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.
FILE: Outside of a Center for Covid Control test site in Southwest Florida (Credit: WINK News) The FBI has raided the Center for Covid Control’s headquarters in Illinois. WINK News has been investigating the company’s practices here in Southwest Florida for the past couple of weeks. An FBI spokesperson confirmed to WINK News that agents conducted “court-authorized law enforcement activity in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.” That is where the Center for Covid Control maintains its headquarters. The spokesperson would not share the reason for the raid. The FBI raid comes two weeks after WINK News began its investigation into the Center for Covid Control at the test site in Bonita Springs that sent people results before they actually took the test. The person who claimed to run that location blamed a computer glitch for the mistakes. There were two other Center for Covid Control locations in Southwest Florida. One was in Cape Coral and the other was at the Edison Mall. On Saturday, WINK News found all three sites shut down. In Bonita Springs, FPL shut off the electricity for non-payment. At the Edison mall, the city of Fort Myers put a sign saying, “You cannot open until you have a business tax receipt,” and in Cape Coral, the company appears to have moved out. For weeks, WINK News witnessed the site do business. The first week of January saw car after car waiting in line. The manager of the Edison Mall testing location said the site opened in October and did business for two months and 24 days until the company put operations on pause on Jan. 14. On Monday, WINK News spoke to the City of Fort Myers public information officer and asked her how a business could be open for so long without a business tax receipt. She said she was under the impression the Center for Covid Control wasn’t open for that long. WINK News reached out to Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson, who said a code violation is not all that uncommon. “In this case, my guess is that they saw this story, and they did the research and saw that it didn’t have they didn’t have the BTR (business tax receipt), and they went and issued the citation.” Anderson said, “anytime we have a business that is operating in the city, and they don’t seem to be operating in accordance with the industry standards, that is a concern. I mean, we’re talking about people’s health and safety.” Anderson said he’s very concerned about the news of the FBI raiding the Center for Covid Control headquarters in Illinois. WINK News Safety and Security Specialist Rich Kolko spent 21 years with the FBI. He explained if the FBI is interested, this investigation has gone to a new level. “What they had to do is gather enough probable cause to get a judge to sign a search warrant to look for elements of criminal activity. So that’s what they’re doing at the headquarters in one of these search warrants, trying to find information that might be available on computers, in mail financial transactions, telephone records,” said Kolko. The raid at the Center for Covid Control headquarters took place just days after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed its own investigation into the company, and one of the labs it uses, after the state of Minnesota sued, claiming misleading, deceptive, and fraudulent activity. The Florida attorney general will not confirm whether it is investigating the Center for Covid Control. The Center for Covid Control paused operations on Jan. 14, the company saying at the time it would retrain its people and establish new procedures, then reopen Saturday the 22nd. That did not happen in Southwest Florida or at any of the company’s 275 locations nationwide. WINK News has reached out to the Center for Covid Control for comment and is waiting to hear back.