News & Public Affairs
St. Pete City Council rejects curfew for minors listen
04/07/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: St. Pete City Council, Karl Nurse, Steve Kornell, curfew, youth
Today the St. Petersburg City Council voted down a proposal to explore a curfew for minors. Council member Karl Nurse brought up the idea, which would have required youths aged 16 and under to be home between 11pm and 6am during the school week. Police would have taken those caught in public during those hours home or to a so-called curfew center. Nurse’s rationale was that it would help kids get a healthy amount of sleep while keeping them out of trouble. The recent shooting of Officer David...
Be the first to commentPlastic flamingos, St. Pete officials unite to fight proposed pro-fertilizer industry law listen
04/07/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: fertilizer ordinance, Tallahassee, nutrients, waterway health, pollution, 2011 Legislative session, St. Pete City Council, St. Petersburg
In recent years, cities throughout Florida have been banning use of certain fertilizers with the hope of curbing water pollution. Now, the state legislature is pushing through a law that would limit local control over fertilizer use. Today St. Petersburg became the latest city to pass a resolution opposing that bill.
The front lawn at St. Petersburg City Hall went kitsch this morning ahead of the City Council meeting. Dozens of pink plastic flamingos covered the small rectangle of grass. I...
Be the first to commentTampa Bay health scorecard delivers mixed results listen
04/06/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa Bay Partnership, Tampa Bay area, health, suicide rate, pedestrian deaths
Gauging the overall health of a heavily-populated region is no easy task, but a recent study out tries to do just that. Researchers presented their findings at the Tampa Bay partnership’s headquarters today, and it paints a complex picture that’s not all bad, but far from ideal.
The Healthy Communities report draws from a sweeping range of data sources. It notes that in 2007, 62 perce...
Be the first to commentPETA says farm photography bill would criminalize those calling attention to animal abuse listen
04/06/11 Lenka DavisWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: PETA, animal rights, Jim Norman, Florida Legislature, farms, 2011 legislative session
One controversial bill moving through the Florida Legislature would make people criminals if they photograph or video tape farms without permission. Animal rights groups are concerned the bill will target activists trying to document cruelty. Last night, the senior vice president for PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, spoke at the University of South Florida in Tampa. WMNF reporter Lenka Davis interviewed Matthews about the farm photography bill.
Senate Bill 1246, filed by ...
3 commentsPinellas officials: more budget cuts could hurt basic services listen
04/05/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: recession, Pinellas County, Norm Roche, Bob LaSala, budget cuts
For city and county governments, budget season lasts pretty much all year. Today, Pinellas County officials heard from heads of several departments on how years of cuts have affected their ability to function, and how they’ll impact county services in coming years. Several times, officials brought up the intense storms of the past week to stress that some services can only see so many cuts before personnel shortages end up costing the county more. Emergency Management Director Sally Bishop sa...
7 commentsInterview with organizer of Tampa We Are One Rally starts the Last Call conversation today
04/04/11 Robert LoreiLast Call Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: We Are One, Jason Smith, AFL-CIO, unions, Florida, public workers, labor, Martin Luther King Jr., 2011 legislative session
Good afternoon, welcome to the Last Call. I'm Rob Lorei. We'll start today's program with an interview with Jason Smith of the Florida AFL-CIO who is organizing a We Are One rally today at Al Lopez Park in West Tampa.
At the time of his death on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was marching in solidarity with 1,300 black sanitation workers in Memphis; the public employees were defending their right to collective bargaining for better wages, working conditions, respect and dignity...
Be the first to commentBees, fermented food & eating local
04/04/11 Jon ButtsSustainable Living and Alternative Health Listen to this entire show:
Tags: gardening, organic gardening, food, sustainability, eating locally, bees, honey, fermentation
On today’s Sustainable Living program our first guest was Rebecca “The Bee Keeper” Conroy. She’s a bee keeper and food fermentor, and this month The Tampa Bay Beekeepers are having their annual bee workshop at Upper Tampa Bay Park on Saturday April 17 starting a 9 a.m. Rebecca successfully has bees in urban areas of Pinellas and says in this setting they do better than in natural areas. She talked about some of the basic of beekeeping as hive cost, aggressive bees and the benefits of eating ...
