Disease affecting avocado growth impacts Florida farmersFire creates plumes of smoke seen in North Fort Myers
WINK NEWS Disease affecting avocado growth impacts Florida farmers The citrus industry has suffered due to Greening Disease, and now the avocado industry is experiencing issues of its own.
NORTH FORT MYERS Fire creates plumes of smoke seen in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is responding to a fire that occurred on Bogart Drive in North Fort Myers.
The Weather Authority Wet morning with scattered rain through the afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a wet Thursday morning with scattered rain throughout the afternoon before drying out for the evening.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral approves grant funding for Utilities Extension Project The City of Cape Coral voted unanimously to provide $25 million in funding for the Utilities Extension Project.
downtown fort myers The downtown Fort Myers post office is set to reopen Monday The long-awaited return of the downtown Fort Myers post office is soon to be over, as the location is expected to reopen on Monday.
NAPLES Naples-based fashion designer supports teen who was denied entrance to prom Sophie Savidge is getting some swanky bow ties from Naples-based fashion designer Peter Jean-Marie.
FORT MYERS BEACH Staying safe against rip currents Mother Nature is throwing us for a loop. Right now, most of our beaches are at high risk for rip currents.
FORT MYERS Football officials work to keep the ‘Friday’ in Friday night lights Whether you think they are making good calls or bad ones, without officials there would be no Friday night lights.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE Army Corps prepares Lake Okeechobee ahead of ‘extremely active’ hurricane season This year, we had an abnormally wet dry season. The lake rose when it should have been receding.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man charged with felony after allegedly backing into Publix employee A man on a grocery store run turned into a hit-and-run victim after he allegedly backed onto a Publix employee, according to the arrest report.
FORT MYERS Avoiding the “Summer Slide”: How to keep students engaged during the summer Every kid looks forward to summer, but they also face the “Summer Slide”, a term for students who aren’t mentally engaged over the summer.
NAPLES Details: Judge Judy files defamation suit against National Enquirer parent company Television personality Judge Judy Sheindlin, a resident of Collier County, filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against Accelerate360 and A360 Media LLC, the parent companies of the National Enquirer and InTouch Weekly.
CAPE CORAL Exclusive video shows why family of 13-year-old hit and killed in Cape Coral is filing civil rights complaint In a newly released exclusive video sent to WINK news, you can see the moments before a 13-year-old was fatally struck while riding his electric scooter in Cape Coral.
Tackling the teacher shortage in Lee County Are your kids losing out on the value of going to school because of inconsistency in who their teachers are?
6 bus crash victims identified; Immokalee community mourns loss Eight Mexican migrant farmworkers’ lives were cut short in an instant during a bus crash in Central Florida, and now we know who at least six of them were.
WINK NEWS Disease affecting avocado growth impacts Florida farmers The citrus industry has suffered due to Greening Disease, and now the avocado industry is experiencing issues of its own.
NORTH FORT MYERS Fire creates plumes of smoke seen in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is responding to a fire that occurred on Bogart Drive in North Fort Myers.
The Weather Authority Wet morning with scattered rain through the afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a wet Thursday morning with scattered rain throughout the afternoon before drying out for the evening.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral approves grant funding for Utilities Extension Project The City of Cape Coral voted unanimously to provide $25 million in funding for the Utilities Extension Project.
downtown fort myers The downtown Fort Myers post office is set to reopen Monday The long-awaited return of the downtown Fort Myers post office is soon to be over, as the location is expected to reopen on Monday.
NAPLES Naples-based fashion designer supports teen who was denied entrance to prom Sophie Savidge is getting some swanky bow ties from Naples-based fashion designer Peter Jean-Marie.
FORT MYERS BEACH Staying safe against rip currents Mother Nature is throwing us for a loop. Right now, most of our beaches are at high risk for rip currents.
FORT MYERS Football officials work to keep the ‘Friday’ in Friday night lights Whether you think they are making good calls or bad ones, without officials there would be no Friday night lights.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE Army Corps prepares Lake Okeechobee ahead of ‘extremely active’ hurricane season This year, we had an abnormally wet dry season. The lake rose when it should have been receding.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man charged with felony after allegedly backing into Publix employee A man on a grocery store run turned into a hit-and-run victim after he allegedly backed onto a Publix employee, according to the arrest report.
FORT MYERS Avoiding the “Summer Slide”: How to keep students engaged during the summer Every kid looks forward to summer, but they also face the “Summer Slide”, a term for students who aren’t mentally engaged over the summer.
NAPLES Details: Judge Judy files defamation suit against National Enquirer parent company Television personality Judge Judy Sheindlin, a resident of Collier County, filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against Accelerate360 and A360 Media LLC, the parent companies of the National Enquirer and InTouch Weekly.
CAPE CORAL Exclusive video shows why family of 13-year-old hit and killed in Cape Coral is filing civil rights complaint In a newly released exclusive video sent to WINK news, you can see the moments before a 13-year-old was fatally struck while riding his electric scooter in Cape Coral.
Tackling the teacher shortage in Lee County Are your kids losing out on the value of going to school because of inconsistency in who their teachers are?
6 bus crash victims identified; Immokalee community mourns loss Eight Mexican migrant farmworkers’ lives were cut short in an instant during a bus crash in Central Florida, and now we know who at least six of them were.
WINK News has spoken with many Cape Coral residents to address some pressing questions surrounding bubble curtains, which are aimed at reducing algae entering our canal system from the Caloosahatchee River. Are they effective? How are damaged ones being fixed? Additionally, who bears the financial responsibility for these tools? According to a Cape Coral representative, since 2021, the city has encumbered $864,364.66 on this effort. The actual expenditures to date are $637,365.28, with an unspent balance of $226,999.38 in various purchase orders. The cost per bubble curtain is approximately $70,000, and they are funded through the Stormwater Restricted Fund. Taxpayers that own property in Cape Coral pay stormwater fees through the annual tax bill issued by Leepa. Ultimately, taxpayer dollars are being used to help keep the canals clean. However, not everyone is on board with the current methods. Former Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani made his opinions very clear. “My experience with these subsurface diffusers or bubble curtains is that they have some application for dispersing and breaking up algae in a small pond,” Cassani said. “But they’re not as much use in a tidal canal or where water is moving in and out on a daily basis.” Cassani also believes city officials need to take another look at their plan. “I think the bubble curtains being used in the way the city’s using them is pretty much worthless,” Cassani said. “I think it’s so ineffective, that it’s almost funny…if the city was spending as much money on pollutant or nutrient reduction programs as they are on bubble curtains, then I think maybe we’d see a little more effectiveness from that kind of expenditure of public funds.” Cape Coral officials disagree, and told WINK News earlier this week the curtains are working correctly. A representative provided us with this statement: “The City has to follow strict Army Corps of Engineers protocols, so the bubble curtains are turned on five hours before high tide and turned off one hour after high tide. This allows the tide to flush out any algae.” WINK News also found out that Cape Coral is looking at installing more curtains south of Cape Coral Parkway; however, these locations will need additional permitting.