Voodoo Brewing Co. upends brewery business modelTruck overturns, spills cargo; I-75 at mile marker 63 closed
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.Â
COLLIER COUNTY Truck overturns, spills cargo; I-75 at mile marker 63 closed The Rest Area Access Road, under I-75 at mile marker 63, is closed due to an overturned truck that spilled its cargo onto the roadway.
FORT MYERS “I’m so grateful candlelight is here” Gulf Coast Symphony fills venue with thousands of candles Gulf Coast Symphony holds Candlelight concerts in an effort to introduce classical musicians and string quartets to the community in a unique atmosphere.
OLGA 2 teens identified in Franklin Lock Park drowning Authorities have released the identities of two of the three Franklin Lock Park drowning victims.
WINK NEWS 2 men arrested for fleeing from State Troopers; throwing backpack filled with drugs from car on I-75 Two men have been arrested after allegedly fleeing from State Troopers on Interstate 75 and throwing a backpack with drugs out of the car.
fort myers Local NAACP Branch plans protest in response to state attorneyâs ruling The Lee County NAACP plans on protesting the state attorney’s ruling of an FMPD detective’s killing of an unarmed black man.
WINK NEWS Car fire on I-75 northbound temporarily closes lanes A car on fire has been reported near Bonita Beach Road on I-75 northbound.
downtown fort myers The downtown Fort Myers post office has reopened The downtown Fort Myers post office has officially reopened.
WINK NEWS Woman allegedly involved in one of Southwest Florida’s largest drug rings scheduled in court for plea hearing One woman suspected of being involved in one of the largest drug rings in Southwest Florida is set to appear in court for a plea hearing.
PUNTA GORDA Accused hitman in Punta Gorda double homicide will be in court for arraignment An accused hitman involved in a double homicide in Punta Gorda is scheduled to appear in court this morning for his arraignment.
WINK NEWS Poll results reveal more children are drinking caffeine For many, the morning routine is incomplete without a cup of coffee, but do you remember how old you were when you started your caffeine kick?
FORT MYERS Detective returns to work after Christopher Jordan investigation The detective with the Fort Myers Police Department who shot and killed an unarmed black man is set to return to work.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, supreme leaderâs protĂ©gĂ©, dies at 63 in helicopter crash Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protĂ©gĂ© of the countryâs supreme leader who helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in 1988 and later led the country as it enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels and launched a major drone-and-missile attack on Israel, has died. He was 63.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Not as hot for your Monday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a hot and dry Monday with most of Southwest Florida staying dry; however, isolated storms are expected inland.
FORT MYERS Police investigate homicide in front of Fort Myers beauty salon The Fort Myers Police Department is investigating a homicide after police found a man’s dead body in the parking lot of a Fort Myers beauty salon.
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.Â
COLLIER COUNTY Truck overturns, spills cargo; I-75 at mile marker 63 closed The Rest Area Access Road, under I-75 at mile marker 63, is closed due to an overturned truck that spilled its cargo onto the roadway.
FORT MYERS “I’m so grateful candlelight is here” Gulf Coast Symphony fills venue with thousands of candles Gulf Coast Symphony holds Candlelight concerts in an effort to introduce classical musicians and string quartets to the community in a unique atmosphere.
OLGA 2 teens identified in Franklin Lock Park drowning Authorities have released the identities of two of the three Franklin Lock Park drowning victims.
WINK NEWS 2 men arrested for fleeing from State Troopers; throwing backpack filled with drugs from car on I-75 Two men have been arrested after allegedly fleeing from State Troopers on Interstate 75 and throwing a backpack with drugs out of the car.
fort myers Local NAACP Branch plans protest in response to state attorneyâs ruling The Lee County NAACP plans on protesting the state attorney’s ruling of an FMPD detective’s killing of an unarmed black man.
WINK NEWS Car fire on I-75 northbound temporarily closes lanes A car on fire has been reported near Bonita Beach Road on I-75 northbound.
downtown fort myers The downtown Fort Myers post office has reopened The downtown Fort Myers post office has officially reopened.
WINK NEWS Woman allegedly involved in one of Southwest Florida’s largest drug rings scheduled in court for plea hearing One woman suspected of being involved in one of the largest drug rings in Southwest Florida is set to appear in court for a plea hearing.
PUNTA GORDA Accused hitman in Punta Gorda double homicide will be in court for arraignment An accused hitman involved in a double homicide in Punta Gorda is scheduled to appear in court this morning for his arraignment.
WINK NEWS Poll results reveal more children are drinking caffeine For many, the morning routine is incomplete without a cup of coffee, but do you remember how old you were when you started your caffeine kick?
