Florida Governor Rick Scott gave his final State of the State address to lawmakers Tuesday morning. Scott wants more tax cuts this year, as well as protections for people who report sexual misconduct, laws to fight the opioid crisis and more child protective investigators. He wants to make it more difficult for future legislatures to… Read more »
Trump moves to vastly expand offshore drilling off US coasts By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press, with additional reporting from JoEllen Schilke, WMNF WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday moved to vastly expand offshore drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic oceans with a plan that would open up federal waters off the California coast… Read more »
With the announcement by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he is rescinding an Obama-era policy that had discouraged federal prosecutors from bringing charges of marijuana-related crimes in states that have legalized sales of the drug, MidPoint spoke with Morgan Fox from the Marijuana Policy Project. We followed that up with a discussion with St. Petersburg… 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 »
The Great Recession was supposed to have ended years ago, but many Floridians are still struggling; a new web campaign called Rick’s Recession draws attention to people still suffering economic hardships under Governor Rick Scott. WMNF News interviewed Blake Williams, communications director with the group that organized Rick’s Recession, For Florida’s Future. Listen:
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 »
The future of the Florida Supreme Court lies in the balance as three Justices will be replaced in January of 2019; but incredibly, it’s still up in the air who will appoint the new Justices: outgoing Governor Rick Scott or his successor. On the first half of WMNF’s MidPoint, we talk about that with a… Read more »
The virus that causes AIDS is spreading in Florida faster than in any other state; so you’d think lawmakers would encourage people to get tested and know their HIV status. But Alejandro Acosta, the HIV Advocacy Project coordinator for Equality Florida, tells WMNF News that state laws may actually encourage people to not get tested…. Read more »
WMNF’s Radioactivity 11 28 17 Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up—low paid college professors. While some full time professors, administrators and coaches are doing well, adjunct professors at colleges are living on the edge of poverty. We’ll talk about that in a moment. A few weeks ago the Tampa Bay Times… 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 »
Will 2018 be the year a statewide ban on fracking finally passes the Florida Legislature? That’s the hope of environmentalists rallying Tuesday afternoon in Ft. Myers. WMNF News interviewed one organizer, Michelle Allen with Food and Water Watch. There will also be a ban fracking rally in Tampa in December. Listen:
On MidPoint our guests talk about public schools, the pay and working conditions of teachers, and students who walked out of class to support teachers. Hillsborough County public school teachers and their supporters plan to speak out at Tuesday’s school board meeting about the school district’s decision to deny scheduled pay raises this year. And… Read more »
A Sarasota-area state Senator has introduced a bill to the Florida Legislature that would forbid cities and counties from passing rules protecting trees; Republican Greg Steube’s bill would stop local governments from regulating “trimming, removal, or harvesting of tree and timber on private property.” But SB 574 is opposed by many environmentalists, including Jono Miller,… Read more »
Clearwater state Senator Jack Latvala was removed Monday as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee after reports that he may have groped or made demeaning comments toward women; a long-time lobbyist in Tallahassee tells WMNF News that sexual harassment “just runs rampant through the Capitol.” Barbara DeVane is a lobbyist for the Florida chapter of… 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 »
South Florida Democratic state Senator Jeff Clemens came on the show to talk about the upcoming 2018 legislative session, and the prospect for Democrats to pick up seats in the Senate in Nov. of 2018. Also on the show was Kyle Parks with B2 Communications, a St. Petersburg based public relations firm who was on… Read more »
Several school districts in Florida have joined a legal challenge against a new law that would siphon money away from public schools and send it to charter schools and other alternatives; one of the counties opposing HB 7069 is Polk. WMNF News spoke with Kay Fields, chair of Polk County Public Schools board. Listen: “Well,… Read more »
On today’s program, we spoke with Joanne McCall, president of the Florida Education Association, about a recent lawsuit the union filed against the state dept. of Education and its 67 school boards. The FEA is challenging as discriminatory part of a 2015 law that ties teacher bonuses to their college entrance exam scores. We spoke with… Read more »
Radioactivity Wednesday 8 30 17 Why are Florida’s Public Schools Having Budget Problems? Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Facing budget problems the Hillsborough School District is in the process of eliminating about 3500 positions in the district. This is in response to the district’s ongoing budget problems. Also this month it was… Read more »
Radioactivity 8 17 17 Good morning, Welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up- Clearwater Senator Jack Latvala announces he’s running for the Republican nomination for governor. He says he thinks eight year term limits for Florida office holders have not been a positive thing in Tallahassee. He’s open to extending term limits to twelve… Read more »
Every year the Florida Legislature considers several gun bills; to explore the state’s gun laws in depth, the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club held a forum Wednesday afternoon in St. Petersburg. A University of Virginia graduate asked the two participants whether at demonstrations like the one over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, participants’ First Amendment rights… Read more »
Human rights workers arrested for investigating labor conditions in Ivanka Trump’s factories Three labor rights investigators were arrested in China in May while they were looking into working conditions at factories that make shoes for Ivanka trump — the president’s daughter. After a month in custody they have been released, but now they face trial… Read more »
Nancy MacLean on her new book “Democracy in Chains” A lot of books have tried to explain the rise of conservative power that poses a direct challenge to the reforms that came about under the New Deal, the labor movement, the Civil Rights movement, and the Great Society. In her new book, a Duke University… Read more »
Independence Day??? The fireworks have ended (at least I hope so). The parades, the music, the picnics and barbecues, all the fun trappings of the 4th are past. The president goes abroad – on Friday he meets with Putin. Oh to be a patriotic fly on that wall! And the North Koreans set off quite… Read more »
Senate Republicans are quietly moving forward with plans to pass a health care bill In the U.S. right now, the number of people without health insurance has been falling since the passing of Obamacare, but that trend could be reversed now that Republicans want to repeal it. The new plan could take away health insurance… Read more »
