Although the next mayor of Tampa may not be known for more than a year, Ed Turanchik is sure off to a swift start. The 62-year-old attorney and civic activist has already raised over $100,000 since entering the race in late January (including more than $41,000 in his political action committee), and had a crowd… Read more »
Radioactivity 3 22 18 Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up— We’ll meet veteran community organizer Heather Booth— who took part in the Civil Rights movement, she was an early a feminist leader and is considered to be one of the country’s most effective progressive organizers. She’s the subject of a new… Read more »
“When the founders wrote, ‘We the People’ they really meant ‘We the White, Wealthy Men.’ Despite much lofty rhetoric, all men were not created equal and women didn’t count at all” You are just four pages in and Elaine Weiss makes clear her superb new book The Woman’s Hour has an unabashed bias, and, deservedly… Read more »
There is one possible amendment up for consideration by the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission that would ban all fossil fuel drilling in Florida waters; our guest in the studio was Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director of the Center For Biological Diversity. The Constitutional Revision Commission is formed every 20 years and its members are mostly picked by… Read more »
District 72 in Sarasota turned blue Tuesday night as Margaret Good was elected to Florida’s House of Representatives. The district, which had voted for Donald Trump in 2016 (50.2% vs 45.6% Clinton), had 36% of it’s registered voters casting votes, which is high for a special election in Florida. According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, … Read more »
Midterm elections usually bring about a number of ‘retirements’ from Congress. Some are running for other seats. According to Roll Call, a non-partisan Congressional newspaper, usually about 22 representatives don’t run for reelection during the midterms. This year the number is 49 (out of 435). Ten of them are running for the Senate, and nine… Read more »
Radioactivity 1 30 18 Fear of immigrants. It’s been at the center of President Trump’s call to build a wall across the US border with Mexico. And at the center of his attacks on so called Sanctuary cities. And it’s entered into the debate over the future of the so called Dreamers—young who were brought… Read more »
There’s been a lot of focus on Donald Trump voters, especially in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan – bellwether states that in recent times have been Democratic strongholds during presidential elections, but which stunningly flipped in 2016 to give Trump the Electoral College victory for president over Hillary Clinton. No one has… Read more »
On a bright Florida winter day, over 5,000 people came to downtown St. Petersburg to send messages to political leaders, community leaders, and each other. Messages were funny, heartfelt, empowering, topical, optimistic, and inspiring. Here we have a sample, in no particular order. Clicking on the pictures makes them easier to scroll through.
Laura Keane is an author, and owner of Classical Medicine in St. Petersburg. This is a previously published account of the aftermath of the Women’s March last year. There will be a Women’s Day of Action in St. Petersburg on the one year anniversary of the largest demonstration in US history. There is more information… Read more »
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine is one of four major Democrats running for the party’s gubernatorial nomination this August. During his appearance on MidPoint on Thursday, he doubled down on what the Gwen Graham campaign believed was an attack on their candidate when he said this week that “I’ve actually done something with my life… Read more »
Radioactivity 1 10 18 Welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up—how well is the state of Florida doing when it comes to protecting the environment? How are average workers doing? Is the state creating good paying jobs? How well are we educating children? Providing health care for those who need it? We’ll hear from… Read more »
Here in Florida, on the steps of City Hall in Saint Petersburg, Rick Kriseman was officially sworn in for his second term as mayor today. A sea of woolen jackets, scarves and head coverings adorned the nearly 300 citizens and government employees who were on hand. The unseasonably frigid weather didn’t hinder the festivities nor… Read more »
Two adjacent news stories from the Associated Press pretty much told us all we needed to know about how this year has gone. First, we bring to you the world as we know it: Democrat Jones officially declared winner over Roy Moore By KIM CHANDLER, Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Democrat Doug Jones’ historic victory… Read more »
A November 2017 Gallup Poll asked voters: In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat or an independent? The answers have been statistically steady for years, and they have a big impact in states like Florida. Generally across the USA, 4 out of every 10 registered voters describes themself as… Read more »
By The Associated Press A roundup of some of the most popular, but completely untrue, headlines of the week. None of these stories are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out; here are the real facts: NOT REAL: Evidence points to Antifa behind deadly Amtrak derailment… Read more »
Mike Deeson retired in March after 35 year at WTSP 10 News in Tampa, and more than 50 years in the media business overall. The now former TV reporter is keeping busy, producing weekly commentaries that he posts on his Facebook page and is also working on three different documentaries. He spoke to us about… Read more »
Radioactivity 12 5 17 Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up- During last year’s presidential campaign and now in the 13 months since the election—right wing speakers and groups have become more emboldened in America. From the violence in Charlottesville, to white nationalist Richard Spencer’s speech in Gainesville in October, to the… Read more »
Radioactivity 12 4 17 Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity- coming up we’ll talk about how the tax bill in Washington will affect Medicare—the program that provides medical coverage for millions of Floridians. And we’ll talk about how John Morgan’s announcement that he will not run for governor next year as a Democrat- how that will… Read more »
WMNF’s MidPoint hosted a debate for a special election for the state Legislature; it’s the District 58 seat in eastern Hillsborough County made vacant because Republican Dan Raulerson resigned. Florida House District 58 in the northeast corner of Hillsborough County, and includes all or parts of Plant City, Temple Terrace, Tampa, Thonotosassa, Dover, Seffner, East… Read more »
Kate Bradshaw, the political editor at the alt-weekly Creative Loafing newspaper, was our guest. We spent most of the hour speaking about the recently concluded municipal election in St. Petersburg, where Rick Kriseman outlasted Rick Baker and two new females – Gina Driscoll and Brandi Gabbard – will join the eight-member board.
Democrats are claiming a blue wave washed over the US. Is that true? According to Ballotpedia, Elections [were] held in 59 of the 100 largest cities by population in 2017. This includes elections for 36 mayoral offices, 31 municipal officials other than mayor, 367 city council seats, and 50 special district officials. This represents an increase from 25… Read more »
Kurt Andersen was our guest on MidPoint this Thursday, talking extensively about his new major work, “Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year-History.” Currently the host of the PRI show Studio 360 and the author of novels like True Believer, Heyday and Turn of the Century, Andersen has been the forefront of reporting on American… Read more »
A recent Fox News poll generic congressional poll reports that Democrats have a 15-point lead over Republicans in next year’s congressional elections. However, some election analysts question whether the Democrats can win back the House next year. Drew Spencer Penrose is FairVote’s legal and policy director. He told us how his organization has broken down recent… Read more »
Donald Trump won the Electoral College despite the fact that three million more Americans voted for Hillary Clinton; a Democratic member of the Florida House calls the Electoral College an “obsolete, archaic, and anti-democratic system” and has filed a bill in the state Legislature (HB 367) that would require Florida to join something called the… Read more »
