News & Public Affairs
Economist Richard Wolff on the Economy
03/12/12 Robert LoreiLast Call Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Richard Wolffe, economy, stimulus package, Unemployment, tax cuts
Friday, the federal Labor Department reported that in February the nation’s unemployment rate remained flat---at 8.3 percent—it was the first time since last August that the jobless rate did not drop.
The economy added 227,000 jobs. With manufacturing adding 31,000 jobs and temporary employment rising with 45,000 jobs. The report also showed that December and January added 61,000 more jobs than originally estimated.
The report was positive news for the Obama administration,. However,...
1 commentsDogs Against Romney protests in Tampa listen
03/12/12 Samuel JohnsonWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: animal rights, Mitt Romney, activism, dogs, social media
Animal rights activists have found a creative way of protesting GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. On Saturday ten people calling themselves, “Dogs against Romney” converged on Al Lopez Park in Tampa.
Mitt is mean! Mitt is mean!
The founder and chief architect of “Dogs Against Romney”, Scott Crider, was shocked in 2007 when he read about the news of how Mitt Romney treated his dog on a family vacation to Canada. He started a blog that year, bu...
Be the first to commentEthel and Kerry Kennedy join protest at Publix headquarters in Lakeland where farmworkers break 6 day fast listen
03/12/12 Kelly BenjaminWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: CIW, Publix, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, FAST, labor, Robert F. Kennedy
On Saturday after 6 days without food, more than 60 farmworkers and supporters ended their fast for fair food outside the Publix Supermarket corporate Headquarters in Lakeland. Nearly 1,000 people marched to the fast breaking ceremony organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
Publix supermarkets is the largest and fastest growing employee owned supermarket chain in the United States. They are also one of the longest hold outs from signing on to a Fair Food Agreement with Florida tom...
7 commentsSeattle's Former Police Chief Talks About the Drug War and Policing Large Scale Demonstrations
03/12/12 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Monday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Norm Stamper, war on drugs, drug legalization, Battle in Seattle, WTO, GOP Convention in Tampa
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up today we’ll speak with the former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper. He has some interesting views on the war on drugs. Plus He’s had the experience of overseeing the Seattle police department during the widespread protests in 1999 over the World Trade Organization.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the outlaw of marijuana in the US. Back in 1937 politicians sounded the alarm over what they called the emerging "menace"...
Be the first to commentParent trigger bill narrowly defeated, Court rules Senate redistricting maps no good listen
03/09/12 Lisa MarzilliLast Call Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Parent Empowerment Act, parent trigger, State Senator Nan Rich
The 2012 state legislative session ended around midnight on Saturday, but lawmakers will be coming back for a special session later this month after the Supreme Court shot down the Senate’s redistricting maps today.
In other big state news, the “Parent Empowerment Act’ was narrowly rejected in the Senate Friday afternoon on a 20-20 tie vote. The so called “parent trigger” bill would have allowed a simple majority of parents at a failing school (just 51%) to choose a ‘turnaround’ strategy ...
Be the first to commentFlorida Senate barely kills parent trigger bill listen
03/09/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: parent trigger bill, Nan Rich, Lizbeth Benacquisto, Jean Clements, education, Education reform
A deadlocked vote in the state Senate this afternoon has killed the controversial parent trigger bill. Supporters of the bill tried to revive the pro-charter school legislation after an onslaught of opposition from teacher and parent groups.
Republican Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto told of woman who felt helpless for her child attending a failing school. Benacquisto, the bill’s sponsor, urged Senators to vote for what she named the [Parent Empowermen...
Be the first to commentProgress Energy pushes electric vehicles listen
03/09/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: electric vehicles, Progress Energy, GM, Nissan Leaf, electric cars
As part of an effort to prepare for a growing number of electric vehicles on the road, Progress Energy is conducting studies that include using their own electric fleet. The energy utility hosted a seminar for businesses at a mid-Pinellas hotel this morning.
The 21st century hasn’t yet turned into a scene straight out of the Jetsons with flying cars, but it kind of sounds like it. The engine in the electric motor of the [Chevy Volt](http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car/?seo=goo|...
Be the first to commentVolunteers install man-made oyster reefs in Tampa Bay listen
03/09/12 Liz McKibbonWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa Bay Watch, oyster reef, Conservation, environment, Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Water
Oyster habitats benefit the overall Tampa Bay estuary. A group of volunteers and a local nonprofit are creating structures for new oyster communities to thrive in the Bay near Riverview. The group bagged more than 8.5 tons of fossilized shells at the Shultz Nature Preserve today.