Be the first to commentHART Board extends CEO David Armijo's paid leave listen
04/04/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: HART, TBARTA, Hillsborough County, penny transit tax, David Armijo, light rail, administrative leave, alleged corruption, Mark Sharpe, Kevin Beckner, Sandy Murman
Hillsborough County’s top transit official is facing tough scrutiny in the wake of accusations of misconduct ranging from retaliation against whistleblowers and misuse of travel funds. Today the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit board placed agency CEO David Armijo on two more weeks of paid leave while they try to figure out whether or not to keep him on board.
The complaints came back in February. Two weeks ago the board voted to suspend HART CEO David Armijo with pay when national emplo...
Be the first to commentFlorida Governor Rick Scott gets booed at Tampa Bay Rays home opener listen
04/04/11 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Rick Scott, mental health, education, Rays, job creation, Tampa Bay Rays, St. Petersburg
The increasingly common public outcry against Governor Rick Scott continued on Friday. This time at a baseball game. Hundreds of protesters gathered both in and around Tropicana Field to protest Scott as he threw out the first pitch at the Tampa Bay Rays’ home opener.
Friday was April Fool’s Day, and several hundred Rick Scott opponents celebrated with a chorus of boos at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. As news of Rick Scott’s throwing of the first pitch at the season opener for the Ta...
19 commentsBob Buckhorn Inaugurated as Mayor of Tampa listen
04/01/11 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Bob Buckhorn, Pam Iorio, Tampa Mayor's race, Tampa City Council, Tampa, Mary Mulhern, Yvonne Yolie Capin, Charlie Miranda, Mike Suarez, Harry Cohen, Frank Reddick, Lisa Montelione
Tampa has a new Mayor. Bob Buckhorn was inaugurated this afternoon in a ceremony at the Tampa Convention Center.
The seven members of the Tampa City Council also took their oaths of office this afternoon. Mary Mulhern, Yvonne Yolie Capin, and Charlie Miranda are returning members. Mike Suarez, Harry Cohen, Frank Reddick, and Lisa Montelione are new Council members. Miranda was elected new chair with four votes.
Mayor Buckhorn:
Be the first to comment"Look around this room, ladies and gentlemen. If you eve...
Innocence Project's Seth Miller says controversial bill would help prevent wrongful imprisonment
04/01/11 Lisa Marzilli, Beth BellLast Call Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Innocence Project of Florida, Seth Miller, witness misidentification, SB 1206, 2011 legislative session
We opened today's Last Call with a live report from the Trop where hundreds of people were protesting Gov. Scott's massive cuts to education, healthcare and worker pensions. Scott was invited to throw out the first pitch at the Rays season opener.
Following that, Innocence Project of Florida Executive Director Seth Miller talked about a controversial bill (SB 1206) working its way through the state legislature t...
2 commentsAudio: Florida Democrat chastised for saying "uterus" on House floor listen
04/01/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Abortion, Dean Cannon, choice, Scott Randolph, uterus, state house, Florida Legislature, labor, unions, 2011 legislative session
Whether it’s busting unions, requiring ultrasounds for women seeking abortions, or drug-testing welfare recipients, these days, GOP lawmakers in Tallahassee have been offending a lot of people. But last week, it was a Democrat in the state house who made waves. After a lengthy debate over a bill affecting public employee unions, House Speaker Dean Cannon raised a stink over an anatomic reference that Orlando Representative Scott Randolph had made.
Cannon issued a statement warning his coll...
1 commentsFlorida Senate budget committee advances bill cutting health coverage for working poor listen
04/01/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Medicare, health care, state house, 2011 legislative session, John Thrasher, JD Alexander, Nan Rich, Arthenia Joyner, Florida Legislature
The budget battled continued in the state Senate today. Republicans in the Senate Budget Committee voted to slash funds for the Medically Needy program shortly after they approved giving bonuses for judges who are quickest at moving cases through the court system.
Proposed Senate Bill 7174 would rename Medicaid’s “medically needy” program. The system, which serves those whose health care expenses place them below the poverty line, would be known as the “Medicaid nonpoverty medical subsidy....
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