Friday’s Furry Friends: Rhett, TagRecall issued for ground beef sold with possible E. coli at Walmart
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Rhett, Tag For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
WINK NEWS Recall issued for ground beef sold with possible E. coli at Walmart The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a recall for several ground beef products distributed from Pennsylvania to Walmart’s nationwide.
The Weather Authority Hotter and more humid this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mild Friday morning with dry afternoon conditions and isolated storms appearing in the evening.
PUNTA GORDA ‘Party’s Over’: Dirt biking ends at Barefoot Lake The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has made it clear, the party at Barefoot Lake is over.
ESTERO Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
NORTH NAPLES ‘It’s all about connection,’ Statement Peace makes jewelry with sustainability in mind The brand Statement Peace, once started inside founder Jessica Lee’s home, is now in 2,700 stores across the country
Pine Manor 2 arrested for firing gun at birthday party in Pine Manor A party ended with two people behind bars.
FORT MYERS Shooting investigation on busy Fort Myers street Police are conducting a shooting investigation that involves a traffic crash near Michigan Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
FGCU New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis ready to build on department’s success New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis talks about the department’s future amid the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Rhett, Tag For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
WINK NEWS Recall issued for ground beef sold with possible E. coli at Walmart The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a recall for several ground beef products distributed from Pennsylvania to Walmart’s nationwide.
The Weather Authority Hotter and more humid this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mild Friday morning with dry afternoon conditions and isolated storms appearing in the evening.
PUNTA GORDA ‘Party’s Over’: Dirt biking ends at Barefoot Lake The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has made it clear, the party at Barefoot Lake is over.
ESTERO Crews battle 2.5-acre brush fire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
NORTH NAPLES ‘It’s all about connection,’ Statement Peace makes jewelry with sustainability in mind The brand Statement Peace, once started inside founder Jessica Lee’s home, is now in 2,700 stores across the country
Pine Manor 2 arrested for firing gun at birthday party in Pine Manor A party ended with two people behind bars.
FORT MYERS Shooting investigation on busy Fort Myers street Police are conducting a shooting investigation that involves a traffic crash near Michigan Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
FGCU New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis ready to build on department’s success New FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis talks about the department’s future amid the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
In this courtroom sketch, a witness testifying under the pseudonym “Carolyn,” breaks down on the witness stand testifying about her experiences with Jeffery Epstein, during proceedings in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-abuse trial, in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams) One of Ghislaine Maxwell’s accusers testified Tuesday that she was just 14 years old when the British socialite had her undress, fondled her and told her she had a “great body” that financier Jeffrey Epstein would enjoy. The woman, who was identified only by her first name, Carolyn, was the third witness to testify at the sex trafficking trial about being sexually abused by Epstein in encounters facilitated by Maxwell, his one-time girlfriend and, later, employee. Carolyn offered some of the most explicit descriptions so far at the New York trial of Maxwell’s alleged grooming of underage victims, who prosecutors say were lured into “a pyramid scheme of abuse.” At times choking up, she testified that she was a heavy drug user and middle school dropout when she was first taken to Epstein’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida, by an older teenage friend, Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre. They were greeted by Maxwell, who said “You can take her upstairs and show her what to do,” Carolyn testified. She said Giuffre and Epstein had sex while she watched. She added she was paid $300 in $100 bills at the end of the encounter. “I was young and $300 was a lot of money to me,” Carolyn said. After that, she became a regular at the estate, hired to perform sexualized massages. Maxwell knew she was only 14 at the time, but that didn’t dissuade her, Carolyn testified. She told jurors that during one encounter in Epstein’s massage room in the early 2000s, Maxwell “felt my boobs and my hips and my buttocks and she said I had a great body for Mr. Epstein and his friends.” Maxwell, 59, has denied charges she groomed underage girls for Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019. Her lawyers say the government is making her a scapegoat for Epstein’s sex crimes. Prosecutors say Carolyn was one of several vulnerable teens from troubled backgrounds who were pulled into a scheme where Maxwell and Epstein would encourage girls in low-income parts of Florida to find other young victims to bring to his home, in exchange for a finder’s fee. Giuffre would later become perhaps the best known of Epstein’s accusers for her allegations that the financier and Maxwell flew her around the world, starting at age 17, to have sex with numerous famous and influential men, including Britain’s Prince Andrew. All of those men, including Andrew, have denied those allegations and they are not expected to be part of the trial. A prosecutor asked Carolyn who else saw her “fully naked” at Epstein’s home. She responded it was Maxwell, two of Epstein’s “friends” and two “girls.” She didn’t say whether the friends were men or women and didn’t elaborate on what happened with them. Giuffre has acknowledged recruiting girls into Epstein’s circle, claiming she was coerced into doing so by Maxwell. The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual abuse unless they decide to tell their stories publicly, as Giuffre has. Carolyn faced a cross-examination in which a defense lawyer sought to highlight what the defense says were discrepancies between her testimony and a 2008 lawsuit she brought against Epstein in which Maxwell wasn’t mentioned. The lawsuit was settled for $250,000. “Ms. Maxwell was not a topic of discussion at that time,” she said. During the cross-examination, she repeated her allegation that Maxwell had “fondled” her, adding, “because of that, my heart is broken and so is my soul.” The testimony came on a day when prosecutors indicated they could finish presenting their case to the jury as soon as Thursday. The defense could then call witnesses. Prosecutors on Tuesday showed the jury more than a dozen photographs of Epstein and Maxwell, including one of the couple swimming together while nude. Defense lawyers had objected to the photo, but prosecutors successfully argued it could be used to back up witness testimony about scenes from Epstein’s Florida home and show that the pair had more than an employee-boss relationship. Carolyn testified that she and Epstein discussed the fact that she was underage and that she was a victim of sex abuse as a young child. Each meeting would end with him masturbating and touching her breasts and buttocks: “Something sexual would happen every single time,” she said. She stopped seeing Epstein for a while when she had a baby in 2004, but she tried to go back to doing massages at age 18 because she needed the money, in part to pay for a drug habit. Epstein only wanted her if she had younger friends to bring around. “That’s when I realized I was too old,” she said.