Yoselis Ramos has been an intern with WUSF since the fall of 2010. She's reported on Tampa Bay stories, such as bicycle safety and sexism in the workplace.
She's currently a 2014 candidate for a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida in secondary education.
Run-ins between Sarasota's homeless and law enforcement has Sarasota's City-County Homeless Advisory Task Force looking for ways to better serve the homeless population.
Its most recent idea: hire caseworkers.
The three caseworkers would be overseen by City Manager Tim Barwin and Police Chief Bernadette DiPino.
Barwin says hiring the caseworkers would help homeless individuals connect with mental health and substance abuse services.
Tampa Electric Company will ask for a 10 percent increase on residential rates. It could mean an average of $11 extra a month coming out of customers' pockets.
TECO is blaming the slow recovery of the economy and costs to maintaining their infrastructures for the rate increase request.
"We know there's never a good time to raise rates and we empathize with our customers who like us are also feeling the effects of a difficult economy," says company spokeswoman Cherie Jacobs.
Rocky the Bull- USF's mascot, is asking people to cast their votes on Twitter for the university. USF is nominated for a Shorty Award which honors those who produce real-time short content across social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Tumblr. USF is ranked fifth out of 174 nominated schools.
TAMPA | In the video plea, Rocky the Bull is trying to tweet on the smooth surface of a smartphone, but his fingers are just too fat. And furry. That's why, the video explains, the school mascot needs people with actual skin to cast Twitter votes for the University of South Florida.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority unanimously agreed to ask the Pinellas County Commission to put a tax for bus transit expansion and light rail on the ballot.
The vote came after 3 hours of public comment with speakers for and against the idea.
Five out of 7 commissioners say they support the referendum but PSTA spokesman Bob Lasher says this is only the beginning.
"Some of our board members said this is just the very first step, there's a whole lot of water yet to go before we cross the other bridges," he says.
Following a nationwide trend of bank closings, Florida had a net loss of 18 bank branches in last year's fourth quarter. That's according to new figures from SNL Financial. Only Indiana and Pennsylvania fared worse. Experts attribute the closings to low interest rates and expect the decline to continue.
Bank of America had biggest net loss -- 47 branches nationwide. JPMorgan Chase & Co. added the most offices -- 16 -- and is focusing on expanding in Florida and California, the SNL report said.
Florida has had a net loss of 18 bank branches in the fourth quarter of 2012, a bigger net loss than all but two other states in the nation. While 31 bank branches opened in Florida in the three months ended Dec. 31, 49 branches closed, according to a report from SNL Financial.
Polk City Mayor Joe LaCascia is fresh back from a trip to D.C. where he joined other mayors across the country to lobby Congress in favor of gun control as a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition.
As a part of the coalition, LaCascia lobbied for bans on assault weapons and high ammunition magazines. He also lobbied for comprehensive background checks on all gun purchases.
Pinellas County's elected officials have been quietly discussing whether to place armed officers in the county's 72 elementary schools, but the idea is opposed by the county's largest law enforcement agencies, the Tampa Bay Times has learned.
LARGO - Pinellas County's elected officials have been quietly discussing sweeping plans to place armed law enforcement officers in the county's 72 elementary schools, but the idea is meeting opposition from the county's largest law enforcement agencies, the Tampa Bay Times has learned.
For the first time in 17 years, the Gasparilla Pirate Fest has no title sponsor for this year. Even though there might not be as many banners as usual, the fest will go unchanged.
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino had title sponsored the Gasparilla Pirate Fest for the past 3 years but they chose not to this year for business reasons, says Gasparilla project manager Darrell Stefany.
He says even though he wasn't able to peg a title sponsor that won't change the volume of the event.
State Road 60 in Lake Wales is closed in both directions at Kissimmee Shores after an accident at 6 this morning. Both drivers were killed after their vehicles, a semi and a car, burst into flames on impact.
Around 11 this morning, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said it would take about 3 to 4 hours to clear the wreckage.
The only travel alternate suggested is Walk-in-Water Road.
