News & Public Affairs
State Senate's harsh funding cut proposal draws pushback from USF supporters listen
02/14/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: USF, JD Alexander, USF Polytechnic, Lakeland, Florida Legislature, 2012 Legislative session
The University of South Florida could lose $79 million in funding if a state Senate budget proposal is adopted. Under the plan, USF would also lose control over its Lakeland Polytechnic Institute, which would become the state’s 12th independent university. At an emergency board meeting last night, trustees estimated the overall cost would $130 million.
The Senate’s proposed budget withholds $25 million from USF until it cuts its Po...
Be the first to commentUSF faculty union president warns of consequences of rush to create new university in Polk County
02/14/12 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: USF, Polytechnic Lakeland, Paul Terry, J.D. Alexander, Florida Legislature, Florida Senate
In Tallahassee two unexpected proposals from the past week are posing challenges to the University of South Florida in Tampa. The first was unveiled a week ago in the state Senate--- it was a bill to immediately create Florida Polytechnic University - a new, completely independent school in Lakeland. The University would separate from USF and the new entity would assume control of all the assets. It would hire a brand new faculty and so far- there’s no definitive word on what this new univers...
1 commentsFormer big oil president has a plan for sound energy policy in the U.S. listen
02/14/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Energy, Energy conservation, nuclear energy, solar energy, wind power, energy independence, John Hofmeister
A former oil executive is speaking out about the problems with America’s energy policy. John Hofmeister is the former president of Shell. In January he told a crowd of about 75 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, he wants the U.S. to take the politics out of keeping the lights on.
According to Hofmeister, the United States is well on its way to long lines for gas, soaring prices and brown outs. The approach h...
Be the first to commentWill the President's Announcement About A Settlement with Five Major Banks Solve the Mortgage Crisis?
02/13/12 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Monday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: mortgae crisis, ProPublica, My Home America, Paul Kiel, Walter Walker, Xiomara Mewa
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Last Thursday a record $25 billion settlement was announced between the government and five big U.S. banks accused of abusive mortgage practices.
Checks of up to $2,000 each are expected to reach 750,000 households who lost homes through the foreclosure process between 2008 and 2011.
As part of the deal, the banks also agreed to cut the amount of principal owed by homeowners and provide lower-interest rate loans to the tune of $17 b...
Be the first to commentOccupy Tampa to challenge constitutionality of city's sidewalk ordinance listen
02/13/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Occupy Tampa, Pepe Kovanis, Tampa Police
Arrests of Occupy Tampa members have slowed down, but the court hearings for the dozens charged so far are still underway. Last week after an arraignment, one defense council said he plans to argue that the city ordinance some Occupy Tampa members are charged with violating is unconstitutional.
Andrew “Pepe” Kovanis was accused of disobeying [Tampa ordinance 22-8](http://library.municode.com/HTML/10132/level4/COOR_CH22STSI_ARTIADPR_DIV1GEPRADAUDE.html#COOR_CH22STSI_ARTIADPR_DIV1GEPRADAUDE...
Be the first to commentThe President's Budget, Proposed Development in Terra Ceia, the Dead Zone in the Upper Gulf, Ferry Travel to Cuba and Open Phones: It's The Last Call!
02/13/12 Robert LoreiLast Call Monday Listen to this entire show:
Good afternoon, welcome to The Last Call. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up today I'll read a few news stories and we'll hear some audio tape then I'll open the phone lines. Our topics will include: the dead zone in the upper Gulf of Mexico, the gradual disappearance of the Mississippi Delta, an emergency meeting tonight at USF in Tampa to discuss the proposal for the new Polytechnic school in Lakeland, a proposal to run a ferry from Florida to Cuba, the President's budget proposal and more.
First...
13 commentsSponge Docks facelift may be coming soon to Tarpon Springs listen
02/13/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tarpon Springs, Sponge Docks, economic development
Tarpon Springs’ famous Sponge Docks are in line for a makeover. Last week at a public planning meeting, residents gave their locals-only input to designers.
Residents love their Sponge Docks, but they want outsiders to love them too. So Tarpon Springs has set aside a million dollars to overhaul as much of the waterfront as the budget will allow. The project’s principal architect, Ed Hoffman, designed a r...
Be the first to commentObama is now a Super PAC man listen
02/10/12 Lisa MarzilliLast Call Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: President Obama, Super PAC's, Jessica Levinson, campaign financing
In light of President Obama’s reversal this week, we’re going to talk about Super PAC's. Political expenditures for the upcoming general election are expected to exceed a billion dollars. Thanks to Steven Colbert and his attorney, former FEC Chairman Trevor Potter, pe...
