Community rallies behind hate crime victims and cleans the homeFGCU community rallies to clean vandalized home after hate crime
CAPE CORAL Community rallies behind hate crime victims and cleans the home After Cape Coral homeowners fell victim to vandals who destroyed their home with racist and hateful slurs, the community is rallying together to get the home back to its original state. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday. RELATED: Cape Coral home vandalized; homeowner calls it a “hate crime” On Friday, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony […]
CAPE CORAL FGCU community rallies to clean vandalized home after hate crime The FGCU community rallied together to restore the house to its original state on Saturday after a hate crime.
FGCU volleyball wins fourth straight ASUN Tournament title The FGCU volleyball team beat Lipscomb in three sets to claim the program’s fourth straight ASUN Tournament title.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers community comes together for Thanksgiving turkey giveaway This time of year is especially stressful for people who are struggling financially. Adding all the holiday expenses on top of rent, food and basic necessities can leave people feeling anxious and off balance.
NORTH FORT MYERS LCSO: Shooting Investigation underway in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident in North Fort Myers on Saturday.
FORT MYERS Driver arrested after fleeing police, causing multi-car crash in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Police Department has arrested a man accused of causing a multi-car crash in Fort Myers.
Chilly morning and a cool Saturday afternoon with lots of sunshine The Weather Authority says the weekend is starting off nice and chilly, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Regional Semifinals It’s the regional semifinal round of high school football in Southwest Florida. Check out the scores and highlights.
FORT MYERS BEACH New information on why FEMA put Fort Myers Beach on probation FEMA was sure to lay it out in a letter. Out of the five points listed, three areas need work on Fort Myers Beach to re-apply for the flood insurance discount.
CAPE CORAL Exclusive: Cape Coral Police Chief speaks out on hate crime incident New exclusive surveillance video shows the moment a Cape Coral home is vandalized. The suspects painted racial slurs on the wall in red paint. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday.
CAPE CORAL New police precincts coming to Cape Coral The Cape Coral Police Department is adding new precincts around the city. The reason? Growth.
Vietnam veteran’s unique service animal companion When we think of service animals, dogs usually come to mind, but it’s not just dogs that help people navigate through their challenges.
NAPLES Gulfshore Life’s Men and Women of the Year award honoree: John Cooney It’s one thing to be philanthropic and help our community. It’s another to provide so much help and want absolutely nothing in return, not even your name mentioned.
FORT MYERS Dunbar High principal named Lee County Principal of the Year Carl Burnside was the last to find out Friday morning that he was selected as Lee County Schools Principal of the Year for 2025.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach businesses excited for increased season traffic Those on Fort Myers Beach are excited for the town to return to normal. Businesses are ready to accept snowbirds and residents again.
CAPE CORAL Community rallies behind hate crime victims and cleans the home After Cape Coral homeowners fell victim to vandals who destroyed their home with racist and hateful slurs, the community is rallying together to get the home back to its original state. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday. RELATED: Cape Coral home vandalized; homeowner calls it a “hate crime” On Friday, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony […]
CAPE CORAL FGCU community rallies to clean vandalized home after hate crime The FGCU community rallied together to restore the house to its original state on Saturday after a hate crime.
FGCU volleyball wins fourth straight ASUN Tournament title The FGCU volleyball team beat Lipscomb in three sets to claim the program’s fourth straight ASUN Tournament title.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers community comes together for Thanksgiving turkey giveaway This time of year is especially stressful for people who are struggling financially. Adding all the holiday expenses on top of rent, food and basic necessities can leave people feeling anxious and off balance.
NORTH FORT MYERS LCSO: Shooting Investigation underway in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident in North Fort Myers on Saturday.
FORT MYERS Driver arrested after fleeing police, causing multi-car crash in Fort Myers The Fort Myers Police Department has arrested a man accused of causing a multi-car crash in Fort Myers.
Chilly morning and a cool Saturday afternoon with lots of sunshine The Weather Authority says the weekend is starting off nice and chilly, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Regional Semifinals It’s the regional semifinal round of high school football in Southwest Florida. Check out the scores and highlights.
FORT MYERS BEACH New information on why FEMA put Fort Myers Beach on probation FEMA was sure to lay it out in a letter. Out of the five points listed, three areas need work on Fort Myers Beach to re-apply for the flood insurance discount.
