WUSF NewsRoom

SARASOTA (2009-11-20) Sarasota's police chief was suspended and a police officer fired today, in the wake of an investigation of an arrest that was made in June.

Getting Smokified

TAMPA (2009-11-20) 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 this morning at the USF Medical Clinic, which banned smoking on its campus.

Hillsborough Schools $100 Million Richer

TAMPA (2009-11-20) Hillsborough County Schools got word that it will receive a $100 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The money will be used for teacher training and retention.

Gerrymandering Targeted

TAMPA (2009-11-20) 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.

Homeless Veterans

LAND O'LAKES (2009-11-17) The problem of homeless veterans isn't new. But the downturn in the economy has mean a lot more vets don't have a roof over their heads. We'll now hear two stories about how some homeless vets are getting a helping hand.

Nelson on Health Care, Oil Drilling

TAMPA (2009-11-17) Even though House Democrats scored an historic victory by passing a comprehensive health care bill, Florida's senior Senator says it may not hold up in the Senate. Sen. Bill Nelson brought his campaign against oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to local business leaders.

Billboard Battle

TAMPA (2009-11-17) The Tampa City Council Voted to end a decade of legal battles with two prominent billboard companies. But some fear the move could open the way to high-tech billboards.

Mortgage Fraud Crackdown

TAMPA (2009-11-04) Thirty people in the Tampa area were charged Tuesday with mortgage fraud. It's part of a larger, federal investigation that included many of Florida's major cities like Orlando and Jacksonville. Mortgage brokers, realtors and even some bank officials were arrested and could end up behind bars for up to 30 years if convicted.

My Last Tour: Kabul Protest

TAMPA (2009-10-27) The streets of Kabul, Afghanistan were filled with angry demonstrators and Afghan National Police Sunday. Getting caught up in it all was Tampa airman Rex Temple whom WUSF has been following in our series My Last Tour. He spoke with WUSF just hours after the encounter.

Q&A On Draper Labs

TAMPA (2009-10-23) A ribbon cutting will be held today for two Draper Laboratories, in St. Petersburg and USF's main Tampa campus. WUSF's Steve Newborn talks about it with Len Pollizotto, who is responsible for strategic business development at Draper's headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

Tampa Under Water?

TAMPA (2009-10-23) By the end of the century, much of the Gulf coastline and parts of Tampa Bay will be under water. That's the prediction from a group of scientists visiting the region.

My Last Tour: A Brother Ambushed

TAMPA (2009-10-22) An Afghan soldier is killed in an ambush. The brother of that soldier suspects something sinister. That brother - also an Afghan soldier - is being mentored by Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple. The Tampa airman talks about the personal connection with his Afghan counterpart in this week's installment of WUSF's series "My Last Tour."

FL Authors: Dudley Clendinen

TAMPA (2009-10-21) We conclude our Florida Authors series with a peek inside the retirement community at Canterbury Tower. Tampa native and former New York Times journalist Dudley Clendinen, lived there for six years while caring for his ailing mother. He chronicled the lives, laughter and tears of the residents in the book "A Place Called Canterbury."

FL Authors: Jeff Klinkenberg

ST. PETERSBURG (2009-10-20) Our Florida authors' series continues with a visit to a Tocobaga Indian mound on Boca Ciega Bay. That's the site selected by St. Petersburg Times reporter Jeff Klinkenberg to talk about his book "Pilgrim in the Land of Alligators."

Two Credit Companies Sued

TAMPA (2009-10-19) Attorney General Bill McCollum traveled to Tampa Monday to announce lawsuits are being filed against two consumer credit counseling firms.

Florida Authors: Sylvia Earle

TAMPA (2009-10-19) WUSF's series featuring Florida authors begins with noted oceanographer, Sylvia Earle. She can also claim the title of National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence which she earned diving the world's oceans over the last 50 years. Earle talks about her recent book, "The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Oceans' Are One."

My Last Tour: Dandelion Wine

TAMPA (2009-10-15) The flu didn't keep Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple from his daily missions in Afghanistan. Yet, it did leave him yearning for some of his father's dandelion wine. The Tampa airman talks about the past week as anxiety builds waiting for the Afghan election results.

Keeping Florida Forever

TAMPA (2009-10-14) For nearly two decades, hundreds of millions of dollars in money from real estate deals helped pay to preserve Florida's wild and scenic lands. Lawmakers cut off that funding this year, but some people want that money restored.

Fleeing From The Storm

WESLEY CHAPEL (2009-10-13) What do Floridians plan to do if a hurricane bears down on their home? It's a question many don't seem to have the answer for, as a group of USF researchers found out.

Flap Ends Over Tent City

TAMPA (2009-10-13) A proposed tent city in Tampa that would have mirrored one in St. Petersburg was narrowly rejected by Hillsborough County Commissioners.