Paul Solman
TAMPA – The PBS NewsHour Team will hold a forum at The University of Tampa on Wednesday as a part of their weeklong “Spotlight City Series” broadcast from the Tampa area from April 12 to 16.
The topic of discussion will be the High-Speed Rail and Regional Transportation from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on April 13 in Reeves Theater.
Panelists include Pam Iorio, Mayor of Tampa; Stuart Rogel, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership; Don Skelton; District 7 secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation and Ronnie Duncan, chairman of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA).
Paul Solman, NewsHour correspondent, will moderate the discussion on whether or not the area is ready or has the infrastructure to handle the new high speed rail system between Tampa and Orlando.
The announcement that federal funds would pay for the new system was made by Vice President Joe Biden while him and President Barack Obama were on campus on Jan. 28.
The “Spotlight City Series” is a part of a two-year, five-city tour, that will be in Tampa filming a series of public forums in cooperation with WEDU, Channel 3. The shows will air from 7 to 8 p.m. on WEDU, a Tampa PBS outlet.
NewsHour anchors and reporters, including Judy Woodruff, Gwen Ifill, Paul Solman and Spencer Michels, will moderate community forums and report on local and regional stories each night during special segments.
On April 13, the Poynter Institute located on 801 Third St. S. in St. Petersburg will host “Changing Media Landscape” from 8 to 10 a.m. where several local newspaper and magazine editors will discuss the decline of local and regional news reporting as the media deals with poor economy.
NewsHour, correspondent Gwen Ifell will moderate at the Poynter Institute.
On April 14, the Lakewood Ranch Cinemas located on 10715 Rodeo Drive in Bradenton will host “Eco-Friendly Initiatives,” from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. where sustainability experts and other community leaders will discuss whether or not the state’s natural beauty will be affected by the plans that will create cheaper energy.
NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels will moderate at the Lakewood Rance Cinemas.
The week will conclude with a Town Hall Meeting on April 16 at 9:30 p.m. at the WEDU studios on 1300 N. Boulevard in Tampa where several different national topics like healthcare and unemployment will be discussed. NewsHour senior correspondent Judy Woodruff will moderate.
The Town Hall Meeting can only be attended by those invited, but questions can be submitted for the panelists at www.wedu.org/newshour.
Charlie Hambos can be reached at chambos@ut.edu.
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