Florida Matters

A new financial disclosure law has resulted in some local government officials resigning. Senate Bill 774, ethics requirements for public officials, took effect Jan. 1. It requires elected officials in local municipalities to file much more detailed financial disclosures than before- on assets over $1,000. Cities like St. Pete Beach, Anna Maria island and tiny Eagle Lake in Polk County are among t...

An eviction on your record can make it tough to find a place to live. But fighting the eviction in court can be costly. And it doesn’t always help. Evictions in the greater Tampa Bay region surged last year compared to pre-2020 levels. That’s a trend felt nationwide, as emergency rental assistance put in place at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic dried up, and as federal protections that were put...

DeSantis launched the 60 day session with a speech that touched on issues like immigration, education, and law enforcement, and appeared pitched to primary state voters as much as Floridians. The speech sets the stage for a legislative session where lawmakers will tackle issues like health care, the environment, and education, even as DeSantis continues his presidential campaign, vying to be the R...

We've had some very interesting conversations on Florida Matters with newsmakers across the greater Tampa Bay region. Here's a sampling of some of our favorites, from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor talking about her priorities for a second term, to Tarpon Springs resident Chris Powell reflecting on environmental changes to his favorite island.

Florida Matters revisits some favorite episodes from 2023, including conversations about hurricanes and political storms, education, population growth and baseball.

State lawmakers start the legislative session soon. They will be working alongside Ron DeSantis, the governor and presidential candidate, crafting new laws on education, the environment, business and much more. On this episode we talk about how presidential politics might shape Florida’s legislative session. We discuss the governor’s budget request and examine bills on the environment, child labor...

A shooting in Ybor City the weekend before Halloween killed two people: 14-year-old Elijah Wilson and 20-year-old Harrison Boonstoppel, and injured 16 others. So far, two people, a 22-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy, have each been charged with second degree murder. Police say the investigation is ongoing. The charges against the 14-year-old highlight a grim fact in Florida: more kids are getti...

The mission of Florida Humanities is to help Floridians make sense of this complex, dynamic state by elevating stories about its culture, history and literature. A new book, "Once Upon a Time in Florida," celebrates the organization's golden anniversary. Florida Matters sat down with Dr. Nashid Madyun, executive director of Florida Humanities, and Jacki Levine, the editor of "Once Upon a Time in F...

The public’s trust in the news media is slipping. It’s not just a problem for newsrooms: researchers say trust is also dropping for science, higher education and government as well. According to a recent Gallup poll, a record 39% of Americans say they have no trust in the media at all. Declining trust in the media is an existential problem for newsrooms, as they try to figure out how to stay relev...

Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, is just days away. The National Retail Federation expects consumers to spend a record amount this holiday season: between 3% and 4% higher than last November and December, or up to $966 billion. Still, the Retail Federation notes holiday spending is not growing as fast as it did the past three years. Many residents in the greater...

It’s open enrollment for Medicare. For people who are eligible for the federal health insurance program, picking a plan and making sure it’s affordable can be a challenge, especially paying for medication when you’re on a fixed income. On this episode, we sit down with a volunteer who’s spent the last six years guiding people through the process of signing up for Medicare. And we explore how Medic...

Lawmakers are back in Tallahassee this week for a special session. Up for discussion among other bills are measures to provide relief for ranchers affected by Hurricane Idalia and help homeowners struggling with high insurance premiums. A precarious insurance market, combined with hurricanes, the looming threat of climate change and our booming population, is creating a perfect storm of challenges...

While a recent shooting in Ybor City may put the Tampa neighborhood in the spotlight, Ybor has a long and rich history and was instrumental in shaping the city of Tampa. The cigar industry was lured from revolutionary Cuba and became home to the city's economic and power base. In this episode of Florida Matters, we talk with Sarah McNamara, the author of a new book called "Ybor City, Crucible of t...

Halloween has become one of the biggest single-day holidays of the year. Amid other festive fall celebrations, Halloween is a chance to get spooky, scary, and maybe a little weird. Just as kids enjoy dressing up in costumes and going trick-or-treating, adults get into the spirit of Halloween too, trying to outdo their neighbors with over the top decorations and heading to haunted houses and other...

There’s an upheaval in public education in Florida - from books being challenged and removed from classrooms to restrictions on what can be taught and rules around bathroom use, and a massive expansion in school vouchers which families can use to pay for private education. The voucher expansion has been rocky - delays to the disbursement of voucher money have disrupted some students’ education, wh...

More than 600 thousand Hispanic-owned businesses contribute in excess of $90 billion to the state’s economy, according to the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. On this episode of Florida Matters, we explore what that means for the greater Tampa Bay region and the impact of Florida's new immigration laws on the business community.

The Florida Wildlife corridor allows animals freedom to roam between areas of protected conservation land. It’s also important for fishing, ranching, recreational activities - and the state’s drinking water. More than half of the Florida Wildlife Corridor's 18 million acres is protected conservation land. But that leaves a lot of land vulnerable to development. And that’s the focus of a documentar...

Florida Matters revisits parts of the greater Tampa Bay region that are still rebuilding one year after Hurricane Ian. WUSF journalists report on the lingering aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which made landfall on Sept. 28 last year, carving a destructive path through Southwest Florida and dumping flooding rain on a wide swath of the state. Stephanie Colombini talks with health care advocates in Sara...

As the Tampa Bay Rays finalize the deal on a new stadium and head to the MLB playoffs, and the Bucs start their season in winning form, could our region be 'Champa Bay' once more? The deal has been a long time in the making, and as owner Stu Sternberg noted, the road to remain in Tampa Bay has been bumpy. The Rays talked of building a stadium in Tampa. Then they wanted to play one-half of the seas...

When Hurricane Idalia slammed into the Big Bend last month, it brought with it record storm surge to a wide swath of the Gulf Coast. Pinellas County beaches — nearly 200 miles from where Hurricane Idalia made landfall — experienced some of the worst erosion seen by local residents and coastal researchers in decades. Some of the sand dunes were completely wiped out. The storm made an ongoing proble...

In the sixth part of our series, we’re talking about Florida's politics and diversity. Florida has long been seen as a ‘purple’ state- a place that can tip a presidential election for Democrats or Republicans. But Governor Ron DeSantis’s re-election in 2022 appeared to seal Florida’s identity as a red state. But with a diverse and growing population, our state’s politics are more nuanced than elec...

This Florida Matters series explores how the state's population boom and politics are affecting essential issues in our lives. We wanted to find out what the rapid pace of change looks like to you: our neighbors across the Tampa Bay region. We’re calling this series ‘Our Changing State’. In this episode, we’re talking about housing. Florida’s the fastest growing state in the U.S., according to the...

In the fourth part of our Changing State series, we’re talking about Florida's cultural history. The discussion includes how we see ourselves, and how the rest of the world sees us, and how that's changing.

In the third part of our series, we’re talking about transportation. You can see the signs of our growing population just by taking a drive anywhere in Florida. Whether it’s a commute that takes twice as long as it did a few years ago, the frustrating search for parking, or the chaos around road expansions, the simple fact is more people means more cars on the road.

Florida Matters is exploring how the state's population boom is affecting important issues in our lives. In the second part of our series "Our Changing State," we’re talking about the environment. Wildlands and wildlife are a big part of what Floridians love about the state. But all these people are squeezing in alongside the natural environment.