WMNF News and Public Affairs

Two Hillsborough Republicans aren't concerned about Florida's voter purge

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Governor Rick Scott instructed his appointed Secretary of State to remove people who may not be U.S. citizens from the voter rolls despite criticism that it unfairly targets Democrats and minorities. Two Republican state lawmakers supported that effort at a Brandon Chamber of Commerce luncheon Wednesday. Several people on the list of more than 2500 the state is claiming are ineligible to vote have already proved the claim was wrong. Outgoing Republican State Representative [Rich Glorioso](http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4343) doesn’t see a problem with that. >“If we have one person on the voter rolls that’s ineligible to vote and they vote, they disenfranchise all, every voter out there and the disenfranchise the integrity of the system.” And Glorioso said people can challenge claims that they are not legal citizens either of Florida or the U.S. >“I know that they’ve had some problems with the illegals that they identified and their trying to clean that up. But the system is pretty clean because if I get a letter that says we’ve got indication that you’re not legally a citizen to be able to vote, then I’ve got 30 days to go back to the supervisor of elections office and say here’s my passport, here’s my birth certificate, obviously it’s a mistake.” A [Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles](http://www.flhsmv.gov/) database is being used to identify who is and is not a U.S. citizen. Opponents argue that the system isn’t up to date and many people could have since become naturalized citizens. But Glorioso contends that some of those individuals could have brought the problem on themselves. >“They said are you a citizen, would you like to register to vote and they did. And then when they got called out for jury duty from that roll they said I’m not a citizen, I can’t be on a jury. That’s how they identified a lot of these people.” And Florida Senator [Ronda Storms](http://www.flsenate.gov/senators/s10), also a Republican, denies allegations from opponents that the measure is an election year attempt to eliminate Democratic and Independent voters. >“If they’re voting fraudulently, I don’t know that that’s staked out by a party or by an independent. So, it shouldn’t intimidate anybody. If you know you’re legally entitled to vote all you have to do is produce the documents that show you’re legally entitled to vote.” Among the many arguments that removing people from the voter rolls without sound reason to do so disenfranchises voters is that Republicans aren’t also addressing possible absentee voter fraud. In that case voters send their ballots in by mail with no way to verify who actually cast the ballot. But Storms said those ballots are carefully reviewed and then reviewed even further if someone suspects fraud. >“I saw the challenges to each individual absentee. That was done. And incidentally – or maybe not incidentally - challengers were primarily the democrats that were challenging military votes.” Outrage over the push to disqualify so many voters is made worse by last year’s changes to [Florida’s voting laws](http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories/us-senate-field-hearing-in-tampa-exposes-flaws-in-floridas-new-voting-law). Under its provisions early voting days were reduced, some voters who have moved may only be able to cast provisional ballots and groups who register voters have tougher regulations and penalties. Opponents argue all those things negatively impact Democrats more than Republicans. Storms said that it is not asking too much for voters to provide proof that they live in a certain area or other qualifying criteria. >“That has happened to me. They changed my voting location multiple times and I’ve had to prove – 24 years ago when we moved we had to produce our address and show that we are where we’re supposed to be.” Storms is vacating her seat in the Senate to run for the $155,000 per year [Hillsborough County property appraiser](http://www.hcpafl.org/) job after hearing about incumbent property appraiser [Rob Turner](http://www.hcpafl.org/about/meet.aspx)’s alleged sexual harassment. Turner admitted to sharing pornographic pictures with the human resources director in his office. Storms said she would not have made the decision if that hadn’t happened – or if Turner had resigned. But she was already unhappy with the way Turner handled disputes from homeowners over the assessed value of their homes. >“Her original appraisal was appraised inappropriately not by this property appraiser. So, it would have been low hanging fruit for this property appraiser to say, ‘you know what, you’re absolutely right’. In the early stages, Ms. Cookie won her position and won her appeals. But this property appraiser kept pounding on her instead of giving her the adjustment she was legally entitled to. He appealed every single technicality, every technicality and has ground this little five foot woman – it’s been very frustrating to me.” But the sexual harassment scandal put a bad taste in her mouth that she just couldn’t ignore. >“Meanwhile you’re behaving like this with your human resources director. But here’s this poor little taxpayer where there’s no reason why you would take this hard position with her.” Turner claims the interaction with his staff member never occurred during work hours. But Storms said that’s a weak defense. >“Whether or not you did it in the off hours. Ask any working woman, does it matter to you if your boss is texting you on his personal phone after hours asking – sending pictures of his body parts and asking for pictures of your breasts? Does it matter to you that it’s happening after hours? Does that give you some sort of shelter? No. There’s not a woman – 99% of the women that are sane working women would say that that’s ok because he did it after hours on his own time.” Republican State Representative [Rachel Burgin](http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4451&SessionId=61) has announced she will run for Storms’ seat in the Senate. Rich Glorioso, who is being termed out of his seat in the House, had previously announced a bid for Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections. But with Storms’ vacant Senate seat in his district, Wednesday Glorioso said he is considering running for that instead. He expects to make that announcement Thursday.

