Tracking power outages after HeleneThe Weather Authority: Scattered rain and storms throughout your Saturday
Tracking power outages after Helene There are still several thousand neighbors in southwest Florida without power as of Saturday.
The Weather Authority The Weather Authority: Scattered rain and storms throughout your Saturday The Weather Authority is tracking scattered rain and storms throughout your Saturday afternoon.
Dekle Beach Gov. DeSantis to hold news conference in Dekle Beach Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference in Dekle Beach.
Southwest Florida remembers Hurricane Ian 2 years later; what happened before and after the storm The storm that had devastated Southwest Florida, Hurricane Ian, has now reached its 2nd anniversary of landfall.
High School Football Scoreboard Week 6 Hurricane Helene couldn’t keep all the Friday night lights off in Southwest Florida. Week 6 was a loaded slate included a classic in the WINK News Game of the Week.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs begins clean up operations On Friday, the Department of Transportation pushed sand off the road on Hickory Island after Hurricane Helene ripped through
MANASOTA KEY Manasota woman recovers after home destroyed by Helene Whipping winds – the sound of Hurricane Helene ripping through Manasota Key, as swells smashed into the island. Even so, Marsha Viglianco stayed to watch from her back porch.
El Jobean residents fighting to recover from Helene In Charlotte County, people living in El Jobean are in recovery mode Friday night. Many were flooded out of their homes, and now they’re figuring out their next steps.
NAPLES Restoration efforts begin in the aftermath of Helene in Collier County Helene gave Naples Beach flash flooding a debris Thursday night.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda couple deals with flooding after Helene A Punta Gorda couple is recovering as the storm surge from Helene went through their dream home.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Flooding affects business in downtown Fort Myers In downtown Fort Myers, the streets may be drying up, but for one business owner on Bay Street, the true struggle is just getting started.
BONITA SPRINGS Damage in Bonita Springs from Helene It seems like nearly every place on the water was left with significant damage. In Bonita Springs, storm surge pushed into the city.
FORT MYERS BEACH Closer look at rescue operations during Helene All across Southwest Florida, we saw stories of bravery and selflessness during Helene.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Neighbors hit with flooding in Dean Park community On Friday, roads in downtown Fort Myers were fairly dry. It’s a stark contrast to Thursday night’s storm surge caused by the outer bands of Hurricane Helene.
ESTERO ISLAND Precautionary boil water notice issued for parts of Estero Island A precautionary water boil notice has been issued for Estero Island on Friday.
Tracking power outages after Helene There are still several thousand neighbors in southwest Florida without power as of Saturday.
The Weather Authority The Weather Authority: Scattered rain and storms throughout your Saturday The Weather Authority is tracking scattered rain and storms throughout your Saturday afternoon.
Dekle Beach Gov. DeSantis to hold news conference in Dekle Beach Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to hold a news conference in Dekle Beach.
Southwest Florida remembers Hurricane Ian 2 years later; what happened before and after the storm The storm that had devastated Southwest Florida, Hurricane Ian, has now reached its 2nd anniversary of landfall.
High School Football Scoreboard Week 6 Hurricane Helene couldn’t keep all the Friday night lights off in Southwest Florida. Week 6 was a loaded slate included a classic in the WINK News Game of the Week.
BONITA SPRINGS Bonita Springs begins clean up operations On Friday, the Department of Transportation pushed sand off the road on Hickory Island after Hurricane Helene ripped through
MANASOTA KEY Manasota woman recovers after home destroyed by Helene Whipping winds – the sound of Hurricane Helene ripping through Manasota Key, as swells smashed into the island. Even so, Marsha Viglianco stayed to watch from her back porch.
El Jobean residents fighting to recover from Helene In Charlotte County, people living in El Jobean are in recovery mode Friday night. Many were flooded out of their homes, and now they’re figuring out their next steps.
