Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

Along with the eerie and the spooky, there are real life safety issues as children's trick or treating coincides with adults going to costume parties and high school football games. We get some Halloween 2025 safety tips from Dr. Patrick Mularoni at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florida and other states face the loss of November SNAP benefits if the federal government shutdown drags on. Food banks may be called on to help, but they depend on USDA for some of their food. We speak with State Senator Nick DeCeglie, who is also CEO of Hope Villages of America. That nonprofit also runs and works with food banks and food pantries.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

Hillsborough County's Pet Resource Center is 600 percent over capacity for cats. We talk with the center's Chelsea Waldeck about the causes of the cat population explosion and how they're working to adopt those cats out (adoption fees are waived).  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Registration is open for the annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot in Clearwater, an event made up of a timed race and two fun run/strolls. It's been around since 1979 and one of the charities it supports helps to empower those who are homeless. Achieva credit union is a sponsor and we speak with Teresa Hibbard of the Achieva Foundation about the event.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Hillsborough County government is holding a workshop to get input on its Post Disaster Redevelopment Plan. The idea is to have a plan ready to go in case another disaster such as Hurricanes Helene or Milton strikes the Tampa Bay area. We speak with CK Moore, the Section Chief for Planning of Hillsborough County Emergency Management.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A presidential search committee at the University of South Florida just named Dr. Moez Limayem as the only finalist for the job. The Board of Trustees and State University Board of Governors will vote on his nomination. He's been president at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville since 2022. Before that he spent ten years as Dean of the Muma College of Business at USF. We're reposting an...

The one year anniverary of Hurricane Helene is this week (Friday). We speak with Kevin McAndrew, Pinellas County director of Building and Development Review Services about how the rebuilding and permitting process stands at this time and how the county is working to help property owners now and in the future.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A major milestone ahead for renovation of a Tampa public housing complex. Monday (15th) demolition will begin on vacated units at Robles Park. This will begin a renovation process. Eventually the new Robles Park Village complex will host more than 1,800 mixed-income units along with commercial and retail. The redesign will include a memorial center for those buried at the historic Zion Cemetery. W...

For the first time, the American Legion is holding its annual National Convention in Tampa, Aug. 22-28. Some seven thousand Legionnaires, members of the American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion are expected. We speak with the Legion's convention chair, Michael Walton, about the events in Tampa over the next few days. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A major acquisition involving two TV companies could have a major impact on news and viewing patterns in the Tampa Bay area. Nexstar, owner of News Channel 8, is buying Tegna, owner of 10 Tampa Bay, for more than six billion dollars. This would put the local NBC and CBS affiliates under the same ownership. Tampa is one of a handful of markets where both Nexstar and Tegna own stations. We speak abo...

Gordon Byrd speaks with Chip Lupo of personal finance website Wallethub about two surveys of special interest to Florida. One finds Tampa Bay and South Florida among the top ten markets for inflation, while the Best States To Live In report ranks Florida 6th, still top tier but down from 2nd. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wednesday is August 13th... 8/13. Tampa's taking the opportunity on the calendar to celebrate 813 Day. We speak with Curtis Kellogg of Tampa's and Hillsborough County's tourist promotion agency, Visit Tampa Bay, about the day and various ways to celebrate and save. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

School begins Monday around the Tampa Bay area. We speak with psychologist Jennifer Katzenstein PhD of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg about getting children (and parents) through anxiety and restoring routines. Dr. Katzenstein is director of Psychology, Neuropsychology, and Social Work at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, and co-director of the hospital's Center for B...

Qatar's national military skydiving team trains for much of the year in Zephyrhills, even though most of its performance are delivered in or near its home nation. Saturday morning (9th) the Qatar Air Sports Committee Demonstration Team will put on a free show at Skydive City. We speak with the facility's co-owners, Kyle and Lauren Salvato, about the performance. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Three cats were left in a pink cage on the side of a road in Bradenton. By the time they were found July 29th, two were emaciated and one had died. Manatee County Animal Welfare is working to nurse the two survivors, both gray tabbies, back to health. Meantime, investigators are trying to identify the person who left them there. We speak with Animal Welfare supervisor Steven Bell and county spokes...

School starts in Florida the week of August 11th. But if you have school aged children or teens, the time to get their body clocks back on track is right now. We speak with Dr. Luis Ortiz, a sleep specialist at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, about how to fight summer sleep patterns, games, phones and other distractions to get your kids back on time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

A Hernando County waterfront park wiped out by Hurricane Helene's storm surge is reopening, with some changes. We speak with Community Services Director Chris LInsbeck about Alfred McKethan Pine Island Park. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Water skiing doesn't always require skis. We talk with champion barefoot waterskier and coach Ben Groen about the Barefoot Waterski Nationals taking place July 30 - August 2nd in Auburndale, FL. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hillsborough County is asking the public to share experiences recovering from Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year. The county is using a federal grant to find ways to make disaster recovery smarter and faster. Emergency management Planning section chief C.K. Moore says they want to hear about recovery from last year's hurricanes, to improve the county's post-disaster redevelopment plan. There's...

Preparing for the before, during and after of a hurricane: Read Shepherd speaks with Jim Stiner of Home Depot about sandbags, plywood, and generators. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Independence Day holiday week is expected to produce new travel records. We speak with Mark Jenkins of AAA Auto Club Group, about what to prepare for, whether you're traveling by land, air, or sea. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The air conditioning and refrigeration industries are asking Congress to chill an EPA initiative started under the Biden administration to change refrigerants used in AC units. The EPA move seeks to respond to climate change by changing to refrigerants such as propane, which is highly flammable. To further complicate matters, there's a phase-in period with transitional coolants. We speak with Bob...

David Jolly, a former Republican Congressman from Pinellas County, is running for Florida Governor as a Democrat. We ask him about his stances on the state's issues and whether a Democrat stands a chance in a state where Republicans have a million vote edge. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last year's hurricanes could mean more mosquitoes this year, or perhaps years in the future, for Pasco County. We speak with Pasco Mosquito Control Director Adriane Rogers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As another hurricane season approaches, residents of one part of Tampa are still dealing with damage in the aftermath of flooding during Hurricane Milton. They live in the section of the city that's actually farthest away from the water, and many didn't have flood insurance. We speak with Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera about what led to the unexpcted floodwaters, and how residents are moving for...