Dinorah Prevost

Florida’s rapid rise in the number of coronavirus cases is derailing plans for some businesses to reopen.

With more than 100,000 cases of COVID-19 in Florida now, public health experts are saying a second spike in infections is underway.

Donna Petersen is dean of the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida. She says it's impossible to completely eliminate the illness, but wearing face coverings and keeping six feet apart from others really does help slow the spread.

In-person art performances have been off-limits for most people since coronavirus changed our daily routines.

But that's not stopping actors and artists from their craft, says Bob Devin Jones, co-founder and artistic director of Studio@620, a small performing arts venue in St. Petersburg.

Children of all ages are having a hard time processing how coronavirus has changed their lives.

Psychologist Kimberly Renk said parents can help kids organize those feelings. But the University of Central Florida professor said parents first need to assess how they're being affected by the pandemic.

It's been almost a month since Florida's schools went entirely online.

Sandra Miller and her husband Chris teach high school in Pinellas County. She keeps adapting English assignments and grading to reflect online learning.

Political leaders making decisions about coronavirus are often straddling the issues of health and money.

Local public health expert Donna Petersen said that's because the loss of jobs and a lack of money can affect human health too.

Petersen is dean of the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health. Petersen spoke with WUSF’s Bradley George about coronavirus and its impact on communities on The State We’re In, a weekly Facebook Live show from WUSF and its partner WMFE in Orlando.

Just days before officials began shutting down large gatherings to slow the spread of COVID 19, David Brancaccio, host of the Marketplace Morning Report, visited downtown St. Petersburg for a live event.

He joined Florida Matters Host Bradley George at the Palladium as part of the Aresty Speaker Series, and touched on a wide variety of topics from the effect coronavirus was having on the global economy, as well as Brancaccio's ongoing Econ Extra Credit project, in which he is reading a chapter a week from an open source economics textbook.

The coronavirus pandemic is not only taking its toll of the nation’s healthcare system, but also its businesses. This week, Florida Matters takes a look at small businesses, which are particularly hard hit.

Host Bradley George spoke with Alsace Walentine, co-owner of Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg and Eileen Rodriguez of the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of South Florida.

Floridians are going to the polls on March 17 for the state’s presidential primary. This election cycle, WUSF is focusing on the issues rather than the political horse race.

To do that, WUSF has teamed up with reporters at NPR member station WMFE in Orlando for I-4 Votes, a collaboration covering the election issues that matter to those living along the I-4 corridor.

Chris Price stands in the backroom of Dissent Brewing in St. Petersburg. He’s among steel tanks full of beer lining the walls.

But instead of drinking beer, he’s dissecting it, trying to reduce the carbonation – the foamy bubbles you get when you pour one. To do that, he transfers a sample back and forth between a pitcher and a measuring cup over a sink.

Tampa City Council members decided today to allow Ybor City’s wild chickens to continue roaming the neighborhood.

This comes after last month's meeting where some residents complained about the chickens while others spoke in favor of them. 

Twenty-five years after his death, famed African-American tennis player Arthur Ashe has yet to have his biography written.

This August, that changes when USF St. Petersburg professor Ray Arsenault's newest book, “Arthur Ashe: A Life,” is published by Simon & Schuster. The 700-plus-page book will be the first extensive biography of Ashe.

Brice Hayes searches the hallways and classrooms at Charles S. Rushe Middle School for an active shooter.

A Pasco County deputy tells him how to point his gun and scan the rooms. Suddenly he finds the shooter in a classroom and opens fire.

Hayes was one of the trainees at an active shooter training for new school safety guards held Friday by the Pasco Sheriff’s Office.

Hillsborough commissioners will allow voters to decide if they want non-partisan elections in the races of five county officials.

Commissioners voted Wednesday to hold a referendum in November. The proposal would affect races for county sheriff, clerk of the court, property appraiser, tax collector and supervisor of elections.

The vote was 5-2 along party lines with Republican commissioners in favor of nonpartisan elections.

Over 4,000 Pasco County voters will be receiving potentially misleading voter registration forms.

It's a warning that comes from the county Supervisor of Elections, Brian Corley.