News & Public Affairs
St Pete Mayoral candidates discuss stadium and crime in forum listen
04/16/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: St. Petersburg mayor's race
Voters in St. Petersburg will elect a new mayor this year. This morning the first mayoral candidate forum was held, but it was outside of city limits at the Tradewinds Island Resort on St. Pete Beach. Six of the candidates discussed issues affecting St. Pete including tourism, crime, the economy, and a new baseball stadium.
In a perfect world, the Tampa Bay Rays major league baseball team would stay in their current home of Tropicana Field, according to former City Council member [Bill Fos...
Be the first to commentCharlie Justice to challenge Bill Young for seat in Congress listen
04/16/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: U.S Senate, politics, Charlie Justice, C.W. Young
Tampa Bay area Democratic Sen. Charlie Justice has announced that he will step down next year to run for Congress in Florida’s 10th District, the congressional home of Bill Young for the past 38 years.
Justice was unavailable for comment. His campaign manager, Mitch Kates, did speak about his candidacy today with WMNF.
Young is 78 years old, and District 10, which covers Pinellas County from Dunedin down to St. Petersburg, did vote for Barack Obama last fall. But Daryl Paulson, a polit...
Be the first to commentNo mandate for reclaimed water in South Tampa listen
04/16/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa City Council, Swiftmud, water usage, reclaimed water
Two weeks after Tampa’s ban on watering of lawns went into effect, the City Council today rejected new measures that would mandate residents use reclaimed water for irrigation, and place large financial penalties on excessive potable water users.
However, city officials said they are considering such sanctions that they will introduce at an upcoming workshop on water late next month.
Dave Moore from the Southwest Water Florida Management District (Swiftmud), addressed the Council as we...
Be the first to commentRecession nets developers permit extensions listen
04/16/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa City Council, developers, permits
As the recession continues to hammer local developers, the Tampa City Council today approved a proposal to grant automatic permit extensions to developers and homeowners whose projects have been put on hold because of economic conditions.
Cyndy Miller is the city’s director of Growth Management and Development Services. Miller said a developer must demonstrate cause, and that the site is maintained appropriately. City inspectors would review the site before allowing the extension.
The ...
Be the first to commentHealth care town hall meeting
04/15/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Health care, politics, reform
This segment featured an interview with Debbie King, organizer of a local town hall meeting this week on health care.
From the group's press release:
"Florida health care advocates have invited Congressman Bill Young (R-District 10) to join a town hall meeting on Thursday April 16th to talk about why real health care reform must happen in 2009. The event will be one of 90 taking place in 43 states nationwide over the April Congressional recess. The people of Pinellas County will share...
Be the first to commentTampa downtown would be enhanced by light rail lines says Partnership listen
04/15/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
A light rail system centered in downtown Tampa that branches out to a regional and statewide transit network is a way to attract new business to the area. That was the opinion of several speakers at this morning’s Downtown Development Forum sponsored by the Tampa Downtown Partnership.
Earlier this month the Hillsborough County Commission took a first step toward placing a referendum on the 2010 ballot that would fund m...
3 commentsHillsborough County internal auditor under fire listen
04/15/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hillsborough County, Internal Performance Auditor, Jim Barnes
The embattled Internal Performance Auditor for Hillsborough County, Jim Barnes, today retained his job for the time being, but only after receiving blistering criticism from some members of the County Commission.
Already under siege for a variety of reasons, Barnes further alienated some Board members recently when it was discovered that he was on a taxpayer-funded education course in Las Vegas.
After being questioned by Commissioner Mark Sharpe that his audits on the county’s afforda...
Be the first to commentTampa Tea Party draws hundreds listen
04/15/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, taxes, protests
A crowd of about 500 people gathered in downtown Tampa today as part of the nationwide Tax Day Tea Parties protesting government spending, particularly spending plans of President Barack Obama.
The event has received large coverage on conservative media outlets, like talk radio and Fox News. Their presence has become so large that in the past few days, the left leaning cable network MSNBC has held several reports about Fox’s involvement.
Although many in the audience were conservative...
2 commentsMichelle Goldberg on controversial Afghan marriage law listen
04/15/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Women's issues, women's rights, politics, Afghanistan
This morning in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul, hundreds of Afghan women protested in front of the Parliament building calling on the government to modify the controversial law on marital life of Shiite women.
However, as the protesting women carried banners inscribed with slogans in favor of equality between men and women, a group of men began pelting stones at protesters in an attempt to disperse them. Police cordoned off the protestors to enable them dispersing peacefully.
Wide cr...
Be the first to commentWill EPA regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses? listen
04/14/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that greenhouse gasses are considered pollutants under the federal Clean Air Act. That decision required the Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses cause pollution that endangers public health and welfare. Some environmental groups think the EPA could announce as early as Thursday that those gasses do constitute a danger. In doing so, the EPA will declare its authority to...
Be the first to commentBennett pulls back from plan to suspend impact fees listen
04/14/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Impact fees, politics
Bradenton area state Sen. Mike Bennett’s bill that would eliminate impact fees was substantially changed today, and will no longer freeze such fees for three years.
Bennett’s bill now would limit impact fees to $2 per square foot on residential properties and $8 for commercial properties. The bill also creates a real-estate transfer fee paid for by the grantor of the property, but exempts first time sale.
After a representative from the Florida Association of Realtors said his group opp...
Be the first to commentInterviews with Ruth Benn and Rich Templin
04/14/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: military spending, war tax resistance, tea parties, union membership, wages, benefits Adam Hasner
Welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up, we’ll talk with a spokesperson for the AFL-CIO about the employee free choice act being considered in congress and efforts here in Florida to undermine it.
Later we’ll look at the U.S. military budget and protests planned tomorrow - tax day against military spending.
But first: several listener comments. The first came in on Saturday- making the claim that WMNF has supported the military build-up in Afghanistan. Most of the rest of the...
1 commentsSpring EcoFest held at McGough Nature Park listen
04/14/09 Andrea LypkaWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: EcoFest, environment
The Spring EcoFest was held on April 11 at McGough Nature Park and featured something for everyone: nature walks, music, free tree give-a-way, environmental presentations and live wildlife demonstrations.
The nature center housed live animal exhibits. Children could do arts and crafts, hunt for Easter eggs, and learn about eco-friendly activities. Representatives from environmentally friendly businesses and organizations provided information on ways to help protect the environment.
Wil...
Be the first to commentForeclosure Assistance Workshop set for Saturday listen
04/14/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Economy, foreclosure
There are currently 3,960 foreclosures for sale in Hillsborough County, according to the website foreclosure warehouse.com. That’s more than in Lee County, where President Obama visited in early February, as it was labeled one of the worst hit areas in the country.
On Saturday morning, Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor, who represents Hillsborough County as well as parts of Pinellas and Manatee, will hold her fourth foreclosure prevention workshop at Middleton High School on 22nd Aven...
Be the first to commentActivists protest against KFC in St. Petersburg listen
04/13/09 Andrea LypkaWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Florida Voices of Animals (FVA), an animal-rights activism group, protested Sunday outside of the KFC at the intersection of 63rd Avenue and 9th St. N. against the alleged KFC suppliers' treatment of chickens on farms and slaughterhouses.
A dozen animal activists boycotted against the food chain, holding banners that read “KFC stop boiling chickens alive” and “KFC tortures animals;” some signs displayed the image of a scalded chicken or pictures of tortured chickens. The protesters distr...
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