Florida Matters

Teachers have been navigating challenging and confusing times since education laws rolled out in 2022. In this episode, we get an update on what their classrooms have been like since. For the past couple of years, public school teachers in Florida have navigated some challenging, and at times confusing, changes to what they teach and how they teach it. Legislation was rolled out in 2022 with restrictions on classroom instruction on race, gender identity and sexual orientation. Transgender students have faced restrictions on what bathrooms they’re allowed access to. Teachers are now required to convey that under enslavement, some African Americans gained skills that later benefited them, a change heavily criticized by teachers and some state officials. And there’s been increased scrutiny, and in some cases removal, of books on teachers’ shelves and in school libraries. WUSF’s Kerry Sheridan, who covers K-12 education and has been reporting on how teachers have been dealing with the new laws over the last couple of years, joins Florida Matters along with Gail Foreman who teaches social studies, history, and AICE psychology at Booker High in Sarasota, and Brandt Robinson, a history teacher at Dunedin High School.

People know Titus O’Neil as a star of WWE. But before he was a pro wrestler and Global Ambassador for WWE, Titus O’Neil was Thaddeus Bullard. He began his athletic career as a promising football player - a University of Florida Gator who played under legendary coach Steve Spurrier, and later in the Arena Football League. Bullard's path to athletic fame and fortune wasn’t an easy one. He writes about his upbringing to a single mother who struggled to make ends meet in his book, "There's No Such Thing as a Bad Kid." But along the way, Bullard built a reputation as someone who’s worked to give back to his community. Through the Bullard Family Foundation, he's helped kids who face the same kind of challenges he did growing up. Over the last decade Bullard, who lives in Tampa, has given out more than 15,000 gifts every year to underprivileged kids through his "Joy of Giving" event. And in partnership with Hillsborough County Public Schools - he’s worked to transform Sligh Middle Magnet School into an educational innovation hub. On this episode of Florida Matters, Bullard talks about overcoming poverty, finding fame as professional wrestler Titus O'Neil, and helping the next generation.

The Florida Supreme Court released opinions on two proposed constitutional amendments Monday afternoon. One would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, and the other would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older. At the same time, the court released a ruling on a challenge to Florida’s 15-week abortion ban. The court upheld the 15-week ban, which in turn means a more restrictive six-week ban will soon take effect. Stetson University College of Law professor Louis Virelli spoke to Florida Matters about the legal context of the court's decisions. Also joining the program to discuss the impact of these court opinions on health care are WUSF reporter and host Cathy Carter, WUSF health care reporter Stephanie Colombini and political analyst and retired political science professor Susan MacManus.

The issue of a new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays been debated for decades. And in the next few months, make-or-break decisions will be made on the redevelopment plans. This week marks the start of another season of baseball for the Tampa Bay Rays. They’ll face the Toronto Blue Jays in their first home series at Tropicana Field, the stadium that’s nearing the end of its residency in downtown St. Petersburg. A world-class development that will “fuel our economy” for decades to come is how St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch described the multibillion-dollar plan to transform Tropicana Field and the sea of asphalt parking lots surrounding it. "If you look out over the next 10, 15, 20 years, we have so much more confidence that this is going to be a great place for a ballpark, and for a neighborhood that fits that ballpark," said Rays co-president Matt Silverman, who spoke recently on the team's podcast about the redevelopment, "Here to Stay." But it’s not a done deal just yet. The heart of the current debate isn’t so much about sports, it’s about money. Specifically how much the city and Pinellas County and the Rays ownership will invest. Tampa Bay Times reporter Colleen Wright joined Florida Matters to explain the next steps in the long process of building a new stadium for the Rays and redeveloping the land around it. And Ron Diner from No Home Run, a group of Pinellas County residents who oppose the stadium deal, explains why he thinks the deal is wrong for St. Pete

This week, we speak with two women veterans about their military experiences and opportunities and challenges for women veterans. The number of women in the military is rapidly growing. A 2022 Defense Department report shows that in 2021, there was an 18% increase in women in active duty and a 22% increase in women in the reserves. That’s even as the overall number of service members dropped, according to the same study. Holley Harris is the president of the Greater Tampa Bay chapter of the Women in Defense organization, a national organization that brings the Department of Defense together with all the industries that support it to create and enhance opportunities for women, and increase the diversity in the defense community. Vanessa Thomas works as the women veteran’s coordinator at the Florida Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

One of the most controversial bills to come out of this year’s legislative session restricts the use of social media sites for teenagers. The bill had bipartisan support- but there are questions about whether it violates the first amendment rights of these young people. And it’s not clear which social media platforms will be affected. An earlier version of the bill was vetoed by Governor DeSantis. Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times - Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau and political journalist William March talk with Florida Matters host Matthew Peddie about what’s likely to happen next with this bill.

