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.
About a week after 9/11, media personalities and political leaders began receiving letters laced with anthrax. (CREDIT: WINK News) Within days of 9/11, the worst biological attacks in U.S. history unfolded. Letters laced with anthrax, a deadly bacteria in powder form, began making their way through the U.S. mail, killing five Americans and sickening 17 others. The FBI code name “Amerithrax.” The first anthrax letters, primarily targeting the media, were mailed exactly one week after 9/11. They were postmarked Sept. 18, 2001. Then, more letters to lawmakers followed. All of them were postmarked from Trenton, New Jersey. “There was a real troublesome worry that this was an Al-Qaeda follow-on attack and this became one of the FBI’s next biggest investigations,” said WINK News Safety and Security Specialist Rich Kolko. The message inside of the envelopes was chilling. A warning, you cannot stop us. Kolko, a retired FBI agent, had firsthand knowledge on the investigation. “The anthrax attacks themselves were only 3 or 4 weeks that the actual letters went out, but investigators quickly tracked down the mailboxes they came from, when they were sent, scouring video,” Kolko said. “Trying to track down the papers the letters were written on, what store sold them, when the stamps were purchased, the envelopes.” Anthrax spreads through the air and the body, producing toxins and causing severe illness, even death. The Amerithrax task force consisted of investigators from the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and other law enforcement agencies. They interviewed more than 10,000 witnesses on six different continents. “We had to respond to these white powder letters for years. We used to almost jokingly call it white powder donut letters,” Kolko said. Mail collected from Capitol Hill ended up in 280 barrels. It’s where the FBI found an anthrax-laced letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy on Nov. 16, 2001. “Since the Leahy letter arrived at USAMRIID, it was examined by personnel from USAMRIID, and the letter was decontaminated to render it safe for subsequent forensic analysis in the FBI laboratory,” said Joseph Dizinno, who worked at the FBI lab in Washington, D.C. at the time. New scientific methods were developed that led to a break in the case. “The type of evidence that we attempt to recover from the letter are following our standard protocols any evidence that would subsequently possibly identify a suspect in this case,” Dizinno said. Nearly seven years after the attacks, the FBI released documents and information that they were going to bring charges against Dr. Bruce Ivins, who died by suicide. “The reason the FBI, the U.S. Attorney and Postal Inspector all think that he did it is that he was in charge of the anthrax vaccine and for years, that program had started to lose money. It was determined he wanted to raise the profile again,” Kolko said.