NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week By The Associated Press A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue headlines of the week. None of these stories is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out. Here are the real… Read more »
Across the country at mid-day Thursday were dozens of rallies to oppose the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh; in St. Petersburg, about 25 people stood on the four corners of 1st Avenue North and 6th Street North in downtown outside the County Courthouse. Karen Sherman is a freelance writer in St. Petersburg. She graduated from… Read more »
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (all times local): 4:35 p.m. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is calling certain allegations against him a “joke” and a “farce.” Kavanaugh made the statements while testifying Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee following allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually… Read more »
A year ago hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico and the recovery has been slow. Our next guest blames the slow recovery on the lack of political representation in Washington DC that comes with statehood. At least 3,000 people were killed by the hurricane and its aftermath. (Although President Trump denies the death… Read more »
What is freedom? An interactive public art installation at the University of South Florida is giving people the chance to answer this question as part of the For Freedoms 50 State Initiative. They wrote their ideas of freedom on yard signs and placed them outside the Marshall Student Center on campus Wednesday. WMNF asked some… Read more »
On Monday, Governor Rick Scott’s office announced the state would spend nearly $2.2 million to expand research into ways to control the massive red tide outbreak along the Gulf Coast of Florida. One experimental treatment is to use ozone to kill red tide algae. Another is to use “a form of specialized clay to quell… Read more »
The Tampa Bay activist community lost a strong advocate for the rights of migrant families and sex workers; Sydney Eastman passed away over the weekend. She was a founding member of Tampa Bay DSA [Democratic Socialists of America], a co-Founder of Restorative Justice Coalition, and a member of groups like Love Has No Borders, Sex Worker Solidarity… Read more »
There were moments of agreement interspersed between tense verbal clashes when two candidates running for a hotly competitive Hillsborough County state Senate race met at Tampa Tiger Bay Club Friday afternoon; Democrat Janet Cruz and Republican incumbent Dana Young are locked in what the moderator — retired USF political scientist Susan MacManus — described as… Read more »
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week By The Associated Press A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue headlines of the week. None of these stories is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out. Here are the real… Read more »
Fascism means dividing a population to achieve power. Jason Stanley understood this as a scholar of philosophy and propaganda and as a child of refugees of WWII Europe, but even he was surprised by its prevalence at home. First, with the rise of the birther movement and later the ascent of Donald Trump, he observed… Read more »
For years, Michelle LeClair, former President of Scientology’s international humanitarian organization, tried to reconcile her sexual orientation with the anti-gay ideology of the church. Michelle finally ends her horrific marriage, finds the love of her life, a woman, and ultimately leaves the Church. But the split comes at a terrible price. Her once pristine reputation… Read more »
A former Chicago Police Department commander who went to prison after being convicted of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury relating to accusations of torturing dozens of suspects died recently in Hillsborough County; and because of those torture allegations, activists plan protest the funeral of Jon Burge in Ruskin Friday. Gage Lacharite is… Read more »
From the beaches to the springs to the pristine underground aquifer to the Everglades and the rivers— Florida’s waters are like nowhere else on earth. Two of Florida’s most knowledgeable people about the state of our water join us in a moment to talk about Florida’s water resources. And later—Florida’s economy has mostly recovered from… Read more »
“nless you’ve really experienced it up close I think people don’t understand how different it is from a normal conflict that you would have with someone because of the way that white nationalists think about violence and hierarchy and especially the role of women.”
High concentrations of the organism that causes red tide are being found on virtually all of the beaches in Pinellas County barrier islands; Pinellas County Environmental Management measured high concentrations of Karenia brevis cells Monday from Indian Rocks Beach south to the Ft. DeSoto Gulf Pier. And depending on weather conditions, that’s causing fish to… Read more »
Florida Gov. Scott confronted by protesters at campaign stop Florida Gov. Rick Scott was confronted by dozens of protesters during a southwest Florida campaign stop. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that protesters upset with the state’s ongoing red tide outbreak jammed the sidewalk outside a restaurant that Scott visited. The newspaper reports that Scott was forced to… Read more »
Power from the electric grid was cut to a parking garage at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg Friday morning; the lights dimmed, but didn’t go out, during this simulated black-out because energy generated by solar panels on the roof of the garage was stored in a room-sized battery made by Tesla. Duke… Read more »
We admit it, we’re fans. Their music won us over on the very first listen. Of course, they are an enigma. They don’t fit neatly into any genre. And for us, that’s a good thing ‘cause we gave up on separating every new release into teeny-tiny categories, many moons ago. They achieve that much-desired ability… Read more »
They could barely conceal their excitement. The two authors had already spent nearly an hour talking exuberantly about their new book. Now they were both eager to continue and answer a provocative question they admittedly had prompted, “Are there parallels between Al Capone & Eliot Ness Vs. Donald Trump and Robert Mueller?” With mere seconds… Read more »
Florida is part of a lawsuit by more than a dozen other Republican-led states to chip away at the Affordable Care Act by challenging its requirement for insurance companies to cover people with preexisting medical conditions; during a press conference in downtown Tampa Thursday morning organized by the liberal group For Our Future Florida healthcare… Read more »
According to its website, the University of South Florida’s Center for Victim Advocacy (CVA) “provides free and confidential services to USF students, faculty, and staff who have experienced crime, violence, or abuse, on or off campus;” but there’s concern among USF student groups about policy changes at the Center and about reduced staffing of victim advocates… Read more »
AP Poll: Voters open to candidates who aren’t very religious By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Religion’s role in politics and public policy is in the spotlight heading toward the midterm elections. Yet relatively few Americans consider it crucial that a candidate be devoutly religious or share their religious beliefs, according to… Read more »
Last week the Hillsborough County Commission heard a proposal from a developer who wants to build 300 apartments on land next to the Upper Tampa Bay Trail. Alliance Realty Partners wants to build over part of trail and trade land nearby on which to divert the popular walking and biking trail. Our guest on MidPoint… Read more »
The national prison strike has reached Florida; according to the Gainesville Chapter of Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee prisoners at five Florida facilities are striking: Dade, Charlotte, Holmes, Franklin and Apalachee. Friday in Sarasota there is a rally in support of an ongoing national strike by prisoners and inmate workers; it starts at 4:00 p.m. and… Read more »
Yesterday local environmentalist Tanja Vidovic (and WMNF volunteer) was banned from a Pinellas County Park for objecting to the spraying of the controversial herbicide Roundup on park grounds. According to Vidovic she was in Safety Harbor’s Philippe Park when she observed several private contractors about to spray the chemical Roundup on what they told her… Read more »