Florida lawmakers wrapped up the 60-day legislative session last Friday, passing a $117.46 billion budget and a slate of new bills. Among them are new restrictions on social media use by teenagers, limits to where people experiencing homelessness are allowed to sleep and some tweaks to the troubled homeowners insurance market. Political journalist William March and Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald Tallahassee correspondent Lawrence Mower join host Matthew Peddie to discuss the highlights from the legislative session and what it means for residents of the greater Tampa Bay region.

An increasing number of people in Florida are experiencing homelessness. The surge in homelessness comes as state lawmakers are considering legislation that some advocates see as punitive: a law that would make it illegal to sleep on public property. Florida’s council on Homelessness reported 30,809 individuals experiencing “literal homelessness” last year. That means not having a fixed, regular or adequate place to stay, and includes people living in shelters. That’s a 9 percent increase since 2019. The number of students experiencing homelessness in Florida is even higher. On this episode we speak with Anne Ray, the Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse Manager at the University of Florida’s Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, about the rising number of homeless students and the support that's available for them. We also discuss a specific group of students who experience homelessness: kids who are separated from their families because of abuse or neglect, but who aren’t part of the foster care system. We talk with a Tampa non-profit leader, Vicki Sokolik, who works to support those students, and we hear from Jamal, an alumnus of her program.

Dalia Colón talks with Florida Matters about hosting The Zest podcast and releasing her new cookbook, "The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook." In the introduction to her new book, "The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook," Dalia Colón writes about her first impressions of the Sunshine State: “By the time I’d unpacked my car, I’d came to a conclusion: In Florida, it’s too hot to eat.” For the first months in the state, she subsisted on smoothies and cheese toast. The last two decades have been a culinary journey for Colón. She became a vegetarian in 2013, and she hosts The Zest, WUSF’s podcast showcasing Florida’s food, foodies, restaurants, and recipes. After moving to Florida from Cleveland in 2005, Colón says it took her a while to appreciate the fruits, vegetables and herbs that the Sunshine State has to offer. We sat down with Colón for this week’s episode to discuss The Zest and the release of her new cookbook.

As Florida changed its Black history curriculum and removed books from public schools… first-time Tampa city councilwoman Gwen Henderson pushed back and opened a bookstore. Florida Matters visited Henderson at the bookstore she runs in Tampa Heights with her daughter Ariel. It’s called “Black English.” Henderson, who wears a ball cap covered in buttons- Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Florida A&M University and others, says her mission is to elevate books by Black authors, especially graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs. We sat down to talk about being an educator, books, politics and her priorities for the district she represents.

Arthenia Joyner was first elected to the Florida legislature in 2000, taking office amid the legal turmoil of the presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore. Her sixteen year career as a state lawmaker included two years as senate minority leader, and she was the first Black woman elected to that post. We sat down to talk with Joyner about her trailblazing career and an upbringing that helped shape her commitment to equality and justice.

This week, we talk with two Black women who are leaders in the community and who have each taken a different approach to politics. Former State Senator Arthenia Joyner was the first Black woman to serve as Senate Minority leader in the Florida legislature. We’ll hear from her later in the program. And long time educator Gwen Henderson is a first time Tampa City Council member and owner of Black English bookstore in Tampa Heights, which she opened last December. We visited Black English bookstore to talk with Henderson about being an educator, books, politics and her priorities for the district she represents. Later in the program, we sit down with Joyner for a conversation about politics, civil rights, and her trailblazing career as a lawyer and state lawmaker.

Four self-proclaimed Blerds discuss what Blerd culture is and how the Black lived experience affects artforms associated with nerdom, like comics and cosplay.

