Professional Experience:

June 2018 to present: Anchor for WINK News This Morning. Previously worked at KMIZ in Columbia, Missouri as a weekend anchor and reporter.

Awards and Recognition:

Suncoast Regional Emmy Award nomination for reporting on a "Bomb Squad Search at a Home in Cape Coral."; Two Heart of America Gold Awards from the Kansas City Press Club for a special report on "Surviving a Mass Shooting" and for several reports on human and sex trafficking in mid-Missouri.

News Philosophy: 

Be a voice for the voiceless.

Hobbies and Interests & Community Involvement

Relaxing at the beach or by the pool, working out, reading a good murder-mystery book and watching true crime documentaries. Volunteer at Gulf Coast Humane Society.

Education

Ohio University, E.W. Scripps School of Journalism

Likes best about Southwest Florida:

The heat, humidity and beaches.

Hometown

Canonsburg, PA

COVID-19 testing difficult to find

COVID-19 cases across the state are on the rise. But can those looking for COVID-19 tests to see if they’re positive, find them? Some counties’ health departments are working to expand their hours and locations for people to get COVID-19 tests. Many have told WINK News that finding a same-day test is like looking for […]

Lee County commissioners vote to sue feds over planned Lake O water releases

Lee County commissioners are prepared to bring legal action against the Army Corps of  Engineers if there aren’t substantial changes to the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual, or LOSOM. LOSOM seeks to establish water releases from Lake O taking into account additional infrastructure that will soon be operational. Lee County is unhappy with the plan […]

Fort Myers city leaders to discuss annexing part of North Fort Myers

Fort Myers City leaders are discussing the idea of annexing at least part of North Fort Myers to make the unincorporated area part of their own city. The two areas are currently separated by the Caloosahatchee River. People like Deborah Cop and Charles Garretson choose to live in North Fort Myers to escape the so-called […]

Fort Myers Police Chief contract has been renewed by city council

Fort Myers City Council has decided to renew Fort Myers Police Chief Derrick Diggs’ contract until 2023. On Monday night, the Fort Myers City Council discussed his contract and decided it will be renewed for a few more years. Renewing the Diggs’ contract would likely be for two more years – through August of 2023. […]

A look inside NCH’s critical care unit as COVID cases surge

As new COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Southwest Florida, we take you back inside the ICU at NCH to show us the reality doctors and nurses are facing now. The pace inside the critical care unit at NCH is fast. “This is not the COVID that you knew,” said Dr. David Lindner, NCH COVID-19 […]

Trees torn down at downtown Fort Myers’ Centennial Park

Centennial Park has been closed since October 2020 when the city removed the homeless population for plans of a renovation. On Tuesday, trees surrounding the Uncommon Friends Fountain, were removed. The tree removal was part of the plan but people are upset. Community activists say the trees were part of Fort Myers’ legacy. They provided […]

Suspect faces 2nd-degree murder charge for June Lehigh Acres homicide

One man was arrested in connection to a road rage shooting death in Lehigh Acres. According to Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, Yusafali Gooding, 27, of Lehigh Acres faces a charge of second-degree murder. On the evening of June 28, Yairo Oropeza, 23, was shot and killed along Sunrise Boulevard in what Marceno described as […]

Pilots in demand as airline industry struggles to keep up

Air travel has picked up again but the airline industry is struggling to keep up. Pilots are in demand, and American Airlines is canceling almost 1,000 flights because of the shortage. Katie Clagg is a flight instructor at Paragon Flight in Fort Myers. The academy at Page Field said it’s on pace for a record year […]

alexander connolly

Fort Myers police hope tips help search for missing-endangered teen, possible witness

Investigators hope you can help bring a Southwest Florida teenager home. Since Sunday, 16-year-old Alex Connolly of Fort Myers has been considered missing and endangered. Brand-new clues Tuesday might help find him. He was last seen near the Windsor East Apartments in Fort Myers where he lives. Fort Myers Police Department released new surveillance pictures […]