News & Public Affairs
Senator Bill Nelson's prescription amendment stalled listen
12/10/09 Tom BaurWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: health care reform
Today, Senator Bill Nelson’s office said the Democratic and Republican leaders on both sides of the aisle are unlikely to let his amendment to the health care reform bill come up for a vote.
Florida’s Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson has co-authored with North Dakota Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan an amendment to the health reform bill that would make it legal for Americans to buy low-cost prescription drugs from countries like Canada.
A few years ago, Senator Nelson’s office bega...
Be the first to commentCounty passes 25 year transportation plan for 2035. listen
12/10/09 Joshua Lee HoltonWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: MPO, public transportation, transportation funding, Transportation
After several years of planning, the Hillborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization passed a $12 billion long-range transportation plan yesterday. The 25-year plan includes highway, transit, and pedestrian improvements county-wide, and passed unanimously. Some South Hillsborough residents are concerned that they didn’t get equal attention for their transportation needs.
With concerns about curbing greenhouse gas emissions and pedestrian deaths in Tampa,...
Be the first to commentDespite Afghanistan and Iraq wars Obama accepts Nobel Peace Prize listen
12/10/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize, Afghanistan War
Today in Oslo, Norway, President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
He became the first sitting U.S. president in 90 years to do so, and only the third ever
In a speech accepting the award, Obama stressed the importance of working toward peace. But at the same time he attempted to justify the escalation of war he recently ordered in Afghanistan.
*So yes, the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace. And yet this truth must coexist with another -- ...
Be the first to commentIn Copenhagen Indian waste picker objects to producing energy from burning waste listen
12/10/09 Kelly Benjamin and Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Copenhagen, Climate Conference, climate change
Today in Copenhagen, WMNF’s Kelly Benjamin spoke with Baby Popit Moheetay, a waste picker in India. Through a translator, she spoke about the climate summit and her objection to burning waste to produce energy.
Please stay tuned to the Evening News throughout the Climate Change summit for more of his reports from Copenhagen.
Be the first to commentHow to deal with the recession
12/10/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Thursday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: unemplyment, Seminole Hardrock Casino, COBRA, Work Place Solutions Tampa, Agency for Workforce Innovation
The U.S. is in the midst of what some are calling "The Great Recession". Unemployment is at a thirty year high. Benefits are being cut and the end is not in sight. Today on Radioactivity we'll talk about the recession with three people who have insight into what American workers are experiencing. Our first guest is a worker at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. He wishes to remain anonymous because he fears he'll be fired for speaking out. This worker has a pre-existing medical condition...
Be the first to commentAlan Grayson says it is time for a Democrat with guts listen
12/10/09 Virginia HoffmanWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Alan Grayson, Democratic Party
Orlando-area member of Congress Alan Grayson appeared in Sarasota on Sunday for a Democratic Party fundraiser. Grayson's outspoken comments have turned him into a celebrity and the recipient of Republican distain. A dozen people demonstrated against him at the event. He spoke with WMNF’s Virginia Hoffman about his newfound attention.
Be the first to commentMusic in Indian Rocks Beach Won't Be Unplugged listen
12/09/09 Caroline CzieslaWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Indian Rocks Beach, music, amplifier ban
The best way to get residents to attend your next city government meeting might be to put an ordinance on the agenda that will ban amplified music at all commercial establishments. It worked last night for the city of Indian Rocks Beach.
Over 200 people showed up to take a stand on a proposed ordinance that would prohibit outdoor amplified music for commercial purposes. Those opposed to the ban waved their “Save the Music” signs and expressed their emotions loudly. Mayor R.B. Johnson ...
Be the first to commentNigerian activist in Copenhagen is sceptical of climate progress listen
12/09/09 Kelly Benjamin and Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Copenhagen, climate change, Climate Conference, Kelly Benjamin, Africa
Former Tampa City Council candidate Kelly Benjamin is in Copenhagen attending the official Climate Conference and side meetings. He will also be sending us reports throughout the conference. Today, Benjamin spoke with Olawale Salami, from Nigeria, who can’t believe there are Americans who are skeptical of climate change.
