‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidationHomeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
GOLDEN GATE Collier commissioners approve agreement for golf complex in Golden Gate Collier commissioners unanimously approved a long term lease and operating agreement to reopen the Golden Gate golf course Tuesday.
PUNTA GORDA Motorcyclists ride in SWFL to help veterans battle suicide A group of veterans from the American Legion are grabbing their helmets and boots for a motorcycle ride to bring awareness to the staggering rates of suicide among veterans.
SARASOTA Alleged sexual abuse victims of Port Charlotte priest comes forward Father Riley worked at three churches in Charlotte County and another in Naples. On Friday, new allegations emerged from a news conference in Sarasota.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte priest accused of sexual abuse appears in court A priest accused of sexually abusing four altar boys in Iowa nearly 40 years ago returned to Charlotte County court.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema prepares for opening at Mercato The newest movie theater in Southwest Florida opens April 29, and it does so with an array of entertainment offerings that go beyond the usual options across the region.
Let’s Waffle opens in Cape Coral Let’s Waffle is one of two businesses the Feix family launched locally, with the FMS Florida Boat Tours and Limousine Service owned and operated by Feix’s husband, Alexander.
Planned Punta Gorda hotel, pub, brewery faces construction delay Kevin Doyle, owner of Celtic Ray Public House Irish pub in downtown Punta Gorda, and his partner, S4 Global Investments, were found in violation of the city’s exposed soils code.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
GOLDEN GATE Collier commissioners approve agreement for golf complex in Golden Gate Collier commissioners unanimously approved a long term lease and operating agreement to reopen the Golden Gate golf course Tuesday.
PUNTA GORDA Motorcyclists ride in SWFL to help veterans battle suicide A group of veterans from the American Legion are grabbing their helmets and boots for a motorcycle ride to bring awareness to the staggering rates of suicide among veterans.
SARASOTA Alleged sexual abuse victims of Port Charlotte priest comes forward Father Riley worked at three churches in Charlotte County and another in Naples. On Friday, new allegations emerged from a news conference in Sarasota.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte priest accused of sexual abuse appears in court A priest accused of sexually abusing four altar boys in Iowa nearly 40 years ago returned to Charlotte County court.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema prepares for opening at Mercato The newest movie theater in Southwest Florida opens April 29, and it does so with an array of entertainment offerings that go beyond the usual options across the region.
Let’s Waffle opens in Cape Coral Let’s Waffle is one of two businesses the Feix family launched locally, with the FMS Florida Boat Tours and Limousine Service owned and operated by Feix’s husband, Alexander.
Planned Punta Gorda hotel, pub, brewery faces construction delay Kevin Doyle, owner of Celtic Ray Public House Irish pub in downtown Punta Gorda, and his partner, S4 Global Investments, were found in violation of the city’s exposed soils code.
240 Ledge. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) A week-long voyage in the Gulf of Mexico has come to an end. Scientists aboard the Hogarth research vessel traveled south from St. Pete to Collier County to study Hurricane Ian’s impact on the Gulf. “Every time I went there, this was one of my favorite places to go dive in Southwest Florida,” said Cole Tillman, a marine science student in the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. “I was always excited to come out here.” There is a reef approximately 25 miles off Fort Myers Beach in the Gulf of Mexico called 240 Ledge. Tillman has dove this reef nearly two dozen times. 240 Ledge. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) “It was this really lush reef. It had a great abundance of soft corals, hard corals,” said Tillman. Dr. James Douglass, an associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU, provided shared photos of 240 Ledge from before Hurricane Ian. It is one of many areas he’s studied. 240 Ledge before Hurricane Ian. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) “One of the reasons that we’re monitoring the sea bottom life is we want to see how it changes when there’s a disturbance like a red tide or, in this case, a hurricane happened to happen in the middle of our study, so we’re really interested to see how that affected the life,” said Douglass. 240 Ledge after Hurricane Ian. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) The life, as you can see from the photo above, taken by Douglass three weeks after Ian hit, is hurting. “There were just a few survivors from among that diverse community that was there before peaking their heads out of the muck,” Douglass said. “I was excited to be able to go down there since we were worried about the conditions before, but I wasn’t too excited about what we saw. It was very beat up down there, it almost looked like the moon.” A thick layer of clay-like mud now smothers the sea floor. Hard corals at 240 Ledge were completely wiped away. “One of the strangest things down there was this ledge that the site is named after was almost gone because the mud had filled in on the other side of the ledge,” said Douglass. They did spot a few fish down there, a positive sign, but a lot of native species were gone. That absence has allowed invasive species like the lionfish to move in. Invasive Lionfish on 240 Ledge. (Credit: Dr. James Douglass, associate professor of marine science at the Water School at FGCU) “It’s going to take mother nature a long time to rebuild. I don’t know how long. That’s what we’re trying to find out, actually. Could be decades, could be years, I don’t know,” said Tillman. “What we hope is in the meantime we don’t get any further after effects to the storm like algae blooms because if we have this physical disturbance of the waves and the burial in mud and then we have algae blooms afterwards that can really be a knockout punch for the life down there,” Douglass said. If the water quality improves, it could help chart the path toward recovery.