Feeling hotter for your Friday afternoonMultiple crews combat single-story structure fire in Collier County
the weather authority Feeling hotter for your Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a dry and mild Friday morning with temperatures climbing into the lower to mid-90s.
WINK NEWS Multiple crews combat single-story structure fire in Collier County Multiple fire crews are responding to a single-story structure fire in Naples.
New study may help Type-1 diabetics with their bionic pancreas More than 3 million Americans are diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes, and recent medical breakthroughs can help people manage their condition.
FORT MYERS Family and NAACP continue fighting for justice for Christopher Jordan The NAACP and Jordan’s family said this isn’t the end for them
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball players ready for NCAA Tournament debut FGCU softball players are ready to play in their first NCAA Tournament game against No. 4 Florida.
FORT MYERS Expert weighs in on ‘justified’ police shooting of Christopher Jordan We spoke with Dr. David Thomas – a forensic studies professor from FGCU and a former officer – who supports the idea of officer-involved shooting investigations going to a grand jury.
West Palm Beach 360-degree storm documentation: A closer look at Hurricane Ian’s aftermath At the Governor’s Conference exhibit hall, Dylan Faraone, Regional Director of Mosaic, showcased his work using a 360-degree camera mounted on his car to document the aftermath of major storms, including Hurricane Ian’s impact on southwest Florida.
GAINESVILLE FGCU catcher Neely Peterson returns to Gainesville for NCAA Tournament FGCU catcher Neely Peterson returns to Gainesville, where she fell in love with the sport again playing for Santa Fe College.
CAPE CORAL Do we need a federal gun database for mental illness? One family says yes One family is on a mission to create a new national gun database. It would require medical professionals to enter mental health information.
CAPE CORAL Suspect in custody after a North Fort Myers family loses everything in a fire Their investigation led them to the area of Hancock Bridge Parkway in Cape Coral. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a suspect from the Bogart Drive incident is in custody.
FORT MYERS Deadly motorcycle crash shuts down roads on Fowler and Winkler Ave. Fort Myers Police Department has confirmed that a motorcyclist has died in a crash on Fowler and Winkler Avenue on Thursday.
Sarasota How well does a diverging diamond really work? The Sarasota diverging diamond is located at Interstate 75 and University Parkway. It was put in to alleviate heavy traffic.
FORT MYERS RSW experiencing terminal expansion delay Lee County commissioners gave us an update on the RSW terminal expansion project, which is long overdue. Now we know why.
IMMOKALEE National Weather Service surveys storm damage in Immokalee The National Weather Service in Miami concluded after a survey the damage wasn’t from a tornado. It was from a downburst of straight-line wind between 60 – 70 mph.
SANIBEL Sanibel considering e-bike changes Biking is almost as common as driving on Sanibel, and the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee wants to keep that trend going.
the weather authority Feeling hotter for your Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a dry and mild Friday morning with temperatures climbing into the lower to mid-90s.
WINK NEWS Multiple crews combat single-story structure fire in Collier County Multiple fire crews are responding to a single-story structure fire in Naples.
New study may help Type-1 diabetics with their bionic pancreas More than 3 million Americans are diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes, and recent medical breakthroughs can help people manage their condition.
FORT MYERS Family and NAACP continue fighting for justice for Christopher Jordan The NAACP and Jordan’s family said this isn’t the end for them
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball players ready for NCAA Tournament debut FGCU softball players are ready to play in their first NCAA Tournament game against No. 4 Florida.
FORT MYERS Expert weighs in on ‘justified’ police shooting of Christopher Jordan We spoke with Dr. David Thomas – a forensic studies professor from FGCU and a former officer – who supports the idea of officer-involved shooting investigations going to a grand jury.
West Palm Beach 360-degree storm documentation: A closer look at Hurricane Ian’s aftermath At the Governor’s Conference exhibit hall, Dylan Faraone, Regional Director of Mosaic, showcased his work using a 360-degree camera mounted on his car to document the aftermath of major storms, including Hurricane Ian’s impact on southwest Florida.
GAINESVILLE FGCU catcher Neely Peterson returns to Gainesville for NCAA Tournament FGCU catcher Neely Peterson returns to Gainesville, where she fell in love with the sport again playing for Santa Fe College.
CAPE CORAL Do we need a federal gun database for mental illness? One family says yes One family is on a mission to create a new national gun database. It would require medical professionals to enter mental health information.
