Paul Fleming expanding Lake Park Diner, PJK restaurant conceptsNew construction, business growth continues near Punta Gorda Airport
Paul Fleming expanding Lake Park Diner, PJK restaurant concepts Lake Park Diner co-owners Smith Organics and Paul Fleming Restaurant Group anticipate 50 locations of what will be a Naples-based chain.
New construction, business growth continues near Punta Gorda Airport Development surrounding the Punta Gorda Airport continues to grow with 2.5 million square feet already developed and 1.5 million square feet planned, according to Charlotte County Economic Development Director Dave Gammon.
AREA SHELTERS AND REFUGES OF LAST RESORT CHARLOTTE COUNTY Emergency Operations Center (941) 833-4000 charlottecountyfl.gov/departments/public-safety/emergency-management/ PLEASE NOTE: Do not depend on a particular shelter or refuge. Sites may, or may not, be opened depending on the size of the storm and the predicted landfall area. *All Charlotte County shelters are pet-friendly. PORT CHARLOTTE Harold Avenue Regional Park Recreation Center, 23400 Harold Ave. […]
After the Storm Though the storm may have passed, many dangers can remain in its wake. During this clean-up and repair period, your primary focus should be on keeping yourself safe, as well as ensuring that your family, friends, neighbors and emergency workers also remain safe.
SOUTH FORT MYERS Precautionary boil water notice lifted in South Fort Myers A three-day-long precautionary boil water notice impacting hundreds of people in South Fort Myers has been lifted.
FLORIDA Study lists Florida as deadliest state for cyclists Cyclists in Florida are in more danger than in any other state, amassing nearly 50 more deadly crashes involving a cyclist than the second-highest rated state of California, a new study revealed.
FORT MYERS Challenger Boulevard closures for roundabout construction work in Fort Myers Beginning Monday, City of Fort Myers contractors will close Challenger Boulevard west of Winkler Avenue to construct a roundabout.
Collier County seeks workforce housing proposals Collier County is seeking developers’ proposals for multifamily developments with affordable and workforce housing that can be considered for local and state funding.
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Charlie, Taz Man For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
ALVA Blue-green algae health alert lifted at Alva Boat Ramp Authorities are lifting the health alert for blue-green algae in the Caloosahatchee River near the Avla Boat Ramp.
PORT CHARLOTTE Man tased at Charlotte High graduation after causing disturbance A man was stunned with a Taser and arrested after allegedly disrupting a graduation for Charlotte High School.
Lehigh Acres gunman who tried to break into home still on the run An unidentified gunman remains on the run following a shooting Wednesday at the Jim Fleming Ecological Park in Lehigh Acres.
the weather authority Feeling hotter for your Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a hot Friday, with “feels like” temperatures ranging from 100° to 105° for most of Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS Multiple crews combat commercial building fire in Collier County Multiple fire crews are responding to a single-story structure fire in Naples.
Paul Fleming expanding Lake Park Diner, PJK restaurant concepts Lake Park Diner co-owners Smith Organics and Paul Fleming Restaurant Group anticipate 50 locations of what will be a Naples-based chain.
New construction, business growth continues near Punta Gorda Airport Development surrounding the Punta Gorda Airport continues to grow with 2.5 million square feet already developed and 1.5 million square feet planned, according to Charlotte County Economic Development Director Dave Gammon.
AREA SHELTERS AND REFUGES OF LAST RESORT CHARLOTTE COUNTY Emergency Operations Center (941) 833-4000 charlottecountyfl.gov/departments/public-safety/emergency-management/ PLEASE NOTE: Do not depend on a particular shelter or refuge. Sites may, or may not, be opened depending on the size of the storm and the predicted landfall area. *All Charlotte County shelters are pet-friendly. PORT CHARLOTTE Harold Avenue Regional Park Recreation Center, 23400 Harold Ave. […]
After the Storm Though the storm may have passed, many dangers can remain in its wake. During this clean-up and repair period, your primary focus should be on keeping yourself safe, as well as ensuring that your family, friends, neighbors and emergency workers also remain safe.
SOUTH FORT MYERS Precautionary boil water notice lifted in South Fort Myers A three-day-long precautionary boil water notice impacting hundreds of people in South Fort Myers has been lifted.
FLORIDA Study lists Florida as deadliest state for cyclists Cyclists in Florida are in more danger than in any other state, amassing nearly 50 more deadly crashes involving a cyclist than the second-highest rated state of California, a new study revealed.
FORT MYERS Challenger Boulevard closures for roundabout construction work in Fort Myers Beginning Monday, City of Fort Myers contractors will close Challenger Boulevard west of Winkler Avenue to construct a roundabout.
Collier County seeks workforce housing proposals Collier County is seeking developers’ proposals for multifamily developments with affordable and workforce housing that can be considered for local and state funding.
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Charlie, Taz Man For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
ALVA Blue-green algae health alert lifted at Alva Boat Ramp Authorities are lifting the health alert for blue-green algae in the Caloosahatchee River near the Avla Boat Ramp.
PORT CHARLOTTE Man tased at Charlotte High graduation after causing disturbance A man was stunned with a Taser and arrested after allegedly disrupting a graduation for Charlotte High School.
