Pedestrian dead after crash on McGregor BoulevardSunday brings sun and clouds with chance for a stray shower
FORT MYERS Pedestrian dead after crash on McGregor Boulevard The Fort Myers Police Department is investigating a crash that left at least one person dead Saturday night.
Sunday brings sun and clouds with chance for a stray shower The Weather Authority forecasts another seasonal day across Southwest Florida, with temperatures reaching the upper 70s to low 80s this afternoon.
Family of Eagles: FGCU volleyball star graduates with Master’s Degree Saturday marked a special day for Florida Gulf Coast University as more than 1,800 students graduated. For one student-athlete, graduating from FGCU runs in the family.
lehigh acres LCSO: Man shot by car owner protecting property The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
FORT MYERS Pedestrian dead after crash on McGregor Boulevard The Fort Myers Police Department is investigating a crash that left at least one person dead Saturday night.
Sunday brings sun and clouds with chance for a stray shower The Weather Authority forecasts another seasonal day across Southwest Florida, with temperatures reaching the upper 70s to low 80s this afternoon.
Family of Eagles: FGCU volleyball star graduates with Master’s Degree Saturday marked a special day for Florida Gulf Coast University as more than 1,800 students graduated. For one student-athlete, graduating from FGCU runs in the family.
lehigh acres LCSO: Man shot by car owner protecting property The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
A pharmacist filling a prescription. Credit: WINK News Teen overdose deaths are on the rise, and the pandemic is not the only thing to blame. More than three-quarters of those deaths in 2021 involved fentanyl. Overdose deaths among teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 more than doubled from 2010 to 2021, hitting just below 1,150 teens in 2021, and more than 77% were related to fentanyl use. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and extremely cheap to produce. Dr. Joesph Lee, president and CEO of the Hazelden Betty Ford Clinic, located at 950 6th Ave. N. in Naples, is a child psychiatrist board-certified in addiction medicine, and he says it isn’t that more teens are using drugs, because nationwide data actually suggests that isn’t the case; it’s just that the teens who do use drugs are taking more chances. “Young people are rolling the dice—they think they’re using something else, like Xanax, and they end up overdosing,” Lee said. “I think the pandemic has been incredibly tragic for lots of people, but especially young people… if you take away their social networks at school, for example, all the supervision that happens there, then you start to see higher-risk young people using more substances and having more fallouts.” Lee says drug dealers will mix fentanyl into what kids think are pain medications or commonly used prescription medications, which can, in turn, make it very dangerous for young adults. “They’re inherently different in how they actually access substances,” Lee said. “Everything from the amount of money they have to how tied they’re into technology compared to older people… what I started to see was young people getting drugs off the dark web, and they go to websites that you can’t find on Google using special software. And then bitcoin and cryptocurrency came around and that made it easy for them to transact and buy these substances.” Researchers say these teen overdose deaths only account for around 1% of the country’s total, but teens experienced a greater relative increase than the overall population.