Tavern owner says stricter club rules didn't work in New Orleans, won't work in Tampa

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Tampa City Council is [proposing new rules](http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories/10611) for local bars and nightclubs. Among the changes would be excluding 18- to 20-year-olds from Tampa clubs and requiring bars to hire extra duty law enforcement officers based upon venue occupancy. Joining us to talk about these proposed rules is someone who experienced similar regulations when he owned night clubs in New Orleans. Lux Devoid owns the Mermaid Tavern in Seminole Heights. He attended the city council meeting last Thursday. He says the rules in New Orleans contributed to police corruption, had no effect on violence and eventually were overturned.

Tampa proposal to prohibit 18-20 year olds from Ybor clubs

DEP Staffer Suspended Over Defending Wetlands; New Group In Florida Stands Up For Ethics and Against Corruption

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Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up today we’ll hear about the case of a state environmental worker- who was suspended for trying to protect wetlands… and we’ll talk about ethics in Florida government. The state recently received a low grade on a corruption risk scorecard…. But first four listener comments. One about our program last Friday on which we talked about the purge of Florida voter rolls. And two comments about yesterday’s interview with three Vietnam Veterans—all of whom are members of the group Florida Veterans for Common Sense…plus a comment about the anti-war veterans on yesterday's Democracy Now Here’s what four listeners had to say…. Tape Florida's top state wetlands expert has been suspended after she refused to issue a permit on a controversial project — one that she said her boss was willing to bend the rules to approve. Our next guest- Craig Pittman from the St. Tampa Bay Times broke the story. He joins us now…. [story here](http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wetlands/wetlands-expert-suspended-by-dep-after-she-refuses-to-approve-permit/1232352#) In Florida’s House of Representatives there is a ban on members voting on issues that will benefit her/him financially. But, there's no such ban for Florida's state senators. State Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, introduced Senate Bill 552 this year, which would prevent senators from proposing, participating in or voting on bills that would provide special, private benefits for themselves, their families or their employers. But, the bill did not pass during the legislative session. Another Senate ethics bill died in committee. Under Senate Bill 1560 sponsored by John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, future lawmakers would have been banned from holding jobs or contracting with state colleges and universities. We’re joined now by Dan Krassner of [Integrity Florida](http://www.integrityfl.org/) – a non-partisan group which has been looking into corruption and ethics problems here in Florida.

