News & Public Affairs
Poll of rural voters in swing states shows stunning results
10/24/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, John McCain, Barack Obama, polls
Among the more unique presidential polls that have came out this campaign season, one is called the Center for Rural Strategies poll.
Commissioned on behalf of the National Rural Assembly, it sampled rural voters in 13 swing states, including Florida, throughout this month.
The results show Obama with a narrow 1 point lead. Four years ago, George W. Bush beat John Kerry by 19 points with this demographic.
Be the first to commentCommon Cause reviews who's enforcing "No Match, No Vote" listen
10/23/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
As we reported last night, an attorney for the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections Ron Labasky, has issued a memo to all state supervisors regarding the controversial “No Match, No Vote" law. He said they could accept identification at the polls without requiring voters to make an additional trip to the elections office.
Secretary of State Kurt Browning began enforcing the law on Sept. 8, and since that time, the law has flagged 8,867 voter registrations, according to the...
Be the first to commentTampa franchise agreement with TECO still far away listen
10/23/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa City Council, TECO, renewable energy
This long discussed issue of a franchise agreement between the city of Tampa and Tampa Electric Co. was discussed at the Tampa City Council today. But, again, no resolution was reached.
Negotiations between the city and TECO have been ongoing for more than three years. Attorney Tom Cloud said an important negotiating point for the city was to increase the current franchise fee with TECO.
A number of muncipalities across the country and 35 in Florida produce their own power. Councilman J...
1 commentsNew report: Florida must invest more in public education listen
10/23/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Education, education funding
A new report on public education in Florida says state must invest more in public education.
Yesterday the group Enlace Florida, in partnership with the Washington Economics Group, released a report on the impact of socio-economic indicators and the return of investment from public education in Florida.
In the report, the study estimates that a $1 billion increase in public funding for higher education yields a Social Return of Investment of 220 percent.
The study also demonstrates...
Be the first to commentUpdate on early voting at College Hill Library listen
10/23/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, early voting, supervisor of elections
Nearly 26,000 Hillsborough County residents cast ballots during the first three days of early voting this week, according the Supervisor of Elections Office. The number increased each day from Monday through Wednesday.The College Hill Branch Library on Martin Luther King Boulevard in East Tampa is one of Hillsborough County’s 13 early voting sites.
James Youngblood goes by the name The Pictureman. He and his wife gave out hot dogs and cold water from their food truck to people after they ...
Be the first to commentInterview with the founder of Votehealthcare.org
10/23/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Thursday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: pre-existing conditions, single payer, National health Care, Medicare for all
Welcome to WMNF’s Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up we’ll speak with the founder of a national group dedicated to achieving quality, affordable health care for all Americans. But first some listener comments. We’re still getting listener comments about Tuesday’s program on which we talked about how people are researching the candidates and the issues on the ballot.
Our guest today is Kathy McClure, who is an attorney and the mother of two children with medical problems. She founded ...
Be the first to commentHillsborough plans for Neighborhood Stabilization Program listen
10/23/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Housing, HUD, Neighborhood Stabilization
Earlier this year, Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. One component is the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The $3.92 billion NSP gives grants to states and local governments for purchasing homes that are in foreclosure or in danger of being foreclosed upon.
Today, Hillsborough County met about the NSP with housing non-profit groups.
Hillsborough County will receive $19.1 million through the NSP and the city of Tampa will receive $13.6 million. Homes that...
1 commentsBill Richardson leads rally for Obama in West Tampa listen
10/22/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, Frank Sanchez, Bill Richardson
Early voting has begun for the general election that is less than two weeks away, and the campaigns of both major party nominees for president are sweeping through Florida to encourage people to vote early.
This morning, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson rallied support for Democrat Barack Obama before leading the crowd in a one-block walk to the West Tampa Branch Library, an early voting location.
About 100 people, many holding signs about health care or unions, packed into tiny Salcine...
Be the first to commentDexter Filkins, author of 'The Forever War'
10/22/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Shiite, Al Quaeda, Surge, Al-Sadr
Welcome to WMNF’s Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up later an interview with New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins about his new book, The Forever War, a chronicle of his experiences covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But first some listener comments about yesterday’s program in which we talked about the Nov. 4 election, how to research the candidates and early voting.
New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins is considered by many to be one of this country’s top war corre...
Be the first to comment"No Match, No Vote" made less complicated? listen
10/22/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, voter fraud, No Match, No Vote
Voting rights advocates today hailed a legal opinion regarding the controversial "No Match, No Vote" law in Florida.
The law requires the driver's license number or last four digits of a Social Security number written on new voter registration applications to match numbers in a government database.
But Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark made life more complicated for Secretary of State Kurt Browning by declaring that she wants her own poll workers to try to resolve a...
Be the first to commentAn interview with Bill Richardson listen
10/22/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, John McCain, Iraq War, Bill Richardson, immigration
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ran for the Democratic nomination for president earlier this year, but dropped out before Barack Obama won the party’s nomination.
Richardson was in West Tampa today to rally support for Obama during early voting. Before the rally, WMNF’s Seán Kinane spoke with Richardson at La Casa Sierra restaurant on North Howard Avenue and began by asking the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations how the United States will end the war in Iraq.
Photo by: Seán K...
Be the first to commentMeeting on raising TECO rates brings out complaints listen
10/22/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: TECO, utility rates
A variety of people from different constituencies gathered at a public hearing last night to trash a proposal by Tampa Electric Co. to raise electricity rates.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) will rule early next year on base rate and fuel increases that would increase customers' bill up 21 percent, or roughly $12 a month.
Originally, TECO was going to request a combined 31 percent rate hike, but the company announced last week that with fuel prices dropping, so would their request ...
Be the first to commentUhurus to protest at World Series listen
10/21/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Javon Dawson, World Series, police violence, African American, civil rights, discrimination, racism, Uhurus, St. Petersburg Police
Several groups plan to challenge two new St. Petersburg ordinances before the first World Series game tomorrow night. One ordinance calls for a “Clean Zone” surrounding Tropicana Field, and the other forbids handing out fliers and other activities in street medians. Some groups, including the Justice for Javon Dawson Committee, said this morning that the success of their leafleting campaign to challenge what they call the cover-up of Dawson’s murder by a St. Petersburg Police officer in June ...
Be the first to commentCrist says ACORN not a problem in Florida listen
10/21/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, John McCain, pollsters
As investigations into voter registration fraud by the group ACORN continue in at least 10 states, John McCain's campaign has tried to tie the community organizing group to Barack Obama.
At the presidential debate last week, McCain said the community activist group is "on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."
But today Florida governor – and John McCain supporter – Charlie Crist, said the...
Be the first to commentHealth care advocates protest McCain plan listen
10/21/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, John McCain, Barack Obama, health care
Today in Tampa, across the street from the Hillsborough County offices of the John McCain campaign, approximately 10 people stood with signs, protesting Sen. McCain’s health care plan.
They came together in a press event organized by the group Healthcare United, which bills itself as a national movement of healthcare workers working to make caregivers’ voices heard on health care issues.
Jessica Low is the Florida Lead Organizer for the HealthCare United campaign. She said she wanted t...
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