Lee County Sheriff investigates crash injuring pedestrian at University VillageGunshots heard in a Cape Coral neighborhood
Lee County Sheriff investigates crash injuring pedestrian at University Village The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a crash that injured a pedestrian at the University Village Shops in Lee County.
CAPE CORAL Gunshots heard in a Cape Coral neighborhood Neighbors have reported hearing multiple gunshots in the early hours of the morning in Cape Coral.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Tracking the Tropics: Patty forms in North Atlantic, tracking Caribbean development An area in the Southwestern Caribbean has a high, 80% chance of developing over the upcoming week.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Warm weekend with spotty showers, daylight saving time ends tonight The Weather Authority says Saturday is starting nice and dry with some passing clouds and pleasant conditions.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 11 The Lehigh Lightning beat the Sarasota Sailors in a Monday night matchup to earn their first win of the season in week 11.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man files injunction against city over Jaycee Park A Cape Coral man has filed an injunction against the City of Cape Coral over the renovation of Jaycee Park.
CAPE CORAL Brothers gain highest Boy Scout award for repairing food pantry General Manager of the Adventist Community Services Alexandra Berru said she couldn’t be more grateful for the twin brothers.
2 Vietnam veterans raise $20,000 for monument in Naples Two Vietnam veterans raised over $20,000 to create a Vietnam monument at Cambier Park in Naples.
BONITA SPRINGS Lee County to pick up debris on Estero and Hickory boulevards After three weeks of hard work clearing mountains of sand from Estero and Hickory boulevards, Lee County crews are ready to switch gears to storm debris collection along these main county roads.
SANIBEL Are our habitats on the brink of a slow collapse? For two years, Sanibel Island’s delicate ecosystems have been battered by unrelenting storm surges, leaving behind dead trees and tainted freshwater pools.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres driver wants more safety measures for State Road 82 A Lehigh Acres man wants other drivers to know to pay attention. He also wants the county, city or state to put some more patrols out here.
SANIBEL What beaches are experiencing red tide issues now? Parts of Southewst Florida are dealing with red tide. But it’s not impacting Sanibel or beachgoers there.
NAPLES Naples Police Department begins celebrations of 100 years of service The City of Naples Police Department will hit 100 years of service in November of 2025, and they are now beginning their year of celebrations.
ESTERO FGCU students and professor weigh in on upcoming election As the nation gears up for a pivotal election, a question lingers among young voters. Will students turn out to vote?
New procedure helping disc pain Neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain and arm pain can all be caused by a herniated disc. If left untreated, this can become debilitating and lead to nerve damage.
Lee County Sheriff investigates crash injuring pedestrian at University Village The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a crash that injured a pedestrian at the University Village Shops in Lee County.
CAPE CORAL Gunshots heard in a Cape Coral neighborhood Neighbors have reported hearing multiple gunshots in the early hours of the morning in Cape Coral.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Tracking the Tropics: Patty forms in North Atlantic, tracking Caribbean development An area in the Southwestern Caribbean has a high, 80% chance of developing over the upcoming week.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Warm weekend with spotty showers, daylight saving time ends tonight The Weather Authority says Saturday is starting nice and dry with some passing clouds and pleasant conditions.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 11 The Lehigh Lightning beat the Sarasota Sailors in a Monday night matchup to earn their first win of the season in week 11.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man files injunction against city over Jaycee Park A Cape Coral man has filed an injunction against the City of Cape Coral over the renovation of Jaycee Park.
CAPE CORAL Brothers gain highest Boy Scout award for repairing food pantry General Manager of the Adventist Community Services Alexandra Berru said she couldn’t be more grateful for the twin brothers.
2 Vietnam veterans raise $20,000 for monument in Naples Two Vietnam veterans raised over $20,000 to create a Vietnam monument at Cambier Park in Naples.
BONITA SPRINGS Lee County to pick up debris on Estero and Hickory boulevards After three weeks of hard work clearing mountains of sand from Estero and Hickory boulevards, Lee County crews are ready to switch gears to storm debris collection along these main county roads.
SANIBEL Are our habitats on the brink of a slow collapse? For two years, Sanibel Island’s delicate ecosystems have been battered by unrelenting storm surges, leaving behind dead trees and tainted freshwater pools.
LEHIGH ACRES Lehigh Acres driver wants more safety measures for State Road 82 A Lehigh Acres man wants other drivers to know to pay attention. He also wants the county, city or state to put some more patrols out here.
SANIBEL What beaches are experiencing red tide issues now? Parts of Southewst Florida are dealing with red tide. But it’s not impacting Sanibel or beachgoers there.
NAPLES Naples Police Department begins celebrations of 100 years of service The City of Naples Police Department will hit 100 years of service in November of 2025, and they are now beginning their year of celebrations.
ESTERO FGCU students and professor weigh in on upcoming election As the nation gears up for a pivotal election, a question lingers among young voters. Will students turn out to vote?
New procedure helping disc pain Neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain and arm pain can all be caused by a herniated disc. If left untreated, this can become debilitating and lead to nerve damage.
Young boy in daycare. Credit: WINK News The cost of child care has increased more than any other household expense, more than housing or groceries, and your income has not gone up with it. The necessity of day care for many working parents means many families now have to make tough decisions. Families already feel the tension from the prices rising on most everything due to supply chain issues, corporate price hikes and inflation, but if they have to add day care services to the list of things they can’t afford, the only choice for many will be to stay home. The average cost of day care for infants is now more than in-state college tuition fees in some states. A new report from Child Care Aware shows that the growth in child care prices exceeded the annual rate of inflation over the past two years. In 2020, the average annual cost of child care for infants hit just over $12,300. Victor Claar, an economics professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, says that while it is alarming to see that a family is not receiving subsidies of any kind and might pay something in the neighborhood of in-state tuition prices, the comparison is not completely fair. “There’s a little of an apples and oranges phenomenon going there,” Claar said. “When you send your child to day care, they provide a lot more than, say, just education. And that’s essentially what you get with the tuition alone at a college or university if you don’t include student fees, other activity fees. If you don’t include room and board, then it’s a little bit of an unfair comparison. Also, when you pay that annual tuition for university, it’s for the academic year, it’s not for an entire calendar year. So those numbers also make the comparison a little tougher to make.” Just like any other business, child care facilities want to offer high-quality care at the lowest prices they can manage. Due to the pandemic, however, employers have to pay more to keep staff. If they can’t make their money back by raising prices, we will certainly see some locations shut down involuntarily. Two day care owners in a low-income area of Fort Myers say they don’t want to raise prices and make it harder for families already struggling, but with a lack of employees, a lot of them have limited options: close down or raise prices. That means some parents would need to watch their children instead of going to work. “You do want to offer quality services, and you do have to charge for quality services,” said Trinity Evans, owner of Babyland Christian Academy, located at 2329 Union St. “But at the same time, it’s hard for us to offer quality services when that rate is going up. Because if you have to bring in quality staff to provide those services, you have to increase pay on staff as well. ” “If you can’t work, how are you going to be able to pay your bills?” said Patricia Cochran, owner of Creative Early Steps Childcare Center, also located at 2329 Union St. “How are you going to be able to do anything when your kids need education, education is everything, you have to have education and education starts from the beginning.” A report by the First Five Years Fund found that the rise in child care costs beyond that of expenses like housing and groceries has gone on for the past few decades.