NAPLES Restoration efforts begin in the aftermath of Helene in Collier County Helene gave Naples Beach flash flooding a debris Thursday night.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda couple deals with flooding after Helene A Punta Gorda couple is recovering as the storm surge from Helene went through their dream home.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Flooding affects business in downtown Fort Myers In downtown Fort Myers, the streets may be drying up, but for one business owner on Bay Street, the true struggle is just getting started.
BONITA SPRINGS Damage in Bonita Springs from Helene It seems like nearly every place on the water was left with significant damage. In Bonita Springs, storm surge pushed into the city.
FORT MYERS BEACH Closer look at rescue operations during Helene All across Southwest Florida, we saw stories of bravery and selflessness during Helene.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Neighbors hit with flooding in Dean Park community On Friday, roads in downtown Fort Myers were fairly dry. It’s a stark contrast to Thursday night’s storm surge caused by the outer bands of Hurricane Helene.
ESTERO ISLAND Precautionary boil water notice issued for parts of Estero Island A precautionary water boil notice has been issued for Estero Island on Friday.
Credit: (AP News) Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is heading to Mexico this week to promote her agency’s new strike force to help combat illicit fentanyl trafficking as the U.S. and China step up efforts to stop the movement of the powerful opioid and drug-making materials into the United States. In Mexico City, Yellen will talk with government and private sector leaders about stopping illicit finance that funds the drug trade and boosting supply chains through her “friendshoring” initiative. A major focus of the trip will be on stopping fentanyl financing. The Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force announced Monday will bring together personnel and intelligence from throughout the Treasury Department — from its sanctions and intelligence arms to IRS Criminal Investigations — to more effectively collaborate on stopping the flow of drugs into the country. The creation of the group and Yellen’s Mexico trip are the beginning of the Biden administration’s plan to redouble its efforts to stem the tide of illegal fentanyl after President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in California in November. At the meeting, they announced that China is telling its chemical companies to curtail shipments of the materials used to produce fentanyl to Latin America. China has also resumed sharing information about suspected trafficking with an international database. Mexico and China are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl are coming from China. Among other things, the Treasury task force will analyze the financial flows of trafficking organizations, especially those that rely on cryptocurrency to move funds; work with local law enforcement in areas hardest hit by the fentanyl epidemic and use financial institution records to detect transactions related to drug and human smuggling. “Combating the flow of deadly fentanyl into communities across the United States is a top priority for President Biden as well as the Treasury Department,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a statement. She said the new group will “allow us to bring the department’s unrivaled expertise in fighting financial crime to bear against this deadly epidemic.” “Treasury will use every tool at its disposal to disrupt the ability of drug traffickers to peddle this poison in our country.” The Biden administration has taken a slew of actions against fentanyl traffickers — charging powerful traffickers with drug and money laundering offenses and announcing indictments and sanctions against Chinese companies and executives blamed for importing the chemicals used to make the dangerous drug. Still, fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the U.S. today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 71,000 people died from overdosing on synthetic opioids such as fentanyl in 2021, up from almost 58,000 in 2020. The death toll is more than 10 times as many drug deaths as in 1988, at the height of the crack epidemic. U.S. lawmakers have proposed a variety of measures to combat fentanyl’s explosive use in the U.S. Many of the GOP presidential candidates have said they would use military force against Mexico in response to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. And the leaders of the Senate Banking and Armed Services Committees, along with others, want to compel the Biden administration to declare international fentanyl trafficking a national emergency and pass legislation that would hold Treasury to reporting requirements and enable the president to confiscate sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to use for law enforcement efforts. Treasury officials, including Brian Nelson, the department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, have been traveling to the southern border this year to work with local authorities on quelling drug trafficking through sanctions efforts. Nelson will co-chair the strike force with IRS Criminal Investigations Chief Jim Lee. Nelson said the strike force “will act quickly and decisively with the top specialists from across the department to nimbly respond to the newest threats.”