Legislative priorities for lawmakers in Tallahassee this year include increasing the number of health care providers in Florida and clamping down on children's social media use. Although the state legislative session is almost half over, there’s still more work ahead for lawmakers before they can pass a budget. On this episode, we get a progress report on some of the biggest proposals from political journalist William March and Jeff Brandes, former state senator and founder of the Florida Policy Project, a non-partisan research institute. Brandes and March talk about bills that could erode the rights of local governments to make decisions on the environment, development, and cultural issues like what flags to fly over government buildings. They also discuss the issues that aren’t really being addressed, including housing and homeowners insurance.

Supervisors of elections have a lot on their plate this year. Florida’s presidential preference primary will be held in March, but there’s also a slew of municipal elections all the way up until November. In the meantime, election officials are preparing to deal with a flood of new voters and changes to voting rules since the last presidential election. They are also dealing with security, making sure voters and poll workers are safe, and keeping an eye on new threats, like the potential influence of AI-driven misinformation adding to the drumbeat of election misinformation. On this episode of Florida Matters, host Mathew Peddie sat down with election supervisors Julie Marcus, Brian Corley, and Craig Latimer from Pinellas, Pasco, and Hillsborough counties. They talk about what keeps them up at night and what people need to know as they prepare to vote this year.

The choice of candidates for Republican voters in the presidential preference primary has dwindled to just two- former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and former president Donald Trump, the front runner in the race. That was not what Florida voters- and especially supporters of Governor Ron DeSantis- would have expected eight months ago when he launched his presidential campaign. DeSantis had a huge amount of campaign cash and political capital within the Republican party. He had momentum from a comprehensive victory in his re-election as governor, and grabbed national attention with a series of culture war policies targeting immigration, education and LGBTQ+ rights. But it all came crashing down after the Iowa caucuses. NBC senior national politics reporter Matt Dixon joins Florida Matters to explain what it means for Florida voters and lawmakers who had anticipated a legislative session with DeSantis out of town on the campaign trail

A new financial disclosure law has resulted in some local government officials resigning. Senate Bill 774, ethics requirements for public officials, took effect Jan. 1. It requires elected officials in local municipalities to file much more detailed financial disclosures than before- on assets over $1,000. Cities like St. Pete Beach, Anna Maria island and tiny Eagle Lake in Polk County are among those seeing resignations. To discuss the issue further, we spoke with Barbara Peterson, executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability; Caroline Klancke, executive director of the Florida Ethics Institute; and Joshua Ceballos, local government accountability reporter for WLRN.

An eviction on your record can make it tough to find a place to live. But fighting the eviction in court can be costly. And it doesn’t always help. Evictions in the greater Tampa Bay region surged last year compared to pre-2020 levels. That’s a trend felt nationwide, as emergency rental assistance put in place at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic dried up, and as federal protections that were put in place to make sure people who were out of work didn’t lose their homes expired. WUSF’s Gabriella Paul, who covers paycheck to paycheck issues, has been following the story over the last several months, talking with renters, landlords, and experts who are tracking the data on evictions and working to help people stay in their homes and deal with the legal fallout from evictions. Paul joins Florida Matters to talk more about her reporting on evictions and their impact on people who’ve lost their homes. Also joining the show is Tom DiFiore with Bay Area Legal Services.

DeSantis launched the 60 day session with a speech that touched on issues like immigration, education, and law enforcement, and appeared pitched to primary state voters as much as Floridians. The speech sets the stage for a legislative session where lawmakers will tackle issues like health care, the environment, and education, even as DeSantis continues his presidential campaign, vying to be the Republican nominee to challenge President Biden in November. DeSantis said policies in other states have "sparked an exodus" of residents to states like Florida, which he described as a "refuge for freedom and sanity." Political analyst and retired University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus and WUSF politics and environment reporter Steve Newborn join host Matthew Peddie to discuss the speech, the response from the Florida Democratic Party, and what's ahead for the legislative session.

We've had some very interesting conversations on Florida Matters with newsmakers across the greater Tampa Bay region. Here's a sampling of some of our favorites, from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor talking about her priorities for a second term, to Tarpon Springs resident Chris Powell reflecting on environmental changes to his favorite island.