News & Public Affairs

Foreclosure workshop held in Tampa listen

07/14/08 Emily Reddy
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Tags: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Assistance, Kathy Castor, Economy

Foreclosures in Florida nearly doubled between June of last year and June of this year. One in every 211 Florida properties received a foreclosure filing last month. On Saturday, 600 Tampa Bay area residents flooded a foreclosure assistance workshop organized by U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor. The workshop brought together representatives from nine banks and 10 nonprofits to work directly with attendees on their mortgage issues.

Candi Lee schedules an appointment with Catholic Charities...

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Uhurus hold conference on economic development

06/23/08 Jamie Kidder
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Tags: African American, Development, Race, Rays stadium, St. Petersburg Police, Tropicana Field, Uhurus, economy

Yesterday in St. Petersburg, the Uhurus met in St. Petersburg to talk about the city’s economic development plans and the Rays ballpark proposal.

The Uhuru Movement in St. Petersburg is a group dedicated to the unity of Africans internationally. They met yesterday at the Uhuru House in South St. Petersburg, where they hosted a conference about the economic development projects in St. Petersburg, the primary one being the construction of a new waterfront stadium.

Local business owners s...

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USF realigns departments, faces more cuts listen

06/13/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: USF, education, economy, budget cuts, Africana Studies, Women's Studies

Florida’s universities received notice of further budget cuts this week – at the same time that the University of South Florida is announcing tuition increases, restructuring, and a dean’s resignation.

On Thursday USF announced a realignment of academic departments, colleges and schools. The university’s largest college was most affected. Under the restructuring, the College of Arts and Sciences will be divided into three schools: Behavioral and Social Sciences, Humanities, and Sciences. ...

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Colombian trade deal ratification sought listen

05/05/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Colombia, Latin America, Mel Martinez, trade, Stetson, economy, labor, recession, unions

A “free-trade” deal has been negotiated between the United States and Colombia, but it awaits Congressional approval. Last month, Democrats in Congress said they would indefinitely delay a vote on ratification.

Today in Tampa, the Colombian Ambassador to the U.S. joined Florida’s junior Sen. Mel Martinez and some members of the business community to urge Congress to quickly vote to ratify the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

Colombian Ambassador Carolina Barco said that under President A...

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Florida Education leader disgusted by school budget cuts listen

04/30/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Economy, Charlie Crist

Under the proposed state budget released earlier this week, $332 million is being cut from public education.

Locally, Hillsborough and Pinellas County Schools will lose a combined $38 million.

Those cuts have disgusted the head of the Florida Education Association, Andy Ford, who says Gov. Charlie Crist and legislative leaders promised schools would be "held harmless" under proposed property tax cut plans. Ford calls those "empty political promises, it’s irresponsible.”

One line i...

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Critics scoff at a gas tax in Florida listen

04/29/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Economy, Fuel Prices

In Tallahassee, Sen. Mike Fasano filed an amendment to a revenue bill Monday that would suspend 10-cents of the state's 15.6-cent per gallon gas tax for a two-week period from July 1-14. It comes after Gov. Charlie Crist has been expressing the same sentiments in recent weeks, saying it would bring relief at the pumps to Floridians.

Doug Calloway is president of Floridians For Better Transportation, a statewide advocate for public transportation created by the Florida Chamber of Commerce. ...

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Report on Iraq, recession released listen

04/24/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Bill Nelson, Democratic Party, Iraq war, Mel Martinez, recession, economy, MoveOn, FCAN

MoveOn.org today released the results of opinion polling saying that many Floridians blame America’s economic troubles on the occupation of Iraq.

Twenty-five people gathered in the West Tampa office of the Florida Consumer Action Network (FCAN) for the release of the Iraq and Recession Report. Following the release, MoveOn members delivered it to the local offices of senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez.

Jason Palermo, a program organizer with FCAN, said the results of the survey poi...

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Castor on helping Americans cope listen

04/22/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Economy

In early February, Congress passed the $146 billion economic stimulus package bill, but 3 months later the stimulus hasn't yet happened. That’s because checks have yet to be sent out for taxpayers and seniors and veterans living on fixed incomes.

Some economists had pointed to an extension of unemployment benefits as a quicker way to stimulate the economy – as it would have gotten money into the marketplace almost immediately by allowing people to keep drawing unemployment for an extra ...

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Truckers strike in Tampa to protest fuel prices listen

04/02/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: strike, labor, unions, economy, gas prices

For the second day in a row, independent truckers were on strike in Tampa today protesting high diesel fuel prices and stagnant incomes. About 50 truck owner-operators demonstrated on Causeway Boulevard in front of the Port of Tampa.

David Santiago is a truck owner-operator. Santiago is striking because he wants the companies who hire independent truckers to pay them more.

“We just came together, we sat down and said, hey enough is enough, we can’t make it any more. I’m sure McDonalds ...

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Truckers protest gas prices in Tampa listen

04/01/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Economy, Fuel Prices

About 70 truckers lined up their rigs on 22nd Street near Causeway Boulevard in Tampa this morning to protest high fuel prices. They were joining a loosely formed national protest, hoping to pressure President Bush to stabilize prices by using the nation’s oil reserves.

Lakeland resident Jen Coolidge says she and her husband have been in the trucking business for more than 40 years combined, and it’s never been harder than right now to be an independent truck driver.

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