Florida This Week

Host, Rob Lorei, talks about important news from Florida this week and gets political insights from guests:

• Mike Vasilinda, Capitol News Service, President, MVP Productions
• Eve Samples, Executive Director, Friends of the Everglades
• Jeff Johnson, AARP, Florida State Director
• Zander Moricz, High School Student, Osprey
• Roberta Kaplan, Attorney, Founding Partner, Kaplan, Hecker & Fink

This week we discuss:

• Challenge in Court
• Nursing Care and Concern
• Everglades Oversight
• Capping a Capitol Career

To learn more about Florida This Week, visit www.wedu.org/floridathisweek

Host, Rob Lorei, talks about important news from Florida this week and gets political insights from guests:

• Ellen Freidin, Attorney, CEO, FairDistrictsNow.org
• Peter Schorsch, Publisher, Floridapolitics.com
• Justin Garcia, Investigative Journalist, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
• Stanley Gray, Businessman, NPA

This week we discuss:

• Special Session on Redistricting
• Tampa City Council Turmoil
• Don't Say Gay Bill now a Law
• Florida Sues Feds over Mask Mandates

To learn more about Florida This Week, visit www.wedu.org/floridathisweek

Host, Rob Lorei, talks about important news from Florida this week and gets political insights from guests: 

• Diane Roberts, Writer, Florida Phoenix, FSU Professor
• Eric Deggans, NPR TV Critic
• Rosemary Goudreau O'Hara, Former Editorial Page Editor, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
• Barry Edwards, Radio Host WHBO AM 1040

This week we discuss:

• Fair District Challenges
• Politics and Disney
• AARP Nursing Home Concerns
• Housing Crisis Help

To learn more about Florida This Week, visit www.wedu.org/floridathisweek

Host, Rob Lorei, talks about important news from Florida this week and gets political insights from guests: 

• Rita Ferrandino, Innovation Consultant, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education | CEO & Founder, Arc Capital | Democrat
• Darryl Paulson, Emeritus Professor of Government & Politics, USF-St. Petersburg
• April Schiff, President & Co-Founder, Strategic Solutions of Florida | Republican
• Mary Ellen Klas, Capitol Bureau Chief, Tampa Bay Times / Miami Herald

This week we discuss:

• The Legislature finishes work on a $112 Billion dollar budget and a long list of new laws.
• Among them the Parental Rights or the Don’t Say Gay Bill which is getting pushback from some quarters including - Disney employees.
• The Legislature focused on social issues and decided not to address many kitchen table issues such as rising rents, condo safety or homeowner’s insurance.
• And powerful industries won favors from this session including the sugar industry and the nursing home industry.

          To learn more about Florida This Week, visit www.wedu.org/floridathisweek

Our "Florida This Week" panel for Friday, March 11th is:

Dr. Michael Teng
Associate Professor of Medicine, USF Health

Matt Dixon
Senior Reporter, Politico Florida

Laura Finaldi, 

Reporter/Columnist, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Charlie Frago

Tampa City Hall Reporter, Tampa Bay Times

Host, Rob Lorei, talks about important news from Florida this week and gets political insights from guests: 

• Amy Hollyfield, Senior Deputy Editor, Tampa Bay Times
• Trimmel Gomes, Journalist, President, Gomes Media Strategies
• Steve Bousquet, Editorial Page Editor, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
• Emily Mahoney, Political Editor, Tampa Bay Times

This week we discuss:

• As the legislature wraps up the 2022 session, we’ll look at what’s been accomplished so far;
• The conservative political action committee wraps up its annual convention in Orlando;
• And the governor’s message telling young people to remove their masks goes viral.

To learn more about Florida This Week, visit www.wedu.org/floridathisweek

Host, Rob Lorei, talks about important news from Florida this week and gets political insights from guests: 

• Ihor Hron, Post Commander, Post 40, Ukrainian American Veterans
• Mac Stipanovich, Attorney, NPA
• Sharon Calvert, Blogger, Eye on Tampa Bay, Republican
• Patrick Manteiga, Editor and Publisher, La Gaceta, Democrat

This week we discuss:

• We’ll look at how Russia’s invasion is viewed by the Ukrainian American community in Florida;
• Senator Rick Scott issues a platform for the Republican Party; 
• The legislative session is about to end...we’ll look at the new laws that are being passed; 
• And, it’s been ten years since Trayvon Martin was killed.

To learn more about Florida This Week, visit www.wedu.org/floridathisweek

Host, Rob Lorei, talks about important news from Florida this week and gets political insights from guests: 

• Victor DiMaio, President & CEO, DiMaio and Associates, Democrat
• Aakash Patel, Founder & CEO, Elevate, Inc., Republican
• Tara Newsom, JD, LLM, Professor, St. Petersburg College
• Darryl Paulson, Emeritus Prof. of Govt. & Politics, USF-St. Petersburg

This week we discuss:

• A ban on some kinds of speech in schools moves closer to passage.
• Outlawing abortions in Florida after 15 weeks moves closer to reality.
• The state is threatening to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to some school systems. 
• The housing affordability crisis gets worse for young people and some full-time workers.

To learn more about Florida This Week, visit www.wedu.org/floridathisweek

Host, Rob Lorei, talks about important news from Florida this week and gets political insights from guests: 

• Cecile Scoon, Attorney, President, League of Women Voters of Florida 
• Zac Anderson, Political Editor, Sarasota Herald-Tribune 
• Sen. Jeff Brandes, Florida-District 24, Republican
• Nadine Smith, Executive Director, Equality Florida, Democrat

This week we discuss:

• The legislature passes its version of new legislative maps. 
• A Bradenton group claims it has information about voter fraud.
• What is Tallahassee doing about skyrocketing homeowner’s insurance? 
• A bill restricting what can be said about LGBTQ issues in schools moves forward.

To learn more about Florida This Week, visit www.wedu.org/floridathisweek

Host, Rob Lorei, talks about important news from Florida this week and gets political insights from guests: 

• Christian Ziegler, Sarasota County Commissioner, District 2, Vice Chair Florida Republican Party
• Eric Deggans, NPR TV Critic
• John Romano, Sports Columnist/Reporter, Tampa Bay Times

This week we discuss:

• The debate continues in Tallahassee over critical race theory;
• Nazi groups hold rallies in Central Florida;
• An attempt to ban books in Florida schools;
• And, what’s next after Tom Brady retires?

To learn more about Florida This Week, visit www.wedu.org/floridathisweek