Professional Experience

July 2018 to present: Reporter, WINK News. Previously worked as a resident reporter at WVVA in Bluefield, W.Va.; at ABC 7 Chicago as a news planning intern; at Dateline NBC as a story development intern; and at the Northwestern University's Medill Justice Project as a multimedia investigative reporter.

Awards & Recognition

Hearst Foundation Journalism Award for Enterprise Reporting.

Assistant produced 2-hour, Dateline episode hosted by Keith Morrison, “At the Bottom of the Pool,” aired Oct. 13, 2017.

Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society - lifelong membership exclusively for students in top 10 percent of their graduating class in journalism programs across the country.

National QuestBridge Scholar - awarded to the country's most talented, determined, and self-motivated students from low-income populations who demonstrate outstanding academic ability despite financial challenges.

News Philosophy

We consume news when we are gripped by the emotions making us all human — these are the stories that knock us off our feet. Tell the stories not easily seen that must be experienced through the emotions we all feel.

Hobbies, Interests & Community Involvement

Running and cycling! I love all of the fitness-inspired events South West Florida holds to benefit others.

Education

Bachelor of Science in Journalism, Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism, Magna Cum Laude.

Likes best about Southwest Florida

I am so grateful for the hundreds of days you can spend outdoors with friends and family.

Hometown 

Keystone Heights, Florida.

Rep. Steube introduces bill to change Marijuana to a schedule III controlled substance

Congressman Greg Steube (FL-17) introduced the Marijuana 1-to-3 Act of 2019 Thursday to reschedule marijuana from a schedule I controlled substance to a schedule III controlled substance, allowing further research on the substance to be conducted. “As marijuana is legalized for medical and recreational use across the United States, it is important that we study […]

Construction worker fights for life, injured in Cape Coral hit-and-run

At construction site, workers show up to the job understanding the danger they face. A worker is fighting for his life after being critically injured in a crash at his job site. We warn drivers all the time to slow down, especially near construction sites. Here is why: Anthony Joseph is lying in a hospital […]

Plane in the Bahamas wrecked by Hurricane Dorian. (Credit: Glass family)

Bahamas family overcomes Dorian’s destruction, makes new life in Naples

Evacuees, who made it the United States from the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian left the country in devastation, are doing what they can to stay afloat. Liam Glass said he feels safe in Naples. But he is far from home. Holding a flashlight with no electricity, Letitia and Laverne Glass, his parents, packed one bag […]

Naples Park woman, victim of hit-and-run, seeks justice after being left for dead

A Naples Park woman is seeking justice after being the victim of a hit-and-run and left for dead. Last month, WINK News told you about her husband, Tim Canter, who was searching high and low for a suspect. Now, Susan Canter shares her question for the driver who left her lying in a ditch. “Why’d […]

FGCU student Brianna Ritchie and her family (Family photos)

FGCU student reaches family in the Bahamas after 2 days

Desperate moments for a local Florida Gulf Coast University student after losing touch with her family for two days. As Brianna Ritchie focuses on her studies, another thought weighs heavily on her mind: her family living in a disaster zone. “My mind was running, like, I didn’t know what was happening on that side of […]

Views of the Bahamas from a Coast Guard Elizabeth City C-130 aircraft after Hurricane Dorian shifts north Sept. 3, 2019. Hurricane Dorian made landfall Saturday and intensified into Sunday. (Credit: U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam Stanton.)

Naples couple reminisce about Hope Town before Dorian’s wreckage

A Naples couple started their lives in the Bahamas. But the wrath of Hurricane Dorian has left them hopeless, unable to get ahold of their friends. David and Melissa Workinger might live in Naples, but their hearts are in Hope Town. “Like fresh off the boat, you go sit at a restaurant or order a […]

The family at their former home of the Abaco Islands, Bahamas (Family provided photo)

Former Abaco Islands inn owners fear for friends amidst destruction

It’s hard to see the place you once called home, change. Leslie Aaron and her husband watched the Abaco Islands, where they raised their boys, flatten. “It was a really safe place to raise your kids and have them walk around and run around in in their diapers with their ice cream cones, not even […]

Hendry County horse trainer prepares animals for Hurricane Dorian

A horse trainer in Hendry County told us it’s safer for them to stay put than try to evacuate before conditions potentially worsen due to Hurricane Dorian. Trainer Coy Smith said Hurricane Irma taught him a tough lesson. Talking about another farm, Smith said, “The horses were in the barn, and it destroyed the barn […]

Island communities usually ordered to evacuate first ahead of storms

When a storm threatens Southwest Florida, and you’re ordered to evacuate, you want to do it safely and quickly. But evacuation is not always as simple for those who live on an island, especially when there are limited routes off it. Small, coastal community are usually ordered to evacuated first ahead of a major storm. […]

Mugshot of Ryan Doyon, 29. (Credit: LCSO)

Cape Coral convicted killer’s motion for retrial denied

UPDATE: A Lee County judge denied the motion of Ryan Doyon, who was convicted last month for shooting and killing a man in Cape Coral in 2017. Doyon is now scheduled to be sentenced in Lee County court Tuesday, Oct. 1 for the murder of Roy A. Pike III. A jury found Doyon guilty of manslaughter […]