News & Public Affairs
Wexler urges impeachment hearing for Cheney listen
12/14/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Dick Cheney, impeachment
Three Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee are calling for the Judiciary Committee and Congress to immediately hold impeachment hearings for Vice President Dick Cheney.
South Florida’s Robert Wexler has been joined by Illinois’ Luis Gutierrez and Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin in writing an opinion piece called, “A Case for Hearings.”
But as Congressman Wexler said on a conference call set up for liberal bloggers, no newspaper wants to touch it.
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kuc...
Be the first to comment"The Nuclear Jihadist," Part II listen
12/14/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Journalists Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins have written a startling new book about AQ Khan, the father of the Islamic bomb.
Khan was a research scientist who stole European nuclear plans, masterminded Pakistan’s successful atomic program and established a network for smuggling technology and blueprints to other countries seeking nuclear capabilities.
Intelligence agencies watched Khan for decades, but U.S. political leaders refused to allow them to apprehend him. In the second p...
Be the first to commentBaseball report: Steroid-use widespread listen
12/13/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Baseball, performance enhancing drugs
Major League Baseball is taking another blow with the release of a report by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell on performance enhancing drugs in baseball.
But the report acknowledges that it is not definitive.
A former prosecutor and senator from Maine, Mitchell was appointed by Commissioner Bud Selig to conduct the investigation in March 2006, shortly after the release of the book, Game of Shadows, which documented the use of steroids by the game’s biggest star, Barry Bonds, who is no...
Be the first to commentMeasure to thwart ballpark could get on ballot listen
12/13/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa Bay Rays, Tropicana Field
Officials with the Tampa Bay Rays were scheduled to meet with Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch today.
Welch told the St. Petersburg Times today that he was disappointed the Rays had not reached out to commissioners since the board will play an important part of the proposal to redevelop Tropicana Field.
Redeveloping the current home of the Rays is central for the financing of the proposed new $450-million waterfront ballpark, which faces a number of challenges.
The Rays a...
Be the first to commentNational Governors Association on Clean Energy in Tampa
12/13/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Senate Energy Bill, Chevrolet Volt, solar energy
This morning, Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked an energy bill that would remove billions in government subsidies to the largest oil companies and divert at least a portion of those dollars to the development of renewable energy sources.
Sixty votes were needed to move forward with a vote but only 59 senators voted in favor of the measure. Sen. Bill Nelson voted in support, but Florida’s junior senator Mel Martinez was one of 40 who voted against moving forward.
Republican preside...
Be the first to commentSarasota County bans smoking on beaches
12/12/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Sarasota County Beaches, smoking ban
Sarasota County Commissioners voted 4-1 yesterday to ban smoking on all county park beaches. Commissioner Shannon Staub, who represents District 3, the southern part of the county, said the ordinance would take effect within the next 90 days as the county erects signs notifying beachgoers.
The fine for smoking on Sarastota County beaches will be $97. But Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Supervisor Rob LaDue said that first offenders should just receive a warning.
Straub said the lit...
7 commentsStudy: Cholesterol levels at lowest in 47 years listen
12/12/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: cholesterol
The Associated Press is reporting that Americans' cholesterol is going down. For the first time in nearly 50 years, the average level for adults is in the ideal range.
A national blood test finds the average total cholesterol is 199. Doctors like patients to have total cholesterol readings of 200 or lower. Researchers link the decrease to cholesterol-lowering drugs in people 60 and older.
An epidemiologist at the National Center for Health Statistics says that's the age group where peo...
Be the first to commentAuthors discuss "The Nuclear Jihadist" listen
12/12/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: The Nuclear Jihadist, AQ Khan
“The Nuclear Jihadist” is the true story of how one man: AQ Khan from Pakistan, facilitated the spread of nuclear weapons technology to Pakistan, Iran, North Korea and Libya, and how the U.S. government knowingly allowed that man to smuggle and deal the most dangerous secrets in the world.
The book is written by Douglas Frantz, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, formerly with the New York Times, and his wife, Catherine Collins, who has reported for the Chicago Tribune, the *Los Angele...
Be the first to commentCitizen activists push for voting reforms
12/11/07 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hillsborough County Commission, Citizens for Equal County Representation, Untied Citizens Action Network
A new group has started a petition drive to elect Hillsborough County Commissioners from seven single-member districts, replacing the current system which consists of three at-large commissioners and four district commissioners.
Two Hillsborough activists backing this plan are Pat Kemp with Citizens for Equal County Representation and Mariella Smith with United Citizens Action Network. They were in the WMNF studios to discuss the concept. Their hope is that single member districts will ma...
Be the first to commentState education board meets in Tampa listen
12/11/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Florida Board of Education, tax revenues
Today Florida’s Board of Education met at the Tampa Airport Marriott. It was the first meeting for newly appointed Commissioner of Education Eric Smith.
Florida’s economic crash, fueled in part by a disastrous housing market, has resulted in lower tax revenues. In his Commissioner’s Report, Smith said that the state’s schools should expect declining funds.
“During the last 3 months, general revenue collection for the ’07-’08 school year has failed to reach expectations and there are co...
Be the first to commentPulitzer Prize winning reporter on nuclear arms listen
12/11/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Iran, nuclear weapons
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today called a U.S. intelligence report concluding Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program four years ago a "step forward." The comments marked a change from Ahmadinejad's usually harsh anti-Western rhetoric.
Although Iran denies it ever had such a program, Ahmadinejad told reporters that an "entirely different" situation between the two countries could be created if more steps like the intelligence report followed.
Iran has said its nuclear pro...
Be the first to commentFood banks struggling this holiday season
12/11/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Holiday Season, food banks
Christmas Day is just two weeks away. For many people, it’s a time for parties and presents. But for others, it‘s the toughest time of the year.
And it’s the time when food banks and pantries feed more people than at any time of the year. But this year is different.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual hunger survey released last month showed that more than 35½ million people in the United States were hungry in 2006. While that number was about the same as the previous year,...
Be the first to commentFlorida voting law challenged in court
12/11/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Florida, Voting Rights
Today in Gainsville, a coalition of voting rights advocates went before a U.S. District Court judge to challenge a state election law that they say could disenfranchise tens of thousands of eligible voters next year.
The law prevents voters from registering if their driver's license or Social Security information does not match what is on the registration form.
Arguing in the courtroom today was Elizabeth Westfall, a senior attorney with the Advancement Project, a Washington based soci...
Be the first to commentCastor on CIA torture tape listen
12/10/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: terrorism, interrogation
WMNF’s Seán Kinane asked Rep. Kathy Castor whether she favors an independent investigator to look into the destruction of videotaped interrogation of terrorism suspects by the CIA.
“I’m looking forward to going back to Washington and talking with my colleagues, especially some that are on the Intelligence Committee, and gauge their opinions on it. But it’s unfortunately, not a surprise out of this administration that has mislead us for so many years -- whether it’s energy policy or nationa...
Be the first to commentCastor tours Clean Energy Research Center listen
12/10/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Landmark energy bill, USF Clean Energy Research Center
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a landmark energy bill that could increase vehicle fuel efficiency standards and require that 15 percent of electricity be generated from renewable sources by 2020. But the Senate is expected to pass a version of the bill that is much weaker on renewable energy standards.
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor voted for the energy bill. Today she visited the Clean Energy Research Center on the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus to learn about the...
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