St. Pete's going green with solar water heaters

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St. Petersburg officials are celebrating the completion of a federally funded energy efficiency program. A new solar water heater on the roof of the city’s Coliseum and twenty others will save the city more than $22,000 a year. But U.S. Representative Kathy Castor said saving money isn’t the program’s only benefit. >“Created jobs by putting solar panels on the Coliseum and many city of St. Petersburg facilities like City Hall. It updated the air conditioning systems at community centers and public parks. It’s a very wise investment because it saves taxpayers money at the same time put people to work like contractors at a time when the unemployment rate was high. So, it’s a real win-win for the community.” [The Coliseum](http://www.stpete.org/coliseum/) is one of 21 city facilities to receive the new solar water heaters. It’s part of a larger project to install efficient lighting, heating systems and vehicle fleets. The nearly two and a half million dollar project began in 2010 and is funded through the [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act](http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/default.aspx). St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster said the initiative will provide long term sustainability and savings. >“We’re looking at spending capital dollars and making investments that will help us reduce our general operating requirements.” And because of the federal stimulus funds, Foster said the city doesn’t even have to foot the bill for the improvements. >“This is real money. The energy savings that will be derived from these energy efficient projects will absolutely pay for the projects themselves which we used DOE dollars to do.” City planners hired locally-owned small businesses to work on the various projects. Places like [Gladden Park](http://www.stpeteparksrec.org/gladden-park.html) in North St. Pete and [Lake Vista Recreation Center](http://www.stpeteparksrec.org/lake-vista-park.html) in South St. Pete are now using energy efficient air conditioning systems. Foster said St. Pete is a perfect place to start upgrading. >“Which help stimulate job creation and the use of some very needed grant monies to provide energy efficiencies through many of our aged city buildings that we have in the city of St. Petersburg.” And the [Green City](http://www.stpete.org/green/) initiative in St. Petersburg is drawing national attention. [Michael Connors](http://www.stpete.org/management_team/michael_j_connors.asp), St. Pete’s public works administrator said Vice President [Joe Biden](http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/vice-president-biden) reached out to mayors in cities where energy funding was appropriated. >“The Vice President, in a very calm and assuring manor, considered our program as a poster child that he felt comfortable in talking to others throughout the country. The program also targeted some local non-profits. The Community Action Stops Abuse program, or [CASA](http://www.casa-stpete.org/), received an energy audit from Progress Energy Florida that resulted in cost savings for the group and some of the individuals they help. >“The CASA two client apartment buildings and the retail building by installing 15 energy efficient heat pumps at these buildings, they will not only lower their electric costs, the residents will be more comfortable and they are eligible for a $3500 rebate.” A representative from CASA was able to leave the event with that check today. The completion of the solar water heater at the Coliseum marked the end of the two-year initiative, but there’s still more work to do. City officials are working on sealing a deal with a German Consortium to build a solar plant in St. Petersburg. If it happens, the factory would create 350 jobs. But that group wants to make sure there’s a market for it. Member of Congress [Kathy Castor](http://castor.house.gov/) said this project is a good start. >“The city here, and the entire community is committed to clean energy solutions so the St. Petersburg Chamber and others have been reaching out to this consortium to bring solar farm to the city of St. Petersburg and I think that’s positive. This is the Sunshine State and we should be doing everything we can to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and get good clean energy from the sun that’s free.” And whether or not St. Pete is successful in that measure, Castor said the city – and others across the nation – need to keep it going. >“We’ve got to continue to invest in clean energy solutions; solar, wave action, wind. These are important investments that really should be on par with any kind of taxpayer subsidies for oil and gas.” In all, 25 local businesses benefited from the 2-year project. It also included upgrading to more efficient lighting at two downtown parking garages. Funding was also given to local charities like Goodwill and the [St. Petersburg Free Clinic](http://www.stpetersburgfreeclinic.org/) to improve energy efficiency on their own.

Vietnam Veterans, Founders of Florida Veterans for Common Sense Discuss Their Experience, Just Wars and Improving the Lives of Veterans

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Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed annually in the United States on the last Monday of May remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It started as Decoration Day, during the Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. One of the early celebrations of Decoration Day came in 1865 when African Americans who had just been liberated from slavery marched in Charleston South Carolina to honor Union soldiers who had died at a nearby Prisoner of War camp… Here’ to mark Memorial Day today are three Vietnam War veterans—Gene Jones, president of Florida Veterans for Common Sense, Michael Burns, the vice president of Florida Vetrans for Common Sense, and Dennis Plews who is a founding member of FLVCS and the husband of Eve Prang Plews who hosts a program here on WMNF every other Monday.