Lehigh Acres gunman who tried to break into home still on the run An unidentified gunman remains on the run following a shooting Wednesday at the Jim Fleming Ecological Park in Lehigh Acres.
the weather authority Feeling hotter for your Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a hot Friday, with “feels like” temperatures ranging from 100° to 105° for most of Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS Multiple crews combat commercial building fire in Collier County Multiple fire crews are responding to a single-story structure fire in Naples.
Beachgoers wade in the ocean at Crandon Park, Friday, July 28, 2023 in Key Biscayne, Fla. Humans naturally look to water for a chance to refresh, but when water temperatures get too high, some of the appeal is lost. (AP Photo/ Rebecca Blackwell) In the sweltering summer heat, nobody tries to cool off by jumping into a hot tub. In parts of Florida, however, that’s what the ocean has felt like. Earlier this week, sea surface temperatures reached as high as 101.2 degrees Fahrenheit (38.4 degrees Celsius) around the state’s southern tip in Manatee Bay, according to the National Weather Service — although scientists said the context for Monday’s reading is complicated. “It was like there was no difference between humidity of the air and going into the water,” said Chelsea Ward of Fort Myers, Florida. Triple-digit ocean temperatures are stunning even in Florida, where residents are used to the heat and where many retirees find refuge from cold, northern winters. Several other nearby spots reached the mid-90s (about 35 Celsius). A storm finally came through on Wednesday, helping water temperatures drop back down in to the more temperate 80s (about 29 Celsius). Humans naturally look to water for a chance to refresh. Every summer, millions grab their swimsuits for a day on the beach and a chance to cool off in the water — a break from everyday work and worry. Pools offer the same relief and a place for friends to gather. But when water temperatures get too high, some of the appeal is lost. Ward, 47, doesn’t keep her beach bag in her car anymore even though she lives minutes away from the beach in Fort Myers. Lately, the water is just too hot. On Sunday, when her friend asked if she wanted to go to the beach, the two decided against it after discovering the water temperature was around 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius). When it’s hot, the body cools down by sweating, which evaporates and releases heat. Dipping into the ocean is typically so refreshing because heat efficiently transfers from your body into the water. But as water temperatures climb, that effect diminishes and you lose less heat less quickly, according to Michael Mullins, a Washington University toxicologist and emergency medicine physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. A hot tub — or a stretch of ocean water hotter than body temperature — reverses the transfer of heat into your body. That’s not a pleasant experience on a sizzling, humid, Florida day. “It would feel,” Mullins said, “like you are swimming in soup.” People already tend not to swim that much in the Florida waters that were so extremely hot earlier this week. The water can get muddy and there are alligators and crocodiles in the area, too. But high temperatures anywhere can make swimming less pleasant. Through Friday, Phoenix endured highs above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) every day this month. Pools are warm. About 150 miles (240 kilometers) to the northwest in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, Stefanee Lynn Thompson, 50, wanted to keep guests cool for a pool party she hosted Sunday. The heat had raised the pool’s temperature to 96 degrees (36 Celsius). Her friend recommended she go buy ice blocks. She ran to the grocery store, picked up 40 of them and dumped them in the pool. She set up fans, too. All that hard work dropped the pool’s temperature a grand total of 4 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2 degrees Celsius). “When it’s 120 out, anything helps,” Thompson said. Recently, ocean temperatures off the western coast of Florida have been a few degrees above normal, sitting around 88 to 90 degrees (31-32 degrees Celsius). It’s not just humans that suffer when the oceans warm. Sea corals are bleaching. They can be hurt when water temperatures rise above the upper 80s (low 30 degrees Celsius). July has been so hot that scientists announced a global heat record even before the month ended. Climate change is creating a hotter world, warming oceans and making some storms more destructive. Sea surface temperatures are somewhat above average around Florida, but they are far higher in parts of the North Atlantic near Newfoundland where they are as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) hotter than usual. The extremely high sea surface temperatures recorded earlier this week off Florida’s southern tip were caused by lots of sun, little wind and no storms. “I’ve never seen temperatures 100 degrees in Florida Bay in the 21 years I’ve been in the Keys,” said Andy Devanas, science officer at the National Weather Service in Key West, Florida. And there are some questions about how representative Monday’s 101.2-degree reading in Manatee Bay were. Water there is shallow and thus heats up quickly. If there’s lots of sediment, that can raise temperatures, too, according to David Roth, a forecaster with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center. By contrast, stop by the YMCA pools on the North Shore of Massachusetts near Boston and you’ll descend into water that’s around 78 to 80 degrees (26 to 27 degrees Celsius). The ocean nearby is cooler, too. Sea surface temperatures off Cape Cod, for example, barely touched the mid-70s (about 24 degrees Celsius) this week. When Maria Argueta, 38, has time off from her job at an open-air decorative plant nursery in Homestead, Florida, she’ll go with her family to swim. “This year, the heat is stronger,” she said. The hot ocean water doesn’t bother her, but sometimes she takes her 2-year-old son and other members of the family to the Venetian Pool, a public facility in Coral Gables fed by water from an aquifer that’s always in the 70s. The very cool water, she said, is refreshing. Florida’s humid weather makes it harder for sweat to evaporate and cool the body down. People in south Florida know the ocean doesn’t tend to offer real relief from that suffocating heat. “You aren’t getting much cooling at all,” Roth said. “Nobody goes into the water in South Florida in the summer really except to swim, because it is comfortable to swim, but it is not refreshing.”