News & Public Affairs
St. Petersburg Election Day
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11/03/09
Mark Anderson
WMNF Evening News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
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Today voters in St. Petersburg will decide on 6 races, 5 for City Council and one for mayor. Current mayor Rick Baker is term-limited, and can’t run for reelection. The mayor’s race is between two ex-City Council members.
The mayoral race is expected to be very close, with Kathleen Ford and Bill Foster running a virtual tie in the polls. Ford is running as a change candidate, while Foster is positioned more as the candidate that would continue along the lines of outgoing mayor Baker. For...
Be the first to commentCharlotte Mayor McCrory talks rail system at transit forum
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11/03/09
Concetta DeLuco
WMNF Evening News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
On Monday, Charlotte, NC Mayor Pat McCrory spoke at the 2009 Regional Transportation Forum in Brandon. He shared his city’s success with the improved transportation system he achieved during his tenure, and encouraged Tampa Bay leaders and residents to push for the same.
During McCrory’s 14 year tenure as Mayor, he championed a sales tax referendum that funded the city’s transit system. At the transit forum in Brandon, McCrory drew a positive reaction from the audience of over 300 people...
Be the first to commentIs the US spending too much on the military?
11/03/09 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Tuesday) Listen to this entire show:
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Welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up we'll talk about federal spending, the budget deficit and how it's impacted by the Pentagon budget.
Our guest today says that soon the combined costs of the wars in Afghanistan will reach one trillion dollars and that in the last few years US military spending has risen sharply. How does that spending impact the national debt? Could the money be better spent?
Our guest is Jo Comerford, the Executive Director of the [National Priorities ...
Be the first to commentAnything but cars
11/02/09 Jon ButtsRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Monday) Listen to this entire show:
Today’s Sustainable Living Program was about alternatives to the car.
First, we talked to Rob Mears, a Light Electric Vehicles (LEV) dealer in the suburbs of San Francisco. He’s created a great website with everything you’d want to know about the topic of LEV’s: http://www.electric-bikes.com.
Next up we had Karen Kress, with the Tampa Downtown Partnership and a local bicycle advocate. Also, Alan Snel, the Director of South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers (SWFBUD) joined us to t...
Be the first to commentWill Kathleen Ford become next Mayor of St Pete?
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11/02/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Monday Listen to this entire show:
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Tomorrow, St. Petersburg voters will choose either Kathleen Ford or Bill Foster to be the next Mayor, replacing Rick Baker who is term-limited. According to the St. Petersburg Times, over 20,000 voters have already mailed in ballots in the city.
Today, WMNF spoke with both candidates for Mayor. Kathleen Ford says she has a range of emotions the day before election day.
Kathleen Ford: “Oh, we’re excited and nervous and anticipating what the results will be.”
WMNF: “And th...
Be the first to commentBill Foster on the last day of campaigning
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11/02/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Monday Listen to this entire show:
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This afternoon, WMNF spoke with St. Pete Mayoral candidate Bill Foster. We began by asking how he feels going into tomorrow’s election.
Bill Foster: “Ah, relief. We’re fighting to the end, but we’re glad that the finish line is in sight.”
WMNF: "Some of the polls I’ve seen recently have shown that it’s a close race, but that your opponent actually has a slight lead, just outside the margin of error. What do you think about that?"
Foster: “I’m only concerned with one p...
Be the first to commentHART board considers economic development around transit lines
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11/02/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Monday Listen to this entire show:
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On Wednesday, Hillsborough County Commissioners will begin considering if they should let voters decide to raise the sales tax to pay for transportation. Light rail lines linking downtown Tampa with USF and Westshore would be the first mass transit projects to be constructed if citizens approve a one-cent sales tax increase.
The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), would also use some of the funds to enhance bus service in the county. This morning, th...
Be the first to commentGeothermal research in Florida receives federal funding
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11/02/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Monday Listen to this entire show:
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Last week the U.S. Department of Energy announced that up to $338 million in Recovery Act funds would be used for exploration and development of geothermal energy. Late Friday, WMNF spoke with Matt Rogers, the senior advisor to the Secretary of Energy for the Recovery Act.
Matt Rogers: “So geothermal is the heat that is under the ground all the time in the earth. People often think about geothermal energy as coming from geysers. And that’s sort of the traditional way of thinking abo...
Be the first to commentInterview with Nomi Prins on financial meltdown
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10/30/09
Mary Glenney
WMNF Evening News Friday Listen to this entire show:
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The new book by Nomi Prins is called It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bailouts, Bonuses and Backroom Deals form Washington to Wall Street. She ought to know: she used to be an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.
Today, WMNF Women’s Show co-host Mary Glenney asked Prins how the real economy is brought down by the virtual economy of Wall Street executives who caused the financial crisis by using their “play money.”
Nomi Prins: “That is exactly what the situation is: it’s ‘real’ ver...
Be the first to commentGreater Tampa Chamber of Commerce urges referendum on rail tax
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10/30/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Friday Listen to this entire show:
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Hillsborough County voters may get a chance to vote next November on a sales tax increase to pay for transit, including light rail. That chance may have gotten more likely late yesterday, when the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce urged Hillsborough County Commissioners to place the referendum on the 2010 ballot.