Urban farming

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We missed a chance to interview Will Allen on the Sustainable Living Program last month so we started today’s program with a short clip from the Growing Power website [www.growingpower.org](http://www.growingpower.org). The former Basketball player started Growing Power, a national urban farming network, in Milwaukee years ago and now it has expanded across the USA to provide food for inner-city neighborhoods. It seems someone in the Tampa Bay area needs to duplicate what Will has started. The rest of the program we spent with a young North Tampa gardener that recently hosted an International Permaculture Day event at her urban garden. Brittany Aukett answered a variety of questions on urban gardening; focusing on making compost versus buying soil amendments, planting extra for the pests, and even gave a possible solution for those darn squirrels. She keeps up with her Organic Gardening Adventures Blog [http://organic-gardening-adventures.blogspot.com](http://organic-gardening-adventures.blogspot.com) and is willing to answers your question there. Debbie Butts also joined the program to help answer questions on local farming issues such as where to sell and buy locally grown veggies, etc.

Voting Rights Groups Challenge Purge of Florida Voting Rolls

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Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up today- some voting rights groups are challenging the purge of alleged non-citizens from Florida's voting rolls. We'll talk about that in a moment. First one listener comment about yesterday's discussion about the increased militarization leading up to the GOP Convention in Tampa. tape Yesterday civil and voting rights organizations Project Vote, Fair Elections Legal Network, Advancement Project, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, LULAC Florida, and the Hillsborough Hispanic Coalition, Inc. sent a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner telling him that Florida’s plan to identify and remove alleged non-citizens from the voter rolls violates federal law and must cease immediately. In a press release the group said: "Earlier this month, the Florida Division of Elections sent county supervisors of elections a list of nearly 2,700 voters that they flagged as possible non-citizens by comparing voter lists with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) database and jury recusal forms. These “matches” are scheduled to be removed from the rolls if they do not respond to notification within 30 days. Database matching programs are notoriously unreliable. Data entry errors, similar-sounding names, and changing information can all produce false matches. Additionally, some voters slated for removal may well have been naturalized since completing the DHSMV or juror forms. Further, it places the burden of proof on the voter, who must respond within 30 days to a notice letter that could easily be lost, misplaced, or inadvertently ignored." We're joined now by Robert Brandon who is President of the [Fair Elections Legal Network](http://www.fairelectionsnetwork.com) one of the groups criticizing

