Man accused of fleeing from Charlotte deputies through drainage pipeMan wanted for stealing money from tip jar at Fort Myers establishment
Man accused of fleeing from Charlotte deputies through drainage pipe The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man who tried to flee from deputies during a traffic stop through a drainage pipe.
FORT MYERS Man wanted for stealing money from tip jar at Fort Myers establishment Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on a man wanted for stealing from a tip jar at a Fort Myers establishment.
Matlacha Man accused of driving into ‘That BBQ Place’ on Matlacha asks for new attorney Cody Curtis, the man accused of driving drunk and crashing his car into That BBQ Place on Matlacha, is asking for a new attorney.
Mostly sunny and seasonably high temperatures Monday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mostly sunny Monday with temperatures matching seasonal highs this afternoon.
north fort myers Deputy presence reported in front of North Fort Myers laundromat The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is responding to a scene located on Pine Island Road in North Fort Myers.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral hurricane debris drop-off sites closed Two hurricane debris drop-off sites have closed in Cape Coral.
FORT MYERS Former NFL star Tre Boston gives back to hometown of Fort Myers for Thanksgiving Boston was joined by members of the Lehigh Senior High School Football team to help deliver 800 turkeys to those in need.
WINK NEWS Holiday Cheer: Send letters to Santa at Sunshine Ace Hardware Sunshine Ace Hardware will be serving as a drop-off location for any children looking to mail their holiday wish lists to the North Pole.
FORT MYERS BEACH Sand, sweat, and precision: Final day of sculpting on Fort Myers Beach Sunday was the final day of the 34th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship, hosted on Fort Myers Beach.
WINK Neighborhood Watch: Illegal gun possession, Kate Spade theft and deadly crash This weekâs segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a gun possessed by a person with felony convictions, a Kate Spade thief and a man arrested for causing a crash that killed a man on Alligator Alley.
NORTH FORT MYERS 1 dead and 1 critically injured in double shooting in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported shooting in North Fort Myers on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral looking to increase their FEMA flood insurance discount The City of Cape Coral got good news from FEMA; the 25% flood insurance discount is staying in place for the next three years.
Cool start, mild afternoon with lots of sunshine on this Sunday The Weather Authority says Sunday started off even slightly cooler than Saturday morning, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across the area.
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 âhate crimeâ On Friday, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony […]
FGCU 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.
Man accused of fleeing from Charlotte deputies through drainage pipe The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man who tried to flee from deputies during a traffic stop through a drainage pipe.
FORT MYERS Man wanted for stealing money from tip jar at Fort Myers establishment Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is seeking information on a man wanted for stealing from a tip jar at a Fort Myers establishment.
Matlacha Man accused of driving into ‘That BBQ Place’ on Matlacha asks for new attorney Cody Curtis, the man accused of driving drunk and crashing his car into That BBQ Place on Matlacha, is asking for a new attorney.
Mostly sunny and seasonably high temperatures Monday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mostly sunny Monday with temperatures matching seasonal highs this afternoon.
north fort myers Deputy presence reported in front of North Fort Myers laundromat The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is responding to a scene located on Pine Island Road in North Fort Myers.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral hurricane debris drop-off sites closed Two hurricane debris drop-off sites have closed in Cape Coral.
FORT MYERS Former NFL star Tre Boston gives back to hometown of Fort Myers for Thanksgiving Boston was joined by members of the Lehigh Senior High School Football team to help deliver 800 turkeys to those in need.
WINK NEWS Holiday Cheer: Send letters to Santa at Sunshine Ace Hardware Sunshine Ace Hardware will be serving as a drop-off location for any children looking to mail their holiday wish lists to the North Pole.
FORT MYERS BEACH Sand, sweat, and precision: Final day of sculpting on Fort Myers Beach Sunday was the final day of the 34th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship, hosted on Fort Myers Beach.
WINK Neighborhood Watch: Illegal gun possession, Kate Spade theft and deadly crash This weekâs segment of WINK Neighborhood Watch features a gun possessed by a person with felony convictions, a Kate Spade thief and a man arrested for causing a crash that killed a man on Alligator Alley.
NORTH FORT MYERS 1 dead and 1 critically injured in double shooting in North Fort Myers The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported shooting in North Fort Myers on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral looking to increase their FEMA flood insurance discount The City of Cape Coral got good news from FEMA; the 25% flood insurance discount is staying in place for the next three years.
Cool start, mild afternoon with lots of sunshine on this Sunday The Weather Authority says Sunday started off even slightly cooler than Saturday morning, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s across the area.
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 âhate crimeâ On Friday, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony […]
FGCU 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.
