News & Public Affairs
Panel investigates possible U.S. war crimes listen
03/18/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: torture, war crimes
A group of law professors and human rights experts is preparing a complaint they will give to the Department of Justice in the hopes of prosecuting more than 30 members of George W. Bush's administration for war crimes, including torture.
Larry Velvel is dean of the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover. Velvel is chair of the Steering Committee of the [Justice Robert H. Jackson Conference on Planning for the Prosecution of High Level American War Criminals](http...
Be the first to commentCitizens: Hillsborough should impose stricter water limits listen
03/18/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Water conservation, drought, Swiftmud
The ongoing water crisis in the Tampa Bay area continues to grow more serious.
With the Bill Young Reservoir dried up, and the desalination plant not operating at full capacity, the area is now relying heavily on ground water.
This morning during the public hearing portion of Hillsborough County Commission’s meeting, citizens demanded that the Board go further than what has been called for in terms of conservation by the Southwest Water Florida Management District (Swiftmud).
Tampa...
Be the first to commentLake Worth Commissioner arrested for protesting shooting listen
03/18/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Palestine, Israel, Mideast conflict
A Lake Worth city commissioner was arrested on Monday during a protest outside the Israeli Consulate in Miami.
Commissioner Cara Jennings and 35 others were protesting the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces, who shot American Tristan Anderson in the head last Friday in the West Bank village of Ni’lin.
WMNF spoke this afternoon with Commissioner Jennings about Monday’s protest and her arrest.
“I was with a group of people outside the Consulate – the Israeli Consulate – in downtow...
Be the first to commentHillsborough facing $100M deficit next fiscal year listen
03/18/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Economy, Florida budget, Hillsborough County
The budget director for Hillsborough County said today the County is looking at a $100 million-plus deficit next fiscal year.
Eric Johnson said that based on lower property tax rolls, the county had been anticipating a 6½ percent reduction in revenues later this year. But he said more recent economic news has virtually doubled that reduction to 13 percent. And Johnson said economic projections indicate the County will not see 5 percent growth in property taxes for at least the next five y...
Be the first to commentAudit: Office Depot not scamming Hillsborough listen
03/18/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hillsborough County, Office Depot, audit
After various localities and states – including Florida – began investigations last year on allegations that Office Depot was guilty of fraudulent pricing and overcharging on government contracts, Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White requested that the county conduct its own investigation to determine whether it had also been ripped off by the national retailer.
But today, a County Auditor said that he had reviewed more than 15,000 transactions for the last six months of last year,...
Be the first to commentDick Armey rallies Republicans
03/17/09 Amy BeemanWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Dick Armey, Republicans, economic stimulus
A group of enthusiastically exasperated Republicans met Monday in Tampa to hear former conservative congressman Dick Armey speak against what he considers a gross mismanagement of government money by the Obama administration.
The crowd of 150 baby-boomers carried signs of protest reading 'Obama equals child abuse, No socialism- no Obama stimulus, and pay my mortgage."
The crowd chanted as Armey took the stage.
With a Ph.D in economics, he spoke to the audience of flaws he sees i...
Be the first to commentProfessionals seek career resources at USF Expo listen
03/17/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Today, the University of South Florida hosted a professional career resources expo providing tips to people seeking employment.
Florida’s unemployment rates are at a 15-year high of 8.6 percent; and many of the people looking for work are professionals.
Tuesday’s expo was organized by Tampa Bay WorkForce Alliance, which has offices in Tampa, Brandon and Plant City. Their communications consultant, Erin Glover, says the event isn’t a typical job fair wh...
1 commentsOuster of Sports Authority head brings back familiar political tension listen
03/17/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hillsborough County Commission, Tampa Sports Authority, Henry Saavedra
The longtime head of the Tampa Sports Authority, Henry Saavedra, has resigned, effective April 1. Saavedra stepped down yesterday shortly before the agency’s 11 member board of directors was prepared to vote on a motion from Chair Vince Marchetti to terminate his contract.
