Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

Gordon Byrd speaks with Dr. Michael Hicks, Ph. D., head of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Their new Manufacturing Scorecard for 2019 gives Florida a D for overall manufacturing but an A for tax climate and improving grades in two other categories. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two students with a conservative group sued the University of Florida and won a settlement and changes, over a policy they say allowed student government to discriminate against conservative speakers paid for by mandatory student fees. Gordon Byrd speaks with Caleb Dalton, chief counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Clearwater Marine Aquarium CEO David Yates on two beached whales recovering at his facility in Tarpon Springs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Found money! The Hillsborough Court Clerk's Office is trying to get unclaimed cash to its rightful owners before the state grabs it all. Gordon Byrd speaks with clerk's office communications director Tom Scherberger. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robert Niles, founder and editor of Theme Park Insider, talks to Gordon Byrd about an unusually slow summer for the theme park industry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews David Jones, event director of CDC (Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa) on a recruiting Job Fair for the 2020 Census See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews Alisa Coe with Earthjustice, one of the groups suing the state to make it spend money on land conservation as required under Amendment One, passed by the voters in 2014. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews Professor Jeffrey Swartz, based at Western Michigan University - Cooley Law School's Tampa campus and a former Miami-Dade judge, about Labor Secretary Alex Acosta's defense of the plea deal he cut with Jeffrey Epstein over child sex trafficking charges when he was U.S. Attorney in Miami. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stephen Shiveley with the Tampa Bay National Weather Service Office in Ruskin talks about a low pressure area in the Gulf, expected to become a tropical depression. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission executive director Eric Sutton about a new coral conservation campaign... FLCoralCrew.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dennis Feltgen at the National Hurricane Center in Miami updates us on a low pressure area in Georgia that could become a tropical depression and dump a lot of rain along Florida's Gulf Coast later this week. (information current as of Monday 2 p.m. EDT) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Daniel Eberts of Oneblood, the local blood bank in most of Florida, about a blood drive in Tarpon Springs on the Fourth of July, to honor a fallen officer. Charlie Kondek was a blood donor and shared a birthday with America. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews Sharon Hunnewell-Johnson, president of Galaxy Fireworks, about how trade conflicts between the U.S. and China affect her industry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor speaks about her first appearance at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Boom By the Bay. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews Randa Richter of SPCA Florida. Their shelter in Lakeland is sending more than two dozen stray kittens to a shelter in new Hampshire because they don't have enough kittens to adopt. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

911 call made by a Mosaic supervisor after one of his employees discovered an alligator with its jaws clamped on a man's body in a canal near Fort Meade (east of Tampa). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interview with Phyllis Guthman, Arts4All and USF, about the Animation and music camp for autistic teenagers at USF (June 24-28). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews Tony Mann of Clearwater, who started giving blood in 1979 and has reached 100 gallons, saving hundreds of lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews Brian Gorski, executive director of CCA-Florida, about the conservation group's release of juvenile snook and other species to combat the devastation to the marine food chain from last year's red tide outbreak along Florida's Gulf Coast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Governor Ron DeSantis and Pinellas state senator Jeff Brandes speak at a signing for a bill encouraging self-driving cars. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Javi Correoso of Jump scooters, a unit of Uber, about safety issues involving rental e-scooters in Tampa See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Rick Homans, CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership, about the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization's hearing on whether to incorporate the F-DOT's plan for I-275 through downtown to Bearss Avenue in its long range transportation plan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Central Florida Congressman Ross Spano (representing Valrico, Plant City, Lakeland and parts of several counties) about the Dream and Promise Act and other immigration-related issues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd interviews Dr. Robert Bertini, director of the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida in Tampa, who will lead the National Institute for Congestion Reduction See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interview with Steven Rodriguez CEO of SANCA, which runs Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota County. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.