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Advocates celebrate International Women’s Day at Tampa City Hall
Mar 10Tap to summarizeListen: The protesters called for Tampa residents to stand with women’s rights and labor movements. They also invited people to stand against the ongoing attacks on immigrant communities and the war in Iran. The day was filled with people making posters and speeches. This is an excerpt from one of the speeches posted on the social media of the Freedom Road Socialist group. “To fight against Trump and his agenda is crucial to fight against women’s oppression everywhere. The large-scale attack on immigrant women makes it so they face sexual abuse and sterilization as they have for decades… while others have had their family and their children ripped away from them.” Students for a Democratic Society called on the University of South Florida to impose stronger protections against sexual harassment on campus. “Inclusion cannot just be a paragraph on their website; it has to be something women and LGBTQ students feel as they walk across campus at night. It has to be something that exists when a woman reports harassment to their faculty.” The rally was organized by Tampa’s Immigrant Rights Committee. The post Advocates celebrate International Women’s Day at Tampa City Hall appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
Transcribe →The Scoop: Thurs. Mar. 10, 2026 Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF
Mar 10Tap to summarizeElection day in Pinellas County Polling closes at 7 pm for Gulfport, St. Pete, Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Kenneth, and Safety Harbor. Florida Senate approves bill targeting public unions The general public and both sides of the aisle are pushing back on the bill. A protest was held at Tampa City Hall to commemorate International Women’s Day Multiple groups came together to celebrate International Women’s Day. Elevate Florida has not approved applications A year after the creation of Elevate Florida, residents are still awaiting their money. A bill to support domestic violence survivors goes to the Governor’s desk The Senate and the House unanimously agreed on the bill that increases penalties for repeat offenders. The Scoop: Tampa Bay & Florida headlines by WMNF The Scoop, produced by Sofia Caballero. WMNF anchors Chris Young, Juanita Hurtado Huérfano, Seán Kinane, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton. WMNF News Director Seán KinaneWMNF reporters Chris Young, Juanita Hurtado Huérfano, Lisa Marzilli, Seán Kinane, Leah Burdick, Sofia Caballero, Josh HoltonSpecial thanks to Taylor Lovejoy and Corey Beltran. Theme music, Fresh06, by Stian via archive.org – CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5https://archive.org/details/jamendo-001084/02.mp3The Scoop logo by Robin Milcowitz / Greener Pixels / greenerpixels.com / WMNF information from News Service of Florida, the Associated Press and Florida Public Media was used in this report The post The Scoop: Thurs. Mar. 10, 2026 Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
Transcribe →Pinellas County municipal elections are today: here’s info about Gulfport Council candidates
Mar 10Tap to summarizeMunicipal elections are today (Tuesday, March 10, 2026) in Gulfport and in these other Pinellas County cities: Belleair Bluffs, Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Kenneth City, Madeira Beach, Redington Shores, Safety Harbor, St. Pete Beach, Tarpon Springs and Treasure Island. According to the Supervisor of Elections website, “The following municipalities cancelled their scheduled elections because there were no contests and/or candidates with opposition: Belleair Shore, North Redington Beach, Pinellas Park, Redington Beach, South Pasadena.” There are two seats up for grabs on the Gulfport City Council. Here’s a link to The Gabber‘s profile of the candidates. In January, residents had the chance to learn how the four candidates respond to key concerns of their South Pinellas city. During both forums around 70 people joined to listen to their candidates. The full audio is below. Here’s that story by WMNF’s Leah Burdick: Gulfport City Council, Ward 1 Joe Guenther faces Jennifer Daunch. Daunch has worked in public service roles and has experience handling emergencies, including FEMA training. She said she is a great communicator and knows how to reach people in the community. Guenther is a business owner and has served on multiple city boards with community foundations. He said he knows the city from the ground up. The question “If state legislation reduces property tax revenues, how would you approach budget decisions and what guiding principles would you use for service reduction or alternatives,” was asked. Guenther said he would explore funding at the federal and state level. “Property taxes fund essential city services, including police and fire protection, stormwater infrastructure, roads, and parks. Currently, we take in about $7 million from property taxes. So we’re talking about a $3.5 million deficit that we’d have to make up. To address this, this city would need to explore all other federal, state, and county funding sources,” he said. He