Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior nightPolice: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
NORTH NAPLES Senior Airman surprises cousin on Aubrey Rogers softball senior night Aubrey Rogers senior pitcher and infielder McKenzie Vargas surprised by her Air Force cousin for Senior Night.
BONITA SPRINGS Police: 15-year-old injured after accidentally shot in the leg Lee County deputies say the teen was accidentally shot in the leg.
PUNTA GORDA Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.
IMMOKALEE Caught on video: Huge gator crosses Immokalee neighborhood Fridays in Florida are for gators
FORT MYERS FGCU softball pitcher making a name for herself One season in FGCU, freshman pitcher Allison Sparkman is already ruffling feathers in the circle.
Surrendering-pets trend at Gulf Coast Humane Society concerns An large amount of pets are being surrendered by their owners. About half of the dogs at the Gulf Coast Humane Society are surrender dogs.
Students benefitting from millions in sales tax dollars So far, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax has brought in $507 million for the Lee County School District.
PORT CHARLOTTE ‘Shady’: One woman feels misled after federal student loan consolidation It takes some people decades to pay off their student loans. One woman’s last payment was in sight until she took a gamble she said she was told to take.
FORT MYERS Homeless encampments inch closer to neighborhoods Law enforcement has swept multiple encampments, cleaning the trails of mess and muck left behind, and some of these encampments are right in our backyards.
BIG CYPRESS PRESERVE What changes if Big Cypress National Preserve becomes a Wilderness Area? America’s first nationally designated preserve is in Southwest Florida’s backyard, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Method to treat IBD being used for other health issues Trying to get treatments for the brain when fighting neurological diseases like epilepsy and ALS is a challenge.
FORT MYERS NTSB report reveals new details in helicopter crash after Hurricane Ian The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on a helicopter crash that occurred in Iona, Florida, shortly after Hurricane Ian.
NAPLES Memorial celebrates the life of John Passidomo Hundreds of friends and family gathered for a memorial at Baker Park in Naples.
‘Latinos in Action’ empowers all students to succeed WINK News talked with teachers who are a part of the program, helping kids reach their full potential.
Immokalee ‘The eyes always draw me in’; Immokalee portrait artist turns dark times into color One of Southwest Florida best portrait artist, Martha Maria Cantu, almost gave up art. Now she’s on the forefront of the city of Immokalee, to make her community filled with color.
Student in school wearing a mask. Credit: CBS An administrative law judge will have up to two weeks to issue a decision after a hearing ended Friday in a challenge by six school boards to a state Department of Health rule designed to prevent student mask requirements. The challenge was filed by school boards in Alachua, Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade, Orange, and Leon counties, which are among eight boards facing state financial penalties after adopting policies that required students to wear masks to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The state’s crackdown on the school boards relied on the Sept. 22 emergency rule, which said decisions to opt-out of mask requirements are at the “sole discretion” of parents or guardians. It replaced an Aug. 6 version of the rule that called for parents to be able to opt-out of mask mandates but did not expressly prevent school districts from requiring doctors’ notes for exemptions. During a two-day hearing that started Thursday, Judge Brian Newman heard testimony from witnesses called by attorneys on both sides. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease specialist, and professor at Florida International University testified for the school boards about the efficacy of masks in fighting the spread of COVID-19. “There’s no ifs, and, or buts about it, masks are a highly effective way of reducing transmission from a respiratory virus, and particularly one that is spread by aerosol as is the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” Marty said. The emergency rule is designed to carry out a July 30 executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis that sought to prevent mask requirements. It also came after some districts only allowed students to be exempt from mask mandates if they had documented medical reasons. Marty took aim at allowing parents to opt their children out of wearing masks in schools. “Under the circumstances that we were under, with the type of viral load we have, it is much better to have a mask mandate without a parental opt-out,” Marty said, adding that it is “much safer for the child” to leave decisions about opting out of mask requirements to medical professionals. The Sept. 22 rule also sought to give parents control over whether asymptomatic students go to school after being exposed to COVID-19, effectively preventing the required quarantining of such students. Jacob Oliva, a senior chancellor for the state Department of Education, defended the rule during testimony Friday. He pointed to results from standardized tests given to students last school year in making the case against quarantining asymptomatic students. “When we analyzed those results, we saw a learning loss in every subject area that we tested for. It was most significant in the area of mathematics,” Oliva said. “And when we were able to break down the data and look at where students were learning, whether it was in-person … or a remote hybrid option, there was clear evidence in the 94 percent of students we tested statewide that the students that came to school and learned in-person in front of their teachers, learning loss were half of what it was for the distance-learning students.” Newman gave attorneys until next Friday to file proposed final orders laying out how they would like the judge to rule. He will have until Nov. 5 to issue an order.