League Club of Naples awards record $683K in grants to Collier, Lee nonprofitsFriday’s Furry Friends: Holly, Slim
League Club of Naples awards record $683K in grants to Collier, Lee nonprofits At a mid-April breakfast event, the 35 area nonprofit agencies—chosen from a record number of applicants—were awarded grants from the women’s volunteer organization in areas ranging from arts education, to fighting hunger and homelessness, to providing bikes and wheelchairs to children in need
Tim Aten Knows: Chick-fil-A drive-thru proposal faces criticism in Naples Chick-fil-A is proposing a drive-thru restaurant at the site of the former Red Lobster restaurant on U.S. 41 in Naples, but the project is facing early criticism.
NAPLES Friday’s Furry Friends: Holly, Slim For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Collier County Domestic Animal Services to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Dust Devil spotted spiraling in Fort Myers A dust devil was spotted and recorded by a WINK News viewer on Hanson Street in Fort Myers.
Warm, dry and breezy afternoon after a comfortable morning The Weather Authority is tracking a comfortable Friday morning start with dry and breezy afternoon conditions expected.
NAPLES Event held in Naples for National Crime Victims Week The City of Naples and Project HELP held an event in Baker Park for National Crime Victims Week.
NAPLES 25-acre brush fire off I-75 in Collier County lowers air quality The Greater Naples Fire Rescue responded to a 25-acre brush fire at Mile Marker 96 on I-75 in the Picayune Strand State Forest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral softball coach arrested for alleged inappropriate conduct with student released on bond A former Cape Coral volunteer softball coach arrested for alleged sexual contact with a student was released from jail on bond.
FORT MYERS A prom like no other at Golisano Children’s Hospital Logan Stryker may be a little young for high school prom, but he’s the prom king of Golisano Children’s Hospital.
FORT MYERS Group protests death of Christopher Jordan Their messages were aimed at the Fort Myers police department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney Amira Fox.
FORT MYERS A least 3 cars involved in crash near Top Golf Way and Challenger Blvd. It happened near Top Golf Way and Challenger Boulevard in Fort Myers.
Hendry County Fired deputy charged with crimes had troubled past in law enforcement A local police officer resigned in lieu of termination after dozens of disciplinary actions against him, so how was he hired at another SWFL law enforcement agency?
New resolution could help fend off FEMA’s threat to pull flood insurance discount Some United States representatives are taking matters into their own hands to help those threatened by more expensive flood insurance.
NAPLES Local group rallies in solidarity with Israel Passover week is an important time for the Jewish community, but hostages are still being held.
From Verot to The Show: Blaze Alexander is living his MLB dream Former Bishop Verot star Blaze Alexander is now living his MLB dream as he got called up to join the Arizona Diamondbacks.
League Club of Naples awards record $683K in grants to Collier, Lee nonprofits At a mid-April breakfast event, the 35 area nonprofit agencies—chosen from a record number of applicants—were awarded grants from the women’s volunteer organization in areas ranging from arts education, to fighting hunger and homelessness, to providing bikes and wheelchairs to children in need
Tim Aten Knows: Chick-fil-A drive-thru proposal faces criticism in Naples Chick-fil-A is proposing a drive-thru restaurant at the site of the former Red Lobster restaurant on U.S. 41 in Naples, but the project is facing early criticism.
NAPLES Friday’s Furry Friends: Holly, Slim For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Collier County Domestic Animal Services to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Dust Devil spotted spiraling in Fort Myers A dust devil was spotted and recorded by a WINK News viewer on Hanson Street in Fort Myers.
Warm, dry and breezy afternoon after a comfortable morning The Weather Authority is tracking a comfortable Friday morning start with dry and breezy afternoon conditions expected.
NAPLES Event held in Naples for National Crime Victims Week The City of Naples and Project HELP held an event in Baker Park for National Crime Victims Week.
NAPLES 25-acre brush fire off I-75 in Collier County lowers air quality The Greater Naples Fire Rescue responded to a 25-acre brush fire at Mile Marker 96 on I-75 in the Picayune Strand State Forest.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral softball coach arrested for alleged inappropriate conduct with student released on bond A former Cape Coral volunteer softball coach arrested for alleged sexual contact with a student was released from jail on bond.
FORT MYERS A prom like no other at Golisano Children’s Hospital Logan Stryker may be a little young for high school prom, but he’s the prom king of Golisano Children’s Hospital.
FORT MYERS Group protests death of Christopher Jordan Their messages were aimed at the Fort Myers police department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney Amira Fox.
