Rick Stone has been a journalist in Florida for most of his career. He's worked in newspapers and television but believes that nothing works as well as public radio. He and his wife, Mary Jane Stone, live in Broward County.
While we were working on ideas for stories to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, WLRN Miami Herald News journalist Rick Stone found some old tapes of his reporting after the storm. He reported many radio stories after Hurricane Andrew (you can hear some of those original stories on the players below), but one in particular inspired us.
Next Tuesday's primary will be the first election since redistricting under anti-gerrymandering rules changed all of the political maps. The process made, changed or destroyed some political careers in the Florida Legislature, and not every one is sure the redistricting process accomplished its goals.
As Republican U.S. Representative Allen West is hoping to be elected in a new district, two candidates from way over on the other side of the aisle are each hoping to fill the congressional seat he leaves behind.
On a bright Saturday morning in a southeast Pompano Beach neighborhood, Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs -- all legs and sunglasses in a short green skirt and sleeveless blue t-shirt -- zips by at the controls of a two-wheeled Segway.
TALLAHASSEE-- At the midpoint of the legislative session, an organization of domestic violence opponents drove hopefully to the state capital from Miami for the first committee hearing on a bill they were supporting. The legislation would allow domestic violence victims who are being stalked at work to quit their jobs and still qualify for unemployment.
MONTICELLO, Fl. -- Late in the 1980s, crime was rising, prisons were filling up and Florida needed new places to build prisons. But a grim penitentiary full of criminals was a gift that few counties wanted back then.
Jefferson County, just east of Tallahassee, was different. Then, as now, under populated and desperately poor, it saw an opportunity and it did something unusual.
State senators decided by two votes last night to kill a massive privatization program designed to reduce state prison costs by seven percent a year. Nine Republicans joined the Democratic minority to kill the bill, which had divided the Senate and called into question the leadership of Senate President Mike Haridopolos.
The privatization scheme called for turning 28 southern Florida institutions over to private contractors, eliminating thousands of jobs and reducing the state prison budget by an estimated seven percent.
There are some people who think that if a parrot is considered a pet, then a chicken should be as well. They keep a small number of “domestic chickens” in their yards.
