News & Public Affairs

Candidates in St Petersburg Mayoral Race discuss differences listen

10/09/09 Lance Robson
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Thursday evening, forerunners in the St Petersburg mayoral race met for a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters. The event was held in St Pete City Council chambers downtown.

One often-repeated belief about the forerunners in the St Pete mayoral race is that they agree on the majority of issues. To some degree both candidates accept the need for more community policing, neighborhood revitalization, and for further educational efforts .

Asked by the moderator what issues might hi...

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Mayoral Candidates Bare Teeth at Debate listen

09/24/09 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Kathleen Ford, Bill Foster, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg City Council, St. Petersburg Police, St. Pete Mayoral Race

With fewer than six weeks left until Election Day, the St. Petersburg mayoral race has gaining steam. Last night marked the South St. Pete leg of the mayoral debates, which took place at Lakewood High School. Candidates Bill Foster and Kathleen Ford exchanged jabs over two very different visions for the Sunshine City. WMNF’s Kate Bradshaw reports.

With the economy on everyone’s minds, it didn’t take long for the mayoral candidates to dig in to the biggest issue of the election year. Two mi...

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Bill Foster picks up endorsement of Mayor Rick Baker and others listen

09/09/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Bill Foster, Kathleen Ford, Rick Baker, St. Petersburg

On the steps of City Hall this morning, outgoing St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker announced that he is endorsing Bill Foster to be his replacement.

After 8 years in office, Rick Baker is term-limited as St. Pete's Mayor. He says there are two reasons why he is endorsing Bill Foster over his opponent Kathleen Ford.

Last week's primary election trimmed the field of contenders to replace Mayor Baker from ten to two. Bill Foster received the most votes, 27 percent, and he was followed closel...

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St Pete voters choose from 10 mayoral candidates in primary listen

09/01/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: St. Petersburg, election

The crowded race for St. Petersburg Mayor will get much slimmer by the end of today. City residents who had not yet voted by mail are choosing among ten candidates in the primary election.

A slow trickle of voters braved a light but steady rain to select who should replace term-limited Mayor Rick Baker. Former City Council member Bill Foster was the choice of many voters in the Snell Isle precinct located at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church. That includes Snell Isle resident Larry Wallace, wh...

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How will St. Pete budget crisis affect services and employees?

05/27/09 Robert Lorei
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Tags: unions, St. petersburg, sanitation, city services, wages, benefits

Good afternoon, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. This fall St. Petersburg residents will elect a new mayor. The campaign is under way and most of the discusion seems to be centered on the future of the major league ballpark and what to do about structural problems at the Pier.

But some city workers want to ask the candidates about the city's budget problems and how will they deal with possible layoffs and cuts in city services.

Our guests are two union activists who represent ...

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Students learn about organic gardening In St. Pete listen

03/06/09 Arielle Stevenson
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Tags: Kent Curtis, Peggy McCabe, Mark Johnson, Organic, Sweetwater, Lakewood Elementary, St. Petersburg

For many students at St. Petersburg’s Lakewood Elementary, few were aware that food came from the ground, and not from their local supermarket.

But when an organic garden built by students from Eckerd College’s Environmental Science Department was planted on the school grounds, that all changed.

The students planted raised beds with a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Lakewood students work with Eckerd students throughout the day, tending the plants.

Peggy McCabe is a scie...

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Happy Workers listen

12/24/08 Andrea Lypka
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Tags: happy workers, midtown, st. petersburg

Gertrude Jones has been a teacher at the Happy Workers Children’s Center in midtown St. Petersburg for 34 years. The daycare was founded by Willie Lee McAdams, the wife of Pastor Oscar McAdams in the Trinity Presbyterian Church in 1929.

The center started in the storeroom of the church on 920 19th St. S. and expanded into what it is today, she says. Even though 90 percent of the children are “poor and minority,” 90 percent of them achieve at or above grade level, according to 2008 Histor...

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Green building at the USF St. Petersburg Campus listen

12/09/08 Colleen Krepstekies and Andrea Lypka
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Tags: LEED, St. Petersburg, USF

The USF green building project began in 2002 and it will open in fall 2009. The new facility will be two colleges, the arts & sciences and the college of marine science with eight research labs.

The construction company, Creative Contractors, hosted a tour of its building project at the USF St. Pete Campus on Dec. 9. The hosts provided an overview of USF’s first LEED certified building. LEED is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a program that was started by the U.S. ...

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Will St. Pete annex Tierra Verde? listen

11/20/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: St. Petersburg, Tierra Verde, annexation, St. Petersburg City Council

Tomorrow the St. Petersburg City Council will decide whether to annex about 18 acres of Tierra Verde. Yesterday the Pinellas Planning Council voted against recommending the controversial annexation.

St. Petersburg City Council member Jim Kennedy is on the Planning Council but voted in the minority. This afternoon WMNF asked Kennedy about the possible Tierra Verde annexation. “It’s on the agenda and probably will be ultimately decided tomorrow.”

Tune in to the WMNF Evening News tomorrow ...

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St. Pete City Council hears curbside recycling proposal

10/30/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Pinellas County, St. Petersburg, curbside recycling, environment

Of the 10 most densely populated counties in Florida, only Pinellas lacks curbside recycling. Inside the county however, only three municipalities, including St. Petersburg, lack the service..

But that may finally be changing. Today an official with the county spoke in front of the St. Pete City Council about the city participating in the program the county is setting up.

Bob Houser is with the Pinellas County Solid Waste Department. He said that if everything works out, the program wou...

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