About 50 volunteers arrived at Williams Park boat ramp this morning at 9:00, ready to provide helping hands to create new man-made oyster beds. Volunteers were from a range of ages, with a mix of first time volun...
Be the first to commentGOP Candidates' Fiscal Plans Would Make Federal Deficits Worse; Does Georgetown Law Student Have Libel Case Against Rush Limbaugh?
03/09/12 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Friday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: GOP Presidential candidates, deficits, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Rush Limbaugh, Sandra Fluke, libel, slander, defamation, Janelle Weber
Good morning, welcome to radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. First today we'll hear from Jeff Vanke who is a senior policy analyst at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He'll discuss the group's recent report that the Republican Presidential candidates fiscal proposals would increase the federal budget deficit. CRFB report on GOP candidates. Later we'll talk with Janelle Weber of the firm Shutts and Bowen regarding [Rush Limabugh's comme...
Be the first to commentParent trigger vote expected Friday; opponents hopeful it will fail listen
03/08/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: education, education funding, Jack Latvala, Nan Rich, Jean Clements, Hillsborough Classroom Teacher's Association, Students First, Michelle Rhee, parent trigger bill
Update: the parent trigger / parent empowerment bill failed 20-20 Friday
A final state Senate vote on the "parent trigger" bill has been postponed until Friday; it would allow parents to have a say in how to improve a failing school including turning it into a privately run charter school. The bill has already passed in the House, but Jean Clements, president of the Hillsborough Classroom Teacher’s Association, said she’s confident there is enough opposition to leave the measure dead Fr...
Be the first to commentSebelius: federal healthcare law gives options to women listen
03/08/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: women's health, health care, Obamacare, Kathleen Sebelius
More than 17 million American women are uninsured, but the health care law signed by President Barack Obama could drastically reduce that number. Many provisions in the law make preventative care more accessible and affordable for women of all ages.
Tanya Showers said she’s been without basic health insurance for at least 4 years.
“It’s been very hard. I go to the hospital sometimes, to the emergency room just to get help."
“An...
Be the first to commentTampa City Council to vote on resolution opposing Citizens United decision & corporate personhood
03/07/12 Seán KinaneLast Call Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa City Council, Frank Reddick, Mary Mulhern, Citizens United, US Supreme Court, corporate personhood, Move To Amend, Campaign finance
On Thursday March 15 Tampa City Council will vote on a resolution opposing the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision and calling for a constitutional amendment declaring corporations are not people and money is not speech.
The resolution was introduced by Council members Frank Reddick and Mary Mulhern. Mulhern was going to be a guest on this Last Call but was sick. Tampa Bay area listeners weighed in on whether they think the City of Tampa...
Be the first to commentReligious leaders: Florida's anti-Sharia bills are "an attack on all religions" listen
03/07/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Hassan Shibly, CAIR, Sharia Law, Muslims, Religion, religious freedom, Laila Abdelaziz
Multi-denominational religious leaders and advocacy groups came together in Tampa to speak out against twin bills in the Florida House and Senate. The measures would ban Foreign Laws from use in Florida courtrooms. Speakers at the press conference this afternoon said the proposed law is an attack on religious freedom.
The legislation passed the Florida House last week by a wide margin, 92-24. It hasn’t been heard on the Senate floor yet, but easily passed through two committees. The bi...
Be the first to commentDefense Secretary Panetta: doesn't make sense for U.S. to take unilateral action in Syria listen
03/07/12 wire reports including APWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Leon Panetta, Syria, John McCain, United Nations
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is pushing back against fresh demands for U.S. military involvement in Syria.
Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it doesn't make sense for the U.S. to take unilateral action right now.
This week the panel's top Republican, John McCain, urged the U.S. to lead airstrikes against the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Two other senators are also calling for the U.S. military to step in on behalf of Syrian rebels.
A Syrian Red Crescent off...
1 commentsBills in Tallahassee Would Consolidate HART and PSTA Transportation Authorities
03/07/12 Robert LoreiWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday
Tags: HART, PSTA, Steven Polzine, merger, HB1399, SB 1866
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up today we'll talk about two bills in Tallahassee that could lead to the merger of HART (the Hillsborough Regional Transportation Authority) and PSTA (the Pinellas Suncoast Transportation Authority). Our guest is HART Board Vice Chair Dr. Steven Polzin, Director of the Mobility Research Program (long title for “researcher) at the USF Center for Urban Transportation Research. FMY HART
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