matt's notebook

Sep 13

President Bill Clinton, campaigning for President Barack Obama, spoke to a huge crowd in Orlando on Sept. 12 and said he believes “shared prosperity” works better than “trickle down” and cooperation wins over conflict every time. ““’We’re all in this together’ is better than ‘you are on your own,’” he said.

Jul 22

Summer is usually a tight time for food pantries across Central Florida, but volunteers at a DeLand outreach center say this season may be the worst they’ve ever seen.

Read more: Food pantries stretched thin over summer gap

Jun 22

And another video from the adventure: river rafting in the Rockies.

I recently had the not-so-tough assignment of covering an Adventures by Disney vacation in the Canadian Rockies for WESH.com. These are some of the videos from the trip. Photos are posted to WESH.com and some others on my Flickr.

May 28

As a tropical storm stirred the surf off Daytona Beach, we went to the beach to find out how to spot and escape rip currents.

Watch video: Avoid the grip of a rip

May 21

Just a personal aside: I love the weekend.

May 7

Eight U.S. military veterans are taking a unique approach to therapy in Kissimmee, Florida. They’re riding horses.

Mar 23

More than 1 million people have signed a Change.org petition for Trayvon Martin.

Mar 20

We’ve been following the Trayvon Martin case for a few weeks now. It’s since gained national attention for the emotional issues — including race and prejudice, police procedure, justice, gun laws and common civility — that surround it.

At a news conference today, a Martin family attorney presented testimony from a girl who says she spoke with Trayvon moments before he was shot to death. The attorney said the phone call further proves the neighborhood watchman who shot him, George Zimmerman, should be arrested and that his self-defense claim is “absurd.”

Jan 28

Today, the group Florida Abolitionist held its Human Trafficking Awareness Day at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. This a global issue that every community should be more concerned about, since the State Department estimates between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year.

Jan 21

This week, President Barack Obama visited Walt Disney World to announce a new initiative that he said will bring more foreign tourists to America. He said, “I’m here today because I want to see more tourists here tomorrow,” because he wants the Unites Stated to be the biggest tourist destination in the world. Check out the article I worked on for WESH.com for more on his visit.

Ream more: Obama: ‘I want to see more tourists here tomorrow’

Nov 16

Last week, I listened to Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, speak at UCF. Some of what he said has been kicking around in my head, so I wanted to share a few quotes here.

Nov 11

I met a famous artist from Dublin, Ireland whose latest work helped kick-off the Festival of the Masters at Disney World today. Graham Knuttel said, “I try to make my paintings as if they’re a stage set and the characters in them are actors. Really what I’m trying to do, is I’m trying to make the viewer part of the painting.”

Oct 24

Rollins College Tars quarterback Jeff Hoblick brought football back to his school — a comeback 62 years in the making.

Oct 15

UPDATE on the Occupiers: protesters met in downtown Orlando today to march. They took to the WWW to share their views and photographs, too.