News & Public Affairs
Pinellas County survey shows county residents open to Fort DeSoto entry fee listen
05/17/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas County, budget, Susan Latvala, Bob LaSala, Norm Roche, Fort DeSoto
Local governments have been making tough decisions in recent years due to shrinking revenue streams. Many have had to cut services, staff, and programs with little public input. Last month, some Pinellas County residents got to weigh in on the debate on which parts of the county government they could live without, and which should stay. A consulting firm conducted a phone survey of hundreds of residents, and some of their findings were surprising. For example, researcher Sarah Lindemuth said ...
Be the first to commentMatthew Cassel eyewitness to Sunday's conflict on Israel-Lebanon border
05/17/11 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Matthew Cassel, Lebanon, Israel, Nakba protests, Palestinian refugees, Palestine, Nakba, refugees
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Lebanon has submitted a complaint to the United Nation's Security Council in the wake of the killing of ten Palestinians at the border with Israel on Sunday. ... In addition to the refugees killed, the Israeli military wounded more than 100 others. ... The protesters were challenging their families displacement from Israel in 1948 ... they want the right to return to their families land. .... Lebanon called on the Security Council to hol...
2 commentsTurtle advocacy group criticizes eco-friendly fishing accreditation listen
05/16/11 Nolan RuarkWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: fisheries, fishing, sea turtles, sustainability
A Florida fishery is set to receive certification that it is eco-friendly despite claims that it causes harm to the state’s turtle and big game fish populations.
Commercial swordfish fishermen want their work to be certified sustainable. To that end, the assessment stage in receiving an eco-friendly label is nearing completion for Day Boat Seafood. But, Marine biologist and campaigner for the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, Christopher Pincetich says that the fishery’s methods are far fr...
Be the first to commentVeterans Of The Freedom Rides Tell The Story Of Challenging Racial Segregation In The South
05/16/11 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Friday)
Tags: Freedom Riders, Tampa Bay, Kredelle Pettway, Dave Myers, Winonah Myers
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up today we'll meet three veterans of the Freedom Rides. Tonight on PBS a new documentary premiers that looks back at the Freedom Riders and their efforts to desegregate public accommodations in the South.
Our guests are Kredelle Pettway, Dave and Winonah Myers who now live here in the Bay area. 50 years ago they were young college students. They were all Freedom Riders. Prior to May 1961 a U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibite...
Be the first to commentTampa Bay Indian community awards heroes listen
05/16/11 Andrea LypkaWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Narayanan Krishnan, Kiran Patel, Tampa, Indian Center, India, poverty, hunger
The Tampa Bay Indian community honored its volunteers on May 15 at the Indian Cultural Center. They are committed to care for the helpless, forsaken, mentally ill, old and sick people. One of the honorees is Narayanan Krishnan who grew up in Madurai, India. At the age of 19 he was working as a chef for a five star hotel. But his career took a turn in 2002.
“I saw a very, very old man eating his own human waste for food,” Krishnan said.
He never left to Switzerland to work as a cook. In...
Be the first to commentSTEM students & Electrathon
05/16/11 Jon ButtsSustainable Living and Alternative Health Listen to this entire show:
Tags: education, students, electric vehicles, conservation, sustainability
Our first guest was the coordinator for Hillsborough County’s Stormwater Environmental Program, John McGee. John talked about the Adopt-A-Pond and Lake and Streams programs and how we can get involved with the health of these backyard ecosystems. You can find out more at www.hillsborough.wateratlas.org.
Next up we had the Math & Science Supervisor for the Pinellas County School System, Rose Mack, join the program to talk about the Science Technolo...
Be the first to commentTreasure Island set to pass Sunset Beach alcohol ban listen
05/16/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Sunset Beach, Treasure Island, alcohol, law enforcement, alcohol ban
Spring break may be over, but that’s not stopping revelers from packing one Pinellas County beach each weekend for months on end. It’s gotten so bad on Treasure Island’s Sunset Beach that city officials might ban alcohol on certain days.
Every day at sunset, a local rings a bell that’s fastened to a palm tree at a beachfront park on Treasure Island’s Sunset Beach. Some celebrate the neighborhood’s namesake with a plastic up brimming with strong drink. Glass isn’t allowed on Treasure Island...
