WINK NEWS Citizens Property Insurance depopulation program This is a sign our insurance crisis in Florida is recovering. Citizens, designed to be Floridian’s last resort insurer, is shrinking.
WINK NEWS Warmer temperatures build in for your Thursday plans The Weather Authority is tracking increased temperatures. Thursday is in the 50s, and the warming trend is continuing into the weekend.
WINK NEWS Smoke from prescribed burns this Thursday The Weather Authority is tracking smoke in the air Thursday morning. If you notice smoke, it’s likely from recent prescribed burns.
LEHIGH ACRES Firefighters break open submerged car in Lehigh Acres Firefighters break open a submerged car and appear to rescue someone stuck inside in Lehigh Acres overnight.
FORT MYERS Stem donor meets recipient at Florida Gulf Coast University An FGCU student is giving the gift of life this holiday season. FGCU senior Zoe Horowitz met the person who received her stem cell donation.
PORT CHARLOTTE CCSO ‘Shop with a Cop’ event spreads holiday cheer Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies spent time helping kids pick out gifts for their families during the annual Shop with a Cop event.
CLEWISTON Caught on camera: Explosion in hotel parking lot in Clewiston There was an explosion in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Clewiston on Wednesday.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda leaders outline plans for Gilchrist Park repairs Gilchrist Park is closed, and Punta Gorda city leaders have been discussing possibly restoring the park.
NORTH NAPLES Airman surprises 6-year-old daughter at school for the holidays after ten months of service in Kuwait After almost a year of service in Kuwait, one airman came home for the holidays and surprised his daughter.
FORT MYERS Breaking down the Lee County Sheriff’s Office budget The Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Carmine Marceno have been under scrutiny since a federal investigation on potential money laundering began. Many have questioned LCSO’s spending, so we broke down the budget.
How to protect yourself from thieves this holiday season On Cyber Monday, Americans spent $13 billion, which will translate into many packages on doorsteps this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Bishop Verot QB Carter Smith signs with Wisconsin Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith signs to play college football for the Wisconsin Badgers on early Signing Day.
WINK NEWS SWFL stars ink with Power 4 programs during Early Signing Period Several Southwest Florida football standouts are taking their talents to the Power 4 gridirons after signing during the Early Signing Period.
Beloved Charlotte County man killed outside home, investigation ongoing A man loved by his peers and his community was taken away from them in the middle of the night at his own home.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Lani Kai Resort reopens on Fort Myers Beach An iconic spot on Fort Myers Beach is back open and taking reservations for the first time since Hurricane Ian.
WINK NEWS Citizens Property Insurance depopulation program This is a sign our insurance crisis in Florida is recovering. Citizens, designed to be Floridian’s last resort insurer, is shrinking.
WINK NEWS Warmer temperatures build in for your Thursday plans The Weather Authority is tracking increased temperatures. Thursday is in the 50s, and the warming trend is continuing into the weekend.
WINK NEWS Smoke from prescribed burns this Thursday The Weather Authority is tracking smoke in the air Thursday morning. If you notice smoke, it’s likely from recent prescribed burns.
LEHIGH ACRES Firefighters break open submerged car in Lehigh Acres Firefighters break open a submerged car and appear to rescue someone stuck inside in Lehigh Acres overnight.
FORT MYERS Stem donor meets recipient at Florida Gulf Coast University An FGCU student is giving the gift of life this holiday season. FGCU senior Zoe Horowitz met the person who received her stem cell donation.
PORT CHARLOTTE CCSO ‘Shop with a Cop’ event spreads holiday cheer Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies spent time helping kids pick out gifts for their families during the annual Shop with a Cop event.
CLEWISTON Caught on camera: Explosion in hotel parking lot in Clewiston There was an explosion in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Clewiston on Wednesday.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda leaders outline plans for Gilchrist Park repairs Gilchrist Park is closed, and Punta Gorda city leaders have been discussing possibly restoring the park.
NORTH NAPLES Airman surprises 6-year-old daughter at school for the holidays after ten months of service in Kuwait After almost a year of service in Kuwait, one airman came home for the holidays and surprised his daughter.
FORT MYERS Breaking down the Lee County Sheriff’s Office budget The Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Carmine Marceno have been under scrutiny since a federal investigation on potential money laundering began. Many have questioned LCSO’s spending, so we broke down the budget.
How to protect yourself from thieves this holiday season On Cyber Monday, Americans spent $13 billion, which will translate into many packages on doorsteps this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Bishop Verot QB Carter Smith signs with Wisconsin Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith signs to play college football for the Wisconsin Badgers on early Signing Day.