said funds will not be cut from the fire and police departments because they are critical for the community. Daunch said she wants to find a system where Gulfport can manage its’ own money. “I feel like our property taxes, while now they go to the county and get trickled down to us, we could build some type of similar structure that would go directly to the city for us to manage. We can responsibly manage our own money instead,” she said. She said this could be from direct assessments like police fees or see what each resident properties taxes are and have them pay the difference. Both candidates want to find a solution to flooding and maintain water drainage throughout the area. They also said they would invest in Living Shoreline because it can help Gulfport. Gulfport City Council, Ward 3 In Ward 3, Keri Nelson faces Jennifer Webb. Nelson has worked in government roles and has lived in Gulfport for more than 20 years. She is active in local programs and events. She said with her diverse career path she has worked with policies and that shapes the community. Webb is a former state representative and she said she already has relationships with city leaders and administrations. With her background she said she knows how to bring people together and structure funding programs. The question “Will you continue a more detailed maintenance of the storm drains,” was asked. Nelson said storm drain maintenance is her top priority and the community can also help with clearing drains. “We will look at any kind of new technology if there are out there. I’m a big proponent of technology as well. See if there’s any better ideas that other communities are doing. But we definitely need the support of the community for supporting our public works because again, they can’t be everywhere all the time. We also need to make sure that our budget is set so that we have funding because this costs money,” she said. She also said it’s important to track and look at the way the water flows to ensure it’s properly moving in the right direction. Webb said there needs to be a more detailed city maintenance of the storm drains. “Putting these projects from short term to long term and stacking them so we can leverage state funding and federal funding, so the burden of improving these storm water drainage system isn’t being shoulder complete by our residents. We can’t afford it,” she said. Webb said clearing the drainage system is a number one priority and needs to start today. Both candidates want to find a way to slow traffic down near Trolley Wall on 49th Street S. They also want to increase city communication during hurricane season and find solutions to people sleeping in their cars. The municipal election is March 10. The League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area put the event together and wants to remind residents Florida requires voters to request vote-by-mail ballots after each general election. The deadline for these ballots is 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. Listen to the full audio from each forum below: The post Pinellas County municipal elections are today: here’s info about Gulfport Council candidates appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
Transcribe →Senate passes bill targeting public labor unions
Mar 9Tap to summarizeListen: The Florida Senate approved a bill targeting public unions on Friday. But it received pushback from the general public and from Senators on both sides of the aisle. Among other things, Senate Bill 1296 would make the threshold for public sector union certification and recertification more difficult. Republican Senator Johnathan Martin is the bill’s sponsor. “This bill exists to make sure that if you don’t have that 60% membership in your bargaining unit, that you don’t have a monopoly and an exclusive right to tell every other coworker of yours to shut up, to go to the back, to be quiet, while you go and negotiate with your administration.” Sen. Martin said. Various senators criticized the fact that requirements would not apply to police, firefighter, and corrections officers’ unions. Republican Senator Clay Yarborough voted in favor of the bill, citing the arrest of Duval County teacher’s union leaders for fraud last month. “In order to ensure stronger accountability, and hopefully avoid any future events anywhere in our state similar to what took place in Duval County, I am strongly compelled to support the bill.” Yarborough said. Republican Senator Ileana Garcia represents a portion of Miami-Dade County. “The unions there are as much, as the Senator mentioned, Republicans as they are Democrat and Independents. And they are just not comfortable with the language in this bill, they feel they are being targeted, and for that reason I’ll be a no vote today.” Sen. Garcia said. A couple of weeks ago, demonstrators gathered in Tampa to speak against the bill. Many of them were union workers, including flight attendant and union member Lauren Pinero. “If we allow them to continue to attack public workers, decertify public sector unions, and privatize these industries, they will not stop there. An attack on one is an attack on all, and it is up to us to rise up for our rights and fight back to protect workers across all industries.” Pinero said. The bill passed the Senate in a 20 to 14 vote. According to CBS News, the leadership from right-wing think tank Freedom Foundation, took credit for writing the bill. The post Senate passes bill targeting public labor unions appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