FORT MYERS Detective returns to work after Christopher Jordan investigation The detective with the Fort Myers Police Department who shot and killed an unarmed black man is set to return to work.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, supreme leaderâs protĂ©gĂ©, dies at 63 in helicopter crash Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protĂ©gĂ© of the countryâs supreme leader who helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in 1988 and later led the country as it enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels and launched a major drone-and-missile attack on Israel, has died. He was 63.
THE WEATHER AUTHORITY Not as hot for your Monday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a hot and dry Monday with most of Southwest Florida staying dry; however, isolated storms are expected inland.
FORT MYERS Police investigate homicide in front of Fort Myers beauty salon The Fort Myers Police Department is investigating a homicide after police found a man’s dead body in the parking lot of a Fort Myers beauty salon.
FILE – Taylor Swift performs at the Monumental stadium during her Eras Tour concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 9, 2023. Swift is scheduled to kick off the 18-city Europe leg of her record-setting Eras Tour on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File) Thousands of ride-or-die Taylor Swift fans who missed out on her U.S. concert tour last year or didnât want to buy exorbitantly priced tickets to see her again found an out-of-the-way solution: Fly to Europe. The pop star is scheduled to kick off the 18-city Europe leg of her record-setting Eras Tour in Paris on Thursday, and planeloads of Swifties plan to follow Miss Americana across the pond in the coming weeks. The arena where Swift is appearing said Americans bought 20% of the tickets for her four sold-out shows. Stockholm, the tourâs next stop, expects about 10,000 concertgoers from the U.S. A concert might sound like an odd raison dâetre for visiting a foreign country, especially when fans can watch the Eras Tour from home via the documentary now streaming on Disney+. Yet online travel company Expedia says continent-hopping by Swiftâs devotees is part of a larger trend it dubbed âtour tourismâ while observing a pattern that emerged during BeyoncĂ©’s Renaissance world tour. Some North American fans who plan to fly overseas for the Eras Tour said they justified the expense after noticing that tighter restrictions on ticket fees and resales in Europe made seeing Swift perform abroad no more costly â and potentially cheaper â than catching her closer to home. âThey said, âWait a minute, I can either spend $1,500 to go see my favorite artist in Miami, or I can take that $1,500 and buy a concert ticket, a round-trip plane ticket, and three nights in a hotel room,â Melanie Fish, an Expedia spokesperson and travel expert, said. âYou get out, you get to see the world, and you get to see your favorite artist or performer at the same time, so there are a lot of wins to it,â said Warren, who works as the director of research and innovation for a mutual insurance company. The three VIP tickets she secured close to the stage â âI would call it brute-force dumb luckâ â cost 600 euros ($646) each. Swift subsequently announced six November tour dates in Toronto, within driving distance of Warrenâs home. âAbsolute nose-bleed seatsâ already are going for 3,000 Canadian dollars ($2,194) on secondary resale sites like Viagogo, Warren said. TOUR TOURISM: IS IT REALLY A THING? Hard-core fans trailing their favorite singer or band on tour is not a new phenomenon. âGroupieâ emerged in the late 1960s as a somewhat derogatory word for the ardent followers of rock bands. Deadheads took to the road in the 1970s to pursue the Grateful Dead from city to city. More recently, music festivals like Californiaâs Coachella and Englandâs Glastonbury, and concert residencies in Las Vegas by the likes of Elton John, Lady Gaga and Adele, have attracted travelers to places they wouldnât otherwise visit, Fish noted. Travel and entertainment analysts have also spoken of a pent-up consumer demand for âexperiencesâ over material objects since the coronavirus pandemic. Some think the willingness of music lovers to broaden their fandom horizons is part of the same mass cultural correction. âIt does seem like itâs more than a structural shift, maybe a personality transformation we all went through,â said Natalia Lechmanova, the chief Europe economist for the Mastercard Economics Institute. As Swift hopscotches across Europe, Lechmanova expects restaurants and hotels to see the same boost that Mastercard observed within a 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) radius of concert venues in the U.S. cities she visited in 2023. The U.S. dollarâs strong value against the euro may also increase retail spending on apparel, memorabilia, beauty products and supplies for the friendship bracelets fans exchange as part of the Eras Tour experience, the economist said. Former college roommates Lizzy Hale, 34, who lives in Los Angeles, and Mitch Goulding, 33, who lives in Austin, Texas, already had tickets to see the Eras Tour in L.A. last summer when they decided to try to get ones for Paris, London or Edinburgh, Scotland, too. They