The Legislature wanted to make sure there were some restrictions on use. By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Legislature met Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ deadline to hand him a bill to repeal the state’s ban on smokable medical marijuana when the House passed the legislation Wednesday. While lawmakers aren’t necessarily… Read more »
Senator tours Florida teen detention camp he wants shut down By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A Democratic senator from Oregon advocating against migrant youth detention camps says he toured a Florida facility and found children are being held there for too long in a restrictive environment. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said… Read more »
Two authors, each with a fascinating book, plus new music from London in this edition of Life Elsewhere. To begin, take a look at your body. Scrutinize your body, look at how it’s put together, move your arms, bend your legs, wiggle your fingers, move whatever you like. You’ll have to agree, it really is… Read more »
Tampa Electric Company wants to convert its coal-fired power plant in Apollo Beach to a plant powered by methane gas instead, at the cost of about a billion dollars. But consumer advocates and environmentalists say that switching to solar power instead would be much cheaper in the long run and cut greenhouse gas emissions. There’s… Read more »
Friday is International Women’s Day. On Sunday there’s a rally in downtown Tampa called “International Women’s Day: Say NO to Trump’s War on Women.” WMNF’s Seán Kinane interviewed Jerrica Hoey, with Florida Future Labor Leaders. “Under Trump’s presidency we’ve been seen huge attacks on women’s rights in this country. We’ve been seeing attacks on Title… Read more »
There are two bills in the Florida Legislature to end the use of capital punishment; but the anti-death penalty bills face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Legislature. To talk about all issues of the death penalty in Florida, our guest on WMNF was Mark Elliott, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death… Read more »
In April of 2010 BP’s Deepwater Horizon exploded and nearly 5 million barrels of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico over several weeks; the Gulf ecosystem was damaged and researchers are trying to figure out how badly. One of the main scientists looking at the health of the Gulf was our guest on WMNF… Read more »
The City of Tampa just had the first round of its municipal elections. Now it’s time for many communities in Pinellas County. Here’s information provided by the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections, Deborah Clark, about the March 12, 2019 Elections in Pinellas. WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO VOTE: Registered voters in the City of Belleair Beach,… Read more »
City of Tampa election results March 5, 2019 is the final day of voting for Tampa Mayor, City Council seats, and 17 charter amendments. Early voting sites were open from February 25 to March 3. You can see WMNF’s coverage of City Council candidates here, and Mayoral candidates here. 21,106, or… Read more »
Tuesday is the first day of the 2019 Legislative Session in Florida. WMNF aired live coverage of the State of the State address by Governor Ron DeSantis. Here’s a link to the 2019 State of the State Address. Here’s one Democratic response. Video and text provided by the party. It’s Democratic House Leader… Read more »
In late February — at an international conference of the United Methodist Church in St. Louis — delegates voted against a proposal to let regional groups decide whether or not to ordain members of the LGBTQ community and to allow ministers to officiate at same-sex marriages in the church. Joining us in the WMNF studio… Read more »
This week more than 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced H.R. 1384, which would enact the Medicare for All Act of 2019. Independent Vermont Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is expected to introduce a companion bill in the U.S. Senate. But until a single-payer system like that is enacted, the U.S…. Read more »
The Tampa Bay region will undergo a transportation overhaul during the next several years under what’s being called Tampa Bay Next; the Florida Department of Transportation rolled it out after its predecessor, TBX, faced some local backlash. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, “The Regional Tampa Bay Next is a program to modernize Tampa… Read more »
On Monday’s Sustainable Living program we spent the hour talking about herbs. Our guests were Bob Linde, an herbalist and owner of Acupuncture Herbal Therapies in St. Pete; and Renee Crozier, an herbalist and co-director, with Bob, of the Traditions School of Herbal Studies. During the program they answered many questions; including the definition of… Read more »
Coalition of Immokalee Workers The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is organizing a cross-country march that includes Florida, for what they’re calling the “4 Fair Food” tour to boycott Wendy’s. As part of that tour, the CIW is coming to Tampa. The Tampa event, called “A Human Rights Revolution: Tampa Welcomes the Immokalee Workers” is on March… Read more »
Former Ambassador Ryan Crocker is diplomat in residence at Princeton University and was U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon under the four presidents who preceded Donald Trump. So, WMNF spoke with Ambassador Crocker about several foreign affairs hot-spots. Late last month the U.S. and Taliban agreed to a framework for a cease-fire… Read more »
In the past few weeks on MidPoint Monday, we’ve heard from Tampa Mayoral candidates and from City Council candidates in Districts 1, 2 and 5; in this show we heard from the rest of the city council candidates. Ten candidates in four races, to be exact: Districts 3, 4, 6 and 7. There are four candidates… Read more »
Dreyer’s English – An Utterly Correct Guide To Clarity And Style, the new, much-lauded tome from Benjamin Dreyer, Copy Chief at Random House is by any measure a delight to read. This will be no surprise to the fans who lap up his delicious banquet of Tweets. With magician-like skill, he is simultaneously authoritative and droll…. Read more »
A new member of Congress may attract protesters when she speaks Saturday in Tampa at an event raising funds for humanitarian aid to Yemen. Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar was criticized by some recently for suggesting on Twitter that American politicians support Israel because of campaign donations they get from the American Israel Political Action Committee… Read more »
President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un will meet in Hanoi, Vietnam, next Wednesday and Thursday for their second summit. To find out more about U.S.-North Korea relations, WMNF spoke with Jim Walsh, a senior research associate at the MIT security studies program in Massachusetts. “Well, this is the second summit between the President… Read more »
There is a national movement to have the results of presidential elections better reflect who actually got more votes; it’s called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Several states have passed laws to instruct their presidential Electors to vote for the person who gets the most votes across the entire country. So far, states representing… Read more »
Last Friday President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border in order to access disaster funds to build a wall between the two countries; now, local groups are planning a rally Tuesday called Block The Wall Tampa. WMNF interviewed PJ Plastino, a member of the Tampa Bay DSA (Democratic Socialists of America)… Read more »
Dear WMNF listener-supporter, I am writing today as the president of the 15-member board of directors of the Nathan B. Stubblefield Foundation Inc., which holds the broadcast license for WMNF 88.5 FM and sets policy for the station. Our board members and I have been reading the reactions of some of you to the news… Read more »
Protests slam Trump’s emergency declaration for border wall NEW YORK (AP) — Protesters converged in cities around the country Monday to decry President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to fund his planned U.S.-Mexico border wall. Organized by the liberal group MoveOn and others, the demonstrations took the occasion of Presidents Day to assail… Read more »
AP FACT CHECK: Trump declares emergency with faulty claims By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency at the southern border while acknowledging that rapid construction of a wall is not a necessity, but rather his preference. In justifying the extraordinary step, he brushed aside his administration’s… Read more »