UNESCO water conference at USF emphasizes sustainability

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A group of researchers is coming up with ways to make sure that people in the Tampa Bay area and throughout the world continue to have enough usable water. During an international research institute conference at USF this week, water experts mulled ways to keep water from becoming a scarce commodity. Tampa Bay Water’s water quality assurance officer Christine Owen said the region’s water deficit until 2009 was more than 70 million gallons. Now they are implementing ways of getting more water from more places. >“We’ve developed alternative supplies – is a step in that process.” Those alternatives include a desalination plant to tap into the salt water that surrounds Pinellas County and state of the art surface water treatment facility. The director of the [School of Global Sustainability](http://psgs.usf.edu/) at USF, Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy said an ideal water system would only treat water to the level consistent with its use. >“The unit, not only from a public health perspective, like this water comes in and I have to treat it to this one grade and it’s only the water and the think retroactively, what else can I do with it? It’s actually saying, what if I wanted to design it to maximize my energy potential? What if I designed it from scratch so I can recover nutrients and then also produce water of these different grades.” The problem is implementing those ideas in areas that already have well-functioning systems who don’t want to fix what isn’t broken. >“And the energy involved in that movement of water probably makes it not very cost effective. It probably appears on paper that it’s more effective to just extract more water. And so that sort of fact that we have these linear systems where everything is far away from where you need to use them makes it not as interesting.” And that’s exactly the reason [Tampa Bay Water](http://www.tampabaywater.org/) hasn’t implemented some more sustainable programs. Owen, their water quality assurance officer said there would have to be a massive influx of infrastructure. >“That’s a lot of piping and a lot of engineering that has to be done to change that.” Water experts from around the world are at USF Tampa and St. Pete this week for the 2012 [UNESCO IHE](http://www.unesco-ihe.org/About/Introduction-to-UNESCO-IHE) conference. The group functions as a leading water education facility and works worldwide to tackle issues like sea level rise and water sustainability. [Vairavamoorthy](http://ce.eng.usf.edu/facultyAndStaff/kalanithyVairavamoorthy.htm), who also works with UNESCO IHE, said water agencies in urban areas tend to just find other ways to cope with growing consumption. >“And so what we tend to do is retrofit. We try and do something small here and something small there. And we do get some returns, but the returns aren’t as dramatic as they would be if you had designed the system from scratch.” Owen said that the path to sustainability is a long one. She said it takes time, planning and money. Their first step was in reducing groundwater use. But the agency does consider ways to improve efficiency like encouraging the use of reclaimed water. >“We’re statutorily – we’re prohibited from touching reclaimed water. That’s the purview of the government, but we’re very supportive of development of reclaimed water projects because of the offset to the potable supply.” But building a sustainable system from the ground up isn’t as much of a challenge in developing areas. Vairavamoorthy is working with some emerging urban centers in Africa. >“They don’t have mature infrastructure. They don’t have mature institutions that you really have the opportunity to make a huge step change you know, this sort of notion of a leap frog, the ability to leap frog. Africa also has some very good institutions – water utilities that are quite progressive and good academic institutions. So, the enabling environment – A. to develop some of these innovations is there because you have the good knowledge creators. The opportunities in these emerging towns is also there.” The ideas used to build new water infrastructure in developing cities is [being studied](http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories/10059) by USF. A group of researchers including James Buckingham is using the USF campus as a sort of mini-city. They are compiling data on energy and water consumption and traffic flow to determine how to best plan utility use. >“We have goals in mind in terms of using solar energy up to 35% of campuses energy. Or we have goals in mind of using rain water harvesting for the full irrigation system on campus.” Individuals can do their part without shelling out a fortune by conserving water. Restrictions are currently in place throughout the region that includes set hours when people can water plants and wash cars. Those regulations will likely be lifted as the rainy season gets underway, but continuing them voluntarily could help fill the region’s reservoir.

Hillsborough's ambitious homeless plan aims to help 500 people in 5 years

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Earlier this month Hillsborough County Commissioners threw their support and a tidy sum of cash behind a new project aimed at tackling the county’s homeless problem. It’s based on a model known as [“housing first”](http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1425) and is being championed by [Commissioner Sandra Murman](http://www.sandymurman.com/) and the task force she was charged with creating. For the past year Commissioner Murman has been working with a coalition of people from both the public and private sector including Tampa Bay Lightning CEO Tod Leiweke, M.E. Wilson Company President Guy King and the non-profit [Mental Health Care, Inc.](http://www.mhcinc.org/) on a model that has seen great success in cities across the country. Murman says the system Hillsborough County is currently using to deal with homelessness is simply not working. >“There’s a real paradigm shift going on, getting away from using big emergency congregate shelters just to get people off the street. The system has turned out to be more of a band-aid with this huge revolving door, and modeling our entire system of care on this just wasn’t going to have any meaningful impact. What our group wanted to do was really solve the problem and not just manage it.” The “housing first” strategy is based on exactly what it says; getting the chronically homeless - defined by HUD as “disabled individuals who’ve been continuously homeless for over one year” - off the streets and into housing before addressing other issues like substance abuse and mental illness. Hillsborough County Commissioners recently awarded the task force $2.1 million dollars in federal block grants which will be used in the pilot phase of the project. The funds will go towards the purchase and rehab of a privately-owned apartment building near the University of South Florida. The building sits in a neighborhood categorized as “blighted”, which is one of the criteria dictated by the Community Development Block Grants. It will become permanent housing for 24 homeless individuals by this fall if all goes according to schedule. Murman says the long range goal of the project is to help 500 of the county’s most hard-core homeless get back on their feet within 5 years. >“That is our goal right now, to provide them work, supportive services, whatever they need to stabilize themselves. Most of them are mentally ill, of course, or have substance abuse issues and those issues take a long period of time to stabilize and that’s why the case management part of this is so important.” And that’s where Mental Health Care Inc. comes in. Jenine LaCoe is Director of Outpatient Services and has been working with the homeless for more than 17 years. Research shows that the chronically homeless tend to suffer from a host of medical conditions; have usually experienced some kind of trauma and have a tendency to pass away up to twenty years before the rest of the population. And LaCoe says there is no quick fix. Research has shown that treatment can often take 3 to 5 years, making them, she says, the most vulnerable group of homeless. >“When you look at folks who are living and sleeping on the street in a very unsafe environment their main concerns are basic instincts like a bathroom, where they’re going to get food, which might be a 5 mile walk; if their belongings will be safe if they left them to go get food at a feeding site. And so I think there’s a lot of stress and safety issues to that particular group on the street. You don’t necessarily trust the system and it takes a little bit to engage people into wanting treatment.” She says 24 may seem like an insignificant number given that approximately 700 of the county’s [estimated 17,000 homeless]( http://www.homelessofhc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34&Itemid=40) are considered “chronic”, but LaCoe says they’re starting small because they want to get it right. And the cost effectiveness of getting 24 chronically homeless individuals off the street, she says, is pretty dramatic. >“When we look at what Phillip Mangano from when he was housing czar under the Bush administration or the HUD secretary, your average person on the street can cost up to $40,000; with a mental illness closer to $100,000 just living on the street; but if I house them that costs cuts down to about $35,000 to as low as $15,000. So when you look at a small start-off pilot to make sure we’re doing it right, it may be only 24 people but it could add up to a way we know will work, that we can continue to repeat in our community and be very proud of it.” The private aspect of the partnership will involve an ambitious capital campaign to raise additional funding that will enable the homeless housing initiative to expand – an area Tampa Bay Lightning CEO Tod Leiweke knows something about. As CEO of the Seattle Seahawks Leiweke led a United Way campaign back in 2008, that raised more than $100 million to help fight family homelessness.

