Lee County School District approves bus service after mother’s fightBigger and better beaches; Sanibel gets fresh sand
SAN CARLOS PARK Lee County School District approves bus service after mother’s fight The school district said Shannan Santiago’s kids can have a school bus because they live more than two miles away from their school.
SANIBEL Bigger and better beaches; Sanibel gets fresh sand If you haven’t been to Sanibel lately you might not recognize it. Just in time for the holidays, the island is celebrating bigger, better and more beautiful beaches.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral twins together for holidays after congenital heart defect scare Everyone together at home for Christmas. That’s the wish for one Cape Coral family since they were blessed with twins in the spring.
PORT CHARLOTTE Meeting held for future of Beach Park in Port Charlotte Beach Park in Port Charlotte has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton. Last week county leaders held a special meeting to come up with a solution to finally reopen the park to neighbors.
PUNTA GORDA Downtown Punta Gorda restaurant rebuilding after back-to-back storms In downtown Punta Gorda, the back-to-back hurricanes spared no one. For one restaurant, it meant starting over, cutting up the walls and redoing the floors not once but twice.
Valerie’s House offers support to those grieving this holiday season Christmas is considered a magical time for many families, but many also struggle with the loss of a loved one this time of year. Valerie’s House is opening its doors for the holidays to help struggling families deal with that grief.
Local beauty editor impacting community through Beauty Holiday event A local beauty editor turned beauty elf is using her event for the better. Wink news anchor Lindsey Sablan talked to Lindsay Peragallo, founder of Beauty Holiday. With brands such as Mac and CoverGirl, table after table was packed with self-care items at the Beauty Holiday event. It was like the elves quit the toy […]
ESTERO Study shows rent prices dropping in areas of SWFL According to national data, rent is slowly dropping in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties. A new study with Florida Gulf Coast University shows the price drop might be more drastic than we think.
Ways to help with an aching head Imagine waking up with a headache so strong you can’t think, a neck pain so severe you can’t move and your eyesight suddenly turning blurry.
Novelist Randy Wayne White plans experimental citrus farming at historic Bokeelia property White just closed on a real estate deal that’s short on price but big on history with a positive outlook on the future of citrus framing.
Deadline approaching for FEMA assistance after hurricanes Milton and Helene Floridians affected by hurricanes Milton and Helene have just two weeks left to apply for federal assistance, with the deadline set for Jan. 7, 2025.
FORT MYERS Man wanted for stealing over $7K in items from Fort Myers business Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on a man wanted for stealing over $7,000 in items from a Fort Myers business.
Pedestrian killed in collision with vehicle on CR 951 in Collier County A pedestrian was killed after being struck by a vehicle on County Road 951, south of Naples Lake Boulevard.
FORT MYERS RSW Airport’s parking lots filling fast ahead of busy travel week If you have a flight on Monday, prepare to be surrounded by many people.
the weather authority Sun & clouds and warmer-than-average this Monday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a warm and dry Monday afternoon, with a mixture of sun, clouds, and highs in the upper 70s to low 80s.
SAN CARLOS PARK Lee County School District approves bus service after mother’s fight The school district said Shannan Santiago’s kids can have a school bus because they live more than two miles away from their school.
SANIBEL Bigger and better beaches; Sanibel gets fresh sand If you haven’t been to Sanibel lately you might not recognize it. Just in time for the holidays, the island is celebrating bigger, better and more beautiful beaches.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral twins together for holidays after congenital heart defect scare Everyone together at home for Christmas. That’s the wish for one Cape Coral family since they were blessed with twins in the spring.
PORT CHARLOTTE Meeting held for future of Beach Park in Port Charlotte Beach Park in Port Charlotte has been closed since hurricanes Helene and Milton. Last week county leaders held a special meeting to come up with a solution to finally reopen the park to neighbors.
PUNTA GORDA Downtown Punta Gorda restaurant rebuilding after back-to-back storms In downtown Punta Gorda, the back-to-back hurricanes spared no one. For one restaurant, it meant starting over, cutting up the walls and redoing the floors not once but twice.
Valerie’s House offers support to those grieving this holiday season Christmas is considered a magical time for many families, but many also struggle with the loss of a loved one this time of year. Valerie’s House is opening its doors for the holidays to help struggling families deal with that grief.
Local beauty editor impacting community through Beauty Holiday event A local beauty editor turned beauty elf is using her event for the better. Wink news anchor Lindsey Sablan talked to Lindsay Peragallo, founder of Beauty Holiday. With brands such as Mac and CoverGirl, table after table was packed with self-care items at the Beauty Holiday event. It was like the elves quit the toy […]
ESTERO Study shows rent prices dropping in areas of SWFL According to national data, rent is slowly dropping in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties. A new study with Florida Gulf Coast University shows the price drop might be more drastic than we think.
Ways to help with an aching head Imagine waking up with a headache so strong you can’t think, a neck pain so severe you can’t move and your eyesight suddenly turning blurry.
Novelist Randy Wayne White plans experimental citrus farming at historic Bokeelia property White just closed on a real estate deal that’s short on price but big on history with a positive outlook on the future of citrus framing.
Deadline approaching for FEMA assistance after hurricanes Milton and Helene Floridians affected by hurricanes Milton and Helene have just two weeks left to apply for federal assistance, with the deadline set for Jan. 7, 2025.
FORT MYERS Man wanted for stealing over $7K in items from Fort Myers business Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on a man wanted for stealing over $7,000 in items from a Fort Myers business.
