20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta GordaLehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
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 brushfire near Alico Road 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.
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
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 brushfire near Alico Road 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.
Credit: Conservancy of SWFL The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) received more than two dozen bird patients in the span of two weeks. Many of these birds were being treated for showing symptoms of red tide or blue-green algae poisoning, but experts say this isn’t only happening on Sanibel Island. When looking at the red tide map for Southwest Florida, it seems quiet. But SW Florida’s bird population is telling a much different story. Joanna Fitzgerald is the director of von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. “I can tell you in the last week, we’ve had four patients admitted with toxicosis symptoms. So yeah, we had cormorants. And we have had an adult brown pelican that just came in this morning that was suffering with the toxicosis,” Fitzgerald said. red tide map jan 7 The Conservancy isn’t the only organization seeing a short currently. CROW Clinic on Sanibel has received 26 birds with toxicosis symptoms within the past few weeks. Alison Charney Hussey is the executive director for the CROW Clinic. “Over the past week, we’ve seen about less than half a dozen Brown and White Pelicans come in and they are presenting red tide,” said Hussey. “They came to us really in bad shape, and so it was suspected that in addition to brevetoxicosis or red tide poisoning that there may have been some sort of bacteria issue going on,” Hussey said. Eric Milbrandt is marine lab director for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. “Their patients are not from one specific place. They’re really an indicator of the condition of the food web, in relationship to red tide,” said Milbrandt. Experts are warning that just because we cannot see the red tide in the Gulf doesn’t mean it hasn’t infiltrated the food web. “The food that the birds are eating is mostly fish, and those fish are part of the food web, and they feed on either smaller fish or invertebrates that are accumulating the toxin,” Milbrandt said. “Because there are animals that are eating the karenia, the dinoflagellates and they’re consuming the toxin, and it’s becoming a part of their tissue,” said Milbrandt. And, toxicosis doesn’t just affect animals in the Gulf. “In other areas, not just thinking of the gulf, but you know, if there are pesticides being used in, say communities on the grass and things like that, that can produce toxins,” said Fitzgerald. That tangled web is now making birds sick. The CROW Clinic suspects that bacteria played a role in the birds’ illness. They’ve since been sent to The University of Georgia for evaluation. The results have not yet been revealed. “We don’t have those results back yet, but you know, we’re hoping for the best,” said Hussey. Fitzgerald says more research needs to be done on the different contributors of toxicosis.