News & Public Affairs

Another Police officer shot & killed in St Pete; includes video of suspect listen

02/22/11 Seán Kinane
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Tags: St. Petersburg, police, police shooting, Bill Foster, Chuck Harmon

update: late Tuesday night, Nicholas Lemmon Lindsey (who just turned 16 on Feb 13th) turned himself in and confessed to the crime.

Another police officer has been shot and killed in St. Petersburg. In a news conference this afternoon, Police Chief Chuck Harmon said the manhunt continues for the suspect who killed Officer David Crawford late last night.

Harmon said Crawford was issued a bullet-proof vest, but wasn’t wearing it when he was shot.

St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster says there’s...

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Tampa Bay Water gets 90 million gallon/day permit listen

01/25/11 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Tampa Bay Water, SWFWMD, Southwest Florida Water Management District, water wars, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Odessa, water

The board that oversees water usage in the Tampa Bay area has granted Tampa Bay Water permission to withdraw 90 million gallons of water per day for another ten years. This means the area’s biggest supplier of water can continue withdrawing the vital resource from area lakes, streams, and the rich aquifer that underlies much of the Sunshine state. Today water manager Alba Mas told the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s governing board the agreement comes with several conditions. ...

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Two St Pete Police Officers shot and killed this morning listen

01/24/11 Seán Kinane
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Tags: St. Petersburg, police, police shooting

Two St. Petersburg Police Officers were shot and killed this morning. They are Thomas Baitinger and Jeffrey Yaslowitz. A third law enforcement officer, a U.S. Marshal, is injured. More information is becoming available at this hour.

This is St. Pete Police Chief Chuck Harmon in a press conference late this morning.

The suspect, Hydra Lacy, Jr., is a registered sex offender and the brother of professional boxer Jeff Lacy. He was found dead inside the home this afternoon.

Florida Bloo...

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. awards attracts hundreds in St. Pete listen

01/17/11 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., MLK, Martin Luther King, St. Petersburg, race, tolerance

Today rough weather put a damper on outdoor events commemorating the legacy of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., with parades canceled in Tampa and St. Pete. The early morning storms didn’t keep hundreds from packing into the Coliseum in Downtown St. Pete to honor those who fight locally for equality.

The sunny optimism in the air at the 25th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards Breakfas...

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Controversial homeless shelter to open in Largo tomorrow listen

01/05/11 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: Homelessness, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Bruce Wright

Tomorrow marks the opening of a controversial homeless shelter next to the Pinellas county jail. The shelter will first house those who come on their own, but will soon start forcibly bringing in people caught sleeping in the streets or violating other local laws.

At noon tomorrow, Pinellas Safe Harbor will open its doors to twenty-five homeless men and women who wish to go there. Today in what will be the facility’s designated inebriate area, St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster said they’ll ...

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Bill Foster Answers Tough Tiger Bay Questions listen

01/05/11 Janelle Irwin
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Tags: Bill Foster, Tiger Bay, Safe Harbor, homelessness, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County

Suncoast Tiger Bay Club Members met this afternoon in St. Petersburg to hear from St. Pete’s Mayor, Bill Foster. Foster answered questions from the audience about important topics affecting the city.

St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster is beginning his second year in office after his first was marked with varied approval from the community. Tiger Bay member Darryl Paulson introduced Foster to an anxious crowd to give him an opportunity to answer to his mixed review.

"Now, who is Bill Fo...

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Mayor addresses homeless shelter, domestic violence, during monthly breakfast listen

12/22/10 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: St. Petersburg, Bill Foster, homelessness, domestic violence, homeless shelter, Pinellas County

Today marked the final 2010 edition of St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster’s monthly mayor’s breakfast. Turnout was low, but a few perennial topics came up as the mayor made his rounds.

Maybe it was the chilly air, or that the event was scheduled so close to a major holiday. Today only about six people showed up to the December mayor’s breakfast, which took place at the Twisted Cork on 34th Street North. The mayor stopped for a long chat at every occupied table, and said this kind of setting ...

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More than a hundred turn out to support homeless on Human Rights Day listen

12/13/10 Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: homelessness, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Bruce Wright, Bill Foster, poverty

December 10 is known internationally as Human Rights Day. In St. Petersburg Friday, more than 100 people rallied in front of City Hall to urge those inside to rethink the way they treat the city’s homeless. Homeless advocates say it’s a matter of basic human rights.

"What do we want? Housing! When do we want it? Now!"

At around 4 on a frigid Friday afternoon, the crowd, diverse in age and background, assembles at 4th Avenue and 14th Street North. They walk nine blocks east and regroup ...

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March for housing, jobs, and human rights in St. Petersburg listen

12/10/10 Seán Kinane & Kate Bradshaw
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Tags: poverty, homelessness, St. Petersburg, Bruce Wright

Today in celebration of International Human Rights Day there is a march for housing, jobs, and human rights in St. Petersburg.

We spoke with WMNF’s Kate Bradshaw, during the march late this afternoon.

"I am on 5th Ave North [approaching] City Hall and there must be about 100 people here marching. They started at 4th Avenue North and 14th Street and this is part of International Human Rights Day. Reverend Bruce Wright is leading the march and he's doing so primarily because he objects t...

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Photographers Offer Free Portraits to the Community listen

12/06/10 Andrea Lypka
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Tags: help portrait, st. petersburg, photography

On the Help Portrait Day, photographers give back to the community worldwide by donating portraits for underprivileged families. On December 4, local photographers set up lights and backdrops and converted a room at the Macedonia Freewill Baptist Church in St. Petersburg into a photography studio offering free, professional photographs for those in need. This event is for some families the only Christmas present this year, organizers say.

Jaqueline Baptiste came with her four children: B...

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