More water headed into Caloosahatchee: What it means for our estuaryTransforming animal care: how a $1.5M donation is helping SNIP Collier
More water headed into Caloosahatchee: What it means for our estuary Southwest Florida cringes every time the mention of releases from Lake Okeechobee comes up. There are concerns about what’s in the water and whether it will dirty our shoreline or even fuel blue-green algae blooms.
NAPLES Transforming animal care: how a $1.5M donation is helping SNIP Collier We are seeing the first major changes from a donation from Tom Golisano.
FORT MYERS BEACH “We did what we had to do” Fort Myers Beach mayor takes blame for loss of FEMA discount FEMA sent the town of Fort Myers Beach a letter explaining why they lost their flood insurance discount. One reason was not removing temporary trailers and containers from flood zones. Now, the mayor says to blame him for it.
NORTH FORT MYERS Suncoast Estates fatal shooting leaves community on edge A fatal shooting took place on Saturday at the Suncoast Estates in North Fort Myers, on Heck Drive, that left one man dead and another seriously injured.
SANIBEL Gulfshore Life Men and Women of the Year award honoree: James Evans The environment and economy are nearly synonymous in Southwest Florida, and while many people work to protect both, one man stands out and has made the environment his life’s work.
NORTH FORT MYERS Where did the Shell Factory animals go? With the closure of The Shell Factory in September, people have been wondering where the animals went.
NAPLES Naples man arrested on multiple violent charges including kidnapping and sexual battery A Naples man has been arrested on multiple violent charges stemming from an alleged case of kidnapping involving guns, drugs and sexual battery.
MATLACHA CW Fudge Factory in Matlacha getting back to business after storms Getting back to business is giving one island the boost they need before the holidays.
southwest florida How much will a Christmas tree cost in Southwest Florida this year? With Thanksgiving this week and Christmas around the corner, we want to know how tree prices are stacking up across Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Spreading holiday cheer with Christmas tree lighting in Naples The Christmas spirit has awakened in Naples.
Early lung cancer detection According to a critical care pulmonologist with Lee Health, every day, two people in Lee County hear the news that they have lung cancer.
Bishop Verot seniors cheering in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade The Viking seniors get a once in a lifetime experience cheering with Spirit of America in the iconic holiday parade.
FORT MYERS Shell Factory & Nature Park announces online auction liquidation of remaining inventory Fans of the now-closed Shell Factory & Nature Park will have a final chance to own a piece of nostalgia with two virtual auctions.
Lee County officials share progress on post-Milton debris cleanup Lee County has announced it has collected 200,000 cubic yards of storm debris in unincorporated areas post-Hurricane Milton.
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.
More water headed into Caloosahatchee: What it means for our estuary Southwest Florida cringes every time the mention of releases from Lake Okeechobee comes up. There are concerns about what’s in the water and whether it will dirty our shoreline or even fuel blue-green algae blooms.
NAPLES Transforming animal care: how a $1.5M donation is helping SNIP Collier We are seeing the first major changes from a donation from Tom Golisano.
FORT MYERS BEACH “We did what we had to do” Fort Myers Beach mayor takes blame for loss of FEMA discount FEMA sent the town of Fort Myers Beach a letter explaining why they lost their flood insurance discount. One reason was not removing temporary trailers and containers from flood zones. Now, the mayor says to blame him for it.
NORTH FORT MYERS Suncoast Estates fatal shooting leaves community on edge A fatal shooting took place on Saturday at the Suncoast Estates in North Fort Myers, on Heck Drive, that left one man dead and another seriously injured.
SANIBEL Gulfshore Life Men and Women of the Year award honoree: James Evans The environment and economy are nearly synonymous in Southwest Florida, and while many people work to protect both, one man stands out and has made the environment his life’s work.
NORTH FORT MYERS Where did the Shell Factory animals go? With the closure of The Shell Factory in September, people have been wondering where the animals went.
