Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

After a series of issues with previous contract holder Eckerd Connects, including foster children sleeping and being left overnight in offices, Family Support Services is the new lead agency for child support and services in Pinellas and Pasco counties, effective Jan. 1, 2022. We speak with FSS President and CEO Jenn Petion about how she sees her mission. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Saturday (27th) is Small Business Saturday. We speak with Bill Herrle, Florida Executive Director of the National Federation of Independent Business, about the day and how Florida's small businesses are doing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Communities all over Florida are observing the holidays with special events. We speak with Rick Craft at the St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation Department about events in his city. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Biden administration announced the release of millions of barrels of crude oil from the strategic reserve, in an effort to bring down gas prices. When will we see an effect at the pump? And has the White House emphasis on fighting climate change contributed to rising prices? We speak with Patrick De Haan, head of analysis for Gas Buddy.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and the holiday season can present some health concerns for older family members. Some are immunocomprised and concerned about COVID. There may be other physical issues such as hygiene, susceptibility to falls, or dementia. Allison Horsley with Synergy Home Care offers a few ideas to deal with the holidays and aging loved ones. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

As season two of the Netflix documentary Tiger King is released, the lead detective investigating the disappearance of Carole Baskin's husband gives the media an update on his investigation into the case. Here's the news conference conducted on Zoom by the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office and Corporal Moises Garcia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Expect Critical Race Theory to be a topic of discussion in the 2022 Florida legislative session. State Representative Randy Fine (R-Melbourne) is the House sponsor of a bill (sponsored in the Senate by Joe Gruters of Sarasota) that would ban what he identifies as ten components of CRT from being taught to employees or students in state government and universities. See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Critical race theory is illegal in Florida schools, and there's a push to make it illegal in colleges and workplaces too. But a Tampa church is actually trying to teach CRT to high schoolers, using TikTok videos and online webinars. We speak to representatives of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florida's first and only snow park, Snowcat Ridge, opens for its second season Wednesday, November 10th. We speak with marketing director Jon Pianki about what's new this year and what they learned from their first season. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Starting November 8, citizens of more than 30 countries, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Brazil and China, will be able to travel to the US without special permission for the first time since the pandemic. They will be required to show proof of vaccination and a negative COVID test. St. Petersburg immigration lawyer Steve Maggi says this could benefit foreign investment, which is...

Personal finance site Wallethub ranked 100 U.S. cities for veterans and placed Tampa at the top of the list. Three other cities -- Orlando, St. Petersburg and Jacksonville -- made the top 20. We speak with Wallethub senior analyst Jill Gonzalez about the survey. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We interview Richie Floyd, a self-described "democratic socialist" who's running for St. Petersburg City Council District 8. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We speak with Jeff Danner, a St. Petersburg city councilman from 2005 to 2013, who's running for the open seat in District 8. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Canadian taxpayer group paid for a billboard near Tropicana Field to send a message to the Rays about expecting public money to build a stadium for a half-season in Montreal. We speak with Renaud Brossard, Quebec director of the Canadian Taxpayers Foundation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Companies in the manufacturing, logistics and supply chain sectors are looking to fill jobs with veterans. Allen Von Plinsky of RecruitMilitary speaks about an upcoming job fair for veterans in Tampa. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monday, October 25th, is the 100th anniversary of a major hurricane striking Tampa Bay. The hurricane of 1921 brought 11-foot storm surges to Bayshore and devastated areas around the bay and beach communities. The Tampa Bay office of the National Weather Service has produced a special online presentation about the storm. We speak with National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist Dan...

Incumbent Gina Driscoll is running for re-election in St. Petersburg city council District 6. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mhariel Summers is a former legislative intern who's running for St. Petersburg City Council District 6. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Mullins, an executive for investment banking at Raymond James Financial, is running for St. Petersburg City Council District 4. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisset Gonzalez Hanewicz, former prosecutor and now an attorney in private practice, is running for St. Petersburg City Council District 4. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're doing a series of interviews with St. Petersburg City Council candidates. Financial planner Copley Gerdes is running for the District 1 seat. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're loading a series of podcasts on the St. Petersburg City Council races. Here's our interview with Bobbie Shay Lee, running in District 1. She's a local activist on health issues including breast cancer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The city of Tampa was forced to switch from ozone to chlorine during the Delta wave of COVID-19 in August, as hospitals needed liquid oxygen for COVID patients. Now the wave has subsided and the city has returned to LOX. We speak with Sonia Quinones, communications coordinator for the Tampa Water Department. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The city of Clearwater is holding its Big Cleanup the week of Oct. 11-16. Sheridan Boyle, the city's sustainability coordinator, speaks about how the citywide cleanup helps improve sustainability, and how cleaning up inland parts of the city helps the beaches. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tuesday, September 28th is National Voter Registration Day. Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer talks about how his office is observing the day with registration efforts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.