News & Public Affairs
Congressman Meek on AIG bonuses: "It sickens me" listen
03/16/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Kendrick Meek, Congress, economy
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are blasting bailed out insurance giant AIG over the $165 million in bonuses for executives announced this weekend. Those are the same executives whose record losses forced the company to request government assistance in the first place.
Miami area Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek says Congress needs to act soon to address the taxpayer funds going to AIG – which now amounts to $170 billion.
Meek is running for the Democratic nomination ...
Be the first to commentAmerican Tristan Anderson shot by Israeli Defense Forces listen
03/13/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
An American is in critical condition with life-threatening wounds after being shot in the head today by a member of the Israeli Defense Forces, or IDF.
Tristan Anderson, from California, is in a Tel-Aviv hospital after being transported from the village of Na’alin in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank.
WMNF spoke with David Jacobus, who is in the hospital with Anderson.
David Jacobus: “We actually just got word from the surgeons who came out. He has a very high velocity impact in h...
Be the first to commentMagistrate: Bait shop mural not a violation listen
03/13/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: ACLU, Clearwater, sign ordinance, First Amendment
The owner of a Clearwater bait and tackle shop got an early birthday present this afternoon. Herb Quintero, whose birthday is Sunday, learned that a Judge Magistrate is recommending that the city of Clearwater stop citing him for a violation of its sign ordinance.
When the city first cited Quintero because of a mural depicting game fish on his shop, The Complete Angler, he covered it up with a banner of the First Amendment.
Quintero is represented by American Civil Liberties Union (ACL...
Be the first to comment38th Annual Creators and Collectors Tour listen
03/13/09 Andrea LypkaWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
The Fine Arts Society of Sarasota hosts the 38th Creators and Collectors Tour at artists’ studios in Sarasota on March 13th and 14th.
The president of the Fine Arts Society in Sarasota, Alice Allen, says that their mission is to expose the public to different forms of art and to provide scholarships to fine arts students in Sarasota.
“Since 1969, over $600,000 has been awarded to individuals whose studies include visual and related arts, dance, writing, music, theater and architecture...
Be the first to commentSACE will lobby Legislators for clean renewable energy listen
03/13/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: nuclear energy, RPS
During this session, the Florida Legislature is likely to mandate that electricity companies generate a portion of their energy using renewable sources. But there is an effort to alter the Renewable Portfolio Standard, or RPS, to replace the word “renewable,” which does not apply to nuclear power, to the word “clean” which some advocates say does include nuclear power.
Next week, environmental groups, led by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, will [lobby...
1 commentsObama nixes Yucca Mountain storage site for nuke waste listen
03/13/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: nuclear energy, nuclear waste
For years, the United States has worked on plans to store its nuclear waste inside of Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. But President Obama’s budget plan calls for eliminating funding for that nuclear waste storage at Yucca.
Erich Pica is director of domestic campaigns with Friends of the Earth. WMNF spoke with Pica this morning and began by asking why the plans for Yucca Mountan have been scrapped.
Be the first to commentGreen Jobs for the People wants low income people to receive benefits from stimulus listen
03/12/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Like other municipalities, Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa will receive a share of the federal stimulus funding set aside for energy conservation and green jobs. A new group is working to make sure that a portion of the stimulus money reaches those who need it most.
Green Jobs for the People is a newly formed coalition of community organizers that met Thursday afternoon in Ybor City. They want to insure that Hillsborough and Tampa target at least 20% of stimulus funding for green...
2 commentsEvent to celebrate veterans is Saturday at USF listen
03/12/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Veterans, Iraq, Afghanistan
Thousands of veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reside in the Tampa Bay area, and this Saturday at the USF Sundome, there will be an event that will provide a variety of services for them.
Nolan Henson is a program director at the James Haley Hospital, the host of Saturday’s event.
The hospital will be hosting a “Welcome Home Celebration for Florida’s active-duty military members and veterans” who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan this Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. a...
Be the first to commentSenator tries to keep hope alive for spring training baseball listen
03/12/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Baseball, spring training, sports
Spring training is in full force in ballparks spread out throughout the Tampa Bay area, and will be for the rest of the month. But when the Cincinnati Reds pack up and head north to Ohio for the regular season, it will be their last time in Sarasota.
The Reds will train next year in Goodyear, Arizona.
Currently, Sarasota holds $1 million in escrow through legislation passed in 2006 for hosting the Reds. They are one of 10 cities in the state receiving money to maintain spring training...
Be the first to commentSenator: Unemployed should take drug tests for benefits listen
03/12/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, economy, Legislature, unemployment
Unemployment is now at a 16-year high in Florida, as the Sunshine State has lost more than 355,000 jobs over the past year.
For many who have lost a job, it’s a blow to the ego to have to ask for government assistance. But if one bay area legislator has his way, they may have to submit more than their personal information and their pride to collect unemployment.
Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, has introduced a bill that would require random testing for one of every 10 people who apply...
1 commentsSeymour Hersh: Secret assassination operation was run by Bush White House
03/12/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Thursday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hersh, unions, labor, assassination, Cheney
"At a “Great Conversations” event at the University of Minnesota [Monday] investigative reporter Seymour Hersh talked about new alleged instances of domestic spying by the CIA, and about an ongoing covert military operation that he called an “executive assassination ring,” according to Eric Black at MinnPost.com,
The evening, featuring Walter Mondale and Hersh, moderated by Jacobs and titled “America’s Constitutional Crisis,” looked to be a mostly historical review of events that have tes...
Be the first to commentTampa City Council asks: Where's the stimulus money? listen
03/12/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, economic stimulus
Tampa City Council members today discussed when they might see some of the federal stimulus money that will soon be making its way to the Sunshine State.
Mark Huey is the economic and urban administrator for the city of Tampa. He said he receives three to four emails a day with new information and interpretation on how the funds will impact the redevelopment of the city. Huey said he’s involved with a citywide interdepartmental task force to track the funding process.
Earlier this week...
Be the first to commentPresident of St. Pete NAACP speaks at Tiger Bay listen
03/11/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: NAACP
Ray Tampa, a former school principal, was elected president of the St. Petersburg chapter of the NAACP in November.
Today in St. Petersburg he spoke to the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club about education, civil rights, and the continuing relevance of the NAACP.
The education achievement gap between African-American students and white students is as wide as 37 percentage points, according to Tampa. He says African-American males are most affected.
“Twenty-one percent of the black boys are gr...
Be the first to commentReport alleges more misdeeds by Buddy Johnson listen
03/11/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Buddy Johnson, supervisor of elections, investigation
The St. Petersburg Times reported today that former Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson used funding for his office earmarked to get out the vote, that instead was used for campaign purposes in the African-American community in Tampa.
The story, reported by Michael Van Sickler and Jeff Testerman, says that Johnson made two payments to community activist Michele Patty’s business that totaled more than $16,000.
The Times reports that Johnson did not pay Patty f...
Be the first to commentACLU issues report on restoration of felons' voting rights listen
03/11/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Civil rights, felons' voting rights
Shortly after taking office in 2007, Gov. Charlie Crist made changes to the law making it easier for ex-felons to regain their voting rights. But according to the Florida ACLU, there are still severe impediments preventing thousands from getting the right to vote.
The new report by the ACLU of Florida released today says that many election office workers in every one of the state’s 67 counties don’t understand who is eligible to vote or the process through which former prisoners must go....
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