Pedestrian killed in collision with vehicle on CR 951 in Collier County A pedestrian was killed after being struck by a vehicle on County Road 951, south of Naples Lake Boulevard.
FORT MYERS RSW Airport’s parking lots filling fast ahead of busy travel week If you have a flight on Monday, prepare to be surrounded by many people.
the weather authority Sun & clouds and warmer-than-average this Monday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a warm and dry Monday afternoon, with a mixture of sun, clouds, and highs in the upper 70s to low 80s.
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried. (Credit: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services) Is there a candidate who can unseat Governor Ron DeSantis? The two leading Democrats—U.S. Congressman Charlie Crist and Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried—running against him say yes. We ask them how they plan to do it. In our special election series, “Talking Points,” WINK News Investigative Reporter Céline McArthur interviews both candidates to see how they say they’ll make your lives better in the Sunshine State. Nikki Fried is the Commissioner of Agriculture. She’s now in year three of the job, which is her first elected position. Before her win, she was a private practice attorney and public defender. I met her on her purple and gold “hashtag something new” campaign bus to learn more about what those words mean to her. She explains why her experience makes her the right choice in the primary over Congressman Charlie Crist, and in the general election against Governor Ron DeSantis. McArthur: “You’re the Commissioner of Agriculture. What do you do?” Fried: “First of all, agriculture is our second largest economic driver for our state. It’s a $1.9 billion agency, I oversee 4,600 employees, 19 divisions. So it’s not just agriculture. It’s Agriculture and Consumer Services. So I oversee everything from fair rides to fraud of the gas pumps, nonprofit organizations, security guards at the Office of Energy, of course, the concealed weapons permitting program, food nutrition program, that’s all of our feeding programs, including that in our school. We’ve got forestry, it’s a mini governor’s office and a lot of responsibilities.” If elected governor, Fried says she’ll declare a housing emergency on her first day in office. “So when we declare a housing emergency, we’re able to go and go after the predatory landlords, because anything over inflation is predatory. It’s greed. It’s all out cruelty,” says Fried. “And so to be able to use the state attorneys and the attorney general to start going after those landlords. And then we’ve got to be building more homes and more affordable homes. Over the last 28 years, we have been gutting the Affordable Trust Fund to the tune of $2.4 billion.” Fried also wants to recruit and retain teachers by putting a lot more money in their paychecks. “We’re going to be doubling that per pupil funding that gives more money to the education system and hopefully be able to pay our teachers double of what they’re making now.” Fried did not explain how the state would pay for these record-level raises. She also tells me she would address the political theater and divisiveness in public education that’s driving teachers out. “We’ve created a war zone that we are seeing teachers having to be the parents or their guardians, the mental health counselors,” says Fried. “Teachers asked to bring guns into the classroom. And now they’re being told that they can’t teach history. And they’re concerned about whether or not what they say and what they don’t say, they get sued.” She also wants to protect women and medical providers from getting prosecuted if they have or provide abortions. “That means I’m doing the exact opposite of what Ron DeSantis did coming into it and removing Andrew Warren from his office because he refused to prosecute. We would do just the opposite,” says Fried. “Second, I would make sure that we’ve already started to work on a new constitutional amendment, because unfortunately, this Florida Supreme Court is going to uphold the 15-week abortion ban, which means that they are not fulfilling that right to privacy that’s in our Florida constitution.” Fried questions her opponent Congressman Charlie Crist’s record, claiming the former pro-life Republican governor of Florida may not be all in on the fight to restore a woman’s right to choose. She points to his appointments of conservatives to the state Supreme Court more than a decade ago. “He put one of the most conservative extremists onto that bench in our Supreme Court who is now the Chief Judge. That Chief Judge is going to take away my rights,” says Fried. “Who’s to say that when he gets that governor’s office, he says, ‘Oh, it’s just too hard. I’m gonna go back and do nothing.'” McArthur: “You feel Charlie Crist can’t be trusted. He says the first thing he’ll do in office is issue an executive order. He published it online and it says he will protect women’s reproductive rights. You don’t seem to think that’s the case. Why? What has come to your attention that you look at and go, ‘No, he’s not telling the truth.” Commissioner Fried: “Because he’s not.” Like Crist, Fried is banking on your frustration and fatigue with the current state of politics in Florida, what she describes as Governor DeSantis’ punishing and divisive leadership style. “That’s exactly how we’re going to beat him, because people are tired of that. People are tired of walk turning on their TV, and seeing the Governor yelling at somebody else, creating these culture wars that are dividing our state,” says Fried. “He wants to talk about freedom. And let’s talk about freedom for this and freedom for that. I’m sorry, he’s taking away women’s freedoms to choose for herself. He’s taking away a professor’s freedom from teaching in the higher ed system. We’re banning books. We’re making it harder for us to vote and to protest. That’s not freedom.” Fried is behind in most polls; however, she beat out Crist by 4-points in the latest poll from the University of North Florida. That’s a pretty big swing from the university’s last poll in February, which had her down by 8 points. You can watch Céline McArthur’s interview with Crist by clicking here. More TalkingPoints: Understanding the Lee County court judge race One-on-one with Lindsay Scott Garza, Lee County judge candidate One-on-one with Lee County Court Judge Archie B. Hayward, running for reelection US Senate race in Florida One-on-one with Sen. Marco Rubio, running for reelection One-on-one with Congresswoman Val Demings, candidate for US Senate If you have a story you want us to cover on TalkingPoints, email us at talkingpoints@winknews.com. Connect with Céline McArthur on Twitter or on Facebook. You can also reach Céline via email at celine.mcarthur@winknews.com.