Transcribe →The Scoop: Mon. Mar. 9, 2026 Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF
Mar 9Tap to summarizeThe House and Senate proposed budgets to defund the “Florida Forever” conservation program The Florida legislature’s proposed budgets could severely restrict or defund Florida Forever, one of the state’s land conservation programs. The Free Senior Health Clinic could close next week The Free Senior Health Clinic at the Claude Pepper Senior Center could close, due to the center not having a lease agreement for the property or liability insurance. The Senate approved a bill targeting unions The bill could become law if the House passes its companion bill this week, and it would require public-sector labor unions to secure at least 50% of the votes of all employees in the bargaining unit to recertify. Historic Pharmacy closes down The historic pharmacy on the corner of Manatee Avenue East and Ninth Street East closed last week after more than 130 years in business. The Scoop: Tampa Bay & Florida headlines by WMNF The Scoop, produced by Mackenzie Queen WMNF anchors Chris Young, Juanita Hurtado Huérfano, Seán Kinane, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton. WMNF News Director Seán KinaneWMNF reporters Chris Young, Juanita Hurtado Huérfano, Lisa Marzilli, Seán Kinane, Leah Burdick, Sofia Caballero, Josh HoltonSpecial thanks to Taylor Lovejoy and Corey Beltran. Theme music, Fresh06, by Stian via archive.org – CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5https://archive.org/details/jamendo-001084/02.mp3The Scoop logo by Robin Milcowitz / Greener Pixels / greenerpixels.com / WMNF information from News Service of Florida, the Associated Press and Florida Public Media was used in this report The post The Scoop: Mon. Mar. 9, 2026 Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
Transcribe →Extraordinary women making a difference in their communities
Mar 9Tap to summarizeSunday Forum March 8, 2026 Annie Miles takes the helm today as women working to bring progress and abundance to the community join the Forum on this 115th annual International Women’s Day. Erica Hardison helped lead the discussion on food security and the co-operative movement. She coordinates the One Community Grocery Co-op effort in South Saint Petersburg, FL Hardison, Wilson & Brown: For The People Dr. Shakari Wilson talk about the next health forum. 2333 34th Street St. Petersburg, FL Stephanie Brown helps provide prom gowns for girls, a valiant effort in hard economic times. Guests called into the Forum and included: VOTE Power Geveryl “Gevie” Robinson, Black Voters Matter Fund Central Florida Lead Organizer, talk about critical voting rights. Read Gevie’s Weekly Challenger column about the lack of an early voting site in South St. Petersburg, FL. Read Gevie on Project 2025 and her townhalls on the extremist agenda. All that and Olivia announcing Earth Night, edutainment, diversity and inclusion.epitomized All on this day celebrating women and girls worldwide. The post Extraordinary women making a difference in their communities appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
Transcribe →Endangered Florida butterfly species actually benefits from hurricanes, data shows
Feb 14, 2025Tap to summarizeListen: One of the rarest butterflies in the country, the Schaus’ Swallowtail Butterfly, is benefitting from an event many people dread. A new study from the Florida Museum of Natural History shows hurricanes have positive impacts on the butterflies. Jaret Daniels is a curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History. He said the Schaus’ Swallowtail butterfly benefits because storms open up the canopy in the butterfly’s habitat. “That allows sun to penetrate to the forest floor, creates sort of an abundance of new growth of the host plants of the butterfly, and also enables , sort of nectar, resources to sort of proliferate,” Daniels told WMNF. That’s good news for the endangered butterfly. It’s native to South Florida and occurs exclusively on conservation lands. Sarah Steele Cabrera is a PhD Candidate at the University of Florida. “We had noticed, noticed this trend that a few years after a hurricane, even a very severe storm like Hurricane Andrew in 1992, there were lots of butterflies a few years later. And so it was exciting and rewarding to see those anecdotal observations born out in the data,” Cabrera said. She and others made the discovery after combing through 35 years of data. Cabrera called the findings exciting. “This is perhaps a call to look at it from a slightly, from a non-human centered perspective that you know, the plants, other animals, everything in this system is really adapted for hurricanes,” Cabrera said. Cabrera and Daniels say their goal is to protect and grow the endangered butterfly. The post Endangered Florida butterfly species actually benefits from hurricanes, data shows appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
