Beyond the News WFLA Interviews

Frank Orlando, director of the St. Leo University Polling Institute in Pasco County, speaks about President Trump's job approval nationally in Florida, as well as the approval ratings of Congressional leaders, Florida's Governor and two U.S. Senators, and what Democrats think about the presidential candidates.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Eric Perez of Meggitt Training Systems about how simulators help police recruits and officers walk through situations involving deadly force... including ways to de-escalate a tense situation. Perez is speaking from the I/ITSEC conference in Orlando.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hillsborough County Commissioners will take up an expansion by a financial services company that could add up to 400 new jobs. Steve Morey of the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council talks about a decades-long push to bring jobs in the financial services sector to the region.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Ted Kresge, whose house has hosted a huge Christmas light display since 1977.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the second time this year, a HART transit bus driver has been stabbed on his run. This time, the driver survived. Gordon Byrd spoke with Amalgamated Transit Union International president John Costa about driver safety.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tampa is one of a few cities where Uber is trying a pilot program for passengers with pets. Gordon Byrd speaks with Javi Correoso about Uber Pet.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two Florida panther kittens (or cubs) left motherless are being cared for at ZooTampa (Lowry Park). FWC says their mother was euthanized after showing symptoms of a possible neurological disorder affecting panthers and bobcats. We spoke with Dr. Ashley Ayoob of Naples, the vet who treated the kittens in a veterinary hospital soon after they were discovered.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scott McCartney, Wall Street Journal writer and "Middle Seat" columnist, talks about their annual rankings of the nation's best and worst airports. Tampa ranks number 1 in the midsized category, edging out Portland, Oregon.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Largo police lieutenant Scott Gore about a new 911 application that is made for the age of smartphones. It allows dispatchers to use the phone's camera to scan a crime scene.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Susan Bowles, a clinical nurse at an Orlando maternity hospital and Florida maternity chair for the March of Dimes, on a new report giving Florida a "C-" grade on premature births.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.