Bullying; it's more than just your lunch money

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On today's Last Call we talked about bullying. A disturbing story in the local press this week highlighted the plight of 17 year old [Zach Gray](http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2012/may/22/12/bullying-ended-in-suicide-try-for-pasco-teen-ar-406646/). He attempted to hang himself with a chain last year because, his parents say, he was tormented by bullies every day at Zephyrhills high school. Brain-damaged and unable to speak, Gray now requires around the clock care. The subject of bullying has also come up during the presidential campaign thanks to an an article in the [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-prep-school-classmates-recall-pranks-but-also-troubling-incidents/2012/05/10/gIQA3WOKFU_story.html), detailing a 1965 incident involving GOP candidate Mitt Romney when he was a senior at an elite, all-boys prep school. Romney claims he really can't recall hacking off a classmate's hair while others held the boy down. But an [interview aired on WBZ radio](http://onpointpolitics.com/2012/05/interview-of-romney-friend-says-bullying-was-very-disturbing-turned-into-an-assault-audio/) in Boston with one of the other students involved, shows a much darker side to what Romney laughed off as a high school prank.

Anyone can be targeted because of Yemen; Olives

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True Talk spoke to IBRAHAM QATABI who is a Yemeni-American human rights activist and a legal worker with Center for Constitutional Rights specializing in Yemen. He spoke about President Obama’s executive order giving the Treasury Department authority to freeze the U.S.-based assets of anyone who ‘obstructs’ implementation of the administration-backed political transition in Yemen. Qatabi insisted that The USG isn’t naming groups or people who it’s illegal to work with, so any sensible person would be very cautious about working with anyone they aren’t 100 percent sure the USG approves of. In fact, the USG’s officials have flat out told the press that the sanctions are a ‘deterrent’ to ‘make clear to those who are even thinking of spoiling the transition’ to think again — in other words, think again before you work with any democracy activists who we think are ‘spoiling the transition’ to the U.S. government’s favored candidate for leadership. It reminds me of something the government said in the 9th Circuit in HLP v. Holder — that the aim of these broadly-worded sanctions regimes, capable of criminalizing speech, is to make groups the U.S. government disfavors so ‘radioactive’ that American citizens won’t even want to go near them. That’s not democracy – either here or in Yemen.” True Talk then spoke to Alexander Mcnabb author of the novel [Olives: A violent Romance](http://fakeplasticsouks.blogspot.com/p/olives.html). It talks about the Palestinian Israeli conflict through the eyes of a British who just moved to Amman Jordan. The book met some criticism because of the last name of the Palestinian heroin. Alexander talked to us very candidly about his reasoning and why he wrote the book! The novel is intriguing and I enjoyed reading it and I think you all should.

