Teenager denied entrance to prom for wearing a suitPrecautionary boil water notice for small portion of Lee County Utilities customers
NAPLES Teenager denied entrance to prom for wearing a suit Prom is a rite of passage for many teenagers, but one teen had her prom dreams ruined after wasn’t allowed in because of what she was wearing.
SOUTH FORT MYERS Precautionary boil water notice for small portion of Lee County Utilities customers Repair work is expected to be completed overnight and water service will be restored before early morning Wednesday.
NEAR DUNNELLON 8 dead, at least 40 hurt after bus transporting farm workers overturns At least eight people have been killed, and dozens of others have been hurt in a bus crash near Dunnellon after it was hit by a pickup truck.
LEHIGH ACRES Could tiny homes be coming to Lee County? Miniopolis Builders, a company with a vision to revolutionize affordable housing, is facing challenges in bringing their innovative concept to life in Lee County.
ARCADIA Fifteen-year-old beat up during basketball game A pick-up game of basketball at Desoto County High School turned into a physical beating for fifteen-year-old Jeremiah Ward.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte man found guilty for role in January 6 riots John Joseph Richter is now convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding.
Commissioners react to colleague living outside of his district The first Glades Commissioners meeting since Florida Department of Law Enforcement released their investigation findings happened on Tuesday.
NAPLES Former News-Press Food Critic writes powerful memoir, “The Mango Tree” For 15 years, Annabelle Tometich wrote under the famous byline Jean Le Beouf as a food critic for the News-Press. Now, she tells her personal story in her book, “The Mango Tree.”
SAN CARLOS BAY ‘It was incredible’ Couple has close encounter with shark while kayaking on San Carlos Bay Sandrine Fontaine and Arnaud Fontaine come to Southwest Florida twice a year from France, and they try to spend every day kayaking out on the water.
FORT MYERS AI: Friend or Foe for local businesses? Artificial intelligence, otherwise known as AI, has the power to maximize a product. Including local businesses like Vectra Digital.
Protest erupts before Glades Commissioners meeting Early on Tuesday morning, a group of people stood outside of the Glades County Commissioners meeting protesting Commissioner Whidden.
GOLDEN GATE Deputies investigating stabbing at home in Golden Gate Deputies are outside of a house for a stabbing investigation. Collier County deputies said there is one person hurt.
Is there an arsonist on the loose in Lehigh Acres? Fire investigators are looking into a series of suspicious fires in Lehigh Acres that have them wondering if there is an arsonist on the loose.
Collier commissioners push plan to allow rental of guesthouses in Urban Estates The 4-1 vote, which includes a review after one year and a Code Enforcement report, involves homesteaded properties in an area of North Naples west of Collier Boulevard.
Gulf Citrus Growers Association shuts down The association’s closure means farmers across the region no longer have a group that can provide them support with local governments in lobbying for citrus-friendly public policies.
NAPLES Teenager denied entrance to prom for wearing a suit Prom is a rite of passage for many teenagers, but one teen had her prom dreams ruined after wasn’t allowed in because of what she was wearing.
SOUTH FORT MYERS Precautionary boil water notice for small portion of Lee County Utilities customers Repair work is expected to be completed overnight and water service will be restored before early morning Wednesday.
NEAR DUNNELLON 8 dead, at least 40 hurt after bus transporting farm workers overturns At least eight people have been killed, and dozens of others have been hurt in a bus crash near Dunnellon after it was hit by a pickup truck.
LEHIGH ACRES Could tiny homes be coming to Lee County? Miniopolis Builders, a company with a vision to revolutionize affordable housing, is facing challenges in bringing their innovative concept to life in Lee County.
ARCADIA Fifteen-year-old beat up during basketball game A pick-up game of basketball at Desoto County High School turned into a physical beating for fifteen-year-old Jeremiah Ward.
PORT CHARLOTTE Port Charlotte man found guilty for role in January 6 riots John Joseph Richter is now convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding.
Commissioners react to colleague living outside of his district The first Glades Commissioners meeting since Florida Department of Law Enforcement released their investigation findings happened on Tuesday.
NAPLES Former News-Press Food Critic writes powerful memoir, “The Mango Tree” For 15 years, Annabelle Tometich wrote under the famous byline Jean Le Beouf as a food critic for the News-Press. Now, she tells her personal story in her book, “The Mango Tree.”
SAN CARLOS BAY ‘It was incredible’ Couple has close encounter with shark while kayaking on San Carlos Bay Sandrine Fontaine and Arnaud Fontaine come to Southwest Florida twice a year from France, and they try to spend every day kayaking out on the water.
FORT MYERS AI: Friend or Foe for local businesses? Artificial intelligence, otherwise known as AI, has the power to maximize a product. Including local businesses like Vectra Digital.
Protest erupts before Glades Commissioners meeting Early on Tuesday morning, a group of people stood outside of the Glades County Commissioners meeting protesting Commissioner Whidden.
GOLDEN GATE Deputies investigating stabbing at home in Golden Gate Deputies are outside of a house for a stabbing investigation. Collier County deputies said there is one person hurt.
Is there an arsonist on the loose in Lehigh Acres? Fire investigators are looking into a series of suspicious fires in Lehigh Acres that have them wondering if there is an arsonist on the loose.
Collier commissioners push plan to allow rental of guesthouses in Urban Estates The 4-1 vote, which includes a review after one year and a Code Enforcement report, involves homesteaded properties in an area of North Naples west of Collier Boulevard.
Gulf Citrus Growers Association shuts down The association’s closure means farmers across the region no longer have a group that can provide them support with local governments in lobbying for citrus-friendly public policies.
A video camera captured the moment a state trooper stunned a teen in Lee County. (CREDIT: WINK News) The State Attorney’s Office will not be filing charges against a teenager who was tased by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper in Lee County in June. Jack Rodeman, 16, was arrested and placed in juvenile detention after trooper George Smyrnios followed Rodeman to the house of the teen’s girlfriend in Three Oaks and tased him more than once. Smyrnios claimed he found Rodeman’s behavior suspicious; although, Rodeman’s girlfriend confirmed he had permission to be behind her house. Rodeman’s booking charge was named in a notice to the Lee County Clerk of Court as failure to obey police or fire department, a public order crime and second-degree misdemeanor. The notice says there was insufficient evidence to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why the charge was dropped. The interaction between Rodeman and Smyrnios was caught on surveillance video and shows the trooper shocking the teen at least twice before the teen falls back first into a firepit made of what appears to be bricks. “I didn’t understand (why) he was approaching me at first or why he tased me,” Rodeman said. Fort Myers Attorney Sawyer Smith is representing Rodeman and said the state attorney’s office, led by Amira Fox, had no choice but to drop the charges thanks to the widely circulated video. “To FHP, nice try. But when you tase a young man, Ms. Fox is going to stand in between you and that young man and protect his rights,” Smith said. Smith will now turn his attention to suing Florida Highway Patrol. Smith said Rodeman is continuing to recover from his injuries at home. WINK News reached out to FHP for comment on the state’s decision to not pursue charges and about the potential lawsuit, but did not hear back from the state agency.