News & Public Affairs
Farmworkers march to Tampa to challenge Publix to honor the Fair Food Program listen
03/13/13 Lenka DavisWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: CIW, Publix, workers rights, Fair Food Program, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, immigration
Wednesday the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and their allies pass through Tampa on their 200 mile march from Ft Myers to the headquarters of Publix in Lakeland; the marchers are calling on Publix to honor the social responsibility agreement for farm labor reform known as the Fair Food Program.
Right after sunrise, about seventy marchers gather in Riverview´s Mosaic Park to start walking. Oscar Otzoy is with the farmworkers’ coalition.
In its official statement about the Coalition of I...
Be the first to commentReligious group demands help for impoverished Pinellas County residents listen
03/13/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: St.Pete City Council, FAST, Faith in Action for Strength Together, unemployment, education, NIFDI, direct instruction, poverty
More than 3,000 faith-driven residents are demanding help for Pinellas County’s poor. During an action at downtown St. Pete’s Tropicana Field last night, the group Faith and Action for Strength Together, or FAST, asked elected officials to implement programs that would improve healthcare, housing, jobs and schools. Glad McCurtain is a member of FAST’s education committee.
Be the first to comment“We know that if a child cannot read at grade level by the third grade, there is a huge likelihood that the child will...
Reaction to resignation of Florida's Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll listen
03/13/13 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Jennifer Carroll, Rick Scott
Florida’s Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll resigned in a letter to Governor Rick Scott dated yesterday. The Governor’s office said she did not want her ties to a company embroiled in a major crack-down on internet sweepstakes cafés to be a distraction. Carroll's public relations firm once represented Allied Veterans of the World, a supposed charity that law enforcement officers say was instead a front for an internet gambling ring.
We spoke with Aaron Sharockman, deputy government and...
Be the first to commentListen to full audio of Bradley Manning's court statement
03/12/13 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Bradley Manning, Wikileaks, media, Freedom of the Press Foundation
The Freedom of the Press Foundation has released a leaked audio recording of the entire statement made by Pfc. Bradley Manning.
Manning talks about why he leaked documents, including what Wikileaks calls the "Collateral Murder" video of journalists being killed in Iraq by the U.S. military.
Here's a link to the text of [Bradley Manning's full statement, trans...
Be the first to commentWas the Iraq War Worth It?
03/12/13 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Iraq invasion, corruption, wasted tax dollars, Peter Van Buren, inspector general, Stuart Bowen
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up today we’ll look back at the US invasion of Iraq- which began ten years ago this month. We’ll look at the money we spent on Iraq reconstruction and where that money went.
But first we’ll speak with a former foreign service officer- Peter Van Buren. He spent a year in Iraq as a State Department Foreign Service Officer serving as Team Leader for two Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). Now he writes about Iraq and the Midd...
Be the first to commentTampa Bay Estuary Program announces which ecosystem restoration programs it would like to see funded from BP oil disaster money listen
03/12/13 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa Bay Estuary Program, water, pollution, BP oil disaster, BP, Gulf oil spill, BP oil spill, restoration, environment, Tampa Bay
The Gulf Coast will get millions of dollars for ecosystem restoration as part of fines resulting from the 2010 BP oil disaster.
A partnership of estuary protection groups and local communities has come up with a list of environmental improvement projects they hope will be funded.
One of the partners is the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and Holly Greening is their executive director.
Be the first to comment"Last year Congress approved the Restore Act, last July. That act allows 80 percent of the Clean Water ...
Some Tampa Bay law enforcement agencies use same flammable tear gas that led to fugitive cop death listen
03/12/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Lakeland Police, St. Pete Police, Clearwater Police, Sarasota Police, Tampa Police, Pinellas Park Police, Sarasota Sheriff, Manatee Sheriff, Pasco Sheriff, Polk Sheriff, Citrus Sheriff, Pinellas County Sheriff, Hillsborough County Sheriff, tear gas, incen
A few weeks ago in Southern California, police who tried to arrest a former LA Police officer accused of murder burned down the house where the suspect was hiding using incendiary tear gas. Some police agencies in the Tampa Bay area are equipped with the chemical weapon. It’s used by specially trained police units to smoke out dangerous suspects during certain situations. But the consequences of an unintended fire can be deadly. We spoke to several law enforcement agencies in the area to f...
Be the first to commentSt. Pete activists remember Fukushima disaster listen
03/11/13 Lauren MisaWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Fukushima, Japan, nuclear power
Today marks the two year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the coast of Japan; killing over 15,000 people. There’s a vigil in St. Pete Monday afternoon to remember the tragedy.
The earthquake and tsunami caused the Fukushima Nuclear Plant disaster. It forced more than 150,000 people to evacuate their homes, yet to return for fear of radiation.
Concerned citizens are holding a Fukushima Candlelight Vigil Monday afternoon from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will be in the park acro...
Be the first to commentA Venezuelan Citizen Discusses the Legacy of President Hugo Chavez; Right Wing Hate Groups on Rise in US
03/11/13 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Monday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: hate groups, extremism, Mark Potok, Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, Ruben Ferrer
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up today we'll speak with a Venezuelan citizen, living here in the Tampa Bay area, who has been traveling back and forth between the US and Venezuela for years. Ruben Ferrer owns a business in the Sarasota/Manatee County area. He says that the Chavez administration was very positive- enhancing democracy and dealing with neglected issues such as poverty, education, health care and pensions. He'll join us live.......
Last week t...
Be the first to commentFaith leaders and immigrants urge comprehensive immigration reform listen
03/11/13 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: immigration, immigration reform, DREAM Act, Orlando
Monday in Orlando faith leaders and immigrant students held a prayer rally to reform the nation’s immigration system.
Minutes before the rally was to begin, WMNF spoke by phone with one of the organizers, Rev. Errol Thompson, pastor of New Life Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Orlando.
He’s also chair of PICO (People Improving Communities for Organizing) United Florida.
Be the first to comment"The rally is about a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million people here in the United States that hav...
