Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

Gordon Byrd speaks with Larry Coggins, Tampa Bay regional director of MADD, about the group's 35th annual candlelight vigil in Temple Terrace and its advocacy for DUI victims and survivors, as it approaches its 40th birthday in 2020. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Frank Orlando, director of the St. Leo University Polling Institute in Pasco County, speaks about President Trump's job approval nationally in Florida, as well as the approval ratings of Congressional leaders, Florida's Governor and two U.S. Senators, and what Democrats think about the presidential candidates. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Eric Perez of Meggitt Training Systems about how simulators help police recruits and officers walk through situations involving deadly force... including ways to de-escalate a tense situation. Perez is speaking from the I/ITSEC conference in Orlando. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hillsborough County Commissioners will take up an expansion by a financial services company that could add up to 400 new jobs. Steve Morey of the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council talks about a decades-long push to bring jobs in the financial services sector to the region. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Ted Kresge, whose house has hosted a huge Christmas light display since 1977. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the second time this year, a HART transit bus driver has been stabbed on his run. This time, the driver survived. Gordon Byrd spoke with Amalgamated Transit Union International president John Costa about driver safety. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tampa is one of a few cities where Uber is trying a pilot program for passengers with pets. Gordon Byrd speaks with Javi Correoso about Uber Pet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two Florida panther kittens (or cubs) left motherless are being cared for at ZooTampa (Lowry Park). FWC says their mother was euthanized after showing symptoms of a possible neurological disorder affecting panthers and bobcats. We spoke with Dr. Ashley Ayoob of Naples, the vet who treated the kittens in a veterinary hospital soon after they were discovered. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Scott McCartney, Wall Street Journal writer and "Middle Seat" columnist, talks about their annual rankings of the nation's best and worst airports. Tampa ranks number 1 in the midsized category, edging out Portland, Oregon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Largo police lieutenant Scott Gore about a new 911 application that is made for the age of smartphones. It allows dispatchers to use the phone's camera to scan a crime scene. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Susan Bowles, a clinical nurse at an Orlando maternity hospital and Florida maternity chair for the March of Dimes, on a new report giving Florida a "C-" grade on premature births. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marc Lalonde, PhD, VP of research for Shriners Hospitals for Children, talks about how their new Genomic Institute based at the University of South Florida campus in Tampa will improve the treatments they provide to children in need of orthopedic and burn surgeries at no cost. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cherie Jacobs with TECO speaks about the Manatee Viewing Center at Big Bend Power Plant in Apollo Beach, which opens its season Friday (Nov. 1). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reaction from Michelle Herrole, a former student-athlete at UF who now runs the Vinik Sports and Entertainment Management Program at USF in Tampa, after the NCAA Board of Governors voted to begin the process of allowing college athletes to make money off their names, images and likenesses. (Herrolle is not acting as a spokesperson for the USF athletic program.) See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...

Lauren Gardner, Ph. D., administrator of the Autism Program at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, talks about a free training program for law enforcement to help them avoid arresting or Baker Acting autistic individuals for behavior related to autism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland is adding a 12-credit unit in the humanities because it says, employers are looking for communications skills from their tech-savvy workers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tedd Webb and Sue Treccase join Gordon Byrd to pay tribute to Mark Govan, longtime Florida Gardening host, who passed away this week at age 60. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Megan Licursi joins Gordon Byrd to talk about the Hillsborough County Fair, which runs for two weekends beginning Thursday, October 17th. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews Dr. Erin Kimmerle, who leads the state forensic anthropology institute at the University of South Florida. She's been brought in by a documentary producer to examine remains that could be those of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who disappeared on an around-the-world flight, flying over the Pacific in 1937. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Wallethub's Jill Gonzalez about a new survey that places several Florida cities among the nation's fastest growing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amanda Nalley with the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission talks about the state authorizing recreational red snapper fishing for three weekends in October. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews Tara Green, Clerk of Courts for Clay County in northeast Florida, about Operation Greenlight... a campaign by county clerks during mid-October to help people with suspended driver licenses save some money paying fines and getting legal again. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new way hackers are targeting your Android phone... pairs of innocent-looking apps that work together when you download them, to steal data, run up charges, or hijack your device. Gordon Byrd interviews Dr. Karim Elish of Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florida's third worst in the country for vaccinations but the reason why has more to do with health insurance than the anti-vaxxer movement. Gordon Byrd speaks with analyst Jill Gonzalez of Wallethub. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with WDAE's Steve Carney about Wednesday's American League Wild Card Game between the Rays and Oakland A's. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.