Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior nightPolice: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
Sanibel Island is continuing to recover from Hurricane Ian, as many other Southwest Florida communities are. What many thought would be a long process is turning into a quick turnaround for many on-island businesses this season. The Sanibel and Captiva Chamber of Commerce President, John Lai, says by the end of this season, there should be dozens of new businesses open to the public. The Sanibel and Captiva Chamber of Commerce on Sanibel Island. “We were averaging four ribbon cuttings a week right now. So when you think about that, if you know, that’s 12 weeks, I’m sorry, four weeks, 16 a month. So we’re probably looking at 40 businesses from the beginning of the year, until the end of season that have just come back online in some form or fashion,” said Lai. Post Ian, there are 141 businesses reopened between Sanibel and Captiva. This is compared to the 541 businesses they had before Hurricane Ian. RELATED: Another piece of Sanibel Island is being restored with birds flocking because of it His offices have attended these re-openings and have seen the community come back one open sign at a time. Lai said what they expected to be year’s worth of rebuilding is starting to finish much faster. “For those of us who remember what this island looked like the day after we came back from Hurricane Ian. In our heads, it was going to be a five to 10-year rebuild process. So, the fact that we can shorten that timeline or expedite that timeline, maybe three to five. It’s encouraging, and it’s rewarding and inspirational for all of us on the island that work and live and play here,” said Lai. Island business owners becoming family Bringing businesses back in time for this year’s season came with hardships for some. After being closed for over 400 days, the Sanibel Cafe re-opened in December and has seen customers in and out of its doors since. Owner Richard McCurry said putting up the open sign is a group effort. With each business’s doors opening, other owners and islanders are cheering them on from the sidelines. The Sanibel Cafe re-opened after being closed for over a year in December of 2023. “We’re all rooting for each other. We want to go help the guys and gals that are getting ready to open if they need help, they know they can call us, or if we need help, we call them. We work together; we support each other, lift each other up,” said McCurry. RELATED: The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum is back and better! At the other end of the plaza from Sanibel Cafe is a retail shop, Adventures in Paradise. Josh Stewart and McCurry have seen the progress on the island from outside their shop windows because they live on the island. Stewart said being a part of recovery as a business owner and homeowner, he’s gotten to see how strong their community is. “It’s humbling, but it’s also really encouraging to see everybody more like-minded on wanting things to get back to normal as fast as possible.” Newest business on the block Synergy Sportswear just opened its doors Tuesday for the first time since Hurricane Ian. Catching customers mid-season, they said being back up and running is something they’ve waited for. “We just reopened yesterday. Still getting set up. This is probably the best table, but the others are getting filled as we speak. We just got in some boxes,” said Vice President Michael Tateosian. RELATED: Sea Shelling do’s and dont’s With boxes still to be unpacked and merchandise to be hung up, customers have welcomed this reopening with open arms. Amidst being open for just shy of two days, they’ve seen people come through their doors ready to invite them back to the island. Sanibel attire on sale for the first time in Synergy Sportswear since their closure after hurricane Ian in Fall of 2022. Tateosian said, “It was good. Busier than I thought it was gonna be, and customers are happy to be in here. They don’t mind the mess. Because a lot of people are dealing with it themselves.” More openings are on the way Speaking of re-openings, one of the many businesses to re-open this month since Hurricane Ian is Over Easy Cafe. According to their Facebook, on March 17th, the restaurant will celebrate their Grand Re-opening. With more people on the island and more businesses coming back, Lai said coming back stronger than ever is the island’s motivation. “Every day, we’re one day closer to the new Sanibel Island and Captiva Island coming back online. What’s next for Sanibel is a more resilient Sanibel. We take what we know we built Sanibel on in the past and incorporate some of the lessons that we need to learn for the future,” said Lai.