Transcribe →Update: NOAA delays listing pillar coral as “endangered”
Feb 14, 2025Tap to summarizeOn Friday NOAA announced that it is delaying protections for pillar coral. The 60-day delay means that the effective date of the pillar coral uplisting from threatened to endangered will now be Mar. 21, 2025. “I’m outraged that the Trump administration is delaying protection for a species clearly on the brink of extinction and hit hardest by the warming waters of climate change,” said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity in an emailed statement. “Coral reefs provide vital support for fish and protect our coasts from storm surge. Trump’s reckless campaign to gut and stymie the important work of our federal agencies is hurting us along with incredibly important species like pillar coral.” Below is WMNF’s original story from December 17, 2024: The National Marine Fisheries Service issued a final rule on Monday to change the status of one coral species from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We spoke about what this means for the pillar coral with Elise Bennett, the Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity. As of 2020, only an estimated 20 individuals of pillar coral existed in Florida waters. Listen to this full show here: “Oh, pillar coral are what every five-year-old dreams a mermaid castle to be. They grow in these golden tan rounded pillars that reach up towards the water’s surface and a really particularly large colony can be almost stately. And then the polyps have these tentacles that are often exposed that give them kind of a soft glow. They’re really beautiful corals and and truly distinct from many of the other corals you might see in the waters around Florida and like some of the other corals, there are really a lot of stressors on pillar corals,” Bennett told WMNF. “When the pillar coral was originally listed as threatened back in 2014, experts recognized that this species is already inherently vulnerable to extinction. And that’s because it’s a naturally rare species. It has relatively low reproduction and it has a reduced ability to recover from mortality events that might be driven by coral bleaching or disease and this vulnerability was projected to increase in the future. And so at that time, the National Marine Fisheries Service determined that the species wasn’t in danger of extinction now, but likely to become in danger in the foreseeable future. “Well, that determination changed after a review that was published in 2022. And in that review, the agency took a deeper look back when they listed the species in 2014, they found there wasn’t a lot of information about declines of populations that we knew existed. And they also thought that the coral would be resistant to coral bleaching at least in some areas across its range. “But this 2022 assessment showed that those assumptions really weren’t true that they found that population trends were decreasing, looking at studies in Florida and in Columbia, they found that the range had diminished with the loss of almost all of the wild colonies in Florida, which is pretty serious here for our state. They also found that the species was highly susceptible to disease, like one called stony coral tissue loss disease, which has really devastated populations in the northern Caribbean. “And following the impact of this disease, the agency had determined that it’s likely functionally extinct here in Florida, which means it still exists in the wild, but they’re concerned about its ability to reproduce and it’s really not a significant feature of the ecosystem any more. “And then finally, I think many folks are familiar with the impacts of coral bleaching and they found that the susceptibility is higher than we had thought. And this threat is driven by climate change and warmer ocean temperatures.” – Elise Bennett on WMNF’s Tuesday Cafe Also on Tuesday Café (Dec. 17) – Tampa Bay SDS says USF is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The activist group Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society or SDS has a rally Tuesday to announce that it is accusing the University of South Florida of violating its members’ civil rights. We talked about that and what led up to it with our guests, Vicky Tong, a member of Students for a Democratic Society and Collin Poirot, their lawyer. “Last week on December 11th, we filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights asking them to investigate USF for its discrimination against SDS and other students due to their associations with Palestinians and other students of color on campus and their ongoing campaigns to defend DEI programs as well as multiple demands related directly to Palestine such as divesting from Israel’s genocide. “The Title VI: it’s Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Basically, what it says is if you’re an individual who is trying to participate in a program or activity that receives federal funding, you are protected from being denied the benefits of participation in that program, being denied equal access to that program or being