News & Public Affairs

Tampa City Councilman bothered by I-4 connector project delay

01/07/09 Mitch E. Perry

Tags: Interstate 4 connector, transportation

The Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization today passed a plan for road improvements that will be funded in part by the the Florida Department of Transportation over the next five years. But Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder initially expressed unhappiness with the plan, because it will delay construction of a long-awaited link between the Interstate 4 and the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway for three more years. The connector will be a mile-long series of eleva...

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DCA secretary critical of some of Century Commission proposals

01/06/09 Mitch E. Perry

Tags: Century Commission for Sustainable Florida

Florida’s Secretary of the Department of Community Affairs Thomas Pelham today questioned some recommendations recently made by the Century Commission for Sustainable Florida today. The Century Commission is tasked with envisioning the state’s future 25 and 50 years from now, by making recommendations to the governor and the Legislature on how they should address the impact of population growth. Speaking for the first time to the Commission, Secretary Pelham reviewed some of the report...

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A financial insider's view of the mortgage crisis

01/06/09 Robert Lorei

Tags: mortgage crisis, foreclosure, ARM's, bailouts

Good afternoon. I'm Rob Lorei. On the first part of Radioactivity we'll hear from the author of a new book called *The Foreclosure of America: The Inside Story of the Rise and Fall of Countrywide Home Loans, the Mortgage Crisis, and the Default of the American Dream by Adam Michaelson.* It's an insider account about the mortgage crisis. Michaelson, a former senior vice president at Countrywide Home Loans, offers a glimpse inside the real estate bubble, answering the question everybody ha...

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Jeb Bush will not run for U.S. Senate in 2010

01/06/09 Mitch E. Perry

Tags: Politics, Jeb Bush, Senate

Democrats and Republicans throughout Florida who fantasize about becoming a U.S. senator will now seriously contemplate a run after Jeb Bush announced today that he will not run for Senate in 2010 to replace the retiring Mel Martinez. Bush made the announcement today, saying "now is not the right time to return to elected office." After the former governor said he was considering running for the seat last month, most political analysts said the seat was his for the taking, despite criti...

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Healthy food; alternative cancer treatments

01/05/09 Dr. Carol L. Roberts
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Tags: Health care, alternative medicine

Sigrid Tidmore, executive director of the [Healthy Together Foundation](http://www.Healthy-Together.org) will talk about the upcoming showings of the movie *Food Matters* with a panel discussion afterward moderated by WMNF's Dr. Carol Roberts. She will also discuss other programs and projects of Healthy Together. Our second guest is Annie Fonfa, cancer survivor and founder of the [Annie Appleseed Project](www.AnnieAppleseedProject.org) This organization is dedicated to bringing information...

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Minnesota's Keith Ellison on situation in Gaza

01/05/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Mideast conflict, Gaza, Palestine, Israel, poll

A recent Rasmussen poll shows the American public far less indulgent of Israeli aggression than many previously believed. Opinion on the bombing of Gaza is fairly evenly divided, showing 44 percent support Israel's military action against the Palestinians and 41 percent saying it should have tried to find a diplomatic solution to the problems. A majority of Democrats – 55 percent - say Israel should have tried to find a diplomatic solution first; a view shared by just 27 percent of Rep...

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150 protest Israel's attack on Gaza listen

01/05/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Mideast conflict, Gaza, Palestine, Israel

On Saturday night in downtown St. Petersburg, a crowd of approximately 150 people stood on the BayWalk complex between First and Second streets to protest the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. Protests have been held across the country, and the world, for the most part condemning the Israeli government for its incursion into Gaza a week ago Saturday. It was the second such protest in the Tampa Bay area in a week. Last Tuesday, an estimated 400 to 500 people protested off Dale Mabry ...

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Bill Heller looks ahead to Legislative session listen

01/05/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: State budget, deficit, cigarette tax, Legislature, Charlie Crist

For the third time in 10 months, state lawmakers today began making major cuts in the budget, which has been shattered by a drop in revenues due to a struggling state economy. The budget cuts will likely be a stopgap measure. During the regular session that begins in March, there will likely be another round of trims, perhaps as large as $4 billion, to balance the coming year's spending plan. Last week, Gov. Charlie Crist and Republican legislative leaders said that a source of potentia...

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Sansom steps down from controversial college post

01/05/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Ray Sansom, Northwest Florida State College

Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom today announced that he is stepping down from a $110,000 job at Northwest Florida State College. Sansom took the job at the school the same day he was sworn in as speaker in November. He was offered the position after he put $25.5 million into last year's state budget for the school. He has been repeatedly criticized for taking the job amid questions of whether he was rewarded for helping the school during tough budget times. In a statement to House m...

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Castor previews economic stimulus package listen

01/05/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Economy, economic stimulus package

One of the most pressing priorities of the new Congress after it begins session tomorrow is to pass the largest economic stimulus bill in history. Tampa Democrat [U.S. Representative Kathy Castor](http://castor.house.gov/) held a press conference in South Tampa this morning to announce how the state and the Tampa Bay area might benefit from the recovery package. Castor predicted the U.S. government will send Florida $2 billion for Medicaid. Castor called the funding for Medicaid “the ...

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