Tampa considers whether to ban people under 21 from Ybor City clubs, gets resistance from clubs and patrons

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Tampa is considering excluding 18 to 20 year-olds from clubs in Ybor City. But at a City Council workshop today, owners and employees of those establishments warned that move would hurt or kill their businesses. More than a dozen members of the public spoke out against the proposal, including Czar bartender Jennifer Harvey. She says the city doesn’t need to worry about people over 21 buying drinks for underage patrons. Sandra Hein runs the club [Czar]( http://www.czarnation.com/#home). She said a proposal to require clubs to hire extra duty law enforcement officers based upon venue occupancy would put them out of business. No decision was made Thursday, but Council member Harry Cohen said the City Council would consider the matter in the future. The issue is so contentious that a Facebook group was created yesterday and already has nearly 4,000 members. It’s called [Tampa City Council Nightclub Regulation Watch](https://www.facebook.com/groups/176173342512485/). Tampa proposal to prohibit 18-20 year olds from Ybor clubs

In Tampa parents and some teachers tell Florida's education commissioner they want FCAT to go

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Outraged parents and teachers are telling Florida’s top education officials the state’s high stake tests are flawed. They told Florida’s Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson in Tampa last night, the FCAT is a waste of time and needs to go. >“This is not what we do in real life. Nobody says, ‘here’s your prompt, you have 45 minutes, put it out there. In 45 minutes. And elaborate.” Plant City 4th grade teacher Faye Cook said the state’s standardized testing system doesn’t reflect real life situations. >“And you better have really specific details and they better be well elaborated and it better be spelled correctly and punctuated and every capital letter correct and, oh yeah, put those commas in a series of three. But it’s only a draft.’ But the problem is, nobody writes that way in the real world. In the real world we use a dictionary, we use a spell check, we ask the person next to us – I’m having trouble with this word, could you help me out with it?” She wants certain students – like those with learning disabilities – to be able to access things like dictionaries to double check their work. And she argued that tests like the FCAT are forcing teachers into a situation where they only teach what will be on the test. That leaves out things like history, art and music. [Education Commissioner Robinson](http://www.fldoe.org/commissioner/) contended that may not be as big of a problem as people are making it out to be. >“Before the invention of FCAT, people didn’t like teaching to whatever other assessment we had. People just simply don’t like tests. Not all, but some. That’s number one. Number two, I’ve run into a lot of teachers throughout the state who are getting great results with some of our more disadvantaged students who are not teaching to the test. So, there are teachers who aren’t teaching who are getting results. I also realize there are teachers who said, ‘Guess what? My job is on the line, I’ve got to teach for the test.’” State officials made the [FCAT](http://fcat.fldoe.org/fcat/) grading rubric a lot tougher this year. Because of that, only 27% of fourth graders passed their writing assessment. So now the state is lowering passing scores on a six point scale from four to three in order to bring that percentage back up to where it was last year. Maureen Peterkin is a parent looking for answers. Why did the FCAT standards change? And if it was so important to make passing harder, why the complete flip-flop? >“Well, the question is, what was the format of the test that they thought our children would achieve and they didn’t to the point that they have to lower the standards again? So, it’s still concerning. Are we meeting the goals or are we making our students look like their meeting the goals?” Robinson said the reason the state raised FCAT standards was so that Florida students can compete in a global economy. But he said the unexpected drop in passing grades can be a learning experience. >“While there was a problem with the process, the product that we received is still in place. Valid scores, something that students can use next year as a template to better help them with what we’re going to do next year.” With so many young students being told they failed, one advocate asked how to restore children’s confidence levels. State Board of Education Chair [Kathleen Shanahan](http://www.fldoe.org/board/bios/Shanahan.asp) said parents and teachers need to explain that the higher stakes don’t mean the student suddenly forgot how to write. >“So, people really need to understand what happened. It wasn’t about the kids being dumber. It’s about the standards being raised. It’s about kids being taught something that they need to use in the business world.” But even though officials have said they are committed to ensuring students are receiving quality [education](http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories?tag=public+education), some parents aren’t convinced. Sarah Robinson is the mother of a middle school student. With a pin on her shirt that read “Spay the FCAT” she reeled off a typed out speech about why she thinks the test is a waste of time. >“My own daughter, almost a month out of the school year she’s taking tests. And so many things are being pushed aside because of it.” Robinson said her daughter has missed school events because of FCAT preparation and other required assessments. She’s been opposed to the state’s standardized testing methods for more than a decade. When this year’s scores were reported, it reinvigorated her push to oppose process. >“Their own test results, in my opinion, prove that their whole testing agenda hasn’t worked.” Robinson’s nearly five minute harangue prompted a booming round of applause from other parents. But State Board of Education Chair Shanahan fired back arguing that FCAT is a necessary measure of student success. >“12 years ago when I came to the state of Florida, Florida was ranked 48th out of 50 states in terms of what their children were learning. 48 out of 50 12 years ago. We’re now 5th. I don’t make this up. This is all done by national standards I’m not going to get into. Graduation rate ten years ago was ten percent lower than it is today. Are we happy that it’s only 80% of our kids graduating from high school? No. Is that an improvement over the last ten years? Yes. Those are the measurements that people need to know. Data reflects the facts.” The bottom line, Robinson said, is even though the drastic drop in passing rates on the writing assessment wasn’t anticipated, >“We identified that there would be a drop in both the reading and mathematics because the standards were raised.” Board of Education chair Shanahan urged FCAT critics to keep in mind that increasing rigor is what is needed prepare students for real life situations. >“53% of Florida businesses are saying that the top three skills that students do not have – so we don’t have a jobs crisis, when you read in the paper there’s no jobs for graduating seniors, there’s not the right skill sets for the jobs that are available.” The FCAT is administered to kids from third grade through high school. The writing assessment is done in 4th, 8th and 10th grades. Robinson will be in Boca Raton Friday and Jacksonville on Monday to answer parents’ questions.