Competitors battle in a muddy pool with weapons made from pool noodles at the Florida Man Games on Saturday Feb. 24,2024 in St. Augustine, Fla. (AP photo/ Russ Bynum) They rose up by the dozens from across Florida, caricatured competitors in tank tops and cutoff shorts, for a showdown that treats evading police and wrestling over beer like Olympic sports. Promoted as âthe most insane athletic showdown on Earth,â the Florida Man Games poke fun at the stateâs reputation for bizarre stories that involve brawling, drinking, gunfire, reptile wrangling and other antics carrying a risk of time in jail or intensive care. The games kicked off Saturday with the âStar Spangled Bannerâ played on electric guitar. Then spectators sipping canned beers behind metal barricades cheered and frequently shouted expletives as a dozen teams battled in contests inspired by real events from Americaâs most surreal state. James Gordon of DeLand won the first event, wolfing down a plate loaded with barbecue pork and sausage a fraction of a second before his nearest competitor. He chugged a beer to celebrate. âIâve lived in Florida my whole life,â Gordon said after washing sauce from his hands and beard. âTheyâre calling these âevents.â Iâm calling this (expletive) Tuesday afternoon.â One event had contenders dueling in muddy water in an inflatable pool, pummeling each other with weapons made from pool noodles and duct tape. Another was a theft-simulation relay in which competitors raced while toting a pair of bicycles, copper pipes and catalytic converters. Larry Donnelly trained for the relay race by riding a bicycle around his neighborhood with a second bike strapped to his back. It paid off Saturday, when he won his heat after picking up a bike in each hand and running with them. âI have an absolute disregard for self-preservation. I will do anything,â said Donnelly, 42, who owns a St. Augustine pressure-washing business and serves as captain of the five-man team Hanky Spanky. âWhen I was in the military, I did a little alligator wrestling.â Other events involved contenders wrestling sumo-style while holding pitchers of beer, or running from actual sheriffâs deputies while jumping fences and avoiding obstacles. Others faced a scramble to grab cash flying in simulated hurricane winds. Spectators paid real money â $45 per ticket or more â to watch the games at Francis Field in downtown St. Augustine. Yusuf El Shihibi said he and his wife made the 180-mile (290-kilometer) trip from Port St. Richey âto watch stupidity occur on the grandest, most spectacular scale.â Organizer Pete Melfi said he expected ticket sales to exceed 5,000. He said he was stunned to find nobody else had beaten him to the ripped-from-headlines idea for a spoof sporting event. âWe kind of give a person an opportunity to live a day in the life of âFlorida Manâ without ending up in a cop car,â said Melfi, who runs the St. Augustine media outlet The 904 Now. But he had to tone down some racier aspects of the âFlorida Manâ mythos to obtain a permit. âThereâs typically drugs and nudity,â he said. âBut the city frowned on it when I asked for drugs and nudity.â The âFlorida Manâ phenomenon seeped into the nationâs conscience thanks in part to a Twitter account that started in 2013 with the handle @_FloridaMan. The account touted âreal-life stories of the worldâs worst superhero,â sharing news headlines such as âFlorida Man Bites Dog to âEstablish Dominanceââ and âFlorida Man Tried to Pay for McDonaldâs With Weed.â Floridaâs claim to being the strangest state goes back much further, said journalist Craig Pittman, who wrote the book âOh, Florida! How Americaâs Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country.â He noted that the first flag to fly over its Capitol in 1845 bore the motto âLet Us Alone.â Apparently nobody listened. Florida today has 22 million residents, the third largest population of any U.S. state. And they all share roads, beaches and timeshares with more than 130 million tourists per year. âYou cram that many people together, theyâre bound to start running into each othersâ cars and chasing each other with machetes,â Pittman said. Pittman noted there have also been plenty of crazy stories featuring Florida women â and plenty of them turned out to watch the games Saturday. Sally Yarbrough and her daughter, Danielle Yarbrough, got tickets as a Christmas gift from their boss â along with a case of vodka. âHopefully more women will be here like us,â Danielle Yarbrough said. âWeâre usually the only rowdy ones.â The only womenâs event Saturday was a Florida Maâam Pinup contest. That should change if the games continue, said Lori âIceâ Fetrick, a former competitor on the 1990s show âAmerican Gladiatorsâ who served as a judge at the Florida Man Games. âI personally believe we need the Florida Woman Games,â Fetrick told the crowd, which cheered its approval. âOr maybe put women against the men.â Leading up to Saturday, Joshua Barr and his Cooter Commandos teammates spent time whipping up fan support on Facebook with posts showing the trio chugging Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and jogging in jean shorts and mirrored sunglasses. Their team name comes from a turtle species celebrated by their hometown of Inverness. The Commandos didnât stop with online promotion and trash-talking of rival teams. Barr, a 37-year-old movie reviewer and podcaster, said they also printed T-shirts, temporary tattoos and a large custom flag to wave on the field. âWe might be taking it more seriously than most people,â Barr said. âYou kind of just have to be a part of the joke at this point.â