Be the first to commentImmokalee tomato harvesters win agreement with Trader Joe's listen
02/10/12 Kelly BenjaminWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: CIW, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Publix, farmworkers, labor
Yesterday, the nationwide specialty grocery store chain, Trader Joe’s, signed a landmark agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. It guarantees the company will pay one penny more per pound of tomatoes picked by immigrant farm workers in South Florida. The agreement came a day before planned protests of the grand opening of the first Trader Joe’s in the state.
Protests were planned in over 40 cities nationwide this weekend against Trader Joe’s for failing to sign on to the Coali...
Be the first to commentIs the future of science education in danger? listen
02/10/12 Liz McKibbonWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: evolution, Board of Education, USF, National Center for Science Education, Eugenie Scott, science, education, creationism
An anthropologist warns Florida has laws that are a back-door entrance to teaching creationist theory in schools. At a lecture Thursday night in Tampa as part of USF’s Darwin Day celebration, Eugenie Scott says that’s hurting the quality of science education in the state.
Students, professors and the public filled nearly every seat in USF’s Fine Arts Hall. Jamie Delgato was one student in attendance.
Be the first to comment”Well the whole creationism ver...
Tampa Bay History Center Exhibit: Spies Saboteurs and Traitors
02/10/12 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Friday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa Bay History Center, Spies Traitors Saboteurs, Rodney Kite-Powell, terrorism, Red Sc are, Palmer raids
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up on the first part of the program we'll talk with Rodney Kite-Powell who is the curator at the Tampa Bay History Center about their new exhibit SPIES TRAITORS SABOTEURS. It's a look at 235 years of U.S. history involving domestic terrorism, divided loyalties, and sometimes misguided efforts to combat threats both internal and external. From the founding of our country, through the Palmer raids, two world wars, the Red scare and t...
Be the first to commentEconomic development is possible at Tampa's Riverwalk and beyond listen
02/10/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Riverwalk, hillsborough river, economic development, Urban Land Institute, Bob Buckhorn, Tampa
Tampa is committed to a Riverwalk connecting the Channel District to Tampa Heights. But development along the Hillsborough River may not stop there. During a discussion at the Tampa Convention Center this morning experts from the Urban Land Institute shared ways the river can connect neighborhoods to downtown.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn said 20 years from now early plans to transform Tampa’s wat...
Be the first to commentAffordable / workforce housing in Tampa Bay
02/09/12 Mitch PerryLast Call Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Sadowski Trust, Debra Koehler, Mark Hendrickson, Sage Partners, housing, Homelessness, affordable housing
Debra Koehler with Sage Partners was our main guest, speaking about affordable/workforce housing. Mark Hendrickson, former head of the state housing agency and now a private consultant called in from Tallahassee to discuss the Sadowski Trust, which are housing funds composed of local and state revenue from documentary-stamp taxes paid on property sales. While the recession has reduced those sales, and the need for new housing, the funds can still be used to repair and rehabilitate old apartm...
Be the first to commentNew mobile phone audio tour lets visitors learn about Tampa Riverwalk listen
02/09/12 Olivia KabatWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa, hillsborough river, Riverwalk, waterfront
The City of Tampa recently announced the beginning of construction on a new segment of the downtown Riverwalk. In order to draw more visitors the Riverwalk is now expanding and offering a new audio cell phone tour of Tampa’s waterfront.
The new phone tour was developed by Friends of the Riverwalk with assistance from the University of South Florida chapter of Students in Free Enterprise. Dameion Lovett, assistant director of USF’s Scholarship & Financial Aid Department says the self-guide...
Be the first to commentPolitics meets the State Fair: Governor and Cabinet meet in Tampa on opening day listen
02/09/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Governor Rick Scott, Rick Scott, Cabinet, Pam Bondi, agriculture, auto insurance, fraud, Florida State Fair
Governor Rick Scott got to have some fun in Tampa at the opening day of the Florida State Fair today where he held a Cabinet meeting. Aside from tours and eating fried food, Scott also got kudos from Tampa Bay area locals.
At the cabinet meeting a group of about 50 Floridians wore shirts advertising their coalition: Put the Brakes on Accident Fraud. Austin Curry was one of many advocates waving signs thanking the Governor and Cabinet for their efforts to stop the loss of 1 billion dollar...
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