News & Public Affairs

The Great American Teach-In aims to showcase careers despite pallid job market listen

11/18/10 Kate Bradshaw
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Education, Pinellas County Schools, economy, unemployment, jobs

It’s not often that you’ll find an artist, a banker, and an archaeologist talking shop under one roof. Today at schools throughout Pinellas County, the Great American Teach-In brought professionals from a broad range of fields into classrooms to teach students about life on the career path. This comes at a time when many students are personally experiencing the ravages of a gutted job market.

Any generation that came of age after World War II but before the millennium was brought up with t...

Be the first to comment

Hillsborough County faces another budget squeeze listen

07/15/10 Kate Bradshaw
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Hillsborough County Commission, Kevin Beckner, Rose Ferlita, economy, budget, budget cuts

Well, thanks to our listener-supporters, WMNF may have narrowly avoided downsizing, but one can’t say the same for Hillsborough County. The County Commission is facing more tough decisions on how to deal with a bleak financial outlook.

Hillsborough County’s budget faces a $65 million gap. Today county budget director Eric Johnson told the commissioners that almost 300 positions will need to be cut from the county payroll to help make up for it. Last year, that number was 571. Johnson said ...

Be the first to comment

St Petersburg Alcohol Sales Extended One Hour listen

05/06/10 Arielle Stevenson
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: wmnf, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg City Council, Leslie Curran, Herb Polson, Jeff Danner, Bill Foster, economic stimulus, economy

St. Petersburg’s one hundred or more bars and restaurants can keep bar tabs going until three in the morning, thanks to a vote by the city council today. The ordinance to allow sales of alcoholic beverages from 2 a.m. until 3 a.m. passed in a 6-2 vote. Supporters of the ordinance spoke about the increase in revenue and better competition with Tampa. Duffy Iorio has bartended in downtown St. Petersbu...

Be the first to comment

Alex Sink has an economic plan for Florida if she becomes Governor listen

04/27/10 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Alex Sink, economy

At this point, the leading Democrat running for governor of Florida is Alex Sink, the state’s chief financial officer. She recently unveiled her economic strategy, called the Business Plan for Florida.

*I hope your listeners will look on my website, alexsink2010.com, for the complete details of my economic plan. But basically, there are proposals around how we revive our economy in the short term, and get more pe...

Be the first to comment

Offshore drilling opponents protest Gingrich listen

04/01/10 Matthew Cimitile
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: oil drilling, environment, jobs, economy, beaches, Newt Gingrich, Bill Foster

Former Speaker and possible Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich hosted a jobs summit in St. Petersburg yesterday to promote ways lawmakers can create jobs now.

But his idea for more oil drilling was met by scores of protesters.

The jobs plan presented by Newt Gingrich at the American Solutions Real Jobs Summit was a conservative policy wish list: reduce government spending, balance the budget, lower taxes, and develop America’s energy supplies. T...

1 comments

Condoleezza Rice Speaks in Sarasota and Criticized by Local Group listen

02/08/10 Concetta DeLuco
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: condoleezza rice, economy, war on terrorism, Iran, Iraq

Former US Secretary of State under the Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, spoke at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center in Sarasota this morning. She addressed several contemporary issues including the economy, terrorism and ongoing wars.

Hundreds filled the auditorium to hear the 66th Secretary of the State speak. One of the first topics Rice tackled was terrorism. She said each and every day terrorists plot to attack the United States.

The Van Wezel would not allow Rice’s speech...

Be the first to comment

Alex Sink wants reform for the State Board of Administrators listen

12/22/09 Joshua Holton
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Alex Sink, SBA, economy

Almost one million Floridians rely on the state’s $112 billion pension fund. It provides financial support to working and retired state employees such as fire fighters and school teachers. Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is seeking to expand the board of trustees that is in charge of managing the fund.

According to Sink, the current board of trustees for the State Board of Administration (SBA), can not effectively manage the pension fund for the whole state with only three me...

Be the first to comment

Interview with Nomi Prins on financial meltdown listen

10/30/09 Mary Glenney
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Nomi Prins, economy

The new book by Nomi Prins is called It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bailouts, Bonuses and Backroom Deals form Washington to Wall Street. She ought to know: she used to be an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.

Today, WMNF Women’s Show co-host Mary Glenney asked Prins how the real economy is brought down by the virtual economy of Wall Street executives who caused the financial crisis by using their “play money.”

Nomi Prins: “That is exactly what the situation is: it’s ‘real’ ver...

Be the first to comment

Foreclosure Workshop At Tampa Convention Center listen

09/28/09 Concetta DeLuco
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: housing, foreclosures, economy

With foreclosures rates at an all-time high across the nation, hundreds gathered at the Tampa Convention Center on Saturday for a foreclosure prevention workshop.

Karen Brown is sick over the thought that she might lose the first home she has ever owned. “I cannot eat. I have no appetite. My husband. They don’t understand my family. They notice I’m withdrawn from talking. I just don’t want to hear it. If I’m talking about it. I go to a corner by myself. I will cry and they don’t even...

Be the first to comment

Report: Florida faces tough economic path listen

07/21/09 Mitch E. Perry
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: economy

As the recession continues and the unemployment rate has now risen to its highest level in the Sunshine state since the Ford administration, a new report paints a bleak look at the economic future of the state.

The study comes from the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy (FCFEP) in Tallahassee, which conducts independent research on state fiscal issues.

Their report begins by listing some dubious statistics. Such as, that the state’s high school graduation rate and its heal...

Be the first to comment