WMNF spoke with Bank of Tampa executive vice president Henry Gonzalez, who is chair of the Chamber.
Henry Gonzalez: “We had voted unanimously in a past board meeting to b...
Be the first to commentGay community outraged with Buju Banton performance
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10/30/09
Arielle Stevenson
WMNF Evening News Friday Listen to this entire show:
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Buju Banton’s song “Boom Bye Bye” was released in 1992 and is considered to be highly offensive to those in the gay community. Banton’s performance at Ybor’s Cuban Club Friday night has caused a massive reaction from the local gay community. Banton has apologized since the song was released.
Carrie West, President of GaYBOR, Ybor’s gay rights group, says that Banton’s music promotes violence towards gays and women. West says an apology isn’t enough and he doesn’t want Banton’s show here....
1 commentsSpecial Operations Command Central groundbreaking at MacDill
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10/29/09
Joshua Lee Holton
WMNF Evening News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
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The U.S. military’s Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) held a groundbreaking ceremony for their new headquarters in Tampa this morning at MacDill Air Force Base. SOCCENT is a subordinate unified command of US Central Command.
SOCCENT’s rear headquarters is at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, and their forward headquarters is in the Persian Gulf country of Qatar.
Major General Cleveland: “Special Operations Command Central has operational control of the theater special op...
Be the first to commentKen Welch: offshore drilling not the answer
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10/29/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
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At last night’s offshore oil drilling forum in Tallahassee, drilling advocate David Rancourt, with the Southern Strategy Group, was asked who is backing the plan. A group calling itself Florida Energy Associates is mostly anonymous. Rancourt defended the anonymity of the investors, by pointing to the surreptitious nature with which Disney purchased thousands of acres of land under the names of shadow groups in order to not tip people off to their intentions.
Rancourt: "Lance Phillips o...
2 commentsLt Gov speaks in Tampa
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10/28/09
Kate Bradshaw
WMNF Evening News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
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Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp spoke on the economy and veterans’ issues at the Tampa Convention Center this afternoon. Kottkamp was a keynote speaker at the Service Disabled Veteran Owned and Veteran Owned Small Business Technology Conference. He told the audience, which consisted of individuals who are both veterans and small business owners, that the state has a numerous programs for group.
The Lieutenant Governor, who is running for Attorney General in 2010, gave a few concr...
1 commentsCrist says consider drilling and we have not cut education
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10/28/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
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Today in Jacksonville, Governor Charlie Crist visited troops and toured the Wounded Warrior Project’s TRACK Center. In letters to Florida’s U.S. Senators Bill Nelson and George LeMieux, Crist’s former Chief of Staff, the Governor asked them to support federal legislation to enhance health care for veterans.
Crist was asked about the possibility that the Florida Legislature will reverse the state’s ban on drilling for fossil fuels off the coasts.
Crist: "Well, I think we need to be o...
Be the first to commentEyewitness to Gaza; and former religious right leader warns conservatives have gone too far
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10/28/09
Robert Lorei
Radioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
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Good afternoon, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up, a warning from one of the co-founders of the religious right that the rhetoric from the far right is steering the country on a dangerous path.
We’ll also get an eyewitness account of conditions in Gaza from a photojournalist who is speaking tonight in Tampa.
But first a listener comment about a caller to last Thursday’s program. Last Thursday we talked with a former top advisor to the Reagan and Bush one White Houses...
Be the first to commentInterview with St Pete City Council Candidate Pamella Settlegoode
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10/28/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
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St. Petersburg voters go to the polls in six days. In addition to Mayor, they will select five City Council members.
During last month’s primary election, voters could only choose from Council candidates in their own district. But during next week’s general election, all St. Petersburg registered voters can vote for all five contested seats.
Today WMNF concludes our series of interviews with all ten candidates for City Council. We look at the District 4 race between incumbent Leslie Cu...
Be the first to commentInterview with St Pete City Council candidate Leslie Curran
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10/28/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
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St. Petersburg voters go to the polls in six days. In addition to Mayor, they will select five City Council members.
During last month’s primary election, voters could only choose from Council candidates in their own district. But during next week’s general election, all St. Petersburg registered voters can vote for all five contested seats.
Today WMNF concludes our series of interviews with all ten candidates for City Council. We look at the District 4 race between challenger Pamella ...
Be the first to commentObama on Solar Plant in Arcadia
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10/27/09
Mark Anderson
WMNF Evening News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
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President Obama visited Florida Power & Light’s (FP&L) Arcadia solar energy generation plant today, as the utility connected the plant to the national grid for the first time. Obama’s remarks focused on the merits of clean solar power, and on additional investments the government will make to create a new, smart electric grid.
FP&L is building 3 large photovoltaic based solar generation plants in Florida: one each in DeSoto and Martin counties, and one at the Kennedy Space Center. The ...
Be the first to commentInterview with St Pete City Council candidate Angela Rouson
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10/27/09
Seán Kinane
WMNF Evening News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
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St. Petersburg voters go to the polls a week from today. In addition to Mayor, they will select five City Council members.
Even though during last month’s primary election, voters could only choose from Council candidates in their own district, during next week's general election all St. Petersburg registered voters can vote for all five contested seats.
Today WMNF continues our series of interviews with all ten candidates for City Council with the District 5 race.
It’s the only on...
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