Florida CFO Alex Sink wants people to know that Florida’s beaches are beautiful, the fish are biting and the only oil on the state’s beaches is suntan oil. Sink is worried that all the coverage on the oil spill has caused people to make vacation reservations elsewhere. Sink, who is running for Governor, wants to use $25 million dollars from BP to fund a global advertising campaign to get the word out that Florida’s beaches and waters are free of oil and open for business. She talked with WUFT’s Donna Green-Townsend.
Alachua County Animal Services is holding a “Spring Cleaning “ adoption event on Saturday (May 15th) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at their headquarters on Northeast 53rd Avenue in Gainesville. The afternoon event will feature a variety of vendors and educational materials as well as food and a raffle. The main goal is to have people come out and take home a furry friend. Donna Green-Townsend walked through the animal services facilities and talked with Public Education Program Coordinator and Event Coordinator, Hilary Hynes.
Area residents are being encouraged to contribute needed items for oil cleanup. The Wild Iris Bookstore has agreed to be a drop-off point through Monday morning (May 17th) for items ranging from toothbrushes to towels and shovels. This effort came about when a Gainesville writer met up with a group of activists who were holding a meeting over another contaminated site. Donna Green-Townsend talked with writer Lola Haskins and one of the owners of Wild Iris Books, Cheryl Krouth about how others can get involved. For more information about ways to help you can go online to http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/whatyoucando.html
The University of Florida held a dedication ceremony on Tuesday (May 11th) afternoon for the new Biomedical Sciences Building on campus. Donna Green-Townsend has more on what this new medical facility is expected to offer to researchers.
The Gainesville community can experience a true audio and visual art and science performance Friday night (May 7) at the Phillips Center For The Performing Arts. Donna Green-Townsend talked with the Musical Director of the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, Evans Haile, about this celestial happening involving music, NASA video and telescopes.
Red Henry and his family are no strangers to the bluegrass and folk festival scene in Florida. The Henrys often play at the Gamble Rogers Folk Festival, which is held in the St. Augustine area to honor the late guitar finger-picking balladeer who graced stages across the country with his musical ability and legendary story-telling. Rogers was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in the late 1990s, not many years after he died trying to save a drowning man off Flagler Beach. Red Henry was one of Gamble’s close friends. Henry, a former Floridian, now lives in Winchester, Virginia.
Chris Henry and the Hardcore Grass Band (photo by Ryan Long)
All the members of the Henry family are part of the country’s “bluegrass scene” and are all accomplished musicians. Red plays a variety of instruments including mandolin and fiddle. His wife Murphy plays guitar and banjo and is well-known for her “Murphy Method” for teaching how to play many bluegrass instruments. Daughter Casey plays banjo and son Chris plays guitar and mandolin and has been touring across the country with his own band calledChris Henry and the Hardcore Grass.
Red and Chris like to come to Florida festivals to play, especially the Will McLean Folk Festival and the Florida Folk Festival because of their close ties to not only Gamble Rogers, but also the “Father of Florida Folk,” Will McLean and environmental troubadour Dale Crider. Donna Green-Townsend has this profile: Aired on WUFT on April 30, 2010
Here is Red and Chris Henry and their All Star Band performing Stay Out Of Your Way at the 2017 Will McLean Music Festival
The cover of Chris Henry’s latest CD/DVD project
During the 2015 Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Chris and Red Henry and their Allstar Band performed one of Chris’ new songs, “I’m Gonna Wait On Jesus” on the Mainstage.
Here’s a recording of a typical jam at a Henry campsite…this one recorded in 2012 at the Will McLean Festival:
Lou Young has been a top reporter for WCBS-TV in New York City since 1994. Has won 8 Emmy Awards, and most recently received an Emmy in the Spot News category for his coverage of the Bronx Zoo Skyfari Rescue. He also has been honored with awards from the Associated Press, United Press International, Radio-Television Digital News Association, and New York Academy of Television Arts Awards. Listen below to Donna Green-Townsend’s 2010 interview with Young on his experience reporting for WCBS-TV from ground zero following the 9/11 attacks.
UF Alumnus and WCBS-TV Correspondent Lou Young Shares Experience Of Covering September 11th, 2001 In New York (04/15/2010)
Long-time broadcast journalist and alumnus from the University of Florida, Lou Young, paid a visit to his alma mater today (April 14, 2010). Young, who works for WCBS-TV in New York is the recipient of numerous awards, including eight Emmys. His body of work includes coverage of the invasion of Iraq, the controversial 2000 presidential election and school shootings in Littleton, Colorado among many other stories. He’s considered one of the first to begin reporting online. He’s also coauthor of the book, “The Art of Justice” about high profile trials. Young sat down in the studio with WUFT’s Donna Green-Townsend to share one of his most memorable reporting experiences.
Just prior to the 2010 Will McLean Festival, Donna Green-Townsend talked with the three winners and produced the following feature that aired on WUFT on March 11, 2010.
Chile’s president is urging citizens along the coast of his country to move quickly to higher ground following five strongly felt aftershocks, including the biggest since last month’s eight-point-eight magnitude quake. A University of Florida geophysics professor is anxious to get to the Chile earthquake zone. Professor Ray Russo will work with a team of specialists from around the country to deploy and operate about a hundred high-sensitivity earthquake recorders to measure aftershocks in the area. The team hopes to determine the extent and nature of the fault that slipped in late February in Chile. Information gathered could provide insight into how adjacent segments of the Nazca-South America plate boundary might behave in the next few decades. Russo talked with WUFT’s Donna Green-Townsend about the research team and how they plan to go about their work in Chile.
What started out as a science fair project for an Oak Hall High School student in Gainesville has turned into a “real life” energy strategy. Oak Hall Senior Erich Christian’s creation of a biodiesel facility which turns cooking grease into fuel has even gotten the attention of Republican State Senator Steve Oelrich. Oelrich has filed a Senate bill to help schools cut through red-tape when trying to implement similar projects. Christian and two other Oak Hall students will appear before the Senate Higher Education Committee on Tuesday (March 9th). Christian sat down for an interview with WUFTs Donna Green-Townsend.
