News & Public Affairs

Tampa City Council discusses reclaimed water

09/04/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Tampa City Council, reclaimed water

Earlier this year, Mayor Pam Iorio's administration indicated that the city was interested in making some of its reclaimed water available to a private company that would then sell it to other local governments and businesses. But shortly after that news was made public, Iorio pulled back, saying she wants to keep most of that water in Tampa. Today the issue resurfaced. Councilmember Mary Mulhern said she wanted to know what the city’s plans actually were with the valuable resource. ...

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Democrats pan Palin's convention speech

09/04/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin

Last night, Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin introduced herself to the American public with a 40-minute speech at the Republican National Convention. It was received ecstatically by the delegates inside the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and by most members of the mainstream media. Palin’s opponent, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, was rolled out to all of the morning television talk shows to respond. He was magnanimous in praising her, but Biden said he didn’t think much of the content. And like his r...

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Activist Kelly Benjamin arrested at the RNC

09/04/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: 2008 Election, Republican National Convention, protests, arrests, Kelly Benjamin

Protests continued today in St. Paul, at the site of the Republican National Convention. The largest arrests took place on Monday – and among those swept up was Tampa activist Kelly Benjamin. Benjamin wasn’t released from jail until 3 a.m. today. Benjamin told WMNF that the arrests have created a chilling effect in St. Paul. Benjamin ran for City Council in Tampa back in 2003.

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Lighting, safety on Hillsborough Commission agenda

09/04/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Hillsborough County Commission, safety, flooding, animal shelter

The Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners met today in Tampa and covered a range of issues including park lighting, road safety in front of Plant High School, affordable housing, street flooding, the Confederate flag, and the county’s animal shelter. Commissioner Jim Norman pressed his fellow board members and county staff to fix an ordinance that makes it difficult to get approval for construction of lights at sports fields and parks. “Our parks have been put on hold for months an...

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Al-Arian released from prison listen

09/03/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Sami Al-Arian, civil liberties, Race, racism, immigration, ICE, Muslims, USF, human rights, terrorism

Yesterday Dr. Sami Al-Arian was released from custody for the first time in more than five years. Even though his criminal sentence ended 16 months ago, Al-Arian had been held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since a federal judge ordered him released on bail in July. WMNF spoke with Al-Arian’s daughter, freelance journalist Laila Al-Arian Tuesday night.

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Palin gets her chance to shine tonight listen

09/03/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin

Tonight the Republican National Convention continues in St. Paul, and the focus of attention will be on Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin. She will give her speech accepting the Vice Presidential nomination at 10:30 p.m. According to McCain chief strategist Steve Schmidt, Palin will talk about her reform and change message about energy and its links to national security, as well as communicating to the American people who she is. The *Washington Post* reports that the original speech that was pr...

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Rev. Bruce Wright discusses political protests listen

09/03/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Republican National Convention, protests

Protests are continuing in St. Paul today, at the site of the Republican National Convention. Last night, local police estimated about 2,000 people took part in an anti-poverty march. It ended near the convention arena with police using tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse protesters, who a St. Paul Police spokesman said were trying to get past security fences. Ten people were arrested. On Monday, violence erupted following a largely peaceful anti-war march by some 10,000 p...

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Florida Supreme Court rejects three amendments listen

09/03/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Amendment 5, Amendment 7, Amendment 9, tax swap plan, property taxes, school funding

The Florida Supreme Court today threw out three amendments that were on the November ballot, including the controversial Amendment 5, the tax swap amendment. The justices also rejected Amendments 7 and 9, two measures involving school vouchers that were placed there by the Tax and Budget Reform Commission. The Justices were unanimous on all three, saying they were improperly placed on the November ballot and were misleading to voters. Democrat Steven Geller, the outgoing Senate Minor...

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Brother of slain teen says police harassed him listen

09/03/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Javon Dawson, police violence, African American, Race, civil rights, discrimination, racism, Uhurus, St. Petersburg Police

In June, teenager Javon Dawson was shot twice in the back and killed by a St. Petersburg Police officer. Yesterday at school, his younger brother, Keon, was pulled out of class and his belongings were searched because the school received a tip that he had a gun. Dawson’s family and supporters are calling it another example of the St. Pete Police harassing and intimidating people who witnessed his brother’s shooting. At a press conference Wednesday morning at the Uhuru House in St. Pet...

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'The End of Food' author interview: Part 1 listen

09/03/08 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Famine, global food prices

The United Nations World Food Program said today that North Korea needs $503 million in food aid between now and November 2009 to avoid famine, an effort which could be hampered by China's unwillingness to grant food export licences. North Korea, with a population of about 23 million, lost around 1 million people in a famine in the mid to late 1990s brought about by a mismanaged farm sector and floods. Even with a good harvest, North Korea falls about 1 million tons, or 20 percent, short o...

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