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FLORIDA'S FOURTH ESTATE

Why are some determined to dim the light on Bright Futures, drop kick election drop boxes?

So why would some Florida lawmakers want to change the Bright Futures scholarship program to only include certain fields of expertise for college students? Bright Futures, Florida’s scholarship program, establishes lottery-funded scholarships to reward high school graduates for high academic achievement. Bright Futures has been around since 1997 and has helped upwards of 725,000 Florida students go to college. AdIf you would like to hear more of what Clark has to say about Bright Futures, ballot boxes and more, click on the link to Florida’s Fourth Estate. Look for new episodes of Florida’s Fourth Estate every Friday wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Breaking down the ‘outrageous’ real estate market right now

The real estate market is booming. On this week’s edition of Florida’s Fourth Estate, News 6 anchors Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden spoke with agent Tony Galarza of the Wemert Group Realty. Click on the link for Florida’s Fourth Estate and listen to the full episode with Tony Galarza. Florida’s Fourth Estate looks at everything from swampy politics to a fragile environment and even the crazy headlines that make Florida the craziest state in the Union. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

Florida’s Fourth Estate: From helping people save money to saving lives

Anchors Ginger Gadsden and Matt Austin are joined this week on Florida’s Fourth Estate by James, who said he was just doing his job. So, we asked him what he did before his years in law enforcement. Finally, the monotony of the job got to him and he decided to take the law enforcement plunge. “I like the fact that law enforcement is ever-evolving and my job is different every single day. I love that fact of law enforcement.

How cyber intelligence companies sound the alarm before hackers invade

This week on Florida’s Fourth Estate, Ginger Gadsden and Matt Austin talk to a cyber intelligence expert and the CEO of a cyber intelligence company. These companies are the tasked with hunting hackers before the damage is done by sending out a warning beacon and highlighting the vulnerable spots a cyber security company may have missed. It’s precisely this kind of brazen attempt by hackers Hijazi says, keeps him up at night. AdLuckily for the nearly 16,000 people in Oldsmar, these hackers did not appear to be very sophisticated. AdIt is the job of cyber intelligence companies like Prevailion to make sure this kind of massive hack does not happen by warning big entities when danger is approaching.

Pandemic and more boats have not been good to Florida manatees

They are as synonymous with Florida as flamingo’s Manatees or as they are sometimes called, sea cows, love the tropical weather and warm waters of Florida. Powell shares his knowledge of these gentle giants and tells us how the pandemic has likely had an adverse affect on them. By some estimates there are about 13,000 manatees on the planet with about half of those living in the southeastern U.S. While boating is good for those who are feeling cabin fever during the pandemic, it has not been good for manatees. “We had seen it in Blue Spring, we had actually seen it up in north Florida and I think even Georgia,” Powell said.

How the pandemic may have helped sea turtles this nesting season

Bernstein gets to work with sea turtles of all sizes, nursing them back to health and releasing them into the ocean. While the coronavirus has devastated so many things, it may have actually helped the sea turtle population in Florida by keeping tourists off the beaches and not trampling the sea turtle nests. In his defense, he said when he saw the little turtle wiggle, he knew he had to step in and do something. Unfortunately they do sometimes get a hold of sea turtles but one of the great things about sea turtles is they lay a clutch of eggs that average about 100 eggs per clutch. If you would like to make a donation to help Bernstein and the others protect this endangered species, go to www.marinesciencecenter.com to find out more information.

COVID-19 and the holidays: These next few months will be toughest yet

Dr. Jones says parents need to talk to their little ones now about why they will not be seeing their grandparents for Christmas. Dr. Jones suggests parents should start planning now to have a creative and festive Zoom visit. Dr. Jones says before any family gathering for the holidays there must be some ground rules. Dr. Jones says we can all still do the right thing, it’s just going to take extra work from everyone. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

News 6 anchors share stories of flying chicken wings and other drama from small-town newsrooms

ORLANDO, Fla. – This week on Florida’s Fourth Estate, News 6 anchors share stories of weird things they experienced in their first jobs. And Ginger Gadsden says getting pelted with chicken wings, even if you are not the intended target, still hurts. Ginger, Matt and Julie unpack it all in this week’s edition of Florida’s Fourth Estate podcast. Florida’s Fourth Estate looks at everything from swampy politics to a fragile environment and even the crazy headlines that make Florida the craziest state in the Union. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

Orlando attorney John Morgan celebrates Florida’s minimum wage hike, explains beef with Andrew Gillum

Always a colorful guest and not one to hold back, Morgan said once he decided to tackle the issue, he first looked at his own staff at Morgan & Morgan, where he employs some 4,000 people. Looking back at his support for Gillum, Morgan said, “I made a gigantic mistake because I didn’t know who he was. He said when he confronted Gillum about the money, Gillum told him he wasn’t allowed to use it. If you want to hear more from Morgan, download this week’s edition of Florida’s Fourth Estate. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

Was Jennifer Kesse taken by human traffickers? Her father believes it’s a possibility

