Families visit Santa’s Village in Port Charlotte for ChristmasCape Coral Animal Shelter volunteers distribute gifts to cats and dogs
PORT CHARLOTTE Families visit Santa’s Village in Port Charlotte for Christmas The holiday magic is in full swing at Santa’s Village. There are holiday lights, food, and plenty of families making some holiday memories
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Animal Shelter volunteers distribute gifts to cats and dogs Christmas is meant to be merry, but for dogs and cats waiting for their forever homes it can be anything but.
NAPLES Dozens volunteer to feed over 500 people at St. Matthew’s House The St. Matthews House fed nearly 500 people hot and traditional holiday meals at their Naples shelter on Wednesday.
CAPE CORAL Project Siren; Cape Coral chaplain praying for first responders The sound of sirens, life and death hang in the balance. A cape coral chaplain bows his head and says a prayer.
FORT MYERS Residents celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas on the same day Hanukkah begins Wednesday with the lighting of the first candle. Each night, another candle will be lit until all eight shine bright.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood residents still recovering from hurricanes on Christmas Neighbors on Lemon Bay Drive in Englewood said their homes had never seen a drop of a water from a hurricane until 2024.
FORT MYERS Dr. Piper Center hosts annual Christmas Celebration Dozens of children are enjoying new bicycles on Christmas day thanks to the generosity of the Dr. Piper Center.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Most Wanted Wednesday: Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for December 25, 2024 This weekly Most Wanted Wednesday WINK News segment features fugitives from justice in Southwest Florida.
Spending the holidays with first responders For most of us, Christmas is about spending time with family, but one group is making sure our families are staying safe.
More clouds and a few showers for your Christmas Day plans The Weather Authority is tracking more clouds on Christmas day than we saw on Christmas Eve and the chance for a few showers.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Adoptive family spends first Christmas together Family come in all shapes and sizes but all share one common thing, their love for each other. One southwest Florida woman couldn’t have kids, so she built her family through adoption and fostering.
PUNTA GORDA Man accused of shooting man at Punta Gorda motel A man has been arrested after allegedly shooting another man during a physical dispute at a Punta Gorda motel.
What’s open and closed on Christmas Day in SWFL On Christmas Day, many businesses and services are closed, including most retail stores, offices, and government buildings.
NAPLES Celebrating Christmas Eve with the Magic of Lights Across southwest Florida, people have been feeling the Christmas spirit. In Collier County, families at the Magic of Lights experience counted down the minutes to Santa’s arrival in awe of the spectacular display.
FORT MYERS BEACH Beachgoers enjoy Fort Myers Beach on Christmas Eve Whether you’re a full-time Floridian, a snowbird or just vacationing here for Christmas, it was a great day to go to the beach.
PORT CHARLOTTE Families visit Santa’s Village in Port Charlotte for Christmas The holiday magic is in full swing at Santa’s Village. There are holiday lights, food, and plenty of families making some holiday memories
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Animal Shelter volunteers distribute gifts to cats and dogs Christmas is meant to be merry, but for dogs and cats waiting for their forever homes it can be anything but.
NAPLES Dozens volunteer to feed over 500 people at St. Matthew’s House The St. Matthews House fed nearly 500 people hot and traditional holiday meals at their Naples shelter on Wednesday.
CAPE CORAL Project Siren; Cape Coral chaplain praying for first responders The sound of sirens, life and death hang in the balance. A cape coral chaplain bows his head and says a prayer.
FORT MYERS Residents celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas on the same day Hanukkah begins Wednesday with the lighting of the first candle. Each night, another candle will be lit until all eight shine bright.
ENGLEWOOD Englewood residents still recovering from hurricanes on Christmas Neighbors on Lemon Bay Drive in Englewood said their homes had never seen a drop of a water from a hurricane until 2024.
FORT MYERS Dr. Piper Center hosts annual Christmas Celebration Dozens of children are enjoying new bicycles on Christmas day thanks to the generosity of the Dr. Piper Center.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Most Wanted Wednesday: Southwest Florida’s most wanted suspects for December 25, 2024 This weekly Most Wanted Wednesday WINK News segment features fugitives from justice in Southwest Florida.
Spending the holidays with first responders For most of us, Christmas is about spending time with family, but one group is making sure our families are staying safe.
More clouds and a few showers for your Christmas Day plans The Weather Authority is tracking more clouds on Christmas day than we saw on Christmas Eve and the chance for a few showers.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Adoptive family spends first Christmas together Family come in all shapes and sizes but all share one common thing, their love for each other. One southwest Florida woman couldn’t have kids, so she built her family through adoption and fostering.
PUNTA GORDA Man accused of shooting man at Punta Gorda motel A man has been arrested after allegedly shooting another man during a physical dispute at a Punta Gorda motel.
What’s open and closed on Christmas Day in SWFL On Christmas Day, many businesses and services are closed, including most retail stores, offices, and government buildings.
NAPLES Celebrating Christmas Eve with the Magic of Lights Across southwest Florida, people have been feeling the Christmas spirit. In Collier County, families at the Magic of Lights experience counted down the minutes to Santa’s arrival in awe of the spectacular display.
FORT MYERS BEACH Beachgoers enjoy Fort Myers Beach on Christmas Eve Whether you’re a full-time Floridian, a snowbird or just vacationing here for Christmas, it was a great day to go to the beach.
Red tide research. (Credit: WINK News) Red tide has been detected off Southwest Florida’s coastline. Low concentrations were found off Lee County, with a high concentration off Charlotte’s coast. From sunrise to sundown, researchers from Florida Gulf Coast University and the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation focus on the water. They want to know how Ian stirred up the Gulf of Mexico. “We’re collecting water samples and particulate samples to try and better understand the effects of this hurricane on the nearshore Gulf of Mexico. It was such a large event that the effects are seen from Tampa all the way to Naples,” said Eric Milbrandt, director of the SCCF marine lab. Researchers spent seven days at sea and sampled more than 40 sites using a CTD rosette device. CTD rosette. (Credit: WINK News) “The rosette part itself just collects water. The CTD is conductivity, temperature, depth. That’s what the CTD stands for. So there’s some other sensors so it will test for chlorophyll A and some other water quality sensor that are really important for algal blooms to see what’s detected in the water,” said Susannah Cogburn, a marine science student in the Water School at FGCU. The CDT grabs water from various depths because conditions on the surface aren’t the same as on the seafloor. The visibility in the water even changed from location to location. Differences in water visibility at two testing locations. (Credit: WINK News) Everyone working on the research vessel had a different focus. “I primarily do a lot of work with harmful algal blooms as well as different types of marine chemistry. So I do a lot of like work with ocean acidification and do a lot of like the actual physical extractions, from our sediment that we get to see if there’s any brevetoxin, which is a toxin produced from red tide,” said Cogburn. FGCU student Gavin Costello tests for chlorophyll A, an indicator of phytoplankton. The explosive population growth of phytoplankton causes red tides. He measures DNA to confirm its presence and how abundant it is. RELATED: Scientists studying impacts of Hurricane Ian on sea life in the Gulf of Mexico Marlin Smith looks at contaminants and pollutants in the water to trace where water is coming from. “What we’re doing is we’re filtering all of the seawater onto these manganese fibers,” said Smith. Smith also examines sediment. All of these environmental parameters can be used in predicting future algal blooms. While all this testing took place on board the Hogarth research vessel in the Gulf, scientists and researchers had to take their samples back to the lab to get more definitive answers.