News & Public Affairs
Hillsborough to purchase property for potential bio-tech park listen
05/20/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Bio-tech research, Moffitt Cancer Center, Hillsborough County
For the past two years, Hillsborough County officials have been exploring the possibility of creating a research and development bio-tech park near USF and the Moffett Cancer Center.
Today officials went before the County Commission with a contract to purchase property worth a million dollars to satisfy some of that need.
Gene Gray, the county’s economic developer, said his department set out on some basic criteria in terms of where they wanted to place such a park.
Peggy Hamerick is...
Be the first to commentCraig Fugate begins job at FEMA listen
05/19/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hurricane season, Craig Fugate
Florida’s former Emergency Manager, Craig Fugate, is now officially in charge of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency Association.
At a news conference in Washington today, Fugate said there are three things he wants people to do as hurricane season approaches.
FEMA recently announced its plan to dispose of excess temporary housing units – like travel trailers and manufactured housing – that has been determined to no longer be suitable for response to disaster.
Fugate was ...
Be the first to commentAuthor: Bloggers are a huge force in national politics
05/19/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: bloggers, Eric Boehlert, Firedoglak, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, Glenn Becke, Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, Glen Greenwald
Good afternoon, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up, we’ll hear from author Eric Boehlert about his new book on how talk radio is a thing of the past and how online blogging changed the media landscape in the 2008 presidential election.
But first some listener comments about last Thursday’s interview with Wayne State University professor Ron Aronson about his new book Living Without God.
Today's guest writes that bloggers and not the Beltway media, at critical times ...
Be the first to commentReal estate group not buoyed by jump in home sales listen
05/19/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Real estate
In March, the Florida Association of Realtors announced that sales of existing homes soared 23 percent in the state, as home prices continued to drop. According to the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors, last month home sales rose to a 22-month high in the Tampa Bay area.
But despite those encouraging statistics, a Tampa Bay area real estate consultant says there’s no actual evidence that first-time home buying is on the rise.
Peter Murphy is with HomeEncounter, a real Estate Broker...
Be the first to commentRubio discusses Sansom, reflects on political goals listen
05/19/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, Marco Rubio
Despite Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer’s public backing of Charlie Crist in his Senate primary against Marco Rubio, local GOP organizations continue to rebel.
Yesterday the Palm Beach County Republican Party passed a resolution urging the state party to “publicly guarantee a level a playing field among all credible Republican U.S. Senate candidates."
The Pasco County Republican Party agreed.
That same feeling could be spreading to the governor’s race, where Agriculture ...
Be the first to commentEx-CIA counsel discusses interrogation techniques listen
05/19/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, torture, CIA, interrogation techniques
A new poll says embattled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has approval ratings nearly as low as Newt Gingrich when he was the primary lightning rod in Congress.
The CNN/Opinion Research survey last night found that the approval of how Pelosi is doing her job as speaker has dropped from 51 percent in January to 46 percent in March to 39 percent now, with 48 percent saying they disapprove of her performance.
The San Francisco-based congresswoman has been blasted by Republicans like Gingrich a...
Be the first to commentPeople of faith brainstorm with scientists to deal with ocean acidification listen
05/18/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise -- in large part due to the burning of fossil fuels – much of it dissolves into the world’s oceans. As a result, the oceans are becoming less alkaline. Today at St. Petersburg’s Eckerd College, scientists and people from a range of faith communities gathered to discuss the implications and solutions for this “ocean acidification.”
As oceans decline in alkalinity, many organisms that form shells -- such as some photosynthetic plankton th...
Be the first to commentGourevitch on detainee photos listen
05/18/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
President Barack Obama's decision on Friday to maintain military commissions to try detainees at Guatanamo Bay has been greeted with unhappiness in some quarters of the progressive community. It came on the same week that the president reversed himself on releasing alleged abuse of photos of Gitmo and Iraqi detainees.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal over the weekend that liberal critics were overplaying the extent to which Obama had changed his view...
Be the first to commentMarco Rubio on tax reform and the stimulus bill listen
05/18/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, Marco Rubio
Former Florida Speaker of the House Marco Rubio announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate earlier this month.
Rubio was in Tampa Friday night at a Hispanic Republican fundraiser. In the video announcing his candidacy, Rubio said he looked forward to talking about tax reform, and not just tax cuts in his campaign. WMNF asked him if he is acknowledging that there’s been too much emphasis on tax cuts by Republicans nationally in recent years.
Stay tuned to hea...
Be the first to commentMcCollum throws hat into ring for governor's race listen
05/18/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, governor, Bill McCollum
To the surprise of no one, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced this morning that he will run for the Republican nomination for governor next year.
The 64-year-old referenced his extensive experience in Washington and Tallahassee in saying why he should be the next Governor of Florida.
McCollum has been in public life for nearly 30 years, 20 of them spent in Congress representing a district that includes Disney World and most of Orlando.
He’s probably most known for his r...
Be the first to commentCall for men: Stop the violence against women listen
05/15/09 Andrea LypkaWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Call for men, violence prevention
Tampa Bay Crisis Center organized the first Call for Men inaugural meeting in Tampa to stop violence against women on May 13. At the workshop, 17 men explored how male adolescents and teenagers continue to view women as having less value than men or the property of men.
The organizer of the event was David Braughton, president of Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. This organization offers support and treatment for sexually assaulted people whether victims report the crimes or not.
“I have al...
Be the first to commentFasano on tax and fee increases listen
05/15/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
As part of his run for the U.S. Senate, Governor Charlie Crist signed a pledge promising no new taxes yesterday. His main Republican primary opponent Marco Rubio also signed the Americans For Tax Reform pledge.
Some analysts are wondering whether that means the governor will veto parts of the recently-passed state budget, which includes a dollar-per-pack tax increase on cigarettes and many new or increased fees.
WMNF...
Be the first to commentPublic meetings about Progress Energy rate hikes listen
05/15/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Progress Energy
Progress Energy is asking the state’s Public Service Commission for two separate rate hikes for its customers, in part to pay for constructing new nuclear power plants. State Senator Mike Fasano, a Republican from New Port Richey, will hold a series of public hearings to discuss the requested rate increases.
“It is important that we get as many people out opposing these rate increases at these four locations come July,” Fasano says.
The state’s...
Be the first to commentPolitical consultant Mitch Kates on Florida's political scene listen
05/15/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
This has been a very busy week in Florida politics: Republican Governor Charlie Crist announced he will run for Senate next year; The state’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democrat, said she will run for Governor; while Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum is expected to make the same announcement on Monday.
To analyze the evolving statewide political scene, WMNF spoke with political ...
Be the first to commentKathleen Ford, candidate for St Pete mayor listen
05/15/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
St. Petersburg will elect a new mayor this year and WMNF has brought you interviews with several of the candidates.
Today we hear from former City Council member Kathleen Ford. We began by asking Ford why St. Pete voters should select her over the other candidates.
“I just don’t think the city should be participating in risky investment strategies where you lose $15.8 million of operating funds and no one is paying attention to the books. That’s just unconscionable. Folks work too hard...
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