News & Public Affairs

Tampa looks to rezone historic Seminole Heights district listen

01/29/13 Ella Wind
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Tags: Seminole Heights, Tampa, rezoning, historic district

The plans for rezoning Seminole heights began five years ago. Tim Heberlein, a local activist, attended the Vision Tampa meetings and the previous neighborhood input sessions organized by city officials for Seminole Heights residents. He is excited about the plan.

“We have some great restaurants down here and to see more light commercial pop up there and different spaces where residents can walk down there, go grab a drink at Ella's and go the record stor...

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Hillsborough rejects domestic partner registry listen

01/24/13 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Tampa, Hillsborough County, Hillsborough County Commission, domestic partnership registry, domestic partnership

Today the Hillsborough County Commission rejected the issue of a domestic partnership registry where non-married couples can get a few of the rights that married couples have.

Four Commissioners opposed the idea: Al Higginbotham, Ken Hagan, Victor Crist and Sandra Murman.

Jennifer Gordon is the legislative assistant for Florida Representative Mark Danish and during public comment this morning read a le...

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New apartment complex offers housing for Tampa's chronically homeless listen

01/24/13 Ella Wind
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Tags: Homeless, Housing, Mental Healthcare, Cypress Landing, Steps Forward, Rehabilitation, homelessness, Tampa

Two years ago, Tampa government officials began to investigate options for addressing Tampa's homeless population, which numbered around 18,000 people. On Wednesday, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at Cypress Landing housing complex in North Tampa, the first permanent housing complex for the chronically homeless in Hillsborough County.

The Cypress Landing complex will house the chronically homeless, those who are repeatedly homeless or have been homeles...

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Hillsborough County to consider domestic partner registry

01/23/13 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Tampa, Hillsborough County, Hillsborough County Commission, domestic partnership registry, domestic partnership

Hillsborough County Commission will take up the issue of a domestic partnership registry Thursday.

The City of Tampa already has one, as does all of Pinellas County.

Our guests are Sally Phillips, president of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus and Ercilia Albistu, President of the Hillsborough County GLBTA Democratic Caucus.

Republican commissioner Mark Sharpe and Democrats Les Miller and Kevin Beckner are expected to support the registry, but it's not known if any of the remainin...

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Clean Up Scheduled for University Area Community in Tampa

01/15/13 Robert Lorei
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Tags: Universitay Area Community, USF, Tampa, Dan Jurman, Avesta Homes, poverty, housing, low wages

Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up today we'll talk about a community project taking place soon in North Tampa-- it's an effort to improve the lives of people who live in the area near the University of South Florida. But first- one listener comment about yesterday's show. Yesterday we spent much of the hour talking about guns and what to do to reduce gun violence. Here's what one listener had to say:

tape

This Saturday more than 500 volunteers from busines...

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Tampa rates high on LGBT equality municipal study listen

12/26/12 Olivia Kabat
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Tags: LGBT, Tampa, equality

A report by the Human Rights Campaign released last month evaluated equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people nationwide. Out of the many cities rated, the Municipal Equality Index scored 11 cities in Florida based on specific criteria and Tampa was the third highest rated Florida city.

The Municipal Equality Index rated 137 municipalities on LGBT equality. Paul Guequierre, Deputy Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign says they evaluated municipal law and policy a...

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Graffiti art is changing the face of Miami's Wynwood neighborhood listen

12/20/12 Lenka Davis and Christopher Davis
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Tags: art, Art Basel, Miami, Tampa

The sound of a graffiti artist’s can of spray paint may mean different things to different people. For people in the Wynwood and Overtown districts of Miami, it is the sound of the inner and outer transformation of their neighborhood.

Rob Fogel is a graffiti artist painting a mural on the border between the two districts. It is the middle of the night, but police spotlights are lighting up the wall, so Fogle carries on painting. But, the police are not here to help him finish his mural o...

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Food Not Bombs volunteers share food in downtown Tampa park despite legal concerns listen

12/18/12 Janelle Irwin
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Tags: Food Not Bombs, homeless, poverty, homelessness, Tampa

Volunteers with the group Food Not Bombs served breakfast to people in Gaslight Square in downtown Tampa Tuesday. The group has been feeding people in the city for years, but this particular routine started last week and will continue every Tuesday through the holidays.

“Well, we have sweet potatoes, oatmeal and bagels.”

That could change next week though. Thích Giác Ngô, a Buddhist monk with Food Not Bombs said the group gets most of their food from places who are about to throw it...

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Tampa gets $30 million HUD grant for Encore development listen

12/13/12 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Encore, Bob Buckhorn, Kathy Castor, HUD, Tampa, Tampa Housing Authority, North Boulevard Homes

Thursday the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it was awarding a $30 million grant to the Tampa Housing Authority to help fund the Encore project in downtown Tampa and nearby communities.

In a conference call, U.S. Representative Kathy Castor said Tampa’s grant is the largest of the four awarded through HUD’s [Choice Neighborhood Initiative](http://portal.hud.gov/hu...

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Tampa City Council to workshop pros and cons of Republican convention surveillance cameras in August 2013 listen

12/06/12 Seán Kinane
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Tags: RNC, CCTV, RNCCTV, surveillance, Tampa Police, Tampa, Republican National Convention, Republican convention, Tampa City Council, Mary Mulhern, Jane Castor

Thursday Tampa City Council approved changes to an ordinance reinforcing that it would be a crime for Tampa Police to use surveillance cameras purchased for the Republican convention for unauthorized peeping on residents inside their homes. But they put off a decision about whether the cameras will be a permanent part of the city’s landscape. There’s been ongoing friction between council and the mayor’s administration about who has the authority to authorize deployment of the cameras. To help...

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