FORT MYERS A least 3 cars involved in crash near Top Golf Way and Challenger Blvd. It happened near Top Golf Way and Challenger Boulevard in Fort Myers.
Hendry County Fired deputy charged with crimes had troubled past in law enforcement A local police officer resigned in lieu of termination after dozens of disciplinary actions against him, so how was he hired at another SWFL law enforcement agency?
New resolution could help fend off FEMA’s threat to pull flood insurance discount Some United States representatives are taking matters into their own hands to help those threatened by more expensive flood insurance.
NAPLES Local group rallies in solidarity with Israel Passover week is an important time for the Jewish community, but hostages are still being held.
From Verot to The Show: Blaze Alexander is living his MLB dream Former Bishop Verot star Blaze Alexander is now living his MLB dream as he got called up to join the Arizona Diamondbacks.
CAPE CORAL, Fla. – WINK News investigators continue to stand up for our veterans, uncovering another group of local veterans, who can’t believe how the VA is treating them. Fort the past 18 months Dennis Simon and other veterans he calls his “brothers” have been meeting for peer-to-peer counseling at the Cape Coral VA once a week. Like Simon, most of the veterans in his local group fought in Vietnam and all of them suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. “You have survivor’s guilt and it really has a depressing result on me,” he explained. “Like the fellas will tell you, before the group I was going through periods of serious deep suicidal depression quite honestly.” Luis Casilla is a volunteer trained to oversee the group. Also a veteran, he started out as a patient then transitioned to working at a VA office in Boston for more than a decade. “We’re there, we’re there for each other,” explained Casilla of the group. But the veterans group said last Friday everything changed. When they went to the VA clinic for their meeting, they were all escorted off the property and written citations for trespassing. “Here we are senior citizens, we’re veterans, one of our members is 82-years-old and they said you must leave this area immediately it’s restrictive,” recalled Simon. “They issued us citations, calling it trespass. How do you trespass in a facility that was supposedly built for you?” The men say they asked to speak with the medical director about why they weren’t able to meet anymore and were told she was not available. Simon says that’s when the VA police escorted them off the property and gave them all citations. “We’ve all be assigned by psychologists to this group and we just want to know why this groups been canceled with no notice…. It was total humiliation, total disrespect,” said Simon. WINK News Call for Action called and emailed the Bay Pines VA in St. Petersburg, who oversees the three local VA clinics. According to a spokesman, they are implementing changes which were part of a 2008 law which calls for specific groups to be led by certified peer specialists. They also sent us this statement: “In an effort to ease this transition, volunteer leaders of these groups began being notified about this change 2-3 months ago during face-to-face meetings with mental health leadership. Mental health professionals continue to work with these groups to ensure successful transitions and continuity of care. One volunteer-led group at the Lee County Healthcare Center in Cape Coral refused the transition, clinical supervision and presence of a peer specialist during their sessions and have subsequently stopped meeting at the facility. The group leaders were first notified about the transition on October 3, 2014. Since that time, we have continued to try to work with the leaders to elicit their cooperation in the new group setting and have also offered assistance to relocate them to a community setting outside of the VA. On December 5, this group of Veterans presented at the facility unscheduled and unannounced and indicated that they wished to hold a meeting. In the absence of orders, a staff member decided to allow them to meet in a conference room. Shortly after the meeting began, the Veterans left the conference room to conduct a protest about the dissolution of their group outside the administrative offices on the fourth floor. Due to this activity and conduct of the group, VA Police were dispatched to the area and the Veterans were escorted to the parking lot. Each Veteran was issued a courtesy notice and left the property without further incident. Just like all of our peer support groups, it is our goal to continue providing this service to Veterans in accordance with policy and the evidence-based practice recognized by VHA. It is important to note that mental health professionals at the Lee County Healthcare Center welcome the continuation of this group with appropriate presence of clinical staff. We will continue working with Veterans that participate in these groups to ensure they understand how peer specialists and clinical supervision supports better health care outcomes and continuity of care. ” The veterans we talked to claimed they were told about possible changes but never given a date when the meetings must stop and they feel the VA handled the whole situation poorly. “We can’t believe the country that we served so honorably we treat us so dishonorably,” explained Simon. When WINK News spoke with the VA spokesman by phone Wednesday afternoon, he did apologize for the way the situation was handled. However, he reiterated that because of the newly implemented law, mental health groups meeting on VA property must be overseen by a veteran who is licensed and employed by the VA. He also tells us that they will reach out to the veterans group again to try to reach an agreement. We also cleared up that the citation the veterans got was just a warning and that they are still allowed on property.