Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

The CDC has recently declared 10 Florida counties, including South Florida and the Tampa Bay area, as high risk for COVID 19 transmission. We speak with Tampa General Hospital's Dr. Jason Wilson about what that means now that vaccines and antivirals are available. Dr. Wilson is Associate Medical Director of the ER at TGH and is an Associate Professor of USF Health. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

After a five-year hiatus, Manatee County-based Feld Entertainment is bringing back the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, this time with no animals and a focus on human performers. We talk with the Circus' producer, Juliette Feld Grossman, about their new entertainment and business model and impact on Florida and the west coast, which has had ties to the circus going back a century. See o...

Florida's explosive population growth presents challenges for county emergency managers as they juggle the potential need for new shelters. We discuss this and other issues with Pinellas Emergency Management Director Cathie Perkins. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retail chains are rationing baby formula as a nationwide shortage worsens. Dr. Rachel Dawkins, medical director of the Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Clinic in the Department of pediatric medicine at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, talks about alternatives for parents of babies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Eugenie Clark was born 100 years ago Wednesday (May 4th). She was a marine scientist and ichthyologist who became known as the "Shark Lady" for her discoveries that changed public perception of sharks, and became the scientific founding figure of what is now Mote Marine Lab. The U.S. Postal Service is honoring her with a stamp. We speak with Mote CEO Dr. Michael Crosby about Clark's life and wo...

Monday night, a leaked draft, now confirmed as authentic, of at least a U-S Supreme Court opinion in what's become knows as the Dobbs case, seems to indicate that a majority of justices are ready to overturn the 1973 Roe versus Wade ruling and its successor, the 1992 Planned Parenthood versus Casey decision, on abortion. We have Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a Christian pro-...

Inflation is cutting into Floridians' ability to pay bills, buy groceries, and plan for vacations and other discretionary spending. How bad is it and who (or what) gets the blame? We speak with Christina Stevens about a recent survey by the University of South Florida. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 200,000 Floridians got missed in the 2020 Census. That affects how much Florida gets back in federal dollars that we send to DC, and how much data planners have for roads, schools and businesses. Florida Taxwatch is launching a Census Institute to help close the data gap. We speak with FTW economist Jonathan Guarine. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Earth Day, Saint Leo University in Florida took a poll and found Americans and Floridians are less concerned about climate change than in previous years. Is it because of polarization, high gas prices, or concern fatigue? We speak with Saint Leo pollster Frank Orlando. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is out with new guidelines recommending against gender reassignment treatments for those under 18. We get reaction from Brandon Wolf of the group Equality Florida. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Governor DeSantis says he'll call a special session on homeowners insurance. We speak with state senator Jeff Brandes, who was polling lawmakers to get the Legislature to call one on its own. Brandes says no problem in Florida overshadows the insurance crisis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April is Parkinson's Awareness Month. Dale Dalbey with Synergy Home Care talks about the challenges faced by caregivers as the disease progresses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The University of South Florida surveyed about 600 Floridians during early April for their views on Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor DeSantis and President Biden. We speak with pollsters Stephen Neely and Christina Stevens. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's 100 days since Family Support Services took over child and foster services in Pinellas and Pasco counties. We speak with CEO Jenn Petion on how things are going, and how they're doing with hiring and other issues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Rays open their season Friday (8th) hosting Baltimore. Chief Business Officer Bill Walsh talks about the team's promotions and concessions at Tropicana Field this year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The weekend of April 2-3 is one of two weekends a year that people are allowed to fish license-free in Florida freshwater. We speak with John Cimbaro, a fisheries biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a three year break due to COVID, Tampa is bringing back the River O Green Fest and dyeing the Hillsborough to celebrate St Patrick's Day. It's delayed one day to Sunday (13) because of stormy weather forecast Saturday. Gordon Byrd speaks with Ashly Anderson of the Tampa Downtown Partnership. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We lose an hour when Daylight Saving Time returns March 13th, and losing an hour of sleep in the morning turns Spring Forward into Fall Forward for many. Dr. Fareeha Hussaini of USF Health talks about how to keep from losing sleep over DST. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nikki Austin speaks about the Skyway 10K run across the Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay Sunday (March 6th), benefitting the Armed Forces Family Foundation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Operation Dynamo, a nonprofit based in Tampa, has assembled a team including many veterans and intelligence experts to get Americans and others out of Ukraine. Spokesman James Judge gives us an update. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Several members of Congress have signed a letter asking President Biden to grant Temporary Protected Status to individuals from Ukraine who are in this country undocumented or illegally. We speak with Florida immigration attorney Renata Castro about what this means. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

History is suddenly a hotly debated topic in the Legislature and local school boards, with controversies over what is taught and how it's taught. At the end of February, Florida historians are getting ready for their annual conference at Saint Leo University north of Tampa. We speak with Dr. Daniel DuBois, a history professor at Saint Leo who's heading the Florida Conference of Historians. See omn...

It's time for the Florida State Fair again. It runs at the fairgrounds in Tampa starting February 10th through the 21st. We speak with the fair's executive director, Cheryl Flood. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three conservation organizations are involved in two lawsuits that claim the Federal government is not living up to its obligation to protect manatee habitats. We speak with Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director for the Center for Biological Diversity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Experts with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service held a joint news conference on the manatee mortality event on Florida's east coast. They say 85 died in January, and that while cold weather was a contributing factor, these sea cows were already weakened by starvation due to lack of seagrass. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...