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 »
Things look limitless when you stand on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The horizon dips away, maybe with a lovely sunset alighting it. Water, wind, and sand: the essential beach elements. There have been decades of activism and battles with development about clean water and access to air. What about the sand? Sand is… Read more »
Trump Administration Continues to Neglect Human Rights Abuses President Trump met with the Turkish president on Tuesday, and later this week he’ll travel to Saudi Arabia. Human rights activists say that both countries have troubling records on torture, press freedom, and respect for individual liberty. Host Rob Lorei interviewed Andrea Prasow, deputy Washington Director at Human Rights… Read more »
St. Petersburg backed political analyst Barry Edwards was our guest. The local St. Petersburg Mayoral race was one of many topics we discussed; Donald Trump’s latest issues. Robert Mueller, Darryl Rouson, Mike Huckabee and the Constitutional Revision Committee was also on the agenda.
In the closing days of its session, the Florida Legislature passed a sweeping $419 million education bill; but in a press conference Tuesday morning, parents, school board members, a Democratic state representative and the superintendent of Hillsborough public schools joined Congress member Kathy Castor to urge Governor Rick Scott to veto the bill. Standing in… Read more »
The proposed Florida State 2018 budget has been sent to the Governor. Educators and citizens are calling on Governor Rick Scott to veto the budget because of the shift of $140 million to private education from struggling public schools, and forcing school districts to share capital funds with charter schools . House Bill 7609 was crafted away… Read more »
Joe Henderson, who worked as a sports reporter and news columnist for the Tampa Tribune for more than 40 years, dropped by the studio to talk about media, politics and other things. Last week, a documentary on the Tribune called, “Stop The Presses,” debuted at the Tampa Theatre, and will screen again this Saturday. Henderson… Read more »
Newly announced Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham was on the show on Thursday. “Floridians across the state should be up in arms about the fact that what they voted on, what they said to the state of Florida, that we want you do this and they’re just being ignored,” Graham said on WMNF-88.5 FM about the lack of… Read more »
Questionable analysis used in deciding sports subsidies The state of Florida and local governments spend a lot of money subsidizing stadiums for sports teams. Host Rob Lorei talked with Noah Pransky, who is an investigative reporter at WTSP whose most recent story is about Mark Bonn, the expert that many governments around the state use… Read more »
Wrongly convicted Death Row survivor speaks out Host Rob Lorei interviewed Juan Melendez, who spent more that 17 years on Florida’s Death Row before being exonerated and released. Juan is one of 26 innocent people exonerated and released from Florida’s Death Row – by far the nation’s highest number of exonerated death row survivors. He’ll be… Read more »
Columnist Scott Maxwell on the investigation into Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi A southwest Florida prosecutor assigned by the governor to investigate a bribery complaint against President Donald Trump and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has found insufficient evidence to move forward. Fort Myers-area State Attorney Stephen Russell presented Gov. Rick Scott last week with… Read more »
The group that forms every twenty years to suggest changes to Florida’s constitution is meeting again Wednesday in Tallahassee; but the Constitutional Revision Commission is being faced with questions about process and rules. The president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, Pamela Goodman, has written a letter to the chair of the CDC,… Read more »
On Monday’s Sustainable Living program (you can listen back through the program link) we talked about Industrial Hemp; its history; many uses and legislation to legalize it here in Florida. Our guest, Bob Clayton, recently built his home in Tarpon Springs using Hemp building materials and he represents the Hemp Industries Association of Florida, which has introduced legislation… Read more »
Should Florida have open primary elections? Before general elections we have primary elections where political parties ask their members to select from a roster of candidates who will be the party’s slate of candidates in the general election. In Florida you must be a member of a political party to vote in that party’s primary… Read more »
Former Broward County Democratic state Senator Jeremy Ring was out guest on the show today. The Parkland resident and former Yahoo official is currently exploring a candidacy for Chief Financial Officer in 2018. On the show he discussed the need for a different business culture in Tallahassee, his own political history and his thoughts about running… Read more »
The Florida Legislative Session begins Tuesday, Governor Rick Scott will give his annual State of the State Address and there is an Awake the State gathering in Tampa; on MidPoint we talk about all of this and state legislation to keep an eye on during the session. Our guest is Tim Heberlein is political operations director… Read more »