A Preview of What's to Come During the Republican National Convention in August?

WMNF

Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up today another in our series of interviews about what to expect during the upcoming Republican National Convention in Tampa. We’ll speak with an activist with US Uncut. But first two listener comments about yesterday’s program Part of the conversation yesterday was about what to do when you are engaged in a lawful activity and a police officer demands some sort of ID. Here’s what two listeners had to say. Tape This past weekend there were large scale protests in Chicago against the NATO Summit meeting. Dozens of activists were arrested. What happened in Chicago gives us some insight into what might happen in Tampa when the Republican National Convention comes to town in a little over three months. Our guest is Carl Gibson who has written several provocative articles about the protests in Chicago: [Here](http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/441-occupy/11562-cut-it-out-an-open-letter-to-black-bloc-anarchists) and [Here](http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/11546-this-is-what-tyranny-looks-like)

Whistleblower Marsha Coleman Adebayo

WMNF

Dr Marsha Coleman Adebayo got her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became part of the staff at the EPA working on environmental and minority rights. She was chosen to be a part of the Liaison team from the United States to help South Africa transition to democracy.particularly regarding environmental and civil rights matters. While in South Africa she became aware of the severe health effects of Vanadium mining to the South Africans and reported to the EPA her findings-from there her troubles began and a fascinating story evolves of the pressures put on an employee who reports problems and the the expectations of the loyalties-Thus she became a whistle blower-eventually sued and won her case with the EPA. She was involved with the passage of the No Fear Act to protect federal employees who report problems in their field and get "pushed" into whistle-blower status.Dr. Adebayo in this capacity is credited with being instrumental in the passage of the first civil rights act of the 21 st century. She has written a book about her experiences-NO FEAR ;THE TALE OF A WHISTLE BLOWER and has founded the No Fear Institute. [Marsha Coleman Adebayo](http://www.marshacoleman-adebayo.com)