Peter Fleischer

The Florida Gulf Coast University women’s basketball team is ranked in the top 25 in the country and is getting dubbed as the top mid-major program in the country. While Karl Smesko may not be the most well-known head coach, he is one of the most successful coaches of all time. FGCU women’s hoops aren’t […]

There’s a new push to improve highway safety as the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and the community mourn the loss of a 23-year-old deputy. Anyone who drives on the interstate can see the need. On Tuesday night, Deputy Christopher Taylor was killed on the side of the road, where he should have been safe. It’s […]

Could changes to the local election process become permanent in Lee County? After shifting their entire system following Hurricane Ian, the supervisor of elections says voting protocols could get an overhaul. With just weeks to set up a new system and inform voters about the changes, Lee County Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle is happy […]

Caution and safety, that’s the message from Lee County as Southwest Florida braces for Tropical Storm Nicole. Lee County officials assured the community that the storm would be nothing like Hurricane Ian. Because of that, the county is not planning to activate most of the emergency protocols we saw just six weeks ago. “We encourage […]

Post-storm looting is worse than ever in Lee County, but law enforcement, and the community, are fighting back. WINK News investigative reporter Peter Fleischer uncovers the numbers behind the looting problem and how one neighborhood is coming together for protection. Whether grabbing through debris on the sidewalk or entering a home and taking valuable items, […]

Recovery will take years, a grim yet realistic admission at the Lee County Board of Commissioners meeting earlier on Tuesday. Facing a long rebuild after Hurricane Ian, county officials have approved a new task force that should help Southwest Florida down the road. The county is projecting recovery efforts as far out as five years. […]

Did Lee County make the call to evacuate before Hurricane Ian too late? It is a question that WINK News has been looking into. The first mandatory evacuations came at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, September 27. One day before Ian made landfall. The National Hurricane Center sent out an alert on Monday, September 26, at […]

Sources tell WINK News a Lee County commissioner was out of the country while Southwest Florida got hit by Hurricane Ian. WINK News has learned that Lee County Commission Chairman Cecil Pendergrass left the country and was in Germany the week of Hurricane Ian. Multiple county sources reached out to WINK News investigative reporter Peter […]

Collier County has given initial estimates for the impact of Hurricane Ian, with billions of dollars in losses and thousands of homes damaged. WINK News discovered Hurricane Ian created approximately $2.2 billion in damages across Collier County, and most of that damage was in homes that were ripped apart. Ian also left 7,000 homes that need […]

Lee County spent Wednesday morning testing voting machines to protect election integrity. The Lee County Elections Office ran a methodical 17-step process, testing the logic and accuracy of voting machines. They ran a simulated election with predetermined voting numbers and then double-checked the math. Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle was happy with the performance of […]