Recently the CBS show, “48 Hours Investigates,” dedicated the hour to revisiting the Kesse case in hopes of sparking some new clues. News 6 anchors Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden spoke with Drew Kesse for this weeks edition of Florida’s Fourth Estate. “No one ever lived in the condo across from Jennifer,” Kesse explained. News 6 investigator Louis Bolden, who has been covering the Kesse case from day one, also joined Matt and Ginger on the podcast this week. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

How the Orlando Utilities Commission is trying to end coal-fired generation

“You really have to pair battery storage, we call it energy storage, with solar,” Ferrone explained. Ferrone said there is a lot of technology involved with solar energy and it continues to change. If you would like to know more about how OUC plans to achieve Net Zero CO2 Emissions by 2050, use the links below download this week’s episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate. Each week they have a guest host who helps give an irreverent look at the issues impacting the Sunshine State. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

How a talk with Mother Teresa and Jesus helped save a Wahlberg brother from addiction

ORLANDO, Fla. – If you close your eyes and listen to Jim Wahlberg, his voice sounds very familiar. And yes, he is one of those Wahlbergs, a family most people know from Hollywood, most notably, his famous brother, Mark Wahlberg. Florida’s Fourth Estate looks at everything from swampy politics to a fragile environment and even the crazy headlines that make Florida the craziest state in the Union. Big influencers, like Attorney John Morgan, renowned Florida journalists and the scientists protecting Florida’s ecosystem, can often be found as guests. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

How Gatorland’s CEO kept reptiles, employees happy during coronavirus closure

ORLANDO, Fla. – Gatorland has been around for 71 years and current CEO Mark McHugh says they have never seen anything like what the coronavirus pandemic. It has weathered hurricanes, tornadoes, recessions and even a fire that burned down its main building some 14 years ago. While nothing could prepare them for the coronavirus, Gatorland was somehow prepared to take care of its 190 employees though it all. “Most of them were at home, sheltering in place, taking care of themselves and their families," McHugh said. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

Florida sheriff, jogger stopped by deputies discuss ‘teachable moment’ on Florida’s Fourth Estate

In true 21st century fashion, he took out his cellphone and began to live stream what was happening. We spoke to Griffin and Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood on the Florida’s Fourth Estate podcast about what happened. Hear more from Chitwood and Griffin on this edition of Florida’s Fourth Estate with News 6 anchors Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden. Florida’s Fourth Estate looks at everything from swampy politics to a fragile environment and even the crazy headlines that make Florida the craziest state in the Union. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

Is fake crowd noise in football awkward?

We are talking about football, college, and NFL, with two guys who know the game very well. The cornerback has spent time with the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and the Indianapolis Colts to name a few. I am pretty sure before the game, after the game on the travel on the plane they are doing the same thing. Both Cole and Loudermilk were not fans of the fake crowd noises pumped into the stadiums or the lack of cheering during the college games. To hear more of their take on the return of football click on the link to Florida’s Fourth Estate.

Talking international collaboration and haircuts on the space station

What about space station hair? That just seems kind of crazy!”We often take for granted the modern miracle known as the International Space Station. The result: the first episode of a brand-new WKMG podcast focused on answering your space questions called “Space Curious.”This question brought us down the rabbit hole of the space station. “We’ve had a great relationship with the Russian Space Agency since the beginning of the space station program,” Speck said. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

Could COVID-19 present an opportunity for UCF football? They have a chance, analysts say

The NCAA college football season hasnt even started and there has already been plenty of drama. They have a chance to take a grasp of this thing and become national for all of their programs, Ingoglia said. This week the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced they will not play football during the fall. [MORE: Big Ten, Pac-12 pull plug on fall football amid pandemic]Until that knife gets stuck in my heart and they say theres no fall football. Some fans are speculating players from the Big Ten and Pac-12 may decide to transfer to programs committed to playing football in the fall.

Gigabytes of data have to be examined before SpaceX mission is deemed a success

Space travel is powered by data and lots of it. Space dads Bob and Doug are back from their historic journey, its time to let the data do the talking. CBS News space correspondent Bill Harwood said all the info now has to be analyzed before we can declare Dragons mission a success. Its going to be a full-up mission to the international space station. Right now NASA has targeted late September for SpaceX's next crewed mission.

Floridas Fourth Estate: News 6 viewers send in hatemail about anchors long hair

This week News 6 anchors Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden open up the hatemail bag and unpack a few gems from some people who just dont like long hair. In this weeks edition of Floridas Fourth Estate, we share some of the messages viewers send in when they just dont like what they see. One person pointed out our long hair made us look like strippers. Another recent gem was to remind my co-anchor Lisa Bell and I that our long hair just isn't professional. "Please tell your female newscasters on the 6 pm news (Ginger and Lisa) that their long stringy hair is not attractive and is very distracting.

Floridas Fourth Estate: Fake news is a real problem

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. It turns out its harder than most people realize to stop a fake news cycle once it has hit social media. We all have a role to play to stop the proliferation of news that is not only fake, but dangerous. The current coronavirus pandemic has a lot of false information parading around as facts and people are buying into it. She is a fake news expert and professor at the University of Central Florida. She gives us her take on the fake stories about coronavirus and what makes them so utterly ridiculous.