Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

Tuesday (Dec 2nd) is Giving Tuesday. Bryan Oglesby with the Better Business Bureau in West Florida joins to help you avoid being scammed when looking for a nonprofit or charity to support the things you believe in. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florida's citrus industry has been decimated by the citrus greening disease. A farm family in Polk County sees an agritourism opportunity in reviving U-pick citrus ... with protection to keep out the bugs that spread the disease. We speak with Katie and Shane Bevilacqua of Golden Ridge Groves and Market in Alturas, which holds its grand opening Thursday (20th). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pasco County will start taking applications December 1st for grants to homeowners who suffered damage in Hurricanes Idalia, Helene and Milton in 2023 and 2024. No area of the county escaped impact from recent storms. Owners of traditional, manufactured or mobile homes can apply for relief. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Florida chapter of a group called the HOA Reform League is rallying at the state Capitol Tuesday (18th) to call on state lawmakers to change laws and enforcement of governance of Homeowner's Associations. Paul and Brandy Miller of Pasco County founded the group and they join Gordon Byrd to talk about what they see as the issues with HOA's that need addressing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The city of Tampa is taking applications for a second round of hurricane assistance to homeowners. The Homeowner Hurricane Assistance program is for city homeowners who didn't qualify for a previous round of help with repair costs earlier this year. We speak with Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera about the program, which takes applications starting November 17th. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monday (3rd) Governor DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis announced $30 million in grants to four Florida children's hospitals, to improve research and care for pediatric cancer patients in the state. One goal is to make sure children and families don't need to leave the state to access care. Targets include encouraging collaboration among researchers and creating a portal to help parents navigate clinical trials. We speak with Dr. Cassandra Josephson, the Hawkins Family Endowed Chair director of the Cancer and Blood Disorders Institute at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many people are motivated to support relief for survivors of Hurricane Melisssa, which stormed through Jamaica as a Category 5 and has also impacted Cuba, the Bahamas and Haiti. We speak with Bryan Oglesby of the West Florida Better Business Bureau on giving wisely and avoiding scams. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hillsborough County Fair opens Thursday evening (October 30th). We speak with fair manager Suzanne Holcomb about what's new and returning this year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Along with the eerie and the spooky, there are real life safety issues as children's trick or treating coincides with adults going to costume parties and high school football games. We get some Halloween 2025 safety tips from Dr. Patrick Mularoni at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florida and other states face the loss of November SNAP benefits if the federal government shutdown drags on. Food banks may be called on to help, but they depend on USDA for some of their food. W speak with State Senator Nick DeCeglie, who is also CEO of Hope Villages of America. That nonprofit also runs and works with food banks and food pantries. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hillsborough County's Pet Resource Center is 600 percent over capacity for cats. We talk with the center's Chelsea Waldeck about the causes of the cat population explosion and how they're working to adopt those cats out (adoption fees are waived). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Registration is open for the annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot in Clearwater, an event made up of a timed race and two fun run/strolls. It's been around since 1979 and one of the charities it supports helps to empower those who are homeless. Achieva credit union is a sponsor and we speak with Teresa Hibbard of the Achieva Foundation about the event. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hillsborough County government is holding a workshop to get input on its Post Disaster Redevelopment Plan. The idea is to have a plan ready to go in case another disaster such as Hurricanes Helene or Milton strikes the Tampa Bay area. We speak with CK Moore, the Section Chief for Planning of Hillsborough County Emergency Management. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A presidential search committee at the University of South Florida just named Dr. Moez Limayem as the only finalist for the job. The Board of Trustees and State University Board of Governors will vote on his nomination. He's been president at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville since 2022. Before that he spent ten years as Dean of the Muma College of Business at USF. We're reposting an interview with Dr. Limayem from 2021, in which he spoke about a course offered by the College of Business at USF to promote what's now referred to as DEI. (This was two years before Governor DeSantis signed a bill outlawing DEI at state universities in 2023.) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The one year anniverary of Hurricane Helene is this week (Friday). We speak with Kevin McAndrew, Pinellas County director of Building and Development Review Services about how the rebuilding and permitting process stands at this time and how the county is working to help property owners now and in the future. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A major milestone ahead for renovation of a Tampa public housing complex. Monday (15th) demolition will begin on vacated units at Robles Park. This will begin a renovation process. Eventually the new Robles Park Village complex will host more than 1,800 mixed-income units along with commercial and retail. The redesign will include a memorial center for those buried at the historic Zion Cemetery. We speak with Tampa Housing Authority CEO Jerome Ryans and Dan Coakley of PMG Affordable, the Miami company partnering for the redevelopment.

For the first time, the American Legion is holding its annual National Convention in Tampa, Aug. 22-28. Some seven thousand Legionnaires, members of the American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion are expected. We speak with the Legion's convention chair, Michael Walton, about the events in Tampa over the next few days.

A major acquisition involving two TV companies could have a major impact on news and viewing patterns in the Tampa Bay area. Nexstar, owner of News Channel 8, is buying Tegna, owner of 10 Tampa Bay, for more than six billion dollars. This would put the local NBC and CBS affiliates under the same ownership. Tampa is one of a handful of markets where both Nexstar and Tegna own stations. We speak about the implications of the deal with USF political communications associate professor Josh Scacco, PhD. (Newsradio WFLA and iHeartRadio Tampa Bay have a news and weather partnership with News Channel 8.)

Gordon Byrd speaks with Chip Lupo of personal finance website Wallethub about two surveys of special interest to Florida. One finds Tampa Bay and South Florida among the top ten markets for inflation, while the Best States To Live In report ranks Florida 6th, still top tier but down from 2nd.

Wednesday is August 13th... 8/13. Tampa's taking the opportunity on the calendar to celebrate 813 Day. We speak with Curtis Kellogg of Tampa's and Hillsborough County's tourist promotion agency, Visit Tampa Bay, about the day and various ways to celebrate and save.