Republican Denise Carlin elected as Lee County Schools superintendentSheriff Carmine Marceno wins reelection
Republican Denise Carlin elected as Lee County Schools superintendent Republican Denise Carlin has been elected as the Lee County Superintendent of Schools, and Vanessa Chaviano won her seat in the Lee County School Board for District 7.
WINK NEWS Sheriff Carmine Marceno wins reelection It is now Election Day, and two candidates for the Lee County Sheriff are vying for the position.
3 Florida republicans win reelection in House of Representatives Three local incumbent Republicans have won re-election for the House of Representatives race.
LABELLE Fatal crash on State Road 29 in LaBelle According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a fatal crash occurred on State Road 29 on Tuesday evening.
NAPLES Naples on alert but staying calm ahead of potential storm It’s understandable to get anxious whenever we hear about the possibility of severe weather with Tropical Storm Rafael gaining strength in the Caribbean.
BONITA SPRINGS Florida’s Rick Scott reelected to US Senate Florida incumbent Rick Scott has been reelected to the U.S. Senate.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda RV residents concerned about hurricane damage The people at the Harbor Belle RV Resort had concerns about their homes before hurricanes Helene and Milton.
WINK NEWS How Hispanic voters in SWFL are casting their ballots The Hispanic community in Southwest Florida is seemingly divided as they cast their votes for the next president of the United States.
WEST PALM BEACH Trump and supporters gear up for election night in West Palm Beach All eyes are on the presidential election between Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.
SANIBEL City of Sanibel to open time capsule for 50th anniversary It’s a chance to see what the past was like. 41 years ago, the city of Sanibel put items in a time capsule to be opened on the 50th anniversary of the city’s incorporation. On Tuesday, WINK News was there to see what people had to say about the island decades ago.
FORT MYERS BEACH Lee Commission approves contract to restore 2 waterfront parks on Fort Myers Beach The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to award a contract for the design of the restoration of two waterfront parks on Fort Myers Beach.
Direct approach to hip replacement Surgeons in the United States perform more than 500,000 hip replacements every year, and that number is only expected to increase as our population ages.
ARCADIA DeSoto County Jail employee accused of trafficking contraband into facility An employee at the DeSoto County Jail has been arrested after allegedly trafficking illegal contraband into the jail.
Soluna Restaurant & Bar launches at Bayfront in Naples Emulating its namesake fusion of the sun and moon, Soluna Restaurant & Bar has arisen to illuminate the Naples dining scene.
NAPLES CFO Jimmy Patronis reminds Floridians to check their constructor contracts for post-storm fraud The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, will hold a news conference in Naples on post-storm fraud prevention.
Republican Denise Carlin elected as Lee County Schools superintendent Republican Denise Carlin has been elected as the Lee County Superintendent of Schools, and Vanessa Chaviano won her seat in the Lee County School Board for District 7.
WINK NEWS Sheriff Carmine Marceno wins reelection It is now Election Day, and two candidates for the Lee County Sheriff are vying for the position.
3 Florida republicans win reelection in House of Representatives Three local incumbent Republicans have won re-election for the House of Representatives race.
LABELLE Fatal crash on State Road 29 in LaBelle According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a fatal crash occurred on State Road 29 on Tuesday evening.
NAPLES Naples on alert but staying calm ahead of potential storm It’s understandable to get anxious whenever we hear about the possibility of severe weather with Tropical Storm Rafael gaining strength in the Caribbean.
BONITA SPRINGS Florida’s Rick Scott reelected to US Senate Florida incumbent Rick Scott has been reelected to the U.S. Senate.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda RV residents concerned about hurricane damage The people at the Harbor Belle RV Resort had concerns about their homes before hurricanes Helene and Milton.
WINK NEWS How Hispanic voters in SWFL are casting their ballots The Hispanic community in Southwest Florida is seemingly divided as they cast their votes for the next president of the United States.