Stay tuned to the WMNF Evening News throughout the climate conference for more of his reports from Copenhagen.
Be the first to commentU.S. Rep. Alan Grayson on health care reform listen
12/09/09 Virginia HoffmanWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Alan Grayson, Sarasota, health care reform
Member of Congress Alan Grayson appeared in Sarasota on Sunday for a Democratic Party fundraiser.
He told WMNF that when health care bill emerges from the Senate, it will be a plan Americans can look forward to.
Be the first to commentRail deal passes in legislature
12/09/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: high speed rail, Tampa-Orlando, CSX, Sunrail, Sen. Paula Dockery, Ed Turanchik, Connect Us, light rail, trolley, TBARTA
A bill that would clear the way for commuter and high-speed rail systems is heading to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's desk.
Final passage came yesterday in the Florida Senate on a bipartisan 27-10 vote to close out a 6-day special legislative session. It easily passed in the House on Monday.
Crist is a strong supporter of the bill (HB 1B) and is expected to sign it into law.
The measure includes liability protection for the giant CSX corporation, which backers said was needed to...
Be the first to commentHillsborough EPC considers summer fertilizer ban listen
12/09/09 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: fertilizer ordinance, EPC, Hillsborough County
The Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission heard from more than thirty speakers this afternoon on a proposed county-wide ban on nitrogen fertilizers.
Twenty-three residents spoke for the ban, while ten spoke against it. Supporters of the ban say that runoff from nitrogen fertilizers is causing deadly algal blooms that hurt numerous Tampa Bay area industries. Opponents, like Stephanie Shateela, a pest control company employee says that education is key, and that a total ban...
Be the first to commentTwo members of Cuban Five resentenced listen
12/09/09 Lauren MartinezWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Cuba, Cuban Five, U.S
Yesterday two members of the Cuban Five had their sentences reduced. WMNF spoke with Gloria LaRiva, coordinator of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, who attended their hearings.
Be the first to comment"The Cuban Five are five men who've been in prison in the United States since September 1998. They were Cuban agents who came into the United States, specifically Miami and Tampa, in order to infiltrate terrorist organizations. These terrorist organizations have been financed, armed, given the green l...
PETA Demonstration listen
12/08/09 Mark AndersonWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: animal cruelty, animal rights
People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) held a protest today at Mitchell Elementary school in South Tampa. PETA was on site to ask students and their parents to boycott the Ringling Brothers Circus, which is in Tampa in early January.
Elephants are huge wild animals, up to 4500 pounds. The training and controlling of these huge beasts is not a simple task. PETA alleges that Ringling Brothers systemically abuses elephants, using sharp training tools known as Bullhooks.
The ...
Be the first to commentTea Party: The Movie
12/08/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: tea party, tea baggers, Freedom Works, Americans for Prosperity, Dick Armey
There’s a new documentary film out about the Tea Party movement: the movement that developed over the past year to challenge the bank bailouts, health care reform and stimulus spending. Here’s some sound from that film. And in a moment we’ll talk with Adele Stans of Alternet who attended the film’s premier in Washington last week.
Adele Stan is AlterNet’s Bureau chief in Washington, DC
Be the first to commentEnvironmentalists seek summer ban on lawn fertilizer
12/08/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: fertilizers, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, seagrass, nitrogen pollution, Hillsborough County Commission, algae, Hillsborough EPC
Some local governments are trying to ban lawn fertilizing in the summer months. Runoff from lawns pollutes the bays, rivers , streams and lakes. Tomorrow, the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission will discuss the issue in a workshop.
Joining us now, Phil Compton, Regional Representative in the Sierra Club Florida Regional Office and Cathy Harrelson, chair of the Sierra Club’s Coastal Task Force.
Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s model recommendations went to all local ...
Be the first to comment