CAPE CORAL Exclusive: Cape Coral Police Chief speaks out on hate crime incident New exclusive surveillance video shows the moment a Cape Coral home is vandalized. The suspects painted racial slurs on the wall in red paint. WINK News broke this story on Wednesday.
CAPE CORAL New police precincts coming to Cape Coral The Cape Coral Police Department is adding new precincts around the city. The reason? Growth.
Vietnam veteran’s unique service animal companion When we think of service animals, dogs usually come to mind, but it’s not just dogs that help people navigate through their challenges.
NAPLES Gulfshore Life’s Men and Women of the Year award honoree: John Cooney It’s one thing to be philanthropic and help our community. It’s another to provide so much help and want absolutely nothing in return, not even your name mentioned.
FORT MYERS Dunbar High principal named Lee County Principal of the Year Carl Burnside was the last to find out Friday morning that he was selected as Lee County Schools Principal of the Year for 2025.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach businesses excited for increased season traffic Those on Fort Myers Beach are excited for the town to return to normal. Businesses are ready to accept snowbirds and residents again.
Photo by Ryutaro Tsukata on Pexels.com Sold as children’s toys and some resembling candy, water beads are colorful, water-absorbing balls. Yet the products can also be hazardous to young children and even potentially deadly if swallowed as they can grow many times their size once inside a child’s body, advocates and a federal agency warn. That’s why parents and the chair of the Consumer Products Safety Commission are backing a congressman’s plan to propose legislation banning water beads marketed for kids. Often bought for older siblings, expanded water beads have been found in the stomachs, intestines, ears, noses and even lungs of infants and toddlers, Consumer Reports said in a recent report. CPSC estimates there have been 4,500 visits to hospital emergency rooms due to water beads since 2017. “Confusion and terror” Among those ER visits was one in 2017 involving Ashley Haugen’s infant daughter, Kipley. “I remember sitting in the waiting room, drenched in Kipley’s vomit, a mix of confusion and terror engulfing me,” Haugen, a resident of San Antonio, Texas, and founder of That Water Bead Lady, an advocacy group, said Monday at a news conference organized to rally support for the proposed bill from Rep. Frank Pallone, D., New Jersey. “The source of her ailment? Water beads, the seemingly harmless birthday gift we bought for her older sister’s 6th birthday. Unbeknownst to us, the bead material silently wreaked havoc inside Kipley’s small body for over 70 days.” Kipley survived, but the incident required surgery and extensive post-operative care. The bill, set to be introduced this week by Pallone, is the quickest way to protect children nationwide, according to Consumer Reports and the CPSC, which has issued public warnings about water beads and recalled multiple products. “Walmart, Amazon and Target, all sell these things in various forms,” Pallone said Monday outside the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey. “We did a recent search on Amazon and we got 3,000 results, so it’s very widespread.” “No warnings are going to be enough, they have to be banned,” he added. A slew of children’s toy sets and related products with water beads were available for sale at all three of the retailer’s sites, as well those of other toy sellers, CBS MoneyWatch found. “Children, as you all know, love to put things in their mouth, and once it reaches the stomach it can cause obstruction, and that is if they are lucky — once it reaches the small bowel, that’s a major operation,” Dr. Harpreet Pall, chair of pediatrics at Hackensack Meridian Health K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, said at the news conference. Water beads are also problematic in that because they are not metallic, they are more difficult to detect in x-rays, Pall noted. Baby’s death Another parent who spoke at the event described her baby’s death on July 7. “I walked into the unimaginable,” Taylor Bethard said in describing walking into her 10-month-old daughter’s room one morning. “My baby wasn’t breathing, she had no pulse, my kids watched as I screamed in terror and began CPR,” Bethard said. “Our sweet Esther Jo is gone all because of a toy.” A third mother described the stress of knowing that toys that hurt their children remain on the market. “Imagine the anxiety of going into the store and seeing these types of products, water beads, that you know are deadly sitting on the shelf directly targeting families and children,” Folichia Mitchell, of Berwick, Maine, whose daughter Kennedy was seriously injured by water beads in November 2022. Regulatory steps that can be taken by CPSC to prevent water beads from being on store shelves could take years and still face court challenges, CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric told the gathering. “Legislation is a much more direct way. It puts in protections much more quickly and definitely,” he said.