Port Charlotte priest accused of sexual abuse appears in courtAlamo Drafthouse Cinema prepares for opening at Mercato
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte priest accused of sexual abuse appears in court A priest accused of sexually abusing four altar boys in Iowa nearly 40 years ago returned to Charlotte County court.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema prepares for opening at Mercato The newest movie theater in Southwest Florida opens April 29, and it does so with an array of entertainment offerings that go beyond the usual options across the region.
Let’s Waffle opens in Cape Coral Let’s Waffle is one of two businesses the Feix family launched locally, with the FMS Florida Boat Tours and Limousine Service owned and operated by Feix’s husband, Alexander.
Planned Punta Gorda hotel, pub, brewery faces construction delay Kevin Doyle, owner of Celtic Ray Public House Irish pub in downtown Punta Gorda, and his partner, S4 Global Investments, were found in violation of the city’s exposed soils code.
Three Sisters Spring Toast the manatee released by FWC, SeaWorld and Casey DeSantis near Crystal River A manatee named Toast was released back into the Florida waters after a final medical evaluation from wildlife officials.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Man arrested and charged with over 90 counts of fraud The Cape Coral Police Department arrested a man for allegedly stealing items from a business and then pawning them.
Man accused of pulling gun on someone ordering at Collier County Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru A man has been arrested after allegedly pulling a gun on someone ordering at a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru in Collier County.
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.
Man convicted for murder of 17-year-old girl will be in court for resentencing A convicted man will be in court for resentencing for a murder that he committed as a teenager almost 20 years ago.
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 Friday afternoon 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.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte priest accused of sexual abuse appears in court A priest accused of sexually abusing four altar boys in Iowa nearly 40 years ago returned to Charlotte County court.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema prepares for opening at Mercato The newest movie theater in Southwest Florida opens April 29, and it does so with an array of entertainment offerings that go beyond the usual options across the region.
Let’s Waffle opens in Cape Coral Let’s Waffle is one of two businesses the Feix family launched locally, with the FMS Florida Boat Tours and Limousine Service owned and operated by Feix’s husband, Alexander.
Planned Punta Gorda hotel, pub, brewery faces construction delay Kevin Doyle, owner of Celtic Ray Public House Irish pub in downtown Punta Gorda, and his partner, S4 Global Investments, were found in violation of the city’s exposed soils code.
Three Sisters Spring Toast the manatee released by FWC, SeaWorld and Casey DeSantis near Crystal River A manatee named Toast was released back into the Florida waters after a final medical evaluation from wildlife officials.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral Man arrested and charged with over 90 counts of fraud The Cape Coral Police Department arrested a man for allegedly stealing items from a business and then pawning them.
Man accused of pulling gun on someone ordering at Collier County Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru A man has been arrested after allegedly pulling a gun on someone ordering at a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru in Collier County.
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.
Man convicted for murder of 17-year-old girl will be in court for resentencing A convicted man will be in court for resentencing for a murder that he committed as a teenager almost 20 years ago.
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 Friday afternoon 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.
Credit: WINK News The new executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said that one week into his job, his first assessment is what he calls a “workload vs. manpower issue.” Dane Eagle spoke with WINK News via Zoom from his car as he traveled to survey Hurricane Sally damage in Pensacola and answered some of your more pressing questions. RELATED: Suggestion Box – Florida’s unemployment system “One thing I’ve really been focused on is communication,” he said, discussing his plans for the department. “While there’s a great team assembled, they need more help. And with the balance budgets, with the government jobs, that is a cost that we have to incur,” he said. “We’re ramping up staff in our communications department, ramping up staff in our legislative affairs department, ramping up staff in our Reemployment Assistance department and the IT department. Those are all very crucial areas to addressing this problem.” The main issue: the remaining backlog of claims for reemployment assistance, Eagle’s number one priority. “We’ve paid 97% of eligible claimants. That’s a great number, but the 3%, that means 3% of Floridians, 3% of families out there are still waiting to get … what’s owed to them. So that’s something that I’m committed to.” RELATED: DEO’s Reemployment Assistance Claims Dashboard He couldn’t give a timeline on when that number will reach 100%. Meanwhile, he said he’ll be reviewing everything that’s gone wrong to make sure it doesn’t happen again. “The governor has admitted that the system was designed to fail people. Terri Adams wants to know what are some concrete plans you have to improve fix or entirely replace the unemployment website?” asked WINK News Investigative Reporter Sara Girard on behalf of a viewer. “The CONNECT system has obviously had its problems and we’re trying to address that. We’ve got a good IT team looking into it. They’re overworked as well, so we want to make sure that they’re addressing the right issues at the right time, doing the right builds, having the right programs installed so that people can get that user-friendly access, that we would all hope and expect like we would if we go to Amazon or something like that,” Eagle replied. “We’re trying to assess long-term what’s the best thing to do, rebuild or replace, but in the meantime, we’ve got to maintain and continue to rebuild and try to be innovative with the current system we have. Unfortunately, that’s the only answer we have in the short term.” Eagle is also preparing for the next legislative session when lawmakers are expected to propose an increase in unemployment benefits. On behalf of a viewer named Don Austin, our reporter asked: “Will you try to make that happen? Do you want to see benefits raised?” “It will be up to them to decide. We won’t certainly meddle in that process, but we will provide the data and the information they request so that they can make the right decisions,” Eagle said. The director said that before his appointment, he reached out to every legislator in the state to get their perspectives on what they’ve seen with their constituents, what has worked and what hasn’t, and suggestions for improvement. “I think that information is invaluable, being able to come into DEO and help assess from the ground level what we were seeing, and think about it collaboratively, and bring our ideas together and really try to be innovative and think outside the box.” Eagle said he’s making himself available like he did as a legislator and improving on communication with you. “I think that some of the best ideas are going to come from claimants who have dealt with the system, they’re going to come from the legislators who are working with those claimants,” he said. “I’m looking at everybody for communication and ideas. So send them our way.” Have suggestions on how to improve our current unemployment system? Submit them here and we’ll take them straight to the top. For ongoing updates and information on unemployment, follow WINK News Investigative Reporter Sara Girard on Twitter and Facebook. She also updates the WINK News FAQ: Unemployment Resources page as information is received.