News & Public Affairs
Local Sustainablity Discussed at Green Business Summit listen
10/13/10 Kelly BenjaminWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Rose Ferlita, Ed Turanchik, green business, Tampa, sustainability
Entrepreneurs, business leaders and elected officials mingled in downtown Tampa today and discussed the benefits of sustainable business practices and how to bring more green jobs to Tampa. Micheal Ciftci co-founder of United For A Sustainable America, helped organize the event:
"The goal of today's event is to make the business case for sustainability..."
Micheal Hendrix, an environmental consultant with PBS&J out of California says that Tampa can start turning things around by breaki...
Be the first to commentNearly six months after Deepwater Horizon explosion, cleanup continues listen
10/13/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: BP Oil disaster, NOAA, gulf of mexico, Florida, Bobby Jindal
Next week marks six months since the blowout at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The well is dead … the Obama Administration lifted its ban on deepwater drilling … but the story is far from over.
For those who watched the disaster unfold in what seemed like slow motion, it may feel like years since those initial reports of an explosion that killed eleven rig workers in the Gulf. At times, it almost seemed like a suspense flick. But the narrative arc of the biggest environmental disaster in U...
Be the first to commentCoalition of Immokalee Workers reaches agreement with Pacific Tomato Growers listen
10/13/10 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Publix, labor, social justice, fair wages, farm workers
Florida farmworkers have been working for a decade to get paid a penny more per pound when they pick tomatoes. Today their Campaign for Fair Food dream is a step closer to a universal reality. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers announced an agreement with Pacific Tomato Growers, one of the country’s largest tomato producers. They say it “sets new standards for social responsibility and accountabil...
Be the first to commentYoung a no-show at Tiger Bay debate listen
10/12/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Charlie Justice, Bill Young, US House of Representative, state Senate, 2010 election, Florida politics
This election year, the Republican insurgent versus Democratic incumbent seems to be the dominant narrative in many races. But one Congressional district is seeing that get turned on its head. Democratic State Senator Charlie Justice hopes to unseat ten-term US Representative C.W. Bill Young. Young is the Republican in Florida’s 10th Congressional District, which encompasses most of Pinellas County, save for a chunk in the South. Sure, the incumbent has a great deal of name recognition, but J...
1 commentsWill the Fair Districts Amendments improve representation for Florida's citizens?
10/12/10 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: redistricting, fair districts, Florida House District 55, gerrymandering, Jeff Reichert
Every 10 years, after the U.S. Census count, lawmakers in Tallahassee battle over how Florida's legislative and congressional districts should be redrawn.
But before districts are redrawn, there’s an effort to take the politics out of redistricting.
Two proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution on the Nov. 2 ballot would set new standards for how the districts are sketched. Amendment 5 deals with legislative districts, while Amendment 6 addresses U.S. congressional districts. Lik...
Be the first to commentHillsborough may beef up bus system even without transit tax listen
10/11/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Penny transit tax, HART, TBARTA, tax, referendum, November election, transit, light rail, bus rapid transit
Those who find getting around Hillsborough County’s roads to be treacherous may soon have some reprieve. Transit officials in Tampa are approaching two key steps they say will make it easier to get from point A to point B without a car. But one might come sooner than another.
Transit is on a lot of people’s minds these days. In about three weeks, Hillsborough County voters may approve a penny-per-dollar sales tax boost to fund a transit overhaul. But a smaller project may get underway in H...
1 commentsLittle Bayou Park in South St. Pete benefits from 10-10-10 global work party listen
10/11/10 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: St Petersburg, parks, invasive species, mangroves, 350.org, climate change, USF, USF St. Pete
Even if you live nearby, you may have never heard of Little Bayou Park. It’s tucked away in a residential corner of southeast St. Petersburg and includes newly restored wetlands, pine flatlands, shoreline and mangroves. Yesterday, as part of the 10/10/10 global work party, students and environmentalists helped restore the park. Megan Demchar is the vice president of SEAS at USF St. Pete, an environmental student group.
Demchar says more t...
Be the first to commentFlorida's High Speed Rail on track for 2015 listen
10/11/10 Sarah CurranWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: high-speed rail, transit, transportation, Lakeland, Orlando, Tampa, FDOT, Siemens, MOSI
This isn't your average choo-choo train.
