LABELLE Fatal crash on State Road 29 in LaBelle According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a fatal crash occurred on State Road 29 on Tuesday evening.
NAPLES Naples on alert but staying calm ahead of potential storm It’s understandable to get anxious whenever we hear about the possibility of severe weather with Tropical Storm Rafael gaining strength in the Caribbean.
BONITA SPRINGS The race for US senate in Florida Aside from the presidential and local races, many people are watching the battle for the U.S. Senate.
FORT MYERS The race for Lee County Supervisor of Elections Voters in Lee County are going to the polls to decide the next supervisor of elections.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda RV residents concerned about hurricane damage The people at the Harbor Belle RV Resort had concerns about their homes before hurricanes Helene and Milton.
WINK NEWS How Hispanic voters in SWFL are casting their ballots The Hispanic community in Southwest Florida is seemingly divided as they cast their votes for the next president of the United States.
WEST PALM BEACH Trump and supporters gear up for election night in West Palm Beach All eyes are on the presidential election between Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.
SANIBEL City of Sanibel to open time capsule for 50th anniversary It’s a chance to see what the past was like. 41 years ago, the city of Sanibel put items in a time capsule to be opened on the 50th anniversary of the city’s incorporation. On Tuesday, WINK News was there to see what people had to say about the island decades ago.
FORT MYERS BEACH Lee Commission approves contract to restore 2 waterfront parks on Fort Myers Beach The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to award a contract for the design of the restoration of two waterfront parks on Fort Myers Beach.
Direct approach to hip replacement Surgeons in the United States perform more than 500,000 hip replacements every year, and that number is only expected to increase as our population ages.
ARCADIA DeSoto County Jail employee accused of trafficking contraband into facility An employee at the DeSoto County Jail has been arrested after allegedly trafficking illegal contraband into the jail.
Soluna Restaurant & Bar launches at Bayfront in Naples Emulating its namesake fusion of the sun and moon, Soluna Restaurant & Bar has arisen to illuminate the Naples dining scene.
NAPLES CFO Jimmy Patronis reminds Floridians to check their constructor contracts for post-storm fraud The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, will hold a news conference in Naples on post-storm fraud prevention.
Know where your voting precinct is in Southwest Florida Election Day is only one day away, so it is important to know where to go and if you qualify to vote in Southwest Florida.
The Weather Authority Tracking Tropical Storm Rafael; expected to become hurricane The Weather Authority Meteorologists are watching the Caribbean as Tropical Storm Rafael will strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane later Tuesday night.
LABELLE Fatal crash on State Road 29 in LaBelle According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a fatal crash occurred on State Road 29 on Tuesday evening.
NAPLES Naples on alert but staying calm ahead of potential storm It’s understandable to get anxious whenever we hear about the possibility of severe weather with Tropical Storm Rafael gaining strength in the Caribbean.
BONITA SPRINGS The race for US senate in Florida Aside from the presidential and local races, many people are watching the battle for the U.S. Senate.
FORT MYERS The race for Lee County Supervisor of Elections Voters in Lee County are going to the polls to decide the next supervisor of elections.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda RV residents concerned about hurricane damage The people at the Harbor Belle RV Resort had concerns about their homes before hurricanes Helene and Milton.
WINK NEWS How Hispanic voters in SWFL are casting their ballots The Hispanic community in Southwest Florida is seemingly divided as they cast their votes for the next president of the United States.
WEST PALM BEACH Trump and supporters gear up for election night in West Palm Beach All eyes are on the presidential election between Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.
SANIBEL City of Sanibel to open time capsule for 50th anniversary It’s a chance to see what the past was like. 41 years ago, the city of Sanibel put items in a time capsule to be opened on the 50th anniversary of the city’s incorporation. On Tuesday, WINK News was there to see what people had to say about the island decades ago.
FORT MYERS BEACH Lee Commission approves contract to restore 2 waterfront parks on Fort Myers Beach The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to award a contract for the design of the restoration of two waterfront parks on Fort Myers Beach.
