Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

Sarasota police bring animal abuse and cruelty charges against the owner of a dog grooming franchise on South Tamiami Trail. We speak with Police public information officer Cynthia McLsughlin.

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The Firestone Grand Prix returns to St. Petersburg Friday through Sunday (8-10). So do thousands of fans. We speak with Visit St. Pete - Clearwater CEO Brian Lowack about the economic impact.

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Newsradio WFLA's Read Shepherd talks to Brandie Miklus from the non-profit group "Friends of Tampa Union Station" about a federal plan to create two new Amtrak routes to Florida. However, those routes would bypass Tampa.

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The collection of the late Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, author, professor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, will be housed at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, in a collaboration with USF and Eckerd College. We speak with the museum's board chair, Michael Igel, about Wiesel and the impact of housing his collection.

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Hillsborough County is offering residents a chance to shred documents and destroy hard drives that could be a goldmine to identity thieves. Gordon Byrd speaks with the county's Eric Olsen about Shredest, happening Saturday (March 2nd) from 9 to 11 a.m.

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A professor seen on 'SharkFest' and other nature shows has been arrested and accused of putting the bite on a shark research nonprofit. Police in Bradenton say Georgia Southern professor Christine Bedore ripped off the American Elasmobranch Society for at least $300,000, using the organization's money to pay for a car, medical procedures, entertainment, travel and pet insurance among other personal items. We speak with Bradenton police PIO Meredith Censullo about the charges.

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At least ten cases of measles have been reported around Florida since the beginning of the year. We speak with Dr. Juan Dumois, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petesburg, about what's driving these cases and how to respond.

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The 89th Florida Strawberry Festival opens Thursday in Plant City. More than 600,000 showed up during the 2023 run and those numbers are expected to be met or exceeded this year. We speak with one of the festival's associate directors, James Scott.

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The clock in the tower at Tampa's Hillsborough High School was dedicated in 1949. Students of the classes of 1946 through '48 raised thousands of dollars to build the clock in honor of those alumni who died in combat in World War Two.The clock stopped keeping time and chiming the hours several years ago. But it's being rededicated Saturday (2/24) after an alumni fundraising campaign. We speak with Darlene Fabelo, a HHS graduate who led the drive.

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If you're one of the 4,500 signed up for special needs shelters with Pinellas County, expect a phone call, or two, before the end of February. Nick Morrow with Pinellas Emergency Management explains how they're updating their list for the 2024 hurricane season.

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