WEST PALM BEACH Trump and supporters gear up for election night in West Palm Beach All eyes are on the presidential election between Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.
SANIBEL City of Sanibel to open time capsule for 50th anniversary It’s a chance to see what the past was like. 41 years ago, the city of Sanibel put items in a time capsule to be opened on the 50th anniversary of the city’s incorporation. On Tuesday, WINK News was there to see what people had to say about the island decades ago.
FORT MYERS BEACH Lee Commission approves contract to restore 2 waterfront parks on Fort Myers Beach The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to award a contract for the design of the restoration of two waterfront parks on Fort Myers Beach.
Direct approach to hip replacement Surgeons in the United States perform more than 500,000 hip replacements every year, and that number is only expected to increase as our population ages.
ARCADIA DeSoto County Jail employee accused of trafficking contraband into facility An employee at the DeSoto County Jail has been arrested after allegedly trafficking illegal contraband into the jail.
Soluna Restaurant & Bar launches at Bayfront in Naples Emulating its namesake fusion of the sun and moon, Soluna Restaurant & Bar has arisen to illuminate the Naples dining scene.
NAPLES CFO Jimmy Patronis reminds Floridians to check their constructor contracts for post-storm fraud The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, will hold a news conference in Naples on post-storm fraud prevention.
Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando. Credit: AP Disney on Tuesday released a study showing its economic impact in Florida at $40.3 billion as it battles Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his appointees over their takeover of the district that governs the entertainment company’s massive theme park resort in central Florida. Disney accounted for 263,000 jobs in Florida, more than three times the actual workforce at Walt Disney World, according to the study conducted by Oxford Economics and commissioned by Disney, covering fiscal year 2022. Besides direct employment and spending, the study attributed the company’s multibillion-dollar impact to indirect influences, such as supply chain and employees’ spending. The jobs include Disney employees as well as jobs supported by visitor spending off Disney World property. Disney employs 82,000 workers in Florida, not only at Disney World outside Orlando, but also Disney Cruise Line in Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, as well as a resort in Vero Beach. In central Florida, Disney directly accounts for 1 in 8 jobs, and for every direct job, another 1.7 jobs are supported across Florida, Oxford Economics said. The time period in the study is before the takeover earlier this year of Disney World’s governing district by DeSantis and his appointees after Disney publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. The law was championed by DeSantis, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Disney officials in the past year have said the company plans to invest an additional $17 billion over the next decade in central Florida, including potentially adding another 13,000 jobs. However, the company has shown a willingness to pull back investing in the Sunshine State. Earlier this year, Disney scrapped plans to relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development, an investment estimated at $1 billion. Disney World already has four theme parks, more than 25 hotels, two water parks and a shopping and dining district on 25,000 acres (10,117 hectares). Disney is battling DeSantis and his appointees in federal and state courts over the takeover of what was formally called the Reedy Creek Improvement District but was renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District after DeSantis appointees gained control. The district was created by the Florida Legislature in 1967 to handle municipal services like firefighting, road repairs and waste hauling, and it was controlled by Disney supporters until earlier this year. Before control of the district changed hands from Disney allies to DeSantis appointees, the Disney supporters on its board signed agreements with Disney shifting control over design and construction at Disney World to the company. The new DeSantis appointees said the “eleventh-hour deals” neutered their powers, and the district sued the company in state court in Orlando to have the contracts voided. Disney has filed counterclaims, which include asking the state court to declare the agreements valid and enforceable. Disney also has sued DeSantis, a state agency and DeSantis appointees on the district’s board in federal court in Tallahassee, saying the company’s free speech rights were violated when the governor and Republican lawmakers targeted it for expressing opposition to the law dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by its critics. In an earnings report last week, Disney noted that while its theme parks worldwide had a year-to-year increase in operating income, it had decreased at the Florida theme park resort due to costs related to the closure of its immersive Star Wars-themed two-night experience and lower visitor spending from a decrease in hotel rates.