Florida This Week

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

• Dan Christensen, FloridaBulldog.org
• Kristin Breitweiser, Co-Founder-September 11th Advocates 
• Nishant Anand, MD, Chief Medical Officer, BayCare

This week we discuss:

• This is the twentieth anniversary of 9/11; some of the attackers lived and trained to fly right here in Florida.
• The federal government is still keeping secrets about how the hijackers funded, planned and carried out the attack; we’ll meet two people trying to get the government to reveal those secrets. 
• An investigative reporter from south Florida and a family member of one of the victims killed in the attack.
• BayCare, the largest provider of health care in southwest Florida, says it will follow president Biden's call for mandatory vaccines for all employees at health care agencies which receive Medicare and Medicaid.

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:

• Mona V. Mangat, M.D., Allergist, Immunologist, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
• Ghadir Kassab, Executive Director, Radiant Hands 
• Barry Edwards, Radio Host, WHBO AM 1040 
• Rich Templin, Director of Politics and Public Policy, Florida AFL-CIO

This week we discuss:

• DeSantis administration moves forward with punishing school districts that require mask wearing.
• Some Afghan refugees are moving to the Tampa Bay area—after the U.S. ends its long war.
• The redistricting process is beginning and will have a big impact on the makeup of the legislature and Florida’s congressional delegation.
• And as Labor Day approaches, we’ll talk with a state labor leader.

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:

• Dr. Chris Mason, Asst. Professor of National Security, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College
• Dr. Donna Petersen, Senior Associate V.P., USF Health, Dean, College of Public Health 
• John Romano, Sports Columnist, Tampa Bay Times 
• Colleen Wright, St. Petersburg Reporter, Tampa Bay Times

This week we discuss:

• A terror attack in Afghanistan as the U.S. evacuation nears an end.
• There will be a runoff in November to see who will be St. Petersburg’s next mayor.
• More school boards around the state resist the governor and mandate masks.
• The latest on what the Rays want to stay in the Tampa Bay area.

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:

• Nadia Combs, Hillsborough County School Board Member, District 1
• Veronica McDonald, Parent/Education Advocate
• Kevin Belickis, Marine Corps Veteran
• Vanessa Brito, Political Activist, Republican

This week we discuss:

• More school districts defy the state government over mask mandates.
• We’ll talk with the Hillsborough school board member who proposed the mask requirement.
• A local military veteran wants the us to embrace Afghan refugees.
• Florida still has not fixed its unemployment system.

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:

• Jaclyn Lopez, Florida Director, Staff Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity
• Sean Shaw, Attorney, Democrat
• Damaris Allen, Founding member, Safe Schools, Safe Communities
• Mac Stipanovich, Attorney, NPA

This week we discuss:

• Lawsuits are filed against the owners of the Piney Point disaster – and what many believe is the cause of the massive red tide outbreak.
• A victory for those who want to amend Florida’s constitution.
• As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in Florida, we’ll look at the battle over masks in schools.

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:

• Dr. Jay Wolfson, DRPH, JD, Senior Associate, Morsani College of Medicine, Asso. V.P. USF Health 
• Barry Burton, Pinellas County Administrator
• Rep. Anna Eskamani, Florida, District 47, Democrat
• Deborah Tamargo, President, Florida Federation of Republican Women

This week we discuss:

The number of COVID cases and deaths jump in Florida. Governor DeSantis continues to refuse mask mandates, setting up a conflict with the president and local government leaders around the state.

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:

• Dr. Jason Wilson, Associate Director, Adult Emergency Dept., TGH-USF Health
• Jessica Vaughn, Hillsborough County School Board Member, District 3
• Rita Ferrandino, CEO & Founder, Arc Capital, Democrat 
• Yvonne Fry, Businesswoman & Consultant, Republican

This week's topics:

• With coronavirus cases spiking in the state the question of mask mandates comes up again…the governor says no.
• Nikki Fried says the governor is not leading enough on the issue—so she says she’ll give regular updates on how to protect against COVID.
• Governor DeSantis formally asks the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

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:

• Dr. Donna Petersen, Senior Associate V.P., USF Health, Dean, College of Public Health
• Captain Chris Wittman, Co-Founder, Captains for Clean Water
• Joe Henderson, Columnist, Florida Politics
• Tara Newsome, JD, LLM, Professor, St. Petersburg College

This week's topics:

• Florida sees a big spike in coronavirus cases
• The red tide outbreak expands to the beaches
• Several significant endorsements in the St. Petersburg mayor’s race

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:

• Rick Kriseman, Mayor, St. Peterburg, Democrat
• Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi Ph.D., Assistant Professor of International Relations & Political Science, USF-Tampa
• Al Fox, Founder-Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation, Democrat
• E.J. Otero, Jr., Colonel (ret.), USAF Business Development Manager, Gemini Industries, Republican

This week's topics:

• Red Tide problem kills millions of fish in and around Pinellas County—leaving a stinking mess behind
• Anti-government protests in Cuba spread to the US this week including Tampa and Miami—as Cubans on the island demand more food, medicine and freedom
• The assassination of the Haitian President by a hit squad raises questions about who ordered the assassination

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:

• Dr. Michael Teng, an Associate Professor of Molecular Medicine & Dean of Internal Medicine at the USF College of Medicine. 
• Rosemary Goudreau O'Hara, Former Editorial Page Editor, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
• Stanley Gray, Businessman, NPA
• Colin Wolf, Digital Content Editor, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

This week's topics:

• The more aggressive variant of COVID is taking hold here in Florida
• Former President Trump holds a big rally in Sarasota
• After the assault on Congress the Capital Police will set up an office in Tampa
• Hurricane Elsa brushes Florida, the state comes out largely unscathed 
• The Lightning extend the winning streak of professional sports teams in the Tampa Bay area

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