saw a Europe concert trip as a makeup for travel plans they had in May 2020 to celebrate Gouldingâs birthday but had to cancel due to the pandemic. Goulding managed to secure VIP tickets for one of Swiftâs three Stockholm shows. He, Hale and two other friends scheduled a 10-day trip that also includes time in Amsterdam and Copenhagen. âAs people who enjoy traveling and enjoy music, if you can find an opportunity to combine the two, itâs really special,â said Hale, who is pregnant with her first child. FOR STOCKHOLM, 120,000 SWIFTIES CANâT BE WRONG The local economic impact of what the zeitgeist has termed âSwiftonomicsâ and the âSwift liftâ can be considerable. Itâs no wonder the exclusive arrangement Singaporeâs government made with Swift to make the city-state her only tour stop in Southeast Asia earlier this year aroused regional jealousy. No European governments have complained of their countries not being among the dozen selected for the Europe leg of the Eras Tour, although some fans have expressed surprise that Gelsenkirchen, a city with a population of about 264,000 is one of the three cities in Germany that made the cut. Airbnb reported Tuesday that searches on its platform for the U.K. cities where Swift is performing in June and August â Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London â increased an average of 337% when tickets went on sale last summer. Not to be outdone when it comes to trend-spotting, the property rentals company cited the demand as an example of âpassion tourism,â or travel âdriven by concerts, sports and other cultural events.â In Stockholm, 120,000 out-of-towners from 130 countries — among them 10,000 from the U.S. â are expected to swarm Swedenâs capital this month, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist Carl Bergqvist said. Stockholm is the only Scandinavian city on Swiftâs tour, and airlines added extra flights from nearby Denmark, Finland and Norway to bring people to the May 17-19 shows, he said. The cityâs 40,000 hotel rooms are sold out even though prices skyrocketed for the tour dates, Bergqvist said. Concert visitors are expected to pump around 500 million Swedish kroner, or over $46 million, into the local economy over the course of their stays, an estimate that does not include what they paid for Swift tickets or to get to Sweden, he said. âSo this is going to be huge for the tourism sector in Sweden and Stockholm in particular,â Bergqvist said. Nightclubs, restaurants and bars are seizing the opportunity to cater to fans with Taylor Swift-themed events, such as karaoke, quizzes and after-concert dance parties. Houston resident Caroline Matlock, 29, saw Swift more than a year ago when the Eras Tour came to the Texas city. Now sheâs making more friendship bracelets and trying to learn a few words of Swedish as she prepares to see the 3 1/2-hour show in Stockholm. The idea of seeing Swift in Europe was her friendâs, and Matlock needed some persuading at first. âI was like, âI only want to go if itâs a country I havenât been to. Iâve seen Taylor Swift,ââ she said. Visiting the Scandinavian cities of Oslo and Gothenburg is on their itinerary. The concert is the last night of the trip and Matlock looks forward to interacting with Swifties from other countries: âAmericans tend to have a very obsessive culture, especially Taylor Swift-related, so Iâm curious if the crowd will be more toned-down.â WILL TOUR TOURISM ENDURE AFTER ERAS? It remains to be seen if the music tourism trend has legs as long and strong as Swiftâs and BeyoncĂ©’s, and if it will carry over to Billie Eilish, Usher and other artists with world tours scheduled next year. Expediaâs Fish thinks other big-name artists in Europe this summer will prove that booking a foreign trip around a concert is catching on. Kat Morga, a travel consultant based in Nashville, isnât so sure. Morga saw Swift perform in Nashville last year and helped two clients with school-aged children book European family vacations this summer that include seeing Swift in concert. But she thinks the difficulty of navigating ticket purchases through language barriers, currency conversions, international banking regulations and the risk of cancellations will limit the appeal of regular gig getaways. âI think this is an anomaly,â Morga said. âPeople arenât typically going to build their $20,000 huge family vacation only because Taylor Swift is there. Sheâs the one-off. Sheâs special.â Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel, whose company operates Booking.com, priceline.com, agoda.com, Kayak and OpenTable, is even less enthusiastic about concert tours as a tourism instigator. The Swift Effect causes a âlittle blipâ when the superstar goes to smaller destinations, but for the worldwide travel industry, âone star touring around does not make a difference,â he said. âIt may just shift it a little bit. A person was going to go to the Caribbean for a week vacation. Instead that person (says), âLetâs travel to the Taylor Swift thing,ââ Fogel said. âIt doesnât increase it. It just moves it from here to there.â AP journalists Colleen Barry in Milan, Chisato Tanaka in Stockholm, Anne DâInnocenzio in New York, David Koenig in Dallas, Thomas Adamson in Paris and Brian Melley in London contributed reporting.