News & Public Affairs
Homeless advocate wary of proposed Pinellas shelter listen
12/03/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Bruce Wright, St. Petersburg, homelessness
Today the Pinellas County Homeless Leadership Network met at what it’s calling the Annex II facility, the proposed site for a homeless complex and jail diversion program. The complex would also house convicts transitioning back into the community after their sentences. Homeless advocates are critical of the site. Reverend Bruce Wright is a homeless advocate in Pinellas. He says the 49th street facility is eerily close to the county jail.
Be the first to comment"But essentially it's just a jail annex. They're lo...
Residents honor, remember people with Alzheimer's listen
11/15/10 Zack BaddorfWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Alzheimer's, health, St. Petersburg, aging, elders, seniors issues
Across the country Sunday, people gathered together for a National Commemorative Candle Lighting to remember those with Alzheimer's Disease. About a dozen Tampa Bay residents met at the Albert Whitted Park in St. Petersburg on Sunday night to honor their loved ones.
Karen Walsh's step-mother-in-law Billie had Alzheimer's for almost 20 years. For four of those years, Walsh looked after her. She said it was hard.
"But there were a lot of really joyful moments in all the hardships," she sa...
Be the first to commentPolitical action committee formed to save the St. Pete Pier listen
11/11/10 Jamie KidderWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: pier, st. petersburg, vote on the pier, wengay newton, st. petersburg city council
The St. Petersburg City Council voted last August to demolish the Pier, the waterfront landmark that has defined the St. Pete skyline since 1973. A new group wants to put the fate of the pier in the hands of voters during next year's municipal elections. WMNF was there for the organization's first meeting as an official political action committee.
Tom Lambdon formed the Vote on the Pier political action committee to try to force a referendum on ...
1 commentsPinellas schools consider swapping fundamental, Montessori programs listen
11/09/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas Schools, St. Petersburg, Gulfport, education, Montessori, fundamental schools
It’s no secret that many public schools in Florida are disappointing at best. The Pinellas County School Board is trying to makes some tweaks to the system to boost results, but one of these changes has two South Pinellas communities up in arms. Deputy Superintendent Jim Madden says the draft of the county’s Student Achievement Proposal takes a long view of student success.
Be the first to comment"We're trying to look at our district from say, like the 30,000 foot level, and saying 'how are we structured school...
Homeless advocates critical of proposed shelter listen
11/08/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Homelessness, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Bruce Wright
Pinellas County, especially St. Petersburg, isn’t known for taking extra humanitarian measures when it comes to the area’s large homeless population. A new shelter city and county officials are proposing may dispel – or reinforce – St. Pete’s anti-homeless reputation.
Officials in Pinellas County’s Homeless Leadership Network are calling the facility a courtyard. It would provide beds, showers, bathrooms, a host of services, and food – though they’re not yet sure whether the meals would be...
1 commentsWith help of anti-Dem climate, Republican Jack Latavala wins state senate seat listen
11/03/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Lack Latvala, Nina Hayden, St. Petersburg, Florida politics
Jack Latvala, held his victory party in the Feather Sound area near Clearwater. WMNF caught up with Latvala as the night wound down. He says he waged a campaign that succeeded on the grassroots level.
"Well, we had about a year and a half campaign where we talked to a lot of people."
This isn’t the first time Latvala has won office at the state level. He was a state senator starting in 1994, but termed out in 2002. Tonight, he puts things in concrete terms when he talks about what issu...
Be the first to commentGoodwill Is Looking For Some Good Guide Mentors
09/22/10 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: mentors, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Goodwill
Goodwill recently launched a teen mentoring program called GoodGuides. The program helps teens who face risk factors such as school failure and juvenile delinquency by pairing them with volunteer mentors -- caring people who can offer support and guidance. The goal is to encourage these young people to finish school and make choices that will lead to successful futures.
Unfortunately, the number of teens who want and need mentors currently exceeds the number of mentors. We're joined by Ste...
1 commentsSt. Pete likely to extend benefits to domestic partners of police officers listen
09/03/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: St. Petersburg, Steve Kornell, gay rights
It’s looking like the City of St. Petersburg will extend health benefits to same sex partners of the city’s police officers. The city is following in the footsteps of Pinellas County and the City of Tampa.
When St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster was elected last November, the city’s more liberal residents may have been skeptical of the level of tolerance the conservative Christian would bring to the dais. Yet Foster has reportedly said he’s keeping his faith out of his policies. Critics may ...
Be the first to commentCrist tours disabled home, talks politics listen
08/05/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Charlie Crist, St. Petersburg, BP oil spill, BP oil disaster, Rick Scott, Bill McCollum, Nancy Pelosi, federal stimulus money
He didn’t have any major announcements to make, but Governor Charlie Crist was in town for a short time today. WMNF’s Kate Bradshaw reports that the purpose of his visit was ostensibly to tour a facility for persons with disabilities, but he took a few minutes to field a random slew of questions from reporters.
Crist spent the better part of an hour touring the 10-acre campus, which sits off St. Petersburg’s traffic-choked Tyrone Boulevard. Parc houses more than forty different programs fo...
Be the first to commentUSF marine scientists confirm underwater plumes are dispersed from BP well listen
07/23/10 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: BP, BP oil spill, Gulf Oil Spill, USF, St. Petersburg
Researchers from the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg say they have the first proof that dispersed oil below the surface of the Gulf came from BP’s Deepwater Horizon Well.
The USF researchers say they have used a “chemical fingerprinting process” to identify the source of subsurface clouds of “degraded underwater oil”
Be the first to comment"Essentially we found two layers. The first layer was two miles long by six miles wide, by about 100 feet deep. The second layer ...