CAPE CORAL Suspect in custody after a North Fort Myers family loses everything in a fire Their investigation led them to the area of Hancock Bridge Parkway in Cape Coral. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a suspect from the Bogart Drive incident is in custody.
FORT MYERS Deadly motorcycle crash shuts down roads on Fowler and Winkler Ave. Fort Myers Police Department has confirmed that a motorcyclist has died in a crash on Fowler and Winkler Avenue on Thursday.
Sarasota How well does a diverging diamond really work? The Sarasota diverging diamond is located at Interstate 75 and University Parkway. It was put in to alleviate heavy traffic.
FORT MYERS RSW experiencing terminal expansion delay Lee County commissioners gave us an update on the RSW terminal expansion project, which is long overdue. Now we know why.
IMMOKALEE National Weather Service surveys storm damage in Immokalee The National Weather Service in Miami concluded after a survey the damage wasn’t from a tornado. It was from a downburst of straight-line wind between 60 – 70 mph.
SANIBEL Sanibel considering e-bike changes Biking is almost as common as driving on Sanibel, and the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee wants to keep that trend going.
Peaches Stergo, left, leaves Manhattan federal court, Thursday, July 27, 2023, in New York after she was sentenced to more than four years in prison for cheating an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor of $2.8 million. Stergo met him on a dating website seven years ago. Prosecutors say the 36-year-old Champions Gate, Florida, resident used the money to live lavishly. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister) A Florida woman who drained an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor’s life savings by posing as a love interest and then lived lavishly off the $2.8 million she got was sentenced Thursday to over four years in prison. Peaches Stergo, 36, of Champions Gate, Florida, was described by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos as “unspeakably cruel” and motivated by greed as he announced the sentence in Manhattan federal court. Given a chance to speak, Stergo said: “I’m sorry.” She pleaded guilty in April to wire fraud, admitting that she drained the life savings of a man she met on a dating website seven years ago. Stergo began asking the once-successful businessman for money in May 2017, claiming she needed money to pay a lawyer who was refusing to release the payout from a bogus injury settlement, prosecutors said. He paid her $25,000. Over the next four years, she used lies to coax the man to write 62 checks totaling over $2.8 million until he was broke, they added. She got him to send as much as $50,000 at a time as she told desperate lies and faked letters from a bank employee to back up her claims, prosecutors said. They said Stergo traveled to New York to visit the victim in his Manhattan apartment, falsely claiming she was a Florida nanny and her name was “Alice” and failing to reveal that she was in a long-term relationship with another man and had two children. As the victim lost his life savings and was forced to surrender his apartment, Stergo used his money to live a life of luxury, traveling on expensive trips to Europe and Las Vegas when she wasn’t living in her gated community or using her boat and numerous cars, including a Corvette and a Suburban, prosecutors said. They said she spent nearly all of the man’s money, including thousands of dollars for expensive meals, gold coins and bars, jewelry, Rolex watches and designer clothing. As part of her sentence, she faces a $2.8 restitution and forfeiture order. “Peaches Stergo callously defrauded an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was simply looking for companionship,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “But she did not get away with it. As today’s sentence demonstrates, perpetrators of romance scams will be held to account for their crimes.” Prosecutors said Stergo had mocked her victim when she told her real lover in a message that the victim had said he “loved” her. They said she followed that message with “lol.” And they said that when he ran out of money, she convinced him to sell his inventory of diamonds and borrow from others. Prosecutors did not identify the victim, but they said he suffers from cognitive decline, among other health issues, and is frail. In a letter to the judge, the victim, who was 6 when he lost both of his parents in the Holocaust and who moved to the United States in his early 20s, wrote: “As a Holocaust survivor, I have endured unspeakable pain and loss in my life, but never did I imagine that I would be subjected to such a heartless betrayal in my old age.” Stergo’s lawyer, Ann Marie Fitz, wrote in a sentencing submission that Stergo is a partner to her long-time boyfriend and mother to two teenage boys and that her boyfriend describes her as a great mother and a born-again Christian. “She is not the cold-hearted person the government and media have made her out to be,” the lawyer wrote. “There was a genuine, caring relationship that Ms. Stergo had with the victim in this case — she spent holidays with him, she took care of him when he was ill and, as the victim’s cousin described, she was ‘doting’ on him.”