Elaine Chen

Elaine is the interactivity producer at WLRN-Miami Herald News, where she works on building audience engagement around the issues we cover.  Like so many in South Florida, Elaine moved here from New York City, where she was a lawyer for the city government.  She put aside the legal briefs and discovery requests to be back in public radio.  Before WLRN, Elaine worked as a producer for public affairs shows at WNYC and WYPR.

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Does The Governor Deserve Credit For The Economy?

Credit quite peculiar / Creative Commons/Flickr
The state announced that the jobless rate dropped to 7.2 percent in April 2013. But what kind of jobs have been created?

On The Florida Roundup, we take a special look at the economy.  

Employment, tourism and real estate numbers suggest a recovery. We’ll examine whether Gov. Rick Scott’s “it’s working” motto is actually working -- for him.

Meanwhile, the legislative session is over but many bills are still under review by the governor. The biggest: Florida's $74.5 billion budget.

And locally, could South Florida lose both the Super Bowl and the International Swimming Hall of Fame to California?

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Session 2013
2:38 pm
Fri May 10, 2013

The 7 Things To Know About Florida's Legislative Session

So many issues made the headlines during the state's 60-day legislative session.  But if you haven't been following the ins-and-outs of Tallahassee, we have you covered.  Here are the 7 main events from Florida’s recently concluded legislative session.

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri May 10, 2013

Winners And Losers From Florida's Legislative Session

    

Join us for The Florida Roundup today at noon for a special look back at the 2013 state legislative session and a follow-up with participants from our WLRN-Miami Herald Town Hall in February.

Below you can be part of a live, online discussion curated by our social media editor, Danny Rivero.

Click here for The Seven Most Important Things You Should Know About Florida's Legislative Session

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That's So Miami
7:38 am
Wed May 1, 2013

Winners Of Our 'That's So Miami' Poetry Contest

Love or hate Miami, the subject inspired so many beautiful, thoughtful and sometimes even funny verses for our "That's So Miami" project. It was impossible for us to pick the best.  So we asked you to do it!   

Based on your online votes, here are the five category winners and their poems: 

Best Ode to Miami Spanglish - Lauren Fernandez, Miami

Exciting and Extravagant.
Guajiros in Bentleys.
Tostones and Champagne.
That’s so Miami.

Best Ode to Miami Food - Cristina Rodriguez, Miami

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri April 26, 2013

The Week's Top Florida News: Dolphins And Diplomas

Join us Friday at noon on 91.3 FM WLRN for an hour's discussion on the week's headlines, including:

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Ethics Game
10:00 am
Fri April 26, 2013

Are You A Dirty Politican? Play Our Ethics Game

Credit Martin Tews / Creative Commons/Flickr
Are you squeaky clean or Tallanasty?

Everyone loves to complain about political corruption.  But would you do any better?  Play our interactive game, Tallanasty, and find out if you would be a cleaner Florida politician.

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That's So Miami
1:13 pm
Wed April 24, 2013

Congri, Pastelito, Rum: Vote For The Best 'Ode To Miami Food'

Credit dominiqueb / Creative Commons/Flickr

What makes Miami's food culture so great?  Vote for a poem from our That's So Miami project that best describes a culinary favorite.

UPDATE: POLLS CLOSED AFTERNOON OF 4/25, WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED AT THAT'S SO MIAMI READING AND FINALE

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That's So Miami
12:37 pm
Wed April 24, 2013

Vote For The Best 'Ode to Miami's Flaws'

Credit @drsherer on Instagram

Since Julia Tuttle’s arrival in 1891, Miami has grown like crazy: more people, more homes, more roads, more 

  boom. Dense tropical hardwood trees that covered the City of Miami were chopped down and urbanization moved west into the Everglades.

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri April 19, 2013

Florida Roundup: Gun Control, Medicaid, Venezuela

Credit chavezcandanga / Creative Commons/Flickr
Nicolás Maduro, former vice president under Hugo Chavez, wins Venezuela's presidential election with 50.7% of the vote. His challenger Henrique Capriles received 49.1%.