NAPLES Naples man arrested on multiple violent charges including kidnapping and sexual battery A Naples man has been arrested on multiple violent charges stemming from an alleged case of kidnapping involving guns, drugs and sexual battery.
MATLACHA CW Fudge Factory in Matlacha getting back to business after storms Getting back to business is giving one island the boost they need before the holidays.
southwest florida How much will a Christmas tree cost in Southwest Florida this year? With Thanksgiving this week and Christmas around the corner, we want to know how tree prices are stacking up across Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Spreading holiday cheer with Christmas tree lighting in Naples The Christmas spirit has awakened in Naples.
Early lung cancer detection According to a critical care pulmonologist with Lee Health, every day, two people in Lee County hear the news that they have lung cancer.
Bishop Verot seniors cheering in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade The Viking seniors get a once in a lifetime experience cheering with Spirit of America in the iconic holiday parade.
FORT MYERS Shell Factory & Nature Park announces online auction liquidation of remaining inventory Fans of the now-closed Shell Factory & Nature Park will have a final chance to own a piece of nostalgia with two virtual auctions.
Lee County officials share progress on post-Milton debris cleanup Lee County has announced it has collected 200,000 cubic yards of storm debris in unincorporated areas post-Hurricane Milton.
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.
FEMA sent the town of Fort Myers Beach a letter explaining why they lost their flood insurance discount. One reason was not removing temporary trailers and containers from flood zones. Now, the mayor says to blame him for it. Dan Allers says the town did what it could to bring business back to the island, and help people. That meant letting people work out of shipping containers and trailers. When hurricane Ian’s powerful category five storm surge and winds wiped out the Rude Shrimp Company, owners Lisa Lahners and TJ Holzapfel told WINK News that red shipping containers saved their Fort Myers Beach business. “If we couldn’t do this, we wouldn’t, we wouldn’t be here,” said Lahners. “As you know, and everybody knows, it was a war zone. It was horrific,” said Holzapfel. More than 2 years later, they’re serving shrimp out of the trailer. Mayor Dan Allers told WINK that after the storm, the town voted to permit the trailers to help business owners, but FEMA said the beach broke the rules and ripped away people’s 25% discount on flood insurance. On Thursday, the agency sent the town a letter outlining where they went wrong. “It comes down to the trailers, the trailers that they’re using to store equipment at the condos that still aren’t open, some of the food trucks they’re not happy with,” said Allers. “Knowing what I know now, would I have still voted the way I voted back in October of 2022, right after the storm, to get people back in temporary trailers and temporary businesses? Absolutely. We had to do what we had to do…. There was so much devastation, we knew we had to get people back in their homes and try to provide some sort of commerce for the people that were here trying to rebuild.” But by helping businesses, Greg Scancsy fears the town may have hurt homeowners in the process. Scancsy lost his home in Hurricane Ian and has been living in a trailer and with neighbors since. “Our town exists for the residents. They need to look out for our interests first. I’m not saying they’re not doing that, but we need to push that a little more aggressively,” said Scancsy. Betty Thomas told WINK that losing the flood insurance discount may mean losing her home. She can’t afford to live on the beach anymore. “I live on my Social Security, and it’s getting to the point where I can’t anymore; it doesn’t stretch far enough,” said Thomas. RELATED: Parts of Lee County to keep FEMA discount RELATED: Fort Myers Beach loses FEMA insurance discount RELATED: New information on why FEMA put Fort Myers Beach on probation “I’m sure people want someone to blame, and they can point the arrows at me and the council if they want. We’re the ones that made the policy decision to allow people to get into their trailers right afterward and try to get some businesses to get employees back to work,” said Allers. “So, if there’s any blame to be thrown around, throw it at us. We’ll take it, but we’re certainly going to correct it, make sure we get it back to where at least we were, if not better,” said Mayor Allers. Now, the town is on probation, which means they have to fix all the problems. Once they do that, they can apply to get the discount back, but it takes two years. Allers said the town will talk about starting the process of removing the trailers, and he hopes FEMA will see the town’s efforts and reconsider.