North and SB lanes shut down near Mile Marker 195 due to brush fireRoundabout incoming for Winkler and Challenger intersection
NORTH PORT North and SB lanes shut down near Mile Marker 195 due to brush fire North Port Fire Rescue said to expect significant delays. They recommended drivers take an alternate route.
FORT MYERS Roundabout incoming for Winkler and Challenger intersection A new roundabout is coming to the City of Fort Myers at the intersection of Challenger Boulevard and Winkler Avenue.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach church selling two acres of land Pastor Sean Critser’s congregation voted unanimously on Sunday to sell the front two acres of the church’s property for $4 million.
Realtor stops thief trying to steal and sell land Imagine someone pretends to be you and sells your home or land right from underneath you. Deed or property fraud happens more often than you think.
NORTH FORT MYERS Body cam footage of woman and her dog rescued from Prairie Preserve Pines A woman and her exhausted dog fight to survive while trapped in the elements and oppressive Florida heat.
NAPLES Local surgeon removing cancer through the mouth Surgery to remove cancers in the head and neck can sometimes leave patients with negative impacts long after the cancer is gone. But a new approach is cutting back on damage.
CAPE CORAL Byron Donalds to hold town hall in Cape Coral From flood insurance to pythons and rebuilding from Ian nearly two years later, Southwest Florida has a lot on its plate.
Naples Airport move study finds 4 possible sites There’s a study looking at the possibility of moving the Naples Airport.
NAPLES Playing like a girl in Naples flag football league Through having a positive outlet and strong role models commissioner Lorna McLain hopes flag football makes a difference in the community.
FORT MYERS Caloosahatchee River Bridge to close for 10 weeks to speed up bridge project The Florida Department of Transportation announced a busy Fort Myers bridge is closing for more than two months.
WINK NEWS No plea deal for woman accused of being part of one of Southwest Florida’s largest drug rings No plea deal for woman suspected of being involved in one of the largest drug rings in Southwest Florida.
OLGA All victims identified in the Franklin Lock Park drowning Authorities have released the identities of all three Franklin Lock Park drowning victims.
Title and trust company expands to Charlotte County It’s a family affair at Lyons Title & Trust, which recently opened its third office in Port Charlotte.
Collier rejects $23M price tag for 2,247 acres Collier County commissioners unanimously rejected a $23 million price for a 2,247-acre Immokalee property for possible affordable workforce housing, fire house and other uses, opting to continue negotiating.
Voodoo Brewing Co. upends brewery business model Voodoo Brewing Co. began in 2005 and has since expanded to five corporate locations and 14 franchise locations, with the Fort Myers spot being the first to open in Florida.
NORTH PORT North and SB lanes shut down near Mile Marker 195 due to brush fire North Port Fire Rescue said to expect significant delays. They recommended drivers take an alternate route.
FORT MYERS Roundabout incoming for Winkler and Challenger intersection A new roundabout is coming to the City of Fort Myers at the intersection of Challenger Boulevard and Winkler Avenue.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach church selling two acres of land Pastor Sean Critser’s congregation voted unanimously on Sunday to sell the front two acres of the church’s property for $4 million.
Realtor stops thief trying to steal and sell land Imagine someone pretends to be you and sells your home or land right from underneath you. Deed or property fraud happens more often than you think.
NORTH FORT MYERS Body cam footage of woman and her dog rescued from Prairie Preserve Pines A woman and her exhausted dog fight to survive while trapped in the elements and oppressive Florida heat.
NAPLES Local surgeon removing cancer through the mouth Surgery to remove cancers in the head and neck can sometimes leave patients with negative impacts long after the cancer is gone. But a new approach is cutting back on damage.
CAPE CORAL Byron Donalds to hold town hall in Cape Coral From flood insurance to pythons and rebuilding from Ian nearly two years later, Southwest Florida has a lot on its plate.
Naples Airport move study finds 4 possible sites There’s a study looking at the possibility of moving the Naples Airport.
NAPLES Playing like a girl in Naples flag football league Through having a positive outlet and strong role models commissioner Lorna McLain hopes flag football makes a difference in the community.
