Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior nightPolice: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
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.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
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.
No two storms are ever the same, but the emotions evoked can hurt in all the same ways. Hurricane Ian barreled ashore in Southwest Florida as a dangerous, high-end Category 4 storm. Six months later, we’ve come a long way. WINK News Reporter Gail Levy worked as a reporter in Panama City when Hurricane Michael made landfall in 2018, and she traveled back there to get a snapshot of recovery. Ryan Michaels, a meteorologist at WJHG, helped guide the community as they watched Michael make its way through the Gulf of Mexico, “An unprecedented storm system heading towards the panhandle, something we’ve never seen before, Category 4.” Gail Levy worked alongside him then, reporting from the field, “Hurricane Michael hasn’t hit quite yet, but we’re already feeling some of the effects in Franklin County.” That was October 10, 2018, the day Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach. Originally labeled a Category 4 storm, it was later upgraded to a Category 5. On September 28, 2022, Gail once again reported from the field. This time, as Hurricane Ian impacted Southwest Florida, “You can see the trees really blowing around and those sheets of rain just really coming down.” What we saw in the panhandle was different than what we saw and heard here, but what happened in 2018 gave us here in Southwest Florida a little more perspective on what was to come. WJHG had to get creative to keep the community informed, “We have limited function in our control room, so this is how we have to show videos to you.” The station was knocked off the air after a piece of the roof lifted off the building. WINK News went off the air after water flooded the station. Just like many people experienced, communication became a challenge. Donna Bell, Gail’s former boss, was the News Director at WJHG then and now. She knows the struggle of making a simple phone call, “It was really hard not having any cell phone service. Because Verizon went down, we didn’t have our Verizon phones, which all of our news phones were, for 10 days. That was terrifying as a news director. It was terrifying because I had no way to get in touch with you for a very long time.” After Michael, Gail and her photojournalist knew they couldn’t get back to the station from their location in Franklin County. They were located just east of ground zero for Michael. Most of the seaside roads back to Panama City were broken up, similar to how we saw the bridges to Sanibel and Pine Island wash away during Hurricane Ian. One major difference between the two monstrous storms is the physical roadblocks. In the panhandle, there were limited alternative routes because of too many down trees. During Ian, there were boats in the middle of the roads. We couldn’t even tell you what Sanibel looked like in the hours after Ian because we couldn’t get there – unless it was by boat. The one place we could get to on foot was Fort Myers Beach. The silver lining after both storms comes from the reunions and the togetherness we all feel and the strength of our community to rebuild stronger and better together. Nearly five years after Hurricane Michael, panhandle officials said the area is about 50% recovered. Six months after Hurricane Ian, a majority of the debris is gone, a majority of Downtown Fort Myers is open, and rebuilding is underway.