News & Public Affairs
Polk County may cut 77 jobs because of budget concerns listen
07/08/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Polk County, budget cuts
Like other counties in the state, Polk County is facing severe revenue shortfalls. Yesterday, County Manager Mike Herr presented a recommended budget that calls for eliminating 77 positions and reorganizing some departments in order to bridge a ten million dollar budget gap. Randy Wilkinson is a Polk County Commissioner. “We’re slicing some programs and we’ll find the money.”
Commissioner Wilkinson is a candidate for the...
Be the first to commentCitizens Organize To Save The Friendship Trail Bridge
07/08/09 Rob LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Good Afternoon, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up today we’ll talk about the future of the Friendship Trail Bridge- a recreational bridge that links Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties. It was closed last year because of structural problems. But first some listener comments about yesterday’s program Yesterday we heard about the problem of human trafficking or modern day slavery.
Last December Pinellas and Hillsborough counties closed the entire Friendship Trail Bridge, i...
Be the first to commentPro-choice groups seek end of federal funding for CPCs listen
07/08/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Beginning this Friday, the House Appropriations Labor, Health & Human Services Subcommittee will begin hearings on its fiscal year 2010 spending bill. President Obama has called for a return to science-based initiatives and to end federal funding for abstinence-only education programs.
But abortion rights advocates say they’re uncertain that Congress will go along with the President. Specifically, speakers on a conference call organized by RH Reality Check said it was time to stop fede...
Be the first to commentSarasota County debates ordinance on local company preference listen
07/08/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday
Tags: Sarasota County Commission
Sarasota County Commissioners debated for close to two hours today, but failed to come to a complete agreement on a new ordinance on giving preferences for contracts to local businesses.
Currently, if an outside company submits a low bid on a contract, and a local company's bid is within 10 percent, the local company may match the low bid and win the contract.
Jennifer Slusarz is the Procurement Manager for the County. She said the County lists 100 possible points in grading a proposal....
Be the first to commentPinellas Commission approves fee increase for some infractions listen
07/07/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas Board of County Commissioners
In an effort to address the county’s budget deficit, some traffic tickets in Pinellas County will soon cost fifteen dollars more. Today the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a surcharge on non-criminal traffic infractions and some criminal violations.
Last week Thomas McGrady was elected as chief judge of the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit. On Tuesday he requested that the Pinellas Board of County Commissioners approve a code ame...
Be the first to commentProgressive group to campaign for a second stimulus bill listen
07/07/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Stimulus Package
With the unemployment rate getting worse each month, there is increasing discussion in Washington about the possibility of a second stimulus package to bolster the economy.
The Obama administration argued in January that the unemployment rate would peak at 8 percent, if the stimulus package was passed.
In February, Congress passed and Obama signed the $787 billion dollar bill, which received virtually no support from Congressional Republicans.
But unemployment is now at 9.5%. On Sun...
Be the first to commentHuman Trafficking
07/07/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
A new report from the US State department found that human trafficking is a major problem across the globe. an estimated 12.3 million people are currently trapped in some form of modern-day slavery according to the State Department.
The U.S. government defines severe human trafficking as the use of force, coercion or fraud to obtain labor or induce a commercial sex act.
The report cited the international economic crisis as a driving factor in the rise of human trafficking. Rising unemp...
Be the first to commentCastor announces stimulus funding for health centers listen
07/07/09 Lindsey KratochwillWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: kathy castor, Stimulus Package
This morning at the Johnnie Ruth Clarke Health Center in St. Petersburg, U.S. Representative for Florida’s 11th Congressional District, Kathy Castor gave a press conference to announce the award of government funding to community health centers.
Representative Kathy Castor met with the press today to bring news of new funding that local community health centers in Tampa, Pinellas County and Manatee County will receive. She says that throughout the Tampa Bay area, over 7 million dollars ha...
Be the first to commentStorms on development and SB 360 listen
07/07/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Ronda Storms
Last month, Governor Charlie Crist angered many in the state concerned with growth management by signing Senate Bill 360, the controversial measure sponsored by Bradenton Republican Mike Bennett.
Crist had been heavily lobbied to veto the bill, which loosens development rules in a number of areas with the intent of promoting economic development.
Many environmentalists have said that the original intent of Bennett’s bill was legitimate – that the concurrency rules currently in place are...
Be the first to commentFlorida friendly landscaping gets boost in controversial water bill listen
07/06/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
A bill signed late last month by Governor Charlie Crist could encourage people to replace their water-wasting St. Augustine grass lawns with Florida-friendly landscaping.
“So I think you’re going to see a huge paradigm shift.” Karina Veaudry is executive director of the Florida Native Plant Society. They actually asked Governor Crist to veto the legislation because of concerns about one amendment. It allows the executive directors of the state’s water management dis...
1 commentsInterview with independent journalist Sandra Cuffe on the coup in Honduras listen
07/06/09 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Sandra Cuffe is an independent journalist from Canada who lived in Honduras for four years earlier this decade. Cuffe is a contributing member of the DominionPaper.ca and MediaCoop.ca as well as a correspondent for UpsideDownWorld.org. She returned to Tegucigalpa on Friday to cover events surrounding the coup. Cuffe was at the airport yesterday when President Zelaya’s plane was prevented from landing.
WMNF spoke this afternoon with Sandra Cuff...
Be the first to commentRonda Storms on Palin, health care and rail proposal listen
07/06/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Ronda Storms
Hillsborough County GOP State Senator Ronda Storms was the star attraction at the TEA Party convened by conservative activist Terry Kemple on the 4th of July in Brandon.
In her speech, Storms touched on a variety of subjects in which she saHillsborough County GOP State Senator Ronda Storms was the star attraction at the TEA Party convened by conservative activist Terry Kemple on the 4th of July in Brandon.
In her speech, Storms touched on a variety of subjects in which she said the fede...
1 commentsNew book questions Baseball's Hall of Fame selection criteria listen
07/06/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Baseball star Manny Ramirez returned back to playing this weekend with the Los Angeles Dodgers after being suspended 50 games for using a performance-enhancing drug.
The reaction by the fans in San Diego was mixed, but more positive than negative. That could have been because so many Dodger fans attended the game.
Ramirez’ return is not being cheered on by many of the nation’s sporting press, however.
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann slammed Ramirez over the weekend on his blog on the Major ...
Be the first to commentTEA Party brings out conservative critics of federal spending listen
07/06/09 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
An estimated 50,000 people braved the heat last Saturday in Brandon for the annual 4th of July parade. Afterwards, a few hundred stuck around in Clayton Park for a TEA Party organized by conservative activist Terry Kemple. TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already.
The event was one of thousands of similar type of protests around the country, following the tea bag protests last April, both united by opposition to the escalating federal deficit and the spending programs of the Obama administrati...
Be the first to commentCoup in Honduras
07/02/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Thursday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Honduras, Zelaya, Harry Vanden, coup
USF (Tampa) Latin American Studies professor Harry Vanden joined us this hour for a discussion of the coup this past weekend in Honduras. The deposed President of the country says he plans to return to Honduras this coming weekend. The Honduran military is vowing to prevent that from happening.
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