News & Public Affairs
Rice challenges Flowers in commission race listen
07/16/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Renee Flowers, Darden Rice, Pinellas County Commission District 3 seat
One of the most interesting local races taking place next month is the Democratic primary in Pinellas County’s District 3 County Commission race, between environmentalist Darden Rice and former St. Pete City Councilwoman Renee Flowers.
Over the weekend, WMNF spoke to both candidates about the race, beginning with Darden Rice. Rice, made an unsuccessful bid for St. Pete City Council back in 2005.
She’s running against Flowers, who in addition to her two terms on the St. Pete City Counc...
Be the first to commentPSC approves nuclear, solar power plants listen
07/15/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Energy, nuclear power, solar power
Today, Florida’s utilities regulatory agency granted Progress Energy unanimous approval for two new nuclear power plants in Levy County. The Public Service Commission (PSC) also granted approval to Florida Power & Light to begin construction of three solar energy centers. If they’re built, the two nuclear plants would be located about 10 miles north of Crystal River.
Cherie Jacobs, spokesperson for Progress Energy Florida, said that the company has not yet made its final decision to build...
1 commentsEnvironmentalist responds to approval of nuclear plants
07/15/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: nuclear power, electric rates, solar power, conservation
According to the Associated Press, St. Petersburg-based, Progress Energy, has won approval from a state regulatory agency to build two new nuclear power plants.
The Public Service Commission approved the request today for new reactors in Levy County along the Gulf Coast, about 10 miles north of Crystal River. They would be the first new nuclear generating plants built in Florida since 1983.
Progress Energy serves about 1.7 million customers in Florida, mostly in the Tampa Bay area, ...
Be the first to commentDoes U.S. plan military domination of space?
07/15/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Star Wars foreign relations
Good afternoon, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up: Is the United States planning to militarily dominate outer space?We’ll talk about that in a moment. Later we’ll talk about today’s decision by the Florida Public Service Commission to approve Progress Energy’s request to build two new nuclear power plants near Crystal River.
But first a song about our economy- phoned in by a listener.
In 1967, the U.S. agreed to be a signatory to the Outer Space Treaty, which designate...
Be the first to commentMax Linn: I can beat Bill Young this fall listen
07/15/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Bill, 2008 election, C.W. Young, Max Linn, Bob Hackworth
Seventy-seven-year-old Pinellas County Republican C.W. “Bill" Young is seekinng his 20th term in office this November.
Young has been an institution, even though rumors have surfaced for years that the white-haired representative would be stepping down. Not yet.
Young’s Democratic opponent won’t be known until the primary election on Aug. 26. In the running are Dunedin Mayor Bob Hackworth, anti-war activist Samm Simpson and former financial planner Max Linn.
Linn is a former Republ...
Be the first to commentOfficials questioned on Raytheon toxic plume listen
07/14/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Raytheon, DEP, environmental contamination, Bill Nelson
Groundwater contaminants exceeding target levels have been found in 13 irrigation wells in the Azalea neighborhood of St. Petersburg. But a growing plume of contamination from the Raytheon property poses “no health concerns” and a one-in-a-million excess cancer risk, according to University of Florida researchers.
This morning, dozens of concerned citizens questioned elected officials and government regulators at the Azalea Adult Community Center.
In a letter to the regional administra...
Be the first to commentForeclosure workshop held in Tampa listen
07/14/08 Emily ReddyWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Assistance, Kathy Castor, Economy
Foreclosures in Florida nearly doubled between June of last year and June of this year. One in every 211 Florida properties received a foreclosure filing last month. On Saturday, 600 Tampa Bay area residents flooded a foreclosure assistance workshop organized by U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor. The workshop brought together representatives from nine banks and 10 nonprofits to work directly with attendees on their mortgage issues.
Candi Lee schedules an appointment with Catholic Charities...
Be the first to commentReaction to Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac bailout listen
07/14/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Members of Congress said today that a Treasury Department plan to bolster mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be added to a huge housing bill working its way through Congress.
The two company's stocks nosedived last week on concerns that they had insufficient funds to cover bad mortgage debts. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced a new plan yesterday, that would give federal officials the power to inject billions of dollars into the lenders through investments and loans, ...
Be the first to commentBush lifts one drilling ban, targets another listen
07/14/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Offshore Drilling, Oil, John McCain, George Bush, Kathy Castor
President George Bush announced today that by executive order he was lifting a presidential moratorium on drilling for oil and natural gas on the Outer Continental Shelf, hoping to prod Congress to act to clear the way for exploration along the nation’s coastline in response to soaring energy prices.
However, the moratorium on offshore drilling imposed by Congress back in 1981 still exists. But Bush left no doubt that he wanted Congress to end its 27-year-old prohibition.
The question...
Be the first to commentCastor to introduce legislation to expedite disability claims listen
07/14/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Social Security Administration, disability claims
Tampa area Congresswoman Kathy Castor announced today that she plans to introduce new legislation to expedite the Social Security Administration (SSA) disability claims process.
According to Castor’s office, over the past decade backlogged disability claims in the Social Security Administration’s processing system doubled to about 576,000 cases.
With the hiring of 175 additional judges, there are now approximately 1,100 magistrates scheduled to review disability claims; and the wait fo...
Be the first to commentDigital TV transition happens in 7 months listen
07/14/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Television, digital signal
Todd Sedmak is communications director for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is located inside the Department of Commerce.
He came by WMNF’s studios today to discuss what people will need to do before February of next year to continue to watch their regular programs on television.
Be the first to commentNelson defends new FISA law
07/14/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: FISA, Bill Nelson, Barack Obama
Many local and state politicians were in St. Petersburg Saturday night, at the Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee’s Jefferson Jackson dinner.
One of them was U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who said that Barack Obama has told him he is determined to win Florida in November.
Before his speech, WMNF asked the senator a couple of questions – one was about energy and the louder calls for drilling off Florida’s coast, and about FISA – the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Congr...
Be the first to commentSustainable Living: The conscious consumer
07/14/08 Jon ButtsRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Friday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Gardening
Willow LaMonte, a local organic gardening avocate, is teaching classes on gardening. Willow gave a six-minute description of subjects covered and what's growing in her backyard. The special guest for the remainder of the program was Eric Haase, a local screenwritter, author, and creater of the Conscious Consumer Network. Eric talked about his near-death experience, which moved him to write the play Apocalypse Near, and the book with the same name.
Be the first to commentScientists: Act now to save coral reefs listen
07/11/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: corals, climate change, environment
The International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) is a gathering of the world’s coral reef scientists and managers that happens only once every four years. This year, the conference was in the United States for the first time since 1977. Three-thousand researchers convened in Ft. Lauderdale on Monday for the meeting that wrapped up today.
ICRS participant Kent Carpenter warned that up to a third of the world’s coral species are in danger of extinction. Carpenter made that claim as lead author...
Be the first to commentSarasota holds mock election listen
07/11/08 Virginia HoffmanWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, touch screen voting, optical scan voting, Democratic Party
Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent held a mock election was held this week. County Commissioners want to be sure their new $2.6-million optical scan voting system is working correctly. They asked Dent to test the new machines and software.
The County purchased this system to replace touch screen machines when a referendum calling for a “paper trail” passed in 2006. This is the same election where a controversial 18,000 undervotes occurred between two candidates vying for t...
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