News & Public Affairs

Castor hails stimulus funding for Tampa health clinic listen

03/30/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Health, politics, economic stimulus, economy

Congresswoman Kathy Castor spoke in front of a community health clinic in North Tampa today, where she announced that new federal stimulus money will allow the center and its Hillsborough affiliates to hire 9 new employees, including two family practice doctors.

Two billion in grants from the stimulus bill was set aside for community health centers nationally. Approximately three-quarters of that is for construction, renovation and equipment, with the other $500 million to go directly to c...

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Gainesville voters keep gay rights protections listen

03/25/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: LGBT rights, politics

An initiative in Gainesville that would have repealed the city's decade-old gay protections ordinance has failed. Fifty-eight percent of citizens in the college town rejected the measure.

Gay rights opponents proposed eliminating the city's protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in January 2008 when city leaders added “gender identity” to the list of classes protected under the law in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodations.

The measure also wo...

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Proposed growth management changes draw criticism listen

03/25/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Politics, growth management, development

There are a number of proposals floating through the Florida Legislature this session that environmentalists say would gut laws designed to slow growth in the state.

Today in Tallahassee, the House Council on Economic Development and Community Affairs Policy voted unanimously in support of a bill that would revise growth management laws.

Tom Pelham, secretary for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, objected to a part of the bill that he said would reduce citizens attempts to ch...

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Progressives vow to 'dog the blue dogs' listen

03/24/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Politics

Last week, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh announced that he was part of a new "practicality caucus" of Senate moderate Democrats who will be questioning President Barack Obama on his budget proposals and other parts of his agenda.

But today, a coalition of progressive groups say they’ll fight against those moderates, or as they billed their conference call, a new campaign to “Dog the Blue Dogs.”

William McNeary is president of U.S. Action. The group has already targeted some House Moderate De...

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Obama canvass takes place in South Tampa listen

03/23/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Politics, economy, Barack Obama, Wall Street

Following appearances on The Tonight Show and 60 Minutes in recent days, President Barack Obama will address the American public tomorrow night in prime time in his second scheduled news conference.

Obama’s mission on achieving some of his major goals took a hit last week – first with the outrage over bonuses given to executives at A.I.G., followed by the Congressional Budget Office announcing on Friday that the president’s budget could create record deficits in the years to come. Tha...

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House Bill 1121 pits Clerks against Courts listen

03/23/09 Lisa Marzilli
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Tags: Politics, Clerk of Circuit Court, Legislature

A bill currently making its way through the Florida Legislature has pit the court system against the state's 67 Clerks of Court. House Bill 1121 calls for a complete transfer of responsibilities from the clerks to the chief judges and court administrators within four years.

Legislators and judges say the bill would save the state millions and bring much needed budget accountability to the Clerks' offices. But the clerks see the bill as a money and power grab by an underfunded court syst...

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Report: Nearly 5.8 million Floridians were uninsured in the past 2 years listen

03/19/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Politics, health care, insurance, underinsured

A new report from a health care advocacy group says that almost two of every five Floridians under the age of 65 were uninsured for some period of time in the past couple of years.

Ron Pollock is executive director with Families USA, the organization that released the study. He said approximately 5.8 million Floridians were uninsured for at least six months within the past two years, that's 38 percent of the state’s population.

Tampa area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor says th...

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Major rally for public education set for Wednesday listen

03/17/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Politics, economy, education, Legislature

More than a thousand people are expected to protest tomorrow at the state capitol to protest multimillion-dollar cuts to local school districts' budgets.

Over the past year and a half, the Hillsborough County school district has absorbed more than $82 million in cuts, according to Jeanne Clements, president of the Hillsborough County Teachers Association. She says at that same time, new schools have opened, more staff has been hired, and more students have been absorbed into the school dis...

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State educators lament fiscal situation in Tallahassee listen

03/16/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Economy, politics, education

The Florida State Board of Education held a workshop where members heard from a variety of state educators today.

The administrators all acknowledged the tremendous challenges they are facing with reduced funding, but most said they were thinking positively.

Sanford Shugart, president of Valencia Community College, told Board member Roberto Martinez that the resource allocation model in the state has been broken for a long time.

Michael Greco is the superintendant with the Osceola D...

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Bill would eliminate impact fees in Florida until 2012 listen

03/16/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Economy, politics, development, impact fees, growth

A bay area senator angered environmentalists before the legislative session began when he filed a bill that would block the collection of developer impact fees for three years.

Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, says the way impact fees are imposed is totally unfair and inappropriate.

Hillsborough County Environmental activist Denise Layne says Bennett’s bill and other proposals aim to deregulate the building process this year.

The foreclosure crises has hit Florida hard, with some economist...

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