Official uVu Blog

Lester Holt at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches

Lester Holt, weekend anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” co-anchor of the weekend edition of “Today” and principal anchor of “Dateline NBC,” spoke about the emerging role of the media when he addresses the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches Jan. 17, 2012.

Holt has reported from many of the world’s hot spots and has been with NBC since 2000.  From the streets of Cairo, he reported on the latest political and civil unrest and travelled overseas to cover the earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan as well as the earthquake in Haiti.

Before becoming co-anchor of “Weekend Today,” the award-winning broadcast journalist anchored “Lester Holt Live,” a daily news show on MSNBC in which he covered breaking news and provided news updates and analysis.  Hold has also served as the lead anchor for daytime news and breaking news coverage on MSNBC. He had served as primary anchor for MSNBC’s coverage of the biggest news events of the last several years, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war in Afghanistan.  Of special interest to Palm Beach County, he was the lead daytime anchor for MSNBC’s coverage of Decision 2000.

 

Lester Holt (1/3) Forum Club January 2012

 

 

Lester Holt (2/3) Forum Club January 2012

 

 

Lester Holt (3/3) Forum Club January 2012

 

Senator Bill Nelson at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches

Florida’s senior U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson will open the Forum Club’s season Aug. 25 with an economic congressional update touching on the national debt, unemployment and the future of entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.

The noon event will be held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, 650 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach.  Tickets may not be purchased until receipt of your electronic or standard newsletter.

A fifth generation Floridian, Nelson was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000 after serving six years as a member of the Florida Cabinet.  He currently serves on the Senate Commerce, Budget, Finance, Intelligence and Aging committees and is recognized as the leading congressional expert on NASA.

Find Video after the jump

Dialogues In Democracy - Civility and Democracy

Co-sponsored by Lynn University and The Sun Sentinel and conceived by former Broward County Commissioner John P. Hart, Dialogues In Democracy is part of a series of panel discussions attempting to inject civility back into the discussion of politics and policy.

The panel on May 3 at Lynn University inclued former US Senator Bob Graham and former US Representative R. Clay Shaw.

In this clip from the beginning of the discussion, Mr. Graham and Mr. Shaw offer opening remarks, followed by comments from Antonio Fins, editorial page Editor for the Sun Sentinel; Guy Kingsley, columnist for the Sun Sentinel and Dr. Robert Watson, Professor at Lynn University.

 

 

You can read more about the panel discussion here.

If you'd like information on future panels you can visit the opinion page of the Sun Sentinel.

Robert Wexler at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches

Former congressman Robert Wexler, who now heads the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, addressed the Middle East peace process in the wake of a regime change in Egypt, continued political upheaval in the region and what it all means to Israel.

Based in Washington, D.C., the Center for Middle East Peace works with leaders and policymakers in the U.S. and the Middle East to help reach a just and comprehensive peace that will bring an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.  The center focuses on efforts to facilitate conversations that bridge differences between the parties.

After serving seven terms as a U.S. Representative representing part of Palm Beach County, Wexler accepted the post of Center President in January 2010.  In the past, Wexler was named one of the “50 Most Effective Legislators in Congress” by Congressional Quarterly and in 2008 was named to the Forward 50 list as one of the most influential leaders in the American Jewish Community.  In 2008, Congressman Wexler served as an advisor on Middle East and Israel issues to President Barak Obama during his presidential campaign.

Throughout his tenure in Congress and in his current post, Wexler has been an outspoken advocate for the unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel, a leading proponent of Israel’s right to self-defense and the need for a just and comprehensive resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Politics as Usual

Three days after the general election, National Public Radio's Political Editor Ken Rudin analyzed both national and state election results when he addressed the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches on  Nov. 5.  Rudin directs all political coverage for NPR and is author of the "Political Junkie" blog on NPR.org -- an interactive daily feature focused on all political news nationwide.

 

 

Scott and Sink Square Off

Although not face to face, Alex Sink and Rick Scott each took the podium at separate luncheons held by the Forum Club of The Palm Beaches during the last two weeks.  Scott on Thursday, October 7 and Sink on Friday, October 15.

Each also took questions from the attendees and below are the two speeches in their entirety.

 

 

Rick Scott

 

 

Alex Sink 

Miami Today Profile - Christopher Scraba

In his first weekend as head of the Coast Guard’s Sector Miami, Capt. Christopher Scraba dealt with 33 cases in South Florida waters, 17 law enforcement and 16 pollution incidents.

But when he took over in late June, predecessors and superiors told him Miami is a “dynamic” sector and to expect to regularly deal with drug traffickers, immigrants looking to come to the US and pollution issues.

His responsibility includes nearly 200 miles of South Florida shoreline and 2,500 nautical square miles of the Atlantic. Under his command are four stations stretching from Miami Beach to Fort Pierce. Thousands of volunteers and Coast Guard rank and file and millions of dollars worth of ships and resources are at his disposal.

His missions are “maritime safety, maritime security and what we call maritime pollution response and prevention.” And though one might expect the Coast Guard in Miami to have been intimately involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response, Capt. Scraba said it was important to not lose focus on one of the biggest, longest-standing threats to South Florida: hurricanes.

“Forty percent of the gasoline for Florida, oil, fuel, gas comes in through Port Everglades, 45% comes into Tampa/St. Petersburg. Those two ports are extremely critical to the environmental and economic livelihood of Florida,” he pointed out. “What keeps me up at night is the potential for a hurricane and closing down a port. My job is to try to open up this port and get the maritime transportation system back up and running as soon as possible.”

Capt. Scraba discussed his job in Miami, the Coast Guard’s collaboration with the Bahamian government and the hundreds of millions worth of new ships the Coast Guard is to receive in coming months in its Miami Beach facilities with Miami Today staff writer Zachary S. Fagenson.

Not Just Mad Men

The Miami International University of Art and Design presented a panel discussion on the Golden Age of Advertising as part of a exhibit loaned from the Hartman Center for Sales at Duke University Libraries, Not Just Mad Men.

The panel  featured Bruce Turkel from Turkel Advertising, Barry Zaid formerly of Push Pin, Arthur Rockower , MIU instructor, Marie Fernandez-Leon from Imagery Creative Communications, and Jason Inasi from The Factory Interactive.

The event took place on August 25th, 2010.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Artist Huong BP Oil Spill Mural

Artist and activist Huong compiled our nation's views of the Gulf Oil disaster on 300-Foot mural. uVu visited Huong to take a look at the mural.

Miami Today Newsmaker - City of Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez

The youngest commissioner on Miami’s dais amid leadership shakeups and a fiscal crisis, Francis Suarez is laser-focused on two aims: address residents’ needs and straighten out the budget.  “I’m going to let things simmer down a little before trying to push a legislative agenda just because we have so much on our plate,” he says.

Having grown up with a mayor for a father – dad Xavier led the city for eight years – the 32-year-old attorney is no stranger to politics, and he’s taken his observations to heart.

Before shopping around a platform for the November election, Mr. Suarez went door to door to hear concerns.

“What’s important to people who are in government is not always what’s important to the people who are the beneficiaries of government,” he finds.

The idea of giving back also stuck with him after being raised in a family “where being socially conscious was kind of a requirement.”

He hopes to one day form his own nonprofit to fundraise and funnel support to community organizations.

Mr. Suarez talked politics and philanthropy with Miami Today staff writer Risa Polansky.