Regional EPA official resigns over Flint water crisis

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) – A regional director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resigned in connection with the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, the same day the agency’s chief issued an emergency order directing state and city officials to take actions to protect public health. The EPA said in a statement Thursday that […]

Hunter says he thought he saw deer, accidentally shot friend

OAK HILL, Fla. (AP) – A hunter told sheriff’s dispatchers that he mistook his friend for a deer while hunting at a ranch in central Florida. Volusia County Sheriff’s spokesman Gary Davidson tells the Daytona Beach News-Journal that a distraught 56-year-old Leeshawn Sutton called 911 Wednesday afternoon to report the shooting. Sutton and 65-year-old Bruce […]

Man charged with kidnapping of ex-girlfriend’s son

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Police say they have captured a north Florida man who kidnapped his ex-girlfriend’s 4-year-old son. The Gainesville Sun (http://bit.ly/1KtqTS5) reports that Donald Roy Long Jr. was arrested early Thursday in Georgia. The boy was unharmed. The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office reports that Long had recently broken up with the boy’s mother […]

Former detective gets house arrest for tax refund fraud

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – A former Tampa police detective has been sentenced to eight months of home detention and five years of probation for stealing fraudulent tax refund checks from an evidence room. Media outlets report that Jeanette Hevel was sentenced Thursday. She previously pleaded guilty to theft of government property. Court records show Hevel […]

Florida’s jobless rate now 5 percent, matches national level

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida’s unemployment rate continues to nudge down slightly. Officials announced Friday that the state’s jobless rate in December was 5 percent. This was a small decline of 0.1 percent from the revised rate of 5.1 percent for November. It’s the lowest the unemployment rate has been in seven years. The state […]

Remembering Veronica Shoemaker

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Southwest Florida is mourning the loss of one of its great activists. The first black member of the Fort Myers City Council has passed away, but the impression she made on the city will carry on for years to come. Fort Myers City Council Member Johnny Streets stopped by the WINK News […]

Auto recalls last year break annual record set in 2014

DETROIT (AP) – Automobile recalls hit another record last year as stronger government enforcement and widening recalls of exploding air bags pushed the total above 51 million vehicles. The 2015 number barely beat the old record set in 2014, after that total was adjusted downward from nearly 64 million to eliminate double counting in the […]

Britax recalls over 71,000 infant seats; handles can break

DETROIT (AP) – Britax Child Safety is recalling more than 71,000 infant car seats because the carrying handles can break. The recall covers the B-Safe 35, the B-Safe 35 Elite and the B-Safe 35 Travel System made from Oct. 1, 2014 to July 1, 2015. Documents posted Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration […]

Status of missing Marines changed to deceased

HONOLULU (AP) – The Marine Corps says the 12 Marines who were in two helicopters that crashed off Hawaii are considered dead. The status of the missing Marines changed to deceased on Wednesday, after five days of searching for them. The Marine Corps says casualty assistance calls officers personally notified each family of the change. […]