WINK NEWS SWFL stars ink with Power 4 programs during Early Signing Period Several Southwest Florida football standouts are taking their talents to the Power 4 gridirons after signing during the Early Signing Period.
Beloved Charlotte County man killed outside home, investigation ongoing A man loved by his peers and his community was taken away from them in the middle of the night at his own home.
FORT MYERS BEACH The Lani Kai Resort reopens on Fort Myers Beach An iconic spot on Fort Myers Beach is back open and taking reservations for the first time since Hurricane Ian.
The Uvalde school district has fired police chief Pete Arredondo under mounting pressure in the grieving Texas town to punish officers over the law enforcement response to the deadly elementary school massacre in which a man armed with an AR-15-style rifle remained in a fourth-grade classroom for more than an hour, killing 19 children and two teachers. In a unanimous vote Wednesday evening, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s board of trustees fired Arredondo during a meeting also attended by parents and survivors of the May 24 massacre. Arredondo, who was not present, is the first officer to lose his job following one of the deadliest classroom shootings in U.S. history. His ouster came three months to the day after the tragedy and less than two weeks before students return to school in Uvalde, where some children are still too scared or scarred to go back inside a classroom. The crowd cheered following the vote, and some parents walked away in tears. Outside, several Uvalde residents called for other officers to be held accountable. “Coward!” some in the audience yelled as the meeting began. Arredondo, who has been on leave from the district since June 22, has come under the most intense scrutiny of the nearly 400 officers who rushed to school but waited more than 70 minutes to confront the 18-year-old gunman in the fourth-grade classroom at Robb Elementary School. Most notably, Arredondo was criticized for not ordering officers to act sooner. Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has said Arredondo was in charge of the law enforcement response to the attack. Minutes before the school board meeting got underway, Arredondo’s attorney released a scathing 4,500-word letter that amounted to the police chief’s fullest defense to date of his actions. Over 17 defiant pages, Arredondo was described not as a fumbling chief blamed in a damning state investigation for not taking command and wasting time searching for keys to a likely unlocked door, but instead as a brave officer whose level-headed decisions saved the lives of other students. It alleges that Arredondo warned the district about various security issues in the schools a year before the shooting and asserted he wasn’t in charge of the scene. The letter also accused Uvalde school officials of putting his safety at risk by not allowing him to carry a weapon to the school board meeting, citing “legitimate risks of harm to the public and to Chief Arredondo.” “Chief Arredondo is a leader and a courageous officer who with all of the other law enforcement officers who responded to the scene, should be celebrated for the lives saved, instead of vilified for those they couldn’t reach in time,” George Hyde wrote. Hyde’s office has not responded to a request for comment. Uvalde school officials have been under increasing pressure from victims’ families and community members, who had called for Arredondo to be fired. Superintendent Hal Harrell first moved to fire Arredondo in July but postponed the decision at the request of Arredondo’s attorney. At the meeting was Ruben Torres, father of Chloe Torres, who survived the shooting in room 112 of the school. “Right now, being young, she is having a hard time handling this horrific event,” Torres said. Shirley Zamora, the mother of a student at Robb Elementary, said accountability shouldn’t end with Arredondo’s dismissal. “This is just going to be the beginning. It’s a long process,” she said. Mariano Pargas, who was the acting police chief in Uvalde on the day of the massacre, is the only other officer known to have been placed on leave, though not fired, for their actions during the shooting. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which had more than 90 state troopers at the scene, is conducting an investigation into the response by state police. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat who represents Uvalde, said McCraw, the state police chief, also deserves scrutiny. “You fail at something so badly that people are getting hurt, then certainly we have to have some greater accountability,” he said. School officials have said the Robb Elementary campus will no longer be used when students return Sept 6. Instead, campuses elsewhere in Uvalde will serve as temporary classrooms for elementary school students, not all of whom are willing to return to school in person following the shooting. School officials say a virtual academy will be offered for students. The district has not said how many students will attend virtually, but a new state law passed last year in Texas following the pandemic limits the number of eligible students receiving remote instruction to “10% of all enrolled students within a given school system.” Schools can seek a waiver to exceed the limit but Uvalde has not done so, according to the Texas Education Agency. New measures to improve school safety in Uvalde include “8-foot, non-scalable perimeter fencing” at elementary, middle and high school campuses, according to the school district. Officials say they have also installed additional security cameras, upgraded locks, enhanced training for district staff and improving communication. ___ Associated Press writer Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.