“Not only is it a better way to get from point A to point B, it is safe, reliable, and comfortable, and you know you are going to arrive at your destination on time.”
High-speed rail will connect Tampa to Orlando by 2015 and would run on speeds up to 200-mph. A bullet train would cut the drive time nearly in half and could even beat airplanes to their destination. Siemens Spokesperson, Becky Johnson says that’s not all the new rail would offer. ...
25 commentsTea partiers swoon over Rubio in St. Pete listen
10/08/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Marco Rubio, Charlie Crist, Kendrick Meek, US Senate race
With less than four weeks to go until the November election, one statewide race continues to captivate Florida politicos. The contest for Florida’s open US Senate seat has had some funky twists and turns. Now it’s in the home stretch, and a new poll shows Republican Marco Rubio with 50% of the votes. Rubio was in town today surrounded by a mob of adoring supporters
Perhaps “cult” is too strong a word, but “following” is an understatement. These are die-hard fans. They crowd into Ferg’s, a ...
2 commentsUSF St. Pete students plant trees ahead of international climate change event listen
10/07/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: USF, climate change, global warming, activism
The political climate in Florida may often be icy when it comes to the environment, but that’s not curbing action by green activists. An environmental group at USF-St. Pete is greening things up around campus ahead of an international observance of climate change.
Kira Barrera is a spokesperson for USF St. Pete’s Student Environmental Awareness Society, also known as “SEAS.” She says the group had a lot of red tape to cut through in order to do what it’s doing today. You can hear the shove...
Be the first to commentSen. Nelson livid over Gulf spill misinformation listen
10/07/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Bill Nelson, Deepwater Horizon, NOAA, BP, BP oil spill, Gulf Oil Disaster, Barack Obama
A report alleging the federal government blocked worst case estimates of the Gulf oil gusher is bad news for the Obama administration, which is already having trouble with its image. Today that didn’t stop Bill Nelson from blasting its supposed decision to severely downplay the oil flow.
In a conference room overlooking the Downtown St. Petersburg waterfront today, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson is fuming.
Nelson has been one of the harshest critics of BP’s and the government’s response to...
Be the first to commentHills BOCC weighs new auditor policy listen
10/06/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
In the last year, the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has seen more than its fair share of drama. There was the Kevin White scandal, the Pat Bean debacle, and the firing of internal auditor Jim Barnes. The latest is a lawsuit against Commissioner Jim Norman over his ballot eligibility for state Senate. Kevin Ambler, Norman’s GOP primary opponent, filed it after the revelation that he may have failed to disclose a hefty loan from a developer. Norman was glaringly absent today...
Be the first to commentHillsborough BOCC forms cell tower task force listen
10/06/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hillsborough BOCC, Al Higginbotham, Kevin White, Rose Ferlita, cell towers
Some might see more cell phone towers in the local landscape as a sign of better coverage, but many are concerned with their effects. Today the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved the formation of a group to investigate whether to regulate where they can go. Interim County Administrator Mike Merrill says he knows consensus won’t come easily.
Merrill says the committee will have representation from a wide range of vantage points on the cell tower issue.
Commissione...
Be the first to commentCounty to strengthen bike safety measures listen
10/06/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Alan Snel, Hillsborough County Commission, Mark Sharpe, Kevin Beckner
Today, the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners discussed adopting a countywide program to make Bay area roads safer for those who experience them by bike.
Theo Petrisch of Lutz says he’s willing to work for free to help the county reduce the amount of collision occur that involve bicyclists. Since late July, at least six bicyclists have died as a result of riding on Tampa Bay Area Roads.
Petrisch says a third of Florida’s population is unable drive, be it due to age, income, or m...
Be the first to commentState House Dist. 56 candidates seek change, but in different ways listen
10/05/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Florida legislature, 2010 election, state house, district 56, David Chalela, Rachel Burgin, Lewis Larrichia
What do Davis Islands, Riverview, Brandon, and Fish Hawk have in common? They’re all part of Florida’s 56th House District. This year, that district’s residents go to the polls to choose among three candidates. This race doesn’t conform to this election year’s narrative of tea party insurgents trying to unseat establishment incumbents.
It’s a three-way race. The incumbent is the youngest person in the state legislature. At 28, Rachel Burgin is also the youngest female Republican to hold el...
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