News & Public Affairs
draftgore.com says support for Gore is growing
10/10/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Readers of today’s New York Times were greeted on page A15 by a full page ad from the group draftgore.com, which published an open letter to Al Gore imploring him to run for president.
The group says it has received signatures from 136,000 people asking the former vice president to run for president in 2008.
Eva Richie is treasurer of draftgore.com. She said the only contact they have made with the man who would have been president in 2000 was in the summer...
Be the first to commentClayton Wilcox talks schools at Tiger Bay
10/09/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Pinellas County Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox was the guest speaker at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club this afternoon. One of the things that Wilcox emphasized was the improvement that Pinellas County has made in student graduation rate.
The Pinellas School Board is reorganizing how students will be assigned to schools next year. Currently families can participate in the “school choice” plan, but Wilcox wants to move more toward “neighborhood schools” o...
Be the first to commentFood Not Bombs activist in Orlando faces trial
10/08/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Food Not Bombs, Orlando
Orlando Food Not Bombs volunteer Eric Montanez went on trial today for feeding homeless people on April 4 at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando.
Montanez was arrested under an ordinance enacted in 2006 by the city of Orlando which requires a permit in order to hold “large group feedings” of more than 24 people.
Food Not Bombs routinely shares vegan food with large numbers of homeless people in cities throughout Florida and the world.
Montanez pled Not Guilty on May 4.
Jordan Hunt ...
Be the first to commentEric Smith is new education commissioner
10/08/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
The State Board of Education interviewed the three finalists today and unanimously chose Dr. Eric Smith to become the next Commissioner of Education for Florida.
The decision this afternoon followed hourlong interviews with Smith and the two other finalists, Dr. Cheri Pierson Yecke and Dr. Joseph Marinelli at the Tampa Airport Marriott. Smith is currently a senior vice president with the College Board, the New York City company that administers the SAT exam.
The education commissioner ...
Be the first to commentLawsuit against DNC dismissed, DiMaio to appeal
10/05/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
The first lawsuit challenging the Democratic National Committee’s decision to strip Florida of its presidential delegates has been thrown out of court.
In an order today, U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara wrote that the plaintiff, Tampa political consultant Vic DiMaio, failed to show that he had been dealt harm that the court could alleviate.
Judge Lazzara also citied prior court rules indicating that political parties are allowed to set their own rules under constitutional freedom of...
Be the first to commentSarasota citizens to vote on growth control issue
10/05/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday
In Sarasota County, citizens will vote on an initiative next month that its supporters say will put a brake on rampant growth. But critics say it could do just the opposite, and call it undemocratic as well.
The ballot measure will require a supermajority – four of five County Commissioners – to vote yes on building density changes to the County’s Comprehensive plan.
Bill Earl is with Citizens for Sensible Growth, the organization that collected signatures to get the issue on the ballo...
Be the first to commentNelson, Hastings file lawsuit against DNC
10/04/07 Mitch E.PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Calling it unacceptable that Democratic Party officials have banned presidential candidates from campaigning in Florida but allowed them to do fundraising, Sen. Bill Nelson today announced he is suing the Democratic National Committee.
The DNC’s decision to strip Florida of its delegates to next year’s convention because it moved up its presidential primary, prompted Nelson and South Florida Congressman Aylcee Hastings to file suit.
Although initially dismissed by some Florida party off...
Be the first to commentCity Council revisits Kiley Gardens issue
10/04/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
As construction is slated to begin within the next year on a new Art and Childrens Museum along Ashley Drive in downtown Tampa, the question of whether Kiley Gardens will be restored to a level of its former self was discussed at this morning’s City Council meeting.
A year and a half ago, city officials said they would allocate more than $1-million to repair and waterproof the parking garage, which sits underneath the park, and restore it in a "very basic fashion."
But what that restor...
Be the first to commentUnderground jet fuel pipeline proposed in Tampa
10/04/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
The Tampa City Council today discussed a proposed pipeline for jet fuel that would travel underground from the Port of Tampa at Hooker’s Point to the Tampa International Airport.
The city’s responsibility in the deal would be to acquire right of way for the pipeline and to negotiate the franchise agreement with Kinder Morgan, the company proposing the pipeline.
The agreement would need to be approved by the City Council. But city residents have raised many questions about the safety of ...
Be the first to commentEckerd speaker - cousin of Rachel Corrie - on activism, personal loss listen
10/03/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Rachel Corrie, Palestine, Israel
Earlier this week, WMNF reporter Dawn Morgan reported on peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in March 2003.
Rachel Corrie was a peace activist with the International Solidarity Movement who was trying to stop the illegal demolition of the home of a Palestinian family in the Gaza Strip when a member of the Israeli Defense Forces driving a Caterpillar bulldozer ran her over twice, killing her.
Rachel Corrie's cousin, Dr. Beth Corrie, spoke last night to more than 100 students and...
Be the first to commentGroup opposes coal-fired power plant in Polk listen
10/03/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tampa Electric Co. (TECO) is proposing a new 630-megawatt power plant at its Polk County power station that could come online by 2013.
The proposed plant, called the Polk 6 unit, would use a technology called Integrated Gas Combined Cycle (IGCC), a method which turns coal into gas.
Steve Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said in a phone conference today that his group will oppose the Polk 6 IGCC plant.
“It is an active proposal now before the Flori...
Be the first to commentHillsborough rejects $40M sports complex
10/03/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
A $40-million sports complex proposed for northeastern Hillborough was rejected this afternoon during a County Commission meeting.
Board Chairman Jim Norman, who championed the proposal, said funding would have come from the Community Investment Tax (CIT).
But Norman failed to persuade any of his fellow commissioners to back the project.
Championship Park would have included 30 multipurpose fields for soccer, 12 baseball diamonds, 10 softball fields, and would have been built on...
Be the first to commentAdult Protective Services Advisory Panel meets in Tampa listen
10/02/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
In August, Department of Children and Families Chair Bob Butterworth established the Adult Protective Services Advisory Panel.
Today, the 17-member panel held its first meeting at the DCF Regional Headquarters in Tampa.
Much of the DCF's focus is on the welfare of children, but this panel is tasked with making sure that adults can get the most of the department’s services. For example, DCF investigates cases of abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disabilities and the elderly...
Be the first to commentTampa Bay economy feeling the pinch
10/02/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
A new economic scorecard of how the Tampa Bay region compares to several other communities in the South shows that job creation has slowed by more than half in the area, and the nationwide housing slowdown is hitting the Tampa Bay area hard.
The scorecard is the fourth one compiled in the past two years by the Tampa Bay Partnership.
The scorecard compares Tampa Bay to five other regions: Dallas, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham. But the report isn't all gloomy; th...
Be the first to commentDemocrat discusses lawsuit against his party
10/02/07 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Earlier this year the Florida Legislature moved the date of next year’s presidential primary to Jan. 29, violating a rule by the national Democratic Party.
That rule says that no states can hold a presidential preference primary prior to Feb. 5; that’s because the national party wants to make sure the early selection of delegates to the party’s convention is up to just four states: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Because of the earlier Florida primary date, the national par...
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