News & Public Affairs

Chalk Festival in Sarasota draws thousands listen

11/09/11 Andrea Lypka
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Tags: Chalkfest, Sarasota County, Art, street art, 3D, Sarasota

Now that the stifling summer weather has ended, outdoor art activities are gearing up in Florida. More than one hundred thousand visitors experienced brightly colored streets at the Sarasota Chalk Festival last week. Street painter Caroline Schultz from Orlando is among the 250 artists from around the world who chalked religious themed art on South Pineapple Avenue in Sarasota. She has been chalking since 1995 using inexpensive hard pastels.

“I have never u...

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Think Occupy protesters are unemployed slackers? Maybe these folks from Occupy Sarasota will change your mind listen

11/01/11 Doug Driscoll
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Tags: Occupy Movement, Occupy Sarasota, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Tampa, Sarasota

The Occupy movement is often stereotyped as being made up of lazy students or unemployed slackers. To see if that myth fits reality, last Saturday WMNF’s Doug Driscoll asked people participating in an Occupy Sarasota protest what they do for a living.

Out of 19 responses, there was 1 student, 2 teachers, 3 professionals and 7 people with “blue collar” jobs, including 2 artists. Two of the people are unemployed, 4 are retired and one is semi-retire...

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Occupy Sarasota holds third rally listen

10/24/11 Doug Driscoll
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Tags: Occupy Movement, Occupy Sarasota, Occupy Wall Street, Sarasota

While interest in the Occupy movement continues to grow, on Saturday Occupy Sarasota held its third rally in their continuing efforts to organize and grow. Their demonstration was along the bay front at Island Park, in the shadow of statue representing the iconic photograph of a returning World War II soldier kissing a nurse.

About 100 people lined Tamiami Trail in a single line, waving signs and discussing future plans for Sarasota’s contribution to the Occupy mo...

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Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force gets citizen input in Sarasota listen

04/19/11 Lenka Davis
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Tags: BP, oil spill, Gulf oil disaster, Sarasota, Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force is gathering input about how the Gulf of Mexico should be restored after last year’s oil disaster. Last night in Sarasota, the task force organized a listening session to hear concerns and recommendations from citizens.

More than 44 million people live in states along the Gulf of Mexico and many of them depend on the Gulf for their income. Even before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the coastal marsh in the Gulf region was disappearing at an...

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Mortin Halperin describes Pentagon Papers, not WikiLeaks, as “courageous act” listen

02/11/11 Zack Baddorf
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Tags: WikiLeaks, Sarasota, Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers, war, war crimes

WikiLeaks has made waves around the world with the release of tens of thousands of classified State Department and Defense Department documents. About 20 Tampa Bay Area residents came to Sarasota Monday night to hear from Mortin Halperin, a Senior Advisor to George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, about his analysis on the release of the secret information.

Mortin Halperin was responsible for the writing of the so-called Pentagon Papers, a study of the American political and military invol...

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Sarasota Gets Giddy over Google Fiber listen

03/11/10 Virginia Hoffman
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Tags: Sarasota

In Sarasota, community activists have joined forces with city and county government to launch a grass roots effort to become a testing ground for Google Fiber.

In February, Google invited municipalities to apply to join an experiment to test ultra high speed Google Fiber boasting to deliver Internet faster than any other Internet access. There is a hitch: Google wants to piggy back on existing networks which Sarasota can not offer.

County Administrator Jim Ley says there are ways around...

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Rep Alan Grayson on why Fed should be audited listen

12/11/09 Virginia Hoffman
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Tags: Alan Grayson, Sarasota, Vern Buchanan, federal reserve, Ron Paul

Orlando-area Member of Congress Alan Grayson appeared in Sarasota on Sunday for a Democratic Party fundraiser.

When asked about teaming up with Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve, he said it is the kind of bipartisan solution people are looking for.

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U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson on health care reform listen

12/09/09 Virginia Hoffman
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Tags: Alan Grayson, Sarasota, health care reform

Member of Congress Alan Grayson appeared in Sarasota on Sunday for a Democratic Party fundraiser.

He told WMNF that when health care bill emerges from the Senate, it will be a plan Americans can look forward to.

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Alan Grayson on US role in Afghanistan listen

12/08/09 Virginia Hoffman
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Tags: Alan Grayson, Afghanistan War, Sarasota, Barack Obama

Member of Congress Alan Grayson appeared in Sarasota on Sunday night at a fundraiser for the local Democratic Party.

WMNF asked if he agrees with President Obama’s timeline for withdrawal from Afghanistan.

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Bob Graham on Crist v Rubio Senate race part 2 listen

11/20/09 Virginia Hoffman
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Tags: Bob Graham, Mel Martinez, Marco Rubio, Charlie Crist, terrorism, Sarasota

Last night we brought you part one of our interview with former Florida Governor Bob Graham. Graham is also a former U.S. Senator.

Republican Mel Martinez replaced Graham in the Senate, but he resigned this year. The 2010 race for that seat is shaping up to be a contentious one. The leading Democrat in the race is U.S. Representative Kendrick Meek. The top two Republicans are Governor Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio.

In the second half of this interview WMNF’s...

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