News & Public Affairs
Floodgates by Mary Anna Evans
07/25/09 Mary GlenneyFrom A Woman's Point of View
We speak with Mary Anna Evans, author of Floodgates.
Be the first to commentLegend and romance drip from the lacy balconies of New Orleans as surely as Spanish moss drips from the branches of the city's ancient oaks. In New Orleans, Faye Longchamp is happy just to get up in the morning and go to work. But centuries of tragedy shadow the city--wars, slavery, and a monumental flood that killed a thousand people and still threatens to wash all that history away.
Faye and her team of archaeologists, fightin...
Pinellas Schools declares impasse in negotiations with teacher union listen
07/24/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas County Schools, unions
Earlier this week, Pinellas County Schools declared an impasse in their contract negotiations with the county’s teacher’s union. But the president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association still hopes there will be opportunity for discussion.
Because of declining tax revenues and school enrollment, Pinellas County Schools is proposing a budget that’s nearly 20 million dollars less than last year. As a result, they want al...
Be the first to commentMcKalip resigns from local medical board over controversial e-mail listen
07/24/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
St. Petersburg neurosurgeon David McKalip resigned today as President-Elect of the Pinellas County Medical Association, approximately 24 hours after news broke over the internet of an e-mail he sent of an image of President Obama as a witch doctor dressed in a loin cloth and with a bone in his nose.
Dr. McKalip is a strong critic of plans for health care reform, and has been part of public protests against it in recent weeks in the Tampa Bay Area.
But news that McKalip had sent out the ...
Be the first to commentCastor amendment would push for lowering drug costs listen
07/24/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: kathy castor, health care
Tampa Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor announced today that she is filing an amendment that will require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate payment rates with pharmaceutical manufacturers for prescription drugs.
Congresswoman Castor spoke with WMNF from her Capitol Hill today to speak about that and other issues, with the Health Care legislation ongoing in the House of Representatives.
Castor is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the committee...
Be the first to commentMcKalip resigns over email depicting Obama as Witch Doctor listen
07/24/09 Seán KinaneTrue Talk Listen to this entire show:
This morning on the WMNF 88.5FM program True Talk, incoming Pinellas County Medical Association president Dr. David McKalip apologized for an email and resigned as president elect.
McKalip had emailed an image of President Barack Obama that depicted him as a witch doctor.
Host Ahmed Bedier spoke with McKalip and state Rep. Darryl Rouson on the program True Talk, an Arab & Muslim public affairs program that airs every Friday from 11am - noon on 88.5 FM...
9 commentsUSF partnership to offer hourly rental cars to students listen
07/23/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Transportation
A new partnership between the University of South Florida and a private company has introduced four hybrid cars to the Tampa campus for students to rent by the hour as a substitute for owning a car. But there appears to be only slight interest from students who don’t own an automobile.
WeCar is the name of the car-sharing arm of Enterprise Rent-A-Car that began accepting USF members on Thursday. Students, faculty, and staff can pay a $20...
Be the first to commentOver 100 demonstrators call for health care reform in Tampa listen
07/23/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: health care
With key Congressional committees set to take action on health care this week, local residents gathered in front of Senator Bill Nelson's staff offices throughout the state to deliver a letter asking the senator to consider a public health insurance option.
In Tampa, that meant lobbying in front of the federal building on Florida Avenue, just north of downtown. Approximately 100 people demonstrated there with signs and banners.
Roberta is a new Florida transplant, having just moved from...
4 commentsLutz man tries to get out of military by claiming Obama not a citizen listen
07/23/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
The Tampa Tribune reported this morning that a federal judge in Tampa this morning denied a request to order the rehiring of a Lutz Army reservist Stefan Frederick Cook. Cook claims he was fired from his job after fighting his deployment to Afghanistan on the grounds President Barack Obama is not an American citizen.
U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara said he threw out the case because Cook’s petition did not comply with local court rules, as it was not accompanied by a complaint.
Coo...
8 commentsHow Does Canada's Single-Payer Health Care Work?
07/23/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Thursday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: single payer health care, Candaian health care, waiting lines, MRI's
Good afternoon, welcome to WMNF's Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei.
In his press conference last night President Obama said that the only way all Americans could be covered by health insurance is to enact a single-payer plan here in the U.S.
Single-payer is, essentially, covering every person in the country with a government sponsored health insurance. While the president is not advocating such a plan, several different single-payer plans have been proposed in Congress. The oldest of which...
Be the first to commentTampa City Council discusses Cuba listen
07/23/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa City Council, Cuba, Mary Mulhern, Linda Saul-Sena
Tampa City Council member Mary Mulhern has just returned from a 5 day trip to Cuba. But she appeared less than enthusiastic today when a colleague said the Council should take time out to discuss promoting international trade with the communist island.
The proposal came from Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena, who asked that a special discussion take place on the issue next month.
Mulhern said the timing appeared premature.
Although the economic embargo against Cuba continues, President O...
Be the first to commentAlyssa Katz on the Housing Crisis, Part II listen
07/23/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: real estate, housing
The U.S. housing market “appears to be healing”. Those were the words of Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, speaking after the organization’s new report showed re-sales of homes and condominiums rose 3.6% last month, the highest level since last October.
However, the report did say that distressed properties accounted for nearly a third of such sales. That’s not that different than a month before, with the median price now dragged down to $181,800....
Be the first to commentSt Pete City Council candidates meet at Suncoast Tiger Bay listen
07/22/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: St. Petersburg City Council
Three St. Petersburg City Council races have more than two candidates. That requires them to compete in a primary election on September 1st. Candidates for district 5 - which includes Pinellas Point - and District 6 – which includes southeast St. Pete - faced off today at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club in downtown.
Fourteen months ago Karl Nurse was appointed to fill the vacant District 6 seat o...
1 commentsSarasota approves transfer of stadium; Orioles closer to coming listen
07/22/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Sarasota
The $31 million dollar plan to make Sarasota the new spring training home for the Baltimore Orioles was barely approved today.
The City Commission of Sarasota agreed on a 3-2 vote to turn over Ed Smith Stadium to the County. But disagreement on adding an amendment to limit the City’s exposure to costs related to environmental impacts led two Commissioners to reject the proposal.
The issue of any remedial liability for the City surfaced on Monday, forcing the City Commissioners to del...
Be the first to commentFood, Inc. - An interview with the producer
07/22/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: genetically modified food, high fructose corn syrup
Welcome to WMNF's Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. This Friday night a highly-praised new documentary Food, Inc. appears at the Tampa Theatre. It's all about the food industry.
(From the film's website) "In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled ...
Be the first to commentPublic Hearing on preference for local contractors listen
07/22/09 Lindsey KratochwillWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas Board of County Commissioners
Tuesday evening, the case of local contractor preference was brought before the Pinellas County commission in a public hearing.
The commission heard public opinion on an ordinance that will allow local contractors to receive extra points if they have a headquarters in Pinellas County. In the event of a tie in points, the local business would have the advantage.
One issue many commissioners and members of the public had with the ordinance was the terminology used in naming headquarters a...
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