
SANIBEL The beach is back on Sanibel and Captiva for Memorial Day weekend Businesses on Sanibel and Captiva told WINK News they’re ready for the wave of tourism.
The Weather Authority: Here’s what to expect for your Memorial Day weekend Hot and humid weather for your holiday weekend. The UV index will be an 11!
WINK NEWS Honoring fallen soldiers at Memorial Day events across Southwest Florida Memorial Day, a day of remembrance for those who have died in the military, honors those who have served in the armed forces.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres neighbor accuses construction company of mistakenly tearing up lot Along 27th Street West in Lehigh Acres, neighbors knew it was only a matter of time before the lots next to them were developed.
FORT MYERS ECS softball celebrates first state championship Evangelical Christian School honors state champion softball team with parade on campus.
SANIBEL Sanibel hosts annual hurricane seminar to prepare for upcoming season With a very active Atlantic hurricane season ahead, they’re not taking anything for granted.
Teen’s killer out of jail after 8 months A teenager charged with manslaughter after accidentally shooting and killing his girlfriend is now out of jail after serving less than a year.
Miles apart: local mother hopes to reunite brothers from Haiti to the U.S. The process of adopting a child is different for everyone, but Michelle Reed’s passion has always been to adopt children into her family.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Downtown Fort Myers Richards Building goes in foreclosure An update on the historic Richards Building in downtown Fort Myers: it’s going into foreclosure.
Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. The Taliban celebrated Afghanistan’s Independence Day on Thursday by declaring they beat the United States, but challenges to their rule ranging from running a country severely short on cash and bureaucrats to potentially facing an armed opposition began to emerge. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) Afghan protesters defied the Taliban for a second day Thursday, waving their national flag in scattered demonstrations, and the fighters again responded violently as they faced down growing challenges to their rule. A U.N. official warned of dire food shortages and experts said the country was severely in need of cash while noting that the Taliban are unlikely to enjoy the generous international aid that the civilian government they dethroned did. In light of these challenges, the Taliban have moved quickly to suppress any dissent, despite their promises that they have become more moderate since they last ruled Afghanistan with draconian laws. Many fear they will succeed in erasing two decades of efforts to expand women’s and human rights and remake the country. On Thursday, a procession of cars and people near Kabul’s airport carried long black, red and green banners in honor of the Afghan flag — a banner that is becoming a symbol of defiance. At another protest in Nangarhar province, video posted online showed a bleeding demonstrator with a gunshot wound. Onlookers tried to carry him away. In Khost province, Taliban authorities instituted a 24-hour curfew Thursday after violently breaking up another protest, according to information obtained by journalists monitoring from abroad. The authorities did not immediately acknowledge the demonstration or the curfew. Protesters also took the streets in Kunar province, according to witnesses and social media videos that lined up with reporting by The Associated Press. The demonstrations — which come as Afghans mark the Independence Day holiday that commemorates the 1919 treaty that ended British rule — were a remarkable show of defiance after the Taliban fighters violently dispersed a protest Wednesday. At that rally, in the eastern city of Jalalabad, demonstrators lowered the Taliban’s flag and replace it with Afghanistan’s tricolor. At least one person was killed. Meanwhile, opposition figures gathering in the last area of the country not under Taliban rule talked of launching an armed resistance under the banner of the Northern Alliance, which allied with the U.S. during the 2001 invasion. It was not clear how serious a threat they posed given that Taliban fighters overran nearly the entire country in a matter of days with little resistance from Afghan forces. The Taliban so far have offered no specifics on how they will lead, other than to say they will be guided by Shariah, or Islamic, law. They are in talks with senior officials of previous Afghan governments. But they face an increasingly precarious situation. “A humanitarian crisis of incredible proportions is unfolding before our eyes,” warned Mary Ellen McGroarty, the head of the U.N.’s World Food Program in Afghanistan. Beyond the difficulties of bringing in food to the landlocked nation dependent on imports, she said that drought has seen over 40% of the country’s crop lost. Many who fled the Taliban advance now live in parks and open spaces in Kabul. “This is really Afghanistan’s hour of greatest need, and we urge the international community to stand by the Afghan people at this time,” she said. Hafiz Ahmad, a shopkeeper in Kabul, said some food has flowed into the capital, but prices have gone up. He hesitated to pass those costs onto his customers but said he had to. “It is better to have it,” he said. “If there were nothing, then that would be even worse.” Two of Afghanistan’s key border crossings with Pakistan, Torkham near Jalalabad and Chaman near Spin Boldak, are now open for trade. However, traders still fear insecurity on the roads and confusion over customs duties that could push them to price their goods higher. Amid that uncertainty and concerns that the Taliban will reimpose a brutal rule, which included largely confining women to their homes and holding public executions, many Afghans are trying to flee the country. At Kabul’s international airport, military evacuation flights continued, according to flight-tracking data. However, access to the airport remained difficult. On Thursday, Taliban militants fired into the air to try to control the crowds gathered at the airport’s blast walls. Men, women and children fled. Fighter jets later roared overhead, but no airstrike accompanied their pass. Overnight, President Joe Biden said that he was committed to keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan until every American is evacuated, even if that means maintaining a military presence there beyond his Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal. In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” aired Thursday, Biden said he didn’t believe the Taliban had changed. “I think they’re going through sort of an existential crisis about do they want to be recognized by the international community as being a legitimate government,” Biden said. “I’m not sure they do.” Indirectly acknowledging the resistance they face, the Taliban on Thursday asked preachers to urge congregants to remain in the country and counter “negative propaganda” against them. The Taliban have also urged people to return to work, but most government officials remain in hiding or are themselves attempting to flee. The head of the country’s Central Bank warned that the supply of physical U.S. dollars is “close to zero,” which will batter the currency, the afghani. The U.S. has apparently frozen the country’s foreign reserves, and the International Monetary Fund cut off access to loans or other resources for now. “The afghani has been defended by literally planeloads of U.S. dollars landing in Kabul on a very regular basis, sometimes weekly,” said Graeme Smith, a consultant researcher with the Overseas Development Institute. “If the Taliban don’t get cash infusions soon to defend the afghani, I think there’s a real risk of a currency devaluation that makes it hard to buy bread on the streets of Kabul for ordinary people.” Still, Smith, who has written a book on Afghanistan, said the Taliban likely won’t ask for the same billions in international aid sought by the country’s fallen civilian government — large portions of which were siphoned off by corruption. That could limit the power of the international community’s threat of sanctions. “You’re much more likely to see the Taliban positioning themselves as sort of gatekeepers to the international community as opposed to coming begging for billions of dollars,” he said. There has been no armed opposition to the Taliban. But videos from the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul, a stronghold of the Northern Alliance militias that allied with the U.S. during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, appear to show potential opposition figures gathering there. Those figures include members of the deposed government — Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who asserted on Twitter that he is the country’s rightful president, and Defense Minister Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi — as well as Ahmad Massoud, the son of the slain Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. In an opinion piece published by The Washington Post, Massoud asked for weapons and aid to fight the Taliban. “I write from the Panjshir Valley today, ready to follow in my father’s footsteps, with mujahideen fighters who are prepared to once again take on the Taliban,” he wrote. ___ Faiez reported from Istanbul, Gannon from Guelph, Canada, and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Tameem Akhgar in Istanbul, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.