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.
Affordable housing is hard to come by in Southwest Florida. (CREDIT: WINK News) Your dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to here in Southwest Florida especially when it comes to renting your home. People all over Southwest Florida are feeling the crunch of having to afford rent in the area. Rental website Zumper tracks prices and shows an average 2-bedroom apartment for rent in Fort Myers is nearly $2,300, a 55% increase over last year. In Naples, the average 2-bedroom will run you $4,000, jumping 60%. And in Punta Gorda, the same would cost you $2,750, a 20% increase. Cris Thomas said he pays $2,400 for a 2-bedroom. “That’s ridiculous,” Thomas said. Elizabeth Radi, also a renter, said there is zero affordable housing. “We have a single mother with six children. And she has taken an apartment that she already knows she’s not going to be able to afford the rent. But she said I cannot look my six children in the eyes and say get into the back of the car, again,” said Thomas Felke a social work professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. Felke said the area is already seeing the impacts of what rapidly rising rent is doing to the hospitality and tourism-based economy. If people can’t afford to live here they can’t afford to work here either. “We’re already seeing, you know, retail location, service locations, fast food, restaurants, etc, are having difficulty staffing, having to restrict their hours having to change their days and their methods of operation,” Felke said. And it’s illegal in Florida to introduce rent control. But FGCU economist Victor Claar said he feels that is not the answer to more manageable rent prices either. Claar said that actually hurts the housing market and economy. Landlords are less likely to maintain their property to keep their tenants happy knowing someone else would be happy to occupy that unit. He adds landlords are also less likely to make more housing available at reasonable prices. “If you introduce these rent controls, these maximum prices, we get less housing. In fact, property that’s currently used as housing becomes more valuable as something besides housing. So we might see that housing demolished and replaced with something else as a consequence,” Claar said. Instead, the answer is cutting down on rules. “You have so many rules in Southwest Florida, minimum lot sizes, we have restrictions on whether multiple-family dwellings like apartment buildings can be built on a certain part of the town versus single-family dwellings. And if we relaxed a lot of those requirements, we could build even more housing, that across the board would be more affordable for everybody,” Claar said. But that’s going to take time and not many families can wait. Felke points to a new ordinance out of Miami-Dade County that could help here. Landlords now have to give at least 60 days’ notice of rent increases of 5% or more no matter the type of lease. Previously only renters with year-to-year leases got advance notice, not those with month-to-month leases. “That’s not a perfect solution,” Felke said. “At least it’s something where an individual or family has a fighting chance to try and find a new place to live, which is already extraordinarily difficult given the market that we’re in.”