Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

We just got past Labor Day, but many Floridians are already booking their travel for Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year's. We get holiday travel tips from Mark Jenkins with AAA Auto Club Group based in Tampa. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After 28 years, Manatee County sheriff's detectives have solved a cold case murder with the arrest of the victim's former boyfriend. We speak with Randy Warren of the Manatee Sheriff's Office about the 1996 murder of Doris Korell of St. Petersburg and the arrest of Stephen Ford.  (Photo courtesy Manatee County Sheriff's Office). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The state canceled meetings on a proposal to bring golf, pickleball, lodging and other facilities to state parks. But environmental watchdogs aren't taking their eyes off the agency that runs the parks. We speak with Michael McGrath of Sierra Club Florida, who was at a protest against the move on the approach to Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County. See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

UPDATE: After this podcast was recorded, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced changes to its meeting schedule as well as a page for public comment. State lawmakers, members of Congress and Florida's two U.S. Senators are urging the DeSantis administration to slow down. We speak with Haley Busch, outreach director of 1000 Friends of Florida. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

A big step forward for the University of South Florida's Sarasota-Manatee campus. The ribbon gets cut Monday (19th) for a new six-story student center and residence hall. It's the biggest project since USF-Sarasota-Manatee moved into its current site in 2006. We speak with the Sarasota-Manatee chancellor, Dr. Karen Holbrook, about what it means for the campus. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

Bat maternity season in Florida ends August 15th, meaning Floridians may again use exclusion techniques to evict bats that have roosted in their houses. We speak with Dr. Shelly Johnson with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Services (IFAS) about bat removal strategies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florida now authorizes local school districts to use cameras on school bus stop-arms to catch drivers violating bus safety. In Hillsborough and Miami-Dade counties, those cameras are supplied by a company called BusPatrol. We speak with company executive Steve Randazzo. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newsradio WFLA's Read Shepherd talks with Nate Custer from FEMA about applying for help after Hurricane Debby.  10 Florida counties, including Manatee and Sarasota, have been declared major disaster areas, and people with flood or other damage can apply for federal assistance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new school year begins Monday in the Tampa Bay area and much of Florida wiith new restrictions on cellphone use by students. We speak with Dr. Jennifer Katzenstein of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital about the impact on students and parents. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With school opening across the Tampa Bay area August 12th, parents are scrambling to schedule back-to-school physicals for sports. We got tips from Dr. Patrick Mularoni of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, who is medical director of sports medicine. We also talk about getting kids ready to play fall sports in the heat. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newsradio WFLA's Read Shepherd talks with former Tampa police officer Ruben "Butch" Delgado, now head of a Special Investigations Unit for Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance.  We're talking about things a homeowner who suffered damage from Debby needs to do---especially if they don't have "flood insurance."  We're also talking about the "predators" who scam unsuspecting homeowners out of m...

Hillsborough County is taking applications for its annual Neighborhood Awards until August 14th. Neighborhood Associations are eligible to win recognition for their projects to improve their communities. The Neighborhood of the Year earns a prize worth $500. We speak with Stephanie Agliano of the county about how to get involved. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The teacher's union and other groups are launching a campaign to pass the one-mill school property tax referendum in Hillsborough County. They say the school district needs the money to keep up with neighboring counties' salaries. But everything hinges on whether a judge orders the Hillsborough County Commission to place the tax on the ballot this November, instead of waiting until 2026. We speak...

This past week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody began issuing rules for the new law restricting social media accounts for kids under 16. Dr. Jennifer Katzenstein,with Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg says teens and tweens know a lot of what they interact with isn't good for their moods. We speak with her in this interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

A Pinellas County beach town is trying to move tourists and day-trippers off its side streets. Starting July 29th, there's no more free parking in the Sunset Beach neighborhood of Treasure Island.  Street parking will cost $5 an hour. City spokesman Jason Beisel insists it's not a money grab. We speak with him about the change. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Florida Aquarium and the University of Miami are joining forces in an effort to help coral in the Florida Keys survive rising water temperatures. It involves crossbreeding Florida coral with coral from a warm bay in Honduras. We speak with Keri O' Neil, who's leading the project for the Florida Aquarium. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bay scallop season is starting in Pasco County Wednesday (10th). It runs till August 18th. We speak with Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission marine biologist Nancy Sheridan about how to scallop by the rules. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The University of South Florida is rolling out a new underwater remote vehicle with a 4K camera that can go two and a half miles deep. Only one other US University (Hawaii) has anything like it. We speak with Dr. Monty Graham, director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography, about what this means for deep-sea exploration. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the first time since the pandemic, St. Petersburg restores the Sister Cities student exchange program with Takamatsu, Japan. Students from St. Petersburg are going over to Takamatsu the weekend of July 5th. They'll stay for ten days and then students from Takamatsu will head to St. Petersburg. We speak with one of the program organizers and the mother of one of the exchange students. See omnys...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Downtown Tampa hosts a day full of events July 4th (Thursday). We speak with Rachel Radawec of the Tampa Downtown Partnership about "Boom By the Bay." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police at the St. Petersburg campus of the University of South Florida are swearing in a new K-9 Thursday (20). Snowbird's job isn't putting the bite on bad guys or sniffing out drugs. Snowbird is a comfort dog. We speak with Snowbird's handler, Officer Mark Lickenfelt, about the role of comfort and support dogs in law enforcement and in promoting wellbeing on college campuses. See omnystudio.com/...

Hillsborough Adult Day Services is promoting Alzheimer's Awareness with its Brain Bus touring the county's adult day facilities. We speak with the agency's Angie Toledo-Vasquez. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a slight delay, rainy season is expected to come in full force in the Tampa Bay area with tropical moisture dropping several inches this week. That means possible street flooding and a potential slowdown of beach renourishment. We speak with Pinellas County floodplain administrator Lisa Foster and public information coordinator Ashley Giovanetti on how the weather could affect the county thi...

Newsradio WFLA's Read Shepherd talks with Lee Bryant, President of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association about a new law set to go into effect July 1 that will require all doors, hallways, and gates in and around school buildings to be locked during school hours.  Bryant says implementing this new law might not be as easy as it seems. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.