Government and politics

The Florida Primary is less than a week away and candidates and voters alike are gearing up their campaigns. There’s only one county commission seat on the primary ballot for District 2 and WUFT-FM’s Olivia Link has more on that race. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/2CoRaceD.mp3]

Florida’s lawmakers rejected Governor Charlie Crist’s plan to place a constitutional ammendment on the November ballot to ban off-shore drilling in a special session Tuesday. Many continue to criticize the governor’s motives to call a special session in the first place, saying he put politics over policy to get ahead …

Senate President Jeff Atwater sent a letter to House Speaker Larry Cretul Thursday suggesting that several issues related to the Gulf oil spill need quick attention from lawmakers – but that next week is too quick. Gina Jordan reports. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/4session.mp3]

Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater is calling for a second special session to deal with problems flowing from the BP Oil Spill. James Call reports, Atwater is suggesting lawmakers meet in late August or early September to streamline the claims process. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/sessiontwo.mp3]

The 2010 legislative session is coming to a close in Tallahassee. Closely monitoring the session are the directors and volunteers of the Florida Horse Park in Marion County. They are hoping to raise more than $200,000 annually if lawmakers approve a specialty license plate for this non-profit organization. The horse …

Some Marion County residents are up in arms over what could be their new neighbor. A company is applying for a special use permit to open a commercial gun range near Black Sink Prairie in Citra. The Marion County zoning board was scheduled to meet Monday night (April 26th) to …

As Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan’s time as mayor winds down she reflected on the many “green” initiatives in progress in the city with WUFT-FM’s Vic Micolucci. [audio:http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/VicHanrahanQA.mp3]

With more and more illegal pain clinics or “pill mills” popping up every day, the state of Florida has become a haven for prescription drug abuse. Savannah Herring spoke with Chief of Pain Management Services at the University of Florida Gary Reisfield about just how quickly the problem is growing …

The day after President Barack Obama gave his first State of the Union address to the nation in Washington, he spoke to a crowd of about three thousand people in Tampa. Among those at the event was University of South Florida Political Science Professor Susan MacManus. Kaitlyn Ash had the …

Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan delivered her 2010 “State of the City” address on Wednesday morning at the Hippodrome State Theatre. During her speech she offered her summary of the city’s progress over the past year and discussed her vision for the next year and beyond. She talked with WUFT-FM’s Junior …