subjected to discrimination within that program or activity on the basis of race, color or national origin. “So our argument here is, you know, half of USF’s funding for research comes directly from the federal government, from federal grants. All of that money requires that us f not discriminate, not prevent students from accessing education on an equal basis, not harass, not retaliate against students based on their national origin or association with students of a particular national origin. “So that’s what we’re asking the, the Office for Civil Rights to investigate and, and hopefully we’ll be able to reach some, some remedies that can improve the conditions on campus for these students.” – Collin Poirot, lawyer for Tampa Bay SDS Also on Tuesday Café (Dec. 17) – the economics of the Rays stadium deal We spoke with WMNF Assistant News Director Meghan Bowman about her story on the economics of the Rays’ stadium deal. WMNF’s Tuesday Café Tuesday Café hosted by WMNF news director Seán Kinane airs live weekly on WMNF beginning at 10:06 a.m. ET. You can listen live on 88.5 FM in Tampa Bay, on wmnf.org or on the WMNF Community Radio app. You can watch replays on TBAE Network channels at 8:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m Tuesdays on Spectrum 636, Frontier 34 and watch.tbae.net...
Transcribe →Crisis Center of Tampa Bay launches opiod recovery program
Feb 13, 2025Tap to summarizeThe Crisis Center of Tampa Bay’s Transcare Medical Transportation Division has launched a new community Paramedicine program. The program provides free support to those struggling with Substance Use Disorder. Paramedics will provide Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), a treatment that combines medication with behavioral therapy. Those enrolled in the program will receive daily doses of Buprenorphine, a drug commonly used to assist those recovering from opioid addiction. Individuals will also receive daily visits from a paramedic while waiting to be accepted into an opioid recovery center. The paramedic will remain in contact with the individual while they are in recovery. Community paramedic Cameron Pelzel said he is focused on guiding people through the withdrawal process “I will see you every single day wherever you are, and typically that’s between one and seven days to provide treatment and check on your medical well-being,” Pelzel said. The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay is part of the Coordinated Opioid Recovery (CORE) network, which ensures individuals receive adequate medical and mental health care. The Crisis Center also provides trauma counseling and support for families coping with behavioral health challenges. TransCare is a service offered by the Crisis Center and provides basic life support ambulance services and behavioral transportation. The post Crisis Center of Tampa Bay launches opiod recovery program appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
Transcribe →Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission faces questioning on shipwrecked boats, marine debris
Feb 13, 2025Tap to summarizeListen: Wrecked or sunken boats and other marine vessels can cause environmental hazards to marine life and pose threats to public safety. State legislators met Thursday to speak with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about these derelict vessels. The FWC’s Deputy Director Lt. Colonel Rob Rowe fielded questions from legislators at a House subcommittee meeting. Democratic Representative Allison Tant asked Rowe about the timeline for cleanup for derelict vessels – marine vessels in disrepair. “I was in Bradenton for a wedding towards the end of the year, and there were several vessels in the water sunk, you know, partially upside-down. Obviously, from Hurricane Milton – that haven’t been picked up,” Tant said. “It usually happens between three to six months, this year is a little different because we had several hurricanes back to back,” Rowe responded. Rowe says recent additional staffing means they are getting more shipwrecked boats out of the water than ever before. But – he also says certain counties are prioritized, and some counties have more resources available than others. On Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced a legislative proposal he called the Boaters Freedom Initiative Act Among other things, the proposal would repeal the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s authority to conduct random vessel safety inspections without probable cause. Rowe addressed the matter while answering a question at the subcommittee meeting. “Currently, you don’t have to have probable cause to issue or conduct a boater safety inspection But, I can say that the overwhelming amount of officers on the water do use probable cause – it’s good law enforcement practice to do that,” Rowe said. In a press release, DeSantis said the act would protect boaters from “unwarranted searches” or “heavy-handed local government”. The post Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission faces questioning on shipwrecked boats, marine debris appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.
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