Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

Governor DeSantis has issued an emergency rule denying state licensing to agencies that house unaccompanied minors who have crossed the border and been brought to Florida. About 200 faith leaders are objecting to that rule. We speak with Rev. Dale Schaeffer, with the Florida District of the Church of the Nazarene. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stephen Breyer retires from the U.S. Supreme Court, and a Floridian could be nominated to succeed him. We speak with Brendan Beery, constitutional law professor at WMU-Cooley Law School in the Tampa suburb of Riverview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rare earth elements are crucial in much 21st-century technology. Right now China controls most of the supply, but that could change if a project to extract some of them from phosphate proves successful. We speak with Dr. Patrick Zhang and Dr. James Mennie of Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The three-day weekend around Martin Luther King Jr Day includes parades and other events on both sides of the Bay. We speak with Howard Harris about the MLK parade and events in Tampa, and Anthony Hart about the MLK parade and weekend events in St. Petersburg. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The three-day weekend around Martin Luther King Jr Day includes parades and other events on both sides of the Bay. We speak with Howard Harris about the MLK parade and events in Tampa, and Anthony Hart about the MLK parade and weekend events in St. Petersburg. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The World's Biggest Bounce House, at more than 13,000 square feet, is appearing in Sarasota's Nathan Benderson Park Friday (14th) thru Sunday (16th) along with other inflatable buildings. We speak with Danielle Hodge, tour manager for The Big Bounce America. https://thebigbounceamerica.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Starting Monday, january 3rd, GoPasco bus service will change because the county can't recruit enough drivers. We speak to the county's transit director, Kurt Schieble, about the schedule changes and what they're doing to bring in new drivers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christmas is over but Valentine's Day is around the corner. The Pinellas Clerk of Courts office is signing up couples for their wedding and vow renewal ceremony. We speak with the head of the office, Clerk of Courts Ken Burke. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Americans agree that social media platforms are doing more harm than good to our politics, but they disagree on how to fix the problem. We speak with Dr Joshua Scacco, USF Communications Professor and lead student researcher Sam Rechek on a recent poll of one thousand social media users. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a slight decline in the number of people observing Christmas. Is that a function of increasing secularization or a short-term response to the pandemic? We speak with Dr. Marc Pugliese, associate professor of religion at St. Leo University, a Catholic institution based in the Tampa Bay area. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that prices in the Tampa Bay area rose See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police say a man threw a fellow sailboater off his Catalina into the Intrascoastal off Clearwater, then decided to take off without trying to rescue him. The victim's body was found off Sand Key the next day. That man is now charged with manslaughter. More from Clearwater police spokesman Rob Shaw. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A poll from Saint Leo University in the Tampa Bay area finds that 80 percent of us look forward to Christmas and the other year-end holidays but about two-thirds of us are glad when they're over. The reason: stress. We speak with St. Leo psychology professor Christopher Wolfe about dealing with Christmas stress. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This coming Sunday (12th), residents of two historic African-American neighborhoods in St. Petersburg are holding a reunion at the facility that replaced them -- Tropicana Field. We speak with Gwendolyn Reese of the African American Heritage Association of St. Petersburg on the event and about a recent report to city council on structural racism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Florida Polytechnic University has acquired a "drive by wire" car that becomes part of a system that could be used to test and vet the coming generation of fully autonomous, self-driving vehicles, particularly the software that runs them. We speak with asst professor of mathematics A.J. Alnaser, PhD. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The supply chain backlog is one of the big economic issues of 2021, and one big problem is a shortage of truck drivers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The St. Petersburg Biff-Burger is closed and its physical remnants are to be auctioned off "to the bare walls" Tuesday, December 7th. We speak with Greg Farner, owner of Bay Area Auction Services, about what's for sale, and we touch on the Biff-Burger's history as the last location in a formerly widespread burger chain that was born in the Tampa Bay area. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

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.