Steve Newborn
ReporterI cover Florida’s unending series of issues with the environment and politics in the Tampa Bay area, and also am on occasional host for Florida Matters, our half-hour public affairs show.
I love to go camping, ride bikes and go for long paddles on scenic, winding rivers, so I can think about that while covering meetings that go on for hours.
I've been around Florida so long that I have covered events that most people can’t remember anymore. I've been with WUSF since 2001, and covered President George W. Bush’s speech in Sarasota as the Sept. 11 attacks unfolded; the ongoing drama over whether the feeding tube should be removed from Terri Schiavo; the arrest and terrorism trial of USF professor Sami Al-Arian; how the BP Deepwater Horizon spill affected Florida; and followed the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition as they walked and paddled through the state — twice.
I also got the privilege of tagging along with a Sarasota-based group investigating how manatees are faring in Cuba.
Before joining WUSF, I covered environmental and Polk County news for the late, great Tampa Tribune and worked for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center during the early days of the space shuttle. Again, stuff that most people can’t even remember. Oh, and I'm a graduate of the University of South Florida, back when it was about a third of the size it is now. Before it even had a football team. Go Bulls!
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Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has helped form a third party that aims at the great middle of the American electorate - those who are not swayed by increasingly radical stances on both the right and left. -
That technology allows company technicians to troubleshoot just about any power disruption by clicking on a screen at their St. Petersburg control center.
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Red tide had been present along the Gulf coast since shortly after Hurricane Ian swept ashore in the Fort Myers area.
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Red tide has been a scourge of the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Ian struck Collier and Lee counties last year. It has finally dissipated from much of the area.
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The restrictions ban application of lawn fertilizer in the summer and winter months, and extends the rules to commercial lawn applications, as well as to homeowners.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday voted to spend around $100 million to help protect nearly 40,000 acres within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
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Sarasota County took a big hit from Hurricane Ian, with thousands of homes and businesses damaged. Now, the county is expecting a big helping hand from the federal government.
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The provision would prohibit cities and counties from enacting new summer bans on applying fertilizer. The ban has been promoted as a way to reduce nutrients that cause algae blooms and red tide from flowing into waterways.
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The bill would make it prohibitively expensive for most citizens to fight changes to a county's comprehensive growth plans.
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But red tide is still lingering along southern Sarasota County.
