Radioactivity Host Rob Lorei Plays Audio From Florida This Week on WEDU
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This morning we’ll hear a replay of Florida This Week which is a TV showing airing every Friday night on WEDU-TV (Tampa), Florida’s most watched PBS station.
Florida This Week is a panel discussion of some of the top issues happening in Florida. It’s the kind of discussion you’d expect from PBS: smart guests, well connected who are able to have a thoughtful conversation about the most controversial issues of the day.
This week we’ll look at the new restrictions on Americans who want to travel to Cuba; prosecutors go after the school resource officer at the Parkland high school; the North Florida politician who chuckled at the thought of killing gays and holding migrant kids in what some call “prison” like conditions.
The program is hosted by WMNF News Director Rob Lorei and can be viewed online at http://www.wmnf.org/ftw
Coming up next—-
The Trump administration limits American travel to Cuba…
The deputy who hid during the Parkland high school massacre is arrested and faces 11 criminal charges….
North Florida Congressman Mike Hill is embroiled in another controversy…
And critics say migrant children are being held in prison like conditions in South Florida….
Political insights next on Florida This Week….….
Welcome back…
This week our panelists are:
(Starting on my right)
Zachary Sampson
Reporter, Tampa Bay Times
Chris Ingram, Political Consultant
Beth Weinstein, Marketing Consultant & Comm. Dir. Indivisible Pasco/FL12
Rosemary Goudreau O’Hara, Editorial Page Editor, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Story #1
This week the Trump administration issued new executive orders restricting U.S. citizen’s travel to Cuba, prohibiting stops by cruise ships and blocking organized tour groups.
Citing Cuba’s domestic “repression” and its support for President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the Trump administration said the measures are designed to prevent Cuba’s military and security services from profiting from the country’s tourism industry.
The Department of the Treasury and the State Department said group educational or cultural trips to Cuba, or “people-to-people” travel, would no longer be permitted.
One local politician was caught off guard by the curtailment. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman was on a cruise ship heading for Havana when the new restrictions were put into place. His boat was diverted to the Bahamas.
Questions: What are the best reasons for and against these travel restrictions? Will they hurt the Cuban military? The Maduro government? The average person in Cuba? US businesses such as the cruise industry or the airlines? How will air travel be affected? There are still some categories of travel to Cuba that are allowed. What are they?
Story #2
A former Broward County deputy is facing 11 criminal charges for failing to confront the gunman in last year’s Parkland school massacre.
The retired deputy- Scot Peterson– was arrested and charged with child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury stemming from the February 2018 shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He was the school resource officer and allegedly hid during the massacre, failing to confront the gunman and protect the students. If convicted on all charges he faces nearly 100 years in prison. It’s unusual for any law enforcement officer to be prosecuted for inaction.
Questions: Are these criminal charges justified? Why or why not? Does this set a precedent for prosecuting other officers for inaction? Does it set a precedent for armed teachers who may hide when a gunman enters their school? What does Peterson say in his defense?
Story #3
A North Florida Republican lawmaker criticized for his response to a suggestion that gay people be put to death says he now regrets his tone.
When state Rep. Mike Hill met with constituents at Pensacola City Hall last month, one man in the audience said the Bible calls for a man having an affair with another man to be put to death.
(Audio)
The chuckling response drew criticism from both elected Republican and Democrats.
Several days after the comments came to light– Hill said he regrets how the tone of his response was received. He says he believes “that no matter one’s race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, economic status or otherwise, that all lives are created equal in the image of God.”
Question: Does that end the issue? Was this an apology?
Story #4
Three South Florida Democratic congress members are demanding that the Trump administration shut down a south Florida migrant teen-holding facility and release the hundreds of children there to small shelters or relatives. The South Florida U.S. representatives say their decision comes after a recent federal court filing by immigrant advocates with the migrant children describing “prison-like” conditions endured in the Homestead facility. The detention facility is run by a private contractor with ties to former White House chief of staff John Kelly.
Questions: Is this facility humane? Why or why not? What do the sides say about the conditions at this facility? With a large number of migrants crossing the border this year- what should the federal government be doing about this?
Before we go- what other news story should we be paying attention to?
(From my left) ….
Chris, Rosemary, Beth, Zach…..
THANKS FOR WATCHING!
