News Spotlight
WUSF 89.7 News
SARASOTA (2009-11-20) Sarasota's police chief was suspended and a police officer fired Friday, in the wake of an investigation of an arrest that was made in June.
TAMPA (2009-11-19) Hillsborough County Public Schools will receive a $100 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to overhaul teacher placements within schools. Co-founder Melinda Gates says the grant will create a system for identifying effective teachers and placing them in every classroom.
TAMPA (2009-11-19) Thursday was the Great American Smokeout, and a special kind of van is rolling through Florida with a message to keep kids off cigarettes. It stopped at the USF Medical Clinic, which marked the day by banning smoking on its part of the Tampa campus.
TAMPA (2009-11-18) Organizers of a drive to change the way Florida draws up its Congressional and legislative districts say they've got enough petitions to place it on next year's ballot. Now, they've got to convince the voters that it's worthwhile.
TAMPA (2009-11-18)Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai will be sworn in this week for another five year term. Meanwhile, Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple came across one of Karzsai's predecessors. The Tampa airman was out on a routine mission with his Afghan army counterpart when they came across the gravesite of a former president of Afghanistan.
CLEARWATER (2009-11-18)If you happened to see a fire engine parked outside a school Wednesday most likely the crew was not on an emergency call. It was the Great American Teach-In where professionals, craftsmen and business people tell kids about their jobs. At Belcher Elementary in Clearwater, there was a fire engine and a horse of a different color.
TAMPA (2009-11-17)Law enforcement officers, prosecutors and mental health experts are calling on Florida legislators to spend more money on drug treatment, re-entry programs and diversion strategies instead of expanding state prisons. That’s a bottom line message from a two day “Smart Justice Summit” in Tampa.
TAMPA (2009-11-12)The hand-selected board members who lead Florida’s university system, state colleges and public schools met together for the first time Thursday at Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter. Their goal is to create a unified system for students from pre-kindergarten through post graduate and to toughen standards.
LAND O'LAKES (11-11-09) The problem of homeless veterans isn't new. But the downturn in the economy has meant a lot more vets don't have a roof over their heads. A first-ever event held by a new homeless resource center in Pasco County is giving some homeless vets a helping hand.
TAMPA (2009-11-11) The troubles that can lead to homelessness such as mental health problems and job loss are not lost on Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki who said, “We know that veterans lead the nation in homelessness and depression and substance abuse and suicides.”
LAKELAND (2009-11-10) State Sen. Paula Dockery formally announced her candidacy for governor Tuesday night at a rally in her home town of Lakeland. She decried "business as usual" in the Republican Party.
TAMPA (2009-11-10) Near the site of Tampa’s first military post, Fort Brooke, a covenant was signed cementing the partnership between the City of Tampa and military leaders from the various commands at MacDill Air Force Base and the Coast Guard.
Local headlines
From Tampabay.com:
From TBO.com:
A warning to those who may want to release balloons outdoors: not only is it against the law, but it can harm wildlife.
An Ocala woman and her four children were killed when their home caught fire.
From HeraldTribune.com:
By Dale White
Cedar-Hammock firefighters are investigating an early morning structure fire.
At 2:47 a.m., 17 firefighters responded to a call about a fire in the rear of a vacant building at 5930 14th St. W., Bradenton. They brought the blaze under control in about 15 minutes.
No one was injured. Firefighters estimated the damage at $75,000.
City Manager Bob Bartolotta said Friday he will task Police Chief Peter Abbott with implementing a number of changes in the department in response to the Juan G. Perez case. Here is a look at those changes.
From TheLedger.com:
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON | Democrats have hit the magic number of 60 to move ahead on historic health care legislation.
Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln said on the Senate floor that she will vote with her party, hours before the 8 p.m. EST roll call.
She said it was important that the Senate begin debate on a critical issue.
THE LEDGER
FROSTPROOF | A 22-year-old Avon Park woman was killed Friday when a wild hog ran in front of her vehicle and she lost control and crashed, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.
WUSF Special Report
NPR Hourly News
Letter to the Editor
Let us know what you thinkWant to share your thoughts on a WUSF 89.7 News story? Send a letter to the editor
Morning Edition on WUSF
All Things Considered on WUSF
Latest NPR News
NPR World News
This week, the Senate faced a crucial vote on health care. The Obama administration fended off criticism over Sept. 11 trials in New York, and Hamid Karzai was sworn in for another term as president of Afghanistan. Host Scott Simon reviews the week in the news with NPR Senior News Analyst Dan Schorr.
Iranian media reported this week that five people arrested in the protests following Iran's presidential election have been sentenced to death. Tehran says the prisoners had connections to "counter-revolutionary groups," but activists say Iran is going too far in persecuting dissenters. Host Scott Simon talks to Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
While President Obama weighs his options on Afghanistan, one thing is clear: The U.S. is beefing up its civilian presence there. The aid effort has been hobbled from the start, and many experts consider it a weak link in the struggle to build a stable society in the conflicted country. Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew insists that the U.S. is now recruiting the right kind of people, but before those people head to Afghanistan, they get trained to work with the military at a base in Indiana.
BBC World News
The death toll from a mine blast in north-eastern China more than doubles to 87, with 21 people still missing, report state media.
The US Senate narrowly votes to hold a full debate on a landmark bill designed to overhaul the country's healthcare.
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has called for a crackdown on government corruption.
