News & Public Affairs
Five years of war - protests in Brooksville listen
03/19/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Iraq war
Today begins the sixth year of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. In Brooksville, 65 people called for peace to mark the anniversary of the invasion.
Twenty-four counter-demonstrators, who support continuing the U.S. occupation of Iraq, also chanted and held signs alongside them at the Hernando County Courthouse.
Brooksville resident and World War II veteran Joseph Murphy held a sign that said “Jail Bush” because he believes that after a fair trial, President George W. Bush would be found gu...
Be the first to commentState GOP chair speaks at Tiger Bay listen
03/18/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
The day after Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman announced that her party would not hold any new presidential primary election, her Republican counterpart spoke at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club in Clearwater. Jim Greer, chair of the Republican Party of Florida, said that even though it is causing issues for Democrats, moving Florida’s primary election date to January was a good move.
“It was more important to the voters of this state to play a dominant role in who becomes our party...
Be the first to commentHometown Democracy advocate wants answers listen
03/17/08WMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: petitions, Florida Hometown Democracy Campaign
Last month the Florida Secretary of State’s office said that the Florida Hometown Democracy Campaign had come up more than 65,000 signatures short of the 611,009 needed to qualify for the November ballot.
It was a bitter disappointment for supporters of the proposal, which would force public votes on big development decisions. The authors say they will continue to collect signatures so the measure can make the 2010 ballot.
But other supporters are angry at how the petition counting was ...
Be the first to commentResearchers question efficacy of red-light cameras listen
03/14/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: red-light cameras
Hoping to cut down on red-light violations, Hillsborough County Commissioners voted last week to allow cameras to be installed at 10 dangerous intersections. But a study published a week ago by three professors in the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health questions whether this will work.
One of the authors is John Large, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management. He told WMNF that installing cameras is not necessarily effective at preventing...
Be the first to commentBetty Castor on global importance of water listen
03/13/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Betty Castor, Patel Center for Global Solutions, water
Betty Castor, executive director of USF’s Patel Center for Global Solutions, spoke today about the global importance of clean water. She gave the keynote address on “International Water Day” at Hillsborough Community College’s Ybor City campus. The event was sponsored by the Tampa Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA).
Castor explained that the scarcity of clean water is a global concern.
Castor, who is the former commissioner of educa...
Be the first to commentFlorida Democrats pitch plan for a mail re-vote listen
03/13/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman today announced plans for a mail-in voting process but acknowledged that it may never come to fruition.
Thurman says she first wants to hear from as many Democrats as possible in the next 24 hours before formally presenting the plan to candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. You can write your response to her by going to fladems.com.
Thurman says she will review those comments over the weekend. If the cand...
Be the first to commentDistrict 55 candidates get testy at Tiger Bay listen
03/12/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: District 55, Darryl Rouson, Charles McKenzie, Tiger Bay, Earnest Williams
Registered Democrats in Florida’s House District 55 can vote in a special primary election on March 25 to replace Rep. Frank Peterman Jr.
The three Democrats who are vying for the seat spoke at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club in St. Petersburg this afternoon. They are Charles McKenzie, Darryl Rouson and Earnest Williams.
Things got personal between two of the candidates after Williams, a current member of the St. Petersburg City Council, used almost three of his seven allotted minutes to a...
Be the first to commentACLU meeting focuses on racial justice listen
03/12/08 Jamie KidderWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: ACLU, Race, Felon's Rights, Education, Civil Liberties
The Tampa ACLU held a meeting on racial justice at the John F. Germany Library in Tampa yesterday. The speakers touched on subjects pertaining to racial injustice, such as felon disenfranchisment and educational inequality.
The Florida ACLU is one of the fastest growing ACLU affiliates in the nation, with local chapters in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Gainsville, Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Pensacola.
The Tampa chapter of the ACLU has been involved with a number of events in the area...
Be the first to commentFuture looks bright for Dems, progressive group says listen
03/12/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics
A progressive group says 2008 will be sea change election that should portend well for Democrats.
The Campaign for America’s Future today released a report, days away from its Take Back America annual Convention in Washington. Robert Borosage is co-director of the group. He said in spite of the potential trainwreck that is the intense battle for the Democratic nomination for president, this year is reminscient of 1980, when Ronald Reagan was elected and his ‘Republican Revolution “ changed...
Be the first to commentIorio discusses challenges in annual address listen
03/12/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa government
Contending with the biggest challenges since she was elected five years ago, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio acknowledged that "times are difficult" during her annual State of the City Address this morning.
As in previous addresses, Iorio began her presentation from the Tampa Convention Center by broadcasting a 10-minute upbeat video detailing virtually everything the city has been involved with over the past year. And the mayor had some positive things to crow about, including her satisfaction ab...
Be the first to commentLocals plan anti-war demonstrations
03/11/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Iraq
Our guests for this segment is Don McKeating, who is on the board with Veterans for Peace, and Bettejo Indelicato, who went to Iraq when President Bush announced the invasion of that country. They are taking part in local peace vigils and demonstrations next week on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
For more information, visit www.5yearsofwar.com.
Be the first to commentInterview with author of 'The Political Brain'
03/11/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics
Today we interview Drew Westen about his latest book The Political Brain. Here's what his publisher says about the book:
"The Political Brain is a groundbreaking investigation into the role of emotion in determining the political life of the nation. For two decades Drew Westen, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University, has explored a theory of the mind that differs substantially from the more 'dispassionate' notions held by most cognitive psychologists, political scient...
Be the first to commentAuthor studies how we cope with death
03/11/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Dr. Irvin Yalom, death
Irvin Yalom is a professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University and the author of the new book, Staring At the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death.
In the book, Yalom writes about "the refusing of the loan of life, to avoid the debt of death.”
Please listen to a future WMNF newscast to hear the second part of our interview.
You can learn more about Professor Yalom at Yalom.com.
Be the first to commentPublic hearings to address sexual orientation listen
03/11/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas Board of County Commissioners, Human Rights Ordinance, sexual orientation
Pinellas County will soon decide whether to forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment and public accommodation. Today the Pinellas Board of County Commissioners voted to schedule a public hearing on an amendment adding sexual orientation to the county’s Human Rights Ordinance.
Currently Pinellas County prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status and disability in employment, housing and public acc...
Be the first to commentMine expansion plan gets green light listen
03/11/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Environment
Hillsborough County Commissioners today approved the biggest change in mining boundaries in Hillsborough County in more than a decade.
The Mosaic Fertilizer phosphate company hopes to add more than 1,500 acres to its approximately 25 square mile mine near the four corners where Hillsborough, Polk, Hardee and Manatee counties meet.
There has been considerable opposition to the plan from residents and Tampa Bay Water, who wants the company to test for heavy metals at its new mining site....
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