Direct approach to hip replacement Surgeons in the United States perform more than 500,000 hip replacements every year, and that number is only expected to increase as our population ages.
ARCADIA DeSoto County Jail employee accused of trafficking contraband into facility An employee at the DeSoto County Jail has been arrested after allegedly trafficking illegal contraband into the jail.
Soluna Restaurant & Bar launches at Bayfront in Naples Emulating its namesake fusion of the sun and moon, Soluna Restaurant & Bar has arisen to illuminate the Naples dining scene.
NAPLES CFO Jimmy Patronis reminds Floridians to check their constructor contracts for post-storm fraud The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, will hold a news conference in Naples on post-storm fraud prevention.
Know where your voting precinct is in Southwest Florida Election Day is only one day away, so it is important to know where to go and if you qualify to vote in Southwest Florida.
The Weather Authority Tracking Tropical Storm Rafael; expected to become hurricane The Weather Authority Meteorologists are watching the Caribbean as Tropical Storm Rafael will strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane later Tuesday night.
Marriott human resources recruiter Mariela Cuevas, left, talks to Lisbet Oliveros, during a job fair at Hard Rock Stadium, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Federal Reserve policymakers at a meeting last month said the U.S. job market was nearly at levels healthy enough that the central bank’s low-interest rate policies were no longer needed. That’s according to minutes of the meeting released Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File) U.S. employers added a modest 199,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate fell sharply, at a time when businesses are struggling to fill jobs with many Americans remaining reluctant to return to the workforce. The Labor Department said Friday that the nation’s unemployment rate fell to a healthy 3.9% from 4.2% in November. Omicron has sickened millions of Americans, forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights, reduced traffic and restaurants and bars and caused some major school systems to close, potentially keeping some parents at home with children and unable to work. Still, the job market may be healthier than the modest hiring gain the government reported Friday. The aftermath of the pandemic has made the government’s employment figures more volatile, with one month’s data often followed by a sharply different trend a month or two later. The economy has also shown resilience in the face of surging inflation, the prospect of higher loan rates and the spread of the omicron variant. Most businesses report steady demand from their customers despite chronic supply shortages. Consumer spending and business purchases of machinery and equipment likely propelled the economy to a robust annual growth rate of roughly 7% in the final three months of 2021. Americans’ confidence in the economy rose slightly in December, according to the Conference Board, suggesting that spending probably remained healthy through the year’s end. Even with December’s modest gain, 2021 was one of the best years for American workers in decades, though one that followed 2020, the job market’s worst year since records began in 1939, a consequence of the pandemic recession. Companies posted a record number of open jobs last year and offered sharply higher pay to try to find and keep workers. Americans responded by quitting jobs in droves, mainly for better pay at other employers. Economists have cautioned that job growth may slow in January and possibly February because of the spike in new omicron infections, which have forced millions of newly infected workers to stay home and quarantine, disrupting employers ranging from ski resorts to airlines to hospitals. Alaska Airlines said it’s cutting 10% of its flights in January because of an “unprecedented” number of employees calling in sick. But because omicron is less virulent than previous COVID-19 variants and few states or localities have moved to limit business operations, economists say they believe its economic impact will be short-lived. Still, Andrew Hunter, an economist at Capital Economics, a forecasting firm, calculates that up to 5 million people — roughly 2% of America’s workforce — could be stuck at home with COVID over the next week or so. Workers without sick leave who miss a paycheck are classified by the government as jobless. Any such trend could sharply lower job gains in the employment report for January, to be released next month. Omicron will also likely weigh on jobs at restaurants and bars. The number of Americans willing to eat at restaurants started to slip in late December, according to the reservations website OpenTable. Restaurant traffic was nearly at pre-pandemic levels for much of November but had fallen nearly 25% below those levels by Dec. 30, based on a weekly average of OpenTable data. Other measures of the economy have mostly reflected a resilient economy. A survey of manufacturing purchasing managers found that factory output grew at a healthy pace in December, if slower than in previous months. Hiring also picked up. Auto dealers report that demand for new cars is still strong, with sales held back by semiconductor chip shortages that have hobbled auto production.