FORT MYERS Caloosahatchee River Bridge to close for 10 weeks to speed up bridge project The Florida Department of Transportation announced a busy Fort Myers bridge is closing for more than two months.
WINK NEWS No plea deal for woman accused of being part of one of Southwest Florida’s largest drug rings No plea deal for woman suspected of being involved in one of the largest drug rings in Southwest Florida.
OLGA All victims identified in the Franklin Lock Park drowning Authorities have released the identities of all three Franklin Lock Park drowning victims.
Title and trust company expands to Charlotte County It’s a family affair at Lyons Title & Trust, which recently opened its third office in Port Charlotte.
Collier rejects $23M price tag for 2,247 acres Collier County commissioners unanimously rejected a $23 million price for a 2,247-acre Immokalee property for possible affordable workforce housing, fire house and other uses, opting to continue negotiating.
Voodoo Brewing Co. upends brewery business model Voodoo Brewing Co. began in 2005 and has since expanded to five corporate locations and 14 franchise locations, with the Fort Myers spot being the first to open in Florida.
“Lee County Sheriff’s Office! Lee County Sheriff’s Office!” screamed a deputy while walking through the woods. The area is a known homeless camp. Lee County Deputies police the area, as well as under overpasses and in parking lots, looking for sexual predators and offenders. “There isn’t a front door that you knock on. It’s woods; it’s an intersection; and that can change,” explained Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno. Marceno told WINK News Anchor Corey Lazar the problem of transient sexual predators and offenders got worse after Hurricane Ian. “Post Hurricane Ian, what did that mean to us? Obviously, we had pure devastation,” added the Sheriff. “People coming from all over to work. We had an influx of transient people that came here. Now, that’s a challenge in itself, right. So, if someone’s here, we don’t know who they are, that could be an issue. It’s a safety issue.” It’s a safety issue facing our entire community and one the sheriff’s office tackles head on. Lazar rode along with Sergeant Erik Hurd who works in the Sex Offender Predator Unit with LCSO. “All produce an excuse. They don’t know, they accidentally provided us with wrong information,” said Hurd. “We enforce every single day to make sure that those who have broken the law—these offenders and predators—are not out preying on other people.” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno Sgt. Hurd’s team has one big mission – to locate every transient convicted of a sex crime in the county – who fails to register. “Their information changes a lot. So, by the time I send my detectives out there, they go, they make contact, they relocate immediately,” explained the Sergeant. “So now we have to go back out there, look for them again, make contact with them again, confirm that information again. And then they relocate again.” By law, transient sex offenders and predators still must register. In fact, they must check in with law enforcement every 30 days and update their location. Their address could be under the overpass at Interstate 75 and Palm Beach Boulevard or hidden in the woods near your neighborhood. Homeless camp, Credit: WINK News “Walmart used to allow overnight parking. And that’s something that they utilize. That’s a loophole that they utilize,” stated Hurd. “We go out there at night, and we find them. We work with Walmart. We look at the security cameras.” Lionel Pastoriza listed just such an address. He was convicted of lewd and lascivious battery in 2007. LCSO launched a mission to track him down when he did not check in after December. “Because this particular transient offender, he doesn’t have a cell phone. So, we can’t call them and say, okay, harder to track down,” said Detective Corey Edmond. In March, Detective Corey Edmond learned Pastoriza had a car registered to him. Edmond used license plate readers to track down Pastoriza. License plate reader, Credit: WINK News Shawn Shaffer is also a convicted sex offender who deputies said tried to fly under the radar by lying about where he was staying. Eventually, they tracked him down to a relative’s home which was within 2,500 feet of Mariner Middle School in Cape Coral. To track sex offenders and predators living near you: Through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, you can register your address and set up alerts if someone moves within a one mile radius of your home or get an alert for a specific person. You can do a neighborhood search which allows you to identify people within up to a five mile radius. Transients are identified on the search map using tents. Blue means transient offender. Red is for transient predators. FDLE Sex Offender/Predator map Lazar attempted to contact the convicted men named in this article, but was unable to reach them.