Join us for an hour of conversation about the week's news on The Florida Roundup, live at noon on WLRN:

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri April 12, 2013

Top News This Week In South Florida: Dolphins Referendum, Venezuelan Election And Medicaid

Join us for an hour of conversation about the week's news on The Florida Roundup, live at noon on WLRN.  Here's what we're watching:

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri April 5, 2013

What You Should Know From This Week's South Florida News: Yoani Sanchez, Miami Dolphins

Join us for an hour of conversation about the week's news on The Florida Roundup, live at noon today on 91.3FM WLRN:

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That's So Miami
3:11 pm
Wed April 3, 2013

Love or Hate Miami? Tell Us In Verse

 

In honor of National Poetry Month, WLRN - Miami Herald News is teaming up with the O, Miami poetry festival to bring you That's So Miami--a project documenting your thoughts about Miami, in verse.    

We want to see your Miami, not “CSI: Miami” or “Miami Vice” or “Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach.” The only rule is that your poem has to begin or end with the phrase, “That’s so Miami.”

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Marlins Park
11:00 am
Mon April 1, 2013

How The Marlins Stadium Deal Has Changed South Florida

Credit Junior Henry / Flickr, Creative Commons
Was it the Marlins stadium deal alone or the combination with the player purge that damaged the team's relationship with South Florida?

The public funding in the Marlins stadium deal has been called one of the biggest boondoggles in sports history. But hardly any stadium now is built with only private funds. Why do governments fund these facilities?

On April 1, opening day of Marlins' season, Rick Horrow with WLRN-Miami Herald News hosted a special roundtable, Foul Ball! The Future of the Marlins in Miami, a two-hour radio special on the impact of the Marlins stadium deal. Some of the guests included:

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri March 29, 2013

What You Should Know From This Week's South Florida News: Dueling Governors And Dolphins Stadium

Credit interbeat / Flickr, Creative Commons
The day before President Obama speaks at PortMiami about the economy, Governor Scott says the federal government hasn't given the state enough money to support the ports.

On The Florida Roundup, here are some of the items on our rundown:

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri March 22, 2013

Medicaid Expansion, Dolphins Stadium: What You Should Know From This Week's News

Join us for a conversation about the week's news on The Florida Roundup, live at noon, for an all-staff show during the pledge drive. 

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Session 2013
10:00 am
Mon March 18, 2013

The Best App To Keep Tabs On Your State Legislators

It would be nice to know more about state politics.  But who can keep track of all those committees and subcommittees, you say.  And all the House and Senate bills with long names and random numbers – and who is my legislator anyway?

You could go to the official state websites to find your legislators and proposed laws

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri March 15, 2013

A New Pope And Allied Veterans: What You Should Know From This Week's News

Credit Gage Skidmore
Jennifer Carroll resigned from her post as lieutenant governor after an investigation uncovered that a charity she had worked for had defrauded the public and government agencies.

On the week's The Florida Roundup:

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri March 8, 2013

Live Chat: What You Should Know From This Week In South Florida

On The Florida Roundup, here are some the events that caught our attention:

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Politics
12:00 pm
Fri March 1, 2013

Why Florida's Stand Your Ground Law Isn't Budging

Credit Jessica Meszaros/WLRN
State Senator Chris Smith (D-Fort Lauderdale), a strong proponent of changing Stand Your Ground, says constituencies outside of South Florida are particularly opposed to any conversation about amending the law or gun control regulations.
  • A conversation about Stand Your Ground and Gun Control at the WLRN - Miami Herald Town Hall.

On The Florida Roundup, here's what we're talking about from this week's news:

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri February 22, 2013

Is Gov. Rick Scott Headed Toward Sequestration From State GOP? Join The Conversation

Credit marsmet521
Governor Rick Scott reverses his opposition to Obamacare and supports expanding Medicaid. But is this a genuine change of heart or a calculated re-election move?

On the Florida Roundup, we have on the slate:

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri February 15, 2013

The State Of Florida's Union: Thirsty Marco Rubio And Spanish As A Second Language

Credit Sparkzy
Although Doral's City Council unanimously rejected the largely symbolic proposal to officially make Spanish its second language, Spanish is often a necessity for living in South Florida.

