ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Federal unemployment benefits are set to end after the Labor Day weekend. (CREDIT: WINK News) Vital unemployment programs that were put in place nationwide at the start of the pandemic end this weekend and many unemployed people in Florida fear the worst. With the delta variant surge and the eviction moratorium lifted, for some, it’s the only thing keeping a roof over their head and food on the table. Ken Okel’s unemployment began when the pandemic started in 2020. Okel works in the meetings industry as a motivational speaker but in a world where audiences are few and far between, he’s had to rely on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). It’s one of the federal programs that allowed people who weren’t eligible for state benefits to get some help, like those who are self-employed or independent contractors. “I have been unable to work in the field that I’m trained for. And the unemployment has been invaluable,” Okel said. This wasn’t something he’d rehearsed for but he’s trying his best to keep his business afloat. “I think there’s a conception that people on unemployment are just sitting on the couch, I can assure you, there’s been no sitting on the couch,” Okel said. He is surviving mainly on savings and unreliable unemployment benefits. “Imagine spending all your day trying to call into a phone system that hangs up on you by design. Imagine trying to log into a website where you’ve entered in important information, and then the site crashes,” Okel said. “In the meantime, all the bills have continued.” And so has the pandemic, but after Sept. 6, PUA and other pandemic benefits will end, including the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which added weeks for people who qualified for state benefits but then ran out. The federal government doesn’t plan to extend these programs, however President Joe Biden has encouraged hard-hit states to use leftover money from the American Rescue Plan to continue them for a few more weeks, but that likely won’t happen in Florida. “Maybe it’s time to revisit some of the support mechanisms because it’s going to be a lot harder for people over the next few months without that support,” Okel said. The Department of Economic Opportunity said this week the state is ready for them to end, thanks to their “Return to Work Initiative” and the many job listings currently online. Unemployment advocate Vanessa Brito said the reality is very different. “People are really not getting callbacks,” Brito said. “They’re putting together different resumes, different versions to cater to different positions. So they’re trying, and they’re desperate now.” And Okel is not getting the results he hoped for. “I’m able to do my job virtually. But for some organizations, they say, yeah, we just don’t want to do a virtual event. We want to wait another year until people can meet together,” Okel said. He’s already started to get cancelations for this fall and he is afraid it is not going to stop. “I’ve had to reinvent my business, I’ve had to get additional education, I’ve had to buy additional equipment, had to pinch every penny,” Okel said. “But when that marketplace doesn’t have money to give you because of cutbacks they’ve experienced, or safety concerns, there’s not a lot I can do.” Despite his way with words, he needs the couple of hundreds of dollars a week in unemployment benefits. “The reality is you’re treading water and you have no idea when the storm is going to end,” Okel said. For more information on the federal programs ending, visit the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity here.