News & Public Affairs
Pinellas Democrats challenge GOP on corruption
08/23/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
The Pinellas Democratic Party has issued a challenge to county Republican Party chairman Tony DiMatteo.
The Democrats are asking DiMatteo to return $2,240 in contributions the local GOP received from Angelo Cappelli in 2006 and early 2007.
Cappelli ended up losing the race for state House District 52 last year to Bill Heller. He was arrested last week and charged with stealing more than $100,000 from a deceased client's estate while working for SunTrust Bank.
Toni Molinaro, chairwoma...
Be the first to commentBush compares Iraq to Vietnam War
08/23/07 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Thursday) Listen to this entire show:
In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars yesterday President Bush compared Iraq to Vietnam and suggested the U.S. needs to stay longer in Iraq to complete the job and not expose Iraqis to further bloodshed.
On this program we heard the president's speech followed by an interview with independent journalist Dahr Jamail. An independent journalist who has spent more than eight months reporting from Iraq, Jamail is author the forthcoming book *Beyond the Green ...
Be the first to commentTampa Council lodges concern over Pasco development
08/23/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
The Tampa City Council today agreed today to send a letter to the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Southwest Management Water District (Swiftmud) regarding runoff from construction of a new mall in South Pasco County into the Cypress Creek Preserve.
The Preserve is a tributary for the Hillsborough River, one of the main sources of drinking water for citizens in Tampa.
Construction for the Cypress Creek Town Center began in ...
Be the first to commentHuge airport planned in pristine portion of Panhandle
08/22/07 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
The Army Corps of Engineers last week gave approval to wipe out 2,000 acres of Panhandle wetlands to build a $330-million airport near Panama City.
The permit from the corps is the last one developers need to begin construction of the taxpayer-funded airport.
The St. Joe Company, the Panhandle's biggest developer, is donating the land which is 20 miles from the current Panama City airport. The total size of the new airport will be 4,000 acres, larger than Tampa International Airport. ...
Be the first to commentTampa sickle cell fundraiser is Aug. 24
08/22/07 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Our guests during this segment were Frank Reddick, CEO of the statewide Sickle Cell Disease Association, and Keisha Pickett and Adrienne Harris, organizers of an upcoming benefit to fund research into Sickle Cell Anemia.
A jazz event on Friday, Aug. 24, will benefit the Tampa Bay chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease Association. The fundraiser is at the Westin Harbour Island Hotel from 6 to 10 p.m.
The Adeniji Foundation, High Profile Entertainment & Music Group, and Unforgettable Occasi...
Be the first to commentTurning green for the red, white and blue listen
08/22/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
This morning at the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County in Ybor City, local politicians and community members discussed energy conservation.
The theme of the meeting was “Turning Green for the Red White and Blue: Energy Conservation for a more secure nation.” It included Tampa City Council member Linda Saul-Sena, Hillsborough School Board Member April Griffin, climate change activist Roberta Fernandez and U.S. Representative Kathy Castor, who described the House Energy Bill that sets a...
Be the first to commentNew plan for fresh water to the lower Hillsborough River listen
08/22/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
In front of the Hillsborough River Dam in Tampa’s Rowlett Park today, Mayor Pam Iorio announced a plan to bring freshwater to the lower Hillsborough River.
When fully implemented, the plan calls for augumenting the river with a minimum of 13 million gallons per day of fresh water. Water will come from the Tampa Bypass Canal and Sulpher Springs. Later, a new pipe will be built from the Tampa Bypass Canal to the river to save water lost to leaks in the system.
The total costs of the proje...
Be the first to commentSpace critics blasts Endeavor flight listen
08/22/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
The Space Shuttle Endeavor glided to a safe landing at the Kennedy Space Center yesterday despite a small but deep gouge in two heat tiles on the underside of the right wing.
Much of the media attention seemed to focus on Barbara Morgan, a female astronaut aboard Endeavor. The former teacher was the backup to Christa McAuliff, the first teacher to attempt space travel.
Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. He says one reason why medi...
Be the first to commentEconomist: Save at-risk borrowers, not bloated bankers listen
08/22/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
As the subprime-mortgage crises ripples through the housing market, the Wall Street Journal reported today that President Bush is looking at giving the Federal Housing Administration more flexability to help those facing foreclosures to refinance their homes.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has reportedly told his staff to work with the Housing and Urban Development department to find ways to help individuals caught in the fallout of the credit crunch.
The paper reports that the ad...
Be the first to commentRegional Transit Authority meets in Tampa listen
08/21/07 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
A year ago leaders from around Tampa Bay decided to lobby for legislation to form a regional transportation authority.
The Florida Legislature unanimously passed legislation creating the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority, or TBARTA. It is responsible for producing a regional multimodal transportation master plan for the seven coastal counties from Sarasota to Citrus.
This morning TBARTA held a public forum at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in East Tampa.
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio discuss...
Be the first to commentActivists : Cost of war hurting domestic needs
08/21/07 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday)
"A new study by Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001, and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes concludes that the total costs of the Iraq war could top the $2 trillion mark," according to the Christain Science Monitor.
"Reuters reports this total, which is far above the U.S. administration's prewar projections, takes into account the long-term healthcare costs for the 16,000 U.S. soldiers injured in Iraq so far."
The cost of the Iraq...
Be the first to commentExerpt from "War Made Easy"
08/21/07 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday)
Today WMNF presents an excerpt from the new film War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.
The new documentary is narrated by actor Sean Penn.
Here is a description from the film's website: "War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remar...
Be the first to commentEase Cuban embargo, Barack Obama urges listen
08/21/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Presidential candidate Barack Obama shook things up in the Democratic race by calling for "unrestricted rights" for Cuban-Americans to visit and send money to family in Cuba.
In an op-ed published in today’s Miami Herald, the Illinois senator wrote:
“Cuban-American connections to family in Cuba are not only a basic right in humanitarian terms, but also our best tool for helping to foster the beginnings fo grassroots democracy on the island.”
Now most Cuban-Americans can only vis...
Be the first to commentEnvironmentalists protest speaker at GOP summit listen
08/21/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
The Florida Republican Women's Network Summit takes place this weekend in Orlando.
The keynote speaker on Saturday night will be Dr. Patrick Michaels, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Virginia, and a noted critic of the human effect on global warming.
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has written to the GOP group, urging them to cancel Michaels' speech.
Melissa Meehan, with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, says her group is angry about the inclus...
Be the first to commentRomney, Sanchez weigh in on Barack Obama listen
08/21/07 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
As predicted, Mitt Romney criticized Barack Obama today.
In a statement, Romney said: "Sen. Barack Obama continues to demonstrate through his words that he does not have the strength to confront America's enemies or defend our values.
"First, Sen. Obama said he would make it a priority to meet with Castro in his first year in office. Now, he's proposing that we begin to lift sanctions against the Castro regime.
"Unilateral concessions to a dictatorial regime are counterproductive, he...
Be the first to comment
