Mama Sonya spreads holiday cheer to hundreds of Lee County kidsWINK Neighborhood Watch: Deadly DUI, fairground murder and shooting at police
Mama Sonya spreads holiday cheer to hundreds of Lee County kids During the holidays, the spirit of giving takes center stage, and one local woman goes above and beyond.
WINK Neighborhood Watch: Deadly DUI, fairground murder and shooting at police This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features deadly DUIs, murder at a fairground and the attempted murder of a Sanibel police officer.
FORT MYERS Man arrested after shots fired in the air, stolen gun recovered A man was arrested early Sunday in Fort Myers after police responded to a ShotSpotter alert near Maple and Meadows streets.
FORT MYERS Crash investigation underway in downtown Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a crash in downtown Fort Myers on Fowler Street.
Cool, comfortable Sunday in store with highs in the low 70s The Weather Authority is tracking a beautiful Sunday in store across Southwest Florida, with afternoon highs only topping out in the low 70s.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral hosts annual Holiday Boat-a-Long Families, residents, and businesses came out to enjoy Cape Coral’s annual Holiday Boat-a-Long and Christmas movie on Saturday.
FORT MYERS FGCU head volleyball coach steps down to coach UCF FGCU coach Matt Botsford announced that he is stepping down as head volleyball coach to join the University of Central Florida Knights.
FORT MYERS Top rated prospects shine in City of Palms Classic Year-after-year some of the top high school teams featuring many of the top players in the country compete in the Fort Myers Tournament.
Meals for Hope brings Southwest Florida together to fight hunger On Saturday morning, Meals for Hope held its annual Holidays Without Hunger event, aiming to ensure no one in Southwest Florida goes hungry during the holidays.
1 dead, 2 injured in four-vehicle crash on I-75 in Collier County A collision involving four vehicles on northbound Interstate 75 near mile marker 108 resulted in one fatality, minor injuries to two others, and a large paint spill.
Lee County woman’s home transforms into Santa’s Workshop for families in need One Lee County woman’s home has looked like Santa’s workshop since June.
Chilly first day of winter with plenty of sunshine overhead The Weather Authority says Saturday is the first day of the winter solstice, and it feels like it across Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Kitten recovering after surviving horrific abuse At 12 pounds and 12 weeks old, this little kitty was snatched from her home and literally dragged through the unthinkable.
Losing loved ones in the line of duty; Community offers support to Diaz family Heartbreak over Sergeant Elio Diaz’s death consumed the Charlotte County community, after the fallen hero was laid to rest Friday.
CAPTIVA Impacts of hurricane season on fishing in SWFL Whipping winds and torrential downpours are all too common with hurricanes.
Mama Sonya spreads holiday cheer to hundreds of Lee County kids During the holidays, the spirit of giving takes center stage, and one local woman goes above and beyond.
WINK Neighborhood Watch: Deadly DUI, fairground murder and shooting at police This week’s segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features deadly DUIs, murder at a fairground and the attempted murder of a Sanibel police officer.
FORT MYERS Man arrested after shots fired in the air, stolen gun recovered A man was arrested early Sunday in Fort Myers after police responded to a ShotSpotter alert near Maple and Meadows streets.
FORT MYERS Crash investigation underway in downtown Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a crash in downtown Fort Myers on Fowler Street.
Cool, comfortable Sunday in store with highs in the low 70s The Weather Authority is tracking a beautiful Sunday in store across Southwest Florida, with afternoon highs only topping out in the low 70s.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral hosts annual Holiday Boat-a-Long Families, residents, and businesses came out to enjoy Cape Coral’s annual Holiday Boat-a-Long and Christmas movie on Saturday.
FORT MYERS FGCU head volleyball coach steps down to coach UCF FGCU coach Matt Botsford announced that he is stepping down as head volleyball coach to join the University of Central Florida Knights.
FORT MYERS Top rated prospects shine in City of Palms Classic Year-after-year some of the top high school teams featuring many of the top players in the country compete in the Fort Myers Tournament.
Meals for Hope brings Southwest Florida together to fight hunger On Saturday morning, Meals for Hope held its annual Holidays Without Hunger event, aiming to ensure no one in Southwest Florida goes hungry during the holidays.
1 dead, 2 injured in four-vehicle crash on I-75 in Collier County A collision involving four vehicles on northbound Interstate 75 near mile marker 108 resulted in one fatality, minor injuries to two others, and a large paint spill.
Lee County woman’s home transforms into Santa’s Workshop for families in need One Lee County woman’s home has looked like Santa’s workshop since June.
Chilly first day of winter with plenty of sunshine overhead The Weather Authority says Saturday is the first day of the winter solstice, and it feels like it across Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Kitten recovering after surviving horrific abuse At 12 pounds and 12 weeks old, this little kitty was snatched from her home and literally dragged through the unthinkable.
Losing loved ones in the line of duty; Community offers support to Diaz family Heartbreak over Sergeant Elio Diaz’s death consumed the Charlotte County community, after the fallen hero was laid to rest Friday.
CAPTIVA Impacts of hurricane season on fishing in SWFL Whipping winds and torrential downpours are all too common with hurricanes.
Credit: WINK News The school shooting in Parkland, Florida changed the ways schools operate when it comes to security. After that shooting, the Guardian Program was forced to protect students on school campuses by training its current staff to carry firearms at school. Currently, there are 45 counties in Florida that are a part of this program. Lee County could be the next district on the list. The massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 sparked huge changes in school safety. One of those changes is adding a school resource officer (SRO) to every building on every public school campus. Another change was training and arming school employees and staff to stop a potential school threat. Melisa Giovannelli is a member of the Lee County School Board. “What’s the price of safety? I don’t think we can put a price on it. I think it’s important to enhance our SRO programs,” Giovannelli said. Board member Giovannelli asked for the Lee County School Board to reconsider Florida’s Guardian Program in order to help SROs protect students. She says Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno is on board with this idea. The school district’s safety and security executive director, David Newlan, has concerns about the program. “My big concern of using employees already in a position at district… is… it doesn’t, to me, if you’re going to be a guardian your sole responsibility should be a guardian,” Newlan said. “Just because you passed that initial 144 hours of training, does not make you qualified.” Other school board members say they think the SROs are more than enough. Mary Fischer is a Lee County School Board member. “I’m a lot more comfortable with our professional law enforcement being there and the ones to respond,” Fischer said. Cathleen O’Daniel Morgan is also a school board member. “If we were to explore anything it would be the security people that we have. I’m not frankly, at this point, interested in doing more than that,” Morgan said. The school board rejected the idea directly after the Parkland shooting. The only district in the WINK News viewing area to adopt the Guardian Program is Hendry County Schools. Right now, in Hendry County, they have five trained guardians in buildings, along with SROs. There are also 10 people interested in joining in that county.