On the Florida Roundup, we take a look at the week in news in our region and state:

  • As President Obama addressed the Congress and the nation, how is the state of Florida’s union?  From voting and gun rights to climate change, we take a look at what resonated here from the President’s speech.
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Town Hall on Session 2013
12:00 pm
Thu February 14, 2013

Veteran Tallahassee Lobbyist Says His Profession Gets A Bad Rap

Carl Adams, co-founder of the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists, says that the biggest priority for state lawmakers should be "to re-establish the public perception of the process as fair, transparent and responsible."

The job of lobbyists is to improve the image of their clients.  But lobbyists themselves could use some PR.

Carl Adams, who was a Tallahassee lobbyist for 35 years and founded the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists, thinks that the system - campaign finance laws and the prohibition on private deliberation - is flawed, not the people.   

We asked Adams why his profession is so maligned. 

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri February 8, 2013

How The Dolphins Stadium Won State GOP Votes

Credit Bogeskov
A bill that would allow public money to help fund renovation for the Sun Life stadium unanimously passed a state Senate committee.

On the Florida Roundup: The Dolphins jump the first hurdles in their quest for public money to upgrade Sun Life Stadium.  

Rising tides on your street - how sea level rise could cost our region millions

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Town Hall on Session 2013
10:25 am
Tue February 5, 2013

Ask Us Anything: Archive Of Our Online Chat With Citizens Property Insurance

Credit cayobo
Despite the absence of any major hurricane for the past several years, property insurance rates have risen in Florida.

The price of property insurance in Florida keeps going up --  such that some homeowners are getting second mortgages or dropping coverage all together.  The state created Citizens Property Insurance to be the insurer of last resort for Florida homeowners. But plans to shrink Citizens by loaning money to private insurance companies and allegations of corporate misconduct have sparked outcries by some state officials and the public alike. 

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri February 1, 2013

Why An FBI Investigation Probably Won't Stop Immigration Reform

Credit Anuska Sampedro
GOP opposition to immigration reform has been tempered by their loss of the Latino vote in the 2012 election.

On the Florida Roundup: New immigration reform proposals are put on the table in Washington. How could a path to citizenship be traveled in immigrant-rich South Florida?   Plus we get the latest update on the FBI raid of a West Palm Beach eye doctor with connections with U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, a sponsor of a bipartisan immigration reform plan.

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Public Insight Network
10:00 am
Thu January 31, 2013

Do You Know Who Your State Legislators Are?

Redistricting last year may have had a role in making it more difficult for PIN members to name their state legislators. Above, a map showing pre-redistricting Senate district boundaries (in red) and current Senate district boundaries (in black).

The state Legislature, perhaps more than Congress, passes laws that have a direct impact on the day-to-day life of a Floridian: how much you pay in sales tax, how much time you have to vote, how you obtain a gun.

Tallahassee is in our lives every day. It's only 480 miles away. And yet, for many in South Florida, it might as well be on another continent. 

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Public Insight Network
11:00 am
Wed January 30, 2013

Texting While Driving And Other Sins Of Florida's Drivers

Credit taestell
39 states - including libertarian-leaning New Hampshire - ban texting while driving. Florida isn't one of them.

Florida is one of only 11 states that does not prohibit texting while driving.  Though state legislators have already introduced 3 texting ban bills for the upcoming session, similar bills have failed in the past several years. 

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The Art Of Politics
11:00 am
Tue January 29, 2013

Limericks Inspired By Florida's Muddy Politics

Credit Public Domain Pictures
Can you explain a state policy in a limerick?

Politics can be quite the poetic muse - especially statehouse politics, it turns out.

We recently challenged members of the Public Insight Network to write about politics in the Sunshine State - in a limerick.* 

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The Florida Roundup
12:00 pm
Fri January 25, 2013

Is Florida Driving Us Crazy?

Credit JASElabs
Florida is one of only 11 states that don't have a ban on texting while driving.

On the Florida Roundup: From immigration reform to gay rights, we’ll discuss how the president’s inauguration speech resonated here.  

The Dolphins win the first battle in their fight for public funding to renovate Sun Life Stadium, with the Miami-Dade County Commission agreeing to ask the state for an increase in the hotel tax.  But Florida state lawmakers might not be receptive.

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