1 commentsFSU/Koch deal comes with heavy strings attached
05/13/11 Lisa Marzilli, Beth BellLast Call Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: FSU, Charles Koch, Cat Warren, Koch Brothers, education, academic freedom
This week saw a spotlight turned on a deal between FSU and Charles Koch that gives the billionaire conservative control over the hiring and firing of two university professors in exchange for a $1.5 million donation to the FSU Economics Department.
Today we spoke with North ...
Be the first to commentNelson gets barrage of bin Laden questions, but won't describe graphic corpse photos listen
05/13/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Osama bin Laden, Bill Nelson, Ron Paul, BP
It’s been a busy week in national politics. Lawmakers grilled fossil fuel executives on Capitol Hill, Republicans Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich announced their presidential runs, and questions continue to follow in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death. A US Senator facing a tougher-than-normal reelection bid stopped by in the Tampa Bay area today, and commented on a range of topics – though there was one thing on which he wouldn’t comment.
At a Lakeland press conference, upon the request of se...
Be the first to commentFlorida has no reporting requirements for controversial pesticide methyl iodide listen
05/13/11 Kelly BenjaminWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: methyl iodide, Arysta Lifescience, pesticides, agriculture, farmworkers, public health, EPA
Methyl iodide is a controversial pesticide that has been approved for use in agricultural fields in Florida and California despite vocal opposition linking it to cancer and other ailments. Today is the last day the Environmental Protection Agency will take public comment on use of the chemical. But finding out where and how much methyl iodide is being used in Florida is a difficult task.
The EPA's public comment period on methyl iodide comes at the request of EarthJustice, a law firm wor...
5 commentsC-SPAN covers Tampa Bay; Florida League Of Women Voters says it's stopping voter registration efforts
05/13/11 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Friday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: C-SPAN, Debbie Lamb, LWV, League of Women Voters of Florida, League of Women Voters, Deidre MacNab, HB 1355, elections, 2011 Legislative session
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up today we'll talk with C-SPAN producer Debbie Lamb about C-SPAN's "local content vehicle" tour of the Tampa Bay area. C-SPAN producers are spending one week here visiting various literary and historic sites, and interviewing local historians, authors and civic leaders.
During C-SPAN’s inaugural tour stop in Tampa/St. Petersburg, the network will also record interviews about the city’s plans for the 2012 Republican National C...
7 commentsFood Not Bombs movement grows in Tampa Bay listen
05/13/11 Andrea LypkaWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Food Not Bombs, feeding, parks, homelessness, peace, war, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Tampa, Keith McHenry, Alex Nadeau
Across Florida the Food Not Bombs movement is going through a revival. It may be due to unemployment, foreclosures, and restrictions on homeless feedings in Orlando. In Tampa Bay new Food Not Bombs chapters are formed and volunteers share food and literature in support of the Orlando volunteers who got arrested for handing out poor to the homeless and needy. The St. Petersburg chapter is growing fast, says volunteer Alex Nadeau. He quit his corporate job and now works for free: he feeds the h...
Be the first to commentWhat happened in the just concluded Florida Legislative session?
05/12/11 Mitch PerryLast Call Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Janet Zink, st. petersburg times, Media, 2011 legislative session
St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee reporter Janet Zink discusses the just concluded Florida 2011 Legislative session, specifically the chaos that ensued on the last night of the session.
Be the first to commentLeague of Women Voters urges Gov. Scott to veto elections bill; hints at lawsuit listen
05/12/11 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2011 Legislative session, elections, voting, League of Women Voters, Rick Scott
The Florida Legislature passed an election bill that supporters say will help crack down on voting fraud. But opponents, including the League of Women Voters, say there isn’t widespread voting fraud and the bill, if signed by Governor Scott, will make it more difficult to vote in Florida. They are asking Governor Rick Scott to veto the election bill. Mickey Castor is president of the League’s Hillsborough County chapter. She is the stepmother of Democratic U.S. Representative Kathy Castor, bu...
Be the first to commentTiger Bay Club meeting tackles legislative issues listen
05/12/11 Nolan RuarkWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tiger Bay, 2011 Legislative session, Janet Long, Adam Smith, St. Petersburg
Some of the controversy over the recently-completed Florida Legislative session spilled over at a Suncoast Tiger Bay Club meeting today.
Former Democratic state Representative Janet Long was defeated in her re-election bid last November. She says during the recent session, the Republican-controlled Legislature went too far in deregulating corporations.
Be the first to comment"Deregulation of the banking industry almost brought our country and the entire financial world market to their knees. I don't see the ...
