News & Public Affairs
Final debate of election season at Tampa Tiger Bay listen
10/31/08 Arielle StevensonWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Adam Putnam, Doug Tudor, E.J. Ford, Yolie Capin, Faye Culp, Ed Homan, Tiger Bay, Amendment 2, Education, Military, Iraq
Although many have taken to the polls early, local Hillsborough congressional and house candidates debated one final time today at Tampa Tiger Bay Club.
Doug Tudor is running as the Democratic congressional candidate for District 12, his opponent is Republican Adam Putnum. Tudor spent 25 years in the Navy before retiring to run in his first campaign against Putnam. Longtime local activist Sidney Potter, asked Tudor about his feelings about the war in Iraq.
“Thank you sir, for the last ...
1 commentsCourts could help vets caught in criminal justice system listen
10/31/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Military, veterans, criminal justice
Hundreds of thousands of combat-tested veterans are adjusting to civilian life after returning from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some of them commit crimes. A new court program is assisting veterans who have become entangled in the criminal justice system.
Judge Robert Russell is an Erie County judge in Buffalo, New York; he presides over the country’s first Veterans Treatment Court. Like the more common drug courts and mental health courts, Judge Russell’s veteran’s court uses so...
Be the first to commentJack Killingsworth slams Pinellas Supervisor of Elections listen
10/31/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Pinellas County, Supervisor of Elections, Deborah Clark, Jack Killingsworth, voting
Despite criticism about the fact that she has opened only three pollling sites for early voting, Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark announced last night that 26 percent of all the registered voters in the county have already voted via early voting or absentee ballot.
Clark says she has mailed or issued more than 200,000 absentee ballots, the most ever for the county. More than 136,000 have already been returned.
Clark faces re-election Tuesday; she is facing off again...
3 commentsHillsborough County Mayor proposal partially on ballot listen
10/31/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, County Mayor, Jan Platt, Mary Ann Stiles
In Hillsborough County, voters are facing a ballot question that asks to provide a County Mayor with veto power.
That could confuse voters, since the larger question – should there be a County Mayor – was removed from the ballot by a Court after an activist sued earlier this year.
The push for a County Mayor has been going on for nearly three years. It has been led by attorney Mary Ann Stiles, a Hillsborough County Republican, who initially tried to get the measure on the 2006 ballot. S...
Be the first to commentFlorida second in nation in rate of uninsured children listen
10/30/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Florida has the second highest rate of uninsured children in the nation. According to a new report, nearly one out of every five children in the state is uninsured and the rate continues to increase.
“In Florida there are 797,000 children who are uninsured,” said Ron Pollack, the Executive Director of Families USA, a national nonprofit and nonpartisan organization advocating for high-quality affordable health care for all Americans. Their report, called “[Lef...
Be the first to commentBill Mitchell disputes charge in Bilirakis TV ad listen
10/30/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, District 9, Bill Mitchell, Gus Bilirakis
Democrat Bill Mitchell is running for Congress in District 9 against Republican incumbent Gus Bilirakis. Mitchell has unveiled a Senior Citizen Protection plan to address senior citizen and elder abuse.
WMNF spoke with Mitchell about his proposal, and about how he’s faring against the heavily favored Bilirakis, who is running for re-election for the first time after succeeding his father Mike two years ago. The senior Bilirakis held the seat for 22 years before stepping down in 2006. ...
Be the first to commentEarly voting popular around the nation
10/30/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday
Tags: 2008 election, Supervisor of Elections, Pinellas County, early voting
Long lines continued today in many early voting locations throughout the bay area and the state.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow, and for a total of 12 hours this weekend. Check with your local Supervisor of Elections for those weekend times.
Florida is not the only state to extend its early voting hours. USA Today reports that Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio and Tennessee have also extended their hours because of a huge turnout. They also report that those states, as well ...
Be the first to commentSt. Pete City Council hears curbside recycling proposal
10/30/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas County, St. Petersburg, curbside recycling, environment
Of the 10 most densely populated counties in Florida, only Pinellas lacks curbside recycling. Inside the county however, only three municipalities, including St. Petersburg, lack the service..
But that may finally be changing. Today an official with the county spoke in front of the St. Pete City Council about the city participating in the program the county is setting up.
Bob Houser is with the Pinellas County Solid Waste Department. He said that if everything works out, the program wou...
Be the first to commentTent City gets a visit from the government listen
10/29/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
In January 2007, St. Petersburg police slashed the tents and destroyed the belongings of homeless people who had set up tent cities near downtown. Less than a year later, a government-sanctioned tent city for people in need of temporary shelter opened in mid-Pinellas County. Today in Pinellas Park, the Bush administration’s point person on homelessness visited that tent city known as Pinellas Hope.
Philip Mangano is e...
1 commentsSen. Sam Brownback defends McCain campaign tactics listen
10/29/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, John McCain, Barack Obama
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, is campaigning for John McCain in Florida today. WMNF spoke with him this afternoon, and asked, if he thought it would be a major upset if John McCain were to win the election.
Be the first to commentRalph Nader lays out his platform
10/29/08 Mark AndersonWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Ralph Nader, Barack Obama, John McCain
Ralph Nader, attorney, author and political activist for decades, has run for president in every election since 1996. Some of his most noted battles as a consumer advocate were with General Motors over the safety of the Chevrolet Corvair in the early 60s, and with the entire U.S. auto industry over making seat belts standard equipment in all U.S. cars.
In his speech, Nader listed 12 critical problem areas that he says need to be addressed, including:
Implementation of Universal Healt...
A debate over Amendment 2
10/29/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: gay marriage, domestic partners, Amendment 2, David Caton
Good afternoon,
Welcome to WMNF's Radioactivity program. I'm Rob Lorei. On today’s show: a debate about the proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage. But first some listener comments about yesterday’s interview with Ralph Nader who is a candidate for president. Many of the comments were about a listener’s suggestion that people who receive a government check be barred from voting.
On the November ballot there’s only one proposed amendment to the Florida constitution proposed by the c...
1 commentsBirth control will be on the ballot in some states listen
10/29/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, birth control
In this election cycle, birth control has emerged as an issue in one state ballot measure and a dozen or so congressional races.
According to advocates who hosted a conference call this afternoon, the issue surfaces despite the fact that public opinion polls show that 90 percent of voters support birth control.
Fofi Mendez is campaign manager for Vote No on 48, a proposed ballot initiative in Colorado that would give full constitutional and human rights to fertilized eggs.
Mendez s...
Be the first to commentGOP consultant says McCain still has a chance listen
10/29/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, John McCain, pollsters
In a memo released last night, the pollster for John McCain's campaign, Bill McInturf wrote that 'as other polls begin to show Sen. Obama dropping below 50 percent and the margin over McCain beginning to approach the margin of error with a week left, all signs say we are headed to an election that may easily be too close to call by next Tuesday.”
A series of polls nationally and in key battleground states show Barack Obama to be in good shape six days from Election Day, but as the *Washing...
2 commentsAFL-CIO mobilizes to get out the voter listen
10/28/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, John McCain, labor unions
With the election only a week away, labor unions are mobilizing workers to vote for presidential nominee Barack Obama and other Democrats.
Today at a call center for Medco Co. in North Tampa, John Sweeney, president of the national AFL-CIO helped union members pass out fliers and encourage people to vote. Sweeney said he is traveling around the country assisting in the largest mobilization campaign in the history of the labor movement; more than a quarter-million...
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