The Board voted 6-5 to accept the resignation.
But his supporters on the board are angry.
The Tampa Sports Authority (TSA) is responsible for developing and maintaining Raymond James Stadium, the home of the NFL...
Be the first to commentA reporter's visit to Ireland; Fertilizer Use in St. Pete; and Teaching Peace
03/17/09 Rob LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: peace, non violence, nitrogen fertilizer, Ireland
Good afternoon, welcome to WMNF’s Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up: we’ll hear from a local journalist who has just returned from Ireland; later this week the city of St. Petersburg will decide whether to restrict fertilizers during certain times of year. And later we’ll hear from peace activist Paul Loeb.
But first, a lot of listeners wanted to comment about last Thursday’s program on which the topics of unions, a living wage, and whether some blue collar workers were overpaid came...
Be the first to commentMajor rally for public education set for Wednesday listen
03/17/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, economy, education, Legislature
More than a thousand people are expected to protest tomorrow at the state capitol to protest multimillion-dollar cuts to local school districts' budgets.
Over the past year and a half, the Hillsborough County school district has absorbed more than $82 million in cuts, according to Jeanne Clements, president of the Hillsborough County Teachers Association. She says at that same time, new schools have opened, more staff has been hired, and more students have been absorbed into the school dis...
Be the first to commentSarsota Commissioners: Why are more local contracts leaving town? listen
03/17/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Sarasota County Commission, contracts
As Sarasota County Commissioners approved local projects they call part of the their local stimulus plan, they also debated their policy regarding local vendors, and how much they are being underbid by out-of-town companies.
The county’s current ordinance gives local vendors preference on contracts if they are within 10 percent of the lowest bid by a contractor.
However, Jennifer Slusarz, procurement manager for the county, said that preference policy just went into effect last mont...
Be the first to commentVeteran' Benefits Fair held at USF Sundome listen
03/16/09 Concetta DeLucoWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: veterans, VA benefits, veterans fair
The Second Annual Welcome Home Celebration for Florida’s active duty military members and veterans who have returned after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan was held at the USF Sundome on Saturday.
The Welcome Home Celebration was hosted by the James A. Haley Veteran’s Hospital. Guest speakers included Congressional representatives of Kathy Castor and Gus Bilirakis; they thanked the veterans for their service and dedication. In addition, more than 100 organizations and businesses were avail...
Be the first to commentPaperFree Tampa Bay seeks stimulus money for electronic prescriptions listen
03/16/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Most Tampa Bay doctors will soon write prescriptions electronically instead of on paper, if the University of South Florida receives eighteen million dollars in federal recovery act funding. This morning on the Tampa campus, USF Health launched what they’re calling PaperFree Tampa Bay.
Stephen Klasko, the Dean of USF’s College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health, calls PaperFree Tampa Bay a “bold campaign to jumpstart America’s e-health revolution.”
“We set a goal to convert all 10,000 ph...
Be the first to commentBill would eliminate impact fees in Florida until 2012 listen
03/16/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Economy, politics, development, impact fees, growth
A bay area senator angered environmentalists before the legislative session began when he filed a bill that would block the collection of developer impact fees for three years.
Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, says the way impact fees are imposed is totally unfair and inappropriate.
Hillsborough County Environmental activist Denise Layne says Bennett’s bill and other proposals aim to deregulate the building process this year.
The foreclosure crises has hit Florida hard, with some economist...
Be the first to commentState educators lament fiscal situation in Tallahassee listen
03/16/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Economy, politics, education
The Florida State Board of Education held a workshop where members heard from a variety of state educators today.
The administrators all acknowledged the tremendous challenges they are facing with reduced funding, but most said they were thinking positively.
Sanford Shugart, president of Valencia Community College, told Board member Roberto Martinez that the resource allocation model in the state has been broken for a long time.
Michael Greco is the superintendant with the Osceola D...
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