Truck overturns, spills cargo; I-75 at mile marker 63 closed2 teens identified in Franklin Lock Park drowning
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.
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 attorney’s 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 closes multiple 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 leader’s protégé, dies at 63 in helicopter crash Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protégé of the country’s 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.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: road rage, domestic violence and camper fire This weeks segment of WINK Neighborhood watch features: An angry driver, a posterior puncture, and a family camper up in flames.
OCALA Memorial held for migrant bus crash victims A memorial was held in Ocala Friday night after a bus crash left eight people dead and 45 injured this past Tuesday.
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.
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 attorney’s 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 closes multiple 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 leader’s protégé, dies at 63 in helicopter crash Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protégé of the country’s 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.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: road rage, domestic violence and camper fire This weeks segment of WINK Neighborhood watch features: An angry driver, a posterior puncture, and a family camper up in flames.
OCALA Memorial held for migrant bus crash victims A memorial was held in Ocala Friday night after a bus crash left eight people dead and 45 injured this past Tuesday.
In this April 16, 2018 photo, adult film actress Stormy Daniels outside federal court in New York. Stormy Daniels filed a defamation complaint in federal court in New York on Monday. At issue is a tweet Trump made in which he dismissed a composite sketch that Daniels says depicts a man who threatened her in 2011 to stay quiet about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) President Donald Trump said Thursday reimbursement to his personal lawyer for hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels was done through a monthly retainer and “had nothing to do with the campaign.” On Twitter, Trump says his personal attorney Michael Cohen received a monthly retainer “from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA.” He added that the agreement “was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair.” Trump’s tweets outlining the arrangement came after Rudy Giuliani, one of his attorneys, said Wednesday that Trump reimbursed Cohen for $130,000 in hush money to Daniels days before the 2016 presidential, appearing to contradict the president’s past claims that he didn’t know the source of the money. During an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Giuliani said the money to repay Michael Cohen had been “funneled … through the law firm and the president repaid it.” Asked if Trump knew about the arrangement, Giuliani said: “He didn’t know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don’t burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people.” The comments appeared to contradict statements made by Trump several weeks ago, when he said he didn’t know about the payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the presidential election. Giuliani later suggested to The Wall Street Journal that while Trump had repaid the $130,000, Cohen had settled the payment to Daniels without Trump’s knowledge at the time. Guiliani’s revelation seemed aimed at reducing the president’s legal exposure. But outside experts said it raised a number of questions, including whether the money represented repayment of an undisclosed loan or could be seen as reimbursement for a campaign expenditure. Asked aboard Air Force One last month whether he knew about the payment, Trump said flatly: “No.” Trump also said he didn’t know why Cohen had made the payment or where he got the money. In a phone interview with “Fox and Friends” last week, however, Trump appeared to muddy the waters, saying that Cohen represented him in the “crazy Stormy Daniels deal.” The White House referred questions to the president’s personal legal team. Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and ex-U.S. attorney who joined Trump’s legal team last month, said the president had repaid Cohen over several months, indicating the payments continued through at least the presidential transition, if not into his presidency. He also said the payment “is going to turn out to be perfectly legal” because “that money was not campaign money.” No debt to Cohen is listed on Trump’s personal financial disclosure form, which was certified on June 16, 2017. Giuliani also described the payment to Daniels as “a very regular thing for lawyers to do.” Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, called the comment “a stunning revelation.” “Mr. Trump evidently has participated in a felony and there must be serious consequences for his conduct and his lies and deception to the American people,” he said. Giuliani made the statements to Fox host Sean Hannity, who has his own connection to the case. It was recently revealed in court that Hannity is one of Cohen’s clients. Hannity has described his personal dealings with Cohen as centered on real estate advice and said that it “never rose to any level that I needed to tell anyone that I was asking him questions.” Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, says she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, months after his third wife gave birth to his youngest child, and was paid to keep quiet as part of a nondisclosure agreement she is now seeking to invalidate. She has also filed a defamation suit against Trump after he questioned a composite sketch she released of a man she says threatened her to stay quiet. The White House has said Trump denies having a relationship with Daniels. Cohen had said previously: “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.” He notably did not include the president personally. Asked about Cohen’s denial, Giuliani said that he didn’t know whether Cohen had made the payment without asking Trump but that he had “no reason to dispute that.” The revelation from Giuliani came as Cohen was under escalating legal pressure. He is facing a criminal investigation in New York, and FBI agents raided his home and office several weeks ago seeking records about the nondisclosure agreement. Daniels’ lawsuit over the hush deal has been delayed, with the judge citing the criminal investigation. The payment to Daniels has raised numerous legal questions, including whether it was an illegal campaign contribution and, now, a loan. “If this is true then it looks like Cohen may have made an unreported loan to the campaign rather than a contribution,” said Richard L. Hasen, an expert in election law at the University of California, Irvine. He said that might be better for Cohen, but not for Trump, because it undermines the argument that Cohen was acting independently. “The greatest significance is that it implicates the president directly,” he said. Law firms advance expenses for clients as a matter of course, and so there’s nothing inherently improper about a lawyer covering a particular payment and then being reimbursed for it. In this case, though, the client who apparently reimbursed the expense was running for president and the money was paid just days before the election, raising questions about whether Cohen’s law practice was functioning as a vendor for the campaign and whether the expense was therefore an unreported campaign expenditure. If so, that could be legally problematic. Andrew Herman, an attorney specializing in campaign finance law at Miller & Chevalier, said Giuliani’s argument that this was a private payment unrelated to the campaign appears to be “pretty far-fetched” given the timing — weeks before the election while Trump was under fire for his behavior with women and for an “Access Hollywood” tape in which he spoke of groping women without their consent. But if Cohen or Trump could establish that discussions with Daniels over the payment long predated his run for office, that could help them with the argument that the money was a personal rather than political expense. ___ Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Jonathan Lemire and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.