Does it seem like there are more mosquitoes this summer than normal? To find out why it seems so, WMNF interviewed Pinellas County Mosquito Control education outreach specialist Alissa Berro. SK: What can you tell us about the mosquito season this year? Are there more mosquitos in Pinellas County and in the region than a… Read more »
Perhaps you have become acclimatized to living through a pandemic? Maybe you have rearranged your everyday life to accommodate social distancing? Or, are you going stir crazy? These are some of the questions we asked five of our favorite creative guests at Life Elsewhere – author, educator, Anna Dorn; musician, educator, Harry Stafford; author, educator,… Read more »
Thursday is the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. For an update on Florida’s legal battle on restoring voting rights to many ex-prisoners, WMNF spoke with the main proponent of Amendment 4, Desmond Meade. He is the executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. SK: Well let’s begin with just talking about today… Read more »
Here’s an update (12 Aug. 2020) to this story. The original story is below. Mote is now saying some of their transplanted corals have spawned in the field. Here’s video they posted to Twitter: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT❕ Documented for the 1st time on Florida’s Coral Reef OR in the Caribbean, multiple colonies of mountainous star coral,… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources For now, Sarasota County Schools still plan to open to in-person classroom instruction at the end of the month. The school district and county health department are closely tracking the percent of people testing positive for coronavirus. Since the pandemic began, the overall positivity rate has been… Read more »
President Trump flew to Tampa, Florida for a fundraising event last Friday afternoon with hundreds of supporters greeting him along his motorcade route to The Pelican Club in the Belleair neighborhood of Pinellas County. Attendees paid up to $100,000 for a photo op with the President. While the president is working to meet his campaign’s… Read more »
Local primary elections are two weeks from Tuesday. In-person early voting began Monday in parts of the state, including Hillsborough and Polk Counties (check with your local supervisor of elections). Vote-by-mail has already started. All votes must be cast by Primary Election Day, which is August 18th. On WMNF’s MidPoint, we looked at two county… Read more »
Nicholson Baker – Baseless: My Search For Secrets In The Ruins Of The Freedom Of Information Act With great pleasure, we welcome back to Life Elsewhere, acclaimed author, Nicholson Baker. His latest work of non-fiction is a remarkable hybrid of history, journalism, and a memoir. Eight years ago, while investigating the possibility that the United… Read more »
Here’s where you can get sandbags in the Tampa Bay area for Tropical Storm Isaías; we’ll update this as we get info: Polk County: Sandbags will be provided to Polk County residents at all Roads and Drainage maintenance units from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; July 31 and Aug. 1. A… Read more »
President Trump is scheduled to be in Tampa for parts of Friday and Saturday for a fundraiser. But there’s a chance that part or all of his Florida schedule will be canceled because of the approaching tropical storm. Regardless, some anti-racism demonstrators plan on protesting the president. Lilia Orengo-Belizaire is an organizer with Black Lives… Read more »
July 29, 2020 Welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. For the past two months there have been protests in Portland, Oregon. Some are in the daytime. Others at night. The protests began after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. According to Oregon’s largest newspaper- The Oregonian: Portlanders assembled downtown (yesterday) for the 62nd… Read more »
July 28, 2020 Good morning, welcome to radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Today we’ll speak with a local artist who is trying to raise awareness about a Confederate monument near Bradenton. But first, we’ll hear about how Florida’s beaches are under attack. According to a report from the advocacy group Environment Florida, it’s common for Florida… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources Sufficient testing for coronavirus in Florida remains a challenge. In an effort to help with that, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that his state is helping to establish a coronavirus testing site in Pinellas Point on the south side of St. Petersburg, which is a… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources Local school districts are trying to figure out how to start the school year in the midst of a raging coronavirus pandemic. The Tampa Bay Times reports that 60 percent of Pinellas parents who have responded have chosen online schooling instead of in-person classrooms. The Pinellas School… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources Florida has recorded more than 6,000 coronavirus deaths. It passed that threshold Monday. Despite that, parents and teachers are being asked to decide whether students should return to in-person classrooms in just a few weeks. Dr. Jason Wilson, the Medical Director of the Clinical Decision Unit at… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources Florida has again broken its record with 173 reported coronavirus deaths over the last day. The state health department reported Thusday that there were more than 10,200 new coronavirus cases — with a total of more than 389,000 positive cases during the pandemic. Florida’s seven-day average is… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources Brewers of craft beer in Florida say they’re unfairly bearing major economic hardships because of state coronavirus rules. In a letter to the governor and the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Florida Brewers Guild warns that the entire industry is in jeopardy because most… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources Florida now has more average daily deaths than any other state. Dr. Jason Wilson, the Medical Director of the Clinical Decision Unit at Tampa General Hospital, says Hillsborough County’s coronavirus infection numbers are very close to New York City’s at the height of the pandemic there. “When… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources A new report looks at student access to healthy meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s from Trust for America’s Health and studies food insecurity among Florida children, including those who are enrolled in free and reduced-cost lunch programs. WMNF interviewed Adam Lustig, a manager with Trust for… Read more »
James B. Stewart – Deep State: Trump, The FBI, And The Rule Of Law There are questions that the Mueller report couldn’t—or wouldn’t—answer. What actually happened to instigate the Russia investigation? Did President Trump’s meddling incriminate him? There’s no mystery to what Trump thinks. He claims that the Deep State, a cabal of career bureaucrats—among… Read more »
July 16, 2020 Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. First up today- another of our interviews with candidates for the congressional District 15 seat which includes portions of eastern Hillsborough County, Polk County and Lake County and the communities of Lakeland, Temple Terrace, Brandon, Plant City and Riverview. We’ve already heard from two… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources The unemployment crisis continues in the United States: more than 1.3 million laid-off workers sought unemployment benefits last week amid the resurgent viral outbreak. The U.S. Department of Labor also reported a surge in first-time filings for unemployment benefits in Florida. In the week ending Saturday, more… Read more »
July 15, 2020 Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. America is undergoing what is suitably being described as the “omni-crisis.” It is simultaneously confronting what seems like an unceasing barrage of challenges that threaten not only its position on the world stage, but also its very domestic stability. Even before the coronavirus arrived,… Read more »
Here is a link to many coronavirus resources On Tuesday, Florida confirmed 132 deaths due to COVID-19, a one-day record for the state. The Pinellas County School Board seems to be moving full steam ahead with opening schools for in-person instruction next month, despite the record-setting coronavirus pandemic raging in Florida. In a virtual workshop… Read more »
